apple-insider posts

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Rumors, Apple, Mac mini

Apple to mini fans: "Be patient."

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Nov 6th, 2008

A distraught Mac mini fan (it wasn't me, though I would be distraught to hear that the mini was really, truly dead -- which it isn't yet) apparently called Apple to get the story on the little computer that could, and apparently was told to "be patient." If you believe AppleInsider's interview of an unnamed guy who claims to have spoken to an unspecified Apple representative who may have overheard some unclear plans for an unspoken time in the future, then the Mac mini may be getting a revamp soon.

Still, a little something (whatever it means) is better than nothing -- the mini hasn't seen an update or even been mentioned by Apple since last year. Part of me just kind of wants to leave it all alone -- maybe if Apple forgets they're even still selling the mini, they won't ever kill it. But I guess if an upgrade is coming, that's good news, too.

Tags: apple, apple-insider, be-patient, customer-service, customer-support, mac, mac-mini, rumor, waiting

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Desktops, OS, Education, Bugs/Recalls, Apple, Leopard

NYC Dept. of Education suspends Mac orders pending wireless issue fix

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Apr 18th, 2008

Apple Insider is reporting that the New York City Department of Education has put all shipments of Macs to schools on complete hold while they're apparently waiting for Apple to fix a Wifi connectivity issue with OS X (which should be fixed with the 10.5.3 update). And Apple is apparently scrambling to get it worked out -- they've sent an apologetic email to faculty and have asked schools to try and separate any orders of computers that won't need wireless (that will use a regular ethernet hookup) to ship now.

Unfortunately, there's no hint of exactly how many Macs we're talking about here, but if this is a substantial number of computers, and word gets out causing other organizations to delay shipments as well, Apple will feel more and more pressure to get the problem fixed ASAP. Bad news for the kids who want Macs in New York City (that's the DoE's seal on the right, in case you didn't recognize it), but good news for anyone else having this problem -- Apple's working hard on a fix.

Thanks, Rich!

Tags: 10-5-2, 10-5-3, apple, apple-insider, bugfixes, department-of-education, doe, issue, kids, macs, schools, wireless

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTS, iTunes, Podcasts, Apple

"Podmaps" concept patent sought by Apple

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Feb 15th, 2008

AppleInsider has uncovered news of an Apple patent application for a software concept called a "podmap," which is more or less what it sounds like -- a series of maps or driving directions accompanied by an audio version of the same, downloadable into a portable media device. The way I understand it, think of it not just as downloadable directions, but also a kind of real-world tour. There is even mention of episodic content delivered via RSS.

Like many Apple patents, there's no indication (or even suggestion) that anything like this would ever see the light of day, but it does tell us that Apple is looking at doing more with marrying their hardware with maps software, just like the great improvements we saw in the iPhone's 1.1.3 update. Hardly a surprise, too, that a company so strongly turning towards portable computing is thinking about the needs of portable users. But a cool idea nevertheless, and it also confirms that Apple sees the iTS's podcast model as a strong and easy way of quickly distributing content of all kinds.

Tags: apple, apple-insider, directions, downloadsquad, iphone, ipod, itunes, model, patent, podcast, podmaps, rss, text-to-speech

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, OS, Software, Internet, Internet Tools, Leopard

Apple Insider previews iChat 4.0

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Oct 17th, 2007

Apple Insider continues their series looking ahead to Leopard (boy, it's nice to know next Friday for sure, isn't it?) by previewing the new iChat, version 4.0.

As with the Dock review they did last week, they first take a look at the history of iChat, but iChat actually got started fairly late in the world of instant messaging. Apple started it out by working with other protocols (one reason it's worked so well since then, I'd bet). iChat AV was the most significant update so far, adding videoconferencing that, thanks to the built-in iSights on most Macs nowadays, made the feature widespread.

To me, iChat 4.0's most exciting new feature is the document and screen sharing. Via VNC, both Mac and PC users have been able to share screens for a while, but the process has always been complicated (in most cases, so complicated that the problem you're actually trying to fix by screen sharing is less complicated than sharing screens itself). But iChat 4.0 is meant to make the process easy. There are also lots of fun video implementations-- including an "Obi-wan" setting I can't wait to try-- to go along with videoconferencing.

Day to day, I generally use Adium as an IM client (the look and configurability sells it for me), but the new features in iChat 4.0 will definitely tempt me to check them out, if not switch completely. Just 9 days left!

Tags: adium, apple-insider, ichat, ichat4.0, leopard

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, OS, Leopard, Apple History

Sitting on the Dock every day

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Oct 10th, 2007

AppleInsider has a nice long preview of the new Leopard Dock, along with a short history going all the way back to a company called Acorn Computers, and the NeXT Dock (there's even some good, healthy Windows TaskBar bashing thrown in the mix).

There isn't really anything new here, but it is a nice wrap up of everything we've seen about the Dock so far, including the new perspective that folks are so worked up about, and the idea of "stacks," special icons that will expand into a number of different icons. AppleInsider even runs down the default stacks provided with Leopard-- Applications, Documents and Downloads. I'm not sure how long those will last on my Leopard install, however-- I'm much more eager to make my own stacks and reorganize everything myself.

Very exciting. Unfortunately there's no mention of an update to how the vertical Dock looks, but Leopard is right around the corner, so we'll find out for sure very soon if Apple's new Dock lives up to expectations.

Tags: apple-insider, applications, dock, history, leopard, os-x, stacks

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