News for Thursday, 26 January 2006

According to Boursorama, eBizcuss and Motek (CLG) could merge by the end of S1 2006.
This merger could lead to the largest Mac reseller in France.
According to the business newspaper it would allow :

- optimize business capacities
- concentrate Apple business in France in order to collect as much as possible the fruits from the iPod mania.
- complete a homogenous network (in France)
- enhance the potential of investments made by eBizcuss.com in 2005.

Knowing quite well the Apple business in France, we think that this merger would primarily allow the future reseller to better negotiate margins with Apple Cupertino. This is probably the only way to resist to the physical AppleStore that should arrive in Europe by the end of 2006.
But in all cases, Apple remains in an excellent position to negotiate with its reseller networks, and it might not be a good thing for them.

thanks to François for this info.

Following the last iTunes 6.0.2 update, it is simply impossible to Repair Disk Permissions feature using any of the well known tools such as Disk Utility, Onyx or Applejack.
The solution:
1- temporary relocate iTunes 6.0.2 application on your desktop
2- delete all .pkg related to iTunes in /Library/Receipts/
3- log out, and log in a new session (to erase all potential receipts saved in the cache)
4- Repair Disk Permissions with disk Utility
5- relocate iTunes 6.0.2
6- that's it

The website Geek.com has published the list of the identified bugs in the last CPU from Intel, the Core Duo: 34 bugs have been identified.
In this list, there are minor and potentially more important bugs.
Most of them would be fix by firmware update of the CoreDuo-based computers, or by modifying the compiler to go around the effect of the a bug.
This type of bugs is present in all CPU, similar bugs were found in G4 and G5 processors. The difference with Intel processors, is that such listing is usually communicated by Intel. For most users, such bugs will not even be noticed and will most likely not changed the overall performance of Core Duo-based computers.

First a report from Raphaël about sound problem with his last G4-based PowerBook G4 model.

I have bought a new PB in November 2005. As a professional musician, this computer can simply NOT be used (as for live or studio sessions). It seems that there are many reports about this problem.
Description: the sound enters into a loop for a couple of seconds, while the output level gets higher and higher still it saturates; then the audio output returns to normal. It happens randomly, but many times per day, and usually last for 6 to 7 seconds.
For a computer intended to be used by professional especially when a large number of musicians, artists, multimedia creators, or movie makers are using Mac for years; and also in relation to its price; one would expect not to get such a bug.
AppleSupport does not have any idea, even though the problem is known and the number of reports gets everyday higher; as shown in this subject:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=1589957
Apple does not propose any fix, but also does not communicate, neither acknowledge the problem. There is only one document referring to this issue ( http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302978), and it recommends to avoid running several audio applications simultaneously... no comment...
blockquote>Of course, the number of users facing this problem is relatively small but it is composed of longtime Mac users and in most cases professionals.
A website has been created to collect reports and bring the issue to Apple's ears: http://PowerBookDefect.info/
Let's expect that Apple will hear them complaining about this problem, which prevent them to work properly with their computers.

If the Pro-oriented BlackBerry mobile phone is compatible with Mac OS X server since summer 2005, one needed to buy an additional software to sync it with its Mac.
The good news: the BlackBerry-dedicated version of the PocketMac software is now available for free.

It is compatible with iSync, Entourage, Address Book, ...
http://www.pocketmac.net

A report from Fabrice:

...I have ordered the iMacIntel from the AppleStore 2 weeks ago. It should have been shipped last Friday at the latest. So, I have decided to call Apple since I had no news from my order. I have been told that the request for this new model was so huge that Apple will not be able to ship my computer to me before the end of February. He also told me that that they will try to get me one before this date, since I have been among the first to place my order, but he can not give me more details regarding a precise shipping date.

This information goes exactly the opposite way to other reports/rumors mentioning that the first iMacIntel is selling poorly, or less than expected by Apple.
One simple reason could simply be the lack of Yonah/Core Duo; since this CPU is brand new, a shortage could be expected, especially because Apple uses the current top of the line model (dual core 2.0GHz).

A reader from XLR8Yourmac has decided to change the default HD of his brand new iMacIntel.
Looking for a larger storage capacity, he has decided to install a 400 GB Western Digital WD400KD.
The problem is that after hours of work, the disc was simply not recognized and refused to mount! He is still struggling with it.
So do not change your HD in your iMacIntel before the reason of this problem is identified and solved.

Thanks to Phil for this report:

1. The bug: In GB3, when creating a new podcast, one can now add images, title and url link to images. Well, when you add an image from the GB3 media inspector, the applciation freezes... one can modified the title of a photo but not its url...
2. analyzing the bug: when opening the console(Applications>Utilities>Console then having a look at the logs: system.log and console.log), one can see a weird log reported: "GarageBand[1346] GarageBand: [ valueForUndefinedKey:]: this class is not key value coding-compliant for the key Adresse URL", which keeps being repeated!
What the hell it is? Hmmm… the last 2 words are in french! (adresse vs. address)
So I switched to the US version of GB3 and there... miracle no problem!!
So the localization of GB3 has created a bug, if it is true for the French version and it might also be true for other languages.
3. solving the bug: After browsing through GB3 contents, I have found the file: Localizable.strings . Right-click on GB3, then look for contents>resources>French.lproj>Localizable.strings. "Localizable" files contain translations of text string used in the application. Open the file with a Text Editor (such as Textwrangler), then go to line 134 and look for "URL"="Adresse URL". You then simply need to change it to "URL"="URL", save and the bug is fixed!

It was so far only rumors, it is now official. Disney has convinced Steve jobs to sell the Animation Studio Pixar to Mickey Mouse. (worth 7.4 billions US$ via a share exchange procedure).
But knowing Steve Jobs' skills for business, he has probably defined conditions, and we can now see the results:
- Steve Jobs is now the largest individual Disney shareholder (3.7 billions US$).
- Pixar team takes leadership positions: Ed Catmull ex-Pixar President becomes President of the new Pixar and Disney Animation Studio. Other ex-Pixar managers take control of the Creative Division of the new entity.
- All animation movies will be produced by the ex-Pixar team. So one can ask which company is really profiting the most of this merger...
Couple of hours later, many Disney video contents are available on the European iTMS...