12 Free Christmassy Downloads on iTunes

iTunes is giving away twelve free downloads this Christmas - must be something to do with Amazon giving away a free £3 voucher code for Christmas Day. The first free download is the video for That's Not My Name by The Ting Tings. get 'em while they're hot!

The Christmas Movie: Transformers - Mac Vs PCs.

Pre-Chrimbo Rumour Cracker

Has an iPod case manufacturer called XSKN given us a peek into the future of the iPhone? Designs for a silicon case were leaked last week and now everyone's talking about the imminent arrival of an iPhone nano. Read all about it on Mac Rumors.

Get your MacHeist Xmas Gifts

Good old MacHeist, they've only gone and given away some splendid apps, including the water droplet/lazer beam game Enigmo 2. Also, it's the gift that keeps on giving because the more friends you refer the more goodies you get! Get to the Mac Giving Tree here.

BBC iPlayer downloads now available on Mac

Using Adobe Air, the new version of BBC's iPlayer should, at long last, enable us Mac users to download programmes. Annoyingly, this feature has been available to Winodws XP users for over a year.
The BBC News website says: 'The cross-platform nature of Adobe AIR means the iPlayer will work with Open Source and Apple Mac computers "out of the box" on 18 December, said Mr Rose. It fulfilled the Trust's demand that the iPlayer be "platform neutral", he said.'
The full version will be available in February but you can test out the beta here by becoming a BBC Lab rat.

Mac OS X 10.5.6 Update out now

The OS X 10.5.6 Update is out and has loads of bug fixes.

Address Book

Improves reliability of Address Book syncing with iPhone and other devices and applications.
AirPort

Improves the reliability of AirPort connections, including improvements when roaming in large wireless networks with an Intel-based Mac.
Client management

Improves reliability of synchronizing files on a portable home directory.
Fixes an issue in Mac OS X 10.5.4 and 10.5.5 in which managed users may not see printers that use the Generic PPD.
Client computers that use UUID-based ByHost preferences now respect managed Screen Saver settings.
iChat

Addresses an issue that could cause an encryption alert to appear in the chat window.
Setting your iChat status to "invisible" via AppleScript no longer logs you out of iChat.
Resolves an issue in which pasting text from a Microsoft Office document could insert an image rather than text.
Graphics

Includes general improvements to gaming performance.
Includes graphics improvements for iChat, Cover Flow, Aperture, and iTunes.
Includes fixes for possible graphics distortion issues with certain ATI graphics cards.
Mail

Includes overall performance and reliability fixes.
Improves Connection Doctor accuracy.
Fixes an issue that could cause messages identified as junk to remain in the inbox.
Fixes an issue that could cause Mail to append a character to the file extension of an attachment.
Addresses an issue that could prevent Mail from quitting.
Improves reliability when printing PDF attachments.
MobileMe

Contacts, calendars, and bookmarks on a Mac automatically sync within a minute of the change being made on the computer, another device, or the web at me.com.
Networking

Improves Apple File Service performance, especially when using a home directory hosted on an AFP server. Important: If you are using Mac OS X 10.5.6 (client) to connect to a Mac OS X Server 10.4-based server, it is strongly recommended that you update the server to Mac OS X Server version 10.4.11.
Improves the performance and reliability of TCP connections.
Improves reliability and performance for AT&T 3G cards.
Updates the ssh Terminal command for compatibility with more ssh servers.
Printing

Improves printing for the Adobe CS3 application suite.
Improves printing for USB-based Brother and Canon printers.
Parental Controls

Addresses an issue in which a parentally-controlled account could be unable to access the iTunes Store.
Includes general fixes for time limits.
Resolves an issue that prevented adding allowed websites from Safari via drag and drop.
Time Machine

Fixes issues that could cause Time Machine to state the backup volume could not be found.
Improves Time Machine reliability with Time Capsule.
Safari

Improves compatibility with web proxy servers.

General

Includes Mac OS X security improvements. See this website for more information.
Addresses inaccuracies with Calculator when the Mac OS X language is set to German or Swiss German.
Improves the performance and reliability of Chess.
Improves DVD Player performance and reliability.
Performance improvements for iCal are included.
Fixes an issue when running the New iCal Events Automator action as an applet.
Adds a Trackpad System Preference pane for portable Macs.
Improves compatibility with smart cards such as the U.S. Department of Defense Common Access Card.
Updates time zone data and Daylight Saving Time rules for several countries.

Apple In-Ear Headphones Compatibility with iPhone 3G

The bods at mediabistro.com have worked out the compatability of these new headphones with the iPhone 3G:

- YES: Audio plays
- NO: Volume control
- YES: Microphone
- YES: Play/pause control
- YES: Answer/end call
- YES: Change tracks

Note that the headset just plays audio on the first generation iPhone. None of the features listed above works with that device.

You'll have to make do with that until Apple release a patch to update the iPhone 3G. I do hope they can make them work with my 1st-gen touch. It's not safe to get my whole iPod out on the number 18 bus, just to change tracks.

New Apple In-Ear Headphones now available to buy

These nice headphones with remote are now out for you to buy. They're user-serviceable which means they come with replacement mesh caps and three sets of silicone ear buds. They were the only new item I have considered buying from the last big Apple event, but now what's this? They don't work with the first-gen iPod touch?! Oh bugger. They cost £54.00 from the Apple Store.

(M)apple? Who could they mean?

I found this on t'internet today. I won't type much about it as the trawler bots will surely find it and demand I delete it. Just watch and enjoy.

Black Friday Sale on this Friday

It's that time again when Apple feels generous and decides to give away a free case with every iPod...or take 5% off a new PowerMac. Well, if you're buying one anyway you may as well take advantage of it.

iPhone Software Updated to 2.2

The best thing about this update is that it include Google Street View. This takes you on a virtual walking tour where you can navigate street-level photographs of places you've located in Maps. You can also get walking directions, find public transit schedules, check fares, and estimate your travel time.

Enhancements to Maps:
- Google Street View.
- public transit and walking directions.
- display address of dropped pins.
- share location via email.

Enhancements to Mail:
- resolved isolated issues with scheduled fetching of email.
- improved formatting of wide HTML email.

Improved stability and performance of Safari.
Podcasts are now available for download in iTunes application (over Wi-Fi).
Decrease in call set-up failures and call drops.
Improved sound quality of visual voicemail messages.
Pressing the Home button from any Home screen takes you to the first Home screen.
Preferences to turn on/off auto-correction in Keyboard settings.

Make your own MacBook Nano

A flickr user named Mick has uploaded extensive photos of how he modded an MSI Wind netbook to look and run like a MacBook. You have to agree, it does look cute and very desirable, but I would have spelt Nano with a lowercase 'n'. Read the story on Wired's Cult of Mac blog.

It's official: No more new products in '08

Apple have just told Macworld that the current product line-up will remain unchanged until next year. So, if you were hanging on for that rumoured, new iMac you'll have to wait.

Apple not interested in cheap computers. Netbooks? Maybe.

News from Steve Jobs' recent meeting with analysts show there's a glimmer of hope for those of us after an Apple netbook, but it does look like we'll have to make do with our iPhones and iPod touch's until the market for netbooks picks up (surely it has already?).

"As we look at the netbook category, that's a nascent category. There's as best as we can tell not a lot of them getting sold," Jobs said. "But we'll wait and see how that nascent category evolves and we've got some pretty interesting ideas if it does evolve."

"You know, one of our entrants into that category, if you will, is the iPhone for browsing the Internet and doing email and all the other things that a netbook lets you do, and being connected via the cellular net wherever you are, an iPhone is a pretty good solution for that, and it fits in your pocket."

Read the full article on MacUser.

MacLiveExpo free tickets still available

MacLiveExpo incorporative LinuxLiveExpo and CreativeProExpo is on this weekend. It's a shame Apple have lost interest in the show since they opened their stores. It's still worth a visit if you're in the area.

Yesterday's (not so) special event is online now.

Even ex-pat designer Ive gets a go on stage. See it here

New 15" MacBook Pro and updated MacBook Air.

I'm so depressed, I can't even be bothered to type anything about these. I'll just cut and paste from the Apple site. Before I do, the Air doesn't have the new glass trackpad.


MacBook Pro 2.4GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
15-inch widescreen
2GB Memory
250GB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 256MB
£1,399.00

MacBook Pro 2.53GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
15-inch widescreen
4GB Memory
320GB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 512MB
£1,749.00



MacBook Air 1.6GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 1066MHz frontside bus
2GB Memory
120GB SATA hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
Ships: Early November
£1,299.00

MacBook Air 1.86GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 1066MHz frontside bus
2GB Memory
128GB solid-state drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
Ships: Early November
£1,799.00

New LED Cinema Display

The cheap product that appeared on the leaked price list last week ended up being a new 24" LED Cinema Display. They say it's made for the new MacBooks and due to its connection cable (containing three connectors: Mini DisplayPort, MagSafe, USB 2.0) it can only be used with the MacBooks with a MiniDisplayPort. Unlike Apple's other Cinema Displays it also has a built-in iSight camera and 2.1 speaker system. There's no UK price yet but in the US it'll cost $899.

Apple shock (the price) and awe (the looks) with new MacBooks

OK, so they've given them faster graphics cards, precision aluminium 'unibodies', glass trackpads, LED displays, and therefore greener credentials, but unfortunately it all comes at a cost; they've only gone and bumped up the price of a MacBook by £250! What planet are Apple on? Alright, so they still sell the old plastic white Macbook, but for how long? (and how come it's gone up by £20?!) I have to agree with what Brad Brooks, vice president of Windows Consumer Product Marketing, said yesterday about Mac users paying an "Apple tax". Yes, Apple have produced a set of MacBooks that are engineered to standards that don't even exist yet, but couldn't they have applied all of that innovative thinking to produce a well-built, stylish notebook for under £500? When did any of them last read a newspaper? Perhaps to follow a trend isn't thinking different enough? Perhaps they have a larger iPod touch in the wings that will fill their ever widening compact portable hole? Perhaps I should bash my 12" PowerBook back into shape and modify its guts? Or maybe buy an Asus EeePC and stick an Apple logo to it? Linux can't be that bad.

MacBook Pro given sexy iMac look.

These spy shots from Engadget show what can only be the new MacBook Pro that will be officially revealed this evening. Notice that there is no button underneath the trackpad. That's because the track pad will be multi-gesture like the screen on an iPhone/iPod touch. With all that glass, the notebook better be strong. Another rumour is that the MacBooks will no longer have a Firewire port; bad news for all you budding moviemakers. I've given up hope for a netbook sized laptop. It looks like we'll witness yet another underwhelming special event tonight.

The invites are out.

Invites have been sent out to the event that will take place on October 14th at Apple's campus in Cupertino at 10AM PST.
Aluminum MacBook anyone?
Notice how the invite says notebooks and not MacBooks...could they be about to introduce a notebook without the MacBook moniker? Like a NetBook or WebBook, or even reintroduce a new iBook?

New leaked photos of Macbooks and retail prices appear

Japanese site Apple.pro have posted these spy shots of what looks like the new MacBook Pro in it's new 'brick' form. Also MacRumors has information on the new price lists with the cheapest MacBook being £150 (well $300) cheaper than the current price. Could this signal a new laptop rather than a price cut of the 13.1" MacBook? Let's hope so.

Genius comes to Apple TV

The new Apple TV software update 2.2 lets you create Genius playlists; allows you to browse movies by actor or director; gives access to Chapters, audio and subtitles when you press and hold the Play/pause button and movie descriptions when you press up during playback; lets you create on-the-go playlists; place music videos in playlists; and a standby mode has been added (not good for reducing your carbon bum print). They also added the ability to play HD movies... but only if you live in the US.

Music from the Mighty Mac OS Sound System

I found this on The Technology Guardian 'You Choose'. Someone who was obviously bored with waiting for Apple to bring out a Netbook decided to use their time by sticking the Mac OS X system sounds in GarageBand to make the most boring piece of music in the world. What do they want? A biscuit?!

New macbook?

New macbook Pro, originally uploaded by Sandy's Shots!.

Looks like a fake to me. The dock is in the glass touch-screen trackpad. I may have to eat my words later but I reckon the glass trackpad rumour is a load of old codswallop. The shape looks nice though.

New MacBook Pro photo momentarily appears on German T-Mobile site

The new MacBook Pro's screen has a black border like the iMac. It appeared on a German retail site for a while. When discovered, the person who accidentally put it there was most likely shot. See LOOPRumors for the details.

Don't believe the ads.

As you may know, I work in advertising. Most comparison or demonstration advertising is, most of the time, a lie. Never believe any ad that states this product is better, faster, cleaner, greener, leaner, etc. They always compare it to some crappy product that no one bought (read the small print). I recently worked on an ad where the client wanted to say that their product did it's job 30% faster. It was actually 30% faster than a previous product that company made, which wasn't very speedy to start with. Also, as with the majority of beauty products, clients spend hours with their legal teams, figuring out what they can actually get away with saying in their ads. So next time you read some headline that states "proven to visibly reduce the effects of ageing" that doesn't mean that this cream will reduce your wrinkles; it just means it will visibly reduce them, i.e. cover them up - it's just make-up.
The same goes for Apple advertising. Not even my iMac that plugged into a broadband modem can download the NY Times front page as quick as the iPhone 3G in the ad. Just look at the real-life version.
(Thanks to the Technology Guardian for bringing this to my attention).

Could 'Brick' Codename refer to new Macbook or Mac mini?

Everyone (well not quite) is wondering what the new 'brick' is. Mac Rumors say the codename was leaked by the same source who predicted 'rainbow' nanos. 9to5Mac reckon the new Macbook will be 'all about the brick'., whatever that means. It's also been reported that the new laptop will have a glass trackpad. MacEnstein thinks that as bricks can be thrown through glass, then the brick is the 'Windows killer' : 'we feel it is likely that it is simply a name for an upcoming product (or group of products) that Apple thinks will be sexy enough to pull a huge marketshare away from Microsoft'. Someone else thinks it may be a wireless USB hub for the new slimmer MacBooks.

My take is that it could be some sort of modular design that you can add to or build to suit your growing needs. Windows PCs are preferred by many for the simple reason that they are easily upgradable; the only Mac that Apple 'allow' you to upgrade is the MacPro and they start at £1749. Apple could steal a whole load of Microsoft users if they make the Mac mini more like the MAcPro, ie. something that's not already crammed-full and that can only be opened with a steady palette knife (like the concept above from iPhoneSaviour). It could also steal a few million Mac users who are considering a netbook by bringing out an inexpensive MacBook (fingers crossed). A mini laptop that you could attach to a larger hard drive and optical drive when you're sitting at a desk; a bit like the Old PowerBook Duo and its DuoDock. Now that would be cool.

The G1 will be here in November

The greatest threat to Apple's iPhone, the G1 will be made available through T-Mobile this November. It looks as clunky as the Amazon Kindle (HTC designed it), so Apple won't have to worry about losing their style-concious customers, but it does have a slideout keyboard. The G1 run on Asteroid, the new mobile OS from Google. It looks more customiseable than the iPhone, you can move the desktop widgets around and place them where you want to, just like on a regular PC. It also has both full touch-screen functionality, a trackball for one-handed navigation, plus access to mobile web applications like Google Maps Street View, Gmail, YouTube, etc. The key features are "Wi-Fi, 3G (HSDPA), multimedia messaging, email support (Gmail as well as other POP3 and IMAP email services), instant messaging (with Google Talk as an option of course), a full HTML browser, GPS functionality, a 3-megapixel camera(!), the ability to multitask(!), a music player, Bluetooth and quad-band GSM support".
A good thing is that it will support Google Maps Street View, which lets you explore cities at the street-level. It will also have a built-in compass on the phone and allow you to view locations and navigate 360 degrees by moving the phone around. There's also the Android Market, which is an app store similar to the one on iTunes.
The G1 is free on T-Mobile tarriffs of £40 and above.

Microsoft hit back at Mac vs PC guy ad.

Nerds and N.e.r.d alike, they all use PCs.
I use a PC too, you know? But only because the tight-fisted company I work for won't buy me a Mac.

If you hadn't seen it, here's the Jerry Seinfeld ad that ran last month. Obviously, no one got it. What a waste of money.

Leopard 10.5.5 hits the streets.

Another month, another update to the Mac OS X. Now, will MobileMe finally work?

What's included?

General
Includes recent Apple security updates.
Addresses stability issues with video playback, processor core idling, and remote disc sharing for MacBook Air.
Addresses an issue in which some Macs could unexpectedly power on at the same time each day.
Resolves a stability issue in TextEdit that could be found when accessing the color palette.
Improves Spotlight indexing performance.
Fixes an issue in which contacts might not sync properly with PalmOS-based devices.
Improves iPhone sync reliability with iCal and Address Book.
Includes improvements to Active Directory (see this article for more information).
Improves Speech Dictionary.
Fixes Kerberos authentication issues for Mac OS X 10.5 clients that connect to certain Samba servers, such as Mac OS X Server version 10.4.
Includes extensive graphics enhancements.

Address Book
Addresses stability issues that may occur when creating a Smart Group.
Resolves a printing issue with address cards containing information that spans more than one page.

Disk Utility and Directory Utility
Improves reliability when rebuilding a software mirror RAID volume in Disk Utility.
Improves reliability of server status displayed in Directory Utility.

iCal
Updates iCal to more accurately handle repeating events.
Improves performance when choosing meeting attendees.
Resolves an issue in which the "Refresh All" option may be dimmed ("grayed out") in the contextual menu for certain calendars.
Fixes issues with read-only calendars.
Addresses an issue that prevents an invitee from moving an event to a different calendar.
Resolves an issue with syncing published calendars.

Mail
Addresses performance issues related to displaying IMAP messages.
Resolves an issue with SMTP settings for AIM, Compuserve, Hanmail, Yahoo!, and Time Warner Road Runner email accounts.
Addresses stability issues that may occur when dragging a file to the Mail icon in the Dock.
Addresses an issue with the "Organized by Thread" view in which the date does not appear when the thread is collapsed.
Resolves an issue in which RSS feeds could temporarily disappear from the sidebar.
Improves Mail robustness when sending messages.
Improves reliability when saving drafts that have attachments.

MobileMe
Improves overall sync reliability.
Improves Back to My Mac reliability.

Time Machine
Improves Time Machine reliability with Time Capsule.
Addresses performance issues that may affect initial and in-progress backups.
Fixes an issue in which an incorrect alert message could appear stating that a backup volume does not have enough free space.
Time Machine can now back up iPhone backups that are on your Mac, as well as other items in (~/Library/Application Support).

Apple documentary on tour.

Welcome to Macintosh looks like the sort of film that Steve Jobs wouldn't want you to watch; i.e. It's full of many bitter and twisted ex-employees that have been spat out of the Cupertino sausage factory. The film's makers describe it slightly differently: "A documentary that explores the many ways Apple Computer (now Apple, Inc.) has changed the world. Whether a long time Mac fanatic or new to computers, Welcome to Macintosh takes you from the early days of the Apple-I to the latest the company has to offer."

MacBook Event on 14th October?

This just in from Gizmodo. Looks like we may have to wait until next month for the new Aluminium MacBooks; So DaringFireball reckons. Perhaps they'll colour-match them to the new iPod nanos? That would be a good way of differentiating them from the MacBook Pros. Even the old MacBook touch rumour is being bandied around.

The dumbest iPod headline ever.

Hey, if we use stupid words (because everyone loves 'stupid', don't they?) people might forgive us for hyping up just another iPod launch.
The iPod what is the most fun? Nah.
The funnest iPod ever, like. Yeah!
Dumb it down, why don't you?

Introducing the new iPod nano.

Last night's Special Event online now.

See it here. Doesn't Steve Jobs look gaunt?

All new iPods. New iTunes. No new MacBooks.

Tonight saw the introduction of a whole new range of iPods and iTunes 8. Here's a brief low-down.
Right 'let's rock!'


iPod Touch
New iPhone-like shape.
Side volume buttons.
Built in speaker.
Nike+ built-in.
8GB costs £169, 16GB £219 and 32GB £289.

iPod Touch Software 2.1
(includes iPhone Software 2.1)
Numerous bug fixes.
New Genius playlists.
Improved battery life.
Less App crashes.
Faster back-ups.
Free to those who paid for version 2.0 software.
£5.99 otherwise.
(available Friday).


iPod nano
Thinnest yet.
Widescreen display on its side.
Accelerometer detects movement to twist display for viewing film, photos and cover flow.
New shake-to-shuffle mode.
New Genius playlists.
Built-in voice recorder.
8 colours.
24 hours battery life for music, 4 hours for video.
8GB for £109, 16GB for £149
Available now.

Both the iPod touch and nano are made with more environmentally-friendly materials.


iTunes 8
New Genius playlists analyses track being played and complies a playlist of similar-sounding tracks.
Genius track data is anonymously sent to Apple for them to recommend music from the iTunes Music Store.
New Grid view.
HD TV Shows (NBC back on board - they know it makes sense).
Improved accessibility including access to the Voice Over functionality
Available now.


iPod classic.
Now 120GB only.
Costs £179.
Available now.


iPod shuffle.
Four new colours.
Available now.


New In-ear Headphones.
Two drivers in each ear.
impressive sound isolation.
Control capsule on cable with microphone.
Steel Mesh caps for protection.
Frequency response: 5Hz to 21kHz
Impedance (at 100Hz): 23 ohms
Sensitivity (at 100Hz): 109 dB SPL/mW
Much better than the last ones.


New MacBook Nano.
Oh. Sorry, that's the new Dell Inspiron Mini 9.
C'mon Apple. Sort it out!

Leaked iPod nano photo and iTunes 8 rumour.

True to the recently leaked drawings, here is a photo of a new 'tall' nano that was leaked to Engadget (orange is cool).
Also Kevin Rose has sources that revealed a new function for iTunes 8 called Genius. It "makes playlists from songs in your library that go great together (similar to the Bose UMusic system). Genius also includes Genius sidebar, which recommends music from the iTunes Store that you don't already have." A new visualizer is also rumoured. He also talks about support for Blu-Ray in Mac OS X 10.6.

4th-Gen Nano and 2nd-Gen touch designs leaked

iLounge has published some leaked dimensional drawings of the forthcoming iPod (due to be unveiled next week). The new touch will look similar to the current iPhone 3G and has volume buttons on it's side, top left. The thicker body may attribute to a different, more powerful battery. The new nano looks just like the 2nd generation but with a taller screen. It's almost candy bar phone-like. What if it is an iPhone nano? The design of the nano disappoints me. The 1st-gen was so nice; a miniature version of the classic iPod - i bought one myself. Ever since Apple had to rethink it's design (after there was bad press about it's strength), it's asthetically hasn't moved on. The 2nd-gen was a step back (as it looked like a smaller iPod mini); the 3rd gen was just plain ugly (a short and fat sister) but nicely tapered around the edge. The design of the 4th gen nano (if these drawings are kosher) looks like Ive's design team were on holiday and someone dug out a prototype from five years ago. Shame on you, Apple.

UK event also organised for Let's Rock day.

Saw this on MacUser. Apple have booked to the Business Design Centre in Islington on the 9th. Invitees will watch a live satellite broadcast from California. MacUser are not only expecting new iPods, but a new MacBook (probably made of aluminum - could it be a MacBook nano?) So, to all those of my friends who bought a MacBook in the last month, don't say I didn't tell you so.

New iPods next Tuesday?

The invite is designed to look like the screen of a iPod Classic and reads 'Playing soon Let's Rock". Looks like there' going to be some updates to Apple's music player line. We'll have to wait a whole week to find out. See Cult of Mac.

Pay & Go iPhone prices announced.

We all knew that having an iPhone on PAYG would be ridiculously expensive...
Pay & Go customers can now enjoy the iPhone 3G without a monthly contract. The new iPhone 3G 8GB for Pay & Go will be available for £349.99 and the 16GB version for £399.99.

This also includes unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for the first 12 months after you activate your iPhone 3G*. At the end of the 12 months you can continue to receive unlimited browsing and Wi-Fi for just £10 per month. We'll notify you before the end of the 12 month period by text and you can easily unsubscribe if you choose to do so.

It will be available to buy from 16th September in O2 stores, The Carphone Warehouse and Apple stores.

Steve Jobs's obituary prehumously appears on Bloomberg site

Are they expecting him to die or something? See Gawker.

iPhone girl is freaked out by media hype

It all started when someone here in the UK found a few photos on their brand new iPhone and posted them on MacRumors. Since then the said pics have appeared everywhere and the poor girl is fearful that the few moments of fun could cost her her job (is that right? two 'her's?). Seeing as she's only on £27 a month and shares a dorm with 100 fellow workers, she should make the most of her new found fame. Read the washingtonpost.com story here.

New longer iPod nanos and touch rumours

Designs for new 4th-gen nanos have been leaked online. The new forms shows a curved widescreen on it's side that make the new unit taller and slimmer than it's short and fat sibling; or wider if it's meant to be held sideways. Take the rumours with a pinch of salt though; one of the designs has a mini USB port and not the usual iPod connector. iDealsChina, the origin of the rumour, also claim that the next iPod touch will have GPS.

New iPhone software update might/might not fix 3G connection problems

If you've got a iPhone 3G that keeps on losing it's connection, it's because you're in step from a 3G network to an Edge network or vice versa; You see, the iPhone can't quite switch seamlessly between the two. News reports say that it could be down to a dodgy chip and that this can't be fully fixed by a software update. Some say it's a problem that all mobiles encounter and the whole iPhone story is overblown. You should all download the update anyway. It may have some other bug fixes that you didn't know needed fixing; like the annoying coverflow artwork bug that doesn't check different artists with albums of the same name (e.g. Greatest Hits).

Apple did have something to do with the design of WALL-E's EVE.

Ok WALL-E was made by Pixar. Pixar was set-up by Steve Jobs. Jonathan Ive designs Apple products...so that's why EVE is white and shiny. CNN have reported that Johnny Ive drove "across the San Francisco Bay to Pixar's converted warehouse headquarters to spend a day consulting on the Eve prototype. Pixar's Stanton said that it was a "lovefest" with Ive, but that the notoriously tight-lipped design wizard offered few specific modifications." But that was in 2005 back in the early days of preproduction.

MobileMe users get a 60 day sweetener

Just got this in my mail:

We have already made many improvements to MobileMe, but we still have many more to make. To recognize our users' patience, we are giving every MobileMe subscriber as of today a free 60 day extension. This is in addition to the one month extension most subscribers have already received. We are working very hard to make MobileMe a great service we can all be proud of. We know that MobileMe's launch has not been our finest hour, and we truly appreciate your patience as we turn this around.

MobileMe Team

It's almost like the old days when .Mac was free.

Updated MacBook Air imminent

Mac Rumors have reported that a new Air will sport Intel's new Penryn-class processor and a higher capacity battery. That should speed up the size zero laptop.

Happy 10th Birthday iMac!

Imagine what would have happened if Apple didn't let Steve Jobs back in and this baby remained a sketch on Johnny Ive's sketchpad.
No iPod. Not iTunes. No digital music explosion.
I'd probably be using a Windows PC and still listening to my MiniDisk Walkman.

Fire at Apple's HQ

This raw footage from CBS shows the fire at Cupertino. First report said it was the R&D department affected but it was later confirmed as the Information Systems and Technology dept.

Leaked photos show next metal Macbook.

Engadget's pictures of Apple's new MacBook leaked on Taiwanese site show a a MacBook design that mirrors the curved tapered edges of the MacBook Air. How exciting.
Also AppleInsider has noted that UBS Investment Research recently mentioned a delayed Apple ultra-portable in it's examination of the 'stickiness' of electronic brands. "Analyst Maynard Um echoes analyst reports and leaks that anticipate new Macs (including a revamped MacBook line) and iPods in the second half of 2008 but cites industry checks which point to a "sub-notebook" originally intended for this year but which has allegedly been pushed back to a launch for the first half of 2009."

Be informed with the MobileMe blog

Gone are the days when .Mac users only had a column of lights to check the state of Apple online email, gallery, iDisk, and support service. Now Apple has helpfully set up a Status blog for us to follow. David G's been keeping us informed to date. If you're in the unlucky 1% of MobileMe subscribers who had Mail problems, you'll also be pleased to hear that Apple have set up a dedicated chat line so you can contact a MobileMe Mail specialist for help.

Right wing paper predicts iPhone 'nano' in time for Christmas

A few rumour sites have picked up on this Daily Mail online story. They say "the product will be launched in the UK at up to £150 for pay-as-you-go customers by O2, the mobile phone group owned by Spain's Telefonica. 'This will be a big one,' said an industry source...'The iPhone 3G has been the fastest-selling phone ever in the UK, but it is too expensive to be a realistic proposition in the pay-as-you-go market...However, a cut down version, with the candy bar shape of iPod nano music players, would be a huge hit as a Christmas gift.'...One expert suggested the nano phone would have a touch wheel on the back and display on the front so that numbers would be dialled from behind."
How difficult would that be to use? Who is this 'expert'?

At last - bags for iMacs?!

Bought an iMac and wish you could carry it around like a laptop? No?
Here's a new bag from German company Reinda that makes the iMac "finally mobile!". Yeah, right. They're hand made in Germany..."that is not a scrap chinese!" as it says the company's site (Isn't that where they make iMacs?). Not convinced? Just look at the photo to see how the hulking great mass of Aluminium, glass and silicon is lifted with ease...hang on, it's still sitting on the table!
On the cool hunting site, a friend of author Tim Lu "lugs his iMac all over his house, treating it more like a laptop than a desktop computer". To me this sounds like someone should've bought a MacBook.
The bags are only €90 for the 20" model and €96 for the 24".