Refurb Power Macs, Cinema Displays

Apple is offering refurbished Power Mac systems which include the G5 Dual 2GHz with 512MB of memory, a 160GB hard drive, and a 16X double-layer DVD-RW/CD-RW SuperDrive for $1,699 (a 16 percent savings); the G5 Dual 2.7GHz with 512MB of memory, a 250GB hard drive, and a 16X double-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW SuperDrive for $2,149 (a discount of 29 percent); the G5 Dual 2.3GHz dual-core with 512MB of memory, a 250GB hard drive, and a 16X double-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW SuperDrive for $2,149 (a 15 percent savings); and the G5 Quad 2.5GHz with 512MB of memory, a 250GB hard drive, and a 16X double-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW SuperDrive for $2,799 (16 percent off). The company is also selling its refurbished 20-inch Cinema Display for $599 (54 percent off), its 23-inch Cinema HD Display for $849 (58 percent off), and its 30-inch Cinema HD Display for $1,699 (49 percent off). All Apple-certified refurbished comes with free shipping and a standard one-year warranty.

Forums: Mac Pro Boot Camp, Prosumer Mac?

Forums roundup: Members are discussing the possibilities and pricing of a "prosumer" tower -- a "headless" computer between the iMac and Mac Pro.... Users discuss their experiences with Boot Camp on their Mac Pros and the limitations of 32-bit Windows while using a 64-bit processor.... Some are beginning to doubt the so-called "impending" release of Core 2 Duo-based Macs as WWDC came and went without any word from Apple.... A member looks for advice as to what Mac Pro to buy for his professional audio and graphical work, as well as the value actual of the extra 0.34GHz of the top end Mac Pro.... Meanwhile, members continue a debate on the topic of integrated graphics, discussing how to enhance them along with their possible future in Macs.

NASDAQ notifies AAPL of non-compliance...

Apple today received a letter from NASDAQ (NSDQ) notifying the company that it is incompliant with the tech stock exchange rules, and has requested a hearing before the NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel in response. "As anticipated, the letter was issued in accordance with NASDAQ procedures due to the delayed filing of the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended July 1, 2006," Apple wrote. "Pending a decision by the Panel, Apple shares will remain listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market."

Intel asks for ATI subpoena

Intel has asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware permission to serve ATI a subpoena, which the company hopes will bolster its antitrust case against rival AMD. Retrieving the documents may reveal how AMD's planned acquisition of ATI will affect Intel's ability to compete in the processor market, according to IDG News. The case began in June of 2005 when AMD filed an antitrust suit against Intel, alleging that the chip giant discouraged PC manufacturers as well as retailers from purchasing AMD chips with its dominance of the x86 microprocessor market.

Briefly: ExpressCard update; W3C draft

In brief: Apple has released ExpressCard Update 1.0, resolving an issue that prevented the system from sleeping when some cards were inserted in the ExpressCard/34 slot.... The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has published a draft of an updated graphics standard designed to allow mobile devices to display the same graphics as desktop systems.... MCE Technologies today announced that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Digiana to offer its iTube-201 FM Transmitter, Auto Charger, and Flexible Dock for the video iPod and iPod nano in the U.S., Japan, and Latin America.... Mobile.feisar.com has released nine new phone plug-ins for iSync 2.3 that enable synchronization of calendars as well as contacts with the Sony Ericsson K510, K610, K790, K800, V630, W300, W700, Z525 and Z550 mobile phones.... KRCS Leeds is planning to re-open its Merrion Street store as a new Apple Premium reseller on Saturday August 19th after a complete overhaul.

Rake In Grass releases Phantasia

Rake In Grass today released Phantasia for Mac, an arcade game featuring arcanoid-style action. "The cruel wizard used all his power and imprisoned all of the dwarves from a wonderful forest called Phantasia, in his strange tower in the abandoned mountains. You are the only one who can rescue all of the dwarves from the wizard's tower." The game features 30 unique levels, different bonuses for saving dwarves, coins that raise the score, colorful hand-drawn graphics, and original music. Phantasia requires Mac OS X 10.2 or later, and is available via Macgamestore.com for $20.

Steve Wozniak to drive to South Pole

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak is planning to drive a Hummer H1 powered by hydrogen fuel cells from the McMurdo Station in Ross Island, Antarctica, to the South Pole. 'Woz' made the announcement at Stanford's AlwaysOn Conference in late July, according to leftlanenews. Wozniak's vehicle will be co-piloted by Buzz Aldrin, the former astronaut who walked on the moon in 1969, and the trip will be part of a research expedition slated for December of 2007. The expedition is to be filmed in 3D for the director James Cameorn.

Ars reviews Mac Pro, scores 9 of 10

Ars Technica has received its 'base' model Mac Pro (2.66GHz/1GB RAM), and has posted a comprehensive review of the system. Despite the case exterior's similarity to the Power Mac G5, inside it's "downright spacious in there." Ars removed parts from the system that wouldn't void the warranty, showing off the technology inside the Mac Pro as well as the user-replaceable Xeon processor. The review also offers some interesting benchmarks which include Adobe Photoshop and a Windows vs. Mac test. Overall, the Mac Pro received a 9 out of 10 with problems limited to the 'underpowered' graphics card, a poor software bundle, lack of Bluetooth, and its "large and heavy" enclosure.

Warning issued for Windows flaw

Despite a recent patch to Windows, some experts still believe a vulnerability exists that could cause "massive damage" to insecure systems. According to Electronista, the vulnerability exists in every version of Windows from 2000 through to Server 2003, and could allow major denial-of-service attacks as well as other damage if users fail to patch their systems and use a firewall. The issue is serious enough for the Department of Homeland Security to issue a warning, saying that a worm could potentially hurt business and government infrastructure.

OWC ships Mac Pro memory kits...

Other World Computing has begun shipping its new fully buffered DIMM (FB-DIMM) 667MHz DDR2 72-bit ECC (error correcting) memory upgrade kits for Mac Pro. The kits include matched pairs of FB-DIMM modules that comply with Apple's specifications, which are more demanding than standard JEDEC requirements and include the use of Apple Qualified heat spreaders. The kits start at $560 for two 1GB modules and up to $4,800 for eight 2GB modules. The 1GB modules feature same day shipping, while 2GB modules ship in six days. As with other OWC memory, the new kits include a 30-day money-back guarantee and OWC's "Lifetime" advance replacement warranty. [Image included]

Apps: myNotes, Yasu, Password Generator

• myNotes 1.3 ($20) allows users to create, organize, share notes, and more. The update adds an automatic updater, improved printing options allowing users to edit or print notes without reformatting them, improved performance, and several minor bug fixes. MyNotes requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later. [Download - 3.3MB]


• Yasu 1.3.9 (free) performs specific group maintenance tasks with a few clicks, rather than typing shell script commands into the Terminal. Version 1.3.9 fixes a bug on Intel machines that prevented certain PowerPC-based applications from launching after running Yasu. The update also adds Danish localization, fixes links in the help files, and includes several minor bug fixes. Yasu 1.3.9 requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later with the default BSD subsystems installed. [Download - 940KB]


• Mac Password Generator 1.0 (free) is designed to improve user security by generating strong passwords with simple options and fixed lengths. The application generates dictionary-based passwords (which are less secure but easier to remember) as well as random passwords. Generated passwords allow letters, numbers, dashes, spaces, underscores, and letters. Version 1.0 requires Mac OS X 10.3 or later. [Download - 243KB]


• SQLiteManager 2.1.4 ($40) allows users to manage SQLite databases with a "next generation" user interface that includes 'Instal Query' searching as well as full SQLite2 and SQLite3 support. Version 2.1.4 fixes a bug that occurred when trying to set a column to NULL, improves CSV as well as Custom imports, and enhances the ALTER TABLE command. SQLiteManager 2.1.4 requires Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later. [Download - 5.5MB]


• LANrev 3.1.1 (unknown) is a LAN manager that collects and reports details about user systems and software. The application monitors software licenses, manages distribution as well as installation of applications, updates and patches installed software; and enables administrators to remotely configure all managed systems. The update corrects dual-core Intel Xeon processor recognition to correctly identify new Mac Pro systems, and introduces several minor bug fixes. LANrev requires Mac OS X 10.3 or later. [Download - Form]

Analyst: Apple SEC filing is routine...

Apple's announcement that its July earnings were significantly different from the year-ago quarter will not likely result in changes to revenues just reported, according to UBS analyst Ben Reitzes. "We just spoke to Apple about this confusing statement, which was an answer to a year-over-year comparison question required by the SEC - this comment refers to 3Q06 versus 3Q05," Reitzes said. "However, we believe there will be a 'tug-of-war' for shares near-term as investors balance solid fundamentals for upcoming products with concerns over options backdating, restatements and the potential impact on Steve Jobs." The filing reference to the July quarter (FY3Q) is required by the SEC because of significant changes in revenue and earnings from the year-ago quarter.

Adobe releases Universal Flash Player 9

Adobe today released a final version of Adobe Flash Player 9, its next generation of the high-performance, lightweight client for Apple's Intel-based Macs. The company claims Flash Player 9 achieves up to 10 times faster performance, displaying content created with Adobe's Macromedia Flash authoring tool including high-impact Website user interfaces, Flash videos and animations, and rich internet applications created using Adobe Flex 2. Flash is installed on over 600 million internet-connected personal computers and mobile devices worldwide, according to the company. Flash Player 9 features ActionScript 3.0, an object-oriented ECMAScript-compliant programming language, as well as a new ActionScript Virtual Machine (AVM) featuring a Just In Time (JIT) compiler that translates ActionScript bytecode to native machine code for maximum execution speed. Until today, the company has offered a beta version for Intel-based Macs. Adobe Flash Player 9 for Apple's Intel-based Macs is available immediately as a free download.

Torque Game Builder 1.1.1 released

GarageGames has released Torque Game Builder 1.1.1, an update to the easy-to-use game editor for Mac OS X. Torque Game Builder features animated sprites, flexible tiles, a special effects system, state-of-the-art collision, real world physics, and hardware-accelerated 2D rendering. Major changes in version 1.1.1 include tile layer editing in the level builder, editor add-on support, layer Y-sorting support for isometric games, and user interface workflow improvements. The update adds default config datablocks to image maps as well as animations, offers managed brushes, adds design resolution to t2dSceneGraph quick edit, and more. Torque Game Builder Pro is priced at $1,250, or $250 for Indie developers, while Torque Game Builder is priced at $500, or $100 for Indies and hobbyists (system requirements were unavailable).

MS Zune to have limited WiFi at $299

Offering more details the forthcoming Microsoft media player, Electronista.com reports that its Zune player will have limited WiFi capabitilities, allowing users to bookmark songs through shared wireless connectivity; however, purchasing a song will require a connection to a PC. In addition, the publication reports that the player will ship in three colors and the "iPod killer" will be aggressively price around $300 to compete with Apple's 30GB iPod video, although it will likely sport a larger color screen: "With the Zune player's Fall launch timeframe rapidly approaching, retail stores need to know what they can sell and what to promote when the hardware is finally ready. This is why sources in retail now have additional information beyond what little Microsoft has made public. First is the price: despite claims that the Zune would ship for $399 due to its features, the most recent update puts the price on par with Apple's current 30 GB iPod, which sells for $299. This may well be impressive given that the production player should have a bigger screen than the iPod."

Samsung ups flash production for AAPL

Samsung has reportedly begun converting roughly 4 percent of its current 12-inch wafer production capacity from DRAM to NAND flash memory to prepare for Apple's memory needs. The company began enacting the changes last month, according to DigiTimes, converting an estimated 8,000 wafers per month. The transition signals a 1 percent drop in global DRAM supply as Samsung prepares to fill Apple orders, which may lead to further DRAM price increases. Sources also expect Samsung to continue capacity transition in the future, according to the report.

tribalmedia aquires iShell software app

tribalmedia today announced that it has acquired the media software suite iShell from Tribeworks, and will immediately begin marketing, selling, and supporting iShell. iShell is a software tool for Windows and Mac OS X that allows developers to rapidly create secure, interactive, multiplatform CD and DVD-ROMs. The product is also used to create other types of multimedia applications such as kiosks, digital signage, and standalone Internet applications. Matt Veenstra, president and head engineer of tribalmediam, has served as head engineer of Tribeworks for the past five years. According to Veenstra, Tribeworks' current support and engineering teams will make up tribalmedia's core team. "This is a great move for everyone involved," Veenstra said. "iShell is the primary authoring tool for many developers all over the world, and now iShell is supported by a company that intimately understands and cares about the needs of the iShell user base."

Ignore this one

• myNotes 1.3 ($20) allows users to create, organize and share notes along with the ability to take clippings, track to-do lists, and write a book. The update adds an automatic updater, improved printing options to allow users to their created notes print notes without reformatting them, improved performance, and several minor bug fixes. MyNotes requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later and is available in English, German and French localizations. [Download - 3.3MB]


• Yasu 1.3.9 (free) was originally created for System Administrators who service large groups and was named "Yet Another System Utility." Yasu performs specific group maintenance tasks with a few clicks, instead of typing shell script commands into the Terminal. Version 1.3.9 fixes a bug on Intel machines that would prevent certain PPC based apps from launching after running Yasu and also adds a Danish localization, fixes links in the help files, and adds several minor bug fixes. This release requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later with the default BSD subsystems installed. [Download - 940KB]


• Mac Password Generator 1.0 (free) helps to improves the security of users by allowing them to generate strong passwords with simple options and length fixing. This initial release features dictionary-based generation and fixed length passwords. Both passwords are random and can include numbers, dashes, spaces, underscores, and letters. Version 1.0 requires Mac OS X 10.3 or later. [Download - 243KB]


• SQLiteManager 2.1.4 ($40) allows users manages SQLite databases in OS X with a "next generation" GUI including 'Instal Query' searching and full SQLite2 and SQLite3 support. Version 2.1.4 fixes a bug that occurred when trying to set a column to NULL, improves CSV and Custom imports, and enhances the ALTER TABLE command. Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later is required -- currently version 1.x users receive $14 off version 2.x. [Download - 5.5MB]


• LANrev 3.1.1 (No list price) is a LAN manager which collects and reports details about the users computers and software; monitors software licenses; manages distribution and installation of applications, updates and patches installed software; and lets the adminstrator remotely configure all managed systems. The update corrects Dual-core Intel Xeon processors recognition, new Mac Pro computers are now correctly identified, and several minor bugs were fixed. LANrev requires Mac OS X 10.3 or later. [Download - Form]

Apple CEO discusses iPhone

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has reportedly been discussing his "iPhone" -- which is believed by many to be under development by the tight-lipped company. One person familiar with Jobs' excited discussions believes he has approved the release of prototype cell phones to at least two potential OEM manufacturing partners in recent months, according to AppleInsider. The phone designs are believed to conform to Apple's integrated model, according to the source, leveraging the company's tight-knit digital media franchises. A second informant spoke of increasing excitement surrounding the phone. The informant, who has religiously proved reliable about predicting Apple's future in the Music industry, said the device will debut earlier than expected in the form of a "big bang" introduction that will surprise even insiders, according to the report.