MacRumors

AppleInsider claims they have confirmation that Apple will be using Intel's Xeon 5100 series processors, also known as "Woodcrest" to power their next generation Intel-based Mac Pro Workstations.

Previous claims indicated that the Mac Pro would continue the Quad-core tradition set by the latest batch of PowerMac G5's. However, in order for an Intel-based "Quad" to be developed, a multi-processor machine would be required, which inherently leaves out the use of Core 2 Duo "Conroe" based microprocessors, as they do not support multi-processor configurations.

Of note, ThinkSecret has maintained that they believe the Mac Pro will utilize Core 2 Duo (Conroe).

Additionally, AppleInsider speculates that Conroe may be used in a future iMac revision, while Merom will be used in future MacBook Pros and Yonah will remain in the MacBook and Mac Mini.

American Technology Research Analyst, Shaw Wu, echoes sentiments that the new iPod nano will come in a new metal enclosure. Shaw Wu, however, specifically states that the new iPod nano cases will be made of magnesium rather than the aluminum. According to Wu, the new magnesium nanos are expected by October of this year.

While there had been rumors of Apple using magnesium alloys for their laptops in the past, one notable computer enclosure built with magnesium was the NeXT Cube. In 1993, NeXTWORLD's Simson Garfinkel documented his (extensive) efforts at setting a NeXT Cube on fire. (image)

Meanwhile, Wu also reiterates that the Intel PowerMac revision is expected at WWDC on August 7th. He also holds out hope for more to come:

Apple has already announced that it will preview Mac OS X 10.5. Mr. Wu says "With respect to Steve Jobs' track record and element of surprise, we are prepared to see something that no one anticipated."

Last week, a Bloomberg story cause some excitement with claims that Microsoft was planning to release an iPod rival by Christmas of 2006. The new digital music player was said to include a wireless Internet connection allowing users to wirelessly download music. Microsoft is already meeting with Hollywood and music companies to license content for the upcoming device. (A photo has also been posted that claims to be a development model of the device.)

Steve Jobs predicted in January that due to the lack of iPod competitors, that Microsoft was "going to have to get into the hardware business of making MP3 players". Currently, Microsoft relies on 3rd party manufacturers to develop around a common hardware specification.

This week, more information about the upcoming Microsoft device was revealed. According to the Seattle Times article, Microsoft is actually developing a line of Xbox-branded digital media devices. The project is called "Argo" and under the Xbox development group.

What's being developed is actually a complete line of Xbox-branded digital-media products, including a device that plays media, a software media player and an online media service.

This would represent an more "end-to-end" business model described by Walt Mossberg that has brought Apple a lot of success with their Music Store/iTunes/iPod integration.

Meanwhile, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster believes that Apple will release their own wireless iPod this fall and do not believe "the yet-to-be-seen Microsoft offering will be a worthy opponent for the iPod".

Apple has posted the website for the Q3 2006 Financial Results Webcast.

The webcast will take place at 2pm PT/5pm ET on Wednesday, July 19, 2006. As usual, it contains the following disclaimer.

Please note that comments made during this call may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. For more information on the factors that could influence results, please refer to Apples SEC filings.

Apple's Financial Results Conference call provides the recent sales numbers for Apple's product lines and typically provides some insight into Apple's plans.

Appleinsider reports that Apple is considering the move back to aluminum enclosures for upcoming iPod nanos.

According to their sources, the move is due scratching complaints for the existing iPod nano. The iPod mini, which the nano replaced, had been constructed with aluminum enclosures. In addition to aluminum enclosures, the upcoming nano is expected to also come in a number of colors with a capacity up to 8GB.

Meanwhile, Analysts have speculated that an iPod nano revision is not expected until November of this year. This represents a delay which is attributed to the recent change in chip suppliers.

Several readers are reporting on an article in from Scotsman that discusses the possibility of a talking iPod.

The new iPod will tell you what it is about to play, removing the need for users to look at the screen while selecting music, and making the device safer and easier to use while driving, cycling or in badly-lit locations.

The article is based on a recent patent applications that were originally reported on in May. The patents describe methods to accomplish this by using a desktop computer to perform the Text-to-Speech conversion, offloading this processing from the iPod itself. This would provide the highest quality speech while minimizing the hardware required in the iPod itself.

The incentive to provide speech-prompts is one of safety concerns. The Scotsman cites a couple of iPod-related accidents in which users were distracted from the road.

Alongside the introduction of 'Charts', ThinkSecret is reporting that Apple will be introducing a number of new features into the next version of Pages.

Pages is Apple's word processing application which comes bundled in iWork. Pages 3 is expected to debut in January 2007 with the release of iWork '07. New features include two new modes called "Word Processing" and "Layout" to better cater to different users needs.

A number of convenient features catered to writers and typists will also be wrapped into Pages 3, including a thesaurus and integration with Spotlight, Wikipedia, and Google. Apple is also said to be looking to build a robust grammar checking engine for Pages that could find its way into other Apple and Cocoa applications.

Filemaker announced that they will be shipping FileMaker Pro 8.5 today. The major upgrade brings Universal Binary support as well as new features including live Web data.

As easy as it is to bookmark a web page, a live web page can now be added to a record in a database using the new Web Viewer Control in FileMaker Pro 8.5. Data in specified record fields, such as customer's address or product name, will drive the URL in the Web Viewer.

FileMaker Pro 8.5 is available immediately for $299 and existing users of FileMaker 8.0 can upgrade for $99.

Thinksecret reported last week on a Spreadsheet application due from Apple in the next revision of iWork.

iWork '07 is expected to be released at Macworld San Francisco in January 2007. The newest addition to Apple's productivity suite is currently dubbed "Charts". Charts is said to be a consumer-oriented spreadsheet application, rather than a full competitor to Microsoft's Excel application.

There has long been speculation that Apple was developing a spreadsheet component to the iWork suite. Most rumors centered around a trademark filed for the name "Numbers" back in 2005.

Apple's iWork suite is the successor to the long-running AppleWorks office suite that did include both spreadsheet and database functionality.

Macworld reports on comments by Needham and Company analyst Charles Wolf on Apple's Windows-compatiblilty plans for upcoming versions of Mac OS X.

Specifically, Wolf asked Phil Schiller about Apple's plans for incorporating "virtualization" software in the next version of Mac OS X (Leopard):

[Phil Schiller] said absolutely not, the R&D would be prohibitive and were not going to do it. Our solution is dual boot.

Virtualization allows users to launch a copy of Windows under Mac OS X to run applications side-by-side, while "Dual Boot" requires users to reboot to switch between Windows and Mac OS X.

There had been some speculation that Apple was going to adopt Parallel's virtualization solution since it is now promoted on their Get a Mac campaign, but was conclusion was entirely speculative. Also, early Leopard rumors claimed that it would incoporate Virtualization from Apple, but this appears to be inaccurate.

Meanwhile, Codeweavers is taking this virtualization a step further by attempting to run specific Windows applications under Mac OS X without requiring Windows to be loaded at all.

Apple has quietly introduced an Education-Store-Only model of the iMac to replace the removed eMac model.

The new low-end iMac sports a 1.83GHz Core Duo, 80GB hard drive, 24x Combo drive, and uses the GMA 950 shared memory video configuration found on the Mac mini and newly released MacBook. Bluetooth 2.0 and the Apple Remote are NOT included. Base price for the machine is set at $899 USD.

ThinkSecret reports that when the PowerMac G5 gets its replacement at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), it will sport a new enclosure.

The new case is said to be "substantially different" to signify the transition to the Intel Core 2 Duo (Conroe). The internal configurations are said to be comparable to current PowerMacs:

Configurations of the new Mac are said to be similar to those of the most recent Power Mac G5, including a single dual-core processor in the low- and mid-range systems, and a dual dual-core (quad core) system at the top end.

ThinkSecret also expects that the MacBook Pro will also sport a new enclosure once it adopts the Core 2 Duo processor (Merom).

Apple recently trademarked Mac Pro which is expected to be the new name for the PowerMac line.

AppleInsider reports on new configurations of the black and white MacBook models in Apple's retail stores. Each is said to be 2.0GHz with 1GB of RAM, 80GB hard drive, and a SuperDrive, with the black MacBook dubbed the "MacBook Ultimate" and prices of $1,449 USD (white) and $1,599 USD (black).

Current 13" MacBook offerings in the online Apple Store remain $1,099 USD (white, 1.83GHz, 512MB, 60GB, Combo drive), $1,299 USD (white, 2.0GHz, 512MB, 60GB, SuperDrive), and $1,499 USD (black, 2.0GHz, 512MB, 80GB, SuperDrive).AppleInsider also speculates on the release of a new "high-end hardware offering," possibly based on Intel's Woodcrest (Xeon 5100) processor, after the U.S. Independence Day holiday.

CodeWeavers has announced that CrossOver Mac will be arriving this year in late July or early August 2006. Pricing will be at $59.95 for single-user licenses, with volume and educational discounts available. CrossOver Mac will support a number of Windows applications to run natively within Mac OS X using Wine, enabling the user to run Windows applications without having a copy of Windows installed on their system.

In an email exchange with MacRumors, CodeWeavers has claimed that the application is still in an alpha testing stage. Application compatability is claimed to equal and that of their Linux counterpart. In addition, the company is adding support for a limited number of games such as Half-Life 2.

Codeweaver's solution differs from solutions like Apple's Boot Camp and Parallels Desktop in that it does not require a copy of Windows to run the Windows applications. Also, applications will be able to run side by side with their Mac OS X counterparts, whereas virtualization solutions must be contained within a "Windows window" or the machine must be rebooted in the case of Boot Camp. On the flip side, only a limited number of applications will be supported, whereas dual booting can support any Windows application, and virtualization can support most non-3D intensive application.

News.com has posted two screenshots of the product running Microsoft Project.

Update: MacRumors has been able to confirm with CodeWeavers that the company is working to support DirectX as well as OpenGL. In addition, while the list of "officially" supported applications may be limited, CodeWeavers has a compatibility center where users have posted their experiences and workarounds with other additional applications. While the compatability center is geared toward their Linux product now, it will also be used for the Macintosh version when it is released.