MacRumors

Silicon.com reports that Apple's Korean online store (http://apple.co.kr/store) was hacked and defaced.

The defacement was reported to be a dozen lines of code posted to the Apple.co.kr homepage. It was removed quickly by Apple after being notified of the incident.

The attack, carried out by someone working under the name 'Dinam', who claimed in his post to be Turkish, was brought to the attention of silicon.com last Thursday.

Apple.co.kr is running under Mac OS X/Apache. Few other details are available at this time, and Apple has made no comment.

Update: As many have pointed out, web-site hacks are common and frequently are simply the result of poorly configured web scripts, rather than a deeper security issue.

Thinksecret reiterates that the long awaited Intel-version of the Apple iBook, which has come to be known as the "MacBook" is still expected in May.

We have kept track of all rumors surrounding the upcoming Intel iBook in our Guide pages.

In summary, one of the earliest reports did claim that the upcoming Intel iBook would house a 13" form-factor and be expected in April-May of 2006. Followup rumors suggested that the screen would be 13.3" and offer a 1280x720 resolution screen.

While some expected the new computer to appear at Macworld in January, only the MacBook Pro and Intel iMac were released at that time. Overall, many features of the MacBook are expected to be comparable to the MacBook Pro, with the inclusion of iSight, Front Row, Photo Booth, and MagSafe. Finally there have been suggestions of a significant redesign for the iBook-replacement with the possibility of the reintroduction of color choices.

PortalPlayer responds to ongoing concerns that their upcoming chips are not planned on use in upcoming Apple flash-based iPods. Specifically, it appears the next-generation iPod nano will use a Samsung chip as previously reported.

Of interest, PortalPlayer's CEO Gary Johnson stated that the next generation video iPod chip has yet to be decided and remains "up for grabs".

According to another eeTimes article both the PortalPlayer chip and the Samsung chip are described as "ARM-based" processors, indicating that there is some code portability between chips.

The next-generation Video iPod has long been rumored to be a touch-screen iPod, but the most recent claims have indicated that it has run into technical difficulties delaying its release until (at least) late 2006.

CNET reports on an alternative firmware for some models of the Apple iPod (as well as 3rd party MP3 players). The open source firmware is called Rockbox and attempts to offer additional functionality beyond what the manufacturer intended.

In its current state, the Rockbox interface is utilitarian, graphically sparse, and reminiscent of a command-line system, and it lacks the flash of modern commercial MP3 players. But where it comes up short in pizzazz, it more than compensates in options and settings, many of which would make the default iPod jealous.

The software remains a work in progress with the official release not due until November, according to the article. The additional features include OGG and FLAC support, gapless playback, crossfades, photo playback, games, and custom themes.

Users will sacrifice some ease of use as well as iTunes Music Store (Protected AAC) compatibility. Currently supported iPods include the 4th Generation iPod (Monochrome and Color), 5th Generation iPod, Nano and 1st/2nd generation Mini.

After briefly becoming more valuable than Dell on January 13, 2006, Apple is once again more valuable than Dell. As of last night's close, Apple Computer, Inc. is worth $60,166,590,800 in market value vs. Dell's $60,061,881,440 according to MacDailyNews.

This NASDAQ's website shows an up-to-date comparison of the two companies including respective market values.

Boing Boing reports that the French DRM legislation that would have forced Apple and other online music stores to have their songs be interoperable with all portable media players in France has been gutted in committee.

The original law was met by fierce criticism from Apple, who called the law "state-sponsored piracy." Many analysts believed that Apple would just as soon pull-out of the French market than to change their business model or allow free distribution of unprotected songs.

The latest version of the law removes the requirement for DRM publishers (like Apple) to give information needed for interoperability. In addition, "information needed for interoperability" used to be defined as being able to obtain a copy of the copyrighted material in an open standard; this is now defined as being able to obtain a protected copy of a copyrighted work.

After months of negotiations, Apple announced on Monday that they had renewed contracts with the four largest record companies to sell songs through iTunes for 99 cents each.

This represents a win for Apple as the record labels have been pushing for variable priced songs for some time now. In that model, newer songs would cost more than $.99 while older songs would cost less.

Steve Jobs has reportedly insisted on keeping pricing constant for all songs at $.99. With iTunes now with 80% of the U.S. digital music marketshare, "the labels need Apple too much right now", according to one record executive.

ZDNet reports that Apple declined to comment on how long the new deals will last.

Several readers have reported that Apple's new series of Mac television ads started to air tonight. The new ads (6 total) show two men standing in front of a white background.

The older man says he's a "PC" while the younger (Justin Long) is a "Mac". All ads have been posted to Apple's website.

One version goes:

Mac: "Hello, I'm a Mac"
PC: "And I'm a PC"
Mac: "Oh, hey... iPod, nice."
PC: "Yeah, just a little something to hold my slowjam"
Mac: "Oh ya?"
PC: "And it works so seemlessly with iTunes"
Mac: "You should check out iMovie, iPhoto, iWeb cause they all work like iTunes. You know, iLife. It comes on every Mac"
PC: "i-L-i-f-e. Well, I - I have some very cool apps that are bundled with me"
Mac: "Well, like what?"
PC: "Calculator"
Mac: "That's Cool, anything else?"
PC: "Clock"
Mac: "Sounds like hours of fun... (or at least minutes)"

Another security focused version:

Mac: "Hello, I'm a Mac"
PC: "And I'm a PC (sneezes)"
Mac: "Gesundheit, you ok?"
PC: "No, I'm not ok. I have that virus that's going around. "
Mac: "Oh Ya"
PC: "You better stay back, this one's a doosy"
Mac: "That's ok, I'll be fine"
PC: "No, no, do not be hero, last year there were 114,000 known viruses for PCs"
Mac: "PCs... not Macs"
PC: "I think I gotta crash (falls over)"
Mac: "If you think that'll help...

A third version focuses on a review:

Mac: "Hello, I'm a Mac"
PC: "And I'm a PC"
PC: "What are you reading?"
Mac: "Just the Wall Street Journal, it's nothing. Oh no no, "
PC: "Oh it's a review of you"
Mac: "Don't read it"
PC: "Oh, it's from Walt Mossberg, one of the most respected technology experts on the planet. Apparently you are the finest desktop PC on the market at any price. Very nice."
Mac: "It's just one man's opinion"
PC: "I actually got a great review this morning too"
Mac: "Good for you,"
PC: "So we are the same"
Mac: "What was that in?"
PC: "The, um, awesome awesome computer review weekly journal"

The ads end showing an Intel iMac that has an Apple logo on it with the text "Mac". Apple announced that they were launching a new ad campaign last week at the annual shareholders meeting.

Update: All ads have been posted on Apple's site

According to an OpenSolaris mailing list, the ZFS team at Sun has been contacted by Apple's Filesystem Development Manager to discuss porting ZFS to Mac OS X.

ZFS is a relatively new open-source file system backed by Sun. As such, it is included in recent versions of Solaris for SPARC and x86 architectures. A comparison of HFS+ (what Mac OS X currently uses as its default file system) and other file systems including ZFS can be found on this wikipedia page.

In a time when many game publishers and studios are taking a wait and see approach to Mac games since Apple's Boot Camp software was released, Destineer has announced that it has secured USD$12 Million in private-equity investment, which will help enable the gamemaker and publisher to continue development of Macintosh-native games.

In an interview with Macworld's Peter Cohen, Destineer's president Peter Tamte explains how they are in a unique position to make profit since they are both game developer and publisher.

In a traditional game industry setup, the developer creates the game and gives away a huge chunk of revenue to the publisher in order to get their game on store shelves publishers often keep 80 percent of the revenue...

Destineer also re-affirmed that the Mac remains a pillar of their business, and gamers can expect them to continue to not only bring the latest hits from the PC world to Mac, but also bring more original releases to market.

"The MacSoft business has been a pillar of our organization since we incorporated in 2001, said Tamte. It has provided us with stable and growing profits. And weve turned that cash into product development for our core technologies thats being used now to create games for a whole bunch of platforms, including simultaneous Mac releases.

This doesnt mean that MacSoft will stop porting high-profile Mac games, said Tamte, but he said that gamers will see a shift in Destineers portfolio from licensed titles to original titles.

Destineer is the parent company of MacSoft and Bold, which have brought hit titles such as Halo: Combat Evolved and Zoo Tycoon 2 to Mac. Destineer has also recently developed an original title, Close Combat: First to Fight, which saw a simultaneous release for PC and Mac.

One of the most recent Apple patents to come to light is one for a Virtual Keyboard in the shape of an Arc (Picture) which bears a resemblance to Microsoft's UMPC keyboard implementation (Picture).

The recent patent application offers more refinement to the earlier touch screen interface filings (Gallery).

The virtual keyboard is described as learning over time based on which keys are pressed more often and adjusting the sensitivity of those keys. "That likelihood is determined by the person's distance of touch from the closest key, as well as frequency of use."

Another patent that has received much attention recent is Apple's Integrated Sensing Display which was previously posted and discussed in January 2006.

Macworld.co.uk reports that a decision on the Apple Corps v. Apple Computer Inc. case will be announced on Monday, May 8.

Apple Corps, the recording company founded by the Beatles, sued Apple Computer Inc last year for allegedly breaching a trademark settlement made by the companies in 1991. The 1991 settlement's language barred Apple Computer from distributing music on physical media, but Apple Corps has argued that downloadable music could not be envisioned at the time but was clearly within the spirit of the agreement.

Should the court decide against Apple Computer, the judge is expected to forcibly remove Apple's logo from iTunes, and precedent would be set for a large sum of money be paid to Apple Corps.

Raw Data:
Recent court decision quoting 1991 ruling.

The Inquirer reports on comments by Intel CEO Paul Otellini at the financial analyst's spring meeting.

According to the article, Intel is planning on delivering Woodcrest (server) in June, Conroe (desktop) in July, and Merom (mobile) in August. Apple is expected to take advantage of these new processors for upcoming designs.

Beyond these expected updates, Intel is aggressively working towards future architectures:

It has large teams working on the next two microarchitectures, he said. Every two years Intel will bring out a new microarchitecture.

This year's processors will start at a 65-nm process and quickly move to 45-nm. All future processors are optimized for performance-per-watt -- one of the features that attracted Apple to Intel's processors.

Of additional interest, Intel also has over 1000 people working on next generation Handheld devices with consumer pricepoints. The goal will be an "always on" architecture consuming only 1/2 of a watt. Apple has no announced plans to again enter the handheld market, but rumors of an Apple tablet or handheld regularly recur.

Apple today held its annual shareholder meeting. While Apple kept to its policy of not discussing upcoming products, Apple's CEO Steve Jobs said that the upcoming products are "the best Ive ever seen in my life". He also reportedly replied "we hear you" when one shareholder requested that the company make the "ultimate media center," including personal video recorder functionality.

The exact circumstances of the quote are unclear at this point, with conflicting reports from Macworld and Think Secret. Think Secret specifies that the shareholder was speaking in regards to Microsoft's Media Center.

Jobs also mentioned a new TV ad campaign to launch next week, although the campaign's topic (iPod, Mac, etc.) was not specified.

Former president of the Sierra Club Larry Fahn questioned Apple on its environmental sensitivity.

Quote from Macworld

"We are concerned that besides being a hip, cool company, Apple is falling short of the industry environmentally," Fahn said. "I would like to thank you for the program introduced last week, but there is still a long way to go."

In response, Jobs noted that the Sierra Club recently voted Apple one of its top 10 environmentally friendly companies. "So there is some kind of disconnect with your numbers," he said. Jobs also noted that Apple's new recycling program takes any computer, not just Macs, "because we like switchers, too."

Finally, when questioned about his time working between Disney, Pixar and Apple, Jobs stated that he is planning to spend more time at Apple after he gives up his CEO position at Pixar once Disney and Pixar merge. Jobs reportedly has no interest in helping run Disney.

Update: CNet adds that Apple's upcoming ad campaign will be geared towards promoting the Mac.

Think Secret is reporting that Apple has disbanded its Aperture development team, which leaves Apple's entry into the professional photography market in limbo.

In the run-up to Aperture's November release last year, for example, sources report that responsibility for the application's image processing pipeline was taken away from the Aperture team and given to the Shake and Motion team "to fix as best they can."

The article associates many of Aperture's problems with poor application design. Aperture has been met with mixed reviews, with frequent complaints about the software's performance even on high-end Macs and sub-par RAW image handling. Adobe's Lightroom beta has also introduced competitive pressure and has received positive initial reviews, especially when compared to Aperture.

Samsung will be the beneficiary of last week's announcement that PortalPlayer's media chip will not be used in upcoming flash-based iPods.

PortalPlayer's media chip has been used in Apple's iPod from the beginning, but PortalPlayer's stock dropped on the news that Apple had decided to pass on their upcoming PP5021 media processor chip.

While PortalPlayer's current chip will continue to be used in current iPods, eeTimes reports that Samsung has been working with Apple on a "PortalPlayer killer" 32-bit chip based on ARM technology. This new chip has been chosen for use in future flash-based iPods.

I knew PortalPlayer would take a dive, said Jon Kang, senior vice president for the technical marketing group at Samsung Semiconductor Inc. (San Jose, Calif.), the U.S. chip arm of South Koreas Samsung (Seoul). I knew that we would win this design."

Few details are provided on the benefits of the switch. Samsung, however, is also the supplier of much of the NAND flash memory provided in the recent Flash-based iPods.

Based on these component reports, there has been speculation that the flash iPods will see a revision later this year.