The New iMac has landed
So, here it is. Not quite what we expected having seen MacBidouille.com's pics last week.
Still, the specs look pretty impressive. A starter 17" model with 1.6GHZ going up to the mighty 20" 1.8GHZ for the bargain price of £1,349.01

Where's the Superdrive? It's a slot loader on the right hand side of the monitor.
Where's the hard drive, isn't that just the display? As Apple inform us "The display is the computer". This also includes the speakers too, but at what quality i wonder.

See the new iPod advert here. It features the song "Walkie Talkie Man" by Steriogram.

Can't wait until tomorrow? Then build your own iMac G5. Not bad considering it an old Blueberry G3 inside.

MacBidouille.com have posted photos taken by an I Hepworth of what could be the new iMac. It looks like a thick TFT display to me and nothing like the ground-breaking new product that has been promised. They were hastily taken in a lift in the airport en-route to the Paris Expo. We'll know if this is the new iMac by Monday, when it is scheduled to be unveiled.

Airport Express Updated to v 4.0.1. This update is recommended for all customers with AirPort Express base stations.
What's New in this Version is:
Improvements to Profiles support in the AirPort Admin Utility
Improve handling of WEP keys with third-party access points.
It's only 1.1MB.

Apple .Mac subscribers can now download Virex 7.5. It includes background scanning, updated scan engines and intelligent detection of virus variants.

Apple .Mac members have a free game to download. Wingnuts is "a zany arcade-style game involving a time-traveling airforce that takes you through 30 levels of play from World War I to the modern age and beyond. Plus you'll get a 25 percent discount on Airburst Extreme: the sequel to Game Hall of Fame member AirBurst, AirBurst Extreme mixes the paddles-and-balls theme of Pong and Breakout with fresh and fun new elements for an action-packed gaming experience. AirBurst Extreme is just US$22.46 for .Mac members. That's £12.33. Cheap as chips!

Attention all 15" PowerBook Owners: Your battery may burst into flames! The recalled batteries have the Model Number: A1045 and serial numbers that begin with: HQ404, HQ405, HQ406, HQ407, or HQ408. Batteries with the affected serial numbers contain cells that were manufactured by LG Chem, Ltd. of South Korea during the last week of December 2003 only. Check the 15-inch PowerBook G4 Battery Exchange Program.

Due to Steve Jobs' recent cancer op it looks like Philip Schiller (Apple's senior vice president) is the man worthy of launching the new iMac (or whatever it is) at Apple Expo 2004 on August 31 in Paris. So no black jumper and blue jeans then?

AppleInsider has a report on a tablet design that was filed for a European design trademark. Could this be part of the new iMac, or something else? A PDA?!

Above: The filed design.

Above: An artist's impression.

Another iPod Updater (but only for those with the newest grey clickwheels).

iPod Updater 2004-08-06 includes iPod software 3.0.1 for iPods with a Click Wheel. iPod Updater 2004-08-06 contains the same software versions as iPod Updater 2004-07-15 for all other iPod models.

iPod Software 3.0.1 provides:
Improved connectivity with some FireWire cards using the VIA chipset
Improved connectivity with FireWire hubs, and with 4-pin FireWire ports
Improved power management
Improved performance with the optional external battery pack
Removing headphones while the hold switch is on no longer wakes iPod
For more information about iPod, go to http://www.apple.com/support/ipod.

Think Secret source leaks next generation iMac specs. Basically the new home Mac will come with 17 and 20 inch with 1.6 and 1.8GHz G5s. They say the all-in-one, 'gubbins behind the screen' Mac is "impressive" and "an eye catcher". I should think so too. They also say it will be similar in design to the Sony Vaio W700G (the one that looks like a flat TV), but much sleeker. Look forward to the launch at the Paris Apple Expo on 31st August.

Apple release Production Suite. Everything you need to produce a proper professional movie. Even more reason for production houses to update to a nice new dual processor G5 and HD display.

Updates Galore! Time to check your system updater because there's a lot to download.Mac OS X has been updated to 10.3.5. Plus there's a Security update, a Java update and an iSync update to clog up your bandwidth.

Mac OS X Updated to 10.3.5.
These are some of the enhancements included with the Mac OS X 10.3.5 Update:
Bluetooth enhancements
* Bluetooth FIle Exchange now works better with Bluetooth-capable Hewlett-Packard printers.
* Resolves an issue in which an application that's performing an asynchronous Bluetooth operation could quit unexpectedly, if the computer went to sleep before the data transfer was complete and the "Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer" preference setting was disabled.
* Addresses an issue in which Bluetooth File Exchange could unexpectedly quit if you tried to copy several files but one or more of them already existed at the target location.

Networking, Internet enhancements
* If you had difficulties connecting to the Internet with a Comcast cable modem and your account uses DHCP configuration (as opposed to PPPoE), then this update can help you connect more easily. If it doesn't, contact Comcast for further assistance. (An example of this issue would be that your computer can't get an IP address when connected to the cable modem, and your Network preferences are set to configure via DHCP.)
* Improves the way Safari handles certain kinds of GIFs, including ones that could cause Safari to quit unexpectedly.
* Reintroduces shorter server pathnames; the overall limit remains 89 characters, but now only 24 characters (instead of 39 with Mac OS X 10.3 through 10.3.4) are reserved for the beginning of the pathname.

Other enhancements
* Image Capture can now import MPEG-4 movies (.MP4) from compatible digital cameras.
* Resolves a potential data loss issue after renaming a Mail mailbox file.
* Addresses an issue for Mac OS X 10.3.4 in which Installer might unexpectedly quit when installing software that has a Japanese name.
* Corrects an issue in which analog speakers connected to a PowerBook or iBook during sleep sometimes didn't produce sound after waking the computer.
* Resolves an issue with Mac OS X 10.3.4 in which the internal microphones of some iBook (Dual USB) computers would not be available to applications or Sound preferences.
* Allows the "Attach" button of Eudora version 6.0 and 6.0.1 to work as expected.
* Improves support for NTFS-formatted volumes.
* Updates the libpng (Portable Network Graphics) component.
* Includes recent Security Updates.

iPhoto 4.03 replaces 4.02. It didn't work. Something went wrong. Well done for a prompt replacement but don't let it happen again.

First Free UK iTMS download available now. It's a track called Break of Day by Tina Dico. Gift horse. Mouth.

Here's Steve Jobs' email to his staff about his pancreatic cancer op in full:

Team,
I have some personal news that I need to share with you, and I wanted you to hear it directly from me.
This weekend I underwent a successful surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from my pancreas. I had a very rare form of pancreatic cancer called an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor, which represents about 1 percent of the total cases of pancreatic cancer diagnosed each year, and can be cured by surgical removal if diagnosed in time (mine was). I will not require any chemotherapy or radiation treatments.
The far more common form of pancreatic cancer is called adenocarcinoma, which is currently not curable and usually carries a life expectancy of around one year after diagnosis. I mention this because when one hears 'pancreatic cancer' (or Googles it), one immediately encounters this far more common and deadly form, which, thank god, is not what I had.
I will be recuperating during the month of August, and expect to return to work in September. While I'm out, I've asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple's day to day operations, so we shouldn't miss a beat. I'm sure I'll be calling some of you way too much in August, and I look forward to seeing you in September.

Steve

PS: I'm sending this from my hospital bed using my 17-inch PowerBook and an Airport Express"

iPhoto updated to v4.02 to address minor issues with Smart Albums and European books, and provides notification when new versions of iPhoto are available. It's a 7.1MB download.