Wednesday June 04, 2008
- Real-time NASDAQ quotes at Google - Matrix - 22:47:43
Google has updated it's Google Finance portal a couple of days ago, now offering free real-time quotes for many NASDAQ-listed companies.
In the past, free stocksources had at least a 15 min. delay - only subscription-based services offered real-time quotes.
So, from now on, anyone can see the live impact from Steve Jobs' announcements at Macworld, or WWDC at Google Finance for Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL).
Remember, WWDC 2008 will be kicking off next Monday, June 9th, at 10 A.M. (Pacific time), and HardMac will provide you with live coverage!
[translation by xavier]
- Difficult to change settings of Airport base stations - Matrix - 22:34:58
Wired has put online a comparison of 5 802.11n wifi routers; the Apple Airport Extreme faces off against its competitors from the famous brands (Linksys, D-Link, NetGear and Belkin).
One finds a confirmation of an often evoked criticism: the least modification of its parameters, even the most minor, unfortunately forces a complete restart.
The configuration tool is recognised for its simplicity, and the design of the Apple router makes it the only one likely to appear in a living room.
The possibility to connect a printer and hard drives is also one of its assets.
[translation by crispin]
- VLC ported to the iPhone - Lionel - 22:19:04
zodttd.com site announces the port of the inescapable VLC onto an iPhone.
vlc4iPhone is available in beta 0.5, but it is necessary to make a gift to take part in the tests of this product…
[translation by crispin]
- Asus will release the EEE monitor - Lionel - 21:59:00
Source : http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk
Surfing on the wave of the success of its EEE PC, Asus prepares to launch of it an office model, however no larger than an Apple TV.But already the manufacturer goes further goes and plans to launch the EEE Monitor, where the cpu will be integrated directly into the back a monitor just like the iMac that is such a nice success at Apple.
Of course, EEE Monitor will be far from the performance of the Apple machines, but it will be certainly much less expensive.
[translation by crispin]
- Steve Jobs is the inventor of the iPhone - offical. - Lionel - 21:52:03
The US Patent & Trademark Office put on-line the patents relating to the iPhone
The list of the inventors of the device is very long, but Steve Jobs is at the top of it, which confirms his omnipresence on this project. Note that he also holds other patents like that of lthe staircase made out of glass used at the Apple Stores.
This document contains less than 45 points that define the essential characteristics of the device.
It is a certain bet that this document will become a bible that all originators of competing devices will have to plunge into. They will have to find a means of distinguishing inevitable similar designs of a device with essentially the same functions.
[translation by crispin]
- New online service from Adobe - Matrix - 21:42:08
Adobe has released a beta version of an online group working enviroment.
The platform has 5 tools:
- a word processing: Buzzword
- a Web conference tool (screen sharing, chat, notes, audio, and video): ConnectNow
- a converter of files to format pdf: CreatePDF
- a place to share documents: Share
- and finally an online storage: My Files
These various tools open communication between the Mac (under Tiger or Leopard) and a PC (running XP or Vista). Safari is not forgotten on our platform since it - as well as FireFox -is compatible.
[translation by crispin]
- Save the World, Save the Time Machine - Eric - 21:31:29
Our longtime team member Moose has compiled his experience with Time Machine and how he managed to rescue his corrupted Time Machine sparsebundle image. I think such information is a "must read" as many users have adopted Time Machine as their preferred automatic backup system.
So, do not wait any longer, and read this new hardmac article: Save the World, Save Time Machine
- Mac OS X 10.6: Only for Intel Inside Hardware? - Lionel - 15:43:27
According to Tuaw, Mac OS X 10.6 could be released in January 2009 during the Macworld Expo of San Francisco. The reason we are discussing about such rumor is the additional points reported by Tuaw:
- Mac OS X 10.6 would not support PPC-based machine anymore.Of course if such information are confirmed and turn true, then for sure many PPC-based users as well as early adopters of Intel CPU-based Macs will be complaining and for sure quite upset. But it seems that Apple wants to completely turn the page of the PPC era, as well as move forward to full 64-bit OS.
- Mac OS X 10.6 would be fully 64-bit coded, so it would also exclude all Intel Core Duo-based Macs, in other words the first generation of MacBook and iMac.
[translation by Linathael]
- Softbank Gets the iPhone in Japan - Eric - 15:13:18
As our Japanese source was letting us know couple of weeks ago, Softbank, the third Japanese carrier, will be the exclusive carrier to distribute the iPhone 3G in Japan.
Having the iPhone announced in Japan definitely confirm, if it was still necessary, that the new iPhone will indeed support 3G, and even probably at least 3G+, as a non 3G mobile phone will simply not be sold in Japan.
Based on the features of most popular mobile phone in Japan, we could expect the iPhone 3G to also sport an embedded GPS (as we reported it earlier) as well as bar code based payment.
- SanDisk Launched SSD Dedicated to Ultramobile Device - Lionel - 12:20:58
Surfing on the current success of ultra-mobile devices and/or ultra-low cost computer, SanDisk announced a new series of SSD specifically designed for this market.
To reduce manufacturing cost as well as the size, the SSD is more or less a printed circuit on which sit flash memory chips and a controller. Data transfer speed are not as high as standard SSD, but reaches 39 MB/s in reading and 17 MB/s in writing modes. Three models should be available based on their storage capacity: 4, 8 and 16 GB.
Such reduced SSD will be using a PATA interface, very similar to the Zif PATA found in the Mac Book Air. So one could use them if SanDisk decide to increase the storage space further of such reduced SSD in the future.
[translation by Linathael]
- Seagate Released New 2.5'' HDs for Servers - Lionel - 08:52:59
Source : Seagate
If 3.5" HDs are still mainly used in servers, manufacturers are getting interested in 2.5" HDs as they release less heat while consuming less power. It also saves space and one can install more 2.5 HD units then 3.5" HDs in a defined space. Seagate is almost alone on the market and offers already 2.5" HD spinning at 15000 rpm; however their storage capacity currently tops at 73 GB.To further strengthen its offer, Seagate announced a new series, named Savvio 10K.3, they spin only at 10000 rpm but their storage capacity will explode to 300 GB while offering a MTBF of 1.6 million of hours.
Do not dream of installing such HDs in a MacBook, beside the noise and the power consumption, its SAS interface is incompatible for the notebook platform.
[translation by Linathael]
- Western Digital Releases a 320 GB 2.5" HD - Lionel - 08:52:24
Source : Western Digital
Western Digital just updated its current notebook-dedicated SATA II format HD offer. The new Scorpio spins at 7200 rpm, and features 16 MB of cache and 320 GB of storage space.
Its price should be 249 USD and it should be available in shops in a near future
[translation by Linathael]
- NVidia Launches GeForce 9M for Notebook - Lionel - 08:51:59
Source : Nvidia
While we are still waiting for the new generation of desktop-dedicated GPU from NVidia, the company announced yesterday its new notebook GPU the GeForce 9M. Available only this summer, the GeForce 9M should provide a performance gain of 40% when compared to the current GF 8M. It will feature 32 core unit clocked at 650 MHz.Beside the raw crunching power, this new notebook GPU will be the first one to integrate the Hybrid SLI technology allowing two NVidia GPUs, one low-power and one high-performance, to work cooperatively in the same PC to deliver GeForce Boost and HybridPower. These features deliver more performance from both GPUs for 3D or highly demanding graphic rendering is needed, or save power by switching to the low-power GPU when not.
However, such technology is only working when associated with a NVidia chipset, and Apple using Intel chipsets we will not have such features in our MacBook before the Californian founder releases a similar technology. In addition the GF 9M will bring hardware-based decoding of Blu-ray, HGMI and even Displayport.
[translation by Linathael]
- 7 hours on a single battery charge for a portable based on the ATOM - Lionel - 07:44:50
Source : PC Inpact
On Monday, Asus will reveal its new EEEPC, the 901. Equipped with a 9" screen and running an ATOM processor at 1,33 GHz, it will not be a bolt of lightning. On the other hand, the maximum consumption of the whole machine should not exceed 12W, which should allow it to run for 7 hours on a single battery charge. Marketed with a price around 400 euros and supplied with Linux, it should find appeal among those on the move.Note that Sony will also launch out into this very promising market segment with an entry level ultra portable.
As more advertisements fire off in all directions, it becomes less probable that Apple will take the risk with such a market since it could adversely affect its preferred market, Education in the United States.
However, they could well offer a product similar to the announced Gigabyte.
It follows other ultra portables where the screen swivels and then covers the keyboard, being transformed then into tactile tablet PC. Adding a bit of Apple sauce, it would be certainly a product that would bring quasi unanimity.
[translation by crispin]
