Wednesday February 06, 2008

- Update of QuickTime 7.4.1 - MacEnsteph - 23:41:45

This time it is the turn of QuickTime to have a little revision. One should note that there are 3 versions available depending on the version of OSX installed (Panther, Tiger or Leopard)

QuickTime 7.4.1 addresses security issues and improves compatibility with third-party applications.
This release is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users.

For detailed information on the security content of this update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798.

[translation by crispin]

- Finally an ISO standard for optical disks - Lionel - 22:32:55

Source : CDR Info

The majority of us have been confronted someday or other with a CD or DVD backup that has become illegible over time. These media are fragile, sensitive to scratches, and also to light.
Thus certain manufacturers have proposed media that is more expensive and is supposed to have a long life; however there is no standard to support their statements. The ISO group has focused on this problem and should soon propose standards aimed at certifying the quality of the media.
Soon, according to the standard of the disks, one should know more about their quality and their reliability. This is a good thing in a world where our lives are becoming more virtual. If we do not find a way of reliable storages, our era risks one day in a the far future to be described as the second prehistoric.

[translation by crispin]

- Apple France Attacks an iPod Clone Distributor and Wins - Lionel - 21:30:43

Source : http://gazettedunet.com

Over the last few months, we have reported several cases of clones or counterfeited iPods being on sale in France but although in several countries in Europe too. We were rather surprised but the apparent inaction from Apple which was acting like the company did not care of such copies being sold to unfortunate consumers.
In fact, Apple France won its first legal action concerning an conflict from August 2007. The French Legal authorities in charge of such business-related lawsuit stated that the iPod nano Rev1 clones could be considered as counterfeited models due to their high level of similarities despite a much lower manufacturing quality. The sued company, Imptkno, was sentenced to pay 80 000 Euros to Apple France. Thanks to this first successful legal action, Apple France is probably going to hunt all distributors of such counterfeited or iPod clones.

[translation by Linathael]

- Apple at the French Entrepreneurs' Show - Lionel - 16:42:20

Today and tomorrow the largest exhibition center in Paris is hosting the French Entrepreneurs' Show. Apple is of course there and shares a large booth with some of its partners.





While we just went there at the opening, the Apple booth was already draining quite a large number of visitors, looking for the new hardware and software solutions offered by Apple.



Just behind apple's booth is the one dedicated to Orange, the largest ISP and mobile phone provider in France. If the iPhone is not on shelves, it is because it is carried by some "coaches", ready to explain you the functions of the mobile phone as well as the associated subscription plans. Today at 17h00, Apple will demo the MacBook Air as well as Time Capsule.


[translation by Linathael]

- The new Intel iTanium - Lionel - 12:31:23

Source : Présence PC

Intel manufactures processors for all uses. At the very top of their range, they offer Itanium, monsters of power.
This range will be renewed in mid 2008 with the arrival of Tukwila. Still manufactured at 65 nm, this non-standard processor will have 4 cores, and a total of 2 billion transistors. The bulk of that massive figure is occupied by the 30 MB cache, and by advanced error correction systems to avoid crashes of the machine, even with software that contains bugs.
This product has no place in the current Apple range, but, according to information we have obtained, Apple could use it to produce the super Xserve. These machines do not fit into the current range, but they may resurrect the market for processing farms abandoned with the Power PC.
To support this thesis, we remind you that the latest OS X Intel compilers are expected to compile code on these processors.

[translation by jeremy]

- 32GB iPod touch Available on European Apple Stores - Lionel - 11:59:21

The new high-end iPod Touch featuring 32 GB of NAND flash-based storage space is now available on the European apple Store for 469€. However, the new high-end iPhone is not available yet, even though we think that it should be available for the same price in the coming days from exclusive European Apple partners.

Quickest link to the iPod touch on the Apple Store


[translation by Linathael]

- 1.6TB SCSI SSD! - Lionel - 11:12:58

Source : Dailytech

BiTMICRO, a company not really known for its consumer electronic devices, decided to launch products based on SSD. For business and/or marketing reasons, they keep announced high capacity SSDs with their corresponding unrealistic prices (not model delivered yet).
After announcing a 1.6TB 3.5" SSD in SATA format, the company just announced the same model but in Ultra 320 SCSI format.
Both SSD would be using the most expensive SLC flash chips, offering transfer speed up to 230 MB/s.
Of course, such products are not targeting the consumer electronics market, but rather some niche markets for military or space applications.
However, with such enthusiasm around SSD, we might have such storage units in our computer in less than 10 years.


[translation by Linathael]