iTunes Music Store Europe: "Next Year"

In a recent Reuters article detailing Apple Expo Paris, jobs was questioned with regards to the schedule for the iTunes Music Store's roll-out in Europe and replied "We're clearly working on it (but) I think we'll do it nex

PowerBook G4 15-inch Key Features

* New aluminum design -- At just 1.1-inches thin and 5.6 pounds, the new
15-inch PowerBook has a new design that's easy for you to carry everywhere.
* Faster processors, system memory, and system bus -- Higher performance with
up to 1.25GHz PowerPC G4 processors, 333MHz DDR SDRAM, and a system bus
running at 167MHz to allow you to get more work done, faster.
* FireWire 800 -- High-performance connection to peripherals at up to
800Mbps. This FireWire port is in addition to a FireWire 400 port, allowing
you to use the latest peripherals as well as providing two FireWire
connections.
* AirPort Extreme -- Support for AirPort Extreme 802.11g networking for a
faster wireless experience.
* Integrated Bluetooth -- Provides a wireless connection to Bluetooth-enabled
peripherals such as PDAs and phones for easy, secure data transfer.
* Illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensor -- automatic lighting of the
keyboard in low light situations for clear key visibility.
* ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 with 64MB DDR memory -- The latest in mobile
graphics for fast, crisp graphics.
* Up to 2GB RAM capacity -- Higher performance for large multimedia projects
which can now be stored and retrieved more quickly in local memory than
from the hard drive, saving time.
* USB 2.0 -- Fastest USB connection possible at 480Mbps, opening more USB
peripherals to you.

MacWarehouse sold to CDW then file for Bankruptcy

"CUSTOMER BEWARE" One less supplier of MacIntosh. So if anyone has a
new order for equipment and has paid any money one might want to demand
a refund hopefully a purchase through a credit card transaction.


As reported by Other World Computing:

MacWarehouse was just sold to CDW on Monday followed by MicroWarehouse
(parent of MacWarehouse) then filing bankruptcy. Suppliers have taken a hit off this one as while CDW paid 22 Million to attain all the 'good assets' of MacWarehouse leaving their debts behind.

Apple Expo: PowerBooks updated, wireless keyboard and mouse

As expected, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced a revamped, faster PowerBook G4 line-up at Apple Expo Paris this morning, bringing the company's 15-inch product in line with the other models in the group.

All three models – the 17-, 15-, and 12-inch PowerBooks – now feature Apple's revolutionary backlit keyboard and a full tranche of connectivity options, including: AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth (built-in across the range), FireWire 400, FireWire 800, USB 2.0 and Gigabit Ethernet (in the 15-inch and 17-inch models).

Apple sets the trend

"Apple continues to lead the industry's move to portable computing by delivering the world's most innovative notebooks," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

"The new 15-inch PowerBook G4 succeeds the legendary Titanium PowerBook G4, the industry's first widescreen notebook introduced in January 2001. With its speed, widescreen display, connectivity and ultra-light aluminum enclosure, the new 15-inch PowerBook G4 sets the bar for professional notebooks even higher," he said.

17-inch price cut, up to 1.33GHz

The company has maintained price points across the range, though the 17-inch model sees £200 lopped off, it now costs £2,399, from £2,599 for the previous model.

The new 17-inch PowerBook carries a 1.33GHz G4 processor and offers a 512K L2 cache. It weighs 6.9 pounds and uses an ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 with 64MB DDR memory for graphics. It hosts an 80GB hard drive and can carry up to 2GB DDR RAM and offers a SuperDrive. It is equipped with DVI and S-Video out and has AirPort Extreme built-in. FireWire 800 support also features in the product.

15-inch specs

Now encased in aluminium, not titanium, the 15-inch PowerBook runs at 1GHz (with combo drive) or 1.25GHz (with SuperDrive), and carries 512K L2 cache. Graphics support comes from an ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 with 64MB DDR memory. The PowerBook itself ships with 256MB DDDR memory, and can accommodate up to 2GB of memory. This model also offers FireWire 800 support.

The £1,999 SuperDrive-equipped PowerBook offers built-in AirPort Extreme support, DVI and S-Video out and ships with 512MB memory; the £1,599 combo drive model is ready to have an AirPort card added and ships with 256MB memory. These models ship with 80GB and 60GB hard drives respectively.

12-inch specs

Both the 4.6 pound 12.1-inch PowerBook models offer a 1GHz G4 processor (with 512K L2 cache) and includes a Digital video Interface (DVI) port so it will connect without hassle to Apple's flat panel displays. Apple has opted for an nVidia GeForce FX Go 5200 graphics processor for this Mac, which is equipped with 32MB DDR memory. The 12-inch PowerBook can hold up to 1.25GB of memory (256MB installed).

Both models ship with 40GB hard drives. However, the 12-inch PowerBooks do not carry Gigabit Ethernet, offering 10/100BASE-T instead; neither do they support FireWire 800. The Combo drive-equipped PowerBook costs £1,299, while the SuperDrive-toting PowerBook costs £1,449.

Each new machine ships with Mac OS X 10.2.7. This offers Instant On, which can wake a PowerBook from sleep in one second, Automatic Networking, which automatically switches network connections between Ethernet, 802.11 and the modem.

All models ship with Apple's iLife applications, including iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD.

The new notebooks are available now, with the exception of the new 12-inch product which is "expected to be available later this month", Apple says.
(Source Macworld uk)

SubRosaSoft today announced the availability of DiskGuardian 2.1

SubRosaSoft today announced the availability of DiskGuardian 2.1 , the latest release of the company's collection of tools that alert users of imminent hard drive failure in addition to performing Volume Repairs, Backup and Restore, Benchmarking, Surface Scanning for media defects, and verification of data integrity on storage subsystems. Version 2.1 includes a menu command to search for disks that were not mounted (even those that are not mountable), as well as the ability for the user to backup an unmounted drive. SubRosaSoft DiskGuardian requires Mac OS X 10.2 or higher ,Competitive upgrades are also available.
Visit them at www.sobrosasoft.com

Marketing: ATI's Radeon 9800XT, Half Life bundle to be launched in Alcatraz

ATI'S long awaited card that is expected to take the performance lead in the increasingly bitter graphics battle, is to be launched in Alcatraz, the former prison just a wave away from freedom-loving city San Francisco.

The cards are close to being finalised, with ATI boffins hoping the clock speeds will be a little less than 415MHz for the core, and 730MHz for the memory.

We're not certain that these are the final numbers, but you probably already know that the 30th is also the day when Valve will introduce its highly anticipated Half Life 2 with its now famous benchmarks.

As we said previously, all Radeon 9800XT cards will be shipped with this card and this is likely to cost ATI some serious money -- some are suggesting as much as $8 million, although we still wait to get solid proof about the Nvidia-ATI auction.
That's Entertainment!

Wacom Shipping Graphire3 Pen/Tablet Set

Wacom is now shipping new line of pen tablets titled Graphire3. The line of pens and tablet devices are designed for digital imaging and photo enhancement. The tablets come in 4x5 or 6x8 with three color options, while the cordless pens feature 512 levels of sensitivity. According to Wacom:

The new Graphire3 pen tablets provide the natural control required to quickly and easily enhance digital photos. The free bundled software introduces powerful photo enhancement tools along with the excitement of digital drawing and painting using a wide range of realistic natural media tools.

In addition, the Graphire3 pen ties into the handwriting and inking capabilities included with Microsoft Office XP and Apple Inkwell.

The Apple Paris Expo to Kick Of on Tuesday Sept 16: Here are the Rumours

Steve Jobs will be giving the keynote address at 10 a.m. CET (3 a.m. EDT), but, according to one report , there will be no live webcast of the event.
There have been surprisingly few Apple Expo specific rumors over the past few weeks. This roundup will cover both expected Expo product releases as well as a collection of "open" rumors at this time.

PowerBooks

While numerous sites have repeatedly claimed PowerBook revisions over the past few months... a few new reports have since come in from more traditionally reliable sources.

ThinkSecret reported in Mid-August that 12", 15" and 17" PowerBooks were in the pipeline, but were unable to provide specs or a definitive timeframe for the upcoming machines at that time.

Appleinsider then claimed that the prolonged PowerBook delays were due to PPC7457 supply issues, and is now reporting that those issues have been resolved. Appleinsider appears very confident that updated PowerBook G4s will be released at Apple Expo Paris -- with top speeds of 1.25GHz, 2.0 USB and side-ports. Similar specs were given by (less reliable) PowerPage but, in contrast, they feel that new PowerBooks are not likely at this Expo.

Meanwhile, our own sources claim a 15.2" screensize and the inclusion of an illuminated keyboard with (at least) the mid-range model.

At this point Apple's Powerbooks are the oldest computers in their product line with 12" and 17" Powerbooks last seeing revisions in January 2003, and 15" PowerBooks in November 2002.

Software Releases

Our own reliable reports indicated that iCal 1.5 and iSync 1.2 would be seeing releases shortly, but no timeframes were given. Meanwhile, another vague report claimed that we would see "software announcements" (one unexpected) from Apple this and next week. Unfortunately, no software releases have been seen at this point.

A release of iTunes for Windows still remains in the back of people's minds, and some recent Page 2 rumors place the iTunes for Windows release in mid-to-late October... but there are no known plans for an announcement at Apple Expo.

Panther

Early reports expected a Panther release at this year's Apple Expo, but more recent estimates place Panther's ship date into October.

Open Rumors

The mysterious iPod Peripherals are still expected to be released and will require an iPod software update to utilize the new hardware. No further details or timeframes have been provided for these items.

Bluetooth-based Apple Wireless Mice and Keyboards are essentially confirmed based on help notes and error messages embedded in Panther. Rumor sites remain in the dark about the release date for these peripherals.

While Xserve updates are certainly in the works, only MacBidouille gives possible specs with a report that the new G5 Xserves will see top speeds of only 1.8GHz