Apple will be revamping its portable line of computers sometime this week. The forthcoming announcement will give way to new versions of the company's PowerBook G4 line, as well as speed-bumped consumer iBooks.
Since our previous report on Merlot, otherwise known as Mac OS X 10.2.2, Apple's Mac OS X Update team has spun-out four builds of the OS upgrade. The last, Mac OS X 10.2.2 6F19, was seeded to developers last Friday evening.
Sources indicate that a revision to Apple\'s portable lines is on the horizon and will likely arrive during the next two weeks — possibly on November 5. Details are sparse at this point, but the updates are said to be relatively minor, consisting of speed bumps and a possible increase in hard drive capacity. Talk of Bluetooth being added on-board to the PowerBook G4 has also been heard.
Last Thursday, Apple seeded developers with the 4th external build of Mac OS X v10.2.2. The update is code-named \"Merlot\" and provides stability improvements and updates to Mac OS X\'s Address Book, Launch Services, AppleEvents, File Manager, and Mail services. Core Audio and Graphics advancements have also been implemented in the release, along with updates to the Mac OS X kernel, FireWire and QuickDraw.
SlapTech has acquired the rights to use the appleinsider.com domain from MacNN.com. We'll be posting new content even before the DNS transfer is complete (should be a few weeks), but will continue to use their servers until we can find a stable host provider to host our own domain (and handle the traffic for a reasonable price). We have already taken down their ads from the forums area and will be completing an upgrade to vBulletin (php-based forums) in the next few weeks. We're glad to be back and have the new domain. Please feel free to pass the dirt. Kasper Jade, former Editor in Chief of AppleInsider.com, has agreed to join SlapTech.com team in forming the new AppleInsider.com publication. He will once again assume the position of AppleInsider's head honcho. Readers and sources may send news tips and insider info to kasper@appleinsider.com until a revised contact page is established. Your host, Slash Senior Editor, AppleInsider (Formally of SlapTech.com)
If you plan to watch Apple's broadcast of the Macworld Expo opening keynote tomorrow, grab yourself a copy of QuickTime 6.0 before Apple's server-load increases. Apple's release of QuickTime 6.0 two days prior to MacWorld expo was literally a "slip-up," sources said. "It all happened suddenly," says one source, "while Worldwide Sales and Operations front man, Timothy Cook, was heading back to his office from a visit to the john." While apparently flailing his arms and bickering loudly about the back-splatter effect caused by the company's new industrial sized urinal cakes, "he failed to notice the remains of a honey-glazed donut resting on the floor of walkway just adjacent to the water fountain." Cook "stepped right in it," sources said, and it sent him hurtling towards the webmaster cubicles, through the paneling and into webmaster Sol Rosenburg, who then accidentally hit the "Return" key and published the software to Apple's website. Of course not... According to extremely reliable sources, Apple will stream the Macworld keynote in MPEG4 format tomorrow, and hence the early release of the MPEG4 enhanced QuickTime 6 software. This will be Steve Jobs' opportunity to boast about the company's new streaming media software without saying anything at all, but we all know he will anyway. QuickTime 5 and prior users be cautioned, rumor has it that Apple has no plans to offer a non-MPEG4 stream. Grab your copy of QuickTime 6.0 now.
For the past two weeks, Apple\'s Jaguar development team has been pumping builds of the new operating system out of Cupertino faster than sources could download and report on them individually. Today marked the release of build 6C98, which includes a virtually nonexistent list of known issues. This is the build expected to be demonstrated at tomorrow\'s keynote presentation by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. On the other hand, the build that has been pre-loaded on many of the company\'s exhibit machines is rumored to be build 6C92, the first to include the MPEG4 enhanced iTunes 3.0 software as part of Apple\'s seeding process. Screenshots:About; Airport SW Base Station; Sherlock; System Prefs Jaguar is now ahead of Apple\'s previously announced release schedule, but contrary to a CNET report published two weeks ago, builds of Jaguar have not slowed from 2 seedings a week, they have actually increased drastically. A new build of Jaguar has appeared daily for the last two weeks. Above are some screenshots of build 6C82, containing images of Jaguar\'s AirPort Software base-station, Sherlock 3, and more.
According to sources, the buzz over Apple\'s rumored 17" iMac is true, but this is not the case for the company\'s Power Mac G4 line. Tomorrow, Apple is expected to add a steeply priced 17" model to their iMac offerings, but the Power Mac G4 line is said to go literally unmentioned in terms of upgrades. The big news on Power Mac revisions will come during a press event on August 13th sources said, but it is pointless to talk about that right now. Look for news on Power Macs sometime next week when all the dust and controversy over the upcoming expo has settled and been swept away.
Microsoft will make a splash at this year\'s MacWorld expo, according to sources, but unfortunately they won\'t drown. The software giant will make announcements pertaining to new 802.11b wireless networking products, a media version of Windows XP, and the fact that they\'ve caused the general public more frustration than the Nazis, Al-Queda, and Roseanne Barr, combined. Yet un-noted, however, is that the company plans to release a Macintosh version of their Remote Desktop Client. Personally, we don\'t feel like saying much about it. Propaganda pertaining to the announcements will be spammed across all our favorite news outlets before we know it anyway.
Apple\'s iPod MP3 Player has been a smash hit with Macintosh users since the day it was introduced, as well as receiving some of the industry\'s most cherished design awards. Sales have far surpassed company expectations, with over 200,000 units being shipped to date. The computer maker moved 125,000 iPods in the first fiscal quarter of 2002, alone. Still, industry analysts question if these figures are as high as they could be. The iPod Player interfaces with Apple\'s iTunes MP3 software, which allows users to rip, encode, and then transfer MP3 audio files from their desktops to the iPod player via FireWire high-speed data transfer. The only major design flaw associated with the iTunes software is that it runs exclusively on the Macintosh, effectively leaving PC users to marvel over, but not purchase, an iPod of their own. Respected industry analysts claim that the company could more than double sales of the iPod if there were some way for Windows users to interface their PCs with iPod units. And it\'s hard to argue otherwise. Fortunately, no one will have to, as Apple will officially release a Windows version of their iTunes MP3 software next week during the semiannual MacWorld Expo, trusted sources confirmed to SlapTech last evening. Apple will also phase out the 5GB iPod model, replacing it with the current 10GB version, and introduce a new 20GB iPod. The price brackets on the two units are expected to remain the same at $399 and $499 for the 10 and 20GB models, respectively.
At one point in time, Apple did not charge its loyal consumers for customer service calls to their support center, but with all good things, that changed dramatically a few years ago. It seems this practice has become a trend at Apple, as the company will soon begin charging users of their iTools internet web services $100 a year for membership, trusted Apple sources recently revealed to SlapTech correspondences. Next Wednesday, cofounder and CEO, Steve Jobs is expected to announce a revamped version of the companies iTools services during his MacWorld keynote address. The new version will sport a number of new internet services and tools, larger chunks of iDisk space, as well as a beefed up version of Apple\'s html based e-mail system, sources said. The new suite of services will be renamed ".Mac," as Apple makes strides in their game of catch-up with Microsoft\'s .Net set of web services.
Apple recently seeded developers with build 6C75 of its Mac OS X Jaguar operating system software. The new build is said to feture improved stability, speed and usability over previous builds. 6C75 also contains major improvements to the development tools package, sources told SlapTech.com. The list of bugs and known issues with Jaguar continue to shrink in size and severity, however some still remain. App packages sometimes open as folders instead of launching in Jaguar and the Get Info option only works on the desktop, sources said. Additionally, text files won\'t print from the command line and the Finder crashes and logs out when item is dragged across "About This Mac" window. Other issues exist with various aspects of the Japanese version of Jaguar. The two CD install set continues to put on weight, growing another 35 MB in size since build 6C63. As always, we\'ll keep you up to date before anyone else.
Netopia will soon release an upgrade to their Timbuktu Remote control software. The new version (6.0.2) is in its late beta stages and features just a handful of bug fixes and alterations. In the new version, Timbuktu Pro\'s connection menu is now a system menu. It is no longer mobile as in Timbuktu Pro version 6.0.1, sources said. It now functions correctly with other system menu\'s. It no longer appears when a Classic application is in front and it no longer changes position when the monitor resolution is changed. As of version 6.0.2, Timbuktu Pro\'s Send and Exchange features, on a Mac OS X host, will now set file and folder ownership according to how the Timbuktu Pro visitor connected instead of root ownership. If the visitor connected as a Trusted Visitor, Timbuktu Pro will look at the Mac OS X system user list for a user with the same name as the Timbuktu Pro visitor. If it finds one, it will set the owner and group, of any files or folders created in the Send or Exchange session, to that user and that user\'s primary group. If there is not a matching system user, or if the Timbuktu visitor connected as a Public Visitor, with Ask for Permission, as a Temporary Visitor, or as an Administrator, Timbuktu will set the owner of the new file or folder to the first Admin user and the group to the admin group. Additionally, the new version addresses a bug that prevented the hard disk from going to sleep on Mac OS X 10.1x ad well as a glitch that caused repeated console messages when Mac OS X is booted in console mode.
Apple Computer will not release a new model of their award winning PowerBook G4 until later this fall, but company executives were seen toying with prototypes of the new model just last week. The unit is enclosed inside the same titanium casing as the current PowerBook G4 but sports a 1 GHz G4 processor, according to an overseas source who was able to catch a glimpse of the prototype\'s statistical info panel. Most impressively, however, is that the prototype is said to sport double the amount of DDR SDRAM video memory as the current model, in the form of an 64MB ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 AGP graphics processor. Little to no additional information is available on the product at this time. The sighting took place at a high-profile Apple Event last week between the computer maker and some of their most cherished digital media customers. A number of the company\'s America based executives were apparently flown out to the event, which took place overseas.
According to anonymous sources, Apple will begin offering dealers an instant $100 price-cut on all Power Macintosh and PowerBook computers ordered from the computer maker beginning today. The promo will not be publicly announced, and will run through the 29th of the month. Since the promo is exclusively between the Apple and their authorized dealers, it will be up to the dealer to pass the savings on to the consumer, or decide to keep the additional $100 from each unit as company profit. As mentioned above, this is not a cash back promo and does not apply to current dealer inventory. This dealer promotion is the company\'s way of trying to ship as much product for the fiscal quarter ending June 30th, while helping to reduce inventory and boost revenues. The executive decision stems from the expected financial shortcomings for the current quarter, and not as a means to clear product inventory for new product introductions. As a side note, there will be no new PowerBook G4 announcements at the semiannual MacWorld trade show in New York next month. "They [Apple] are very eager to undo some of the damage that resulted from the lower-than-expected revenues announcement made earlier in the week," an insider told SlapTech.com correspondents this weekend. Over the past weeks, Apple representatives were instructed to pressure dealers to provide the company with figures detailing how many units they plan to order by the end of the month, and consequently, the fiscal quarter. "We received numerous e-mails and phone calls from our Apple representative over the span of a couple of days last week," claims one source with ties to an Apple Authorized Dealer. "They\'ve never done this before, and are very persistent." Apparently, Apple is seeking these figures in a hurry to help calculate inventory and revenue reports for the quarter, which they hope the $100 promotion will improve. Apple stock dropped nearly 15% in trading this week, following the company\'s lower revenue warnings.
The second round of Apple\'s new "Real People" advertising campaign will feature celebrity figures, according to notes posted on Damon Wright\'s web-space. Wright was one of 8 finalists selected to appear as a star in Apple\'s new television advertisements, which focus on the "average Joe" who has made the switch from PC to Macintosh computers. According to sources, the public will get their first glance of these upcoming ads in July.
The development of Mac OS X 10.2 continues to move forward at a fast pace, though the operating system update is still several months away, sources said. Build "6C63" of Jaguar was released to select developers early last week, and the OS code has since been frozen and compiled for developer testing several more times. The software, now nearly 650MB of data, has swelled into two separate CDs. Developers are required to install a 495MB Jaguar "UserCD" containing the core system software. During the installation process, the installer will ask for the second, 151MB, Jaguar "Plus" CD. Like any developmental version of operating system software, build 6C63 was described as "pretty buggy." One source noted complications with TCP/IP based internet applications as well as glitches with the new Sherlock 3 search application. More detailed information on Apple\'s Jaguar software will be available in forthcoming updates.
Apple Computer\'s retail division has finalized contracts for yet another one of the company\'s trademark "Apple Stores," sources told SlapTech.com late Tuesday evening. The store, which will reside in the Wellington Green Mall in West Palm Beach, Florida, was originally scheduled to open with the new mall last October. However, contract and rent negotiations between Apple and mall owner, Taubman Centers Inc., went sour. According to independent sources, Apple and Taubman resolved negotiation disputes back in February of this year. Since then, Apple has owned the lease to retail space on the second floor of the Wellington Green Mall. While physical signs have yet to be posted, sources have confirmed Apple job openings in the area. A source employed at the Wellington Green facility has also reported receiving information from Apple for the mall\'s database and info guides. "Apple plans to begin modeling the interior of the store this summer. The store will open in August." Update: 2:03 PM PT A SlapTech.com reader has point us to the Wellington Green website, where the Apple Store can be seen in the mall\'s directory listing. The current status reads "Opening Soon."
Recently, an anonymous source confirmed the existence of a Mac OS X native version of Real Media\'s Real Player media software. According to the source, the project is codenamed \"Blackbeard\" and sports a sports a \"crazy looking pirate\" images as its mascot.
Apple and Mac OS X have been in the headlines lately, as the company slowly supplies hints at the next version of Mac OS X, deemed \"Jaguar.\" While the new client features — such as Sherlock version 3 and the company\'s \"Ink\" handwriting recognition software have become common knowledge — little has been said about \"Jaguar\'s\" Server cousin.
The next version of the Palm OS operating system has gone gold, an anonymous PalmSource contact told SlapTech.com late tonight. Palm OS 5 will include support for ARM processors, Bluetooth and the 802.11b standard, as well as high-resolution displays. The release should be shipping on all new Palm products within a month's time.
According to reliable sources, the Mac OS X Update team has finally wrapped up the development of Mac OS X v.10.1.5. The code has been frozen and should be posted to Apple\'s software update servers by tomorrow evening. The release will be announced on Apple\'s main website. The maintenance release will deliver overall performance and stability enhancements, as well as improvements for networking, security and driver components. Apple is also rumored to release a Public Preview of Quick Time 6 at or before this time on Tuesday. Developers with advanced copies claim that the software will expire 4 months from its release date.
Apple will open sales of their education based G4 desktop to the general public early next week, industry sources confirmed. The eMac was introduced to the education sector in late April with a sticker price starting at $999.00. The company is now rumored to have finalized plans to provide a single configuration model to general consumers for under $1100.00. The computer maker\'s decision apparently stems from \"overwhelming consumer demand\" for such a product.Though the eMac lacks a versatile LCD display, it will weigh in at $300 less than the company\'s most affordable iMac desktop, yet provide nearly 50 % more screen-space.
Sources close to Intel\'s financial operations tell SlapTech.com that the chip maker plans to cut prices over 50% on many of its high end Microprocessors sometime in the immediate future. The company is said to be targeting this aggressive pricing at major competitor, AMD.
We are pleased to offer a new service to our readers starting today: an IRC chat server for live discussion. Join irc.appleinsider.com with your favorite IRC client, such as Ircle or Snak (both clients are available for Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X). Additionally, we will be making available a Java-based front-end (replacing our previous DigiChat) to our IRC chat server for our readers who do not wish to install a complete IRC client. Happy chatting, and we hope to see you there!
{{ summary }}
Kasper Jade
Slash
Hot Chick In White Tank Top
SlapTech Staff
AppleInsider Staff
