Briefly: iPod shuffle at Circuit City, iPod mini, PowerBooks
Circuit City to carry iPod shuffle
Although there has been little to no mention of the electronics retailer carrying Apple's new shuffle, Circuit City was the first national retailer to offer shuffle pre-orders through its Web site, and retained stock of them up until this past weekend.
Circuit City retail stores have also begun receiving tiny shipments the 1GB model, albeit sporadically. In fact, we were recently able to locate a few from our local store.
Speaking with AppleInsider, representatives from the retail chain confirmed that Circuit City will soon begin carrying the shuffle in all 632 of its retail outlets, but declined to name its supplier.
According to sources, iPod shuffle shipments to Circuit City locations have so far come only in small doses, with most shipments consisting of only 3-5 of the players. Shuffles typically ship from Apple in cartons of 20.
Regardless of who its supplier is, the retailer expects supply to increase shortly. "It's not uncommon for there to be spotty shortages industry-wide as a much-anticipated product comes to market," said Jim Babb, Manager of Media relations for Circuit City. "But supplies usually normalize in fairly short order. And that's what we expect in this case. "
"I can tell you that we're excited about the iPod shuffle," Babb said "It's one of those products that generates a lot of excitement with the public."
iPod mini revision
Meanwhile, sources tell AppleInsider that sometime this month Apple should announce the previously rumored revision to iPod shuffle's big sister, the iPod mini.
It's expected that the new iPod mini will boast a 5GB ST1 microdrive from newly signed component supplier, Seagate. Sources claim that this revised player has been in production, in at least some capacity, since December. However, no new information about the player has surfaced.
Apple developing TrackPads in-house?
In a research note sent to clients on Monday, Bear Stearns analyst Andrew Neff noted that the TrackPad in Apple's newly revamped line of PowerBook notebook computers doesn't come from Synaptics — Apple's long-time supplier of the device — bringing into question the future of the relationship between the two companies.
"Our concern is that TrackPad may signal a change in Apple's strategy whereby in the future Apple may source all of its interface solutions internally," Neff said.
In related news, tipsters note that some of the new line of PowerBooks are shipping with a build of the soon-to-be-released Mac OS X 10.3.8 Update, likely in support of the new Apple TrackPad. However, the majority of the laptops are shipping with a custom version of Mac OS X 10.3.7, build 7T62.
6 Comments
My 12" Powerbook 1.5 with New Trackpad is running 10.3.7.
Also, here is some insight on the Powerbooks trackpad.
http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/sidetrack/
And this also works as a reminder to everyone who doesnt have a new powerbook: Sidetrack's implementation is software, so you can use it. It's also far more feature filled than Apples version.
My 12" Powerbook 1.5 with New Trackpad is running 10.3.7.
Also, here is some insight on the Powerbooks trackpad.
http://www.ragingmenace.com/software/sidetrack/
And this also works as a reminder to everyone who doesnt have a new powerbook: Sidetrack's implementation is software, so you can use it. It's also far more feature filled than Apples version.
is there another program that allows you to use the single button for right click and left click? I'm sure I read about on these froums somewhere?
I got my 15" 1.67 ghz PowerBook today (shipped directly from Shanghai, China [at least that's where FedEx said it originated]) and I can confirm that it does in fact ship with OS 10.3.7 and not 10.3.8.
For the record, the new PowerBooks are sexy as all hell. I'm still ooing and awwing over mine.
If you'd like a screen shot, I can provide one to verify it ships with 10.3.7.
Is it possibly a different build, but still labelled 10.3.7 to avoid confustion?
I have build 7s215 on my iBook.
Mendosi
Build 7T51 for my new 12" 10.3.7 machine.
Mac OS X 10.3.8 Build 7U15 was seeded to developers this week.
And yes, i'm amazed with my new Powerbook. For being 1.5Ghz, it keeps cool. No leg burns! Processor runs at 115 degrees F tops. Graphics processor die runs about 10 degrees hotter than the processor, too.
Sometimes, however, it seems like the trackpad sticks? I move my finger and the cursor doesnt move. If I lift my finger and then place it down again, it works. At first I thought it may have been another finger engadging the scrolling feature (and thus why the cursor wouldnt move) but I don't think thats the case after paying more attention.
Anyone else with this problem?