Thursday June 12, 2008

- A random problem with the Quicktime 7.5 update - Lionel - 22:39:54

Even though a number of us have had no problem installing the QuickTime 7.5 update, some (see here and here) are confronted with serious problems.
Either their machine starts again in an endless loop, or it starts up, but refuses to launch Finder however all the other software functions correctly.
It is still too early to know the common link between those who have this problem.

[translation by crispin]

- The new DVD engravers from Pioneer - Lionel - 21:56:48

Source : CDR Info

Pioneer has announced its sixteenth generation of DVD engravers.
The DVR-116D (PATA) and DVR-216D (SATA) are able to engrave DVD +-R at 20x, the double-layer at 12x and the DVD-RAM at 5x.
We were, for a long time, unconditional fans Pioneer engravers, however we have since become disenchanted. The last models which we have tested, had a quoted speed of 18x, however they were slower than other products announced to engrave at 16x.
Let us hope that the company has since made an effort.

[translation by crispin]

- Western Digital Learns Art - Cheerful - 21:26:49

Then, it was only green. Today, Western Digital (WD) decided that they require black and blue as well. Black denotes maximum performance and blue appears to be typical ones ...

Blue
Desktop - Performance and reliability for everyday computing.
Mobile - Big capacity for portable computing.

Desktop Drives now come in the 3 different flavors (i.e. black, blue and green); Mobile Drives have 2 to choose from, black and blue.
These colors will likely give WD an edge over their competitors as consumers can easily relate to their products more easily.

p.s. Technically, black isn't a color ... oh well.

- EFI-X: future Eldorado for Hackintosh? - Lionel - 14:05:50

For some unknown reason, Apple did not react following the initiative of Psystar to sell PC hardware with Mac OS X pre-installed. So other companies have decided to follow, and it might lead to a "wave" similar to the "Mac clones" one as we experienced it more than a decade ago.

A new offer released by http://www.efi-x.com/ will be based on an USB key which will include all software required to install Mac OS X from an original DVD on any PC without requiring any special tricks. If this is not really stated, the system will probably not be free, and should be available on June 23rd.

Apple might have to react quickly before losing seeing the park of Hackintosh users growing exponentially.

[translation by Linathael]

- Apple will make its own chips for the iPhone and iPod - Lionel - 13:36:35

Source : Apple Insider

So some wondered what use the repurchase of PA Semi was to Apple, Steve Jobs has given the answer in an interview.
Apple will use its knowledge to develop its own SoC (System One Chip) where the maximum of functions for a given device is integrated onto a single chip, and then use them in its iPhone and iPod.
If the idea appears absurd at first glance, it is not really:
- Semi Pa has deep knowledge of this field recognized primarily by the army.
- While developing its own chips, Apple will be able to set up new functions that will be difficult to copy by competition.
- It will be easier to them to set up high level protections.
- They will have a more advanced control over their devices in the future from conception onwards according to their design needs and software functions.
- Finally, the volume of sale of the Apple products is largely enough today to offset without great difficulties the costs of research and development of chips.

They will certainly need a few years to set up everything.

[translation by crispin]

- Disney will be unfaithful to its ITunes Store partner - Lionel - 12:36:12

Source : ARS

Up to now, Disney has concentrated on iTunes Store to offer its products online. This has gone relatively well; they succeeded in selling 4 million films in two years.
The group, however, prepares to have a little action on the side by proposing the direct online release of certain cartoons, for free, or rather in exchange of some advertising at the beginning of film.
Of course, nothing is simple with Disney. During summer they will propose each week one their full-length feature films on television; it will be possible to watch it online during the week which follows but only during this period.
It should not be forgotten that the speciality of Disney is to try to resell its films the maximum of number of time. Blu-ray is yet another excuse for them to turn out another of their remastered versions.

[translation by crispin]

- Orange iPhone 3G: 99 € or 199 € - Yoc - 11:53:55

If you go and visit the online Orange store, you will see that Orange seems to have already updated the prices and, included the worldwide cut announced by Apple. You then should have the choice between an 8 GB iPhone 3G for 99 € or 199 € for the high-end model featuring 16 GB of storage space.





If those prices are confirmed in the coming days, then it will not be cheaper to get a US model anymore, killing the market of unlocking definitely. One will have to wait for the subscription tariff offers to draw final conclusion.
for information, the iPhone 3G without any carrier's subvention is rather expensive according to the website of Vodafone Italy, 499 and 599 € respectively for the 8 GB and 16 GB models...

[translation by Linathael]

- Vinyl Records Are B(l)ack!? - Lionel - 10:52:07

If music majors are having troubles in making their business plans evolve from CD media to online store, TGDaily reports that vinyl records are making a comeback. Following a mistake from one of its employee, Fred Meyer chain noticed that vinyl records were selling well, and now it is testing out vinyl sales in 60 stores in the northwest and Alaska and will be adding records to all of its stores in July.
According to the RIAA, vinyl record sales jumped 36% from 2006 to 2007, even though it might look impressive, one should look behind the percentage, and total sale volumes indicate that 1.3 million records were sold in 2007 while 511 million CDs during the same period.

[translation by Linathael]

- US iPhone 3G Only Designed for AT&T? - Lionel - 10:51:26

Let's first read a report from Aksam

Let's have a look at a details not mentioned yet. When looking at the specification for the US iPhone 3G (here), on can read "UMTS/HSDPA (850, 1900, 2100 MHz)".
If one look further at the specification of the 3G network in USA, one will immediately notice that only AT&T 3G network will be compatible with the iPhone 3G. According to technical specification of the US competitors, their 3G network will simply not work, making any unlocking of an AT&T iPhone 3G for being used with another carrier almost useless.

Indeed T-Mobile is the second largest US carrier with its own 3G network but based on a different bandwidth (1700/2100Mhz) instead of AT&T (850/1900Mhz), as indicated in T-Mobile wiki (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-Mobile_USA). So indirectly Apple might have found a way to maintain AT&T exclusivity in USA, in Europe the 3G network is the 2100 MHz bandwidth.

The specification of the iPhone 3G has been designed to fit with the largest number of carriers worldwide, and especially for countries were such networks are massively developed.

[translation by Linathael]

- Issue between Real Player 11 and Airport - Lionel - 09:58:05

MacFixit reports that under some still non-identified conditions, installing Real Player might interfere with Airport.
If everything is normal for the receiving signal, the data transfer speed is affected to a point where the wireless network becomes useless. Uninstalling Real Player will fix the problem.

[translation by Linathael]

- AirPort Utility 5.3.2 Available - Matrix - 09:57:32

Apple just released a new version of AirPort Utility 5.3.2, for managing Airport Express, Airport Extreme and Time Capsule.
Apple released a new update for Tiger, Leopard and Windows.


[translation by Linathael]

- 1,8'' 160 GB disk at 5400 rpm from Toshiba - Lionel - 07:50:45

Source : Toshiba

Toshiba has just announced its new generation of 1,8" disks spinning at 5400 rpm. These products equipped with 8 MB of cache will be offered at the sizes of 80 and 160 GB. The 80 GB model will have only one platter and a thickness of 5 mm while the 160 GB is equipped with two platters and thus will be 8 mm, too thick for MacBook Air.
It should be noted that these disks have a SATA interface, which does not help with the evolution of the Apple ultra portable.

[translation by crispin]

- Intel starts an 'Open Patent Alliance' to promote the WiMAX - Lionel - 07:42:43

Source : CDR Info

In order to push ahead WiMAX which holds so much promise, Intel has associated with Alcatel Lucent, Clearwire Sprint and Samsung around the "Open Patent Alliance".
Within this OPA, they will put into a common pot, technologies and patents so as to offer accessible WiMAX solutions to the greatest number as soon as possible.
While waiting, a problem will arise in France. The American parties seem to be fixed on the band of frequencies around the 2,5 GHz whereas Free has equipment only compatible with the 3,5 GHz.
Given the cost of deployment of WiMAX, it will be necessary to await products compatible with the 3,5 GHz to be able to use it in France.

[translation by crispin]