News for Tuesday, 13 September 2005

The german website fscklog has published a link to a webpage displaying many screenshots featuring icons and buttons found when looking into iTunes 5 resources. It makes the rumor of the iTunes Video Store a bit more real; especially when looking at those buttons : "Gift video", "Buy video" et "Add video".

It also seems that the icon associated to the video file is already available:

It is clear that the Video Store project is real and being developed. The last remaining question is : when will it become available, if it does.

Apple seeded a new build for the transition kit to the developpers (10.4.2 on x86).
To limitate the use of OS X on non-authorised PC platform, the softwares compiled for this version will not run anymore on the previous version (the one that has been available on P2P networks). Apple could do this for every update.
Then, the new updates of Xcode for PowerPC Mac will also compile softwares unable to run on the first build of Tiger x86.
Despite this solution seems to be complex, it attempt to marginalise those who downloaded and installed the OS X x86 on a 'regular' PC, this version being then very limited.
Apple is thus looking for limitate the spread of its system before finding a better way to protect it, while avoiding to early reveal its "anti-piracy" boards.

Scientists from the Imperial College London have announced the development of 100GB storage capacity chips thanks to the nanotechnologies applied to 3D memory chips.
To reach such a capacity, they have been using the status of the electron spin (+1/2 or -1/2) to define the logical value 0 and 1. Their invention cover the technology applied to modify and recover the electron spin information.
For sure, nanotechnologies and quantum physic sciences will have a strong impact on IT business in a near future.

The Japanese company System Designs has made a kit to easily install a Mac mini in a car.

The kit is made of a docking station and a touch screen.
OK, this idea is pretty cool but we remind you that driving requires your full attention!

Samsung has announced for the end of 2006 the mass production of 2GB flash memory module, engraved at 50nm, those chips will be much smaller than the current ones, and one could using the same space propose a 32GB iPod nano vs. the current 2 or 4 GB models.
However, HD-addicts do not have to stress, the future perpendicular reading technology that should enter production soon will allow HD to keep the lead. One could expect iPod with 100GB storage capacity with a near future.
But Samsung future flash memory products will of course also find their ways into mobile phone, PDA, or even camera.

Bruno sent us this scanning of the magazine Mon quotidien.

The newspaper has given the nano's authorship to Sony. Apple Press Department probably likes it ;)

Apple has updated its corporate Xserve RAID offers. One can now order a Xserve RAID with up to 7TB of storage space based on 500GB HDs (cost 13 899 €). the same HDs are also proposed in the Xserve allowing up to 1.5GB of storage.
Just to remind you, Xserve RAID have ATA HDs while Xserves have SATA HDs. The difference is a 16MB cache for the ATA 500GB HD vs. 8MB cache for the 500GB SATA HD.
PS: Thanks to Hitachi to allow us to publish a non-iPod related news on Apple products.

Flash memory has a many advantages on hard drives: less power consuming, very compact and much more robust.
Ars Technica decided to test the nano's solidity by badly stressing it. They sat on it, dropped it from various height (up to 2.5m), drove over it... The screen finally broke down but the nano continued to play music without any problem!
They managed to kill it by throwing it as high as they could (about 12m) and let it fall down. They opened the iPod to evaluate the (relatively limited) damage.
We then learned something more from the disassembling of this Ipod nano 2Gb. Unlike the 4Gb, the flash memory is directly welded on the mother board and not on a daughter board. This must be checked in the future; Apple or its subcontractor might have modify some things during production.

The rumor was spreading since some times already, but now it is official : eBay, the world's online marketplace has taken control of Skype, for 2.6 billion US$ (50% in cash, 50% in shares)
eBay is expecting to create a synergistic effect between e-commerce, communication and community.
One can also consider that the web key players have recently a tendancy to become bigger and bigger and also to merge in order to increase even more their strength, but also potentially their monopoly...