Monday January 30, 2006

- Microsoft once again aiming at the iPod market - Lionel - 16:26:13

After they hopelessly failed to compete with the iPod, many would have expected Microsoft to call off all weapons.

But in this juicy market, they simply cannot remain on the sidelines.

The first volley in the battle was probably the announcement of Windows Media Player for Mac. As this software hadn't been updated for so long, it means that, in all likelihood, Windows Media DRM will never be supported on a Mac. Moreover, their DRM are precisely the ones used by all the iTMS competitors as well the potential future HD-DVD standard. Therefore, while they promise to support the Mac via the MBU, they attempt to marginalize Apple's iPod and iTMS.

According to Businessweek the second step of their assault is that Microsoft is reportedly preparing a new music player. To regain market share, it would be an audio player, a video player and also a gaming console.

So, it is likely that the PSP market that would also be affected.

[translation by Kalomir] JCJ

- Firmware 1.39 for DVR-110 - Lionel - 14:55:49

Pioneer has posted an firmware update for the DVR-110.
It adds support for new media and improves the burning quality.
To download the files:
http://wwwbsc.pioneer.co.jp
Be careful to properly select 100 or 110D depending on your model. Downloaded files are .exe but are in fact auto extractible zipped file (you can unzip them without any problem on Macs)
Then you can flash your drive as we have mentioned it already many times. If you are not in hurry, a region-free firmware of this new firmware update should be available soon.


[translation by Eric]

- NV Silencer 3 in a PMG5 Quad - Lionel - 14:50:19

thanks to Séb for this report.

I contacted you one month ago following your article entitled "Hear the sound of silence" describing the installation of a NV Silencer 3 on a GF 7800GT. So I decided to try it myself.
As expected, the Quad was noisy, almost entirely due to the GPU cooling system, after installing the Silencer 3, the Quad was again a "silent computer". But I have lost one PCI slot and not 2 as mentioned in your article.
Regarding the installation time, it took me 10 minutes, everything was provided, and the thermal past was already on the heat-pipe block.
As shown on the photo below, the 4 screws are in contact with the PCI compartment, but it does not really matter.
Regarding temperatures, the GPU is efficiently cooled down to 40°C (stable), while after 20 minutes of Doom3 it displays 49°C (temperature recorded with hardware monitor).
Results are good, and I will keep tracking temperatures over a couple of days, but it was worth doing this modification.

Indeed, with this model, one can only loose one CPI slot, but the PCI card you plan to install must not interfere with the air-flow inlet of the NV Silencer 3.
Regarding the 4 screws, add an electrical scotch tape on the PCI compartment to insulate them from the case (mostly for potential vibrations).

[translation by Eric]

- Steve Jobs: Let's dance - Lionel - 14:34:56

If you are a Steve Jobs' fan or if you hate it, Edward has developed an iTunes plug-in that could make you happy.


To try it, go to http://www.memention.com/js/ and download the file Jumping Steve 1.0.
Then move the plug-in into your user folder//Librairie/iTunes/iTunes Plug-ins.
Restart itunes, and select "Jumping Steve" from the animation menu.
We are not sure that S.J. will appreciate it...

[translation by Eric]

- Core Duo: additional info - Lionel - 14:24:54

Tom's Hardware (French version) has published a rathe long article related to the Core Duo, also known as Yonah.
The article confirms information that we have already reported: the Core solo will be a Core Duo CPU with a inactivated core. The chance to reactivate it later on are almost null.
Using DDR2-667 SODIMM instead of the more common DDR2-533 SODIMM does not provide any advantages; it is only valuable for system based on a shared-memory integrated GPU (so not found in Macs). So at the end, it is a marketing point (using the fastest DDR2-SODIMM) that costs quite a lot for the end user.

[translation by Eric]

- Core Duo: battery lifespan and USB2 - Lionel - 12:14:00

Source : Présence PC

Couple of days ago, we were reporting a bug affecting the USB2 port of Core duo-based computers; that could affect significantly battery lifespan of such machines.

TG Daily is providing new details and information about this issue; even in sleep mode, the USB2 port would reduce battery lifespan by 25%.
According to Intel, this problem is linked to a bug in Energy saver drivers developed by MS since Windows XP, and the issue is known since July 2005. But Microsoft did not solve the problem yet.
So, in this case, this USB2 problem should not affect Core Duo-based computers running MacOSX.
However, recent comments from Greg Myers, the Core Duo "product marketing manager" , make us thinking that the reality is not as clear as claims by some parts. Due to the poor reactivity on Microsoft side, Intel is working on a firmware update that could solve the issue; but it is not sure that such solution can really fix the bug.
Nothing is really clear. If we consider Apple's "no comments", regarding the MacBook Pro battery Lifespan, on could consider that the bug is more related to a hardware problem than a real software problem. In this case, Apple Notebook might be more affected by this bug than PC notebooks; indeed the MacBookPro is using USB2 ports internally for both the iSight and the trackpad.
To conclude, and according to reliable sources (no really a rumor, a non-official information), the current battery lifespan of the MacBook Pro prototype would be around 3 hours. Apple is currently working hard to gain an additional time frame of 30 to 60 minutes.


[translation by Eric]