Briefly: Mac OS X 10.4.11 Server; Phase for iPod; Eisner on Jobs

Mac OS X 10.4.11

Much has been made of absence of Mac OS X 10.4.11 Update thus far. The final update to Apple's Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger operating system appeared to be nearing a release alongside Leopard two weeks ago when the company seeded builds 8S2165 (Intel) and 8S165 (PowerPC) without specifying any outstanding issues with the software.

Since then, little has been heard about the impending update. However, Apple on Wednesday asked its developers to test a pair of new Mac OS X 10.4.11 Server builds alongside the first pre-release builds of Mac OS X 10.5.1 Leopard.

The builds, labeled Mac OS X Server 10.4.11 (Intel) build 8S2169 and Mac OS X Server 10.4.11 (PowerPC) build 8S169, include only minor tweaks to Mac OS X 10.4.11 Server's installer script and a couple of its software utilities.

Phase for iPod

Meanwhile, MacNN reports that Apple on Tuesday released through its iTunes Store a new iPod rhythm game published by MTV Networks but developed by Guitar Hero creator Harmonix.

Dubbed "Phase," the game lets users pick tracks from their music library, which are then converted into game sequences where players must match button presses and clickwheel motions to on-screen notes.

Scrolling backgrounds include alien, urban and underwater settings. Two play modes are available: Quick Spin takes users through a single song, while Marathon strings together multiple songs, with increasingly difficult notation.

Phase is a $5 download from the iTunes Store and is only compatible with iPod classics, third-generation Nanos, and fifth-generation iPods.

Eisner says blame Steve

In his keynote speech on Wednesday morning at the Media and Money conference hosted by Dow Jones and Nielsen, former Disney chief executive Michael Eisner called the ongoing Writer's Guild of America strike "stupid." He said the organization is lobbying for a bigger cut of the profits from digital distribution which he claims simply aren't there.

Eisner called the situation for "Web video" similar, in that the medium has yet to prove lucrative. However, he placed part of the blame on studios and networks for allowing themselves to be strong-armed by Apple and its chief executive.

The studios "make deals with Steve Jobs, who takes them to the cleaners," he said. "They make all these kinds of things, and who's making money? Apple! They should get a piece of Apple. If I was a union, I'd be striking up wherever he is."