Friday April 27, 2007

- Intel to Sell Mac Pro Motherboard? - Lionel - 13:48:16

Both The Inquirer and HotHardware published a short test of Intel V8, the prototype of a new motherboard. When looking at the specification, the dual socket supports Quad Core Xeon 5365 (Clovertown), the 1333MHz Greencreek FSB chipset and 8 FB-DIMM memory slots.



In other words, this motherboard looks almost like the one found in current Mac Pro models. We will list below the small modifications brought by Apple:
- For improving cooling, Apple installed FB-DIMM modules on daughter cards
- Among 6 SATA ports, 4 are being used for the specific HD enclosure via a proprietary connector
- Apple did not keep the 2 PCI-X slots found on the V8 kit
- location of the Airport and BT modules

But overall the V8 motherboard is the sister of the one found in our Mac Pro. Of course it lacks the EEPROM making the one in the Mac Pro able to run OS X; and without it, running OSX on the V8 might not be so easy.

While some analysts consider this V8 kit as the first answer from Intel to AMD Barcelona; it could also be introduced because a special agreement for one-year exclusive rights between Apple and Intel will be ending soon in June. Of course, the V8 kit was identified by The inquirer as a very hot piece of hardware requiring a lot of work for cooling it down. This is exactly what Apple did more than a year ago...


[translation by Linathael]

- Adobe to Open Source Flex Technology - Lionel - 13:27:25

Source : Adobe

In a press release, Adobe announced its wish to release source code for Adobe Flex Technology as open source according to the Mozilla Public Licensing system.
Flex is a framework developed by Adobe to help developers to build dynamic, interactive rich Internet applications. Flex applications are delivered on the web via the Flash Player or to the desktop via Adobe Apollo.
Such a move from Adobe could have a dual effect: demonstrate that Adobe is not so protective with its technology (PDF issue with Microsoft), and deliver to the open source community a format which could become a future standard for internet application.

For additional information:
http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Flex:Open_Source
http://www.flex.org/

[translation by Linathael]

- Acer Calls 27,000 Batteries Back - Lionel - 10:01:16

Source : Digitimes

While most computer companies had already launched the battery recall programs last year, Acer announced that 27,000 units manufactured by Sony in 2004 and 2005 need to be exchanged for security reasons.
But Sony is not the only company affected, as Apple had to recall Lithium-Polymers-based batteries found in MacBook Pro. And if the extended exchange program is specific for the 15" model, we keep receiving reports from users with defective batteries not being part of the recalled serial numbers. In addition, we have collected numerous cases of swelling batteries for Core Duo and Core 2 Duo-based MacBook Pro 17". It is maybe time for Apple to extend the range of the battery serial numbers eligible for the exchange program...

[translation by Linathael]

- VirtualBox in Beta version - Lionel - 09:59:57

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

The German company Innotek has released a public beta of VirtualBox for OS X. VitualBox is a family of x86 virtualization products and the only solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL). It supports a large number of guest operating systems among them Windows (Windows NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), and OpenBSD.

This is an additional proof that Windows virtualization solution on OS X is a big market, quickly growing, and proving that many PC users were stacked to their Beige boxes due to one or a set of Windows-only applications. If BootCamp allows you to get access to windows 3D supports, virtualization has many other advantages (not necessary to reboot, Windows in windows, simplicity, etc.). If Apple reported an impressive increased of Mac unit sales, despite the success of notebooks and iMac, it could also be driven by the availability of reliable and competitive Windows virtualization solution.

[translation by Linathael]

- Microsoft Keeps Supporting the Zune - Lionel - 09:59:10

Source : Windowsitpro.com

While Apple unveiled to have sold 10.5 million units of its iPod digital media player models, Microsoft unveiled data claiming that in March, the Zune controlled 9.1% of the HD-based portable media player market. The iPod video's share is probably close to 90% for this segment, whereas for NAND-based digital media player, iPod nano and Shuffle are facing a more aggressive competition. To increase Zune's share, Microsoft will launch a pink-colored model of its Zune in addition to the current black, white, and brown versions. Redmond's giant will also start advertise on the exclusive feature of the Zune when compared to the iPod 5.5G (FM tuner, large screen, and wireless networking).
Apple might take advantage of this to unveil a new and true iPod video, as the current iPod 5.5G is seriously aging.

[translation by Linathael]

- A Widget for Real-Time Auto Traffic Information [updated] - Lionel - 09:58:32

The Apple Technology Laboratory (Laboratoire SUPINFO des technologies Apple) offers a new version of the Widget entitled "France traffic". Of course it only covers France, and is for the time being only localized in French, however, we would like to know if similar useful widgets are available for other countries. "France traffic" provides information about traffic jams, problems on the highway, etc in a real time manner, and one can even have detailed information for 12 large cities.



Once implemented in an iPhone, this widget will simply become a "must have", and might be the type of applications that consumers needs to be available or developed for purchasing an iPhone.

[update]
A reader from Germany sent us a link to a traffic jam forecast application:
http://www.autobahn.nrw.de/olsim3_1/nrw.html

Niels sent us the link to the widget dedicated to ANWB traffic in Holland:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/transportation/anwbtraffic.html


[translation by Linathael]