Reports claim that MacBook Pro supplies are dwindling at major retailers such as Best Buy.
Checks with several popular online stores indicate continued stock, though Best Buy's Canadian affiliate, Future Shop, claims to be out of stock of the 2.2GHz version [of the MacBook Pro].
Apple has been widely expected to upgrade the MacBook Pros to recently released Penryn processors.
In October, Steve Jobs announced that they would be releasing a Software Development Kit for the iPhone and iPod Touch in February of 2008. While there had been rumors that some early developers had already received the SDK, little public information has been made available.
Tiny-Code.com, an iPhone Installer.app repository for fixes and updates to some unofficial 3rd party iPhone appplications has updated their website (screenshot at Macenstein) claiming that they are working with Apple and the upcoming SDK:
Tiny Code no longer produces fixes or applications for firmware 1.1.3.
We can't say much, but we are working with Apple and with their SDK for the next firmware release and SDK applications and we shouldn't be missed for long. We will no longer update our Installer.app repo for legality reasons and you should see us soon on iTunes.
The side bar also lists "targetting fw 1.1.4 Alpha 2", though we would hope that a planned February release would have progressed beyond Alpha stage by now.
Update: Comments from the Tiny-Code developer:
Yes, Tiny-Code.com was ordered to be removed from operation by Apple, Inc because by releasing firmware versions and stating I had possession of the firmware and SDK was apparently a violation of the Non-Disclosure Agreement I agreed to when I accepted a copy of the SDK and firmware.
Fake: Developer claims it was all made up.
This week, The Boy Genius Report published what they claimed to be an internal AT&T document that stated the following:
AT&T does not require a new two-year agreement for existing customers who upgrade their current iPhone to a new iPhone.
When a current iPhone customer first tethers their new iPhone, they will be required to accept a new two-year agreement. An automated fix for this issue has been developed and will reset the customers agreement date back to the date of their original iPhone activation or upgrade. The reset will occur within 48 hours of the customer completing the tethering process.
This issue affects all iPhone to iPhone swaps regardless of model.
There is no action required by the customer.
Most importantly, it is crucial that we set the right expectations with our customers at the point of purchase to ensure we provide the best customer experience possible.
Please advise all customers that to complete the tethering process of their new iPhone they will be required to accept a new two-year agreement including the Ts and Cs, however, their agreement will not be extended from their original iPhone activation or upgrade date. Their original agreement date will be reset within 48 hours of completing the tethering process and we apologize for any inconvenience.
If a customer expresses concerns about the agreement dates changing, assure them that the dates will be corrected and that they can check on line at att.com using the on-line account management tool OLAM - to confirm the correction has occurred.
[...]
Many sites, including The Boy Genius Report, incorrectly assumed that the use of the word "tethering" meant that AT&T was introducing a plan to allow customers to share their iPhone's internet connection with their computer.
This is not the case, and The Boy Genius Report has updated their story. The use of the word "tether" simply refers to a customer's contractual obligations, and the email was referring to the fact that existing iPhone users upgrading to 16 GB iPhones will have their new contracts backdated, as we have previously covered.
Yesterday, T3.co.uk published a story based on statements from Apple that existing MacBook and MacBook Pro owners might see expanded multitouch trackpad capabilites through a software-only update. The statement, however, was inaccurate and resulted in T3.co.uk pulling the original article.
Apple later clarified to T3.co.uk that the new Multitouch Trackpad is indeed unique to the Air, implying that existing Apple notebook owners should not expect to see these features added:
"MacBook Air features the most advanced trackpad we've ever made, integrating the multi-touch technology from the iPhone. This integrated feature is unique to MacBook Air."
This also correlates with disassembly photos that revealed the MacBook Air incorporates the same multitouch controller as the iPhone, which is not found in previous Apple notebooks.
While existing Apple notebooks do have some multitouch capabilities (two finger scroll, secondary click), Apple introduced 3 new gestures (swipe, pinch/expand, rotate) in the MacBook Air. Apple, of course, is rumored to be adding the new advanced multitouch trackpad to future Macbooks and MacBook Pros.
ThinkSecret.com officially went offline today, after the December announcement that they had settled their lawsuit with Apple. As part of the settlement agreement, ThinkSecret agreed that they would stop publishing, but due to existing advertising obligations they continued publishing in a limited fashion until February 14th.
ThinkSecret founder, Nick Ciarelli, is rumored to have received some amount of monetary compensation from Apple as part of their final settlement.
At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, members of the mobile phone industry met for a three day conference. The iPhone appears to have already had a large effect on the mobile phone industry, with many showing off iPhone clones.
Apple was able to make a phone that paid equal attention to the software and the hardware. And the rest of the industry was following suit here.
EETimes notes that in one conference entitled "It's the User Experience, Stupid", a blue-ribbon panel of human behavior and technology experts agreed that the iPhone represents a model for mobile operators to follow. They agreed that the existing user interfaces on mobile phones were poor compared to the iPhone and suggested that the iPhone's simply structured internet plans may also serve to encourage mobile internet usage. One ongoing hurdle to mobile internet usage has been the presence of confusing data service plans for consumers, resulting in cautious use, due to consumer fear of accumulating large service charges.
Indeed, it appears that iPhone owners are using the internet many times more than their non-iPhone counterparts. Google revealed that there are 50 times more searches originating from the iPhone than any other mobile handset. The discrepancy was so great that Google initially thought it was a mistake. This finding has also been reported by O2 who found that 60% of U.K. iPhone users are sending or receiving more than 25 MB of data a month.
Mobile internet usage remains a growing and potentially profitable market, but has been largely untapped with existing mobile phones.
A recent extension of Apple's trademark to cover handheld gaming sparked some speculation that Apple might try its hand at a dedicated gaming device. However, a more cautious interpretation of this move is that Apple is simply covering their recent move into iPod game sales.
Develop Magazine claims that this is indeed the case, and that Apple is not planning on introducing a dedicated gaming device.
"Apple is very protective of the reputation it has built in the electronics market," said our source - familiar with Apple's conversations with software companies - speaking under conditions of anonymity. "So don't hold your breath for an announcement of an 'iGame' console just yet."
Instead, Apple is said to be looking to add more mobile games to its iPod, Touch and iPhone products. At present, Apple hand picks developers who it feels will make the best games for the iPod, and does not allow all comers to participate.
The iPhone and iPod Touch, however, are due to see a more public Software Development Kit (SDK) this month, though the exact details remain unknown.
A new Apple patent application revealed by Appleinsider describes an interesting extension of the traditional Podcast into a more useful form.
Apple describes allowing users to request directions from a starting point and destination point. By incorporating visual maps and spoken driving directions, Apple would dynamically assembly a 'Podmap' for immediate download. The 'Podmap' could then be transfered into your iPod or iPhone for playback:
"When being played, the podmap presents to the user of the device the voice directions and the corresponding images so that the user is able to successfully navigate from the start location to the destination location. It is particularly useful to play on the portable media device because it can be easily carried or transferred by the user."
Chapter markers could also allow users to easy advance to the next and previous direction.
Anandtech provides another review of the MacBook Air, however, unique to their review is an objective battery test comparing the Solid State Drive (SSD) vs the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) of the MacBook Air. In this case, they actually installed the SSD drive (same as Apple's) into the MacBook Air themselves and kindly provided instructions for readers to do it themselves.
To review, their standardized battery tests involved the following scripted tasks:
1) Use Wifi to browse 20 pages in a loop, spending 20 seconds on each page, while playing MP3s in iTunes.
2) Play a DVD image (off the internal hard drive) in a loop.
3) Download 10GB of files, Web browsing loop from #1, play two 480p Xvid videos in a loop.
In running these tests on both SSD and HDD MacBook Air, they found that the Solid State Drive did make a difference in battery life (contrary to previous reports), with an improvement of up to 16.8% (43 minutes) in the best case.
| Test | HDD | SSD | % Improvement |
| #1 Wireless Internet + MP3 | 4:16 | 4:59 | 16.8% |
| #2 DVD Playback | 3:25 | 3:56 | 15.1% |
| #3 Heavy Downloading + XviD + Web Browsing | 2:26 | 2:42 | 11.0% |
The SSD upgrade remains a costly ($999) upgrade for the MacBook Air, but prices are expected to drop over time.
Walt Mossberg posts a preview of Lenovo's forthcoming ThinkPad X300, a competitor to Apple's MacBook Air.
Walt Mossberg generally had good things to say about the MacBook Air when he reviewed it in January, however he did note several limitations such as built-in battery, lack of optical drive, and lack of other connectivity ports as being possible deal-breakers for some.
On the other hand, Mossberg notes that the X300 makes fewer tradeoffs. Below is a table of some of the key differences between the machines. Lenovo has yet to publish official specifications, so the below is compiled from Mossberg's preview and Gizmodo's leaked specs.
| Feature | MacBook Air | ThinkPad X300 |
| Thickness | 0.16 - 0.76" | 0.73 - 0.92" |
| Weight | 3.0 lbs | 3.17 lbs (2.5lbs*) |
| CPU | 1.6 - 1.8 GHz | 1.2 GHz |
| RAM | 2 GB | up to 4 GB |
| Storage | 64 GB SDD (80 GB HDD) | 64 GB SDD |
| Display | 13" Widescreen (1280x800) | 13" Widescreen (1440x900) |
| Networking | 802.11n, Bluetooth, optional $30 10/100 Ethernet | 802.11n, Bluetooth, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, 3G, WiMax |
| Ports | Headphone, 1 USB 2.0 (high power), Micro DVI | Headphone, Microphone, 3 USB 2.0, VGA |
| Optical Drive | $99 external accessory or remote drive software | DVD built-in* |
| Battery | 5 hour built-in | 4 hour replaceable* |
| Starting Price | 1.6GHz: $2798 ($1799) 1.8GHz: $3098 ($2099) |
approx $2700 |
A few sites have posted their impressions and reviews of the Apple TV 'Take 2' update that was released just yesterday. Besides the new interface and computer-less design, the biggest new update to the Apple TV is the availability of High Definition iTunes rental content. This is an Apple TV-only feature at the moment, and only available in Rentals, not purchases. Anecdotal reports have ranged from good to great quality of the HD content. Gizmodo subjectively felt the HD quality was "better than DVD" but not "true" HD.
iLounge went a step further and made direct comparisons (with screenshots) between the Apple TV, Blu-Ray, DVD and HD Cable. The movie they chose was Live Free or Die Hard. Their results:
- Blu-Ray clear winner but surprised by how well Apple TV did
- Very little motion blur or artifacts in Apple TV
- "Because of its cleaner motion and audio, we felt that the Apple experience was better in both overall audio and video quality than the HD cable experience, and for most users, superior to renting a standard DVD as well."
Note that individual experiences may vary depending on the movie due to differences in source material and encoding. It's been said that the Apple TV HD movie previews don't necessarily reflect the quality of the actual HD movie rentals.
Apple provides a guided tour of the new features of Apple TV.
Now that some readers have installed the latest Apple TV update, here are some interesting notes plucked from the discussion thread.
- New startup video when booting Apple TV (Youtube video)
- Apple TV can now be used with AirTunes, replicating Airport Express behavior. Will also stream Title, and Album cover. You can also control the iTunes music via the Apple TV (with the remote). Also supports streaming radio.
- Login to Youtube now supported, with subscriptions and favorites
- Fastforward and rewind performance has been improved
- You still need a TV that can accept Component or HDMI
- Anecdotal reports of better decoding performance.
- 1080p signal output, but max resolution Apple TV can display is still 720p
- Apple TV Setup Manual (PDF) posted.
- The Apple TV hardware remains the same. This is a software upgrade only.
- HD Movie Previews not necessarily representative of rental quality. (link)
Further discussion in our Apple TV forum.
Apple has announced iTunes Live: London Sessions (via Macworld UK).
Over 11 magical evenings, starting on Thursday February 21st, 2008, iTunes will host a series of unique recording sessions. More than 25 of the worlds most talented musicians including KT Tunstall, Jos Gonzlez, Tom Baxter, Rosn Murphy, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Spiritualized and many more will perform solo and collaborative sets in Londons legendary AIR Studios.
The event is being held in AIR Studios in North London. Tickets are being raffled via the iTunes Store. Of course, Apple will be recording the event and be releasing them in March via iTunes.
Apple has released iLife Support 8.2
This update supports system software components shared by all iLife 08 applications to improve their stability and performance.
The update also includes iLife support for recently released Aperture 2.
iLounge and MacRumors forums member logicalnoise have noted that iPod Classic Firmware 1.1.1, which is now available via iTunes, has corrected a hissing problem that had been plaguing users when their classics were placed into standby mode.
Before the update when I went into standby my speakers would pop and I'd hear some soft static then when I switched on the button lock my speakers would pop again. After updating this morning going to standby is a silent operation again.
Apple announced Aperture 2, the next major release of its photo editing and management software. The new version contains over 100 new features with a streamlined user interface and entirely new image processing engine. Aperture 2 also introduces new imaging tools for highlight recovery, color vibrancy, local contrast definition, soft-edged retouching, vignetting and RAW fine-tuning, and lets users directly post their portfolios on the .Mac Web Gallery for viewing on the web, iPhone, iPod touch and Apple TV.
Many of the most respected photographers on assignment all over the world trust Aperture to organize, edit and deliver their images, said Rob Schoeben, Apples vice president of Applications Product Marketing. With its simpler interface and lower price, anyone can take full advantage of Apertures power.
Aperture is now priced at $199 and available immediately through the online Apple Store. More details at apple.com/aperture.
A free trial download is now available. Recent purchasers of Aperture 1.5 (Jan 1-Mar 14, 2008) can upgrade for $9.95.
In industry related news, Microsoft announced on Monday that they had acquired Danger, Inc. Danger is the company responsible for the popular Sidekick marketed through T-Mobile.
Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies of Campbell, said the acquisition provides further evidence that Microsoft is mirroring the thinking of Apple, which has married software and hardware to make simple, fashionable consumer products like the iPod and iPhone.
"Sometime in the last two years Microsoft fundamentally woke up and realized that even though they're a software company, they had to use hardware to control their destiny"
Gearlive claims that according to a "reliable source", the iPhone will be getting Adobe Flash support "very, very soon". The site speculates that the release may come alongside the Software Development Kit (SDK) release that is due later this month -- but this timeframe is just guesswork.
Adobe's Flash plug-in is required to play Flash content which is commonly used in certain aspects of web design and web-hosted videos. Apple has managed to get around this requirement with Youtube by converting Youtube content into h.264, which the iPhone supports natively.
Lack of Safari support for the popular Flash plug-in generated a lot of early criticism for the Apple iPhone. Walt Mossberg first revealed in July that Apple planned on adding Flash support in a future software update, but this feature has not yet been seen.
GearLive has not been a regular source of Apple rumors, but notably, they were responsible for the early leak of iPhone 1.1.3 firmware, which turned out to be legitimate.
Our comprehensive guide highlighting every major new addition in iOS 26, plus how-tos that walk you through using the new features.
End-to-end encrypted RCS messaging in beta, Suggested Places in Maps, new Pride Luminance wallpaper, and more.
Apple's four new iPhones feature more differences between the latest models than ever before, so which one should you buy?
Siri AI, Apple Intelligence features throughout, child safety improvements, and more. In developer beta now.
Siri AI, design refinements, new Apple Intelligence features, and more. In developer beta now.
Apple's first foldable iPhone, with a book-style design featuring a ~5.5-inch outer display and a ~7.8-inch inner display with a minimal crease down the middle.
iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max with smaller Dynamic Island, new color options, camera and chip improvements, and more.
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