Apple has seeded yet another build of Mac OS X 10.5.6 (9G55) to developers. This latest seed reveals no known issues and has addressed a few outstanding issues.
They believe the update to be out tomorrow. I agree.
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More on $0.99 iPhone Apps
Craig Hockenberry, the developer behind Twitterrific and Frenzic in an open letter to Steve Jobs:
We have a lot of great ideas for iPhone applications. Unfortunately, we’re not working on the cooler (and more complex) ideas. Instead, we’re working on 99¢ titles that have a limited lifespan and broad appeal.
Raising your price to help cover these costs makes it hard to get to the top of the charts. (You’re competing against a lot of other titles in the lower price tier.) You also have to come to terms with the fact that you’re only going to be featured for a short time, so you have to make the bulk of your revenue during this period.
Comparing Apples to Oranges
According to the latest smartphone sales numbers from Gartner and Display Search’s netbook sales numbers, 4.7 million iPhones were shipped in Q3 2008 while a whopping 5.6 million netbooks were sold in the same period.
The obvious question: Why this comparison was even made? Every netbook model out there made by dozens of companies outsold two models of the same smartphone- by one company.
Firmware Updates Out for New Notebooks
Apple has released a slew of firmware updates for the new unibody MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptops.
The EMI updater “fixes several issues to improve stability,” while the SMC updater “improves the sensing and accuracy of the MagSafe Power Adapter indicator light, and the battery charge indicator lights.”
As with any firmware updates, be sure to read the directions on how to run the update correctly.
You Can’t Make This Stuff Up
Rob Enderle is a name in technology circles that most people have a strong reaction to. He’s an IT consultant for companies like Microsoft, Dell, Intel, GM, and Ford.
Enderle has recently been on a writing binge of anti-Apple stories.
Here’s one from TechNewsWorld:
Apple remains financially sound with massive reserves, but many of their products are out of line with these hard financial times, and while they likely do have a netbook coming, it will probably arrive too late to help 2008. On the other hand, Dell suddenly appears better positioned for the hard year ahead, with well-timed netbooks and the most aggressive customization program in the market.
Updated Apple Enterprise Numbers
-Four out of five businesses have Macs present in their environment.
-More than two thirds of respondents – 68% - said they will allow their employees to use Macs as their corporate enterprise desktops in the next 12 months, a rate double that of an earlier survey.
-Half of all survey respondents said they plan to increase their integration with the iPhone as an alternative to Research In Motion’s Blackberry as mobile email device.
Dell Develops Trailer-Based Data Centers
Yes, you read that right.
First, some background from The New York Times:
Sun Microsystems and Rackable Systems were the first large hardware makers to embrace the idea of taking all of the servers, storage systems, networking gear and cooling and power units that make up a data center and packing them into a shipping container.
So, where does Dell fit in?
Microsoft has been the main advocate of containers, saying they will form the basis of its future data center designs. Some of Dell’s first containers will go to a new Microsoft data center near Chicago, according to Forrest Norrod, the vice president in charge of Dell’s Data Center Solutions business.
Happy Birthday, Mouse
From the halls of a university research lab to the desks of hundreds of millions of computer users, the computer mouse has come a long way. Douglas Engelbart created the first prototypes of the now-familiar device in 1963 at Stanford Research Institute, but he first displayed his creation to the public in 1968 forty years ago Tuesday. During that unveiling, Engelbart presented what some have called “the mother of all demos,” outlining concepts that would presage the next 40 years of computing, including the use of a three-button palm-sized contraption called a “mouse.“
Tribune Company Files Bankruptcy
The company was founded in 1847, when 400 copies of The Chicago Tribune were printed by hand in a one-room plant, according to the company’s official history. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the paper’s editor, Joseph Medill, was elected mayor. In 1911, company leadership was handed to two of his grandsons, Joseph Medill Patterson, who later founded The New York Daily News, and Robert R. McCormick. Under Mr. McCormick, the paper became known as a bastion of Midwestern conservatism. He also led the company into the new fields of radio and television, establishing stations WGN and WGN-TV, whose initials stood for World’s Greatest Newspaper.
ARM Inside Future Apple Products?
To recap, here are the reasons, I believe that Apple will choose the ARM platform for their upcoming Netbook/Tablets.
- Apple has an internal PA Semi team working on future ARM chips for the iPhone/iPod Touch
- ARM chips cost an order of magnitude less (to license) than Intel equivalents
- ARM chips take up less space on a motherboard
- ARM chips use many times less power, enabling much longer battery life and much sleeker design.
- You won’t need to virtualize Windows on these types of devices. Most other Apple applications can be easily ported between chips.
- Apple wants more control over the processors, which it can’t have with Intel.
- While a variant of the iPhone version of OS X is the most likely of candidates, Snow Leopard’s optimization release might also be for ARM as well.
I agree. Apple has used ARM in the past (the Newton) and presently inside the iPhone and iPod Touch. The mobile version of OS X already runs on these (and quote well, frankly). If Apple makes a netbook/tablet based on the mobile OS X, then an ARM chipset will be the engine running it.
Obama Wants to Build New Highways
From Obama’s weekly address:
We will create millions of jobs by making the single largest new investment in our national infrastructure since the creation of the federal highway system in the 1950s. We’ll invest your precious tax dollars in new and smarter ways, and we’ll set a simple rule – use it or lose it. If a state doesn’t act quickly to invest in roads and bridges in their communities, they’ll lose the money.
On a Dying City
Time magazine has published a photo essay of truly heartbreaking photographs taken around Detroit, which has been plagued by urban decay as the American automobile industry has shrunk over the yeas..
The Michigan Theatre Built in 1926, this glorious building functioned as a performance space until 1976, when it was converted into a parking garage.
If the Big 3 fail, only God knows what the city would look like in another 20 years.