TidBITS#897/24-Sep-07
=====================
Issue link: <http://db.tidbits.com/issue/897>
This week's issue hits on nearly all of the main TidBITS beats. In
iPhone news, Apple announces international iPhone distribution
agreements in the UK and Germany (and France chimes in too, though
Apple has yet to confirm it), AT&T proves to be
less-than-straightforward regarding the recent iPhone credits, Glenn
looks at how Apple and Starbucks are giving away 50 millions songs,
and Adam taps iPhoney to see how Web sites will appear on the
device. In Mac news, Adam tries free Web conferencing using Yugma,
hears voices courtesy of the Infovox iVox high-quality speech
modules, and notes the end of the paid portion of New York Times
coverage. Meanwhile, Glenn runs down numerous options for adding
802.11n Wi-Fi to older Macs and Simon Leeman goes in depth to show
why calling the latest iMacs and MacBook Pros "Santa Rosa" is wrong
in multiple ways, despite persistent published reports. Lastly, we
have three updated ebooks from Joe Kissell, providing the latest
details on Apple Mail, on staving off spam with Mail, and on .Mac.
Articles
AT&T Runaround for Early iPhone Adopters
Daylight Saving Time Rules Fixed for New Zealand
iPhoney Baloney Browser
Starbucks To Give Away 50 Million iTunes Songs
Macs Speak Clearly with Infovox iVox
Yugma Provides Free Web Conferencing
iPhone Launch Set for UK and Germany, with Murky Data Plan
New York Times Frees Old Articles
QuickerTek Expands Inexpensive Wi-Fi Options for Macs
OWC Ships 802.11n Adapters for Older Macs
Confusion Over Santa Rosa: What's in a Name?
Take Control News: Make the Most of Apple Mail and .Mac
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/24-Sep-07
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AT&T Runaround for Early iPhone Adopters
----------------------------------------
by Mark H. Anbinder <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9190>
While many early iPhone purchasers are pleased with Apple's offer of
a $100 Apple Store credit for those who purchased the initially
pricey gizmo early on, and some are thrilled with the 14-day price
protection policy that provided a $200 refund to those who bought in
the two weeks immediately before this month's price drop, we hear
that some iPhone customers who bought at an AT&T Wireless store have
gotten the runaround when attempting to settle up. (See "iPhone $100
Store Credit Process Posted" (2007-09-14) for details on the
refunds.)
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9181>
Seeing that Apple's Web site referred AT&T purchasers back to the
AT&T store where they purchased their iPhone, one such buyer went to
the store last week, and was told they would call when they found
out more about the company's plans. When this buyer went back to the
store today, having not received the promised return call, he was
told they could no longer help him, because it had now been more
than 14 days since he'd purchased the iPhone.
The fine print in Apple's $100 credit offer says that iPhone buyers
who purchased from an AT&T Wireless store but aren't able to get
price protection may submit a claim, so even if AT&T's outlets can't
figure out what they're doing, their iPhone customers may not be
totally lost. In this case, AT&T customer service finally agreed to
apply a $100 credit to the buyer's cellular service account, and
told him to pursue the other $100 with Apple.
Daylight Saving Time Rules Fixed for New Zealand
------------------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9192>
Despite the kerfuffle over support for worldwide daylight saving
time rule changes in various versions of Mac OS X (see Andrew
Laurence's "Daylight Saving Time May Bite the Out-of-Date"
(2007-01-29) for the start of our coverage), it appears that Apple
missed the new rules in New Zealand in even the most recent versions
of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. New Zealand's new rules take effect at 2 AM
on 30-Sep-07, so if you're in New Zealand and want your Mac to honor
the new rules, download Glenn Anderson's free New Zealand 2007
Daylight Savings Time Update for Mac OS X (33K download). It works
with Mac OS X 10.4.10, may work with 10.4.9, and probably won't work
with 10.4.8 or earlier. Glenn, who's best known in the Mac world as
the author of Eudora Internet Mail Server (EIMS), has also now
released a version of his daylight saving time utility for Mac OS X
10.3.9, along with a Daylight Savings Editor for Mac OS 9, both
available at the same page.
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8832>
<http://www.mactcp.org.nz/nzdt.html>
<http://www.eudora.co.nz/>
iPhoney Baloney Browser
-----------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9162>
I don't have an iPhone. Nor do I have an iPod touch, which offers
the same basic Web browsing features as the iPhone. But I still want
to see what our Web sites look like on an iPhone, for obvious
reasons. I'm sure I'm not alone, and there are plenty of Web
designers out there tasked with developing sites that are at least
readable on an iPhone, but whose managers won't actually spring for
an iPhone or iPod touch.
<http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/>
Thanks to iPhoney, a new open source browser developed initially by
Marketcircle, you too can browse the Web in the full 320 by 480
pixel glory of the iPhone. You can rotate the display by choosing
Window > Rotate iPhone, and from the iPhoney application menu, you
can choose the Web Kit user agent, the iPhone user agent, or a
custom user agent (one of which might be necessary to convince your
site to show you the iPhone-specific styles or content). Other than
that, you can zoom in and out, enter new URLs, go back and forward,
and view the source of the current page. It's pretty simple, but for
checking how sites will display, iPhoney seems like the real thing.
<http://www.marketcircle.com/iphoney/>
And before you ask, no, it is _not_ an iPhone simulator. It's just a
Web browser that happens to look like the iPhone.
Starbucks To Give Away 50 Million iTunes Songs
----------------------------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9200>
As part of the Apple/Starbucks deal to enable the iTunes Wi-Fi Music
Store within coffee shops across the United States, the
coffee-selling giant said it would give away 1.5 million iTunes song
cards each day from 02-Oct-07 to 07-Nov-07. The catch? The songs are
specific titles from 37 artists, including Paul McCartney and Joni
Mitchell, who have released albums directly through Starbucks. The
company said Bob Dylan's "Joker Man" will be the first song given
away.
<http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iekRkAStEaoMsYt8lnqMzBOAmVhg>
At the iPod touch release on 05-Sep-07, Apple and Starbucks unveiled
a partnership around the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, announced the
same day (see "Apple Introduces iPod Touch, Wi-Fi iTunes Store, and
New iPods," 2007-09-10). Starting 02-Oct-07, iPhone, iPod touch, and
all iTunes users can use Starbucks's hotspot network - run by AT&T
competitor T-Mobile - to purchase the current songs playing in a
Starbucks and use the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. (Full Internet
access over the network requires a fee or a subscription.)
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9152>
Starbucks will also start selling "digital release cards" that
enable purchasers to download a full album and bonus material from
the iTunes Store. KT Tunstall, who performed at Apple's iPod
announcement, and Eddie Vedder will have the first two albums out -
"Drastic Fantastic" for $14.99, and the soundtrack for "Into the
Wild" for $11.99.
And in even more synergy, heaven help us all, Starbucks will start
selling a special version of its stored-value card, an innovation
that apparently helped boost revenue while reducing tips by keeping
actual cash (and change) from trading hands. The so-called
"limited-edition card" will offer two free iTunes downloads when
registered via the Web, although it's not clear from early coverage
whether those will be specific songs or a generic credit. Maybe
we'll be able to tip our favorite baristas with song downloads in
the future.
Macs Speak Clearly with Infovox iVox
------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9155>
The Mac OS has long boasted speech synthesis - the capability to
read text aloud - but honestly, the quality of the voices, though
perhaps better than the competition, is still pretty awful. No one
with a choice would listen to Victoria's robotic intonations all day
long, although Jeff Carlson's interview with Fred was a hoot (see
"Catching Up with the Voice of Macintosh: Fred," 2003-04-01). (For
Leopard, Apple is promising a new voice - Alex - that's supposed to
be much better than the current built-in voices.)
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/7140>
<http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/features/accessibility.html>
For a far better listening experience that you can try today and
that reflect worldwide speech patterns, check out the speech quality
of the voices in Infovox iVox. They're not perfect; you won't
mistake them for real people speaking, but they're a big improvement
over the voices Apple ships in Tiger. Designed by the Acapela Group
and distributed by AssistiveWare, Infovox iVox provides a wide
variety of male and female voices for American English, British
English, French, Canadian French, Spanish, American Spanish,
Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Dutch, Flemish, Norwegian,
Swedish, Danish, and Finnish.
<http://www.assistiveware.com/infovox_ivox.php>
I particularly like the high-quality British English voices, perhaps
because the slight British accent marks the voice as foreign to my
ears, thus causing me to forgive any mispronunciations or
hesitations, or rather, to assume that they're part of the accent.
And although I'm not sufficiently conversant in any of the other
supported languages to understand what's being said, some of them
sound even better because of this.
You can listen to the samples on the AssistiveWare Web site, and you
can also download the voices to try for a limited time on your Mac.
Beware that the voice packs are huge downloads (200 to 600 MB each).
The voices work with any application that's compatible with the
Apple Speech Manager; Mac OS X 10.3.9 is required as a minimum, but
Mac OS X 10.4 is recommended. After running the installer, you can
choose different voices in the Speech pane of System Preferences; to
test with your own text, look for controls in the Edit menu's Speech
submenu (you can always use TextEdit if your preferred writing tool
doesn't offer the Speech menu). Through 31-Oct-07, the American and
British English voices cost $99 (normally $149 and $219), the
non-Scandinavian voices cost $149 (normally $219), and the
Scandinavian languages cost $269 (normally $359, but you get the
Swedish Chef for free... just kidding).
<http://www.assistiveware.com/ivoxsamples.php>
<http://www.assistiveware.com/voicedownload.php>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Chef>
Needless to say, anyone who relies on the Mac's text-to-speech
capabilities will appreciate the Infovox iVox voices (AssistiveWare
provides a video showing how a blind translator uses the product),
but I wonder if higher quality voice might cause text-to-speech to
become more commonly used by those who haven't previously considered
the feature before.
Yugma Provides Free Web Conferencing
------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9149>
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard promises to provide screen sharing, but for
the next few months, or when needing to share screens with people on
other platforms, take a look at Yugma, which provides WebEx-like
screen sharing in any Web browser. I ran across it a while ago, and
have used it once successfully when getting a demo of SpotDJ, though
on another attempt, Jeff Carlson wasn't able to get it to load.
Basic features available for free (with ads) for up to 10 users
include desktop sharing, free teleconferencing, annotation and
whiteboarding tools, the capability to change who's presenting, and
public and private chatting. You can pay to increase the number of
simultaneous users, and also to enable features like the capability
to share mouse and keyboard control with other attendees; scheduled
sessions; 100 MB of shared file space; and Web session recording,
playback, and hosted webcast (they're all available for 15 days for
a free account). Honestly, I'm hoping that Leopard's screen sharing
meets my needs, but if it doesn't, I'll give Yugma another try.
<http://www.yugma.com/>
<http://www.webex.com/>
Oh, and if you were wondering about the thoroughly odd-sounding
name, Yugma means "the state of being in unified collaboration" in
Sanskrit, one of the classical languages of India.
iPhone Launch Set for UK and Germany, with Murky Data Plan
----------------------------------------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9189>
Apple announced its first non-U.S. partner for the iPhone on
18-Sep-07, unveiling a relationship with UK cell carrier O2. O2 will
start selling the iPhone for £269 ($542) including VAT (value added
tax) on 09-Nov-07. That compares to $399 or roughly £200 for the
same model in the United States. Service at 7,500 Wi-Fi hotspots is
included in the monthly service plan; while AT&T resells access to
over 8,000 Wi-Fi hotspots - mostly McDonald's - they offer no
inclusive rate for iPhone or other cell users.
<http://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/>
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7000370.stm>
Monthly service rates for the iPhone from O2 cost £35 ($70), £45
($90), and £55 ($110) per month with an 18-month commitment
required. What's included is somewhat different than the plans
offered by AT&T, although all three plans include "unlimited" - with
an asterisk I'll define below - data service over EDGE, as in
America, and "unlimited" Wi-Fi access. Wi-Fi service is provided via
The Cloud, a hotspot builder in the UK that is currently building
out city centers. They operate service in the famous "Square Mile"
financial center of the City of London. The Cloud is part of many
worldwide aggregated hotspot networks.
<http://www.thecloud.net/>
The £35 plan offers 200 minutes and 200 SMS messages; £45 buys you
600 minutes and 500 SMS messages; and £55 gets you 1,200 minutes and
500 SMS messages. The higher phone cost comes from VAT, Steve Jobs
said at the press event. However, the UK VAT is just £35 (17.5
percent). U.S. sales taxes run no higher than about 9 percent. That
doesn't explain the other cost variances. VAT ostensibly reflects
taxes that aren't gathered at each stage of manufacture, whereas in
the United States, some taxes are paid as products move from raw
materials into finished goods, so the final price with VAT shouldn't
so drastically outstrip the U.S. price with average sales tax.
<http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=19123>
**Germany, France Are Also on Board** -- Later in the week, Apple
added T-Mobile in Germany to its European partner list; the carrier
is a division of Deutsche Telekom, which also owns T-Mobile USA.
T-Mobile will include 8,600 German Wi-Fi hotspots operated by the
company as part of its data plan, along with full nationwide EDGE
coverage due to be in place by the end of 2007. The phone will
premiere on 09-Nov-07 as well, and cost 399 ($562) including VAT.
Monthly pricing plans haven't yet been announced. The company brags
in their press release about having a worldwide network of 20,000
Wi-Fi hotspots, but fails to note that there is no included
cross-border roaming in any of their typical service plans in the
United States or Europe.
<http://www.t-mobile.de/iphone/index.jsp>
<http://www.t-mobile.net/CDA/07-09-19_tmoi_iphone,20,,newsid-5827,en.html>
The head of France Telecom said this week as well that its Orange
cell division would carry the iPhone, but Apple hasn't yet confirmed
that detail or provided pricing.
<http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gM5nwVEw5f8pw8WbfgelJ6ez7Q4w>
**Asterisk Marks the Hidden Facts on Unlimited** -- Now about that
data-plan asterisk in O2's terms: It refers to O2's "fair usage
policy," which the firm's head defined at the press event as the
equivalent of 1,400 Web page views per day. I love the Orwellian
doublespeak of "unlimited fair use." That's simply "limited use,"
and shouldn't be weasel-worded away.
Even more rich, I can find no formal definition of their policy on
the O2 Web site. A Blackberry "fair usage" plan is just 75 MB per
month. A special "1024" data plan includes 1 GB of data transfer a
month. So not only is O2 using marketing-speak, but they aren't
exposing enough information for consumers to make an informed
choice. UK and European regulators tend to be more heavy handed on
issues like this than in the United States, and the UK has a
self-regulating Advertising Standards Authority that isn't afraid to
smack down member claims that are misleading.
<http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/about/>
It's common among European carriers to impose data limits that are
far below their U.S. counterparts. Verizon Wireless tends to treat 5
GB per month as "unlimited"; I usually call this service unmetered
but limited, meaning that it's not charged a per-byte rate, but it's
capped at the top. T-Mobile USA appears to offer a truly unlimited
EDGE plan; I've never heard of anyone having their service canceled
for overuse of EDGE.
<http://cybernetnews.com/2007/04/03/verizon-admits-that-their-unlimited-data-plan-is-limited-to-5gb-per-month/>
This haziness around the monthly usage mars the launch for me. Apple
used to be one of the better firms when disclosing limitations of
their products and services, or explaining how the rest of the
industry required the limits they imposed. You could then be free to
choose or reject their offerings or explanations. In this case,
Apple has bought into the usual practice of telecom firms in
obfuscating a number that's a bright line within the carrier - they
know when to cut you off - but appears like a gray blur from the
outside.
New York Times Frees Old Articles
---------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9188>
A while back in "Create Permanent Links to the New York Times"
(2007-02-19) and "Easier New York Times Linking" (2007-02-26), I
shared techniques for creating permanent links to articles in the
New York Times, since there was a legitimate method of providing
permanent access to articles that would otherwise roll into the
for-fee TimesSelect service. Such fussing around is no longer
necessary, since the New York Times has stopped charging for access
to parts of its Web site as of midnight on 19-Sep-07. With the
exception of some articles (it wasn't made clear which ones) from
1923 to 1986, the archives are now freely available and easily
linked to.
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8867>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8881>
<http://www.nytimes.com/>
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/business/media/18times.html>
The TimesSelect service, started two years ago, charged $49.95 per
year, or $7.95 per month, for access to older articles in the
newspaper's archives, along with access to the work of 23 editorial
columnists. TimesSelect had 227,000 paying subscribers and
contributed about $10 million in revenue. However, the company
reportedly felt that there was more chance for growth in the online
advertising space. The site receives about 13 million unique
visitors each month, many coming in from search engines like Google
and Yahoo, but those visitors were often prevented from seeing the
results of their searches if the articles in question had moved into
TimesSelect since being indexed. The belief is that the increased
Web traffic will result in ad revenues that will outweigh the loss
of the TimesSelect subscriptions. Anyone who has paid in advance for
TimesSelect will be refunded a prorated percentage of the
subscription fee.
<http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/lettertoreaders.html>
Charging for access to old articles is a tricky business. The
article announcing the change notes that the Financial Times charges
for select articles, and that the Los Angeles Times tried and
quickly dropped an experiment with charging for content in 2005. For
such an approach to succeed, the publication must have a large
enough number of subscribers and content that is both sufficiently
interesting after it's no longer current and sufficiently unique
that it can't be found for free elsewhere. Of major U.S. newspapers,
only the Wall Street Journal has managed to maintain a policy of
charging for content, racking up nearly one million paying
subscribers and $65 million in revenue. The popular cooking magazine
Cook's Illustrated has long restricted access to its archives, and
closer to home, the MacFixIt troubleshooting site restricts access
to older articles to MacFixIt Pro subscribers. It will be
interesting to see if this policy continues, now that CNET has
purchased MacFixIt's parent TechTracker.
<http://www.ft.com/>
<http://www.latimes.com/>
<http://www.wsj.com/>
<http://www.cooksillustrated.com/>
<http://www.macfixit.com/>
<http://www.versiontracker.com/vtblog/?q=node/62>
And TidBITS? We're not opposed to the concept of readers paying for
content, but we're under no illusions that we have enough readers or
that our content is sufficiently unique to ever restrict access to
our archives. And while we can't compete with the massive archive of
the New York Times, in the Macintosh world, our old articles may be
the only coherent record of the past 17 years. As other worthy
publications - most notably MacUser and MacWEEK - have faded away,
their archives have disappeared as well. So if you want to research
the early days of the Macintosh online, feel free to poke around in
our archive, perhaps even starting with our very first issue. (Of
course, the downside is that looking back at my early writing is
truly mortifying. But I'll deal. Just try not to laugh too hard next
time you see me at Macworld.)
<http://db.tidbits.com/issue/1>
QuickerTek Expands Inexpensive Wi-Fi Options for Macs
-----------------------------------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9146>
QuickerTek recently released several new Wi-Fi adapters at prices
well below both their previous prices and the prices of adapters
from other providers of wireless alternatives to Apple's gear. The
adapters include both 802.11g and 802.11n adapters to complement or
update the firm's existing lineup.
<http://www.quickertek.com/news/news_08302007.php>
While Apple has offered AirPort Extreme with 802.11g since 2003 as
an optional or included adapter card or built-in interface on all
Macs, and more recently upgraded to 802.11n on Macs with Intel Core
2 Duo chips shipping since October 2006, many Macs lag behind the
fastest speed they could support.
An AirPort Extreme Card costs only $49 but can't be installed in all
the Macs that support at least Mac OS X 10.3, the earliest release
with robust support for modern Wi-Fi security. Any USB-equipped Mac
running Mac OS X 10.3 can use either QuickerTek's nNano USB, a
$59.95 USB dongle that supports the latest 802.11n draft standard,
or the 802.11g-based Nano USB for $49.95. The nNano is, by far, the
cheapest option for 802.11n for a Mac that doesn't have 802.11n
built in. The company also offers a $149.95 USB adapter, the nQuicky
with USB, priced that way because of its higher-powered radio and
external antennas; it requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later.
<http://www.quickertek.com/products/n_nano.php>
<http://www.quickertek.com/products/nano.php>
<http://www.quickertek.com/products/nquicky.php>
QuickerTek also released a new PCI card version of their nQuicky PCI
Upgrade Kit, now priced at $99.95 (down $50 from the previous
price). The PCI card works with Power Mac models containing PowerPC
G3, G4, and G5 chips running Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later, except for
the Power Mac G5 model with DDR2 memory chip support. (The
less-expensive USB options work with the G5 but lack the nQuicky's
range-extending external antenna.)
<http://www.quickertek.com/products/nquicky_pci.php>
The nQuicky PCMCIA/CardBus Upgrade Kit price has also dropped to
from $149.95 to $64.95. It works with PowerBooks with CardBus slots
running Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later. For the subset of PowerBook users
who run Mac OS X 10.3 or later and have no Wi-Fi built in, or have
only the original 802.11b AirPort card, you can upgrade to 802.11g
via a CardBus slot for just $49.95 with the b/g Quicky CardBus.
<http://www.quickertek.com/products/nquicky_cardbus.php>
<http://www.quickertek.com/products/bg_cb.php>
QuickerTek supports just the 2.4 GHz band for 802.11n, the most
commonly used set of frequencies for Wi-Fi. 802.11b and 802.11g can
use only the 2.4 GHz band; 802.11a uses only the higher-frequency
and less-occupied 5 GHz band. 802.11n can use either band, but
802.11n equipment makers can choose to support either or both bands
in a single device.
Apple chose to support both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz in its 802.11n AirPort
Extreme adapters and base station models. In 5 GHz, you can see
speeds of up to 90 Mbps between similar adapters and 140 Mbps from
wireless to wired connections using the latest gigabit AirPort
Extreme Base Station released earlier this month (see "AirPort Base
Station Upgraded to Gigabit Ethernet," 2007-08-13). In 2.4 GHz,
speeds are still an improvement over 802.11g's mid-20 Mbps range,
providing from 30 Mbps to 70 Mbps, depending on circumstances.
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9110>
You can read more about using 802.11n in my book "Take Control of
Your 802.11n AirPort Extreme Network," which will be released in a
new edition shortly - free to purchasers of the current book release
- to cover the revised gigabit AirPort Extreme Base Station.
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/airport-n.html?14@@!pt=TB897>
OWC Ships 802.11n Adapters for Older Macs
-----------------------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9193>
On the heels of recent 802.11g and 802.11n add-ons from QuickerTek
(see "QuickerTek Expands Inexpensive Wi-Fi Options for Mac Users,"
2007-08-30), Other World Computing has introduced three $67.99
adapters that bring 802.11n to Macs that lack built-in 802.11n
chipsets. The adapters include a USB dongle, a PCI/PCI-X card, and a
CardBus card. All three require Mac OS X 10.3 or later or Windows XP
or 2000 and later, including Vista.
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9146>
<http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/wireless/>
The USB dongle will work with any PowerPC G3/G4/G5- or Intel-based
Mac that can run Mac OS X 10.3 or later. The PCI/PCI-X card will
work only with appropriately equipped Power Mac models, and the
CardBus card only with PowerBooks.
The 802.11n standard provides a much greater coverage area and range
than its predecessor, 802.11g. Apple added 802.11n into most of its
products in late 2006, and provided the enabling software along with
a new base station in February 2007. But some current and all older
Macs have only built-in 802.11b or 802.11g adapters.
The Other World Computing and QuickerTek 802.11n adapters work only
in the 2.4 GHz range, a relatively crowded slice of spectrum that is
full of existing Wi-Fi networks, in which Bluetooth hops around, and
in which other uses abound. Apple's own adapters work in the 5 GHz
range as well, which has fewer current users and usages, and nearly
eight times as much available spectrum.
Other World's adapters differ from gear from both Apple and
QuickerTek in that they allow the use of so-called wide channels in
2.4 GHz, which is a bit controversial. A regular Wi-Fi channel uses
about 20 MHz of spectrum. With 802.11g, it can reach a raw data rate
of 54 Mbps, and with 802.11n, about 150 Mbps; that translates to
about 25 Mbps and 70 Mbps of real throughput in ideal cases.
Wide channels use 40 MHz, the equivalent of two channels, and double
the raw rate to 300 Mbps, achieving rates in my testing of up to 140
Mbps in the 5 GHz band. Apple allows wide channels only in 5 GHz,
where it supports 8 of 23 possible channel choices (with more to
come, I believe). With only 3 non-overlapping channels in 2.4 GHz,
due to the way in which channels are assigned, a wide channel has
the potential to step on more networks that might be operating in
the same space.
Part of the delay in 802.11n's finalization continues to be defining
the rules that keep 802.11n from being a bad neighbor. When 40 MHz
channels are in use, 802.11n is supposed to back down to 20 MHz
whenever it senses any network activity in the wider range. In
practice, that's still being sorted out.
Other World's gear should work just fine with Apple's AirPort
Extreme Base Station with 802.11n (the latest version released just
last month with gigabit Ethernet; see "AirPort Base Station Upgraded
to Gigabit Ethernet," 2007-08-13), but it won't achieve its highest
possible speeds unless used with another base station that offers
wide channels in 2.4 GHz.
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9110>
Confusion Over Santa Rosa: What's in a Name?
--------------------------------------------
by Simon C. Leemann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9191>
The latest batch of iMacs and MacBook Pros have been called "Santa
Rosa" by many, and even publications like Macworld and Ars Technica
have gone so far as to claim the new iMacs and MacBook Pros "use the
Santa Rosa chipset."
<http://www.macworld.com/2007/06/reviews/macbookprorev/>
<http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/aluminum-and-glass-a-review-of-the-new-imac.ars>
This has become a widespread notion and the moniker "Santa Rosa" was
quickly adopted to distinguish the latest iMacs and MacBook Pros
from their predecessors. Unfortunately, it is simply wrong, and
wrong in two ways. Firstly, Santa Rosa is not a chipset, but rather
Intel's code name for their most recent mobile computing platform.
And secondly, although these new Macs use one of the same chipsets
Intel requires for the Santa Rosa platform, they are not part of the
platform.
The latest Intel Centrino mobile platform has been given the code
name Santa Rosa. Intel has detailed which components are required
for a computer to belong to the Santa Rosa platform and hence
receive the Centrino badge.
<http://www.intel.com/pressroom/archive/releases/20060307corp_b.htm>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centrino#Santa_Rosa_platform_.282007.29>
The main requirements for Santa Rosa are:
* an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU (code-named "Merom") with Intel Socket P
* the Mobile Intel 965 Express Chipset (code-named "Crestline")
* an Intel Wi-Fi chipset capable of 802.11a/b/g/draft-n on a mini-PCIe
adapter (code-named "Kedron")
Santa Rosa describes the overall platform, which uses a Crestline
chipset. There is no such thing as a Santa Rosa chipset. This is the
first mistake.
Now let's take a look at the second mistake. For the CPUs on the new
iMacs and MacBook Pros, Apple has chosen the Intel Core 2 Duo T7x00
series (or the Core 2 Extreme X7900 Merom XE, in the case of the 2.8
GHz iMac).
<http://www.apple.com/imac/specs.html>
<http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/specs.html>
The chipset Apple is using is indeed the Intel Mobile PM965 Express
chipset ("Crestline"). It runs an 800 MT/s front-side bus (that's
megatransfers per second, which is technically more accurate than
the commonly stated megahertz), supports DDR2-667 SDRAM, and comes
with the Intel ICH8M southbridge (also known as an I/O Controller
Hub). Crestline also supports NAND flash-memory caching technology
(code-named "Robson") marketed under the name "Intel Turbo Memory,"
but this is not an explicit Santa Rosa platform requirement and
Apple (to date) doesn't make any use of it.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MT/s>
Finally, the wireless chipset. Both the iMac and the MacBook Pro are
capable of wireless communication according to the 802.11 standard
and both also support the latest draft-n specification of this
standard. But for some reason Apple is _not_ using Intel's "Kedron"
wireless adapter. Instead they are using a chipset manufactured by
Atheros. The FCC code on the wireless card installed in the MacBook
Pro reveals the manufacturer even though the module is just labeled
with "Apple Computer, Inc." This is the same module used in the
previous MacBook Pro generation. A quick hardware scan using lspci
under Ubuntu Linux on a MacBook Pro also reveals Atheros as the
manufacturer.
<http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/06/10/31/a_closer_look_at_apples_core_2_duo_macbook_pro.html>
<http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=2917029&postcount=21>
It's even more evident on the iMac. If, on the new iMac, you open
System Profiler and go to Network > AirPort Card, the firmware
version shows that the card was made by Broadcom.
<http://forums.macnn.com/58/imac-emac-and-mac-mini/346932/what-is-the-name-new-imac/#post3477399>
Regardless of the fact that the new iMacs and MacBook Pros are using
the CPU and chipset required by the Santa Rosa platform, they are
using a different Wi-Fi adapter and therefore are not part of the
Santa Rosa platform. This also provides yet another reason why Apple
has never used the Centrino badge for these Macs. And thank goodness
we don't have to tear those cheesy Centrino stickers off our new
Macs!
So why did so many sources get it wrong, and who's to blame? Much of
the responsibility lies with Apple itself. For years they have
resisted giving their new Macs unique names. Rather than using
something like Power Mac 7100/80 they now just refer to the iMac as
the 24-inch iMac. Of course, unique names are still needed as soon
as it comes to support or hardware repairs. On their support site
Apple uses additional monikers to distinguish the models from each
other. The latest iMacs and MacBook Pros are referred to as "Mid
2007." [Editor's note: Apple has long suffered from this problem. I
first wrote about it over eight years ago in "Macintosh Model
Implosion: What's in a Name?" (1999-06-14), and frankly, nothing has
improved since then. -Adam]
<http://support.apple.com/specs/imac/iMac_Mid_2007.html>
<http://support.apple.com/specs/macbookpro/MacBook_Pro_Mid_2007.html>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/5436>
Unfortunately, the "Mid 2007" name has nothing to do with the Mac's
internals, prompting many people to come up with alternative names.
It was quite popular to use "Core Duo" and later "Core 2 Duo" to
distinguish the first and second generations of Intel-based Macs,
but since it was clear early on that there would likely be more than
just one generation of Macs with Core 2 Duo processors, that naming
convention made little sense. Indeed the chipset is an easy way to
distinguish the first generation of Core 2 Duo iMacs and MacBook
Pros from their successors, but as detailed above that chipset would
properly be referred to as "Crestline."
The bulk of the confusion over what Santa Rosa is comes from Intel.
Very early on, before the official release of the Santa Rosa
platform, Intel informed the tech media that they were launching a
new mobile platform using a new chipset and the Core 2 Duo CPU, to
be called "Santa Rosa." At that point, Intel never mentioned
Crestline or Kedron, and used Santa Rosa to describe both the new
platform and their new mobile chipset. As a result, observers were
referring to the upcoming chipset as "Santa Rosa" long before the
official launch of the new Centrino platform. Although Intel later
published the requirements for the Santa Rosa platform and clarified
which chipset the platform requires, the name "Santa Rosa" has
managed to stick with the chipset ever since. But just as Apple
makes Macs and isn't a company called "Mac" (a mistake often made by
newcomers), Crestline is Santa Rosa's chipset - Santa Rosa by itself
is not a chipset.
This situation didn't stem from Intel being sloppy, but is more a
result of Intel creating program requirements to bolster sales of
certain components. Intel created the Centrino platform to encourage
PC makers to use all Intel components in their designs. However,
when those components (notably Intel's initial Wi-Fi chipset)
weren't competitive, PC makers chose different components in favor
of the Centrino sticker. That in turn led to the code names like
Santa Rosa becoming synonymous with the processor/chipset pair
required by a particular instantiation of the Centrino platform.
You may ask if this is really so important. After all, we're just
talking about a bunch of code names, right? While it is true that
normal users don't generally need to use these code names, they're
still important. Once you offer support, or you need to update or
fix somebody's Mac, it's crucial to be able to distinguish different
generations from each other in an unambiguous way. Different series
of Macs need names that reflect which generation they belong to. And
since Apple has resisted providing a coherent naming scheme that
provides this level of clarity, we have to come up with our own.
However, it is certainly in everybody's interest if we stick with
names that are correct and make sense. And that's why it's important
to stop confusing Santa Rosa with Apple's Crestline Macs.
[Simon C. Leemann is a research physicist and a longtime avid Mac
user.]
Take Control News: Make the Most of Apple Mail and .Mac
-------------------------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9195>
We're starting to clear the decks in anticipation of Apple's
promised release of Leopard next month, so we have not one, not two,
but _three free updates_ for our loyal Take Control readers.
The first two updates are aimed at anyone who uses Apple Mail,
bringing Joe Kissell's "Take Control of Apple Mail in Tiger" and
"Take Control of Spam with Apple Mail" completely up to date with
the world of Mail in Tiger. Both of these books were last updated
about two years ago, so we encourage current readers to download the
free update and check out the What's New list in each. If you aren't
among the 4,500 people who have already taken advantage of Joe's
expertise with Apple Mail, you can buy either title for $10 or get
both - 246 pages all told - for only $15 (look for the Buy Both
button in the left margin of either book's Web page).
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/tiger-apple-mail.html?14@@!pt=TRK-0028-TB897-TCNEWS>
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/spam-apple-mail.html?14@@!pt=TRK-0005-TB897-TCNEWS>
Energized by the cheese and baguettes in Paris, Joe has also managed
to crank out yet another a free update to his "Take Control of .Mac"
ebook. It addresses the changes that Apple made to .Mac a few weeks
ago, adds information about using your own domain name with .Mac,
explains how to use the new Junk Mail filter in .Mac Mail, and more.
For those who are new to .Mac, or who would like help using all of
.Mac's features, the 194-page book is $15.
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/dot-mac.html?14@@!pt=TRK-0030-TB897-TCNEWS>
(If you already own an earlier version of one of these ebooks, click
Check for Updates on the cover of your PDF to view the book's Check
for Updates Web page, from which you can download the free update.)
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/24-Sep-07
------------------------------------
by Jeff Carlson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9199>
**Can QuickBooks open Windows files?** After downloading the free
trial of QuickBooks for Mac, Matt Neuburg discovers that it can't
open files created by QuickBooks for Windows. But other options are
available to read the data. (4 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1486/>
**Classic OS and later OS X versions** -- How will Mac OS X 10.5
Leopard run on a PowerPC G4-based Mac, and what factors will
contribute to the performance? (9 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1487/>
**Why the "rebate hassle"?** People who hacked their iPhones to run on
a provider other than AT&T may not be able to take advantage of the
recent $100 rebate for early iPhone purchasers. (4 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1488/>
**iPhoto 7 Fills Glaring Holes** -- Adam's article about changes in
iPhoto 7 brings up questions and observations about the new Events
method of sorting photos. (13 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1489/>
**Deciding Between the iPhone and iPod touch** -- Looking at the
features of these devices, are they ready to replace the notes and
calendar capabilities of Palm organizers? (1 message)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1490/>
**PowerBook G4 and combo drives** -- A reader needs help trying to
mount an external hard disk (which was previously in a PowerBook) on
his Mac. (3 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1493/>
**why the ipod touch/ipod-classic?** The iPod classic offers huge
capacity using the "old" iPod interface, while the iPod touch offers
relatively small capacity using the new touchscreen interface of the
iPhone. Why not combine the best attributes and create a touchscreen
iPod with a huge hard drive? (3 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1494/>
**Downloading iTunes 7.4.2** -- Apple's attempts to make downloading
iTunes easier for both Mac and Windows users results in making it
harder for some readers to download the correct version. (7
messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1497/>
**LaunchBar** -- A LaunchBar shortcut for bringing up Web site URLs is
almost hidden, but can be powerful - if you can get used to actually
using it. (4 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1498/>
**Safari 3.0.3, RSS Feeders, and Article length** -- A reader is
trying to make Safari 3 remember its article length setting when
viewing RSS feeds, but it's not working. Any assistance? (1 message)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1499/>
**Powering Datacenters** -- One idea for improving power efficiency in
energy-hungry datacenters is to use DC current (versus the more
common DC to AC conversion), but it's not catching on. Why not? (6
messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1500/>
**Using Mail** -- Here's a suggestion for keeping two POP email
accounts separate using Apple Mail. (2 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1501/>
**Backing up as files get bigger** -- As files from iMovie, iPhoto,
and iTunes continue to increase in size, what are the best
approaches to backing up that extra data? And do large individual
file sizes make a difference? (1 message)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/1502/>
$$
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