Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Top Stories
Will Apple Flash iPod Rock Market?
Competitors hope an Apple flash player will ignite sales for all concerned.
News
Turning The Digital Tables
Instead of turntables and endless sleeves of vinyl, the music playing out of the speakers is sourced from an iPod.
Apple Subpoenas Mac Rumor Sites Over Audio Product
A California Superior Court has granted a request by Apple to serve subpoenas on three Mac rumor Web sites seeking information on who leaked facts about an un-announced audio hardware product code named "Asteroid" or "Q97".
Ambrosia Releases WireTap Pro
Ambrosia Software has announced WireTap Pro, an "all purpose" digital recording solution for recording audio on your Mac.
Glitch Blocks Some iTunes Music Sales
Some users of Apple's iTunes for Windows say a glitch is causing the program to crash whenever they try to purchase songs.
Bluetooth Gadget Turns iPod Into Stereo Remote
A new Bluetooth device turns the iPod into the ultimate remote control for a home stereo.
Apple's Xsan Falls Behind Schedule
Apple said Monday that it will miss the deadline for shipping its Xsan storage management software. THe $999 product, which serves as a file system for storage gear, was scheduled to launch by Monday.
iPod's Popularity A Boon To Synaptics
Executives at Apple aren't the only insiders cashing in on the company's hot-selling iPod music player. Just ask executives at Synaptics, the San Jose maker of elecronic instruments that turns out iPod's scroll wheel.
Proposal By iPod
Forget diamonds, popping the question by iPod is the wayt o go when proposing marriage.
Computer, Microphone, iPod Make Broadcasting Personal
Podcasting is promising to let everyone with a microphone and a computer become a radio commentator.
Opinion
Airport Express Picking Up FM
"I suspect this has nothing to do with the wireless part of the airport/airtunes, but is more likely that something isn't grounded properly in the electrical system."
Microsoft And The iPod... It's Not As Simple As You Think
Unless Microsoft get into the player business on the hardware side (which will not happen) Microsoft will continue to be at the mercy of the hardware OEMs and there's no way that they can play favorites and leverage off their business model.
Talking Through Our Hats
Jumping to conclusions based on insufficient or faulty data serves no one.
Review
It's Not Rocket Science — It's Worse
The iPod is brilliant. I don't understand why they're not more popular.
Restoring Order
When you move the System Preferences application to the root level of your hard drive and then attempt to move it back into the Applications folder you're allowed to do so — sort of.
Ten To Avoid — The Worst Products Of The Year
The eMac is slow, underpowered, and pathetic.
Sidetrack
The Many Faces Of iTunes For Windows
Microsoft Windows have a philosophy, it seems, to offer one thousand and one UI choices to do any single thing. This may not be the best UI implementation, but, hey, it's interesting that Apple's iTunes is taking this philosphy to heart.
On the Mac, you can show iTunes as a full-fledge window, as a mini-window, or hide the iTunes window.
On Windows, here's what you can do...
1) Display as a full-fledge window, just like the Macintosh version.
2) Display as a mini-window, just like the Macintosh version.
3) Minimize the window, so that it appears as a button on your task bar.
4) Also show the iTunes icon on the system tray, so that you can right-click on it to access common iTunes menu items. (To enable this option, open the preference dialog, choose "Advanced", and select "Show iTunes icon in system tray." Now, minimize the iTunes windows.)
5) Show the iTunes icon on the system tray, but don't show the iTunes button on the task bar. (To enable this option, open the preference dialog, choose "Advanced", and select both "Show iTunes icon in the system tray" and "Minimize iTunes window to system tray." Now, minimize the iTunes windows.)
6) Don't show the iTunes icon on the system tray and don't show the iTunes button on the task bar. Instead, show a mini-mini player on the task bar itself. (To enable this option, open the preference dialog, choose "Advanced", and unselect "Show iTunes icon in the system tray." Right click on an empty area of your task bar, select the "Toolbars" sub-menu, and then select the "iTunes" menu item. Now, minimize the iTunes window.)
Wall Street Journal has selected Apple's U2-iPod ad as one of the best of 2004.
