iPhone 2.0 analysis triggers speculation

An electronista report cites a Greek iPhone site that analyzed text strings in the latest iPhone 2.0 firmware update.

References to 3G chipsets

A2DP and "HeadphoneBT" entries that suggest support for stereo Bluetooth audio.

References include an allusion to "RoleGps," implying GPS navigation

"Google411," associated with Google Maps for text or voice directory lookup.

A new, clearly identifiable "BRICKED_AND_SIM_LOCKED_STRING", suggests Apple may also be taking its first steps to actively counter unlocking attempts.

References to Nike+ equipment have been dropped, strange as Stuff.tv's Mark Wilson claimed later that Nike told him they were working to bring the tech to the iPhone and iPod Touch.

All but confirmed that the Nike+ will be coming to iPhone and iPod Touch

Will be able to use wi-fi to send stats directly to Nike web site

iPhone 3G Chipset revealed?

An Electronista reports sites a Taiwan "Economic Daily News" daily piece that reports to have details on the new chipset for the 3G iPhone

The claim is that United Microelectronics Corporation has been contracted to manufacture the PMB8878 Infineon chipset for the next gen iPhone. Current gen uses an Infineon chip produced by TaiwanSemiconductor

This supports data from the latest iPhone beta firmware that suggests the baseband chip in the new iPhone will be the PMB8878, known by the Apple codename SGOLD3.

Chip features include:

3G Internet access over HSDPA

support double-speed 7.2Mbps downloads (not currently available on AT&T in US)

supports WCDMA for areas like Korea and Japan that don't have HSDPA.

Does NOT include the HSPA spec for 3G which allows for faster uploads.

Supports 5MP cameras, 2 way video calling, and general media decoding.

No dates for production were given

Rumors are also rumbling of Macbook and Macbook Pro updates soon

AL Macbooks and new black and aluminum look for Pro models

Images surfaced, but general consensus is they are faked.

Better environmentally.

Apple Releases Pro Applications Update

For Final Cut Studio, the newly released Final Cut Server, Logic Studio, and Shake.

FinalCut Pro now supports the Sony XDCAM HD422 video format, along with bug fixes and updates.

Compressor 3.03 adds features to support Apple TV export including support for Dolby Digital Professional (AC-3) tracks (with 5.1-channel surround sound).

Apple beefs up new legal team

According to Apple Insider Apple has added former HP Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Charles Charnas to it's legal team

Has filled a seat left vacant in 2000 by Michael Wyatt

Charnas' will focus on intellectual property and strategic acquisitions

Company offers OS X compatible clones

But for how long? Charles may have something to say about this.

Florida based company Pystar is selling the OpenMac OpenComputer

A $550 2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo PC with 250 GB hard drive, 2 GB DDR2 RAM, Intel GMA 950 integrated graphics, DVD+/-R drive and 4 USB ports

NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT and Firewire available as upgrades

Using EFI emulation the company claims it is "PC hardware capable of running unmodified OS X Leopard kernels"

using the EFI v8 emulator from author Netkas without permission and in direct violation of his license.

Lots of investigation going on but many things are fishy

Gizmodo, Tom's Hardware and others investigate

Site down, credit card processing down

Changing physical address 3 times

Owners Rodolfo and Roberto Pedraza claim to be legit.

Using technology from the OSX86 project without permission

Forget about upgrading they claim some updates are safe and others not and recommend, "when in doubt don't update it"

Direct violation of the OS X EULA.

Apple confirms graphics glitches in notebooks

According to Apple Insider Apple has admitted to troubles with graphics corruption on the latest Penryn Macbooks and 15" Macbook Pros.

Flickering during Quicktime playback

"Washed out" graphics

Graphics corruption when scrolling in Safari, Mail and other apps that use WebKit.

Some reports that the upcoming 10.5.3 update fixes some issues, but not all yet.

US Apple shipment rise, while PCs fall

According to recent numbers from Gartner

Apple shipped 1 million systems in the 1st quarter of 08, a 32.5% increase over the same quarter last year.

By contrast total PC shipments only saw a 3% increase, in fact some manufactureres like Acer saw am 18% drop.

Apple's growth was enough to garner it a 6.6% share of the overall PC market, up from 5.2% last year.

Safari PWNage Patched

Apple released Safari 3.1.1 for Mac and Windows

"This update is recommended for all Safari users and includes improvements to stability, compatibility and security"

Removing Files from Old TimeMachine Backups

Daniel points out that to reclaim space from old TimeMachine backups you can remove specific files and folders from prior backups.

Useful in freeing up space after archiving a project, or adding a new exclusion.

Activate TimeMachine

Select the file or folder you want to delete from the backups.

Click the "Action" icon in the toolbar (cog). Choose "Delete all backups of [filename]".

There is also a "Delete Backup", this will remove that entire back for that hour, day, whatever.

Review: Audioengine W1

Premium wireless audio Adapter

audioengineusa.com

2 wi-fi adapters, 1 send, 1 receive.

Connect via 1/8" mini jack or 1/8" to RCA adapter

No batteries, power from USB, included adapter, or your supplied adapter (iPod).

100 ft. range, no delay.

Works with any device that can send audio via line out. Receive on powered speakers or receiver.

Great for hooking up rear surrounds.

Mac sees it as an USB audio output in the Sound Preferences

Power could be an issue. Great if you use Audioengine A5 speakers with on board power.

A bit pricey at $149.95

Some other ways to use Windows browsers on a Mac

Matt suggests using CrossOver Mac (USD$59.95), run Windows apps without Windows. Check compatibility list on their site.

www.codeweavers.com

Sandro knows some realtors in his area use a USD$100/yr service from True North Technology called Northstar. Software as a Service. Uses X11.

northstaraccess.net

Use your Mac as a WiFi hotspot

Listener Malcom reminded me of this trick

Instructions for Leopard, works in Tiger also, but steps may be different.

Mac sure you Mac is wired (Ethernet) and has an internet connection

Go to System Preferences-->Sharing and select Internet Sharing

Choose Share your connection from Built-in Ethernet and To computers using Airport

Under AirPort Options... you can select the network name (SSID), wi-fi channel, and enable WEP encryption.

Can also do a wi-fi to Ethernet share, acting as a wi-fi bridge.

Create an ad-hoc computer-to-computer network to share files.

Click the wi-fi icon in the menubar and choose the "Create Network..." option.

Too many Airports

With the latest Airport Utility update Harold noticed that depending on what Airport utilities he was looking at he would see different MAC addresses for Airport

Under Airport Utility it would show one IP address, MAC address, and version number

Under System Preferences-->Network it would display something different

One is the base station and one is the internal airport card.

My thoughts on FileVault

Joey would like to know what i think of FileVault.

In Security System Preferences in Leopard. Only one click under the "FileVault" tab, "Turn on FileVault"...

Encrypts the entire home folder using AES encryption.

Create an encrypted sparse image using Disk Utility and selectively save data on that

Open Disk Utility (Applications-->Utilities-->Disk Utility)

Choose File-->New-->Blank Disk Image... or Click the "New Image..." icon in the toolbar

Set volume name, volume size, volume format (Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)). Set encryption (128 or 256 AES), partition settings (Apple Partition Map or GUID), set format to sparse disk image (sparse image bundle is TimeMachine thing).

Mount the image and copy the data you want to secure to it and then unmount (eject). Mount to access files or add more to it.

Lots of other options in the 'General' tab of Security in Leopard

Require password to wake from screen saver and sleep

Disable automatic login

Log out after inactivity

Disable Apple Remote IR port, since it can be used to change boot process. Pair and unpair remote too.

Enable menu bar item to screenlock your Mac

1) Launch the Keychain Access Utility (Applications-->Utilities-->Keychain Access)

2) Under the Keychain Access menu choose "Preferences"

3) In the "General" tab, check the "Show Status in Menu Bar" option. You should now see a small padlock icon in the menubar on the top right of your screen.

4) Quit Keychain Access

You can now click on the padlock icon in the menu bar and choose "Lock Screen" and safely walk away from your Mac.

You can also enable the system to auto-lock the screen by changing the settings in the "Security" System preferences.

How can I use Apple TV with Standard def TV?

Michael was wondering how I do it and if he could.

There are some caveats and restrictions

Apple TV will support a 480i resolution

Need to have component inputs

If you TV doesn't offer a way to "squish" the image to a 16:9 aspect ratio the images will be stretched.

Text is also small and hard to read on some areas.

Could also have an EDTV (480p).