Today's News On One Page
December 2nd, 1999
| [5:15 PM] Apple's FireWire Makes Inroads Into The PC World by Staff FireWire has made a significant step into the PC world with the announcement of a new FireWire PCI card for Wintel. Belkin Components has announced FirePath, a PC only FireWire card. The company extolls the virtues of FireWire, including using the phrase "the truest plug-and-play," something Mac users have enjoyed for years. According to Belkin Components:
The FirePath card will be available later this month at a price of US$129. You can find more information at the company's web site. The Mac Observer Spin: This is good news for Apple as the company seeks to make FireWire an industry standard. No small task considering the effort Intel is putting behind USB 2, a competing, though inferior technology from Intel. FireWire in the PC world will have a direct positive impact on Mac users above and beyond the money Apple might make on licensing. With FireWire being cross-platform, the more users there are, the more products there will be available for Mac users (from those companies who make Mac drivers). We see the announcement of this product from a PC-centric company as a significant step forward for Mac users and Apple. |
| [4:45 PM] The Mac Observer Will Be Down For Part of Monday by Staff The Mac Observer will be down for at least part of Monday as our provider moves to a new, more powerful network. We will resume coverage late as soon as we are back up. Friday's coverage will be on our normal schedule. |
Investors continued to move money from old guard industrial stocks into the new digital economy fueling a mammoth tech rally on the Nasdaq. Apple is emerging as a major market leader for this new paradigm. Apple traded higher by 7 1/8 (6.91%) to close at 110 3/16 on average volume. There has been a steady stream of good news lately about Apple, from the iBook snatching first place in the notebook market, to the iMac holding 5th place in the October desktop retail market, even though the new iMac DV models were not available for the full month. Today Apple announced that Power Mac G4s will ship with the new Rage 128 Pro graphics card dramatically boosting 3D graphics performance. Also, the 350 MHz G4s will be upgraded to the same architecture used in the 400 MHz and 450 MHz configurations. The Dow moved ahead 40.67 points (0.37%) to close at 11039 on a volume of 887 million shares traded. The market breath continued its weakness today, further evidence of investors fleeing non-technologically savvy businesses in favor of high growth tech stocks. The Nasdaq gained a remarkable 99.05 points (2.95%) to end the session at 3452.76. Volume was above average at 1.4 billion shares traded. Today's surge scored another record high, pushing the Nasdaq to a 57% year to date gain. The Internet stocks led the way higher, but every tech sector posted broad gains. In fact, so universal was the tech rally today, if you own a tech stock that could not rise on today's swelling tide, it may be time to cut your losses or take your profits. The S&P 500 rose 11.07 points today (0.79%) to close at 1408.79. 30-year Treasury bond rose 14/32 in quiet trading to close at 97 9/32, the yield rose to 6.32% from 6.30% yesterday. The Dollar ended higher against the major currencies pushing the Euro below parity with the dollar for the first time since its introduction, although the Euro did manage to come back slightly above parity by session's end. Key to the bond market moving forward are the November employment numbers to be released on Friday. If employment dips below 4.0% or wages increase dramatically, watch out below. In Apple related businesses there was nary a single down stock. Well, OK, Akamai suffered a bit of profit taking after being in the green all day, closing down 2 3/8 to 215 1/4. Adobe regained 2 1/16, after yesterday's 2 7/8 lost, to end 68 5/8. Macromedia got back 5 3/4 points after a two day trouncing of minus 7 5/8, to close at 67 1/2. Symantec soared an amazing 12.5 % or 5 9/16 point to close at 49 3/4, half of that gain came in the last hour of trading. Apple's Power PC partners were both up , IBM broke out of a short downtrend, up 2 1/8 to close at 105 3/4, while Motorola gained 1 5/8 to end at 118 9/16. Apple's competitors were winners today, except Gateway, down another 1 3/4, after selling off 4 3/8 in the last two days, to close at 73. Microsoft continues to bounce back , up 1 5/8 to 94 13/16. Intel, Compaq, Dell and Hewlett Packard also ended in positive territory. For full quotes on all the companies mentioned in this article, we have assembled this set of quotes at Yahoo! for your reference. We also have many of these same quotes reported live (20 minute delay) on our home page. For other stories regarding Apple's stock activity, visit our Apple Stock Watch Special Report.
[4:15 PM] Apple Stock Watch: Technology is the Name of the Game, Apple Soars To Another All-Time High
by Wes George
| [3:15 PM] Apple Revs Up The PowerMac G4 Line, Making The 350 MHz Unit Attractive (For The First Time) by Staff Apple has bumped up the PowerMac G4 line with a new video card and is now using the Sawtooth architecture across the entire line. In addition, Apple is including DVD drives on the low end 350 MHz product. According to Apple:
Apple says that these options are now available immediately at the Apple Store. Pricing for the product line remains the same with the 350 MHz model priced at US$1599, the 400 MHz model priced at US$2499, and the 450 MHz model priced at US$3499. The company has priced the 15" Apple Studio Display at US$1299 and expects to ship the product before the end of the year. The Mac Observer Spin: Hooray for Apple! These changes to the product line are welcome indeed. The Yikes motherboard may have been necessary for supply reasons, but its absence will not be missed. Having the 350 MHz model use the Sawtooth architecture makes it an appealing product for the first time. It was also smart of Apple to offer a lower end alternative to the Cinema Display which still is not shipping and will probably be limited for many months to come. Those wanting a high quality flat panel monitor can satiate their desires sooner, rather than later. |
| [1:45 PM] Processor Production Problems Are Not Limited To Motorola by Kyle D'Addario C|Net has reported that there is bug in Intel's new "Coppermine" based Pentium III chips. Reportedly, the bug interrupts the start up process, requiring users to hit the power key twice before the machine will boot properly. Intel claims that this bug is present in less than two percent of the new chips, but that is enough for some manufacturers using the Intel chip. According to C-Net:
Dell has reportedly held back development of their line of Coppermine based computers, taking the higher ground and testing for any chips in their stock that contain the bug. Other manufacturers are likely to follow. Intel claims that the bug will be fixed shortly, and by the time the new PIII chip is widely available, that problem should be alleviated. The Mac Observer Spin: The new chip was expected to ship over the summer, and has been held back time and time again. Now, in mass production, there seems to be a flaw. Apple won the first round of "Computer Wars" by getting the G4 to market ahead of the Coppermine Pentiums. The result, of course, was positive for Apple. Despite their own problems with the new G4 chips, Apple's stock continues to rise, and support is nearing an all-time high for the little computer company that could. Next up is the OS battle. Whoever gets a functioning, reasonably stable version of the next generations OS out the door first is going to cash in big time. OS X is going to be all you hoped, and more. Windows 2000 is likely a strong OS as well, but whichever company can produce will have the "wave of popularity" advantage. As the problems with the new PIII chips have shown, and Apple's own G4, producing a functioning product, on time, is crucial. |
| [1:30 AM] XLR8 Takes To The Ice by Staff XLR8 has released a new USB hub, the IceView hub. This powered, 4-port hub attempts to one-ups the competition by providing an avenue for monitoring USB use called the USB Loadmeter. According to XLR8:
Pricing was not available at this time, but you can find more information on the IceView USB hub at the XLR8 web site. |
| [12:30 PM] Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, Sonnet Lowers Prices by Staff Just in time for the holidays, Sonnet Technologies has announced a price drop across their line of G3, along with certain G4, upgrade cards. According to Sonnet:
You can find more information at the Sonnet Technologies web site. |
| [8:30 AM] DropDrawers Is Now One Louder by Staff ResExcellence and Sig Software have teamed up to bring you the release of Drop Drawers 1.1. Drop Drawers allow users to store an assortment of files, apps, and other computer goodies in "hidden" but accessible spaces along the side of the desktop. The new version contains assorted feature enhancements and bug fixes. According to ResExcellence:
Drop Drawers is available for US$15. ResExcellence is also holding a contest allowing visitors to their site a chance to win a copy of Drop Drawers. For more information, and full contest rules, you can visit the ResExcellence Sig Software web sites. |
| [8:30 AM] And Then Street Atlas Shrugged by Staff DeLorme has released new Mac-compatible versions of the atlas software, Street Atlas USA 6.0, and their GPS receiver, Earthmate. The new version adds enhanced GPS compatibility, updated maps, one-way road listing, and a host of other new features. According to DeLorme:
Street Atlas USA is available for US$44.95, or in a package with the Earthmate GPS for US$159.95. You can find more information at the DeLorme web site. |