Briefly: iPod shuffles arrive; Xcode 2.4.1; Apple bests Dell

Second-generation shuffles arrive

Several Apple Store customers who placed orders for Apple's second-generation iPod digital music players immediately following their announcement on Sept. 12 are reporting that they have received their players via FedEx on Wednesday.

Surprising most customers is that Apple has chosen to include its previous generation earbud earphones (image below) with the initial shuffle shipments, despite demonstrating a redesigned set of earphones on Sept. 12 that have since begun shipping with the company's second-generation iPod nano and update fifth-generation video iPods.

Some customers are also not impressed by the $79 player's built-in clip, which is reportedly not as strong as expected, especially when gripping thin material during a workout.

These first batch of shuffles are arriving ahead of Apple's formal worldwide roll-out, which is slated to take place beginning on Friday. Additional details will follow as information becomes available.

Xcode 2.4.1 update released

Meanwhile, Apple on Tuesday evening released Xcode 2.4.1 (923.2MB) for Mac OS X developers. The update addresses several issues in DWARF debugging and improves overall stability and security, Apple said.

Specifically, the new version introduces fixes to Xcode IDE, cctools, debugger, and compiler. It also bundles CHUD version 4.4.3 and sports updated Mac OS X 10.3.9 and 10.4u software developer kits.

The Xcode 2.4.1 update is recommended that all Xcode users.

Apple takes seat above Dell in UK EDU market

Thanks to strong MacBook sales, Macworld UK is reporting that Apple is now the number two supplier to the UK education market, pushing Dell into third place.

According to Gartner, Apple has 14.7 per cent of the total PC market for education — including laptops and desktop computers, but excluding the server market.

In first place is said to be Research Machines with 34.9 per cent of the market. Meanwhile, Dell has slipped to third place with 14.1 per cent. HP came in fourth with 7.7 per cent of the market.

“For the first time, Apple is number one in the EMEA education market with 11.6 per cent of the market in Q3/2006 against 9.6 per cent in Q3/2005,” said Gartner research analyst Isabelle Durand. “Apple performed above the education market average (+9.2 per cent) and grew by 32 per cent in the EMEA education market.”