News

SxSW was originally a venue for independent artists and film makers to showcase their talents. Long ago, it became dominated by major labels, big Hollywood stars, and other powerful interests in the entertainment industry keen on using the event to promote their latest ventures. Perhaps the most fitting example of this is the fact that…

DVD-Audio, one of the two formats (the other being Super Audio CD, or SACD) vying to be the next-generation music format, will not be freely rippable like CDs are today. However, some discs will include a “DVD-ROM Zone” that is playable in a regular DVD player or DVD-ROM drive. This zone can be used to…

Watch out Apple, here comes Microsoft. CNN is reporting that Microsoft is preparing an "iPod Killer" to be released later this year. These units will be larger and heavier than the iPod, but will have a larger, color screen and play videos and display photos, in addition to playing back MP3 and WMA files. From…

E-Commerce Times has published an interesting interview with Apple VP Ron Okamoto by Robyn Weisman (note that Ms. Weisman also does freelance writing for TMO). Mr. Okamoto is in charge of developer relations at Apple, and the interview focuses on Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC). According to Mr. Okamoto, Apple is seeing more cross-platform…

For years, CPU maker Intel used a marketing campaign that emphasized the raw clock speed of its processors. It worked; millions of PC buyers bought new boxes in a quest for what they perceived as more power. During that same time Apple, using Motorola processors, battled Intel’s marketing ploy by attempting to inform the public…

Exhibition company IDG World Expo released for the first time Friday more accurate, audited attendance figures for last January’s San Francisco-based Macworld Conference & Expo showing a turnout of 32,409. The audited numbers also reflected that the majority of attendees were from California and were primarily graphic designers and company executives. Auditors numbers compiled by…

A little more than a year ago, I wrote a column explaining why it would not make economic sense for Apple to port OS X to x86. This column took the form of an imaginary conversation with a PC Drone that was loosely based on the many arguments I have personally encountered on this subject.…

When running a race, one strategy is to get out front early and maintain your lead. If you are strong enough to stay ahead of the pack, you don’t have to worry about finding elbow room, or saving that little bit of reserve energy for the final sprint near the end; you just cruise and…

Feeling cramped? Is the world pressing in on you? Does it seem that your personal space, that imagined aura that separates you from the next guy, is shrinking? Maybe you should get an iPod. According to a BBC News report, Dr. Michael Bull, a lecturer in Culture and Media Studies at the University of Sussex,…

Apple is to Steve Jobs as Microsoft is to Bill Gates as Oracle is to Larry Ellison as Dell is to, well, Dell. All of those companies run with the blood of their founders, and are reflections of their boss. While Apple tried to get rid of Steve Jobs, and paid a big price for…

I was sitting in a bar with a buddy on a Friday night. My friend, Trevor, is a guy that has always used PCs at work, and so it made sense for him to buy PCs at home. Now, believe it or not, when I am just hanging out, I am not constantly evangelizing Macs.…

Colourfull Creations has released an update for Maxi Bidder, bringing it to version 1.84. Maxi Bidder is a utility designed for automated eBay bidding. The update features a message bug fix and other enhancements. According to Colourfull Creations: Colourfull Creations releases Maxi Bidder update for Macintosh OS X and Macintosh OS 9. Colourfull Creations updates…

The iPod portable music player could effectively be a US$1 billion business for Apple Computer by the end of this year and US$1.6 billion by September of 2006, according to the predictions of Merrill Lynch analyst Steven Milunovich. He further predicted the iPod is not a "one-hit wonder," and that Apple will see some Windows…

With all of the hoopla over the iPod mini recently, it is easy to overlook some of Apple’s other equally cool offerings that were announced during MacWorld in San Francisco this past January (like iLife ’04). Those of you who’ve bought iLife ’04 already know about the many improvements in iPhoto, iMovie, and iDVD, and…

How many of you know about Window XP’s Remote Desktop feature, or use Windows Messenger? Being that you are an Apple audience, your ignorance of these features is understandable (note that 1/3 of our visitors are on Windows machines), but that shouldn’t be the case if you happen to run a PC with Windows XP.…

Thin, stylish LCD flat-panel computer displays will surpass the sales of bulky cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitors for the first time in the US later this year, according to researcher DisplaySearch. Sales of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are expected to reach US$21 billion this year and projections are that prices will slowly fall on all size…

Lawyers representing rap superstar Eminem and the publisher of his music have accused Apple Computer of knowingly using one of his songs in a 2003 iTunes television commercial, even after the company and its advertising agency confirmed it did not have permission to do so. As a result, Apple is being sued along with three…

AllAfrican.com has an interesting report on Apple’s efforts to gain market share in South Africa. The media outlet says while Apple’s market share in the struggling economy of South Africa is at 2%, the company owns some 80% of the graphic design industry. From AllAfrica.com: Ten years after re-entering the South African market, Apple still…

C|Net is reporting that Motorola has introduced slightly faster G4 processors that should run cool enough for a laptop. This could allow Apple to release faster PowerBooks, but the processors clock in at only 1.42 GHz, 70 MHz faster than the 1.33 GHz processors currently offered in Apple’s top of the line 17″ PowerBook, and…

Elite Computers shut its doors last April, a victim, according to the company, of Apple’s unfair treatment to its resellers. A lawsuit from Elite’s Thomas Armes and MacAdam’s Tom Santos followed soon, with both retailers claiming that Apple was systematically and unfairly putting them out of business in order to make way for the company’s…