MacRumors

Now available via Software Update:

Java 1.4.2 Update 2 provides improved behavior for applets in Safari and increased stability for desktop Java applications. Java 1.4.2 Update 2 also includes all the improvements from Java 1.4.2 Update 1.

The system will be updated to Java 1.4.2 Update 2. If the system currently has Java 1.4.1, it will be removed. Any previous Java 1.4.2 installation will be completely replaced.

For more details on this update, please visit: http://www.apple.com/java/

This is part 2 of the Java 1.4.2 Update 1 that was released August 10th.

C|net reports that Sony has confirmed that it is working to add native MP3 support to its flash memory-based portable music players in an effort to gain competitive ground against rivals such as the iPod. Sony's players currently use a proprietary format called ATRAC which uses a different compression algorithm for maximizing the number of songs that can fit onto the devices. Apparently the changes are coming about due to consumer complaints that audio files from sources other than Sony's download site 'Connect' are unplayable on the company's portable offerings without first re-encoding the music to be read by the device.

Sony has yet to publicly announce whether they will support MP3 file playback on hard drive-based players.

Since the introduction of the iPod, add-ons for the iPod have been the realm of third party product developers only, but now Apple may be looking to broaden the scope of what it can offer. According to AppleInsider, Apple is now looking for hardware engineers to develop its own line of iPod accessories. Last month a job listing was posted for engineering WiFi & video integration into the iPod. It's unclear whether this is related to that position, or if it is a different position entirely, or simply just looking for an in-house liason between Apple and third party developers.

Based on some screen shots posted at AppleInsider, it seems the Apple Online store will be accessible at the system level, offering to link consumable purchases directly from within the new Printer Setup Utility 4.0. The option, when selected, takes the user to the corresponding ink cartridge page within the Apple Online Store. This would eliminate the confusion of buying cartidges from the myriad of options for printers, narrowing the field to only products that worked with the user's particular model.

According to various reader reports, the online Apple Store is showing a 1-3 day availability on iPod Minis for the first time since their introduction. Previous wait times have been as high as 4 weeks or more, due mainly to the fact that demand was far outstripping supply. Previous production ramp-ups were met with the release of the Mini on the international market, which again completely outstripped supply quickly.

It is not yet known whether the ship times are due to Hitachi's own rumored increase in supply of the drives, or if worldwide demand is finally slowing enough for supply to catch up. Additionally, iPod Minis are now available for sale in Target stores as well as various other resellers. Previously, the Mini was displayed in stores only with a 'coming soon' note below.

Now available via Software Update:

Security Update 2004-09-16 delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users. This update includes the following component:

iChat

For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798

There are updates for 10.2.8 + iChat 1.0, 10.2.8 + iChat 2.0, and 10.3.5 + iChat 2.1.
[Update] Details of the update:
CVE-ID: CAN-2004-0873
Impact: Remote iChat participants can send "links" that can start local programs if clicked
Description: A remote iChat participant can send a "link" that references a program on the local system. If the "link" is activated by clicking on it, and the "link" points to a local program, then the program will run. iChat has been modified so that "links" of this type will open a Finder window that displays the program instead of running it. Credit to aaron@vtty.com for reporting this issue.
Availability: This update is available for the following iChat versions:
- iChat AV v2.1 (Mac OS X 10.3 or later)
- iChat AV v2.0 (Mac OS X 10.2.8)
- iChat 1.0.1 (Mac OS X 10.2.8)

Thanks to one of our readers, we have some early benchmark results on a 17" 1.8 Ghz G5 iMac.
Cinebench results:

CINEBENCH 2003 v1
****************************************************
Processor : iMac G5
MHz : 1.8 GHZ
Number of CPUs : 1
Operating System : 10.3.5

Graphics Card : 5200
Resolution : 1440x900
Color Depth : millions
****************************************************
Rendering (Single CPU): 243 CB-CPU
Rendering (Multiple CPU): --- CB-CPU

Shading (CINEMA 4D) : 228 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Software Lighting) : 558 CB-GFX
Shading (OpenGL Hardware Lighting) : 695 CB-GFX

OpenGL Speedup: 3.05
****************************************************

and an Xbench score of 134.71 (full Xbench details in thread)

The BBC reports that the UK Consumers' Association is looking into allegations that prices are higher for the UK localization of the iTMS than they are for either the French or German localizations. The group has written to the Office of Fair Trading to investigate a 20% higher rate per downloaded track in the UK compared to either of the other two stores.

Apple has defended their UK pricing policy, stating that the underlying economic model in each country has an impact on cost-per-track for each localization. The comparison shouldn't be made between each localization of the store, but instead should be made to other per-track download options available in the UK.

AppleInsider (link, link) has published screen shots of various components of OS X Tiger builds showing previously undocumented features. Among them are support for Jabber accounts in iChat, broadened parental controls for family members with Family Controls, RSS reader preferences for within Safari, Address Book sharing, PDF bookmarking, and incremental Energy Saver settings, Dynamic DNS sharing preferences, an iTunes album art screensaver, and an option to encrypt memory when being swapped to disk. Among several other noticeable additions, the new Tiger builds reveal a brand new Mac OS X Graphing Calculator application, iCal calendar groups, and an enhanced dialog that provides bug report and safe relaunch options following an unexpected application crash, according to AppleInsider.

While not technically a rumor since these are coming from developer builds, the screen shots show a glimpse of the direction Tiger is taking, and show the relative refinement of the operating system at this stage of development.

According to Daily Variety (subscription required) in a story also picked up by Ultimate-Guitar.com, Apple Computer and Apple Corps are on the verge of announcing a huge settlement in their ongoing trademark dispute, one that could "massively dwarf the $26.5 million paid to the Fab Four's company in 1991 in a row over trademark use."

A lawyer was quoted in these stories as opining, "People are expecting this to be the biggest settlement anywhere in legal history, outside of a class action suit. The numbers could be mind boggling." The name of this lawyer wasn't disclosed, nor how he would be in possession of inside knowledge of the alleged impending settlement.

There is a possibility that Apple Corps may become a large shareholder in Apple Computer, a result which might bring former Beatle Paul McCartney to the Apple board of directors.

According to various reader reports, the new iMac G5 which was previously announced at Apple Expo Paris has begun shipping to customers who placed early orders. Email announcements regarding shipment are being sent out as of today. Apparently both the 17 and 20 inch models are both shipping. Standard freight shipping takes approximately 10 days.

A story published by Wired News reports Transitive Corp. of Los Gatos, California has developed a product called QuickTransit, offering the possibility of emulation at near-native speed. It fully supports accelerated 3-D graphics and 80 percent computational performance on the main processor according to Wired. This means Macs could run Windows-native or Linux-native software with no recompiling necessary, with no noticeable loss in performance. This software version of a rosetta stone has reportedly been aquired by six different PC manufacturers with public announcements to come later this year. Transitive launched the software on Monday with versions for Itanium, Opteron, x86 and Power/PowerPC chips.

Transitive is attempting to move away from the term 'emulator' to describe their software, embracing instead 'hardware virtualization.' They are keen to keep away from emulator, since up until now the term has suggested "things that are very slow" according to Transitive's President & CEO Bob Wiederhold.

Now available via Software Update:

Security Update 2004-09-07 delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users. This update includes the following components:

CoreFoundation
IPSec
Kerberos
libpcap
lukemftpd
NetworkConfig
OpenLDAP
OpenSSH
PPPDialer
rsync
Safari
tcpdump

For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798

[Update] A revised version (1.1) of the Security Update was made available as of 2004-09-13, apparently to address certain issues that arose from the first release.

An IDG News Service news story reports that Apple offered Sony an iTunes Music Store deal in January, in a personal meeting between Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Sony chairman Nobuyuki Idei.

The offer was made when the two met at the Sony Open golf tournament held in Hawaii this January, according to the paper, which quoted unnamed Sony sources. Jobs is reported to have wanted to bring the Sony brand into the service to maintain a competitive advantage over Microsoft Corp., which launched a beta version of its MSN Music store earlier this week.

Microsoft today took the wraps off the beta version of MSN Music, the computer giant's online music sales & distribution site. Many industry analysts have said that this may be the first 'true competitor' to Apple's iTunes Music Store. The interface is similar to the iTMS interface, offering one-click purchase usability and track previews prior to purchase. Tracks are available in WMA format for use in various portable MP3/WMA players. The service appears open to Mac users as well, but since the tracks are in WMA format, the Apple iPod (+/- HP) is not a compatible player. Tracks on Windows machines must be re-encoded into MP3 or AAC through iTunes for Windows to work on the iPod.

The full version of MSN Music is due in October, 2004.

With the introduction of the 2" thick iMac G5, many Mac enthusiasts' attentions have now focused on the PowerBook, and the hope of it moving to a G5 processor as well. In an interview with Tom Boger, Apple's worldwide product development director, The Mac Observer writes that Apple is unable to overcome certain engineering problems faced with making a smaller G5 chip to work in a portable.

The new iMac G5 (desktop) is thin, but (the G5) is not thin enough for a laptop right now. There are great challenges in putting a G5 processor in a laptop. The issues range from power to cooling and its overall size...You're not going to see a G5 in a laptop anytime soon.

Rumors about a G5 PowerBook have been circulating through the Mac web ever since the introduction of the original Power Mac G5. Apple has kept their position saying that the PowerBook would be a long time off, citing power and size constraints as a factor in moving the G5 to the PowerBook.

Now available via Software Update:

AirPort Card Update 2004-08-31 improves reliability in mixed 802.11b and 802.11g environments and is recommended for all customers with AirPort-capable computers running AirPort 3.4 and later, including AirPort 4.0.

After this update, the AirPort Driver and AirPort Extreme Driver will each be upgraded to version 3.4.3.

Apple AirPort website at www.apple.com/airport
Apple Support website at www.apple.com/support

Apparently there is a Windows version of this update as well available via Windows Update.