MacRumors

MacWorld reports on an Apple press event today previewing a new San Francisco Apple Store.

The two story structure opens on Saturday. As an added bonus, the first people in the store have the option of purchasing a mysterious $250 "Lucky Bag" full of 7 or 8 products -- all but one from Apple. The retail value of the contents... reportedly between $600 and $1000.

Despite inquiries, Apple wouldn't give out any details as the contents of the bag.

CNet provides some followup on nanotube and liquid-cooling technology.

Specifically they mention a startup named Cooligy. According to Cooligy's vice president of marketing, they expect their liquid cooling system to be used in a "workstation" this year.

Rumor-readers should recognize this company's name. In October 2003, Cooligy admitted to creating prototype designs using their technology for a number of companies -- including Apple. In November more specific rumors emerged of a liquid-cooled PowerBook targeted for 2004.

Meanwhile, recent whispers have again claimed that Apple is working on liquid cooled machines for release in the near future.

Development appears to be wrapping up on Mac OS X 10.3.3. The latest seed notes posted on MacNews.net.tc seem to indicate that development is wrapping up.

Key changes listed include improved file sharing and directory services, PostScript and USB printing, font management, updated Disk Utility, DVD Player, Image Capture, Mail and Safari applications and updated drivers.

Additional Notes:

- Finder automatically mounts Volumes in Finderbar and Desktop. After Mounting you can create a Link to the Desktop icon.
- Mounting problems with w2k and w2003 are gone
- No SMB problems with XP

Appleinsider reports that Apple will be launching at least two stores in Canada.

The two locations reportedly under consideration are the Yorkdale Shopping Center and Toronto's Eaton Centre.

Apple has already launched its first international store in Japan and recent reports reveal an Apple Store coming to London.

Related Video: Apple Store Japan opening ("Longest Line")

CNet reports that Hitachi is working on an embedded and non-removable version of the 1" Microdrive that is currently used in the iPod Mini.

An embedded version of the drive would trim costs and enable manufacturers to make even more compact designs.

The drive used in the iPod Mini is the Compact Flash (interface) version of Microdrive but there has been little success in utilizing it outside the Mini itself.

The latest print version of Business 2.0 offers an article about Sony's CEO Nobuyuki Idei.

While it has appeared that Sony is positioning itself as a direct competitor with Apple, the two companies have apparently been working together. According to Idei:

There are a lot of joint projects going on between Sony and Apple. I've seen Steve Jobs three times in the past year, and we talk a lot about how we can define common technologies for, say music downloads. We are working with Apple on improving connectivity with camcorders. We make great use of QuickTime in our Sony Ericsson telephones and in our Clie PDA's.

Idei goes on to say that they would like to work more closely with Apple.

CNet reports that Napster has passed the 5 million song sales mark since its relaunch in late October.

Napster is considered the #2 music service according to Mercury News and was previously noted to have only 1/4 of the sales as iTunes.

While comparisons are likely to be made between Napster's numbers and iTunes' numbers, it may be difficult to compare due to differences in launch dates and platforms at time of launch.

For reference, however, Apple announced sales of 13 million songs at the launch of the Windows iTunes Store (October 2003), and then 25 million iTunes songs as of December, 2003.

A new site section tab has been created on MacRumors entitled "Shop". The new area is a MacRumors branded Price Comparison tool, powered by Price Grabber.

The new area can be accessed by the "Shop" Tab on the top right of your screen or by url: https://macrumors.pricegrabber.com/

The new section offers price comparison charts which also take into account both tax and shipping charges across various vendors. Meanwhile, "Seller ratings" allow users to provide feedback on individual experiences with the vendors.

Examples:

PowerMac G5 2.0GHz
PowerBook G4 1.33GHz
Apple iPods
Digital Cameras
and more ...

CBS Marketwatch reports on a lawsuit from Eminem's publisher (Eight Mile Style) against Apple last week.

At issue is a television ad that Apple ran in which a 10-year-old sings Eminem's "Lose Yourself" song. The ad debuted at the launch of Apple's iTunes Music Store alongside 3 other singing ads.

According to the lawsuit, "Eminem has never nationally endorsed any commercial products" and doing so would require a significant payment.

Apple released a security update for Mac OS X today (in your Software Update).

Security Update 2004-02-23 delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users. This update includes the following components:

DiskArbitration, IPSec, Point-to-Point-Protocol, tcpdump

TheRegister.co.uk reports on an updated PowerPC MPC7447 from Motorola.

The updated version of the chip (7447A) runs at 1.5GHz. The previous version of the 7447 processor is currently being used in Apple's PowerBooks.

TheRegister speculates that this may power an updated G4 PowerBook revision while we wait for the G5 PowerBook. Previous comments by Apple execs have noted that "it's going to be a while" (stated in Nov 2003) before the G5 makes it into a PowerBook.

Updates to Apple's "pro" line of computers -- the PowerMac and PowerBook -- remain two of the most anticipated hardware updates.

IBM's new PowerPC 970FX provides hope for upcoming updates for both product lines. While information on the web related to the PowerPC 970FX was relatively sparse after IBM's presentations at ISSCC last week... this Japanese report provides some basic specs with speeds ranging from 1.3GHz - 2.5GHz, and this German report offers some details of the PowerTune technology from IBM. The PowerTune technology is reportedly capable of stepping down speed to 1/2 or 1/4 of the processor's top speed, thus reducing the power consumption.

The most recent hints have pointed that PowerMacs will not be updated in February... but the new processor suggests that the new machines will top out at 2.5GHz when they do arrive.

Meanwhile, whispers have suggested that Apple is continuing to investigate liquid-based cooling techniques for both PowerMac and PowerBook lines. Whether/When this technology will be delivered as a shipping product is unclear.

The iPod Mini was released for sale on Friday at Apple Retails Stores.

Based on various reader reports, the iPod Mini was a very popular item in a number of locations.

Various photo gallerys are starting to appear on the web. Of particular interest, iPoding posts a photo gallery of a disassembled iPod Mini.

Australian IT reports that Destra is adding up to 30,000 tracks from Sony Music over the coming months.

Of interest, the article states that the songs will be available in both WMA and AAC formats. It goes on to specifically state that it will be compatible with the iPod.

Reportedly there will be "protection from copyright violation" built in. It isn't clear if the service would be offering the same FairPlay/AAC ("Protected AAC") files that are presently offered in Apple's iTunes Music Store.

According to DanceFrontDoor.co.uk the PortalPlayer chip used in the Apple iPod (PB5502B-C) is capable of decoding WMA (Windows Media Audio) by default. (but this functionality is obviously not enabled in the iPod)

Certainly, Apple's decision not to allow the iPod to play WMA-formatted songs has always been strategic one rather than a technical hurdle.

With HP's recent adoption of the iPod, there was some speculation that the iPod would support the Windows format, but HP clearly stated that WMA support was not planned. As well, reliable sources had indicated the same.