TidBITS#728/03-May-04
=====================
Apple held a one-year anniversary party for the iTunes Music Store
last week, announcing sales of 70 million songs and releasing
iTunes 4.5. Adam has his ear to the Apple speaker and reports on
new features such as Party Shuffle, iMix, and more. Jeff Carlson
looks at the latest Zire handhelds from PalmOne, and we note the
releases of Palm Desktop 4.2.1, iMovie 4.0.1, Path Finder 3.2,
and Security Update 2004-05-03. Lastly, learn how to get free
MacDesign conference exhibit passes from Peachpit.
Topics:
MailBITS/03-May-04
New Zires and Palm Desktop 4.2.1
iTunes 4.5 and the iTunes Music Store, One Year Later
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/03-May-04
<http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-728.html>
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MailBITS/03-May-04
------------------
**Security Update 2004-05-03 Released** -- Apple seems to enjoy
releasing security updates on Monday afternoons. This week, the
company unveiled Security Update 2004-05-03, a 4.2 MB package that
updates the AFP Server, CoreFoundation, and IPSec components of
the operating system, and includes the components of the earlier
Security Update 2004-04-05. For owners of Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar,
the update provides the same new components, but in a 9.8 MB
download. No other details were available at press time. Both
updates are available via Software Update; standalone downloads
will likely be available by the time you read this. [JLC]
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07621>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/>
**iMovie 4.0.1 Improves Performance** -- Apple has released iMovie
4.0.1, which improves performance in long projects and fixes a
few bugs in the video editing application. The update corrects
problems when launching the program and adding titles to the
timeline, and better handles projects that used third-party
plug-ins which are no longer present. It also includes fixes for
pixelated video, corrupted Ken Burns (pan and zoom) clips, and
audio loss after emptying the trash. Apple recommends upgrading
to QuickTime 6.5.1 and, if you use an iSight as your video input
source, iSight 1.0.2. The iMovie 4.0.1 update is a 1.2 MB
download, and is also available in Software Update. [JLC]
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/imovieformacosx.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/quicktime.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/isightfwupdater.html>
**Beating a Path to Path Finder 3.2** -- The folks at Cocoatech
have released version 3.2 of their flagship Finder replacement,
Path Finder. With Path Finder, you can navigate your hard disks,
see invisible items, sort in many ways (including "smart" sorting,
which distinguishes applications, folders, and packages from
normal files), make a new file or folder (without its jumping
around the window!), list files into a text file, copy a pathname,
accumulate files from many locations to be moved or copied to
a single location (the "Drop Stack"), get extensive information
about items on disk, and loads of other things you wish you could
do from the Finder. There are also many power user features:
you can examine files in hex, get a class dump or symbol table
of an application, sample (profile) a running application, launch
multiple instances of an application, launch as root, access the
command line, and so forth. In addition to numerous bug fixes,
this version augments the "Swiss Army Knife" quality of Path
Finder, adding the capability to burn a CD, take a screen shot,
connect to remote servers, and more. Many popular utilities, such
as LaunchBar, DragThing, and Zinng, support Path Finder. Try it;
you might never bother with the Finder again. Path Finder 3.2
is a free update for registered users of version 3.0. It is a $10
upgrade from earlier versions. Otherwise it costs $35. It requires
Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. A feature-complete 21-day demo is
available. [MAN]
<http://www.cocoatech.com/pf.php>
**Free MacDesign Exhibit Passes** -- Our friends at Peachpit Press
are giving away passes to the upcoming MacDesign Conference and
Expo in Chicago, 02-Jun-04 through 04-Jun-04. The exhibit-only
passes are good for 03-Jun-04 only, and are valued at $40. To get
a pair of tickets, send your name and postal address in an email
to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> before 21-May-04. The passes are
first-come, first-served, so act quickly before Peachpit runs out.
And if you plan to attend the sessions (a full conference pass is
$500) at MacDesign as well, be sure to check out Adam's talks on
Friday, 04-Jun-04 about iPhoto and electronic book design. [JLC]
<http://www.macdesignconference.com/>
<http://macdesignconference.com/exhibits.html>
<http://macdesignconference.com/sessions.html>
New Zires and Palm Desktop 4.2.1
--------------------------------
by Jeff Carlson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
PalmOne last week introduced two new color models of its consumer
handhelds, the Zire 31 and Zire 72, along with a long-awaited
maintenance update to its Mac desktop software, Palm Desktop
4.2.1.
**Zire 31** -- When the company released its first Zire handheld
in 2002, it appeared to be a step backwards (see "Palm Offers
Low-price, No-frills Zire Handheld" in TidBITS-652_). While other
personal organizers were gaining faster processors, color screens,
and improved networking capabilities, the Zire arrived with
specifications akin to the original Pilot, such as 2 MB of memory
and a monochrome screen (with no backlight). To everyone's
surprise (except for Palm), the Zire was a hit, tapping into
the fact that many people primarily use their handhelds to keep
track of contacts and calendars. The fact that the Zire (and
later, the slightly upgraded Zire 21) cost only $100 was also
instrumental in its success.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06967>
<http://www.palmone.com/us/products/handhelds/zire31/>
Now, PalmOne believes that even cost-conscious users are willing
to pay a little more for a better handheld, while keeping the
Zire's streamlined feature set. For $150, the Zire 31 features
a color screen capable of displaying thousands of colors, 16 MB
of memory, Palm OS 5.2.8, an expansion slot that accepts
MultiMediaCard/SD cards, and the 5-way Navigator control (which
replaces the scroll-up and scroll-down buttons) found on the
company's other recent handhelds. The Zire 31 also includes a
rechargeable lithium ion polymer battery, a fairly speedy 200 MHz
Intel ARM-based processor, and a stereo headphone jack to use the
device as an MP3 audio player. Like previous Zire models, this one
uses a standard mini-USB cable to synchronize with the computer,
versus the Universal Connector port found on the Tungsten line
of devices.
**Zire 72** -- If it weren't for a similar physical design, you
might wonder how the Zire 72 can be legitimately grouped with the
Zire 31. For $300, the Zire 72 is PalmOne's consumer multimedia
handheld. It features a high-resolution color screen (16-bit color
in a 320 by 320 pixel area), 32 MB of memory, a 312 MHz Intel
PXA270 processor, Palm OS 5.2.8, headphone jack, expansion slot,
rechargeable battery, and mini-USB HotSync cable. Unlike the Zire
71, which it replaces, the Zire 72 includes built-in Bluetooth
wireless networking (which I use almost exclusively to synchronize
the data on my Tungsten T and PowerBook G4 - one less cable to
carry around!), and a built-in voice recorder.
<http://www.palmone.com/us/products/handhelds/zire72/>
The Zire 72 will also appeal to the image conscious: not because
it's attractively designed (it is), but because it includes an
integrated 1.2 megapixel digital camera capable of taking images
at 1280 by 960 pixels. (The camera also boasts a 2x digital zoom,
but in my experience digital zoom serves only to make otherwise
decent images blurry.) The camera can also capture video at 320
by 240 pixels; however, currently the video is saved in ASF
format, and can't be played back on a Mac without a third-party
utility such as MPlayer.
<http://mplayerosx.sourceforge.net/>
**Palm Desktop 4.2.1** -- Many Palm users who upgraded to Mac OS X
10.3 Panther discovered that Palm Desktop refused to work
properly. After several months, a new version of Palm Desktop
is available that fixes the permissions issue that caused the
problem. The download also includes version 3.1 of the Send to
Handheld droplet, which facilitates the transfer of image and
audio files from the Mac to the handheld. Palm Desktop 4.2.1 is
a free 12.1 MB download, but unfortunately you need to fill out
a form, receive an email from PalmOne containing a URL to click,
and agree to a legal form that appears in a pop-up window in order
to download the installer. Or, if you have trouble getting the
email from PalmOne, just use the second link below.
<http://www.palmone.com/us/support/macintosh/macdesk421.html>
<http://www.palmOne.com/us/support/macintosh/macdesk421_legal.html>
PalmOne has also released a separate utility for users of Mac OS X
10.2 or 10.3 who ran into an Access Denied error after installing
iSync 2.1. The PalmOne Permission Fixer, a 20K download, corrects
the permissions of the folders that contain the HotSync conduit
files (which dictate how data is synchronized between the Mac and
the handheld's expansion card).
<http://www.palmone.com/us/support/downloads/permissions_fixer.html>
**Continued Support for the Mac** -- Lastly, PalmOne expressed its
ongoing support of the Mac platform when the new Zire handhelds
were released. In an interview with MacCentral, Stephane Maes,
PalmOne's senior product line manager for handhelds reiterated
support for the Mac platform for future PalmOne devices, saying,
"We will continue to meet Mac users' needs regardless of what OS
we're running."
<http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2004/04/27/palmone/>
In February 2004, PalmSource (the spin-off company that now
handles Palm OS development) demonstrated Palm OS Cobalt, the next
version of the handheld operating system and let slip that Mac
synchronization would no longer be supported. Independent Mac
developer Mark/Space took advantage of the news and announced that
the next version of its Missing Sync utility would provide that
synchronization and more (see "PalmSource to Drop Mac Support in
Palm OS Cobalt" in TidBITS-717_).
<http://www.markspace.com/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07543>
It's not yet clear if that support will come in the form of
updated Palm Desktop software, the licensing of Missing Sync, or
some entirely new solution, but it is heartening to hear that the
Mac community won't be left out in the cold as the Palm platform
advances.
iTunes 4.5 and the iTunes Music Store, One Year Later
-----------------------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Apple last week celebrated the first anniversary of the iTunes
Music Store with the release of iTunes 4.5 and a slew of new
features in the iTunes Music Store itself. Although the update
doesn't warrant a full version number jump, it's not at all
insignificant.
**New iTunes Features** -- Whether or not you buy music from the
iTunes Music Store, iTunes 4.5 offers a number of useful new
features. A new dedicated Party Shuffle playlist selects a random
list of songs to play from one of your playlists (or your entire
Library), but unlike simply shuffling through a normal playlist,
you can see what just played, see what's coming up, change the
order of songs on the fly, or add new songs. It's essentially a
temporary, malleable playlist that you can modify without fear of
messing something up. If you perform a fair amount of ordering and
deleting songs, you can save your efforts by dragging the contents
of Party Shuffle to the playlist pane to create a normal playlist
with those selections.
Also highly welcome is the new capability of smart playlists to
exclude the contents of other playlists. That means you could,
for instance, have a smart playlist that includes all your music
except for the songs in a Christmas Music playlist that might
sound rather jarring in July.
iTunes has enabled users of networked Macs on the same subnet to
share music for some time, and although the short-lived Internet
sharing feature hasn't reappeared, multiple users of the same Mac
can now share music in exactly the same way. The sharing settings
look exactly the same as in earlier versions; however, as long as
the user whose music is being shared is logged in, all other users
who log in via Fast User Switching can play the shared music.
Amusingly, if a user called Fred is playing music in iTunes and
then another user, Guido, logs in via Fast User Switching, Fred's
music continues to play and Guido can't stop or control it in any
way. And if Guido starts playing music in iTunes as well, the two
songs play simultaneously. It's not exactly a bug, since Apple
is aware of the behavior, but in my mind, Fred's music should
continue to play only until Guido starts playing music in iTunes
as well. In many cases, multiple accounts are used for testing
or troubleshooting, and not having to restart iTunes on every user
switch is welcome. But in other cases, it's truly annoying for one
user to have to listen to the other's music.
For those who burn CDs, iTunes can now print song lists using a
variety of templates, along with jewel case inserts that include
album artwork, if available. And if you're printing a jewel case
insert for a CD that contains songs from multiple albums, iTunes
arranges the artwork from multiple albums in a mosaic pattern.
Lastly, to ensure the highest possible sound quality, you can
rip original audio CDs using a new Apple Lossless Encoder. Its
lossless compression method reduces file size by approximately 2:1
(as opposed to 10:1 or more for MP3 or AAC) without compromising
quality at all. Audiophiles will undoubtedly appreciate the option
to store original quality music in half the space. (Audiophiles
will note that the Apple Lossless Encoder is an Apple home-brewed
solution, and not based on other lossless encoding schemes such as
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Encoder).) Music encoded with the Apple
Lossless Encoder is compatible with only dock-connector iPods and
the iPod mini, and only then after applying the just-released iPod
Update 2004-04-28.
<http://flac.sourceforge.net/>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/ipodupdate.html>
**iTunes Music Store Numbers** -- Included in last week's
announcement was news from Apple on how the iTunes Music Store
fared in its first year. Apple has sold more than 70 million songs
so far, and the current run rate is 2.7 million songs per week,
which points toward Apple doubling its per-year sales in the
second year to 140 million songs. Apple also says that the iTunes
Music Store now contains over 700,000 songs from the five major
record labels and over 450 independent labels.
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/apr/28itunes.html>
Those numbers are impressive, and although the general consensus
is that Apple doesn't make much, if any, money on the iTunes Music
Store, the overall strategy would seem to have helped iPod sales,
which exceeded 800,000 in Apple's last fiscal quarter.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07645>
Less heartening was the news from CNET's News.com about the
promotion from Apple and Pepsi to give away 100 million free songs
with specially marked bottles of soda. Odds of winning were
supposed to be 1 in 3, although apparently tilting the bottles
at a specific angle could reveal whether or not any given bottle
contained a song code. Unfortunately, it appears that Apple gave
away only 5 million of the 100 million free songs. Late delivery
and spotty distribution of some of the special bottles may have
reduced the numbers somewhat, but it's still disappointing (and
a bit surprising) that only 5 percent of the free songs were
redeemed.
<http://news.com.com/2100-1025_3-5201676.html>
For another chance at free music, U.S. readers who go to Ben &
Jerry's Ice Cream Web site and agree to vote in the upcoming
presidential election can receive a code to download a free song.
The first 50,000 people will get the music, but anyone who fills
out the form before 31-Oct-04 can win a free iPod, a 20" iMac, and
a trip to the company in Vermont to spend the day as an "honorary
Flavor Guru." If I win, I plan to suggest "Blueberry iMac," which
would be blueberry and vanilla ice cream with macadamia nuts.
Mmm...
<http://vote.benjerry.com/>
If that's still not enough free music for you, Apple is now giving
away a free song each week. It's a way for Apple to increase
traffic to the store, and also for listeners to sample artists
that they might otherwise ignore. Although no other details are
available, it wouldn't surprise me if Apple is able to charge the
record labels a fee for this type of preferred placement on the
store, since it's great publicity for a band. (Apple also gave
away a free song each day for eight days following the unveiling
of iTunes 4.5.)
**New iTunes Music Store Features** -- A number of the new
features in iTunes 4.5 enhance usage of the iTunes Music Store.
QuickLinks (the little encircled arrows next to artist and album
names in iTunes Music Store listings) now appear next to track,
artist, and album names for all your music in iTunes; clicking
one takes you right to the song, artist, or album listing in the
iTunes Music Store; Option-clicking displays the song in your
library along with the other songs from its album. Although the
addition of all the QuickLinks muddies the display somewhat, it's
nice to be able to look for music from artists whose work you
already own without performing a search.
You can also now drag the 30-second previews from an iTunes Music
Store listing to a playlist; all that's saved is a link to the
preview, but it's a good way to create wishlists. In the past,
I used the shopping cart instead of 1-Click purchasing to collect
songs I wanted to run by Tonya before buying. One slight advantage
to that approach is that it's not tied to a particular computer,
so I could add songs to the shopping cart from my desktop Mac or
my PowerBook. Unfortunately, even when you have a playlist
wishlist, iTunes won't move from one song to another, something
I've found truly annoying, since I usually want to listen to all
the previews for an album before I'll buy anything, and double-
clicking each one separately is a pain. AppleScript to the rescue!
Download the iTunes Music Store Player, one of many scripts for
iTunes written by Doug Adams, to play all song previews currently
showing.
<http://www.malcolmadams.com/itunes/scripts/ss.php?sp=itunesmsp>
Many people will enjoy the iTunes Music Store's new listing of
what's playing on over 1,000 radio stations around the U.S.
because it simplifies identifying and buying the song you just
heard on the radio. Unfortunately, it's hard to tell how Apple's
lists correspond to when specific songs are played on the radio.
For those who have noticed that "over 1,000" radio stations sounds
suspiciously similar to the "approximately 1,200" radio stations
owned by Clear Channel Communications (an international
radio/television/event behemoth), I have confirmed that the two
lists are independent; Apple's list contains both stations that
are and are not owned by Clear Channel. Unfortunately, none of
the Ithaca radio stations, particularly WVBR (independent, but
run by Cornell students) and WICB (Ithaca College's student
station), are listed. Perhaps Apple will enable such stations
to join the list given that college students are smack dab in
the middle of the target market for the iTunes Music Store.
<http://www.clearchannel.com/>
<http://www.wvbr.com/>
<http://www.ithaca.edu/radio/wicb/>
Unchanged in iTunes 4.5 is handling of streaming radio stations;
one nice addition would be to parse the current song and artist
and provide links to the iTunes Music Store.
For those who think Apple might at some point move into video
with the iTunes Music Store, notice that it now includes top-level
links to more music videos (which are great, since they include
entire songs rather than the truncated 30-second previews) as well
as movie trailers that you can view within iTunes. Both are sales
tools, of course, and you can easily purchase the song related to
a video or the soundtrack to a movie whose trailer you've just
seen.
**iMix, You Mix, Meow Mix** -- Perhaps the most interesting new
feature of the iTunes Music Store, however, is iMix, the
capability for iTunes users to publish their playlists (up to
250 items) to the iTunes Music Store and inform friends about
them. The iMix playlists are linked to the included artists,
and the publishing users can add descriptions (theoretically only
1,024 characters, although in my testing, iTunes wouldn't even
take that many). Other users can play the 30-second clips for
the songs in the playlist, rate iMix playlists, and buy the songs.
It's a fascinating way of sharing musical tastes. I've found that
I appreciate the Listeners Also Bought links within the iTunes
Music Store, and the iMix playlists extend that linking of related
music, enabling users to say explicitly, "I like all this music,
and if you like some of it, perhaps you'll like other tracks I
include as well." I'm less sure of how well the ratings will
work, since it's not clear to me whether other users will rate the
playlist as an interesting collection of music (as I think should
happen), rather than rating the playlist on the perceived merits
of the songs it contains. The latter makes relatively little sense
to me, since it would imply that a playlist containing a single
hit song could have a high rating because everyone likes the song,
despite the fact that it's an utterly pointless playlist.
You can take a look a couple of playlists I've generated, in fact;
one contains some of my favorite songs, and a larger one includes
songs whose lyrics particularly speak to me. Take a listen, give
them a rating, and please send me your iMix playlists as well.
I imagine it will take me some time to work through the deluge
of playlists, but hey, it's a great way for me to find out a bit
more about all of you - you all know way more about me than I
do about you.
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPublishedPlaylist?
id=26642>
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPublishedPlaylist?
id=12736>
When you publish a playlist, you may be, as I was, somewhat
disappointed in the number of tracks that don't exist in the
iTunes Music Store. My favorites playlist contains 71 songs but
the iTunes Music Store contained only 35 of them. And my Ultimate
Lyrics playlist has 128 tracks, of which only 80 appear in the
iTunes Music Store. Apple could do a better job of matching; for
instance, "Superman's Song" from the Crash Test Dummies is in
the iTunes Music Store, but since I have it from their album
"The Ghosts That Haunt Me" and the iTunes Music Store has it on
the compilation "Upfront! Canadians Live from Mountain Stage,"
it didn't make it into my published iMix playlist.
More to the point, however, I'd like to see Apple consider the
songs that iMix playlists contain, but which aren't yet in the
iTunes Music Store, as requests. There's no telling if this is
feasible, but if lots of iMix playlists contain a particular song,
album, or artist, I'd hope that Apple would notice and increase
efforts to add the appropriate items to the iTunes Music Store.
A less noticeable new way to share your musical tastes is a new
Tell a Friend link that appears with every album that you view in
the store. Clicking the link takes you to a form where you can
enter friends' email addresses and an optional note; the email
they receive includes a link to the album plus a thumbnail of
the album's artwork.
**Sturm and DRM** -- Along with these modifications to the iTunes
Music Store, Apple made two changes to the digital rights
management (DRM) aspects of purchased music.
On the plus side, Apple increased the number of Macs you can
authorize to play purchased music from three to five. This is
a welcome change - Tonya and I have been occasionally irritated
by the limitation, since we each have a desktop and a laptop
Mac, and an old iBook plays music from iTunes through our stereo
as well.
On the minus side, Apple reduced the number of times you can burn
the same playlist to CD from ten times to seven; this may annoy
people who regularly burn CDs of music for friends, although my
impression is that it's fairly trivial to change the playlist to
work around the limitation if it's a problem. That's fine, since
the goal of the limitation is to prove to the music industry that
iTunes can't be used to mass-produce music CDs easily.
**Doing Windows** -- iTunes 4.5 is also available for Windows,
where it has essentially the same feature set as the Mac version,
with the addition of the capability to convert unprotected WMA
files to AAC, letting iTunes take over for all music a Windows
user might have, short of purchased songs from other online music
services.
**Download Details** -- iTunes 4.5 is a 10 MB download available
directly or via Software Update; it requires Mac OS X 10.1.5 or
later, with current versions of Mac OS X and QuickTime 6.5.1
(also available via Software Update or directly) recommended
for best results.
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/>
<http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/>
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/03-May-04
------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
As before, the second URL below each thread description points
to the discussion on our Web Crossing server, which will be much
faster, though it doesn't yet use our preferred design.
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/>
**iTunes 4.5** -- Readers pass on their opinions of the new
release of iTunes. (3 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2225>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/90>
**Spam's effect on overall email utility** -- Is the increasing
level of spam threatening to make email useless? Our readers also
look at Web-based alternatives, especially for company feedback
mechanisms. (16 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2224>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/89>
**AirPort Extreme Base Station and Wireless Software Updates** --
In addition to the recent release of AirPort 3.4, Apple briefly
released a pair of management tools but then removed the link.
However, the tools are still publicly available. (2 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2223>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/87>
**Mac Anti-Virus Programs** -- Sparked by the recent news of a
theoretical Mac virus, readers continue to discuss the usefulness
of anti-virus software on the Mac. (30 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2220>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/85>
$$
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