Apple poaching Sony engineers to help build first Xtel laptops

Reports around the net that Apple has hired headhunters in Japan to try and recruit as many current Sony VAIO and ex-Sony VAIO engineers as they can.

Need knowledge and expertise at building light thin Intel based laptops

Apple will refund Canadian iPod Tax money

The Canadian Broadcast Company (CBC) is reporting that since the Canadian supreme court has let the lower court ruling on the iPod tax stand, Apple plans to refund money to any customers who paid the tax

Soon they will provide details on how to get a refund. Refunds will be $2 for non-removable memory capacity of up to one gigabyte, $15 for one to 10 GB, and $25 for more than 10 GB.

Speculation on 5th Gen iPod Specs

Will be replacing the Synaptics click wheel with an Apple designed and built one. Apple severed ties with Synaptics earlier in the year. They had been Apple's trackpad supplier

Part of a broader strategy to reduce outsourcing and maintain tighter control over intellectual property

Possibly have a customer replaceable battery in the $49-$69 range.

Apple fails to get iPod Software Patent

After nearly three years, Apple has reportedly failed to patent the software interface of the iPod.

Blocking Apple is a prior filing by inventor John Platt, who submitted a patent application for a similar software design in May of 2002, five months before Apple

Microsoft Messenger for Mac 5.0 launched

The 5.0 release includes a bunch of new features including...
New brushed steel skin (ok not a feature, but nice looking)
Secure messaging to Microsoft Live Communication Server
Communicates with AOL, Yahoo, and other IM users (really?)
Separate online presence status settings for personal and corporate IM networks
Global Address Look-up
Redesigned Preferences
Customizable Display Picture
Multiple File Transfer
Animated and Customized Emoticons

Microsoft targeting iPod for the Holidays

Helping electronics makers such as Philips, Samsung and Creative Technology design and test digital music players that will take direct aim at the iPod

Erik Huggers, the head of Microsoft’s Digital Media Division is saying they will have models out for the holidays that, "get close to competing with Apple’s iPod". And by the 2nd quarter of next year will "can compete with Apple in industrial design, usability, functionality and features."

Is he serious? Sombody in Microsofts PR department needs to talk to this guy.

Apple will have something amazing out for the holidays and will be leaps ahead by Q2 2006

Get subway maps for your iPod

Web site ipodsubwaymaps.com

www.ipodsubwaymaps.com

For iPod color and Photo, of course

Have New York, Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, San Francisco and Hong Kong

Japanese artist defies label to get on iTunes

Japanese rocker Motoharu Sano, who has a recording contract with Sony, has decided to make some of his tracks available on iTunes Japan.

Also, a major agency that manages Japanese musicians said it is interested in a possible deal with Apple, regardless of the recording companies’ positions.

New version of BBEdit released as Universal Binary

Version 8.2.3 of BBEdit ($199.00) from BareBones runs as a native Universal Binary on Apple's Apple Developer Transition Kit hardware.

www.barebones.com

BBEdit is a great award winning professional text editor. TextWrangler is a great free (lite) alternative.

Also check out SubEthaEdit ($35.00) from Coding Monkeys. Designed for collaboration.

www.codingmonkeys.de—subethaedit

Apple OS X for Intel, reported hacked to run on non-Apple hardware

Reports around the net including torrents of some video allegedly showing the OS booting on non-apple hardware

Dvorak sees a world with OS X on the average PC

Read the column at PC Magazine

Dvorak PC Mag

He has be expanding on this theory on TWiT and I kinda believe him.

More developer interest, much larger OS market share. Apple makes the best software out there. Best Video editing (Final Cut and iMovie), best photo management (iPhoto), best jukebox (iTunes), etc.

They would still sell hardware and I would venture to guess at the same or larger percentage (3-5%). Plus you may get an OS X halo effect.

Look at high end PCs, like Alienware and Falcon Northwest.

People are still willing to pay a premium for design

Attractive to OEMs like Dell who are sick of Microsoft restrictions and controls.

Apple releases PowerBook G4 Graphics update

The PowerBook G4 Graphics Update 1.0 released by Apple Computer today improves graphics stability for some 1.67-GHz PowerBook G4 computers.

Rumor that Apple has scraped new "switcher" ads. Updates "switcher" site

After 3 months of shooting, Apple has reportedly killed the new switch ads under production by Errol Morris, who did the original campaign.

Apparently it was a disaster. After searching for switchers brought over by the iPod "halo" effect. Looks like many selected just didn't perform well on camera.

It also seems, that although they were told to dress and bring items that exemplified their unique personality. Apple on set, picked out their clothes and look in an attempt to "apple-fy" them.

Apple recently updated the switcher site. Now focuses on tips for switching, selecting the right mac, moving data, etc.