Monday, April 19, 2004
Top Stories
Apple Updates PowerBooks And iBooks
Apple on Monday announced upgrades to its entire line of portable computing products. Apple's pro PowerBook models have been bumped to a top speed of 1.5GHz, while the consumer iBook now reaches speeds of 1.2GHz. "The year of the notebook didn't end in December, it's still going."
Apple At NAB
Apple Offers Shake 3.5
The new version of Shake features new shape-based morphing and warping capabilities that rely on spline tools, improves Rendezvous networking and more.
Apple Intros Xsan Storage Area Network System
The new file system is aimed at users in video and other businesses looking for high-speed access to centralized, shared data where even conventional LANs might still be too slow.
Apple Announces DVD Studio Pro 3
New to this release are Alpha Transitions, a new Graphical View, DTS 5.1 audio support and the inclusion of Compressor 1.2, Apple's digital media encoding and compression tool.
Apple Introduces Motion
Apple introduced Motion, a new motion graphics design package that provides animation of text, graphics and video, instant previewing of multiple filters and particle effects, and "Behaviors" — natural movement of type and graphics, without depending on keyframes.
Apple Updates Final Cut Pro With HD
Apple on Sunday introduced Final Cut Pro HD, a new version of its video editing software that supports the DVCPRO HD format. Final Cut Pro HD is available as a free upgrade.
Panasonic, Apple Team For HD Over FireWire
Panasonic and Apple today announced what the two companies call the world's first implementation of FireWire with 100 Mbps DV-HD to bring "unmatched capabiliteies and dramatically lower price points" to high definition (HD) post-productiona and content distribution.
Apple Releases LiveType 1.2 With New Effects
It adds new effects and templates, improves workflow integration with Final Cut Pro HD, and addresses Timeline behavior issues.
Apple Releases Cinema Tools 2.2, Compressor 1.2
Version 2.2 brings performance enhancements, extended support in Final Cut Pro HD for editing 24 @ 25 PAL video, and a fix for timecode when conforming from 24 fps to 25 fps.
News
Time Selects Steve Jobs For 'Top 100'
Time magazine has placed Steve Jobs in its "Top 100" list issue, which presents the magazine's choices of the 100 most influential people in the world today.
Airport Software 3.4 Update Available
New AirPort Extreme features include improved antenna output control, enhanced logging, and performance improvements for WPA security implementations.
Teaching An Old Walkman Some New Steps
That internal battle was seen by many as the reason Sony, the inventor of the Walkman and the biggest player in the portable audio market, was being trounced by Apple Computer and its hit, the iPod music player, in the emerging digital segment. Something had to be done.
Adobe Announces After Effects 6.5, Optimized For Power Mac G5
Significant new features include Animation Presets, an advanced clone tool, and tighter integration with the other Adobe video products.
Who's Driving THe Apple Market
Web-Based iTunes Music Store Client And Library
The Downhill Battle people are hosting a web-based script that searches the iTunes Music Store and allows you to interact with it as though you were using a copy of iTunes itself.
Area Downplays Apple Layoffs
The Apple Computer plant closing last week in the Laguna West section of Elk Grove saddened residents and merchants there, but they said the layoff of at least 235 workers shouldn't have an appreciable impact on their community.
Review
The Emperor's Mahjong
What you're really getting when you buy The Emperor's Mahjong are the story mode, two-player mode, and the ability to make your own layouts. I hardly think this is worth $20, unless you really like Chinese proverbs and want to become Emperor of China.
A-O-Hell For Mac OS X
AOL for Mac OS X has been really buggy.
Apple Macintosh Brings Some iLife Into Your Family
Thanks to true innovation and continously falling prices, Apple computers are proving to be a viable alternative for families looking for their first (or second) computer.
Sidetrack
AppleInsider has the specs for Apple's upcoming new laptops. Alas, in general, no price reduction.
Imagine writing a technical manual using plain text. No "bolds", "italics" or "underline". No diagrams nor illustrations. No changes of fonts nor colors. And imagine having to write your manual using a text editor — such as vi — without any of the modern convenience one has come to expect out of Microsoft Word.
That is the sad state of affair of comments inside source code.
Wintel
Group Challenges Microsoft's Patent For FAT File System
The Public Patent Foundation claims that Microsoft's patent should never have been issued since it duplicates earlier patents.