Friday January 13, 2006

- Future update for Front Row ? - Lionel - 22:15:01

A report from Vincent

When you go to the AppleStore, and select the webpage corresponding to the iMacIntel, you can see a small window entitled "Discover iMac" displaying the welcome screen of FrontRow. But the captured screen shows an different icon for the video that the one currently available on our PPC-based Mac, even running 10.4.4.


So, is it the sign of a future update for FrontRow? Or will the MacIntel have different icons for FrontRow?

For information, it is quite easy to modified the icon displayed in FrontRow welcome screen.
Go to System/library/CoreServices, then open the package FrontRow (right-click then display contents). All icones and sounds found in FrontRow are in the resources folder.
To modify an image, create a PNG 512x512 image, then replace one of the original one with yours.
It will require that you have the Root Administrator rights to perform this substitution. Then launch a FrontRow session.
Hereafter is what you can achieve with this trick:

The mirror effect of your image is managed by FrontRow.

[translation by Eric]

- Thank you EFI! - Lionel - 22:06:01

According to a reader of xlr8yourmac, as it is already the case for PowerPc-based Macs, the MacIntel are able to perform the following things:
- Boot from an external FireWire HD
- Boot in Target mode
- Choose the booting HD by pressing Alt key.
And this is possible thank to EFI, the good old BIOS of PC x86 would not have allowed that.


[translation by Eric]

- "Mobile Me" - Ewok - 15:48:34

Source : Artechnica

Motorola has recently announced its project to release a music service for its mobile phone that will be independent of iTunes with the first compatible model being the ROKR E2. On its side, Apple has been granted for the trademark:"Mobile Me", which will be according to ArsTechica the name for mobile services, and even maybe terminals.
Apple could become a new MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) and propose new services that would be fully integrated to iTunes/iLife. Is it the final step towards the famous "digital hub"?


[translation by Eric]

- Cell processor : next station 2010 - Eric - 15:44:20

Source : Finance Plus

The famous Cell processor, which should power the future SONY game console in a couple of months, has seen its future cleared till 2010.
IBM, Sony and Toshiba have officially extended their collaboration in the semi-conductor field till 2010. They plan to develop a CPU, 10 times faster than standard CPU, and able to be used for many different applications. This agreement also includes the further development of a new version of the Cell processor, based on 32nm engraving process vs. the current 90nm.
We should have a first idea of the real capabilities of Cell processor when used in mass-market application when the PS3 will be available.


[translation by Eric]

- Downloadable beta version of Quark XPress 7 - Cri-cri - 15:26:49

Source : Quark

A downloadable Beta version of XPress 7 is available on Quark website.
This new version had been awaited for a very long time. However doubts remain concerning how the users community will react given the position inDesign has now taken in the absence of any real new OSX version of XPress. One of its long time needed feature is the support of Unicode and OpenType.

This Beta version runs on an OSX architecture but a Universal Binary should be available by the end of the month. According to Quark, Xpress 7 will be up to 3 times faster on the new Mactels than it was on PPC. This seems to confirm Steve Jobs announcement in his Keynote. And indeed, the Universal Binary version will be the ultimate benchmark to chek this out...

[translation by Greg]

- The guts of an iMac soon to be online - Lionel - 11:25:55

Our japonese friends from Kodawarisan have received an iMac Intel and have already published some screenshots on their website.

The superdrive is a Pioneer K05 and the hard disk a Maxtor.
Knowing the curiosity of Kodawarisan team, the poor machine will probably be taken into parts quite soon. Can' wait...
http://www.kodawarisan.com

[translation by Greg]

- First PC emulator for MacIntel available in one month - Lionel - 10:33:47

Source : http://www.macwindows.com/

iEmulator will release in about one month the new version of its PC emulator dedicated to the MacIntel.
This new version will emulate the BIOS, the video and the Ethernet.
So, one can expect a big improvement of performances for most of non-3D applications.
For games, one will have to wait VirtualPC that should be able to access hardware resources directly without MacOS layer.


[translation by Eric]

- The Pioneer BDR-102A is already planned - Lionel - 10:28:09

The first Blu-Ray BDR-101A burner from Pioneer is not even available yet, that specs of its successor, BDR-102A, are already known!
Without any surprise, it should burn Blu-Ray media faster, but will also support CD burning (a feature not available with the 101A).
For most users, it is urgent to WAIT that the war between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD gets really started with new products; and not buying any burner before the price is around 100 Euros.


[translation by Eric]

- MacBook Pro: ExpressCard in details - Lionel - 10:22:06

Among the changes with the release of the MacBook Pro is the exchange of the PCMCIA slot by the new ExpressCard slot.
The format of the new card is dramatically different:


Apple has chosen to install an ExpressCard 34 in the MacBook Pro, the smallest one. So it will nto be possible to have removable 1.8"HD with this format; only the ExpressCard 54 allows it (it was in fact developed for this purpose)
The other new factor is the connectics: indeed, manufacturers will have the choice to use either USB2 or PCI-E, since the ExpressCard is managed natively and will be a hot-plug format.
It will then be very easy for manufacturers to launch compatible products. We should rapidly see TNT tuner, 3G modem or USB2 hub expansion card available in this format.
The speed of hte PCI-E bus will also open the door to other type of cards such as an FW800 expansion card to recycle your FW800 peripherals. Such products already exist (http://www.xterasys.com/e94b.htm) but are only available in ExpressCard 54 format.

An additional proof of the importance of FW800 for Mac users, it was reported to us by one of our readers (thanks Dana), that following MacBook Pro release, G-Technology, a company well-known for its FireWire RAID solutions, have announced the immediate release of a a FireWire 800 PCI-Express Adapter; New Adapter Compatible with Power Mac G5's with PCI-Express Slots. No doubt that notebook-dedicated similar cards will be available in a near future.


[translation by Eric]