Read on for more technical details on the processor in the new iPod touch.

More Mac 101, tips and tricks for new Mac users.

While this tip may be old news to tech-savvy folk, I think it might help a lot of recent Mac switchers who want to leverage their existing investment in their Windows-compatible peripherals.

I have a friend who has been on Windows forever. He finally had his fill, and after some incessant nagging on my part, he made the switch. What I expected to happen, did happen -- he's thrilled being on a Mac. He's yet to see a crash, and as most of us know, it generally 'just works.'

He did have one problem though. He had a Dell USB printer sitting on his desk. When he plugged it into his MacBook it wasn't recognized, and there was a scrolling list of lots of printers, but nothing from Dell.

A quick web search revealed the printer was actually a rebranded Samsung ML-1710. The Samsung driver page for this printer didn't show any Mac drivers. Searching a bit deeper on Google, we found that an unsupported Mac driver was hiding on the Australian Samsung website.

We downloaded and installed the driver, and what do you know? The printer came up, and printed just fine.

The reality is that there are a lot more printer brands than there are original equipment manufacturers, and it's pretty easy to find out who actually makes a particular printer. If it's a USB printer, chances are good you can find a driver and be quickly printing away. For a wide-ranging solution, the Gutenprint (formerly Gimp-Print) open source project provides drivers for hundreds of older or unsupported printers.

The moral: Don't give up on your PC printer if you feel like it still has life in it; a little bit of online research may turn up a way forward for your Mac. If you have similar happy endings, or unpleasant ones, let us know in the comments. Your fellow readers can learn from your experiences.

It seems like just yesterday we heard from David Thomas that his Samsung Syncmaster 910 MP display wasn't working with his shiny new 2009 Mac mini. Oh, wait, it was yesterday -- and David's not alone, judging by the traffic on Apple's support boards. VGA display owners who are using a Mini DisplayPort-VGA adapter should be aware that older displays seem to be having some trouble with the newfangled setup; in fact, Apple's troubleshooting steps for lack of video on the mini suggest replacing your display if it's not lighting up with the mini, even though it may still work with other machines. If your existing display is a Samsung or is more than four years old, you may want to cross-check with Apple before trying to use it with a new mini.

There's some light at the end of the tunnel, however. While it hasn't appeared on Apple's download page for the mini yet, reader Nikolay sent in word that the Mini DisplayPort to VGA Firmware Update is showing up for him in Software Update on his MacBook Pro. Since one of the listed fixes is "no video on some external displays," if you've got the VGA adapter in use and are having video troubles you may want to borrow a monitor long enough to run the update and see if that clears the issue for you.

Thanks David & Nikolay

According to Ed Sutherland from Cult of Mac, three out of four Apple's NAND flash memory suppliers are feeling the strain as the company demands storage for its new line of iPhones.

Sutherland cites a research report by analyst Vijay Rakesh from ThinkEquity. Rakesh says that Samsung has set aside its inventory of NAND chips for Apple until April.

Hynix, another supplier, reported softer sales growth for its NAND chips, and Toshiba is having problems supplying customers with 56nm NAND chips. Apple's fourth supplier, Micron, wasn't mentioned in Rakesh's report.

Aside from a new iPhone handset on the way, what does this mean? Higher memory prices, for one. Rakesh said that he expects NAND spot and contract prices to rise.

Many analysts around the time of Apple's Q1 conference call said they had high hopes for a new iPhone during the first half of the year. Some rumors suggest June might be the target date for release.

LG has won a five-year contract to provide LCDs for Apple, Inc. According to Softpedia, Apple wanted LG's LCD and next-generation OLED displays for not only notebooks and Cinema Displays, but for iPhones and iPods as well.

LG will receive a deposit of US$500 million to begin work under the contract.

OLED displays use organic material to emit light. According to the same article, OLED displays outperform LCD displays in terms of refresh rate, color, and energy efficiency.

LG already provides over 70 percent of Apple's notebook and Cinema Display LCDs, according to Reuters. Before that, Apple had partnered with Samsung about 10 years ago to help the company boost its TFT LCD production.

[Via Macworld.]

Today Apple released an update for Mac OS X's RAW compatibility. iPhoto '08 and Aperture will now be able to work with RAW formats from the following cameras:

• Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS/Kiss Digital F/1000D
• Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n
• Nikon D700
• Olympus EVOLT E-420
• Olympus EVOLT E-520
• Olympus SP-570
• Samsung GX-10
• Samsung GX-20
• Sony DSLR-A300
• Sony DSC-R1

I'm sure this isn't a fix for everyone, but will probably make most photographers happy to see their camera on the list. You can download this update by opening Software Update (Apple menu > Software Update) or by visiting Apple's downloads website and downloading the installer package.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

It looks like Samsung and Sprint are going after some of the iPhone market share as they show off their video recording capability on the Samsung Instinct. As Apple's competitors are slowly catching up, is it time for Apple to release video recording capabilities for the iPhone? I'm sure that most iPhone users would like to see video recording on the next iteration of the device.

Yesterday was Memorial Day in the US, a Bank Holiday in the UK, and apparently big honkin' solid-state drive (SSD) day in South Korea.

Samsung, which provides the 64GB SSD drive that is available in a pricey configure-to-order version of the MacBook Air, announced a 256GB 2.5-inch SSD drive. While the 64GB model in the MacBook Air has been criticized for having leisurely performance, the new MLC (Multi-Level Cell) flash SATA II drive boasts 200MBps read and 160MBps sequential write speeds. Those are double the speeds of the 64GB drive.

The new model features power consumption that is slightly less than that of the 64GB drive (.9 watt in active mode, compared to 1.0 watt), as well as sophisticated data encryption.

There's no word on whether or not the new drive will show up in future MacBook Air models. The monster SSD will be widely available in September, with a 1.8-inch version expected in the 4th quarter of 2008. Does a faster, bigger, and hopefully cheaper SSD-based MacBook Air sound like something we can expect to hear Steve mention as "one more thing" at Macworld Expo 2009?

I don't recall this happening any time recently; the Korean newspaper Chosunilbo is reporting that Apple is the exclusive US retailer for a new line of Samsung printers, at least until January 2008. The printers in question are the slick piano black monochrome laser ML-1630 ($199.95) and multifunction laser SCX-4500 ($299.95) and both qualify for Apple's $100 rebate when purchased with a new Mac. Looking at these printers I can't help but think they'd blend perfectly with the black bezel ring of the new iMacs.

[via Engadget]

IT News Online tells us that Samsung has begun mass producing 16 Gigabit NAND flash chips. "In rolling out the densest NAND flash in the world, we are throwing open the gates to a much wider playing field for flash-driven consumer electronics," IT News quoted Jim Elliott, director of flash marketing.

As you probably know, high density data storage is a prime ingredient of flash-based music players like the iPod Shuffle and Nano lines, and smart phones like the iPhone (as well as digital cameras, handheld computers and memory cards). Denser storage means more capacity for these consumer electronics.

I'm guessing that 16 Gb chips probably will not debut in Apple products until the end of this year or the beginning of the next. If I have my facts straight, the iPhone uses 4 Gigabit chips in its design.

A Samsung executive will pay a quarter-million dollar fine and serve almost a year in prison after pleading guilty to memory chip price fixing. He violated the Sherman Antitrust Act when Samsung colluded with other companies to fix DRAM chip prices. Four other memory makers have been charged as well. The memory sales in question date back almost five years and were used in Apple, HP and Gateway computers.

I should have noted this when we found iLounge's 2G iPod nano dissection gallery, but it seems that Apple has (strangely) opted to take a step towards keeping their new iPod chip manufacturer's identity under wraps (strange because we already knew Samsung won PortalPlayer's old contract). As iLounge notes about their gallery, you can see three chips stamped with Apple's logo, and absolutely none from PortalPlayer (which we were expecting). It is believed that Wolfson and Philips are the other two namelessly Apple-branded chips, though I have to admit I'm a bit perplexed as to why Apple went to all this trouble in the first place. I mean, their attention to detail is admirable, and their logo is cool and all - but how many nano owners do they expect will ever check under the hood?

NAND flash, it is the magic inside of the iPod nano. Thanks to NAND flash memory Apple is able to make those tiny little devices, and now Samsung has announced that they are mass manufacturing 8 gig NAND flash chips. What's that mean to you? Well, it most likely means that sometime within 6 months there will be an 8 gig iPod nano. Wait, there's more! Samsung believes that they will be producing a 16 gig chip by Christmas, so larger capacity nanos for all.

I expect it will be a good Christmas for Apple.

Matt Thomas has a bug stuck in his 23" Apple Cinema Display. Amusingly, the little fella is still alive: check out the video above to see it wandering across his screen. He has absolutely no idea how to get the bug out (although one commentator suggests he should lure the bug out with morsels of food) so at the moment Matt's hoping for the bug to graciously die off screen.

The same thing happened to me with my 17" Samsung LCD, I believe it was even the same type of bug! I too waited for the bug to die off screen but instead, the bug decided to lay his grave in the dead centre, right at eye level. Now whenever friends use my screen they instictually attempt to swipe it away. What do I say to them when they ask about it? "Well, I was playing this game called Bugdom - it crashed really bad one day and left one of the bugs behind". Gets 'em every time.

Gary Johnson, president and CEO of PortalPlayer, told analysts that PortalPlayer wants Apple's business and is willing to fight for it. He is referring to the recent news that Apple will tap Samsung to make chips for new iPod nanos (PortalPlayer will still supply chips for the rest of the iPod line).

The remark was made after PortalPlayer announced strong earning for the first quarter.

[via iLounge]