Tech Industry

From the Joy of Tech we’ve got a funny little cartoon which says a lot about our opinion of that HP laptop she picked. 

That isn’t to say there aren’t some good, inexpensive PCs out there. Here’s the best we’ve seen in awhile and it is 1/2 the cost of that HP.

http://foxnews1.a.mms.mavenapps.net/mms/rt/1/site/foxnews1-foxnews-pub01-live/current/videolandingpage/fncLargePlayer/client/embedded/embedded.swf

via MDN

We went to BestBuy (.com) and shopped around for a $699 HP 17-inch laptop, just like the one in that Microsoft Ad.  Here’s what we found:

Let’s break down what you get below:

AMD Turion™ X2 RM-72,  This isn’t going to be folding protein ladies and gentleman.

4GB DDR2 memory  Netbook speed RAM!  Now in a Notebook!

17" WXGA+ high-definition widescreen display With BrightView technology and 1440 x 900 resolution (Like the 2003 Powerbook!) Sony’s Vaio P pocket computer has higher resolution.

ATI RADEON HD 3200 graphics RS780M
Features up to 1918MB shared graphics memory.  Shared Graphics! 

G Wireless and 100Mb Ethernet.  That is so 2005!

Weighs 7.8 lbs. and measures just 1.7" thin That is almost double the thickness of Apples offering and a pound heavier.

Good battery life Of up to 2 hours and 30 minutes.  That isn’t good.

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (Cringe)

Software package included
With HP MediaSmart, Microsoft Works, muvee Reveal, Cyberlink DVD Suite and more. 60-day trial of Microsoft Office 2007 Student and Teacher Edition and 60-day trial of Norton Internet Security 2009 also included.  Also 300 crapware applications installed for free!

The point?  The comparison isn’t a good one.

According to MobileToday, Apple is in the final stages of negotiations to sell their MacBooks subsidized through Orange (presumably in the UK) with a mobile broadband card.  More interestingly, they expect Apple to release a notebook (or netbook) with built in Mobile Broadbnd at some point this summer.

Currently, O2 is the exclusive carrier of Apple iPhone products in the UK, however Orange in France did have a subsidized MacBook fixed line deal previously.  The Boy Genius hinted that AT&T might offer an Apple Netbook subsidized by AT&T at some point this summer as well.

From MobileToday:

Orange will sell Apple laptops on its network from this summer, and will be the first company to subsidise Apple’s laptops with mobile broadband.

A deal is understood to be close to completion, with the details being finalised ahead of availability of the MacBook on Orange.

The operator has tested the laptops with its mobile broadband dongles and is understood to have made a volume commitment with Apple.

It is believed that senior Orange officials are hoping the laptop deal will be a stepping stone to the operator securing a distribution deal for future Apple laptops, which include built-in mobile broadband from an embedded Sim card.

Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise.  You want this camera.  The Canon EOS Rebel T1i which was rumored for awhile, leaked by CNet yesterday and revealed this morning by Canon contains $1500 50D‘s sensor and 5D-Mark-II-like 1080p video capture (only 20 frames per second with mono sound – boo!) yet only retails for $899.  It also comes in the smaller Rebel casing so you can fit it in your purse European carry-all. 

Official press release
Reviews: Gizmodo, Engadget, CNet, DPReview

You can keep hitting refresh on Amazon’s page until they get stock.

http://www.cnet.com/av/video/flv/universalPlayer/universalSmall.swf

http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=thepartim-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B001XURPQI&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr

Do you mourn the loss of the 17-inch iMac?  Think Apple needs to have a lower cost of entry for its iMac line?   Do you know someone in Education who might be able to hook you up with a discount?  SetteB.IT found a little tidbit in the latest Apple Education email…  Apple discontinued the 17 inch iMac in 2006 but kept selling the 17 inch white version to education.  Could this be a holdover from that?

Is this the old 17 inch from way back?  Or is this a new one?  Or maybe just a typo.  So many questions…

via giz

   
March 2009
 

Opportunities for Integrating Technology with Your Institution’s Goals
Download Apple’s white paper that explains the education funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, and highlights opportunities for integrating technology strategically in education-related programs.
Leaders & Administrators
IT Professionals
Teachers & Professors

The New iMac line
The new 20-inch and 24-inch iMac deliver a 30 percent larger display, twice the memory, and twice the storage. The new iMac line also includes a 17-inch model starting at $899.
ARRA of 2009 Solutions: K-12
The ARRA of 2009 dedicates more than $100 billion for K-12 and higher education and includes funds for state stabilization, school construction, and federal programs such as Title I, Title II-D, and IDEA. Download the pdf to learn more.
Notebook Program on Campus
“One of my greatest surprises… was the faculty’s response to the training,” says Mark Parker, Dean, Bass School of Music, Oklahoma City University. “They picked times [for training] that I would never have picked, like right after exams in December before Christmas.” View the video.

Tune-in IT Webcast Series
Learn more about Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server through this series of webcasts. Topics include Compatibility and Integration, Built-in Features and Applications, Integration and Virtualization, Collaboration and Podcasting, and Client Management and Deployment.
Starting a Campuswide Notebook Program
Hear from CIO Isis Jones at Full Sail University and others about how to start your own notebook initiative on campus. View the video.

Mac Pro: The Fastest Mac Ever
Featuring Intel “Nehalem” Xeon processors running at speeds up to 2.93GHz, the new Mac Pro delivers up to twice the performance of the previous generation Mac Pro.

ARRA of 2009 Solutions: Higher Education
The ARRA of 2009 includes funds for NSF and NIH research and lab modernization, and federal Title II preservice teacher grants. Learn what stimulus funds are available for Apple solutions.
The New Mac mini: Extra Small, Extra Green
Starting at $549, the new Mac mini is an innovative, tiny desktop that measures just 6.5 by 6.5 by 2 inches. It’s also the world’s most energy efficient desktop, drawing less than 13 watts of power when idle.
* Claim based on energy efficiency categories and products listed within the EPA ENERGY STAR 4.0 database as of February 2009.
Field Trip to the Apple Store
Take your K-12 students on a Field Trip to an Apple Retail Store where they can create something amazing right on the spot. Or they can bring in and show off a project they’ve already created.

iTunes U
 
Apps for Education

Math Snacks Learning Animations (Grades 6-8)
These short animations are designed to help learners “get it.” Each snack presents a math concept and is ideal for use in the classroom or at home.

Project Learning
Edutopia presents a collection of content on Project Learning, a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges.

WGBH Teachers’ Domain
This free digital library is designed to advance educators’ teaching skills and enhance their students’ learning experiences. Companion educator guides are also available.

As We May Teach
Join Dr. Ruben Puentedura as he discusses hands-on approaches that transform research into teaching practice in education technology.

Declaration
Students can study U.S. history with the Declaration of Independence app which includes historical notes, images of the original document, and historical biographies.

New York Times
Perfect to take with you on the go. Access the latest news, photos, and world events with the The New York Times mobile app.

eNews for Education, March 2009
Event dates are subject to change. Some products, programs, or promotions are not available outside the U.S. Visit your local Apple site or call your local authorized Apple reseller for more information. Prices are estimated retail prices and are listed in U.S. dollars. Product specifications are subject to change.
Copyright © 2009 Apple Inc. 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, CA 95014.
All Rights Reserved / Keep Informed / Privacy Policy / My Info
If you prefer not to receive commercial email from Apple, or if you’ve changed your email address, please click here.
 

You’ve got to hand it to them.  They might not have a chance in hell of existing at the end of the year but they sure seem to be playing the business as usual face pretty well.  In the midst of a huge lawsuit with one of the world’s biggest (and litigious) companies, Psystar is forging ahead with new products.  Their new compact desktop, which is cheaper than Apple but more expensive than a DIY type of machine, is now available to consumers through its website.  They even include the self-depreciating caption: "Sexier: Ummm, no comment".  Psystar certainly know their prospective customers.

Frankly, most of the Hackintosh community has been focused on NetBooks lately (Everyone at SXSW seemed to have a Hackintosh netbook), but Psystar continues to exist selling desktop computers.  We don’t know how many customers they have but they certainly have cajones.

Silver (MB867) and Black 4Gb iPod Shuffles?  Surely you jest! New Dock and cable..Oh, and an audio based menu system like on the Nano?  Perhaps…

We’re not sure how many are affected or across how many parts of the business this goes, but Apple is doing layoffs, at least in Apple Enterprise Sales.  We’ve got two separate reports that a few heads (50?) are rolling. 

It doesn’t look like Apple is entirely immune to the economic downturn. 

This was first reported by Vallywag yesterday and confirmed today.  However, SAI talked to Apple PR who’ve recently been accused of having "issues with the truth" who denied everything.  Whether Apple chooses to call these "layoffs" or "downsizing" or whatever, a few people are now jobless. :(

Update: Macrumors forum member Mr.X posted the following more realistic but less exciting specs for Mac Pros:

ATI RADEON HD 4870 graphics card [So much for NVIDIA love affair]
MAC PRO 2.26_8CX/6X1G/640/GT120/SD-USA
MAC PRO 2.66QCX/3X1GB/640/GT120/SD-USA

All part numbers listed below:

Engadget’s anonymous tipster threw out these slightly unbelievable specs on the soon to be new Mac Pro: 

The Mac Pro will come in eight-core configurations from 3.0GHz to 3.6GHz and 16-core configurations in 3.6GHz and 4.0GHz flavors, and it sounds like it’s going to be even funkier on the video tip — our tipster says it has two regular DVI ports and a mini DisplayPort. Sure, okay. It’s also apparently a bit lighter than the current model, at 35 pounds instead of 42.

Only 35 pounds and 16 cores?  Who can’t get excited about that?  While these are unbelievable, Apple, in the past, has had access to new Intel hardware before anyone else.

 iMac’s
MB417LL/A – IMAC 20" 2.66/2GB/320GB/SD/MSE/KB-USA
MB418LL/A – IMAC 24" 2.66/4GB/640/SD/MSE/KB-USA
MB419LL/A – IMAC 24" 2.93/4GB/640/256/SD/MSE/KB-USA
MB420LL/A – IMAC 24" 3.06/4GB/1TB/512/SD/MSE/KB-USA

GRAPHICS CARD
MB999LL/A – ATI RADEON HD 4870 512MB

When it comes to Cloud computing, we are definitely Google Apps fans but many people who have a better eye for design than us are MobileMe’ers.  To them, Apple sent a warm email (cut below) this week announcing that MobileMe is finally able to Push email, calendar, etc. services out.  It has been a long recovery since the original MobileMe launch last year but it seems like everything is coming around.  Maybe we’ll consider migrating from Google Apps?  Nah!

Faster syncing with Mac and PC. Changes you make to contacts and calendars on your Mac (Address Book and iCal) or PC (Microsoft Outlook) are now automatically pushed up to the cloud every time you make an update. Likewise, changes you make on me.com, iPhone, or iPod touch are automatically pushed to your Mac or PC. As a result, your contacts and calendars update faster across all your devices. To take advantage of faster syncing, be sure you’re running Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.6 (Mac) or MobileMe Control Panel 1.3 (Windows).

via Giz

Engadget China has the low down on some FUGLY-looking new laptops from MSI that could be considered bad MacBook Air knockoffs.  Funny thing: the name is the X Slime.  Nice!

OMG, VGA.  But I guess HDMI makes up for that.

We’re actually big fans of the Pre but this was kinda funny to us:

Thanks Peter!

MacBlogz points us to an amazingly good interview with Marc Andreesson by the best in the business, Charlie Rose. If you need a refresher on Marc Andreeson (shame on you) we’ve pasted Wikipedia’s rundown below.

http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-3628271656800759125&hl=en&fs=true

Oh, and they mention Apple and the iPhone a few times along the way along with postulation of a 7-inch iPhone type device that will challenge the Kindle. 

Best interview we’ve seen in years. 

Marc Andreessen (born July 9, 1971, in Cedar Falls, Iowa and raised in New Lisbon, Wisconsin, United States) is known as an entrepreneur, investor, startup coach, blogger, and a multi-millionaire software engineer best known as co-author of Mosaic, the first widely-used web browser, and founder of Netscape Communications Corporation.[1] He was the chair of Opsware, a software company he founded originally as Loudcloud, when it was acquired by Hewlett-Packard. He is also a co-founder of Ning, a company which provides a platform for social-networking websites. As of June 30, 2008, he is said to be joining the Board of Directors of Facebook. On September 30, 2008, it was announced that he had joined the Board of Directors of eBay. Andreessen is a frequent keynote speaker and guest at Silicon Valley conferences.

The Hackintosh phenomenon seems to be going mainstream.  Gizmodo did a headline story today on making a Dell Mini 9 ($245) into a working Macintosh.  This is not just some proof of concept but something that actually works well (at least on the throne according to the author, John Mahoney).  Boing Boing has been all over this for a few months and there was the Wired MSI Wind instructional webpage that Apple asked be shut down.   It is everywhere and people are using these devices as work tools.  People who use them, just like John Mahoney, swear by them.

We’d have to agree.  From our experience, the finished product actually works out pretty well. (We have a HP Mini 1000 and what should be the best/fastest  Netbook Hackintosh of them all, an EEE Mini 1000HE en route).

Is this really wrong? 

That depends a lot on how it is done, where you live and your view on the Apple EULA.  The EULA specifically says you are not to put the Mac OS on anything that isn’t a Mac.  Pretty cut and dry no?  Not exactly.  The Psystar case is currently being tried to see if that clause is legitimate/enforceable in the US.   PearC computers in Germany seem to think that in Germany, once you buy a computer and some software, they are yours to do what you want with (can you use the DVD as a weapon like a ninja star?).  Apple hasn’t yet taken them on. 

It is hard to argue that going out, buying a Leopard DVD and using it to install Mac OSX on your computer can be wrong.  We’re sure many of you won’t see it that way and will put nasty things in the comments.  To each, their own.

Realistically speaking, most hackers are probably downloading the hacked version of OSX Leopard off of a torrent.  There is no doubt that this is illegal and immoral.  Would they pay $140 to do this legitimately?  Perhaps.

So maybe we should ask: Why does it exist?  Why aren’t people just happy buying an Apple laptop (or desktop)?  Why do they want to go and buy a competitor’s laptop (usually paying a Microsoft Tax on it) and going through all of the trouble of hacking the bootloader and installing an OS on there that its developers don’t want you to install and usually pay a bunch of money doing so.  In the mean time they are throwing out your copy of Windows XP that they own and legitimately belongs on the machine.

Sure OSX is better than Windows.  But is it that much better on a Netbook?  Sort of.  For us, we’re used to OSX and switching mindsets when going to the Windows Netbook is tedious.  We use Windows in VirtualBox when necessary on our Macs but it isn’t our preference.  We’d imagine there are a lot of others out there like us.

So, why not buy an additional Mac?  Apple doesn’t make one anywhere near the form factor of a Netbook.  Sure the Air is thin, but the footprint is as big as a MacBook and more than twice the area of a small Netbook.  The EEE fits into the front pocket of a backpack or a woman’s purse.  It is also not too worrying if it breaks, it costs less than a quarter of what a MacBook Air costs.  These are important realities, especially when everyone is pinching pennies these days. 

So right or wrong, Apple’s fault for not making the hardware, Microsoft’s fault for not making good enough software, it really doesn’t matter.  The economics are there, the market is there and it really it isn’t that difficult, and frankly, it is kinda cool. 

Unless something drastically changes, Hackintoshes are only going to become more popular.

ARM had a few separate announcements this morning in Barcelona.  The first was that its partners had ramped up its Cortex A8 processor production and would have chips in production soon.  This class of chip  (TI OMAP3) is what the upcoming (TI OMAP3 series) Palm Pre, Archos, and Toshiba (Qualcomm Snapdragon) phones will have inside.   We’ll likely this type of chip in 2009 iPhones.

In addition, with the help of Sony Erricsson/Silicon Partners, ARM will be demonstrating multi-core processor Cortex A9 processor technology that will be used in 2010 running SymbianOS.

The company said it will show a low-power Cortex chip manufactured using IBM’s 32-nanometer process that could bring features like full 1080p high-definition video to smartphones while drawing less power.

The chip will be shown at the GSMA Mobile World Congress, held in Barcelona from Monday to Thursday. Samples of the chip will appear in early 2010, while devices based on the chip could appear later that year, said James Bruce, manager of North American mobile solutions.

While everyone would like to see a multi-core iPhone this year, it doesn’t appear likely. But that doesn’t mean Apple doesn’t have big ARM plans…

ARM even took the wraps off of its 2011 processor technology, dubbed "Sparrow"

BARCELONA—ARM, the company that has designed most of the processors in mobile phones, on Monday announced a new, low-cost processor called "Sparrow" at the Mobile World Congress trade show. The company said it is aiming to conquer the netbook market with its multi-core Cortex A9 architecture.

The power of Cortex-A8 and A9 also opens up the netbook space to ARM, Bryant said. So far, the netbook world has been dominated by processors compatible with Intel’s x86 instruction set. That’s in part because the most popular OS for netbooks is Microsoft Windows XP, which will not run on ARM chips.

http://www.theonion.com/content/themes/common/assets/videoplayer2/flvplayer.swf
 

Damn, that kid is cute but if you think editing and emailling photos is as easy in Vista as it is in iPhoto, we have some nice "bridgey" real estate you may be interested in.  Perhaps that 9 year old Microsoft Certified Engineer helped her out.

http://images.video.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:533e05d2-9f12-4a86-bdda-efd0455fcd36&showPlaylist=true&from=shared" _fcksavedurl="http://video.msn.com/?playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:533e05d2-9f12-4a86-bdda-efd0455fcd36&showPlaylist=true&from=shared" target="_new" title="Kylie">Video: Kylie</a>

According to the New York Times, Apple, led of course by Steve Jobs, is now pushing its weight around in negotiations with the record labels.  They admittedly are a bit afraid of Apple

In interviews, several high-level music executives, who spoke on the condition that they not be named to avoid angering Apple, said they operated in fear of Apple’s removing a label’s products from the iTunes store over a disagreement, even though that has never happened. The labels do not have much leverage in negotiating with Apple.

Of course even in vacation mode, Steve Jobs is still running the show.

…All the labels agreed except Sony Music. Its chairman, Mr. Schmidt-Holtz, wanted the pricing to go into effect right after the announcement, while Mr. Jobs wanted a longer time horizon. According to a person briefed on the telephone call, Mr. Schmidt-Holtz and Mr. Jobs had a heated exchange by phone on Christmas Eve. Eventually, Sony gave in and agreed to a longer waiting period. (So much for spending the holidays relaxing with the fam?)

Even without Jobs, in the negotiating, Apple still holds the upper hand and plays their cards well.

Even if Mr. Jobs does not get personally involved in future negotiations, music executives still fear dealing with Apple. One chit the company holds is the power of the iTunes home page, where it promotes music. They also say that the entire Apple staff, including Eddie Cue, the vice president in charge of iTunes who handles the relationships with the record labels, do their best to follow Mr. Jobs’s style in their own negotiating.

The final results seem to be pretty good for consumers.  Higher quality songs without DRM.

via Apple2.0

UPDATE: Looks like google has taken the carnage down.

We love the Google street view cam, especially out in the rural areas where things get "Deliverance".  But we feel sorry for Bambi, who paid the ultimate price for our voyeurism.  To see how it all went down, Click here.  Move forward a few slides, then look what destruction we have wrought.  A moment of silence please.

Macworld reports that Intel is set to reveal its first eight-core processor at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in San Francisco next month.  The ISSCC program reveals that Intel will discuss an "eight-core, 16-thread Xeon processor manufactured with a 45-nanometer process".

Yes, we are hoping to see these in Mac Pros and XServes.  The timing could be the reason Apple is waiting to release the new Mac Pros.  Macworld speculates that it could be the Tylersburg Platform.

The timing of the presentation suggests the eight-core Xeon processor is likely to be the Nehalem EP processor, an upcoming chip that is designed for dual-socket servers and workstations. This segment of the Xeon line is due for a refresh, and the Nehalem EP processor is scheduled to be released during early 2009.

Like other Nehalem chips, the Nehalem EP chips will include an integrated memory controller and use Intel’s Quick Path Interconnect (QPI), which replaces the front-side bus and allows more data to flow between the processors and other components in the computer, speeding up the computer’s overall performance.

Intel declined to comment on the Xeon processor specifically.