MacRumors

Macworld reports that Judge James Klienberg of the State of California Court of Appeal 6th Appellate District has issued a ruling in the Apple lawsuit over the Asteroid leak, agreeing with defense claims that the websites were protected by the First Amendment.

The suit was filed in December 2004 against "anonymous parties" after a leak about an unannounced FireWire breakout box, but it became clear that Apple had targeted PowerPage.org as well as AppleInsider.com and ThinkSecret.com.

Powerpage.org's Jason O'Grady defended his position last month. Earlier court decisions had gone against the websites, when it was ruled that the information Apple classified as a trade secret was not covered under journalistic protection. The case also brought up the question of whether or not authors of articles at these websites should be considered journalists.

In rendering his decision Judge James Klienberg said, "we can think of no workable test or principle that would distinguish 'legitimate' from 'illegitimate' news. Any attempt by courts to draw such a distinction would imperil a fundamental purpose of the First Amendment, which is to identify the best, most important, and most valuable ideas not by any sociological or economic formula, rule of law, or process of government, but through the rough and tumble competition of the memetic marketplace."

Defense against the suit was provided by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), which made today's ruling available as a PDF.

While not immediately Mac-related, many readers may be interested in the status of recent legislation regarding "Network Neutrality."

In brief, Network Neutrality is the concept that networks should be "dumb" and treat each type of data traveling over it equally. This is in contrast to an intelligent network where the network knows what kind of data is flowing over it (i.e. peer-to-peer, VoIP, HTTP (web traffic), quicktime streams, etc...), and treats each kind differently depending on its needs or according to external parameters placed by the network administrator.

Issues regarding Network Neutrality heightened in the past decade with the rise of consumers using VPN's and Wi-Fi. In response, some ISP's put restrictions on consumer's use of VPN's and Wi-Fi or routers. In addition, with the rise of VoIP some ISP's have been shaping VoIP traffic in order to "encourage" customers to buy higher-priced plans without VoIP traffic shaping.

Macworld reports that the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee has voted 20-13 to approve the "Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act." The Network Neutrality bill will require broadband providers to give independent content providers the same speed and quality of service as they have.

The bill is not without controversy. Some critics have charged that the bill is a step towards regulating the internet which will stifle innovation. There are other critics as well:

This week, the First Response Coalition, a trade group representing police and firefighters, sent a letter to the Judiciary Committee saying that debate over "niche issues" such as net neutrality are slowing down broader telecom reform legislation that would give emergency responders more radio spectrum. "First responders cannot wait any longer to have modern communications and interoperable radios," said the letter.

Competing legislation awaiting action on the House floor approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in April is a more wide-ranging telecommunications reform bill, but is not as strong in enforcing neutral networks as the recent bill passed by the Judiciary Committee.

The mac web has taken note of an observant MacBook owner who found at least part of the reason why his MacBook was running so hot. Apparently, some MacBooks are shipping with the rear vent (between the base and the screen hinge) blocked by a piece of plastic. Removing the plastic allowed air to circulate correctly and lowered operating temperatures dramatically.

While some users report having found the plastic, others report not finding the plastic, so mileage may vary.

Meanwhile, due to the controversy surrounding the excess Thermal Paste, MacDevCenter disassembled their MacBook Pro to see if reducing the Thermal Paste would indeed cause a significant change in the running temperature. Contrary to other anecdotal reports, they found there was only a 2 degree difference in temperatures before and after the extensive disassembly.

Hrmph reports on recent patent applications from Apple which revealed that they have been working on other exercise-related features for the iPod. The recent Apple/Nike partnership Sport Kit revealed earlier this week could just be the start.

The Nike Sport Kit incorporates an accelerometer placed in your shoe that communicates wirelessly with your iPod nano. The iPod nano then displays additional information about your exercise including time, distance, calories burned and pace.

The patent application reveals that Apple has also been working on additional features that could sync your exercise to your music. One possibility described is syncing your music to the same tempo as your run.

The Pat App suggests either changing the tempo of the song or the iPod selecting songs which match the tempo (the host computer would analyse songs and add a tempo tag to each).

One aspect of the patent is to use your running speed to set the music tempo- if you're running slowly it'll play slower music- running faster- faster tempo music.

Tempos could be adjusted based on user preference, but sample menus also reveal a "Training" option which could offer different tempo profiles, increasing and decreasing over time.

Apple previously trademarked the term "Mac Pro" in New Zealand in late 2005. On May 17th 2006, the same name was trademarked through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office under the following classifications:

computers; computer hardware; computer software; computer peripherals; notebook computers; laptop computers; tablet computers; computer servers; handheld computers; mobile computers; hard drives; audio speakers; speakers for computers; personal digital assistants; electronic organizers; electronic notepads; magnetic data carriers; computer gaming machines; microprocessors; memories boards; monitors; displays; keyboards; computer input devices; computer cables; modems; printers; parts and accessories for all the aforesaid goods

This appears to add further evidence that Apple may be considering changing the name of the PowerMac to "Mac Pro" in the near future. Apple rebranded the PowerBook in January to the "MacBook Pro" and subsequently dropped the iBook name in favor of "MacBook".

Steve Jobs had indicated that they were moving away from the "Power" name when the MacBook Pro was first announced:

It's a new name [MacBook Pro] because we're kinda done with 'Power' and because we want 'Mac' in the name of our products."

In November there were reports of an upcoming Apple development tool for creating Dashboard Widgets. The new application was called "Dashcode". A few screenshots circulated around the web, with no details on release timeframe.

The Dashcode application now comes with the Developer tools that accompany the MacBook. One user posted screenshots of the application.

The application can be found at in /Developer/Applicatons after installing Developer Tools which accompany the MacBook or MacBook Pro. It does not appear to be included with the latest downloadable version of Developer Tools.

ArsTechnica provides a summary of some recent pre-release benchmarks of Intel's upcoming Woodcrest chip, and reports that gains of 15-40% are typical over Intel's latest Xeon-class chip (code-named Dempsey).

Woodcrest represents the top of Intel's upcoming Core 2 lineup and is targeted at "server and workstation" markets. Most speculation has centered around Apple using Intel's Conroe Core 2 "desktop" chip, but a recent page 2 rumor indicated that Woodcrest could also be in consideration. Previously Apple compared its top-of-the-line PowerMacs to Xeon-class machines.

Anandtech recently provided a sneak peek at preliminary benchmarks between Intel's Conroe compared to an overclocked AMD Athlon X2. Conroe consistently beat the AMD system, however the systems were set up by Intel. While the reviewer did not see anything fishy on the surface, the results should be taken with a grain of salt.

Currently, Woodcrest is expected next month with Conroe expected to arrive in July 2006.

PCPro reports that Dell has announced plans to open two retail stores later this year. Dell has been successful as a direct (mail order) only operation which is claimed to be the most cost-effective.

The company has always insisted that retail stores would be loss making, but Apple's success in generating over $1bn worth of sales in a single quarter through its network of more than 100 stores appears to have presaged a change of heart.

Dell currently does operate 161 kiosks in shopping centers nationwide, but this retail initiative would open two 3000 square foot stores - one in Dallas, TX and another in New York. Customers will not be able to purchase Dell computers at the store, however. Instead, the stores will simply offer demos and sales staff to answer questions.

Dell's expansion, of course, will draw comparisons with Apple's retail expansion which has received a lot of media attention. Apple's 5th Avenue Store opened just last week to a long line of waiting customers.

In response to reports last week that Apple had closed the source to the Intel version of Mac OS X kernel, an Apple employee responded saying that nothing has been announced yet, so all discussion remains speculative.

Just to be clear, Tom Yager was *speculating* about why we have -- so far -- not released the source code of the kernel for Intel-based Macintoshes. We continue to release *all* the Darwin sources for our PowerPC systems, and so far has released all the non-kernel Darwin sources for Intel.

Nothing has been announced, so he (and everyone else) certainly has the right to speculate. But please don't confuse "speculation" with "fact."

Multiple users claim that CNBC reported at 7 p.m. EST that Apple and Nike would issue some sort of announcement on Tuesday, May 23, 2006 relating to the iPod and Nike Apparel. Details are unclear at this time, as a link to the story could not be found on CNBC's site, but readers indicate that the announcement could range from a Shuffle-replacement iPod in Nike shoes (with accompanying bluetooth headphones) to a clothing line with special pockets for iPods.

A recent page 2 rumor claimed that the iPod Shuffle was being discontinued. Nike and Apple were previously rumored to be involved in some sort of relationship in 2004, when a blurb on Apple's retail site appeared for a short time indicating a cross-promotion was in the works.

Update: (Moved to Page 1) Steve Jobs and Nike CEO Mark Parker announced a partnership today at a press event in New York City attended by Lance Armstrong and Paula Radcliffe.

The first product in the "Nike+iPod" partnership is called the "Nike+iPod Sport Kit" which will allow Nike+ footwear to wirelessly communicate with iPod Nanos. The specialty shoes will be able to communicate time, distance, calories burned, and pace on the Nano and store the information on screen and via audible feedback through headphones. The Sport Kit will be available in the next 60 days with a suggested retail price of $29 USD, and will require a Nike+ shoe and an iPod Nano.

This announcement appears to not have any bearing on the iPod Shuffle, as the product remains on Apple's website and online store.

Update: The ad campaign, shared by Apple and Nike, uses the slogan "Tune your run". Nike+ will be available in stores July 13. The Nike+iPod Sport Kit will require yet-to-be-released iTunes 6.0.5.

CNN Money/Business 2.0 reports that Navio, a Cupertino California startup specializing in DRM technology, is gaining some prestige for their efforts in reverse-engineering Apple's Fairplay DRM technology.

Already, early Navio customers like Fox, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Walt Disney Internet, Cingular and Verizon Wireless have been experimenting with Navio's software to sell digital content. Disney, for example, will be using Navio to power content sales on its website promoting the Pixar/Disney animated blockbuster Cars.

The report does not elaborate on Steve Jobs' reaction to Disney using Navio, or what his role was in the process surrounding the decision to use Navio's technology.

Navio plans to launch software by the end of June that will allow its customers to distribute copy-protected videos that are compatible with the iPod. Movie and Music studios are apparently eagerly awaiting the arrival of the software.

Hollywood, which has seen Apple rapidly seize control of the paid music-download business, is especially eager for an alternative to iTunes. In fact, they'd like to run their own stores.

Navio's efforts were first reported in November 2005. RealNetworks has also attempted to reverse-engineer Fairplay, and has had varied success. This is the first time that any reverse-engineering attempt of Fairplay has seen this level of interest from movie and music studios.

The Register is reporting that Apple actively courted at least one Power-based vendor before deciding to switch to Intel last year.

PA Semi - a maker of low-power Power processors - formed a tight relationship with Apple - one meant to result in it delivering chips for Apple's notebook line and possibly desktops. The two companies shared software engineering work, trying to see how Apple's applications could be ported onto PA Semi's silicon. When word leaked out that Apple had signed on with Intel, it shocked the PA Semi staff, according to multiple sources.

PA Semi is a silicon-valley startup that boasts having lead designers of the DEC Alpha and StrongARM chips, as well as designers from the Opteron, Itanium, and UltraSparc. It currently plans on quad-core versions of its chips to ship by late 2007, and an eight-core version in 2008.

PA Semi's first chip is a dual-core Altivec-compatible chip with 2 MB of L2 cache, support for DDR2 and PCI-Express. In addition, when running at 2 Ghz, the chip consumes only 7 watts of power according to PA Semi. Comparatively, Intel's Core Duo consumes between 21 and 25 watts.

Despite the startup's impressive portfolio, with the chip sampling in 2006 and shipping in volume by 2007, it may have arrived too late for Apple to consider further. Also, with Intel's Kentfield quad-core chip rumored to arrive by Q1 2007, it appears as though PA Semi is about 9 months behind Intel.

Steve Jobs was interviewed (video) by CNBC and offers some insight into Apple's retail push and their new 5th Avenue Apple Store.

Jobs commented on Apple's decision to choose Intel rather than AMD for their processor switch and provides a "no comment" on the possibility of an Apple iPhone.

Apple's 5th Avenue Store opened last night at 6pm EST and Apple.com has posted time-lapse video of the crowds yesterday and today as well as a photo gallery. One person used the time-lapse video to propose to his girlfriend.

Several readers have posted photo galleries of their visit to the newest Apple Store: Gallery 1, Gallery 2, Gallery 3, Gallery 4. Photos of Steve Jobs and Kevin Bacon.

Apple is counter-suing Creative, claiming they are in violation in four of its patents. The lawsuit was filed on May 15th, the same day that Creative filed its lawsuit.

Creative is trying to bar Apple from selling iPods in the U.S. through a cease-and-desist order. Even though Creative's suit's implications are broad, Apple's suit (if successful) could have more impact on Creative because Creative is a smaller company.