Apple's iTunes Music Store has gone down and has been replaced with a black screen with the simple words:
It's Showtime
The iTunes Store is being updated
Apple is widely expected to deliver an iTunes Movie service today at their media event.

Apple's iTunes Music Store has gone down and has been replaced with a black screen with the simple words:
It's Showtime
The iTunes Store is being updated
Apple is widely expected to deliver an iTunes Movie service today at their media event.
More possibilities continue to roll in for today's event.
Several readers have noted the publication of an iPhone photo in a French online newspaper. This iPhone photo is simply a confirmed mockup design that had been published months ago.
Meanwhile, one new report indicates that there are 8 new iPod stock numbers and 10 new accessory stock numbers available to resellers. Accessories are broken down into 3 new cases, 4 new armbands, a dock, headphones and a cable/connector piece.
As Apple's It's Showtime event approaches, a number of interesting tidbits have been circulating.
Some analysts believe that this is the first of many consumer electronic announcements from Apple in the coming months.
MacNN posts images from the exterior of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. The front is covered with an iPod dancing-silloutete banner.
One unconfirmed post claims knowing the entire agenda for the event.
Several sites continue to report that only the Disney Studio is on-board for the initial launch of the iTunes Movie Store.
Use our Forum Spy for up to the second discussion about the Apple event.
TUAW posts an unconfirmed agenda for the Apple event:
Let's just say I have been informed by a little reliable birdy about Tomorrow's event. The line-up will follow this similar structure:
Welcoming of Media Members
Discussion on iTunes software, iTMS integration into iTunes, and iTMS sales and facts.
Announcement of iTunes version 7.0
Announces better search feature for Music Store
Announces Movie Store. Available Immediately will be movies from Disney and Pixar, among other studios.
New iPod Nano Announcement (nice brushed casing, while it will have same features as first gen, only a longer battery life)
New iPod Announcement (Widescreen, Bluetooth, and featuring virtual touchweel. Does not include Wi-Fi, or any other protocols)
One More Thing....TubePort. A $99 2-piece set that includes a dongle that connects via USB to your mac, and another dongle that connects via included HD cables or regular Component cables to your TV. The movie is accessed on your Mac via an iDisk-like storage component hosted by Apple.
Jobs will then explain the pricing structure of the Movie Store. Movies will be available as either a smaller iPod-format (which will cost $9.99 per movie), or as a larger, streamed movie to be streamed to your TV via TubePort. This cost $14.99 per movie. To purchase an iPod-formatted movie and a streamed version of the same movie, it will cost you $19.99."
The same information was anonymously sent to this site as well as others.
When asked to clarify the "dongle" setup the reply was:
There are 2 wireless adapters in the TubePort set. One has a USB cable coming out of it that plugs into the computer, while the other wireless adapter has removable HD cables... these HD cables can be replaces with the included analog Component cables
....
Both adapters are wireless and communicate with each other. both adapters have LED lights to indicate status
The validity of this report is entirely unconfirmed and should be taken with as much authority as a anonymous forum post.
Apple is hosting a media event on Tuesday, September 12th 2006 in San Francisco, CA at 10AM Pacific. The event will also be simulcast to a location in London where journalists have also been invited.
The invitation to the media was entitled It's Showtime -- suggesting Movie-related announcements. Rumors sites had originally expected iMac updates during the event, but Apple surprised everyone with iMac and Mac mini updates last week.
This leaves iPods, a Movie Store and the possibility of a new streaming Media device for the Tuesday event.
As usual, a number of anonymous images have been circulating claiming to represent upcoming products, but these are all considered to be fake. Other circumstantial evidence (2) has been reported, but no definitive information on the event.
As always, MacRumors will provide continuing coverage, however, access to these events have become more restricted, so please contact us if you are attending.
TG Daily news reports that Tom's Hardware will be posting preliminary benchmarks for Intel's upcoming Kenstfield processor on Monday.
Kentsfield is Intel's next version of their "Core" processors which was originally scheduled to be released in the 1st Quarter of 2007. According to the article, it is now planned for late 2006 availability.
Kentsfield is a Quad-core chip and essentially combines two Core 2 Duo Desktop (Conroe) chips into a single processor. It is expected to be a Conroe "drop-in" and should work with the same motherboards as Conroe. More details about the chip are expected at the fall Intel Developer Forum which takes place between September 26-28 in San Francisco.
Apple originally used the Core Duo (Yonah) processor in first Intel Macs released in January of 2006. In the past month, Intel introduced the Core 2 Duo Mobile (Merom) and Desktop (Conroe) processors as a successor to the Core Duo (Yonah). Last week, Apple incorporated the Core 2 Duo Mobile (Merom) into the new iMacs. Apple has not yet utilized the Core 2 Duo Desktop (Conroe) processors for any Macs. Meanwhile, the Mac Pro, introduced in August, uses the higher-end Xeon (Woodcrest) processor.
Apple's current line up is as follows:
Mac mini - Core Duo (Yonah)
iMac - Core 2 Duo (Merom)
MacBook - Core Duo (Yonah)*
MacBook Pro - Core Duo (Yonah)*
Mac Pro - Xeon (Woodcrest)
Xserve - Xeon (Woodcrest)
* Unlike the other models, the MacBook and MacBook Pro have not seen updates for 4-5 months. As a result, many are speculating that they will see updates soon.
Update: Meanwhile, Clovertown, Intel's Quad-core Woodcrest is expected in the same timeframe (late 2006).
Apple just released a Mac OS X 10.4.8 developer seed marked as build 8L2112 (Intel) and 8L112 (PPC). This latest build was released to developers with little fan fare.
An unconfirmed post claimed the latest 10.4.8 build did incorporate enhanced OpenGL performance which led to the following Cinebench 9.5 benchmark on a MacBook Pro which does not appear to demonstrate significant improvements:
Computer |
1 CPU |
x=2 CPU |
OpenGL SW |
OpenGL HW |
OpenGL Speedup |
MacBook Pro 2.16, Mac OS X 10.4.8 (Dev Seed) |
334 |
628 |
1529 |
3062 |
7.85 |
MacBook Pro 2.16, Mac OS X 10.4.7, 2GB |
328 |
559 |
1503 |
2947 |
7.74 |
MacCentral posted a first look at the new Core 2 Duo iMac along with some early benchmarks.
The new iMacs which were released on Wednesday incorporate the latest Core 2 Duo processor from Intel. The Core 2 Duo represents the continuation of the Core Duo line which first made its appearance in Apple computers in January. Intel has maintained that the new chips would provide roughly 20% improvement in performance.
MacCentral tested the new 17" 2GHz iMac and 20" 2.16GHz iMac and compared them to the previous 20" 2GHz Core Duo and the 2.66GHz Mac Pro.
The most direct comparison between the two processors comes between the 17" 2GHz Core 2 Duo iMac and the 20" 2GHz Core Duo iMac. The overall score was 10% better in the new model while the individual tests showed gains up to 20%.
As expected, the 2.66GHz Mac Pro (Woodcrest processor) outperformed the new iMacs, but the reviewers were still impressed how well the iMac fared:
With twice the number of processor cores, all running faster than the iMac, the Mac Pro had a definite advantage in this match up. But because not all applications and tasks take full advantage of the Mac multiprocessing capabilities, most results showed the Mac Pro between 20 and 30 percent faster than the 2.16GHz iMac.
Apple seeded Mac OS X 10.4.8 to Developers on Friday. A number of issues are fixed in this seed including issues with Image RAW, CoreImage, ColorSync, Rosetta, Xsan and File Manager.
The Intel version of the build is said to be 8L2122 and the PowerPC at 8L112.
An unconfirmed Digg posting claims that there are a number of other significant changes to 10.4.8 including enahnced OpenGL and Video performance, but this has not been confirmed.
It's possible this could refer to Multithreaded OpenGL which is presently only available on the Mac OS X 10.4.7 build that ships with Mac Pros.
TheRegister.co.uk reports that at a Core 2 Duo chipset launch yesterday, an Intel general manager suggested that there were discussions to bring Intel's Advanced Manageability Technologies in vPro to Apple machines.
Intel's vPro is detailed on their site. vPro is essentially a marketing initiative, targeted at business customers, and incorporates dual core 64-bit chips, virtualization, and Active Management Technology (iAMT).
iAMT provides management and security software embedded in the chipset of the machine -- outside the reach of the operating system. This article describes the capabilities of iAMT:
Thanks to iAMT system administrators will be able to remotely set up new computers, download software updates, perform asset inventories and find and fix many problems even when target systems are turned off, the operating system has locked up or the hard drive has failed.
Intel provides an overview on their site.
SeattlePI reports that Amazon launched their video download service today -- dubbed "Amazon Unbox".
The service offers television shows, movies and other videos from over 30 studios and networks. TV shows will sell for $1.99 while Movies range from $7.99 - $14.99. If you prefer to rent, Movies can be rented for $3.99 each.
The movies are provided in two formats: a "DVD Quality" version and a portable-device compatible one. System requirements are listed:
Windows XP Professional, Home Edition,Media Center or Tablet PC. A Computer running 900 Mhz or greater, with aminimum of 256 MB of RAM, and 200 MB of hard disk space.
Movies are accessed and played through the Amazon Unbox Video Player.
For an example, The Matrix sells for $9.88 with the DVD quality version being 2.2GB with a 2500kbps Video Bitrate and 5.1 Audio while the portable version is 520MB.
Apple is widely expected to launch their movie service on September 12th, but there have been rumors that they may launch with only one studio due to negotiation difficulties with the studios.
A few tidbits from around the web:
Several readers have noted that the first Mac Pros with the ATI X1900 Graphics Card started shipping earlier this week. Photos of the graphics card can be seen in this thread.
Macsimumnews reports that the new 24" iMac incorporates a Mobile PCI Express Module (MXM) connector for its video card. The use of this standard connector potentially means that the video card in the newest iMac is upgradeable.
Parallels announced today that the Release Candidate of their virtualization software has been released. Notable improvements in this version include Mac Pro support and early Windows Vista Beta support.
A MacNN blog entry details a recent Apple patent which describes a multi-functional handheld device which can take the place of a number of other devices.
Disclosed herein is a multi-functional hand-held device capable of configuring user inputs based on how the device is to be used.
MacDailyNews reports that Apple has started a print campaign that complements the recent Get a Mac television ads.
A detachable insert in the September 8th issue of Entertainment Weekly contains a 14 page booklet showing "Why you'll love a Mac":
Macs are designed from the ground up to work better than any other computer. And they come with everything you need to have more fun, right out of thebox. Including iLife '06, Apple's award-winning suite of software that lets you easily crete photo books; websites, blogs; home movies and more. A built-in iSight camera for video chats with your friends and family. Mac OS X, the world's most advanced operating system that doesnt' suffer from all the viruses that plague PCs. And Intel's latest chip, so everything runs faster than ever. Say hello to a better computer. Say hello to Mac.
The booklet goes on to show pictures and descriptions of iPhoto, iWeb, iTunes, iMovie, GarageBand, iChat, Dashboard, Microsoft Office, iMac, MacBook, MacBook Pro and the Mac mini. Photos of the booklet can be seen here (Flickr).
The Inquirer believes that, contrary to previous rumors, Apple notebooks using Intel's Core 2 Duo mobile variant code-named "Merom" may be delayed until 2007 due to supply issues at Intel.
...Woodcrest is getting the lion's share of production, over 70% of Xeons will be new. Conroe is next in line with 20+%, followed by a syphilitic trickle of Meroms... What this means is Apple is faced with putting out laptops that have cases made of real unobtanium, or they can wait and roll it out right. Since it is mole migration season, I have been asking many of the little critters streaming past my house, and they all say that iMeromBooks are a 2007 product.
While the Inquirer seems to have a decent track record of Intel rumors, its Apple track record continues to be suspect, so take this one with a grain of salt. Of note, the entire iMac line was upgraded to include Merom chips yesterday.
With the new Mac mini and iMac updates released today, it appears Apple will focus on their Movie initiative during their September 12th media event. Variety provides some details of the upcoming announcement.
As reported elsewhere, Variety expects Apple to provide movies for $9.99/download for older movies and $14.99 for new releases. This price range is reportedly a concession to movie studios who want variable pricing. Apple has long been a proponent of a one-price model. As a result, only Disney is said to be definitely on board with the initial launch with the other studios potentially joining in the next year.
In contrast, Amazon is also launching a movie store later this week, and they are expected to have all major movie studios signed on. Amazon's pricing will be in line with current movie download services ($9.99-$19.99).
An Associated Press report offers a similar perspective on the ongoing negotiations between Apple and the movie studios:
...substantial disagreements between studios and Apple remain to be resolved and Apple's movie service could launch with a limited number of films, according to two studio executives who asked to remain anonymous because talks were still ongoing.
Apple has updated the Mac Mini to include all Core Duo models. Other than the processor upgrade, there does not appear to be any differences between the previous Mac Mini and today's release, including pricing. The Mac Mini is available in two offerings:
1.66 GHz Mac Mini
60 GB 5400-rpm SATA Hard Drive
Combo Drive
$599 USD
1.83 GHz Mac Mini
80 GB 5400-rpm SATA Hard Drive
Superdrive
$799 USD
Both models feature:
-2MB Shared L2 Cache
-512 MB 667 MHz DDR2 RAM standard (up to 2 GB supported)
-GMA 950 Integrated graphics
-1 Firewire 400, 4 USB 2.0
-Optical Digital/Analog Audio In/Out
-Gigabit ethernet
-Airport Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR standard
The new Mac minis are available at the Apple Store.
Of note, the Mac Mini still uses Core Duo (Yonah), not the more advanced Core 2 Duo "Merom" chip found in today's iMac announcements.
While keeping the 17 & 20 inch form factors, Apple has released a new big brother to the iMac lineup. The new machine features a 24 inch widescreen in the familiar all-in-the-screen form factor. Under the hood all of the iMacs now feature the newly released Intel Core 2 Duo with speeds from 1.83 GHz to 2.33 GHz, making it up to 50% faster than the previous 20" iMac. The new machines are available in the following standard configurations:
17 inch 1.83GHz
$999 US
1440x900 resolution
2MB L2 Cache
512MB RAM
160GB SATA HD
24x Combo Drive
Intel GMA950 64MB
Airport Extreme
17 inch 2.0GHz
$1199
1440x900 resolution
4MB L2 Cache
1GB RAM
160GB SATA HD
8x Double Layer Superdrive
ATI Radeon x1600 128MB
Airport Extreme & Bluetooth
Apple Remote
20 inch 2.16GHz
1680x1050 resolution
4MB L2 Cache
1GB RAM
250GB SATA HD
8x Double Layer Superdrive
ATI X1600 128MB
Airport Extreme & Bluetooth
Apple Remote
24 inch 2.16GHz
1920x1200 resolution
4MB L2 Cache
1GB RAM
250GB SATA HD
8x Double Layer Superdrive
NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 128MB
Airport Extreme & Bluetooth
Apple Remote
The new iMacs are available at the Apple Store.
ExtremeTech reports that Tzero Technologies and Analog Devices have announced a prototype wireless HDMI interface. The standards-based system allows manufacturers to stream high definition signals between audio/video equipment (TVs, DVD players).
The standard calls for link reliability of at least 95 percent, packet error rate of less than 1 in one hundred million, interference resistances for microwaves and cordless phones, and the ability to process three or more HD streams at 10 meters.
According to the article, the system will be demonstrated to various manufacturers over the next few months and be available for purchase in November.
While this announcement is not related to Apple, recent rumors have indicated that Apple could introduce a wireless video device next week. Of course, if Apple's device is intended to stream iTunes-downloadable movies, high definition video capabilities would likely not be required.