Today's News On One Page
November 9th, 1999
[5:30 PM] Bungie Releases A Myth II Expansion Pack, For Free by Staff Our friends at Bungie have done it again. Bungie Software has released a Myth II expansion pack made by the talented team at Badlands. The title is called Myth: Chimera, but the new single player game is really for Myth II. Better yet, you can download the expansion pack from Bungie, for free. The company is also including it in the all-inclusive Myth package called Myth: The Total Codex. According to Bungie:
You can find more information and download links at the company's web site. The Mac Observer Spin: Myth and Myth II were both very popular games and Bungie could certainly milk the franchise for a few more bucks by releasing the expansion pack as a US$19.99 retail package. This is certainly a nice way to thank the Myth community. |
[4:30 PM] Apple Finally Brings CNN.com To QuickTime Fold by Staff Apple and CNN announced today that CNN.com would (at long last) start offering streaming content in QuickTime 4 format. CNN.com has exclusively offered RealVideo and Windows Media Player content for the last few years now. The announcement was delivered at the QuickTime Live! conference at the same time that Apple announced a new CNN.com QuickTime TV channel. Visiting the CNN.com video page reveals that of the 5 choices offered for streaming, the QuickTime choice is labeled as "Smart." RealPlayer and Windows Media Player both have choices of "28.8" and "80 +." According to Apple:
Visit the CNN.com site for news in QuickTime Streaming format. The Mac Observer Spin: This is another very important coup for Apple. CNN.com is one of the most heavily trafficked sites on the Internet. Having content available in QuickTime 4 format further legitimizes Apple's technology. For consumers, it means we can get a much higher quality broadcast as last from CNN.com. For Mac users, it means that we will not be held back from viewing streaming content should RealNetworks once again deliver a PC update to its player before a Mac version. Apple can also continue to leverage CNN's support for QuickTime 4 to bring other streaming content providers to the QuickTime fold. Critical Mass is indeed at hand for QuickTime Streaming. Lastly, it is interesting that CNN.com label the QuickTime streaming choice as "smart." While this likely refers to QuickTime's ability to stream at your connection speed, it will look as if it is the "smart" choice to those who aren't tech weenies in the know. Of course, QuickTime is the smart choice, but it's great to see CNN.com acknowledge this. |
The markets take a well deserved breather after the recent charge forward. Today's decline was led by the financial stocks on the Dow and a broad group of technology stocks on the Nasdaq. On November 16th the Fed will announce whether it intends to raise interest rates. Tomorrow's Producer Price Index numbers will reveal the latest measure of inflation in wholesale prices and may have some influence on the Fed's decision. Nervous investors are expected to retrench over the next week in anticipation of the Fed's action. The Dow sagged 101.53 (0.95%) to 10617.32 on a volume of 833 million shares. Gold and oil service stocks jumped today as energy commodity prices rose. The Nasdaq pulled back 19 points (0.61%) to close at 3124.92 on record high volume of 1.444 billion shares traded. The last high volume record was set on October 29th. The S&P 500 moved down 11.73 (0.85%) to close at 1365.28 The Findings of Fact continued to shake Microsoft related stocks and their competitors today. Apple gave it all back today retracing 6 3/4 points to 89 5/8. That's still better than a point above last Friday's close. Today's weakness was due in part to Richard Gardner's (Salomon Smith Barney) downgrading of Apple to Outperform from Buy. Mr. Gardner did not change his 12-month target of $115 for AAPL. Be Incorporated (BEOS) after a big move yesterday soared 1 11/32 or (20.0%) to close at 7 27/32 today. While Red Hat Inc. retraced 5 1/8 (5.0%) to close down at 98 1/2. Microsoft ended down 1 1/16 to 88 7/8. In Apple related stocks only Pixar, Adobe, Arm Holdings and Dell were in positive territory. The 30-year Treasury bond dropped up 6/32 while the yield was up to 6.07%. 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.
[4:10 PM] Apple Stock Watch: Technology Rallies higher Without Microsoft, Apple Soars to 96 3/8
by Wes George
[3:45 PM] Apple Adds 6 More Heavy Weight QuickTime TV Channels Including MTV, CNN, and Nickelodeon by Staff Apple has announced the addition of 6 new channels to QuickTime TV, Apple's QuickTime Streaming delivery of Internet content. The new channels include some of the biggest names in entertainment, including two properties from the Seagram's empire, MTV and Nickelodeon, as well as CNN. According to Apple:
You can access the new channels at Apple's QuickTime TV Showcase web page. The Mac Observer Spin: This is another coup for Apple. MTV, CNN, and Nickelodeon all help add to the critical mass Apple needs to make QuickTime TV a success. The new channels also add some compelling content for viewers to watch. Congrats to Apple and the new channels! |
Internet tool NetBarrier has been tweaked to version 1.2.1, the excellent utility Startup Doubler has been updated with MacOS 9 support to version 2.5, and IdeaKeeper can be thought of as version 1.6b9 with its update. These are the most recent updates listed at The Mac Observer's VersionMaster. You can find all the most recent Mac software updates with this service.
[3:00 PM] VersionMaster Latest Updates: NetBarrier, Startup Doubler, And IdeaKeeper
by Staff
[Column] Wasting Time With The Idiots - Therapy in just two Megs of RAM |
[2:00 PM] A New Mac Gaming Site Hits The Internet by Staff Mac game lovers rejoice. A new Macintosh gaming site has launched, and promises give Mac gamers another great source for gaming news, strategies, reviews, and opinions about the state of gaming on the Mac OS. Clan MacGaming follows in a long line of great Mac gaming sites, and looks to carry on a strong tradition of Mac gaming excellence. According to Clan MacGaming:
For the full experience, visit the Clan MacGaming web site. |
[Column] On The Flip Side - Do We Really Hate Microsoft? |
[11:00 AM] Salomon Smith Barney Cuts their Rating on Apple to Outperform from Buy by Wes George Solomon Smith Barney has downgraded Apple's stock today after the stellar run-up in the stocks price over the last few months. The company downgraded the stock from a Buy to an Outperform based on its increased valuation. Currently, Apple has a price to earnings ratio (P/E) of 26.12 as of press time. Apple's (AAPL) stock has advanced strongly since the low of $58 on Sept. 29th. Yesterday, Apple reached $97.7 intraday, up almost 20 points in the last five trading sessions. Some profit taking was due once the euphoria over the recent dual judgements--iMac rip-offs banned by a California judge and the Findings of Fact against Microsoft-- subsided. The Mac Observer Spin: Salomon downgrade of Apple from Outperform to Buy "based on valuation" is ludicrous. Apple still trades at a PE ratio of about 28. The average PE ratio for the PC vendors is closer to 43. Gateway PE is 54 and Dell's is 63. Even sad Compaq has a PE or 32. Apple is undervalued even if it has "gotten ahead of itself" as they say on the street. Apple's long term trend is steeply higher. As famed investor Fayez Sarofim said last month to Money Magazine, "The biggest mistake is selling your winners. You should hold on to the ones that have done well and sell the others. It's the exact opposite of what most people do." Apparently, "most people" includes Salomon Smith Barney. Expect a volatile ride into the triple digits by the Christmas season. Today Apple was off by as much $7 in early morning trading but is now coming back. The broad based sell off in technology stocks this morning is a healthy rest for the Nasdaq which has seen a rare 7 consecutive all times highs. Microsoft is down by more than $3 at this writing. |
[11:00 AM] iShell 2 Extends QuickTime
Tribeworks is announcing today at the QuickTime Live! conference a new product called iShell 2. iShell 2 allows QuickTime content developers to extend their content. According to Tribeworks:
The company has not yet added information on iShell 2 to their web site. |
[8:45 AM] Make Your Mac Web Server More Flex-able
Net.Dreams has announced the availability of a WebSTAR enhancement, Flex-able 1.0. Flex-able simplifies such common tasks as file downloading and forms management. According to Net.Dreams:
Flex-able is available for US$299. You can find more information from the Net.Dreams web site. |
[8:45 AM] SQL Tool Gains Performance With New Update
Paradigma Software has updated the Valentina Database Line to version 1.6. The new version includes minor bug fixes and feature enhancements. According to Paradigma Software:
The Valentina Line starts at US$49.95 for the basic version, while the SDK version is available for US$699.95. Version 1.6 is free for registered users of version 1.5. You can find more information at the Paradigma Software web site. |
[8:30 AM] Blue World To Lasso Support For Upcoming Dreamweaver 3
Blue World Communications has extended compatibility of their Lasso line of web database applications to include Macromedia's Dreamweaver 3. The company is releasing a version of Lasso Studio that will work exclusively with the upcoming Dreamweaver 3 package from Macromedia. According to Blue World Communications:
Lasso Studio for Dreamweaver is scheduled for release in December 1999 and will be available for US$299 as an electronic download version, and US$349 for the boxed version. You can find more information at the Blue World Communications web site. |
[8:30 AM] File Synchronization/Backup Utility Updated
Lorenzo Puleo has released a new beta version of the file sync/back up tool, FolderSynchronizer. Version 1.6b adds stability and performance enhancements. According to Mr. Puleo:
FolderSynchronizer is available as shareware for US$20. You can find more information at Lorenzo Puleo's web site. |