Macbook Pro 17″ Released

Apple today released the 17″ version of the Macbook Pro. Featuring a 17″ 1680×1050 display, 1GB of RAM, 2.16ghz Intel Core Duo CPU, ATI Radeon x1600 256MB GPU, 120GB 5400 RPM HD, 8x Dual Layer DVD Burner, Firewire (1) 400, (1) 800, and (3) USB 2.0 ports.

The Macbook Pro 17″ also includes a built-in iSight camera, Front Row, Apple Remote, and the MagSafe Power Adapter. It is available now for $2799 USD, with shipping listed as 7-10 days at the Apple Store.

Category: News

First Look: Parallels Workstation

I’ve been using the recently released Parallels Workstation Virtual Machine emulator on my Macbook Pro, and I have to say that I am duly impressed. I downloaded the first beta last week, and immediately put it through it’s paces. Installation was a snap, and in less than 30 minutes I had Windows XP installed and running. Performance was very impressive. If you have ever used Virtual PC on a PowerPC Mac, you know how slow an experience it is. Windows on Parallels Workstation is a completely different experience. It’s fast, responsive, and very solid, especially for a beta release.

Beta 1 had some kernel panic issues. I experienced two panics myself, and sent the developers detailed notes on them. Within 24 hours I had a response from their development team asking for a log file to better help them diagnose the problem. 72 hours after it’s first release, Parallels released the second beta, which addressed the kernel panic problem. Very impressive. A mere week after it’s first release, Parallels has released their third beta fixing even more issues. Parallels obviously is working hard to deliver a quality product to market, and beat the likes of VMware and Apple, who are rumored to be developing virtualization tools of their own.

If you have an Intel Mac (and a copy of Windows or Linux lying around), I suggest you give Parallels Workstation a try. It’s a much more elegant solution than dual booting when the processing needs of Windows isn’t the main concern. Parallels will be $49 when it is released in 30 days. There is a current promotion for $10 off if you preorder.

Category: News

Link to MacZot, get AppZapper for Free!

MacZot is running a promo where if they get 259 bloggers to link to their page, they will offer AppZapper for free. Basically, every blog post that mentions AppZapper and MacZot drops the price down by .05 cents.

So what are you waiting for? Link to MacZot and MacZapper and get the best uninstalled for OS X for free!

Category: News

Mac OS X hacked in 30 minutes? Bullshit.

The tech media’s assailment of Mac OS X’s status as a secure computing platform continued today with another report that Mac OS X was “hacked” in less than 30 minutes.

From c|net:

“The rm-my-mac challenge was set up similar to how you would have a Mac acting as a server–with various remote services running and local access to users…There are various Mac OS X-hardening guides out there that could have been used to harden the machine, however, it wouldn’t have stopped the vulnerability I used to gain access.”

What the article alludes to, but doesn’t specifically list, is that the Mac had SSH turned on, and had an account set up for the hacker to login with. While the hacker is correct in stating that the vulnerability is serious and does allow someone to gain root access to the machine, they first have to get through the front door. In this case, the front door was left wide open for the hacker to first gain entrance.
This is the equivalent to storing your gold in your sock drawer at home, and complaining that it was stolen after you gave someone your front door key (user account), and turned off the security system (turning on SSH access).

It is important to note that on the client version of Mac OS X, SSH is turned off by default (as are all other web services). Also, you don’t generally setup user accounts for hackers on your system.

While the server version of Mac OS X comes with SSH turned on by default, the hacker still needs to get past the password access. Like any good security system, the entry code needs to be complex enough to repel attacks. By giving the hacker a user account, you have effectively let them in through the front door, free to roam around the house.

Now the real reason to be bothered is that because Mac OS X is a multiuser Unix, just getting in through the front door shouldn’t be enough to do any real damage to the system. That’s where we should be concerned. This hacker logged in to a normal users account, and the proceeded to hack “root” access to the machine. The hacker claims he used an unpublished and unknown vulnerability to get root.

This is what bothers me about this article. It gives notoriety to a hacker who claims to be using an unknown exploit. If the hacker made the exploit known so it could be addressed I’d have less of a problem with this. But he doesn’t, and you are left to contemplate what his ulterior motives are. And you are also left to contemplate why the press is giving this person their 15 minutes of fame without making him (or her) verify how they gained access.

Something doesn’t smell right here.

Category: News

iSuck

Yeah, that about sums up how I feel about today’s announcements from Apple. Apple has always been a company that charges a premium for it’s products, but this is getting ridiculous.

First up, the new Intel Mac mini. Available in two flavors – a $599 Core Solo 1.5ghz chip with a 60GB HD, and a $799 Core Duo 1.66ghz with an 80GB HD. Yes, Apple jacked the price up by $100 on both the low and high end model. What do you get with the new Mac mini? Well as expected, you get Front Row and the Apple Remote. You get Airport, Bluetooth and USB. You can expand these models up to 2GB of RAM. However, while Front Row has been beefed up with subnet sharing of files, it did not gain the widely anticipated (and highly requested) DVR capabilities.

Oh, and the kicker here is that these new minis feature Intel Integrated Graphics Chipsets (GMA950). Yes, that new 512MB mini you just bought is already running shy about 80MB to handle it’s graphics processing. Isn’t that special?

Clearly, someone in marketing (and Steve himself, for that matter) didn’t learn the painful lesson of the Cube.

Also introduced today was the iPod Hi-Fi, a large rectangular speaker that has an iPod dock/connector on top. It also features built in handles on the side so moving it from room to room should be a breeze. The problem? The price, of course. At $349, the iPod Hi-Fi is $50 more than the Bose Sounddock, which I consider to be the best iPod home audio solution available. Time will tell if Apple will be able to sell these things at such a high price.

The final laugher of the day is the new leather iPod case from Apple. Basically a leather pouch with no window to view your iPod’s screen, no click wheel access, and no common sense. I say no common sense because at $99 this has to be the most brazen attempt to cash in on the iPod craze. Will people buy them at this price? I’m sure some will. But I’m hopeful that most people will have the sense to see what a ripoff this product is.

Today’s announcements have obviously left me puzzled. Has Apple become intoxicated with it’s own success? Time will tell if these products will sell, but I’m betting they won’t be strong points in the product lineup.

Category: Apple,Hardware,News

MacShrine posts possible image of “real” iPod video

MacShrine has posted what the report to be the “real” iPod video that is set to be released next Tuesday, February 28th. According to their webpage:

“The serial number appears to read “MB719Z/Aâ€? and the Chinese characters read “This Sideâ€?.

Category: News

Apple hosts media event on Feb. 28

Apple has invited the press to it’s campus’ for a media event to take place on February 28th. Although no specifics are given about the event, the invite does read “Come see some fun new products from Apple”.

If I were a betting man, I would place money on a new Intel Mac mini. The Power Mac shouldn’t be released until later this summer. The iBooks usually are released in mid spring. The iPod video was just released four months ago. This leaves the mini as the product most likely to be refreshed. Apart from it’s minor update in the fall, the product hasn’t been refreshed since it’s release last year.

Category: News

Macworld San Francisco Random Thoughts

Systems
The MacBook Pro looks like a great machine, even if the name takes a little getting used to. While CPU performance may very well be 4-5x that of the 1.67ghz G4 Powerbook, remember that many of the applications you will be using for the first year of it’s life will be running in emulation. It’s for this reason alone that I will be waiting about a year before I trade in my Powerbook G4 1.5ghz 17″. Right now in my applications folder I have two applications that are “Universal Binaries” – Quicktime 7.04 (just released) and Transmission 0.4. Now that the machines are out, you will see most of the smaller developers who have Cocoa apps release their Universal Binary versions. However, apps like Creative Suite 2 and Microsoft Office will not be native before the end of the year (if we are lucky). Macromedia Studio will be even longer, since it was just recently released.

Also note, the new Mac Book Pro does not come with a Modem. I suspect that no new Mac will ship with a modem anymore, as the Apple USB Modem for $29 allows them to cut the price of the machine and still offer it to people who want it. Personally, I never used the modem to dial up to the internet, but I did use it often to Fax pages to clients. Still, if it’s something that is important to you, it’s only a $29 option.

The iMac also looks like a home run, and a safer bet since most of the home apps you would use would probably be Universal Binaries quicker than the pro apps.

In a strange move, both the previous Powerbooks and iMacs using G4/G5 chips are still available – at the same prices! I guess Apple isn’t really too worried about clearing out the inventory.

It should also be noted that Developers who “rented” the Developer Transition Kits will be given a nice gift for their efforts – a new iMac. That’s right, upon turning their DTK in, Apple will provide them with a a new Intel iMac. However, Apple is exchanging the DTK kit for the 17″ model, not the 20″ (full specs: 17″ iMac 1.83GHz Intel Core Duo/160GB Serial ATA drive/SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD+RW/CD-RW)/ 512MB 667 DDR2 SDRAM. )

Software
iLife ’06 looks like a solid upgrade. Garageband is “reinvented” as a Podcast studio, iPhoto gets some very useful additions, and iMovie gets a little attention paid to it with the addition of “Themes”. iDVD didn’t look like it received much of an update apart from it’s new widescreen themes.

iWeb, the newest addition, looks interesting. It’s not what I was hoping for, but for those of you who want to publish blogs or webpages to .Mac with the template mentality that is iLife, it will fit the bill. I have a lot of unanswered questions regarding iWeb… How easy is it to create new themes, if you can at all? Can you modify the code of any of these pages within the application? Can I create a page “from scratch”, with a blank slate, or am I forced to pick a template? I’ll have an update on these when I receive my copy later this week.

You have to feel bad for Dan Wood at Karelia Software. iWeb does exactly what his Sandvox application does, and probably does it a bit better. Dan’s a smart guy, and with a bit of persistence, he’ll be able to add features that distinguish Sandvox from iWeb. Just remember to listen to your users Dan, and all will be well.

iWork got barely a mention, although the keynote was driven by Keynote 3. Both apps were upgraded with the same features: 3D charts, a table editor that allows for calculations, freeform shapes, curves and masks, and reviewer comments. Pages 2 also received mail merge capability with address book.

Missing from the announcement was the expected inclusion of a spreadsheet application, rumored to be called “Numbers”. Oddly, during the keynote, Microsoft announced a new 5 year commitment to provide Office for the Mac. Quid Pro Quo? You be the judge.

Apple also announced the iLife ’06 and iWork ’06 are shipping as Universal Binaries. Also, the system installed on the new Intel Macs is Mac OS X 10.4.4 which is billed as entirely native.

Apple also set a release date of March to have Final Cut Pro, Logic and Aperture available as a Universal Binary. For $49, Apple will ship you a CD with the Universal Binary for the application that you own. No specifics were given on whether “Final Cut” meant “Final Cut Studio”, and included DVD Studio Pro, Motion, and Soundtrack. Also no word was given on the “prosumer” apps – Final Cut Express and Logic Express.

The best statement that was made though was the proclamation from Jobs that all Macs would be transitioning to Intel chips this year, and by the end of the year, all of the lineup will have completed the transition. This will go a long way towards fostering Universal Binary conversions and hopefully prod Adobe and Microsoft along to get their Intel compatible applications out the door before years end.

Category: News

Jon Rubinstein Retires, Tim Cook named COO

Apple announced that Jon Rubinstein, who had been acting as the Senior Vice President of the iPod Division, will retire on March 31st 2006. He will be succeeded by Tony Fadell. Apple also named Tim Cook as it’s new COO (chief operating officer).

Category: News

Thoughts on Apple’s “One More Thing”

OK. So, like every other Mac junkie, I’ve read the news, I’ve watched the webcast of the event, I’ve read the specs on Apple’s website, and now I’m ready to chime in.

iMac
What else is there to say? Apple has upped the ante on the iMac yet again. Adding an built in iSight, making the Superdrive standard on all models, and upping the systems specs while retaining the same prices, is nothing short of amazing. But Apple has taken it to the next level with Front Row. Obviously, this is just the start. While it makes sense to be able to use your iMac as a media hub in your living room, the future implications are obvious. This software (along with the stylish remote control) enables your Mac to be the center of your digital living room. Take a Mac mini, hook it up to a HDTV, throw in some DVR software, and you have a recipe for success. We all know it’s coming. It’s just a matter of how long before we get there.

iPod
Another home run. Again, the price remains the same while specs and storage are increased. My only concern is whether the $249 iPod nano sales will be canabalized from the $299 iPod sales. The size on the nano is it’s selling point, but 7x the storage, along with video playack capability is a lot of feature for $50. With nearly 1 million nanos sold in 17 days, I doubt Apple is too concerned.

iTunes 6
Really this should be iTunes 5.1. But if Apple wants to skip a version, who am I to complain. All of the additions to the music store are welcome. I really like the new Gift features. You could always buy someone iTunes credit, but being able to buy them a particular track/album to me says more. Of course, if the recipient doesn’t share your taste, they might not necessarily agree.

As for iTunes 6 biggest feature – video… Well, $1.99 for music videos seems reasonable. I can’t think of any music video I would ante up for, but hey – I’m 35 and not the target audience. I’m a little bothered that your download is only a 320×240 resolution movie. Perfect for the iPod of course, but played on your Mac, this will be tiny. During Steve’s demo, he played the U2 video purchased from the music store on the big screen, and it looked decent enough. Of course, the true test will be when it’s on your 20 inch display in front of you.

Content will be the determining factor for iTunes 6 success. Getting Disney/ABC onboard with selling $1.99 replays of shows is a great start. I’m sure most people wouldn’t mind ponying up $1.99 every now and again to download an episode of their favorite show that they missed. Of course, the geeks (like myself) will go to great pains to find the shows on BitTorrent, download them, and recode them for insertion on to our iPods. But Joe and Jane sixpack have little interest in doing this themselves.

The video content is light right now (only about 2000 titles), but that will change quickly. Other networks will be clamoring to have their shows available for download on iTunes. Independent film makers will start selling their wares as well. Podcasts will go video. DTV will quickly find itself dumping its video on an iPod.

Lastly, I have to thank Steve for closing out his performance with Wynton Marsalis and his bands performance. After the classlessness of Kanye West on the last special event, Wynton was a treat.

Category: News