MacOrama für den 12. September 2005 [Update_2]

Playlist hat SE und Nokia zu Plänen mit einer iTunes-Integration befragt und bekam keinerlei konkrete Pläne präsentiert. Nokia dementierte erst kürzlich, dass das kommende 4GB-Festplatten-versehene N91 mit einem iTunes-Client ausgeliefert würde. “We’re always in discussion with Apple,” says Nokia spokesperson Camilla Grägg. “But what Apple does is use proprietary DRM software. As such, it is up to them to make that decision who they play with. So we’re in talks with them, of course to see if they would open that up.”
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10.4.3 landet bei Build 8F24, wie macnews.net.tc meldet und enthält momentan noch Problemzonen. Das Update wird weiterhin für Ende September erwartet.
Update: Think Secret ergänzt: "Mac OS X 10.4.3 build 8F23 includes about 75 new bug fixes to the OS, fast bringing the total number of specific improvements the update will deliver to nearly 500."
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Laut Twin Mac schreitet auch die Entwicklung der 'OS X für Intel'-Version voran und landet beim aktuellen 10.4.2: "This build includes new tatics to prevent piracy of Mac OS X. First and foremost, software built with 8B1027 will not run on previous builds. Meaning, software built with 10.4.2 on Intel will not run on the current pirated copies. It is likely Apple will continue this procedure until the final candidate stage of Mac OS X for Intel."
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Das Dashboard entwickelt sich mehr und mehr zur veritablen Zockstation: Dopewars lässt sich nun auch als Widget vollziehen.
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Time Magazine mit einem Hintergrundbericht zum iPod nano. Allzu viel Neues steht darin nicht, aber immerhin sind ein paar Zitate zu finden, wie das von Jonathan Ive: "Ive fondles a tiny Nano affectionately, pointing out all the things that nobody will ever notice but that he sacrificed months of his life for--things like the laser etching of the logo on the back or the surface's being slightly rougher on the click wheel than on the rest of the front. "I know you're not going to consciously find these details particularly appealing," he concedes, "but I think it's the fact that we've worried about all of them that makes the product so precious."
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Samsung dürfte Apple einen reichlichen Rabatt für den Flash-Speicher des iPod nano gegeben haben, der koreanische Hersteller von MP3-Playern erzürnte. Der iPod selbst hat in Korea einen vergleichsweise geringen Marktanteil, das Kaufen eigenländischer MP3-Player wird teilweise gar als patriotische Pflicht beworben. "The domestic MP3 player industry is sulking, saying the iPod nano owes its exceptionally low price to Samsung Electronics. “Memory chips affect more than 50 percent of MP3 players' prices. Apple presumably bought the flash memory chips at a 50 percent discount from Samsung.” But Samsung Electronics executive Joo Woo-sik defends the company. “I can’t tell you the discount rate, but it stands to reason that we expand the range of discount rates for a big buyer like Apple,” he said. "Samsung didn’t mean to do any harm to domestic MP3 manufacturers.”" Mehr bei Digital Chosunilbo und The Korea Times.
Samsung will kommendes Jahr einen neuen 16 GBit Flash-Speicherchip vorstellen, mit dem sich dann 32GB Speicherkarten zusammenbauen lassen.
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Wolfgang Bartelme hat seinem iCollection-Iconset ein Update spendiert.
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Ars.technica liefert in einem sehr ausführlichen iPod nano-Bericht den unvermeidlichen Crashtest: "To simulate everyday accidents that could result in a broken iPod, we came up with a few situations that we felt would ultimately leave the nano lifeless: Sitting on the iPod nano; dropping it while jogging (4-6mph); dropping at various speeds: 8-10mph (slow bicycle), 15-20mph (fast bicycle), 30mph (slow car), and 50mph (fast car); dropping the nano from various heights."

Eine gefilmte Öffnung des nanos gibt es bei Revision 3 herunterzuladen.

iLounge-Test ohne nano-Zerstörung aber mit folgendem Fazit: "But size matters. So does beauty. And apart from one or two omissions, iPod nano manages to best its predecessor in overall looks and performance while losing half of its thickness and weight. We think that most people will be willing to buy iPod nanos, protect them, and carry them around everywhere - even places only the iPod shuffle was welcome before, because of its size. And despite that size, nano is even a near rival in functionality for its larger, more expensive iPod brother."

Joy of Tech hält sechs alternative Gebrauchsmöglichkeiten für den nano bereit.

MAKE wühlte bereits in der iPod nano Software herum: "For some reason the way the nano stores graphics is a little different than the other iPod, the modding software on the PC can't see it, but on a Mac I was able to take the firmware off the iPod view it and change it- but for some reason it looks really odd. But, that's fun too I suppose."
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Das Handbuch des iPod nano gibts bei apple.com (961KB .pdf) ebenso, wie Anleitungen zur World Clock, zur Stoppuhr und zum Zahlenschloss. (via iPodfun.de) Der nano kommt wie der shuffle FAT32-formatiert daher, allerdings lässt er sich (im Gegensatz zum shuffle) problemlos auf HFS+ umbiegen: "The first time you connect to a Macintosh, iPod nano will "reformat" itself to work with a Mac (HFS+ file system). This only occurs the first time you connect iPod nano to your Mac, and if you've never connected it to another computer." Mehr in der Knowledge Base.
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Im MacDevCenter wird über das Zahlenschloss des iPod nano nachgedacht: "It does however indicate a slight shift in that it acknowledges that iPods can be used for more than music, even in a production environment. Even if it stopped there, the ability to secure data stored on the iPod, while it is mostly a cosmetic lock, completes all the features that were added over the past years. It is also the first time the iPod features "system" settings that take precedence over the menu navigation system (with perhaps the exception of the alarm clock mode) meaning the iPod operating system is starting to gain some "depth" for the user and establish itself as an elaborate piece of software, way beyond a simple firmware."
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Was aus dem iPod mini wird:

Das exklusives Produkt aus einer Apple Online Store-Werbemail.

Man könnte die Mighty Mouse auch überzeugend präsentieren.
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iLounge mit vernichtendem Testurteil zu Motorolas ROKR: "Regrettably - and we mean that - ROKR E1 is not that phone, and for Apple and iPod fans, it is not merely disappointing, but also disheartening. From its too-familiar body to its numerous buttons, sluggish interface, incomplete integration of iTunes, and odd quirks, E1 is very nearly the opposite of an Apple-engineered product."
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Update: "This is a description of a mobile robot using an Mac Mini and iSight camera for tele-operation. The purpose of this project is to see what it is like to control to robot using the built-in visual and aural sensors before designing an agent to do the same task. The robot is a Pioneer 3-AT made by ActivMedia and the Mac Mini was graciously provided by Apple computer at no charge."
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Cuppa 1.3 kommt mit Countdown Timer im Dock.