Today's News On One Page
October 20th, 1999
[4:30 PM] Send A Mac Virtual Greeting Card
Our friends at PowerBookCentral have announced a new feature for their site. You can now send a virtual greeting card to your friends, loved ones, fellow Mac nuts, and your Wintel loving IT manager with their new Virtual Greeting Card. Better yet, you can send your card confident that your e-mail address will not be sold to any SPAMMERS, the bane of most online greeting card services. According to PowerBooksCentral:
Head over to PowerBookCentral and check out this service! |
Media 100 has been upgraded to version 6, A BEtter Finder Rename has been bumped to version 2.6, and Summary has been updated to version 1.4. These are the most recent updates listed at The Mac Observer's VersionMaster. You can find all the most recent updates with this service.
[5:00 PM] VersionMaster: Media 100, A Better Finder Rename, And Summary Are Latest Updates
Microsoft lead the tech stocks forward as the most heavily traded issue, soundly beating its earnings estimates today. Microsoft said that demand for PCs is "awesome" and that they expect blow out growth next quarter. The Dow ended strongly up 187.43 or 1.84% to close at 10392.36. The Nasdaq roared back after a six day losing streaking up 99.94 or 3.72% to close at 2788.12. Today was the third largest point increase on the Nasdaq in history. Volume was strong. Apple soared back today after yesterday's trouncing, up $6.5/8 or 9.67% to close near the day's high of $75.125 on very high volume of 9,632,700 shares traded. Apple's average shares traded is 5.7 million. Finally, Wall Street took a time out from worrying about inflation and concentrated on what is shaping up to be a very strong earnings seasons. Reports of a narrowing trade gap also help boost trader's spirits today. America Online (AOL) earnings, expected to come in at $ 0.13 per share, are due out this afternoon, Internet stocks were up. Computer Associates International (CA) reported higher earnings in its second quarter, $0.60 per share, a penny above expectations. Also, IBM reported earnings after the bell at $0.90 per share up from $0.78 per share last year at this time. IBM did warn that Y2K may slow its earning this quarter. Apple related stocks, Adobe, Symantec, Motorola and IBM all ended up strongly today. However, Macromedia lost $1 5/32 to close at $52 15/32. On the PC side, Dell, Gateway 2000, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, and Intel all joined Microsoft in closing with strong gains. The 30-year bond rose 5/32 with the yield moving its highest level in several years at 6.34%, something not usually associated with a rally. Transports hit a new low today, a bearish cross current in today's rally. 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.
[3:45 PM] The Apple Stock Watch: Wall Street Rally! Apple up 9.67%!
by Wes George
[3:30 AM] MacMAll: MacOS 9 Ships On 10/22, "Midnight MacOS 9" Event To Be Held At Retail Location
MacMall's parent company, Creative Computers, has announced a big push for MacOS 9. The company will be shipping "thousands" of copies of MacOS 9 on 10/22 for delivery on 10/23. In addition, the company will be holding a Midnight MacOS 9 event, similar to the hoopla that surrounded the release of Windows 95. According to Creative Computers:
The Mac Observer Spin: This is a cool announcement. It's great to see MacMall gettin' jiggy wit' it over MacOS 9. The Midnight MacOS 9 event in particular is refreshing in that the company obviously feels that they can profit by going to these lengths. A far cry from a couple of years ago when it took weeks for some retailers to bother to get their copies of OS 8. |
[2:00 PM] XLR8 First To Ship G4 Upgrades, Include AltiVec Enabling Software
XLR8 has beat the rest of the upgrade manufacturers to market by being the first to ship a G4 upgrade card. The company has announced that its MACh Carrier G4 and MACh Speed G4z cards are shipping this week. XLR8 has also announced that they are including software with the cards that allow Photoshop 3 and 4 to take advantage of AltiVec, or Velocity Engine as it is now called. According to XLR8 (and there is a lot of information here):
The 350 MHz MACh Carrier G4 is priced at US$749 and the 350 MHz MACh Speed G4z is priced at US$649. Both cards are shipping this week. You can find more information at the company's web site, though the products page seems to be blank as of this writing. |
[8:00 AM] New Asian US$160 iMac Knockoff May Get Past Apple Legal, Seriously by Himitsu Just when you thought Apple squashed all iMac wannabes along comes a new challenge. Is it from eOne? No the challenge comes from Hong Kong's Konka Co. Priced at 17500 yen (Around $160 US) this slick white and green box screams 'iMac" all over it. The front sports two stereo speakers. And you'll find a handy handle on top. The screen size is 14". It also has AV input/outputs. PAL and NTSC options too. Future models will feature a DVD drive and multiple colors. But wait. How can it be ONLY $160?? Is it bundled with a 100 year Internet service contract? Actually, its not a computer! But first glance at this product would make you think so!! All over Japan, from dishes to CD boxes the iMac has inspired new industrial designs. You can now outfit your whole computer room in the same color as your iMac. But your TV too? Chinese computer maker Konka, hopes so. The number two maker of PC in China is ready to launch a new line of TVs that looks like the iMac. The million dollar question is, what Apple will do in this situation. Its an obvious copy of their industrial design. But unlike the eOne, this is an entirely different product category. If Apple brings Konka to court, are other iMac inspired product makers in trouble? Only time will tell. Ziff-Davis In Japan has coverage of this product that includes many pictures. We highly encourage you to check out their coverage to see the product. Apple was unavailable for comment as of press time. The Mac Observer Spin: You have to see this thing. This is one of the finest looking TVs ever made. With this product not being a computer at all, it is questionable whether Apple could sue on the grounds that the product could cause confusion in the market place. That's the tactic they have opted for so far in the battle against computer companies looking to rip off the iMac's distinctive look. While it is clearly a design that was utterly inspired by the iMac, it actually has a different overall shape. In our non-legal opinion, from a strictly appearance standpoint, Apple would have grounds to say that their design had been copied. One thing is for certain, several Mac Observer staff members have said that they would like one. Himitsu covers Mac events in Japan for The Mac Observer. |
[Review] Computing With Bifocals - Nancy's Web Tips For The Holidays |
[Review] Latest Norton AntiVirus Offers Significant Performance Boost |
[8:00 AM] Microsoft Rolls Out Outlook Express, Offers iMac (5) Give Away As Promotion
Microsoft has released Outlook Express 5. Outlook Express is an e-mail client with a host of features. The new version sports performance enhancements, an entirely new interface, and all kinds of new features. Better yet, Microsoft is offering a way for potential users to test the product while still maintaining their previous e-mail client.
Outlook Express is still a free product. You can find more information at the company's web site. Microsoft is also offering an iMac give away in conjunction with trying Outlook Express. The company will be giving away 5 iMacs, one of each of the original candy colors. The Mac Observer Spin: Several Mac Observer staff members have commented that this new version of Outlook Express seems to be pretty nifty. Since we are a tough crowd, especially when it comes to Microsoft products, this is a very good sign. As news has swept the Net on this product, it seems lots of excitement over its release has been generated. For its part, Microsoft is throwing some money and effort at its release. Offering a chance to win one of five free iMac just for trying out the free product is a nice touch. |
[8:00 AM] Tomb Raider III Hits Mac Market In Double Blast Of Whoop 'Em
Aspyr and Eidos Interactive have announced that Tomb Raider III is at last out for the Mac. Aspyr did the conversion of the title for the Mac market, though Mark Adams and his fantastic team at Westlake Interactive did the actual work. For those 3 people on the planet who have not heard of Tomb Raider, or more specifically, Tomb Raider's heroine, Lara Croft, Tomb Raider III is a 3rd person perspective action game. It is also one of the most popular games of all time on both the PC and Mac platforms. The new title is the quickest one to make it to the Mac.
Aspyr is offering a free "official Aspyr Hanes' Beefy-T T-Shirt" while supplies last for orders placed now. The game is priced at US$49.95. You can find more information on Tomb Raider III at Aspyr's web site. The Mac Observer Spin: Ok, here's where the new iMac and iMac DV will hopefully start paying off in the Mac gaming market. Tomb Raider III should be a smash success for Aspyr, and this would be a good thing for other developers to see. With the cancellation of Mac Half-life announced yesterday, a big rousing profitable game would be a good thing. Note to software pirates: Go pay for this game if you want to keep seeing cool new titles come to the Mac like they have been for the last 12 months. |
[8:00 AM] MacDaily Profiles Mac Observer Editor The good people of MacDaily have profiled our own Editor-in-Chief, Bryan Chaffin. In a series called Making A Career of Macs, the profile includes a Q&A and other information. A good read if we do say so ourselves. :-) The link to the article can be found on the MacDaily home page. |
[8:00 AM] Cross Platform Web Calendar/Scheduling Software Updated With New Features
Matador Design has updated their World Wide Web calendar program, WebEvent, to version 3.2b1. As internet and Web access becomes less a focus on the machine, and more on the person, scheduling programs like WebEvent have found a more useful place in our scheduling repertoire'. According to Matador Design:
WebEvent is available for US$200 for a single user license. You can find more information at the Matador Design web site. |
[8:00 AM] Get Your Photoshop Training From Alien Skin
Alien Skin Software, authors of excellent Photoshop effects such as Xenofex and Eye Candy, wanted to inform their users that TrainingTools.com is now offering free lessons for help with Photoshop 5.5. According to Alien Skin Software:
You can find more information on the TrainingTools Photoshop packages at the TrainingTools web site. You can also find more information about Alien Skin Software at the Alien Skin web site. |
[8:00 AM] Meet The Crew From The PowerBookZone In World Without Borders Chat
World Without Borders and MyMac.com are sponsoring a chat at World Without Border with Doug Landry of The Powerbook Zone and the iBook Zone. According to MyMac:
The chat with Doug Landry will take place Wednesday, October 29th at 8:00 PM EST. You can find more information at both the World Without Borders and MyMac web sites. |