MacRumors

USNews.com published a list of 25 individuals they've labeled as "America's Best Leaders".

The selection process took place by a committee convened by the Center for Public Leadership. The committee considered over 300 names during the selection process and came to this list.

Apple's Steve Jobs made the cut:

They rise to the occasion in times of political crisis, but truly transformational leaders who change the world for the better remain rare in business. Which is why Steve Jobs is so fascinating.

Other notable individuals in the technology sector include Bill Gates and Google founders (Larry Page and Sergey Brin).

ZDNet.com.au reports on iTunes vice-president Eddy Cue's speech at the iTunes Austrlia launch.

According to Cue, the Australian iTunes launch was one of the biggest international launches, and focuses heavily on local and independent labels.

According to Cue, it was important that the Australian iTunes music store was built for and by Australians because the domestic music industry is so strong.

Cue acknowledged that Sony BMG was not a part of the iTunes Australia launch, as previous rumored. Also reported is that Apple has sold over 600 million songs worldwide.

ThinkSecret reports that over the weekend, Apple seeded developers with build 8F45 of Mac OS X 10.4.3. The latest build has no "known issues" according to the rumor site, suggesting that the update is approaching release status.

Mac OS X 10.4.3 will weigh in at around 100MB and include more than 550 fixes and improvements

Few details of the specific improvements are available. Appleinsider posts a similar report.

Ahead of schedule, iTunes now provides an Australia link in the iTunes Music Store.

Songs are being offered for $1.69 and videos for $3.39 (AUS). Rumors for iTunes Australia have been long whispered. Cited reasons for the long delay have included resistance from music labels. According to the most recent reports, Sony BMG has not signed on to the iTunes Australia launch.

Official launch is expected on October 25th at a media conference in Sydney.

Update: Official press release.

eWeek reports on a startup company which is working on a new family of low-power, multicore, PowerPC architecture processors due in 2006.

The company, P.A. Semi, plans to start by introducing a dual core 2GHz processor with a 13 watt typical power consumption. The new chips are designed "from the ground up to be miserly with power".

"There isn't a silver bullet to solve the power problem. You just have to have it as a priority all through the design process," Hayter said. "We've applied the methodology whereby if a part of the chip isn't being used, we won't clock it."

The first chips are due in the 3rd quarter of 2006. Meanwhile, Apple plans to start the move from PowerPC processors to the Intel processor architecture by June 2006.

Several readers report on a class action lawsuit filed by users regarding Apple's new iPod nano device.

The lawsuit charges screens on the tiny flash-based digital audio players scratch excessively during normal usage, rendering the screen on the Nanos [sic] unreadable, and violating state consumer protection statutes and causing Plaintiff class members to incur loss of use and monetary damages.

iPod screen scratching complaints have been previously reported. Apple dismissed the issue in a previous comment stating that the nano was made of the same materials as the 4th Generation iPod.

Apple was previously sued by iPod owners due to battery failure and performance.

Apple's support document for PhotoBooth 1.0 indicates that PhotoBooth will work with an both an external video camera (such as an iSight) as well as the iMac's built in video camera.

PhotoBooth is a simple fun application which allows new iMac owners to take photos of themselves and apply various effects -- such as Sepia, Glow, Comic Book and more. The manipulated photos can be sent to friends by email or placed in your iPhoto Library.

For whatever reason, Apple is only offering PhotoBooth pre-installed on new iMacs, and has not yet released the software publicly. According to various reader reports, the 3.5mb application has no restrictions and does work on other Macs with an iSight (or other external video camera).

Apple has also posted Pro Application Support 3.1 update.

The 6.1MB download is described as follows:

This update improves general user interface reliability for Apple's professional applications

It is recommend for users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, Soundtrack, Logic Pro and Logic Express.

Apple recently introduced iTunes 6.0 which provided Video support to the iTunes Store as well as support for the new Video-capable iPod.

Today, Apple provides a small update to iTunes in your Mac OS X Software Update:

With iTunes 6.0.1, you can preview, buy, and download over 2,000 videos on the iTunes Music Store and sync your music and purchased videos with iPod to enjoy on the go. To watch purchased videos, you must have Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later.

iTunes 6.0.1 features several stability improvements over iTunes 6.

After purchasing music from the iTunes Music Store with iTunes 6 or later, you will also need to upgrade your other computers that purchase music from the iTunes Music Store to iTunes 6.0.1.

Arstechnica provides an extensive review of the new 5G (Video) iPod. The review covers form factor, video playback, applications, and a dissection of the video iPod:

Taking this unit apart is a little bit different than previous models due to the changes in the housing design. Opening it was more akin to the nano and can be accomplished using a flat, hard tool like a screwdriver.

Meanwhile, Kodawarisan has posted images from an iMac G5 dissection. The iMac G5 was introduced during the October 12th media event alongside the Video iPod. The new iMac features a thinner case and built in iSight.

Finally, the first benchmarks comparing the new Dual Core PowerMacs (2.0 and 2.3) to the old Dual Processor 2.5GHz PowerMac. Note: benchmarks numbers from the Quad (Dual Dual-Core) PowerMac are not yet available. The benchmarks show that the Dual-Core processor (970MP) Macs have have comparable performance to the old Dual Processor (970) PowerMac even at lower gigahertz speeds. The Dual-Core 2.3GHz slightly edges out the Dual-Processor 2.5GHz PowerMac in the performance score totals.

Maccentral posts some notes about Aperture with reactions and comments from Apple. First and foremost, Apple insists that Aperture is not a competitor to Adobe Photoshop:

Apple said that Aperture opens up a whole new category for photo applications. The company set out to eliminate many of the issues that pros have been facing over the years as they move from their familiar print workflow to the digital workspace.

While not available until November, Apple invited some of the press to a demonstration of the new program. Some notes include:

- Aperture deals with the RAW data coming from the Camera
- All edits are non-destructive
- No "save" command, all changes are logged to a SQL database
- Advanced web galleries, photo books and prints. Photo books are higher resolution and have more flexible layouts than those offered through iPhoto.
- "Smart" web galleries which have images posted based on certain criteria

After many false starts, Apple may finally be launching iTunes Australia.

Originally reported on Appletalk.com.au, Apple is planning on launching iTunes Australia at a media conference next Tuesday (Oct 25th). CNet.com.au confirms that the special media briefing will feature Eddie Cue, vice president of iTunes, and Greg Joswiak, vice president of iPod product marketing. They will be addressing the press at 9am at Siebel Pier One Hotel in Sydney, Australia.

The Daily Telegraph also confirms the media conference, but pinpoints the actual launch to October 31st:

Australia's leading music video directors are believed to have produced clips specifically for small screen playback as an exclusive feature for the launch.

Earlier reports indicated that Sony and Warner Music had been holding out on signing agreements with Apple. Warner Music is expected to sign on with Apple, but Sony BMG is reportedly still holding out.

Alongside PowerMac G5s updates, PowerBook updates, and the release of Aperture, Apple also reduced the prices on their cinema displays.

The new prices for the Cinema Displays are:

20" Cinema - $799 (no change)
23" Cinema HD - $1299 (-$200)
30" Cinema HD - $2499 (-$500)

As has been long rumored, Apple released Dual Core PowerMac G5s today at their Media Event.

The new PowerMac G5s features the following models:

Single Dual-Core G5 2.0GHz $1,999
Single Dual-Core G5 2.3GHz $2,499
Dual Dual-Core G5 2.5GHz $3,299

The high end model features Two Dual Core G5 processors giving it 4 effective processing units. It is called the "Power Mac G5 Quad".

- PCI Express
- up to 16GB of 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM
- Two Gigabit Ethernet ports
- Mighty Mouse
- GeForce 6600 (128MB or 256MB)

The Quad PowerMac will be shipping in November.

Apple released new PowerBooks at today's Media Event.

The long anticipated PowerBook updates offer higher resolution screens and other improvements:

- 15", 1440x960 resolution screen, $1999
- 17", 1680x1050 resolution screen, $2499

All PowerBooks come with Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR, integrated AirPort Extreme, scrolling TrackPad, and Apple Sudden Motion Sensor technology. SuperDrives are standard as is Apple 30" Cinema HD Display support. One hour more battery life in the 15" and 17" models.

12" PowerBook 1.5GHz G4 remains. The 15" and 17" feature a 1.67GHz G4 Processor.

PowerBooks are shipping today. Press Release.

Apple announced Aperture today during their media event. The new Pro Software application is a post-production tool for photographers.

Designed from the ground up for professional photographers, Aperture provides everything you need for after the shoot, delivering the first all-in-one post-production tool for photographers.

The $499 application will ship in November. Other features include:

- RAW image-based workflow
- Importing, editing, catalog, organization, retouch, publishing and archival tools
- RAW formats, TIFF, JPEG, DNG
- Full screen workspace
- Colorsync profies
- Recommends a dual 2.0GHz or faster Power Mac G5.

Initial updates from the Media Event in New York today.
Thanks to MacWorld and Engadget for live coverage.

- Upgrades to the 15" and 17" PowerBooks.
- 15" gets a new display with 1440x960 resolution, while the 17" will get 1680x1050. Both will be brighter than previous models and have improved battery life.
- SuperDrives will be standard and all will support Apple's 30" Cinema HD Display
- Prices start at $1,499 for 12", $1,999 for 15" and $2,499 for 17".
- Powerbooks ship today

- PowerMac G5s updated
- Dual core processors, 1MB L2 cache per core, up to 16GB of DDR2 RAM, 1TB of internal storage, PCI Express
- Four new nVidia cards, including the Quadro FX 4500 - all four cards support 30" cinema display
- PowerMac G5 Quad, with dual dual-core processors
- Single CPU dual-core 2.0 GHz version is $1,999; single CPU dual core 2.3Ghz is $2,499; dual CPU dual-core 2.5Ghz is $3,299
- Single CPU PowerMacs shipping now, Quad ships in November

- 23" and 30" cinema displays drop in price, 23" down to $1,299, 30" down to $2,499

- Aperture - post-production software for photographers
- Built for pro photographers, provides end-to-end RAW workflow
- Feature called Stacks allows photos to be grouped together based on the time between shutter clicks
- Full screen workspace, can span multi-image displays
- Multi-image viewer to check images side-by-side, up to 10 at a time
- Standard tools like red-eye reduction; cropping etc. Non-destructive workflow and versioning capabilities
- Aperture is $499 and will ship in November

- Event has finished
- Apple Store has been updated