Forums: 20" laptop at CES, Intel Macs...

Hot topics of discussion on the MacNN Forums include: The possibility of new PowerBooks with Intel processors next week at Macworld Expo.... Rumors regarding new Intel-based iBooks next week.... The possibility of an iPod shuffle revision next week.... The prospect for a fast "virtual PC" environment on Intel-based Macs.... A 20-inch laptop computer concept shown at CES this week.

New products due at MWSF...

IDG World Expo today announced that a host of companies are expected to debut or feature a wide range of new products at Macworld Conference and Expo, January 9-13th at San Francisco's Moscone Center. As announced yesterday, the event is set to feature over 300 exhibiting companies over a five-day period. LaCie is expected to roll out six new products, while FileMaker already announced that FileMaker Server 8 Advanced began shipping on January 4th. Belkin introduced its CableFree USB Hub that provides wireless connectivity between a computer and any USB peripheral, and Micromat introduced TechTool Protege--its new Mac OS X troubleshooting and diagnostic tool stored on a bootable 1GB Firewire-based flash drive.

First iPod video recorder debuts...

iPod users everywhere will soon be able to record television content and easily play it back on their TV. Advanced Technology Office (ATO) today introduced the first--and only--video recorder for Apple's fifth-generation iPod, the iSee 360i. Users can store their favorite shows and movies directly from TV, cable, satellite, DVR, or any other analog source on their iPod, and play that content back on any TV with an "analog in" connection at standard 640 X 480 TV resolution. Users can view previously-recorded video on the integrated high-quality 3.6-inch LCD screen, or on their TV: "With the iSee video recorder millions of iPod owners can add the power of video to their unit without having to purchase a new one," John C. Scott, ATO co-founder and former Apple executive said. "The iSee video recording capability also dramatically expands the universe of content playable on the iPod." [updated]

Apple partnership helps Intel business

Upcoming products from the Apple-Intel partnership will help Intel's bottom line in the coming quarters, but the transition may not be complete by the end of year as many industry observers had speculated, according to an investment research firm. J.P. Morgan, which maintained a "neutral" rating on Intel in anticipation of overcapacity, raised earnings estimates after the firm's checks indicated that Intel is on track to begin shipping processors for Apple's new PCs this quarter, according to the Forbes report. "We expect the PCs to be introduced at MacWorld next week," wrote the analyst in a research note on Friday. The firm also said that about 55 percent of this year's Mac shipments will have Intel CPUs: JP Morgan estimates just over 8.7 million Macs for the 2006 calendar year, which translates into roughly 4.8 million Intel processors. Every 1 million Intel-based Macs would augment Intel's earnings per share by a little less than 1 cent, according to the report. The firm raised its 2006 estimates for Intel to earnings of $1.59 per share on revenue of $42.8 billion, from earnings of $1.55 per share on revenue of $42.2 billion, according to Forbes.com.

New Verizon V Cast Music service...

Verizon Wireless has announced that it will offer a new music service, dubbed "V Cast Music," allowing subscribers to download songs directly to their phones for $1.99 each. The move stands to threaten Apple's iTunes Music Store which sells music online for 99-cents per track, but cannot stream the songs over-the-air to mobile handsets. The new service--set to launch on January 16th--will be powered by Microsoft technology and give cell phone users the ability to build a music library on their phone without the need for a personal computer, according to a report from the San Francisco Chronicle.

iPod to dominate competition in '06...

Apple's competitors are unlikely to make a dent in the iPod's market share, and the iPod will continue to dominate the market in 2006 according to one research firm. Investment research firm Piper Jaffray senior analyst Gene Munster today released a research note stating that he believes Apple's competitors are still lagging in terms of form factor, intuitive user interface, and "cool factor." The firm does not believe that new Nano- and Shuffle-like players SanDisk and Samsung, which surfaced today, will erode the iPod dominance and said that it is bewildered by Sony's offerings: "We continue to be shocked at how Sony's devices miss the mark despite the resources that are being put into creating a competitive product."

Digi 002 bundles 'Factory' software

Digidesign announced today that Digi 002 systems now include the Digi 002 Factory software bundle at no additional charge. Using the Digi 002, customers can record, edit, process, mix, and master Pro Tools projects. The Mac-compatible portable system can also be used as a stand-alone 8x4x2 digital mixer complete with EQ, dynamics, delay, and reverb with snapshots. The Digi 002 system includes Pro Tools LE software, the Pro Tools Ignition Pack (with third-party software applications), and 50 Digidesign and Bomb Factory plug-ins, as well as the following collection of added plug-ins: Bomb Factory BF-3A, Moogerfooger Ring Modulator, Moogerfooger Analog Delay, SansAmp PSA-1, Cosmonaut Voice, JOEMEEK SC2 Photo Optical Compressor, JOEMEEK VC5 Meequalizer, Tel-Ray Variable Delay, Voce Spin, and Voce Chorus/Vibrato. Digidesign is no longer offering the Digi 002 without the Factory bundle, and pricing for Digi 002 Rack and Digi 002 Rack Factory products will remain unchanged. The Digi 002 system retails for $2,500 (system requirements not available).

Mapwing 1.1 builds VR tours

Redbug Technologies has released Mapwing Creator Pro 1.1, a free Mapwing upgrade that offers enhancements and bug fixes. Mapwing is an application for building, sharing, and exploring virtual reality (VR) tours. Using only a digital camera and computer, users can create VR locations or "points" out of images and connect these together to form tours, which can be enhanced with an interactive map, text comments, website links, and detail image hotspots. Mapwing's Flash Viewer is a server-side Flash/PHP application used to embed Mapwing tours into web pages and create streaming Mapwing tours. The free upgrade includes improved image and hotspot performance, new circular-styled points, an enhanced undo system, numerous bug fixes, and Mapwing Viewer has been upgraded to version 1.1.4. Mapwing Creator Pro 1.1, a free upgrade for registered users, is available for $300 license and runs on Mac OS X 10.2.8.

Briefly: free Apple loops, Pogue in SF

In Brief: iCompositions, a community for sharing music made with Apple's GarageBand, is giving away a free collection of 264 loops to registered users, bringing iCompositions members more than 780 free Apple Loops.... FastMac and MacMod.com have teamed up to showcase a variety of custom Mac mods at the FastMac (booth no. 827) during next week's Expo, including the 2005 Great Mod Challenge Mod of the Year, the Real Wood iPod.... Team Feral, located at the heart of the gaming area (booth no. 2616), will preview all its latest releases next week--complemented by the best force-feedback steering wheels and joypads from Logitech--as well as offer Commandos 2 multiplayer tournaments in the games arcade throughout the show.... Verizon's new V cast Music service is compatible with SanDisk's microSD (previously TransFlash) flash memory cards--up to 1GB--that can store/transfer music downloaded from a mobile phone to Windows-compatible PCs.... XtremeMac has debuted a high-end sound system dubbed Tango (pictured at right) that is designed to deliver high quality audio output from any Dock connector iPod.... NY Times columnist David Pogue will visit the Apple Store in San Francisco to showcase his "Mac OS X: Missing Manual, Tiger Edition" and offer 25 of the best Tiger secrets.

New ScriptPak for Quicken 2006

MacSpeech has released a new ScriptPak for Quicken 2006 which installs over 200 commands into its iListen speech recognition application, allowing the user to do virtually anything by voice in Quicken 2006 that they would normally do using keyboard shortcuts or menus. The new ScriptPak also includes voice commands for Emergency Records Organizer and Home Inventory, programs included in Quicken 2006. It requires iListen 1.6.8 or later as well as Mac OS X 10.4 or greater. The ScriptPak for Quicken 2006 is available immediately from the MacSpeech website and sells for $10. MacSpeech offers several iListen packages, including a software-only solution for $100, and a software/headset-microphone bundle for $150.

Yellow Dog Linux 4.1 released

Terra Soft Solutions today released Yellow Dog Linux 4.1, a special distribution of the open-source operating system that runs on most Apple hardware with a G3 processor or better. Version 4.1 now supports Apple's latest PowerBooks and G5 PowerMacs with dual-core CPUs and offers support for backlit keys, PCMCIA cell phone/modem support, and support for Atheros wireless cards. Other features include dual-head configuration via the graphical user interface, the ability to install directly to and boot from FireWire drives, and USB device auto-mount under both KDE and GNOME. The update provides greatly improved sound support, a graphical "Up2Date" package install/update tool, and basic 64-bit development/runtime support. Yellow Dog Linux is available for free (see website for hardware requirements).

Specialist pavilion at MWSF announced

The Apple Specialists Marketing Co-op (ASMC), representing 160 Apple Specialist Dealers and Service Providers, has announced its "Apple Specialist Pavilion" at Macworld Expo next week. Apple specialists from 25 states will be at booth no. 2225 from January 9-13, with exhibits, demonstrations and consultation space and including a theater with presentations every half hour. Several new products will be announced and exhibited in the booth during the show. Kevin O'Connor, color management guru, will be the featured presenter in the pavilion. Expected presentation include news and tips on Mac OS X server, XSAN storage solutions, Adobe Creative Suite 2.0, color management workflow solutions, and new Mac POS software from Xsilva. Vendor partners in the Pavilion include Actoris Software, AppleSauce Polish, Etchamac, EZQuest, Protective Solutions, Trans International, XSilva Systems, and X-Rite."Our theme this year is 'Problem Solved, to highlight the fact that Apple Specialists provide complete solutions -- not just products off the shelf."

Briefly: More iPod accessories at CES

In Brief: PodShop, makers of iPod accessories, today announced that in response to the U.S. Postal Service's rate increase that takes effect on January 8, the company will be offering free shipping on its products indefinitely.... A MacNN reader notes that Mac users are out of luck if they want to activate their XM Radio online as it requires the use of Internet Explorer running on Windows.... In addition the Nano-like SanDisk player noted earlier today, Samsung has also released a similarly thin, flash-based player.... Several new products for iPod owners have surfaced at CES in Las Vegas, including new Shure E500 headphones, new iPod-compatible car head units from Clarion, new RF-based remotes from Targus, new accessories from Kensington, iPod car accessories from Speck's new Electronics Division and several new products from Belkin, including its TuneBase FM devices, Sport Sleeve for Nano, TuneCommand AV, and TuneFM.

MediaBank Solo offers external storage

Miglia Technology today announced the MediaBank Solo, an external consumer storage solution available with an extended three year warranty. “MediaBank Solo ships pre-configured with Western Digital hard drives, known for their industry leading reliability. The combination of the robust and stylish case and WD drives puts MediaBank Solo in a class of its own. We are so confident about the quality and reliability of MediaBank Solo that we ship it with a 3 year warranty.” The MediaBank Solo is available storage capacities of 160GB and 300GB as well as in a case-only version. Made from impact-resistant aluminium, the case is used as a heatsink to keep the hard drive cool without the need for a fan. The Solo also features two FireWire 400 ports as well as a USB2.0 connector. Pricing for the is $200 (€100 ex. VAT) for the 160GB model and is $270 (€150) for the 300GB model. The case-only version is $100 (€50).

Rumors of Pixar sale to Disney resurface...

Rumors are circulating that Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney are on the brink of signing a megadeal, either the possible sale of Pixar to Disney or a new distribution pact between the two companies. Continuing talks have reportedly been migrating toward Disney acquiring all or part of Pixar, which would make Steve Jobs--CEO of Pixar and Apple Computer--a major Disney shareholder, and possibly the media giant's chairman. Some analysts have speculated that by selling Pixar, Jobs could focus on running Apple, while others doubt the executive is willing to sell even a part of Pixar, which he bought in 1986 from George Lucas for $10 million. Pixar's market value is now almost $7 billion, according to a report from bizjournals.com. [updated]

Annual Hess list for MWSF events

The annual events listing for Macworld Expo, which takes place next week, is now available: The Hess Memorial Events list, compiled by Ilene Hoffman, offers a comprehensive guide to the Expo, from booths at which prizes can be won, to parties and get-togethers, to the keynote address by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Jobs' address will kick off the Expo at 9:00 AM Tuesday morning, January 10, the ending event being the Mac Life Expo Wrap Up Panel on Friday, January 13 at 3:00 PM. The organizer said that the listing will be updated with more events as they are announced. Users can also view archived events from last year's Expo.

Skype 1.4 supports forwarding, iTunes

Skype has released a new update to its internet telephony application. Skype 1.4 brings a host of new features to the free software allowing anyone with an Internet connection to "make free Internet calls, stay in touch, and express themselves online." Version 1.4.35 can now forward calls to other Skype accounts or regular phones and pause iTunes automatically when you get a call. It also allow users to express themselves with mood messages. The company also added drag and drop support for adding contacts to chats and calls and new support for enhanced notifications with Growl, which notifies users of new messages and when users come on- and off-line. Skype 1.4 runs on Mac OS X 10.3 or later. The company also offers a Skype widget for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, which lets you dial calls, look up country codes and check calling rates.

Apple goes to court over Burst patents...

Apple has turned to the courts for relief, after patent licensing talks broke down with Burst.com. Burst on Thursday announced that it was sued in U.S. District Court in San Francisco by Apple for declaratory relief, alleging patent invalidity or non-infringement. The suit follows a breakdown in protracted negotiations for issuance of a license of Burst's patents to cover Apple's iPod and iTunes products, according to the company. The digital media patent dispute is, in part, over "faster-than-realtime" streaming technologies found in Apple's media player and iTunes Music Store for playback of videos and may also be related to other video distribution technology patents. Late last year, industry pundit Robert Cringely said that Apple would face patent (as well as technology) hurdles if it were to introduce a "storage locker service" to help store and distribute video.

SanDisk debuts 6GB Nano-like player...

SanDisk today a new iPod nano-like MP3 player. The top-of-the-line SanDisk Sansa e200 MP3 player features a large 1.8-inch color screen and 6GB of storage, and up to 256 hours of music playback. The device also allows users to view photos and personal videos. The company also introduced the Sansa c100, a value-conscious MP3 player with a color screen and compact size. Featuring a remarkable resemblance to the Nano, the company touts its industrial design and sports a click-wheel like interface as well as features a new "universal accessory connector" to help promote the proliferation of an accessory market. As with many clones, the player offers several features not available on the iPod, including a user-replaceable battery, an FM tuner with on-the-fly recording, an icon-based menu for navigation, and a microSD expansion slot for additional capacity and support for content cards that can be exchanged with mobile phones. The Nano-like player will be available in March in capacities of 2GB ($200), 4GB ($250), and 6G ($300).

Micromat debuts TechTool Protege

Micromat today announced TechTool Protege, a compact, bootable diagnostic and repair tool that contains the full-featured Macintosh troubleshooting program TechTool Pro, Micromat's disk partitioning program DiskStudio, as well as several other utilities on a compact, 1GB FireWire flash drive. Its tiny size makes it easy to carry at all times so that one can test and repair Macintosh computers--whenever the need arises. Leveraging the included software durable, solid state device can diagnose Macintosh hardware, diagnose and repair hard drive problems, optimize and defragment hard drive volumes, rebuild volume directories, recover data from damaged volumes, and partition hard drives without losing data as well as perform other diagnostic functiions TechTool Protege is available today and will be shown at the Macworld Expo. It is available for $230.

Apple fights 'spod' trademark...

Apple is reportedly moving aggressively to protect its 'pod' trademarks. According to a report on The Alarm Clock, Apple has filed a trademark infringement claim against a company that owns--but is not yet using--the term "spod". The Spodradio website claims to be the next-generation of mobile radio, enabling users to subscribe to podcasts on smartphones without the need to connect to a PC--and thus bypassing Apple's iTunes. The report says that Apple has filed a trademark infringement claim in a Hamburg-based civil court: "As a result the court decided to forbid Stuttgart-based Liquid Air Lab, the company behind Spodradio, to use the name Spod until the case comes to court. The firm is not using Spod at the moment but had filed a trademark claim along with 'spodradio' last fall, according to Liquid Air Lab's founder Mikko Linnamaeki.