TidBITS#945/15-Sep-08
=====================
Issue link: <http://db.tidbits.com/issue/945>
September is here, and Apple is in a release frenzy! Last week's
"Let's Rock" event brought forth new iPod nano and iPod touch models
(plus a single configuration of the iPod classic) as well as iTunes
8, which adds a new Genius music-recommendation feature. Genius
works on the new iPods and also the iPhone following Friday's update
to iPhone 2.1 software. Speaking of iTunes 8, Adam discovers that
each podcast to which you subscribe can finally have its own
settings. No Apple event is complete without numbers, so Adam runs
down the figures provided by Steve Jobs to note some interesting
growth on Apple's books. In other news, Joe Kissell updates his
monster list of Mac backup software, Apple's executives may finally
be done with the backdating scandal thanks to a recent settlement,
and we cover the changes in today's release of Mac OS X 10.5.5. In
this week's TidBITS Watchlist, we note the releases of
NetworkLocation 3.0, Spring Cleaning 10, Front Row 2.1.6, and HP
Printer Driver 1.1.1.
Articles
Mac OS X 10.5.5 Update Focuses on Bug Fixes
iPhone 2.1 Provides Highly Anticipated Bug Fixes
Apple Executives' Settlement May End Backdating Saga
Monster List of Mac Backup Software Updated
iTunes 8 Adds Genius; iTunes Store Adds HD TV and NBC
iTunes 8 Gains Per-Podcast Settings
Apple Reveals New iPod nano and Updated iPod touch
Running the Numbers with Steve Jobs
TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 15-Sep-08
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/15-Sep-08
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Mac OS X 10.5.5 Update Focuses on Bug Fixes
-------------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9771>
Apple today released Mac OS X 10.5.5, rolling in a large number of
bug fixes. As far as we can tell, there are no new features, but
thanks to Apple's moderately detailed release notes (thanks,
Apple!), users can get a sense of whether or not 10.5.5 is likely to
resolve particular problems.
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2405>
For instance, Apple claims the update addresses MacBook Air
stability issues with video playback, processor core idling (the
heat-related issue wherein a MacBook Air would shut down one of its
two processor cores), and remote disc sharing. It's unclear how this
is similar to or different from the fixes in MacBook Air Update,
which also claims to resolve a processor core idling problem.
Other general bug fixes solve a problem that could cause a Mac to
turn on unexpectedly at the same time every day, a stability issue
with using the color palette in TextEdit, problems syncing contacts
properly to Palm OS-based devices, improved reliability when
rebuilding a software mirror RAID volume in Disk Utility, and
Kerberos authentication issues for Mac OS X 10.5 clients connecting
to certain Samba servers (including Mac OS X Server 10.4's Samba
server - oops!).
General improvements include better Spotlight indexing performance,
an improved Speech Dictionary, and extensive graphics enhancements.
**Time Machine** -- It's hard to avoid comparisons between Apple's
Time Machine and Dr. Who's sometimes-recalcitrant TARDIS, given how
Time Machine works well for most people most of the time, but
occasionally refuses to back up, gets stuck in the middle of
backups, or confuses users with odd error messages. And like the
good doctor, Apple is continually working on Time Machine, now
improving reliability with Time Capsule, addressing performance
issues with initial and in-progress backups, and addressing a
spurious message that claimed a backup volume lacked sufficient
space.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardis>
Most interesting is the note that "Time Machine can now back up
iPhone backups that are on your Mac, as well as other items in
(~/Library/Application Support)." Does that mean that Time Machine
_hasn't_ been backing up iPhone backups or other items in the
Application Support folder? That's not reassuring.
**Improved Mail Handling** -- A number of the fixes in Mac OS X 10.5.5
revolve around Mail, specifically in relation to robustness. Apple
addressed stability issues that could result in crashes or other
problems when dragging items to Mail's icon in the Dock, saving
drafts that have attachments (a particularly annoying one, since
it's good form to attach documents early in the writing of a message
to avoid forgetting the attachment), and in sending messages.
The update also improves Mail's performance when displaying IMAP
messages and fixes problems related to SMTP settings for popular
mail hosts CompuServe, Yahoo, Time Warner Road Runner, and Hanmail.
Lastly, the new version of Mail resolves the temporary disappearance
of RSS feeds from the sidebar and makes sure dates appear in
collapsed threads when using the Organized by Thread view.
**MobileMe and iCal** -- Apple's release notes don't go into much
detail on this front, but the words "Improves overall sync
reliability" are sure to sound welcome to the small minority of
MobileMe subscribers who continue to see syncing problems with the
online service.
The updates to iCal include fixes for handling repeating events and
working with meeting attendees. Also listed is resolution of an
unspecified "issue with syncing published calendars."
Back to My Mac apparently has also been gifted with "improve[d]
reliability," but in what way, Apple isn't saying.
**Patching DNS** -- Security Update 2008-006, installed as part of
10.5.5 and available separately for Mac OS X 10.4.11, includes
dozens of obscure items that only system administrators can love, as
well as several important fixes related to DNS.
As we have written extensively, a flaw in most systems that handle
DNS lookups - the conversion of a human-readable domain name into a
machine-usable number - could allow criminals and ne'er-do-wells to
redirect Web browsing and other traffic to servers operated for
malicious purposes. (A legitimate request for www.amazon.com could
be returned with a forged IP address for a site run by bad guys.)
See our series "DNS Flaws Could Have Led to Disaster," for full
details.
<http://db.tidbits.com/series/1275>
In this security update, Apple cleans up three additional items
related to the DNS flaw. BIND, the daemon software that handles DNS
lookups, was updated to version 9.3.5-P2 for Tiger systems and
9.4.2-P2 for Leopard systems. The first patch (P1) of both releases
was known to have performance issues under heavy load, a situation
in which ostensibly only a few Apple server systems might find
themselves.
More significantly, Apple updated libresolv, an underlying system
library that provides DNS _resolution_ - the aforementioned lookup
of name to number - which is used by applications. This doesn't
affect most Mac OS X operations, but programs that have specialized
needs for DNS lookups required this update. It's unclear what
lower-level and graphical software would be affected by this update.
Finally, mDNSResponder was also patched in this release, following a
similar fix in the iPhone 2.1 and iPod touch 2.1 software. mDNS is
the protocol which Bonjour uses to pass information over a local
network, and, as such, is subject to the same kind of weaknesses
that plagued regular DNS.
**Clarity in File Sharing** -- Another item of interest is a change to
how the Sharing preference pane will now display what's accessible
in the File Sharing service. Previously, the File Sharing service
listed only folders and volumes that you had manually set to be
shared, along with the Public folder in your Home folder. (This
drove Glenn crazy while working on revisions to "Take Control of
Sharing Files in Leopard," because the list's contents were
inconsistent with what was actually available.)
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/leopard-sharing.html?14@@!pt=TB945>
The File Sharing service now shows in the Shared Folders list all
folders that are shared, including Public folders in other local
users' home directories. Apple added a note - a little subtle if you
ask us - that explains that all local volumes (the boot drive and
all mounted drives) can also be shared by anyone with administrative
access.
**Tiger Flashes Its PPP** -- A particularly silly error in Tiger was
fixed in this update: passwords used for PPP connections, typically
used for dial-up modem connections, were apparently stored
"unencrypted in a world readable file." Given the credit lists three
seemingly unrelated people, this flaw may have been known for some
time.
**Minor Mac OS X Server Updates** -- Apple also shipped a separate Mac
OS X Server 10.5.5 update that incorporates what appear to be a few
dozen fixes to relatively minor bugs in file services, collaboration
services, directory services, the Active Directory plug-in, and
various utilities. In addition, the WebObjects 5.4.3 Update is
included to address several bugs. It's also available as a
standalone 158.5 MB download.
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2406>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2700>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/webobjectsupdate543formacosx105.html>
**Getting the Updates** -- Mac OS X 10.5.5 is available via Software
Update, or as the following standalone downloads: a delta updater
(316 MB) for updating from the client version of Mac OS X 10.5.4,
and a combo installer (601 MB) for updating from any client version
of Mac OS X 10.5.0 through 10.5.4. Mac OS X Server 10.5.5 also comes
in a version for updating from version 10.5.4 (341 MB) and in a
combo updater (729 MB).
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx1055comboupdate.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosx1055update.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosxserver1055.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosxservercombo1055.html>
Security Update 2008-006 is available in four versions of Tiger: for
the PowerPC version of Mac OS X 10.4.11 (67.7 MB), for the Intel
version of Mac OS X 10.4.11 (157 MB), for the PowerPC version of Mac
OS X Server 10.4.11 (118 MB), and as a universal version for Mac OS
X Server 10.4.11 (118 MB). Honestly, it's easiest to let Software
Update do its thing.
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/securityupdate2008006clientppc.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/securityupdate2008006clientintel.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/securityupdate2008006serverppc.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/securityupdate2008006serveruniversal.html>
iPhone 2.1 Provides Highly Anticipated Bug Fixes
------------------------------------------------
by Jeff Carlson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9768>
Unlike me, some sensible people tend to wait for a .1 (or "dot-one")
release of any software before committing to it, the idea being that
major bugs that invariably ship with the first .0 version are worked
out in the update. Looking at Apple's release notes for the iPhone
2.1 software released last week, it appears the sensible people can
finally move on up.
The update is available for all iPhone owners, including those still
running iPhone 1.0 software, and addresses a number of high-profile
bugs and annoyances. (Apple has even listed them online and in the
release notes.)
<http://www.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/>
Unlike the iPhone 2.0.1 and 2.0.2 releases that provided merely "bug
fixes," iPhone 2.1 addresses annoyances I and others encounter on a
day-to-day basis. For example, the SMS and Phone/Contacts
applications no longer dawdle when locating contacts. The time to
back up the iPhone during sync is "dramatically reduced;" although I
found backing up to be sluggish at times, I know people who would
wait up to _two hours_ for the backup to finish. If you have many
third party applications installed, Apple claims it has fixed bugs
that caused hangs and crashes. Apple also claims a "decrease in call
set-up failures and call drops," which I hope also translates into
better 3G performance in general - initial reports indicate that
this is the case. This release also adds the Genius feature found in
iTunes 8 and the iPods announced this week (see "Apple Reveals New
iPod nano and Update iPod touch and iTunes 8 Adds Genius; iTunes
Store Adds HDTV and NBC, 2008-09-09).
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9764>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9763>
And now, finally, when you install new applications, the iPhone
retains the placement of your application icons instead of jumbling
them up. I'm already more calm.
iPhone 2.1 rolls in a handful of security fixes as well, including a
resolution for the workaround that bypassed the Passcode Lock
feature. Other changes include a way to prevent TCP spoofing by
randomizing TCP initial sequence numbers, better application sandbox
behavior, fixes to CoreGraphics, a fix to prevent DNS cache
poisoning, and better CSS handling in WebKit.
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3129>
iPhone 2.1 is available via iTunes as a 231 MB download; after
connecting your iPhone, click the Update button on the iPhone
Summary screen.
Apple Executives' Settlement May End Backdating Saga
----------------------------------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9765>
Reuters reports that Apple executives have agreed to settle charges
brought against them by a variety of shareholders in various
lawsuits relating to the company issuing backdated options. These
options had their prices set on a date prior to the one on which
they were issued, which typically provides a built-in financial
advantage - the options have a price below the market price on their
actual issue date - and, while not illegal per se, must be disclosed
and properly accounted for. (For the full account of how Apple got
itself into all this trouble and has apparently sorted it out, see
our series, "Apple's Troubles with Backdated Stock Options.")
<http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN1049004420080911>
<http://db.tidbits.com/series/1274>
A number of current and former Apple executives were named in the
lawsuits, including Steve Jobs, former chief financial officer Fred
Anderson, and former general counsel Nancy Heinen. Anderson and
Heinen were singled out in an internal investigation Apple conducted
into its own behavior - although they weren't fingered by name - and
both Anderson and Heinen settled separate actions with the SEC in
which they neither admitted nor denied culpability. The company was
never specifically charged with any civil or criminal actions.
Reuters says all the targets of these various lawsuits have agreed
to a settlement, to which a judge has given preliminary approval, in
which $14 million will be paid to Apple, which in turn will pay $9
million to plaintiffs to cover legal expenses. The settlement will
be paid by Apple's insurance provider.
The suits were filed on behalf of Apple by shareholders, and they
aren't sharing in the proceeds - which means Apple gets a $5 million
rebate of sorts against their insurance premiums, and executives pay
nothing. Plaintiffs can't legally get a kickback on legal fees in
these sorts of cases; the Justice Department successfully prosecuted
several attorneys over the last few years involved in such schemes.
Monster List of Mac Backup Software Updated
--------------------------------------------
by Joe Kissell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9769>
I've just finished a significant update of my online appendix to
"Take Control of Mac OS X Backups" that lists just about every
graphical Mac backup program in existence. Although I had tweaked
the tables here and there over the past few months, I had also been
maintaining a separate list of new and updated backup programs that
required more testing before I could properly list them. When that
list grew to more than 20 items, I realized I'd better take action
before it collapsed under its own weight.
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/resources/0014/>
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/backup-macosx.html?14@@!pt=TB945>
In addition to updated details on numerous backup programs, the list
now includes several entirely new entries, including
ElephantDesktop, IBackup for Mac, IDrive Online Backup, and
Mathusalem. In addition, I've promoted SugarSync to the "real backup
software" portion of the tables now that it includes versioning (as
discussed in "SugarSync Sweetens Online Syncing," 2008-08-30).
<http://www.elephantdrive.com/download/>
<http://www.ibackup.com/ibackup-for-mac/>
<http://www.idrive.com/idrive-for-mac.htm>
<http://code.google.com/p/mathusalem/>
<http://www.sugarsync.com/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9751>
I'm also aware of a couple of programs in beta testing, and as soon
as I get my hands on shipping versions, I'll include those as well.
Meanwhile, as I was typing this post, I saw yet _another_ update
appear for one of the backup programs in my table (and yes, I've
already updated it). Jeesh!
iTunes 8 Adds Genius; iTunes Store Adds HD TV and NBC
-----------------------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9763>
Do you have a friend who always seems plugged in to the latest
music? With last week's release of iTunes 8, Apple wants to be that
hip friend, in the form of the new Genius feature.
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/whatsnew/>
The iTunes Genius automatically builds a playlist of songs in your
library, matching artists and genres according to Apple-developed
algorithms that, in theory, result in a collection of songs that
sound good together.
When you install and launch iTunes 8 for the first time, the program
asks whether you want to enable the Genius feature in a right-hand
sidebar. If you agree, you next log into your (required) iTunes
account, and Apple gathers information about your iTunes library,
sends it to their servers, and then produces results. The process
isn't necessarily quick, depending on the size of your iTunes
library. According to Apple, information about your library,
including track names, play counts, ratings, and playlists - but no
personal data - is sent to the company's servers and analyzed each
week.
Two Genius features become available after this initial process.
Select a song in your library and click the new Genius button in the
lower-right corner of the window. A Genius playlist is created and
appears in the iTunes left-hand sidebar. (The Genius button replaces
the Browse button from iTunes 7.) The Genius ties into the iTunes
Store using that right-hand sidebar, suggesting other songs and
artists you would like based on what's in your library.
As with the old MiniStore (which is now gone), the Genius sidebar is
not automatically enabled by default.
**Grid View** -- An interesting evolution in iTunes is Apple's work
toward making your media library less listy and more visually
interactive. The Cover Flow mode replicates the old jukebox approach
of flipping panels of albums, but despite its 3D appeal, Cover Flow
displays only a handful of items at a time.
So Apple has added Grid View, which displays rows and columns of
album art in a grid. (Grid View replaces the list-with-artwork
view.) The album covers can be resized; like iPhoto's event icons,
rolling your mouse pointer over an icon in artist, genre, or
composer view displays the albums without clicking the icon. Buttons
along the top let you display by album, artist, genre, or composer.
Double-clicking an icon brings up the old list-with-artwork view.
In a little stylistic touch, the icons sorted by album are square
(like an album cover), while the icons for the other view options
have rounded corners.
It's nice to see Apple keeping a focus on album artwork, since the
digital era has made album covers almost obsolete.
**HD TV Shows and the Return of the Peacock** -- The update of iTunes
also comes with the addition of high-definition television shows
through the iTunes Store; previously, only standard-definition TV
episodes were available. Apple doesn't specify the format of its new
HD programs (720p, 1080i, etc.) or the bit rate at which shows will
be compressed, but just about any high-definition content will look
worlds better than the low-resolution TV shows we've been buying
until now - and those didn't even look that bad.
HD television programs from the iTunes Store may be purchased and
viewed in iTunes. In fact, currently iTunes is the only source for
purchasing HD TV shows, as the high-definition versions don't show
up on the Apple TV; we expect that a software update for the Apple
TV will be released soon. HD movies, alas, can still be purchased
and viewed only using an Apple TV; HD podcasts continue to be
available in iTunes and the Apple TV. Watching high-def TV shows
requires a 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or faster processor (under Mac
OS X or Windows), according to the iTunes 8 release notes.
HD programs are initially available from NBC Universal's networks
(such as NBC, USA Network, and Sci-Fi Channel), ABC, and Showtime,
for a $1 premium over the $1.99 price for the standard-definition
version of each show. (As a bonus, viewers purchasing HD programs
also get an iPod-ready version with a smaller file size and
resolution suitable for portable devices.)
Yes, we said "NBC Universal." Last week's event marked the return of
NBCU content to the iTunes Store after its abrupt departure almost
exactly a year ago, when, according to Apple, the company declined
NBCU's demand for a much-higher payment per episode sold. (In
Macworld's liveblogging of the event, Associate Editor Dan Moren
joked about John Mayer showing up in every Genius playlist; perhaps
extra exposure for Mayer, who is a Universal recording artist, was
the quid pro quo that got NBCU back to the table.)
Apple says that NBC, back just in time for the fall television
season, will be offering a free episode from each of their "top
series," including advance previews of premiere episodes of upcoming
shows such as "Knight Rider" and "My Own Worst Enemy," a week before
the broadcast date. Several vintage shows, like "Miami Vice" and the
original "Battlestar Galactica," will also be available for 99 cents
an episode.
**Other Changes** -- iTunes 8 adds support for managing the iTunes
library using the VoiceOver component of Leopard's Universal Access
preference pane; under Windows XP and Windows Vista, iTunes takes
advantage of the Window-Eyes feature. You can also purchase and
download media from the iTunes Store using a screen reader.
A new visualizer makes its appearance in iTunes 8, listed simply as
iTunes Visualizer from the Visualizer submenu of the View menu. The
effect resembles electricity arcing around spheres of dark matter in
space. The old visualizer is still available as iTunes Classic
Visualizer from the same menu.
iTunes 8 requires the simultaneously released QuickTime 7.5.5,
available via Software Update as a 67.5 MB download, to handle the
new video options. Also released was Front Row Update 2.1.6 (a 13.1
MB download), which provides iTunes 8 compatibility. Both iTunes 8
and QuickTime 7.5.5 feature security fixes, as well.
iTunes 8 is a 55.9 MB download from Apple's Web site or via Software
Update.
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/>
iTunes 8 Gains Per-Podcast Settings
-----------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9766>
Three years after adding podcast support to iTunes (with iTunes 4.9
in mid-2005), Apple has finally given us the ability to control
podcast download and retention settings on a per-podcast basis.
Until now, you could set what iTunes would do when new episodes of a
podcast became available and how many episodes to keep, but those
settings applied to all podcasts equally. That one-size-fits-all
approach made little sense, and in his introductory article about
iTunes 4.9's podcast handling, "Take Control of Podcasting on the
Mac" author Andy Affleck noted that he wanted different settings for
highly perishable news podcasts than for a radio show that his son
liked (see "Apple Releases iTunes 4.9 with Podcasting Support,"
2005-08-04).
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/8160>
With iTunes 8, podcast settings have moved from a screen in the
iTunes preferences window to a standalone dialog that you access by
clicking the Settings button at the bottom of your list of
subscribed podcasts (click Podcasts in iTunes's sidebar to view
them). The Podcast Settings dialog looks almost exactly like the
previous settings interface, with the addition of a pop-up menu from
which you can choose any of your subscribed podcasts.
<http://www.tidbits.com/resources/2008-09/iTunes-podcast-settings.png>
At the top of the dialog is a Check For New Episodes pop-up menu,
which remains a global setting that applies to all podcasts. From
it, you can choose Every Hour, Every Day, Every Week, or Manually.
Although an argument could be made for making this setting
podcast-specific too, I think Apple's decision to reduce complexity
by applying this setting across all podcasts is correct.
Next comes the Settings For pop-up menu, from which you can pick any
podcast to which you're subscribed, or, from the top, Podcast
Defaults, which is where you set your default options. Then, for
each individual podcast, you can deselect the Use Default Settings
checkbox and change the options as you wish.
Those options are two-fold. First, when new episodes become
available, set whether you want iTunes to Download All, Download the
Most Recent One, or Do Nothing. This last option is great for a
podcast to which you want to stay subscribed, but for which you want
to snag only the occasional episode by hand.
Second, set how many episodes you want iTunes to keep: All Episodes;
All Unplayed Episodes; Most Recent Episode; or Last 2, 3, 4, 5, or
10 Episodes. This is the key setting, since with it you can finally
convince iTunes to hang on to the number of episodes that makes
sense for how often you listen to a particular podcast, how
interested you are in that podcast, and (roughly) how much disk
space you wish to allot to podcasts.
Don't discount the disk space issue. I tend to go through phases of
listening to podcasts depending on how much yard work I'm doing or
time I'm spending in the car, and they can really build up on me. In
fact, now that I check, it seems that my Podcasts directory is over
10 GB! I'll leave you to fiddle with your own iTunes settings now -
I need to do some cleanup.
Apple Reveals New iPod nano and Updated iPod touch
--------------------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9764>
As leaves prepare to take color and drop from trees in the Northern
hemisphere, so, too, does Apple release its flight of new iPods.
This year's revisions settle on one capacity for iPod classic
storage, reformulate the iPod nano, and bring new hardware features
to the iPod touch. Pricing remains high, in our opinion, showing
Apple's confidence in maintaining its large product pricing margins.
**Slimming the Classic Line** -- Formerly available in 80 GB and 160
GB varieties (the latter of which was packaged in a thicker case),
the iPod classic now sports a 120 GB drive and gleams either in
silver or black; it's $249. The new iPod classic supports Genius
playlists, but is otherwise unchanged from the earlier version.
This may indicate that the iPod classic, and perhaps the hard
drive-based iPod in general, is on the way out. 1.8-inch hard drives
may be small, but they're less durable and bulkier than flash RAM,
and as RAM capacities increase and prices drop, Apple may be looking
to move the entire iPod line to RAM-based storage. The problem there
lies in the capacity differences; no RAM-based iPod offers more than
32 GB of storage, whereas the iPod classic goes up to 120 GB. No
reason was given for dropping the 160 GB iPod classic; perhaps it
simply wasn't selling well enough.
(The iPod shuffle, unmentioned at the product launch, remains
available in two capacities: 1 GB for $49, and 2 GB for $69. You can
choose among silver, blue, green, pink, and awareness-raising
(PRODUCT) RED.)
**A Snazzier Nano** -- The iPod nano, as widely rumored, has returned
to a long, skinny form factor to make room for a 2-inch,
320-by-240-pixel screen with LED backlighting. The new
glass-and-aluminum case is curvier and thinner than the older
designs.
Surprisingly, the iPod nano now includes an accelerometer (much like
the iPhone and iPod touch), enabling it to switch from portrait to
landscape and back as you change the iPod nano's orientation. You
can also shake the iPod nano to shuffle the song selection, a clever
feature that drew cheers during Steve Jobs's presentation. Like the
other new iPods, the nano can create Genius playlists. Battery life
is improved, with Apple claiming 24 hours of music playback and 4
hours of video playback.
The new iPod nano supports voice recording via a new set of
headphones with a built-in microphone (as well as buttons for
play/pause, track skip, and volume control), which is scheduled to
ship in October 2008 for $29. Also coming in October are an armband
for the nano ($29) and redesigned in-ear headphones with dual
drivers (a woofer and a tweeter) for $79.
Apple offers the revised iPod nano in two capacities (8 GB for $149,
or 16 GB for $199), and in your choice of nine colors - an entire
spectrum including silver, black, purple, blue, green, yellow,
orange, (PRODUCT) RED, and pink. The 8 GB models are available
immediately, with the 16 GB models expected to ship within days.
Overall, the new iPod nano seems like a winner. Most people seem
happy about the return to the longer, thinner form factor, and the
addition of the accelerometer is truly neat. We expect it to sell
like the proverbial hot cakes this holiday season.
**Touch of Class** -- The iPod touch received a significant overhaul
as well. Now featuring a stainless steel back, the updated iPod
touch is thinner than before, with curves that resemble those of the
iPhone 3G. The iPod touch now has a built-in speaker (which, Jobs
emphasized, is not intended to replace the headphones for music
listening), external volume controls, and connects wirelessly to a
$19 Nike+iPod sensor without needing the separate adapter that was
formerly required. That's a big win for people who use the iPod
while running or walking for fitness; the Nike+iPod adapter messed
with the clean lines of the iPod, especially when it came to
shoehorning it into armbands or other cases.
The iPod touch is available in 8 GB, 16 GB and 32 GB capacities,
priced at $229, $299 and $399, respectively. Those are significant
price drops - $70 for the 8 GB model and $100 for the 16 GB and 32
GB models. All three models are now shipping.
In comparing the new iPod touch with the iPhone 3G, the big
differences (apart from cellular capabilities, of course) are the
iPod touch's lack of a GPS chip and a camera, both of which would be
awfully nice to have in an iPod touch. Apple is clearly trying to
differentiate the iPhone and iPod touch on more than just the
capability to make calls, but the now-subsidized iPhone prices
confuse that comparison. An 8 GB iPhone 3G costs $199, or $30 less
than an 8 GB iPod touch. The 16 GB iPhone 3G and iPod touch are
priced identically at $299, and there is no 32 GB iPhone 3G to
compare. Of course, you don't have to factor a $75-per-month (or
more) cellular service contract into the iPod touch price.
**Another Shade of Green** -- Jobs made a point of saying that in
addition to the new features, the new iPod nano and iPod touch have
become more environmentally friendly by ditching PVC, mercury, and
BFR, using arsenic-free glass, and being made with easily recyclable
materials. That's good, of course, but we would be remiss if we
didn't note that the most environmentally friendly thing you can do
with an old iPod is make sure that it stays in use as long as
possible even if, horrors, that means holding off on buying one of
these hot new models until your old one bites the dust.
Running the Numbers with Steve Jobs
-----------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9762>
Benjamin Disraeli famously said, "There are three kinds of lies:
lies, damn lies, and statistics." I certainly can't quibble with the
sentiment, but just about the only time we get any numbers out of
Apple at all is when Steve Jobs shares them on stage at an Apple
event. Of course, Steve shares only good numbers, and even then,
only numbers that support what he's about to announce. There's no
way to verify Apple's numbers, so we have to take it on faith that
as the head of a publicly traded company that appears to mint money
he's not just making this stuff up. Let's look at what Steve shared
at last week's "Let's Rock" event.
**iTunes Store Stats** -- According to the NPD Group, the iTunes Store
in 2008 became the number one music retailer in the United States,
taking over the top slot from Walmart, and followed by Best Buy,
Amazon, and Target. Amazon jumped from fifth to fourth place thanks
to Amazon MP3's sales of unprotected music downloads - MP3s without
DRM encryption - and due to a lower rate of erosion for online CD
sales than music sold at brick-and-mortar stores. Regardless, the
iTunes Store numbers are impressive:
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/06/19itunes.html>
* 65 million accounts with credit cards in iTunes. That's a huge
number, but what's more impressive in my mind is that as of February
2008, Apple had 50 million customers. Adding 15 million customers in
seven months is astonishing. In comparison, Amazon, selling atoms
since 1995 and bits over the last few years, has 81 million customer
accounts used for payment.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/30/technology/30amazon.html>
* 8.5 million songs. As of the last report, in June 2008, Apple was
reporting "over eight million songs," indicating that the company is
still adding significant numbers of new tracks.
* 125,000 podcast feeds. This sounds like a big number, but Apple was
reporting over 100,000 different podcasts back in May 2007, which
would seem to indicate that the number of new podcasts is increasing
slowly. The fact of the matter is that creating a regular podcast is
a fair amount of work, and the quantity of podcasts has never
mattered as much as quality, as there's little filter for getting a
podcast listed at the iTunes Store.
* 30,000 episodes of TV shows. That's up 10,000 episodes from June,
perhaps in part due to NBC rejoining the iTunes Store with its
collection of shows. Amazon now has 1,200 TV _seasons_, which - with
20 to 30 episodes per season - could be a roughly comparable number
of episodes.
* 2,600 Hollywood movies. June's number was "over 2,000," which is a
nice increase, but it still pales in comparison to Amazon, which
claims 14,500 movies available for purchase or rental. Amazon
includes all manner of items in its "movies" listing, so the unique
film count is somewhat lower.
**iPod Stats** -- Although the Mac still doesn't have a particularly
large market share (I've seen 11 percent bandied about recently),
the numbers for the iPod are stunning, so much so that if I were
Apple, I'd be taking pains to avoid activities that could be seen as
monopolistic.
The iPod now has 73.4 percent of the music player market share, with
the lumped-together category of "Other" hitting second place,
sharing 15.4 percent of the market among a large number of
companies. In third place with about 9 percent of market share is
SanDisk, which has some well-reviewed music players, and in fourth
place, with a minuscule 2.6 percent market share, is Microsoft's
Zune. (On 16-Sep-08, Microsoft will introduce revised Zune firmware
and hardware, which includes FM tagging: listen to a song via a
built-in FM receiver on certain radio stations, push a button, and
instantly purchase the song if the Zune is on an active Wi-Fi
network.)
Apple has sold 160 million iPods so far, and according to Edison
Media Research, 37 percent of U.S. consumers as of April 2008 own a
portable MP3 player; that carries the implication that 27 percent of
U.S. consumers own an iPod. I don't know how many "consumers" there
are in the United States, but with that number it would be possible
to split out U.S. versus international iPod sales.
<http://www.itfacts.biz/37-of-us-consumers-own-a-portable-mp3-player/10396>
What's almost more impressive is the ecosystem support that Apple
has encouraged around the iPod. According to Jobs, 90 percent of
cars in the United States offer iPod integration. I assume he means
_new_ cars currently being sold, but even still, that level of
support makes it much less likely that any other music player will
be able to dethrone the iPod any time soon. (Plenty of inexpensive
car stereos can be retrofitted into autos to add iPod support, too.)
Similarly, Apple claims over 5,000 iPod accessories are available,
and since there aren't that many categories of accessories (cases,
speakers, headphones, FM transmitters, etc.), that says to me the
accessory field is plenty big enough for numerous competitors.
**App Store Stats** -- These numbers are harder to evaluate. According
to Apple, there are now 3,000 applications available for the iPhone
and iPod touch on the App Store, but there are still programmers who
haven't been able to get into the iPhone developer program, and I'm
sure plenty of people are still working on their iPhone apps. I'm
surprised that only 700 of those 3,000 apps are games, but Apple
differentiates between "Games" and "Entertainment," which seems like
a slippery distinction. I'd be more interested to see how all the
different App Store categories broke down.
The problem of abundance has clearly hit the App Store, too: with
3,000 programs and very simple broad categories and poor sorting
abilities, most applications will wind up lost in the fray, while
finding a particular program to solve your needs or interests
remains hard.
Apple's other big number related to the App Store is that 100
million apps have been downloaded so far. A followup discussion with
Apple revealed that the number includes both free and paid
applications, but does not include downloads of application updates.
Nevertheless, that's an awful lot of downloads - I wonder how many
of those apps are actually used. I use only a fraction of the apps
I've downloaded, almost all of them free.
**Tune In At Macworld Expo** -- I doubt we'll see any more numbers
from Apple until the Macworld Expo keynote, so until then, ponder
all those zeroes in front of the decimal point and if you remember
the bad old days of being snubbed as part of the Macintosh minority,
you can now enjoy being part of the iPod majority.
TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 15-Sep-08
---------------------------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9767>
* NetworkLocation 3.0 from Centrix adds location awareness via Wi-Fi
positioning to its configuration tool. The software already let you
set profiles for settings - such as default printer, network
configuration, mounted servers, and launched applications. The
latest release lets you tie your location, as determined by Skyhook
Wireless's Wi-Fi Positioning System, to profiles. Skyhook is part of
what powers the iPhone's Location Services. NetworkLocation 3.0 also
includes new plug-ins, a revamped action interface, and control over
Spaces. The latest release requires Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. ($29 new,
$19 upgrade, 3.1 MB)
<http://networklocationapp.com/>
* Spring Cleaning 10 from Smith Micro is the latest version of the
long-standing cleanup utility for the Mac, which is designed to help
users reduce unnecessary file clutter, eliminate duplicates, and
perform system maintenance. New in version 10 is the capability to
sort and organize files in a wide variety of ways, find movies in 17
different formats, find and organize podcasts, send photos to Flickr
and Picasa, create scripts in AppleScript and other languages, and
more. ($49.99 new, $19.99 upgrade)
<http://www.smithmicro.com/springcleaning>
* Front Row 2.1.6 from Apple updates the media interface with iTunes 8
compatibility and unspecified bug fixes. It requires Mac OS X 10.5
Leopard, QuickTime 7.5.5 or later, and iTunes 6.0.4 and iPhoto 6.0.2
or later. (Free, 12.5 MB)
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/frontrow216.html>
* HP Printer Driver 1.1.1 seems to be a bug fix for Apple's previous
release of the HP Printer Driver Update, addressing a problem
wherein printing to an HP LaserJet may not work if you select a
printer preset other than Standard from the Presets pop-up menu. It
may also include drivers for new printers, or updated drivers for
other HP printers, but all Apple will give us is a list of supported
HP printers. (Free, 405 MB)
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/hpprinterdriver111.html>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2008>
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1893>
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/15-Sep-08
------------------------------------
by Jeff Carlson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9770>
**Cleaning a Mighty Mouse?** Remember the days of cleaning mouse
trackballs? Good thing those days are over - unless you own an Apple
Mighty Mouse, which has a little scrolling trackball. What's the
best way to clean it? (13 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2201>
**Question: launching Top Hit in Spotlight** -- Leopard changed the
behavior of selecting and launching the first Spotlight search
result. (4 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2202>
**Unlocking iPhone 3G to avoid AT&T** -- A reader wonders if it's
possible to use an iPhone 3G on Verizon's network. (No, it's not.)
(5 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2203>
**Suggestions about setting up RAID under Leopard on 10.5?** A
software RAID setup that worked under Tiger isn't functioning under
Leopard for some reason. 3 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2205>
**New iPods: Is iPod Classic Going Away?** Apple now offers just one
configuration for the hard drive based iPod classic. Does this mean
the model will be dropped in the near future? (37 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2207>
**Is the Price of an iPod Touch Too High?** A Web site compares the
cost of the iPod touch with various PDAs. (4 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2208>
**MobileMe annoyances** -- Readers aren't happy about being Apple's
beta testers for the paid MobileMe service. (2 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2210>
**ThinkTank - More - and now?** The hunt is on for outlining software
that replicates (or at least imports data from) these older
applications. (5 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2211>
**iPhone 2.1 Provides Highly Anticipated Bug Fixes** -- Readers
discuss changes in the latest iPhone and iPod touch update. (10
messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2212>
**"LoJack" for Cell Phones** -- Software that helps locate a stolen
cell phone could be useful for the iPhone. (3 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2213>
**iTunes 8 breaks AirTunes** -- One reader finds that the iTunes 8
update no longer plays wirelessly to an AirPort Express, but others
aren't seeing the problem. (4 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2214>
**Monster List of Mac Backup Software Updated** -- Joe Kissell
discusses the fact that his list of backup applications includes
only software with a graphical interface. (2 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2215>
$$
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