Wednesday March 14, 2007

- Seagate: 2.5" HD 160GB 7200rpm - Lionel - 17:12:27

Source : Dailytech

Following the recent announcement by Fujitsu of a 2.5" HD spinning at 7200rpm with a large storage capacity, Seagate released its simlar product as a 2.5" HD, 7200rpm, 160GB unit, known as Momentus 7200.2. It uses perpendicular recording technology and features an optional free-fall sensor able to detect height variation of jsut 8 inches.

[translation by Linathael]

- MacOSX 10.4.9: Ejection Key [updated] - Lionel - 17:02:59

Apple modified the way the ejection key located on the keyboard works with MacOSX 10.4.9.
While previously pressing it would have initiated the ejection of the CD/DVD or opening the tray of the optical drive, now one needs to maintain the key down for at least half a second to get the operation started.
If this modified feature is not described in Apple TechNote, it is a good improvement as it will prevent most of the unexpected media ejection taking place by pressing the ejection key inappropriately.

[update]
As reported on our forum by dbcanada it also affects other key combinations:

Also affected is the Control-Eject keyboard shortcut that brings up the Restart/Sleep/Cancel/Shutdown menu. With OS X 10.4.9 you have to press the Eject key a little longer than you did previously.

[translation by Linathael]

- MacOSX 10.4.9: More Mobile Phones Supported - Yoc - 10:48:23

When digging into the list of the new mobile phones natively supported by iSync, we found a quite impressive list of new models::

Samsung-D900.phoneplugin
Samsung-D600.phoneplugin
Nokia-6103.phoneplugin
Nokia-N73.phoneplugin
Nokia-N72.phoneplugin
SonyEricsson-Z530.phoneplugin
Nokia-E61.phoneplugin
Motorola-K1.phoneplugin
Nokia-N93.phoneplugin
Nokia-N91.phoneplugin
Nokia-9300i.phoneplugin
Nokia-6131.phoneplugin
Nokia-7370.phoneplugin
SonyEricsson-K610.phoneplugin
Nokia-E62.phoneplugin
PhoneFamilySync.phoneplugin
Nokia-7380.phoneplugin
Nokia-6102.phoneplugin
Nokia-N71.phoneplugin
SonyEricsson-K800.phoneplugin
SonyEricsson-K790.phoneplugin
Nokia-N80.phoneplugin
SonyEricsson-Z525.phoneplugin
SonyEricsson-W810.phoneplugin (existait déjà)

So, this is a good news for the owners of Samsung D900, Nokia N80 or SE K800, while most of this mobile phone were already supported via third-party drivers.
For sure we might have missed some new supported models, but one should also point out that Apple did not modify iSync deeply enough to bring the support for the SE P990, SE M600i and the Nokia N800 and N95. So Apple did not modify iSync to make it compatible with Symbian IUQ3.0-based mobiles, and only IUQ1.0-based devices are natively managed.

Please, report the native support of your mobile into our forum in order to update this list.


[translation by Linathael]

- A New Flash Memory-Based HD from SanDisk [updated] - Lionel - 10:15:32

Source : http://www.sandisk.com

Sandisk announced its second generation of flash memory-based HDs.


This HD features 32GB storage capacity with a SATA interface.
Its MTBF is evaluated to 2 millions hours, and data transfer speed are 67MB/s in reading and 45MB/s in writing mode, with an access time of 0.11 ms in other words 100 times faster than a plate-based HD.
In addition, power consumption of this flash memory-based HD is 50% lower than a 2.5" HD during reading/writing session, as it does not require power when it is idle.

The last good news is its price, as it will be offer to OEM at US$350; so far there is no plan for a retailed version.

So the perfect storage unit for the rumored Apple subnotebook? if it is powered by MacOSX Leopard Mobile, it would give users around 27GB for storing data and applications

[update]
As noticed by Steven, SanDisk also makes a 1.8", 32GB flash memory-based model, which might be more suitable for a subnotebook: http://www.sandisk.com/Oem/Default.aspx?CatID=1478


[translation by Linathael]

- Intel and AMD: No Chance for a Cease-of-fire - Lionel - 10:12:05

As you know AMD gained market share in 2006 thanks to the success of its CPU offer while Intel was working on its transition between P4 architecture to Core architecture.
Intel could not let AMD invade its market, as illustrated with AMD powered Dell computer models.

- The first step was the introduction of Core CPU, pushing AMD to cut prices as the company had no CPU to directly compete with Core.
- AMD fired back by releasing the last evolution of its K8 platform as a Quad Core CPU, reported to be as powerful if not more as the Intel counterpart. As a consequence, we learned that Intel will dramatically cut the price of its Core 2 Duo CPUs within the coming months, up to 70% down.
- on the other side, AMD is suing Intel for its monopoly.
- last but not least, AMD after acquiring ATI is now a main player in the GPU market. Recently, Intel was presenting the GM 965, the successor of the current GMA950, and to demonstrate its performance the new integrated GPU was compared to an ATI X1600-powered hardware. Surprisingly, the GM 965 turned out to be faster in most tests than the mid-range Radeon X1600. Of course, AMD claims Intel did not run this comparison accurately and probably downgrade on purpose the capabilities of the Radeon X1600-based hardware.

So what will be the next subject of conflict to be added to this list?

[translation by Linathael]

- mini DV format Loosing Ground - Lionel - 10:08:23

When launching iMovie already 7 years ago, Apple created a small revolution by providing an easy to use video editing solution for consumers while the market for mini DV camcorder was then exploding. With the different version of iMovie, improvements were added, mostly for the user interface and rendering features. The most important evolution was brought with iLife 6 and its support for HD video.

And while we are waiting for the new iLife version, iMovie is currently only supporting the DV video format. The market for digital camcorder has evolved, and while DV remains present, many models are now based on MPEG2 format (directly stored on integrated HD or DVD), or even in H.264 video format for camcorder using flash memory cards.
Of course, one can transform a MPEG-2 or H.264 video into DV format with QuickTime, but such encoding takes time and at the end might not be the best way to preserve definition and rendering.

So, it is time for Cupertino to open iMovie to support additional video format, such as MPEG-2 and H.264, in order to preserve the leadership of iMovie as the reference for consumer-oriented video editing solution.

[translation by Linathael]

- iPod: What's Wrong with the Right Ear Bud? - Lionel - 10:07:06

Over the last few months, we received couple of reports from our readers concerning a problem with some iPods, but it remained a rare event. MacFixit published a news about it, proving that the problem while being real remains exceptional.
Some iPods (4G, Nano 1 and 2G, and Shuffle 1G) will suddenly start having problem affecting exclusively the right ear bud, independently of the earphone used (original one or from a third-party). It translate into distorted volume and sound, as well as intensity and rendering leading to the complete loss of sound .
It seems that the affected iPod will deliver a higher than expected voltage to right ear bud channel, leading to the destruction of the speaker itself.
If you have been facing this problem, please provide your report in our forum.


[translation by Linathael]

- Security Update 2007-003 for MacOSX.3.9 - MacEnsteph - 10:00:09

Panther users can now download the security update (both client and server versions are available):

About Security Update 2007-003 (10.3.9 Client)
Security Update 2007-003 is recommended for all users and improves the security of the following components:

ColorSync
CoreGraphics
Crash Reporter
cups
Directory Services
DiskImages Framework
Flash Player Plug-in
Foundation
gnutar
OpenSSH
Print Center
QuickDraw
sudo

For detailed information on Security Updates, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798.

Additionally, Security Update 2006-007 has been incorporated into this security update.

[translation by Linathael]

- MacOSX 10.4.9 Available - Lionel - 09:57:00

Not much to say, Apple said it all:

What’s New in this Version
The 10.4.9 Server Update is recommended for all servers and includes fixes for the operating system and various applications, services and technologies. It includes fixes for:

- avoiding AFP connection errors when authenticating Active Directory users who are members of lots of groups
- preventing SMB/CIFS server deadlocks and service interruptions
- authenticating Windows clients when bound to Active Directory
- copying read-only files to AFP shares on Xsan and UFS volumes
- copying files with extended attributes from an AFP share of an Xsan volume
- preventing NFS server hangs at shutdown
- printing too many copies of a document when using the print server
- using Open Directory authentication when using Ethernet Link Aggregation
- better TCP performance with Windows clients and servers
- using rsync to copy files with extended attributes
- creating and managing VLANs from the command-line
- time zone and daylight saving time changes for 2007
- compatibility with third party applications and devices
- previous standalone security updates

iPhoto is also updated to version 6.0.6.

What’s New in this Version
- This update to iPhoto addresses issues associated with EXIF data compatibility and Photocasting.

PS: thanks Benjamin

[translation by Linathael]