Apple's iWork emerges as rival to Microsoft Office

Corel bills its WordPerfect Office software as "the world's leading alternative to Microsoft Office." But when it comes to U.S. retail sales, Corel lost the No. 2 spot in 2005 to a somewhat unlikely competitor: Apple Computer's iWork.

Q of The Week:Videos labeled TV Shows in iTunes don't appear on iPod

This is how you do it:
iTunes 6.0.2 or later includes an option to select "TV Show" as a "Video Kind" for videos that were not purchased from the iTunes Music Store.
While iTunes will respect this selection, you will not be able to see those videos listed on your iPod by selecting Videos > TV Shows. TV Shows purchased from the iTunes Music Store will show up as expected. Simple as that!

Networks test 'iTunes Episode Premieres

As part of the major deal announced yesterday between MTV Networks and Apple, select episodes from Comedy Central and Nickelodeon shows are being made available on iTunes in advance of their network airing.

On Monday, January 30th, a new episode of Comedy Central’s hit-animated reality series “Drawn Together” will be released on iTunes for free—three days in advance of the February 1st network debut, making it the first “iTunes Episode Premiere.”

A paid download of a new episode of Zoey 101 called “Girls Will Be Boys” is available today, in advance of its January 29th network debut. Zoey 101 is Nickelodeon’s “tween” hit starring Jamie Lynn Spears.

PhoneValet Message Center 3.1 now shipping

Parliant Corp. today began shipping PhoneValet Message Center 3.1, the latest version of its award-winning Mac telephony product for small businesses, homes, and home offices.

MacStyles gussies up your Mac portable

MacStyles.com has relaunched and is offering custom-cut vinyl decals for iBooks and PowerBooks (no word on MacBook Pros). They can be made in a variety designs. Interesting and a lot cheaper than a new Mac.

Disney buys Pixar

Furthering its strategy of delivering outstanding creative content, Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company (DIS), announced today that Disney has agreed to acquire computer animation leader Pixar (PIXR) in an all-stock transaction, expected to be completed by this summer. Under terms of the agreement, 2.3 Disney shares will be issued for each Pixar share. Based on Pixar's fully diluted shares outstanding, the transaction value is $7.4 billion ($6.3 billion net of Pixar's cash of just over $1 billion) (Based on Disney's closing share price of $25.52 as of 1/23/06).

Microsoft Tricks Hacker Into Jail

A company sting operation earns a Connecticut man two years in prison for selling secret Windows source code for $20 after it leaked onto the internet.

Google Maps Hacks--O'Reilly's Latest Release

Mapping Online Gets Personal and Creative
"Google Maps Hacks"--O'Reilly's Latest Release

Asking for directions has never been this much fun. Google
Maps is changing the landscape of online mapping applications. Now finding
local pizza places, the best meeting places, or even the cheapest gas
stations, is an interactive experience that allows the user to get as much
detail as desired. As with any great technology, individual users often
figure out how to make it work even better. "Google Maps Hacks" (Erle and
Gibson, O'Reilly, US $29.99) is the perfect book for anyone interested in
creating customized, interactive maps for personal or commercial use.

With the tricks and techniques found in "Google Maps Hacks," anyone can
adapt Google's satellite map features to create interactive maps for
personal applications or for businesses ranging from real estate, to
package delivery, to home services, transportation, and more. Such diverse
information as apartment listings, crime reporting or flight routes can be
integrated with Google's satellite imagery in creative ways, to yield new
and useful applications. Readers will learn how to:

-Take advantage of Google's location search interfaces and map navigation
shortcuts
-Explore the world with maps, satellite photos, or a combination of both
-Create personalized links to Google's maps
-Put personalized markers--and more--on the map
-Find mashups, sites in which Google's maps have been combined with other
data
-Use Google for navigation, wardriving, and even beating traffic tickets
-Integrate personal GIS-based maps with Google's maps
-Discover (and avoid) the errors made in maps
-Add photos and Flash applets to Google's maps

Written by Schuyler Erle and Rich Gibson (with a foreword by Google Maps
tech leads, Jens and Lars Rasmussen), "Google Maps Hacks" shares dozens of
tricks for combining the capabilities of Google's Keyhole map feature with
users' own datasets, so users can create interactive maps for unlimited
personal and commercial applications.

Google Maps Hacks
Rich Gibson and Schuyler Erle
ISBN: 0-596-10161-9, 366 pages
order@oreilly.com

Google Tunes' could be next...

'Google Tunes' could be next iTunes competitor according to analyst.

Apple Intel Macs - demand beats supply

Apple's new Intel-based Macs are selling strongly, leaving the company set for growth in 2006, an analyst claims.

Konica Minolta to exit photo business

Konica Milolta has decided to withdraw from the photo business.
According to a UK source.

iTunes U. Launches

For those of you itchin' to use your iPods and iTunes for good instead of leisure, Apple is there for you. Their new iTunes U. initiative extends their previous Standford partnership to any school that wants to mount their lectures, presentations and any other audio/video content for use by their student bodies. Apple is offering this service for free, with the expectation of further cementing iTunes as the music service of choice by all those college students. Go gettum, Apple!

Apple Not Answering to Audio Flaws In Latest PowerBook

Anyone who owns the most-recent high-resolution PowerBook G4 (and that would be the LAST PowerBook, folks!) are experiencing a defect with their system's audio. At apparently random intervals, audio from the system starts looping for about five seconds with increasing volume. This Apple Discussion thread was the first time any documentation of the issue appeared, and was followed later by an official (albeit unhelpful) response from Apple. Now, there is this Web site documenting the defect, as well as taking names for an online petition. As an owner of this PowerBook myself, I put my name on the list. Let us know if you have this problem, and what, if anything, you've been able to do to get around it. That is of course according to macslash.

Studiometry update adds iCal and Quickbooks integration

Oranged.net Software today released an update to its organizational tool for studios and freelancers:
This great piece of software is just getting better and better....

Applescript The Definitive Guide, 2nd Ed released

O'Reilly today announced the release of Applescript: The Definitive Guide, 2nd Edition.
This is the best of it's kind. Highly recommended.

Macware releases Logo Design Studio

Macware, a division of Summersoft, today announced the Logo Desing studio for Mac OS X users

Levi's announces iPod-ready jeans

ILevi's has announced the launch of its new Redwire DLX Jeans, complete with features for carrying and controlling your iPod. The jeans will have:
A built-in iPod docking cradle in the side pocket. The company promises that the iPod bump will be hard to see.
A joystick remote control that fits in the watch pocket. The joystick will let you play/pause, move forward and back, and adjust volume without removing the iPod from your pocket.
A retractable headphone built into the jeans that's billed as a way to "prevent tangles and efficiently manage the iPod earphone wires."
Levis is planning to make the Redwire DLX Jeans available worldwide in the Fall of 2006. If you get your hands on a pair, just remember to take the iPod out of your pocket before you throw them in the wash.

34 design flaws found in Intel's Dual Core chip

Uh oh. It appears that in the first twenty days of launching the Intel Dual Core chip in Apple's iMac, 34 design flaws have been found in the chip itself. While Slashdot, where I found this, points out that design flaws in Intel's chips aren't exactly a new thing (which could be good or bad), it is significant that Intel apparently knew about the flaws before releasing the chip. Check out the report at Geek.com for more deets and stay tuned for more information on the severity and impact of this hiccup in this new chip's launch. Remember the old saying...Intel Inside....don't try to divide....

Mobile G-Drive mini hits 160GB

The portable G-Drive mini is now available in a 160GB configuration.

Spam This: Spammer byting the dust

A Minnesota man dubbed by America Online as "the poster child for the Can Spam Act" feels the full majesty of the law as a district court orders him to pay more than $5 million in penalties to AOL.

Kama Sutra worm set to bite next week

Virus is primed to erase important files from infected PCs and may also cause a traffic spike as it propagates itself.
Aren't you glad you have a Mac ...!

New shows in the iTMS

A whole bunch of TV shows have been added to the iTMS this morning. There's programming from MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, including such favorites as South Park (the first two seasons), Jackass and Spongebob Squarepants

New Intel Macs; Wait or Go ?

Well it's never easy to decide; on one hand you have this desire to stay current on the other you wonder if now is a good time to get a brand new Mac....

What should one do ?

We try to shed some lights, and answer this not so obvious question: New Intel Mac, Wait or Go !

It's 1994 all over again, new processor, sexy new machine from Apple, new OS. Brings with it a whole set of questions; let's see if we can propose some answers:

1) I have been waiting fore ever to get my hands on a new Mac, should I do it now ?
-If your goal is to stay current (and you need to feed your addiction to Mac) by all means go.

2) Are the new Intel Macs a better offerings than in the past ?
-Yes and No: Apple first generation of products have always been bonnified with software packages part of the improved OS sexy Hardware design and special introduction price. BUT, and I say But keep in mind that most of this is re vamped version of older things and that you are paying mostly for Apple R&D, that really means that in a few month from now Apple will put on the table, a more stable, better value added package for (most of the time) a lesser price.

3) With the new Intel chip, will my Mac finally be the fastest machine on the block ?
-Again Yes and No! That is not a easy one: Technically Yes, BUT you have to keep in mind that at this point in time most Applications are only ported and needs to run using a emulator layer called Rosetta (not the language program)and until they become native (universal) (not the movie studio) you will not be able to see a huge speed increase.

4) Any Applications that where design with tiger in mind using the G5 chip should Roooooar on the new Intel Macs,... right ?
-Well, not so fast; It actually the opposite, some of the most notorious ones, or if you may Pro Apps from Apple (Final Cut Pro, Aperture, or Logic) will not run since they are not yet compliant. Other like Office or Adobe Creative Suite, do run under Rosetta but are slower than run under the PPC chip.

5) How fast are the new Intel Macs ? Are they really twice as fast ore more as the original G5 processors ?
- That is (at least for the moment) a good one! The simplified version of the answer is NO. BUT (I no BUT again ...)
Apple claims that the new Intel Processors are anywhere from 2X to 4X faster than the G5, but if we believe all the post that we read from actual users the answer is a little different: Most of them reports that the new Intel Macs are (for most tasks ) about the same as before, with a slight speed increase of anywhere between 12 to 40 % (best case scenario) (Wall Street Journal) not 2X or 4X....Macworld showed Apple's claims of doubled speed to be exaggerations, though the Intel iMacs did run as much as 1.84 times as fast as older hardware in iMovie 6.

6) So what is the bottom line Wait or Go?
-This is not easy; If you want the latest (but not necessarily the greatest) and money is no objection we say Go.
But keep in mind that Apple is due to celebrate it's 30 th anniversary in April and that with it will come a whole new batch of surprise, some of them being new Mac Intel and of course better offerings and a more stable OS, and bunch of Universal Applications: In that case WAIT!