Friday November 16, 2007

- MacBook Pro Keyboard Issues - Lionel - 09:45:00

Apple has identified a bug registered as ID #5365684, and dealing with issues encountered by MacBook Pro owners: keyboard goes randomly in sleep mode, or the first pressed key is systematically ignored (not easy to write a text...). Cupertino is currently working on a fix.
Some readers have reported similar issues with other hardware models, such as MacBook or iMac Alu.

[translation by Linathael]

- Price cuts Boost PS3 Sales - Lionel - 09:43:01

As we reported it couple of weeks ago, SONY decided to cut prices for existing PS3 models, as well as introducing a new aggressively priced entry-level PS3. In USA, SONY announced to have shipped 100,000 units within the first week following the launch of this campaign. This is almost the same figures for sales recorded for the entire month of September.
With this strategy, SONY expects to both compete with Microsoft and Nintendo on the game station market, as well as with Toshiba for the blue laser-based HD video market.

[translation by Linathael]

- Orange Network Ready for the iPhone in France - Lionel - 09:41:59

Members from the Frenchiphone forum, already owning an Orange subscription plan as well as an SIM unlocked iPhone upgraded to firmware 1.1.2, have tested the availability of both Wi-Fi and EDGE network service to be deployed for the iPhone. Surprisingly, both seem to be ready, up and running!
Settings for EDGE network as well as Voice Mail are carried out automatically, and iPhone-dedicated services are already there.
Hereafter is the iPhone-specific homepage displayed when connected to the portal via Wi-Fi:




When connected via EDGE network, a completely different homepage is then available:



Orange seems to be ready for the iPhone, and users can expect to get immediate access to all iPhone-dedicated services right at launch time.
Let's hope that other main French carriers, Bouygues and SFR, will not experience the same crisis than Vodafone last week in UK: their hotline had to be shunt down due to the high number of consumers willing to stop their Vodafone subscription plans to move to O2 to get an iPhone and its associated services...

[translation by Linathael]

- Mac OS X 10.5.1 Available - Lionel - 09:40:05

Apple released Mac OS X 10.5.1:

The 10.5.1 Update is recommended for all users running Mac OS X Leopard and includes general operating system fixes that enhance the stability, compatibility and security of your Mac.

For detailed information on this update, please visit this website: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306907

For detailed information on security updates, please visit this website: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61798

Among the numerous bugs fixed by this update:
- AirPort
- Back to My Mac
- Disk utilities
- iCal
- Mail
- Networking
- Printing
- Security, Firewall
- System and Finder
- Time Machine

[translation by Linathael]

- Final Cut Express 4.0 - Lionel - 09:39:24

Source : Apple

Apple announced the availability of Final Cut Express 4. This new version features AVCHD support as well as iMovie ‘08 integration.

Pricing & Availability
Final Cut Express 4 is available immediately for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. Owners of previous versions of Final Cut Express can upgrade to Final Cut Express 4 for just $99 (US).

In Europe, Apple does not consider the exchange rate between US$ and €, and FCE 4.0 is priced 199€...

[translation by Linathael]

- ATI Released TV Wonder™ 650 Combo USB for Mac - Lionel - 09:38:30

Source : ATI

ATI announced a new external Digital TV Tuner for the Mac.



The ATI TV Wonder 650 Combo can be used with all US air broadcast TV format (720p and 1080i) as well as cable TV. However, it does not seem to be designed to work with European Digital TV format. Only Elgato offers such products for the European market.
If G4-based Mac units are supported, ATSC reception and recording will require Dual G5 or Intel CPU-based model; and for optimal rendering, OpenGL 2.0 or better graphics card will be necessary.

[translation by Linathael]

- EFI to Massively Enter PC Market with Montevina - Lionel - 09:37:52

Source : Digitimes

Insyde Software, a company developing BIOS for PC, expects EFI firmware to invade the PC market with the launch of Montevina. This new platform should be available by mid-2008, and by that time, Insyde Software expects 60% of PC will be based on EFI-firmware.
Apple shifted to EFI firmware when releasing the first Intel-based Mac models, as features of EFI are much more advanced and future-oriented than current PC BIOS (such as booting in Target mode, or simply pressing “alt’ key to choose booting partition.


[translation by Linathael]