MacRumors

Apple Expo 2008 took place last week from September 17-20th in Paris, France. The European expo drew few headlines in the U.S. press due to the lack of participation by Apple. TechRadar UK provides a report from the expo floor and found that there were a good mix of vendors:

The mix, though, is good. Where past shows have been too easily swayed towards the iPod or iPhone at the expense of the core Mac business, this year we were delighted to note a good mix of the practical, the wacky, and the lifestyle.

Products of interest highlighted by TechRadar:

- Griffin AirCurve - acoustic amplifier that turns your iPhone into a no-power-drain alarm clock on your nightstand, or a mini sound system that never needs batteries or adapters.
- Griffin Clarifi - iPhone case with built-in macro lens
- Sweetcover - Mac laptop cases
- RealMac Software's LittleSnapper - Mac software to capture, organise, annotate and share screenshots from your desktop and the web.
- VMware's Fusion 2.0 - virtualization software for Intel Macs, allowing them to run Windows
- Iomega's eGo Helium Portable Hard Drive - MacBook Air styled external hard drives
- MacAlly's Mirage - iPod nano case with reflective mirrored finish allows iPod screen to show through when it's turned on.
- MacAlly PowerLink - 3-in-1 battery pack, data sync, flash drive for iPod and iPhone

Laminar Research, the developers of X-Plane 9, have posted about the intense experience of porting their popular flight simulator from within Apple's headquarters in the days leading up to the "Let's Rock" media event held on September 9th.

X-Plane 9 [App Store Link] was recently released for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and the $9.99 game has received a very positive review at TouchArcade.com. The simulator currently holds the number 6 spot amongst all paid applications on the iPhone.

The developer recounts that on September 1st, he called Apple to see if the company thought it was possible to port their flight simulator to the iPhone. The response was enthusiastic "yes" with hopes that the app could be ready for Apple's upcoming Let's Rock media event. The developers packed up and flew to Apple headquarters in Cupertino almost immediately to start work on the port.

Within 2 minutes, our contact at Apple came down the lobby to get us and bring us to the office that would be our home for the next 7 days as we cranked out the iPhone version of X-Plane on an absurdly tight schedule. Here is the deal: Apple had a Keynote coming up in about 10 days, and wanted to have X-Plane ready to present there, and neither Ben nor I had ever tried to program anything for an iPhone before. Could we get X-Plane into an iPhone in only 10 days? Steve Jobs himself, Leader of Apple, wanted to have a suite of programs ready in only 7 days to present at the keynote, and we had NO PROOF AT ALL that the job even COULD be done... in ANY time-frame! The next 7 days were, to say the least, 'interesting'. Ben and I had an office right in the middle the 'hive-mind', right alongside all the engineers at Apple.

The entire account is a very interesting read and gives readers a unique glimpse into Apple. In the end, while the app was completed in time, it was cut from the presentation since Steve Jobs felt it wasn't "fast-paced" enough for a Keynote demo.

Still, the developers are quite pleased with the results and the application is selling very well in the App Store. Future updates to the App have been detailed by the developer including plans for an automotive version.

Update: Story removed, cache still available.

Apple has issued a recall on the USB power adapter included with the iPhone 3G. Apple has received reports of the metal prongs breaking off of the adapter and remaining lodged in power outlets, creating the risk of electric shock.

According to Apple's support article on the recall, the adapter was included with every iPhone 3G sold in the US, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru. The adapter was also available as a standalone accessory in those countries, as well as Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, and Panama.

Users with ultracompact power adapters should immediately stop using them until they exchange them for a new, redesigned ultracompact adapter.

In the meantime, they should charge their iPhone 3G by connecting it to their computer with the USB cable that came with their iPhone or by using a standard-sized Apple USB Power Adapter (with fold up prongs) or with a third party adapter designed to work with the iPhone, such as a car charger.

Apple notes that replacement adapters, which will not be available until October 10th, will contain a green dot on them in order to make identification simple.

Affected users may order a replacement adapter via Apple's web-based form or in person at an Apple retail store beginning October 10th.

The Webkit blog has posted benchmarks on their "next generation" JavaScript interpreter called SquirrelFish Extreme (SFX). SquirrelFish Extreme uses "more advanced techniques" to deliver even faster JavaScript performance.

The new version of SquirrelFish is nearly twice as fast the first version of SquirrelFish which we previously reported on. It is also over three times faster then the current Safari 3.1 version that is available from Apple.

JavaScript is heavily used in many modern interactive websites, including Apple's own MobileMe web apps. Google is also investing heavily in improving JavaScript performance and is working on their own accelerated JavaScript interpreter called V8. According to one blog, SquirrelFish Extreme is 38% faster than the current version of V8.

SquirrelFish Extreme is available in the nightly betas of Webkit for personal testing, and should eventually make its way into future Safari releases.

One of the major announcements during last week's media event was the return of NBC shows to the iTunes Store. NBC reportedly accounted for 40% of iTunes video sales prior to their removal late last year.

Hollywood Reporter reveals that over 1 million NBC iTunes downloads have been logged since the studio's return on September 9th. Some of those downloads may have been free HD episodes which are currently available from iTunes.

A list of all free HD iTunes episodes provided by TUAW include:

- He That Believeth in Me - Battlestar Galactica, Season 4
- Fun Runs, Pts. 1 & 2 - The Office, Season 4
- Lipstick Jungle: Pilot - Lipstick Jungle, Season 1
- Four Months Later... - Heroes, Season 2
- Pilot - In Plain Sight, Season 1
- Mr. Monk Buys a House - Monk, Season 7
- Ghosts - Psych, Season 3
- Merit Badge: Pilot - Life, Season 1
- Bad to the Drone - Eureka, Season 3

NBC's fall season will kick off next week for many of its popular shows including The Office and Heroes.

After last week's release of the iPod Nano, iPod Touch and iTunes 8, we neglected to post our traditional rumor wrap up. In the end, however, our pre-event rumor roundup accurately spelled out the major releases.

The bulk of the information came from Kevin Rose who detailed a number of the changes accurately. Readers should find interesting that Rose also revealed some future details that have not yet materialized.

Specifically, Rose expects that Blu-ray support will finally be built into Mac OS X 10.5.6. Blu-ray is the next generation high definition video disc format that only recently "won" the format battle after major studios decisively chose it over HD-DVD. Apple has been a member of the Blu-Ray consortium for years but has not yet revealed their plans for Blu-ray support.

With the release of Mac OS X 10.5.5 earlier this week, Apple should begin work on Mac OS X 10.5.6. Built-in Blu-ray support into Mac OS X would open the door for Apple to finally incorporate Blu-ray drives into their Macs as well as Blu-ray support into their suite of iLife applications. The 10.5.6 update will not come before the rumored notebook revisions in October, but could conceivably be ready by Macworld San Francisco 2009.

Phase II of Microsoft's $300 million rebranding ad campaign started airing tonight during prime time. The ad showed a series of individuals saying "I'm a PC" in various settings.

The ad is a direct response to Apple's "Get a Mac" ads where Justin Long and John Hodgman play the Mac and PC characters, respectively. Microsoft is embracing the "I'm a PC" line in their new ad campaign. The ad is also being hosted at Gizmodo.

CNet has some more information about the accompanying print ad which carries a theme of "Life without Walls".

Brooks said to expect the "I'm a PC" notion to run for some time, being joined by a Web push that will go live at Windows.com tonight and invite users to tell their own "I'm a PC" story, some of which will be made into online advertisement.

Update:Additional versions of the ad:

- I'm a PC, and I Wear a Suit
- I'm a PC, and I am Not Alone

A recent patent application from Apple reveals that the company is considering adding a proper "At a Glance" notification screen for the iPhone. The proposed screen would allow users to quickly jump to the desired notification simply by pressing on the corresponding notification.

At present, the iPhone's notification lists is a list that disappears when the phone is unlocked. This sort of notification system may become more important once 3rd party "push" notifications are activated, as the number and variety of these notifications will likely increase significantly.

Apple originally had an early version of "push" notifications built into developer builds of iPhone 2.1. This feature, however, was later removed and the final version of 2.1 was released earlier this month without this feature. Apple has not made any announcements if their targeted release date has been changed.

VMware announced the release of the final version of VMware Fusion 2.0 which is a free upgrade for all VMware Fusion 1.x customers and is said to add over 100 new features. The enhancements are listed as:

- More Seamless with Unity 2.0: Application Sharing, Link Handling, Mirrored Folders, Driverless Printing, True Multiple Display Support, and Custom Keyboard Mapping
- Safer Windows on Mac experience with AutoProtect automated snapshots and a 12-month complimentary subscription to McAfee VirusScan Plus security software for Windows XP and Vista
- More Power with DirectX 9.0c with Shader Model 2 3D graphics, 1080p HD video playback, Multiple Snapshots, 4-way vSMP, and Better Linux Support (Unity & Easy Install)
- More Mac-like, More Mac-friendly with all new Welcome Screen, Virtual Machine Library and Virtual Machine Settings, Cover Flow and Quick Look integration, and Apple Help
- Mac OS X Leopard Server now is supported in a virtual machine on Mac hardware

Fusion 2.0 had been in beta since May.

Meanwhile, the main other competitor in the Mac virtualization space is Parallels who recently seeded a private beta of version 4.0 of their application. Beta 4.0 is said to also incorporate multi-core processing support as well as support for DirectX 9.0 and OpenGL.

Both Fusion and Parallels allow Intel Mac users to run Windows or other PC operating systems on their Mac alongside Mac OS X. Computerworld recently reported that shipments for both applications are up 50% so far this year.

Valleywag was one of the first to report that Microsoft will be officially moving away from the use of Jerry Seinfeld in "phase two" of their $300 million ad campaign, though there appears to be some debate about whether or not this was part of the original plan.

The two Seinfeld Microsoft ads, Shoe Circus and New Family, generated over 2000 comments on MacRumors alone.

The NYTimes confirms this plan but also reveals that Microsoft will be taking direct aim at Apple's "Get a Mac" ads in which John Hodgman who plays "PC" opposite Justin Long as "Mac".

One new Microsoft commercial even begins with a company engineer who resembles John Hodgman, the comedian portraying the loser PC character in the Apple campaign. Hello, Im a PC, the engineer says, echoing Mr. Hodgmans recurring line, and Ive been made into a stereotype.

The new ads will have some appearances from Bill Gates but will also show other celebrities as everyday PC users in "fast-paced, upbeat vignettes" about their use of Microsoft Windows based PCs.

The NYTimes cites a number of research companies who felt that the buzz surrounding the first two ads were sufficiently positive and accomplished their goal.