TidBITS#801/17-Oct-05
Geoff Duncan
=====================
Last week brought an abundance of announcements, including Apple's
record financial results and release of a video-enabled iPod, a
new iMac with an iSight camera built-in, and iTunes 6 with TV
shows for sale in the iTMS. Not entirely overshadowed was Palm's
release of a pair of Palm handhelds, the Z22 and TX. Microsoft was
also busy, settling a lawsuit with RealNetworks and announcing
plans to make its instant messaging network interoperable with
Yahoo's. Last, though not least, James Thomson shipped the slick
calculator utility PCalc 3, and we published "Take Control of
Permissions in Mac OS X."
Topics:
MailBITS/17-Oct-05
DealBITS Drawing: MaxProtect II from MaxUpgrades
Apple Quadruples Q4 Profit
Apple Unveils Video iPod & New Media-centric iMac
iTunes 6 Gets Video
RealNetworks and Microsoft Settle, Present New Unified Front
Instant Messaging World Coalesces, a Little
Cheap Palm, Connected Palm
Take Control News/17-Oct-05
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/17-Oct-05
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MailBITS/17-Oct-05
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**PCalc Adds! (A New Version, That Is)** -- PCalc is a calculator
utility by James Thomson (who also writes DragThing, my favorite
launcher). Developing a calculator is something of a thankless
task, because users feel that arithmetic is something computers
should just know how to do, and because a free calculator utility
is always included by default. PCalc, however, has had remarkable
staying power; it's been around for a long time, and has usually
been the calculator that Apple strives to emulate with each
successive version of its calculator. The Tiger version of Apple's
calculator threatened to catch up at last, adding reverse Polish
notation and hexadecimal/binary mode. Now PCalc strikes back with
version 3, adding extensible unit conversions and user functions,
plus a superior interface (you can do just about everything
without the mouse, plus it looks really slick with all three
drawers showing - RPN stack, Unicode, and paper tape). PCalc
requires Tiger 10.4.2 (and includes a calculator Dashboard
widget); it costs $20 and is a free upgrade for current PCalc
users. [MAN]
<http://www.pcalc.com/english/whatsnew.html>
**Adam Helps Launch MacNotables Podcast** -- Podcasting is all the
rage right now, and it's something we've thought about doing in
a variety of ways for TidBITS and Take Control. But the obstacles
are huge - learning entirely new technologies and skills, coming
up with interesting topics to talk about, and carving out time in
our already overcommitted schedules on a regular basis. So when
Chuck Joiner, who has tons of experience with The User Group
Report, called to run an idea past me, I sort of ambushed him
with a related idea - why not create a new podcast with a group
of well-known Mac people who weren't currently participating in
the podcast space? In one fell swoop, the idea, now a reality
as the MacNotables podcast, eliminated all the problems that had
kept many of us out of the podcasting world. Chuck's production,
interviewing, and scheduling skills anchor the podcast, which
features a veritable who's who of panelists, including Chris
Breen of PlaylistMag.com, Bryan Chaffin of The Mac Observer,
Jim Dalrymple of MacCentral and Macworld.com, Tonya and me
representing TidBITS, Andy Ihnatko of the Chicago Sun-Times,
Ted Landau, Bob LeVitus of the Houston Chronicle, and Dennis
Sellers of Macsimum News. The first few episodes have been panel
discussions: the first one focused on Apple's financials and
speculation about last week's announcements, while the second
covered Apple's new products. So give us a listen, and stay tuned
for more notable episodes. Use the second link below to subscribe
via iTunes; the MacNotables home page has links for general RSS
subscription and direct listening. [ACE]
<http://www.macnotables.com/>
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=82507146>
**DealBITS Drawing: Swift Publisher Winners** -- Congratulations
to Kevin Savetz of savetz.com, Ole Andreas Kongsgaarden of
c2i.net, and Marijn van der Waa of xs4all.nl, whose entries
were chosen randomly in last week's DealBITS drawing and who each
received an electronic copy of BeLight Software's Swift Publisher,
worth $34.95. If you weren't among our winners, you can still save
15 percent on Swift Publisher through 26-Oct-05 by using the links
below (the second link is for the download edition of Swift
Publisher for $29.95, the third one is for the CD edition for
$33.95 plus shipping (a total of $43.95); the CD edition contains
23,000 images and 100 designs versus 800 images and 60 designs in
the download edition). This offer is open to all TidBITS readers.
Keep an eye out for future DealBITS drawings! [ACE]
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<https://usd.swreg.org/cgi-bin/s.cgi?s=31176&p=311761832&v=1&d=0&q=1&t=&
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DealBITS Drawing: MaxProtect II from MaxUpgrades
------------------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <a...@tidbits.com>
Many different companies produce laptop cases in a myriad of
shapes, sizes, and designs. If you're interested in an impact-
resistant briefcase for Apple's three PowerBook models, check
out the new MaxProtect II from MaxUpgrades. Why only the
PowerBook models? The MaxProtect II achieves some of its
protection by providing a form-fitting, cushioned velvet interior
that eliminates internal motion in the event of a impact and
offers protection against scratches (though you won't carry much
more than the PowerBook in it for the same reason). It's covered
in synthetic leather, has both internal and external cushioning,
and is lightweight (1.9 to 3 pounds, or .86 to 1.4 kg, depending
on size). Plus, you could make a real fashion statement by wearing
a dark suit and sunglasses and chaining it to your wrist.
<http://www.maxupgrades.com/istore/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&
Product_ID=137>
In this week's DealBITS drawing, you can enter to win your choice
of the three sizes of MaxProtect II cases, worth $49, $59, or
$69, depending on size. Entrants who aren't our lucky winner
will receive a discount, so if you're looking for a new rigid
PowerBook case, be sure to enter at the DealBITS page linked
below. All information gathered is covered by our comprehensive
privacy policy. Be careful with your spam filters, since you must
be able to receive email from my address to learn if you've won.
Remember too, that if someone you refer to this drawing wins,
you'll receive the same prize to reward you for spreading the
word.
<http://www.tidbits.com/dealbits/maxprotect/>
<http://www.tidbits.com/about/privacy.html>
Apple Quadruples Q4 Profit
--------------------------
by Geoff Duncan <ge...@tidbits.com>
Apple Computer has published the financial results for its fourth
fiscal quarter of 2005, and... well, there's no other way to put
this. Somewhere in Cupertino, someone is rolling around in a big
pile of money and laughing like a comic book villain on nitrous
oxide. Apple earned $430 million on $3.68 billion in revenue,
marking the highest quarterly revenue and profit in the company's
29-year history. Compared to the same quarter a year ago, Apple
quadrupled its profit.
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/oct/11results.html>
For the quarter, Apple's operating margin was a healthy 28.1
percent (up from 27 percent a year ago), and 40 percent of the
company's revenue came from outside the United States. The quarter
also concludes a great year for the company, marked by 68 percent
revenue growth and a 384 percent increase in net profit year-over-
year. Apple pulled in $13.93 billion during fiscal 2005, from
which it squeezed $1.335 billion in profit.
What's fueling Apple's windfall? In a word, iPods. To be sure,
the company managed to shuffle 1.2 million Macintosh computers out
the door (split nearly evenly between desktop and portables, with
602 million and 634 million Macs of each type sold, respectively),
a highly respectable increase of 48 percent year-over-year. And
the company generated $590 million in revenue from things like
the peripherals and non-computer hardware, software like the iLife
application bundle and Mac OS X, and .Mac memberships, etc.
However, these traditional activities of Apple, a computer
company, are being rapidly overshadowed by its music business,
which now accounts for over 40 percent of the company's revenue.
Apple shipped 6.45 million iPods during the last three months
and pulled in another $265 million from other music offerings
like the iTunes Music Store. (And it's a good bet that some of
the money accounted for separately as hardware and peripherals
are, in fact, iPod-related: speakers, lanyards, batteries,
adapters... and, fer gosh sake, socks.)
Does Apple think the ball is going to stop rolling? Nope: for its
first quarter of 2006 - which includes the end-of-year holiday
buying season - Apple is anticipating revenues of around $4.7
billion.
Apple Unveils Video iPod & New Media-centric iMac
-------------------------------------------------
by Geoff Duncan <ge...@tidbits.com>
In one of its trademark media events in San Jose on 12-Oct-05,
Apple Computer took the wraps off its new fifth-generation video-
capable iPod and a new, slimmer iMac with an integrated iSight
video camera and new Front Row media software.
First, Apple's fifth-generation iPod sports a 2.5-inch LCD screen
which, like previous color iPods, can display album art and
photographs, but can also play video, including music videos,
television episodes, video podcasts, and home movies. The new
iPods are available in 30 GB and 60 GB capacities at $300 and
$400, respectively: Apple says the 60 GB model can hold up to
150 hours of video. The new iPods are also slimmer than their
now bulky-seeming predecessors: the 30 GB model measures 4.1 by
2.4 by 0.43 inches (104 by 61 by 11 mm) while the 60 GB model is
just slightly thicker at 4.1 by 2.4 by 0.55 inches (104 by 61 by
14 mm). The new iPods will be available from Apple this week in
both white and the highly popular black.
<http://www.apple.com/ipod/ipod.html>
Like previous iPods, the new fifth-generation portable player
works with both Mac OS X and Windows XP; video and other
content is synchronized to the iPod from the user's computer
via iTunes 6, also announced (see "iTunes 6 Gets Video," elsewhere
in this issue). Apple says the new 60 GB iPods get up to 20 hours
of battery life playing music, while the 30 GB models play tunes
for up to 14 hours. Video and slideshow playback is more costly,
however: the 60 GB model can play 4 hours of slides or 3 hours
of video, while the 30 GB model conks out after 3 hours of slides
or 2 hours of video. The iPods feature a stereo minijack for
headphones, a Dock connector enabling USB 2.0 connections to a
host computer, and (most intriguingly) composite video and audio
output through the minijack, enabling users to play iPod-stored
video on a television or other video device with a special AV
cable. A separate Universal Dock accessory supports S-video.
Missing from the new iPods? FireWire. Unless you have a lot of
time on your hands, you'll want a Mac with USB 2.0 to load music,
podcasts, video, and other content onto a new iPod.
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/>
Not to be lost in the (ahem) shuffle, Apple also showed off a new,
slimmer iMac G5, sporting either a 17- or 20-inch LCD screen, an
integrated iSight video camera, and new Front Row media software
which can play music and videos from your iTunes collection, show
slides of iPhoto images, or play home video - all from any nearby
seat, via an included remote control that features an (ahem)
familiar-looking click wheel design. Although Front Row offers
easy access to media stored on the iMac, it's almost more
interesting to say what Front Row is not: a personal video
recorder or media server. Front Row does not turn a Mac into a
TiVo-like personal video recorder, nor does it manage distribution
and access to media across a network.
<http://www.apple.com/imac/>
<http://www.apple.com/imac/frontrow.html>
Clearly aimed more at the dorm room than the home theater, the
iMac G5 faetures a familiar set of specifications and features:
either a 1.9 or 2.1 GHz PowerPC G5 processor, 512 MB of RAM
(expandable up to 2.5 GB), a 160 or 250 GB hard disk, an 8x
SuperDrive, an ATI Radeon X600 Pro or X600 Pro XT graphics
controllers, two FireWire 400 ports, three USB 2.0 ports, two
USB 1.1 ports, and VGA out, plus S-Video and composite video
out (via a separate adapter). The iMac G5s also sport Gigabit
Ethernet, AirPort Extreme, built-in Bluetooth, built-in stereo
speakers, a built-in mic, headphone/optical audio output, and
audio line in. Notably missing is a built-in modem, although you
can add an external USB modem for $50 if you're forced to use a
dial-up Internet connection or wish to send and receive faxes.
New to the iMac equation is the built-in iSight video camera,
suitable for video conferencing via iChat AV, or for creating your
own home movies and video podcasts. A new application called Photo
Booth turns the iMac into... well, a photo booth. The new iMacs
also sport Apple's multi-button Mighty Mouse, making the new iMac
G5 the first Macintosh in history to ship with a multi-button
mouse by default. It appears that the single-button Apple Mouse
is on its way out, given that the Mighty Mouse and the Bluetooth-
based Apple Wireless Mouse are the only pointing devices now
available separately.
<http://www.apple.com/imac/isight.html>
<http://www.apple.com/mightymouse/>
The new iMac G5 models are available starting this week; pricing
ranges from $1,300 for the 17-inch, 1.9 GHz version to $1,700 for
the 20-inch, 2.1 GHz version, with several build-to-order options
available.
iTunes 6 Gets Video
-------------------
by Adam C. Engst <a...@tidbits.com>
In the much-anticipated "One More Thing..." special event last
week, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced iTunes 6, just five weeks
after the release of iTunes 5. That version numbering was somewhat
deceptive; iTunes 5.0 was really just the next point upgrade after
iTunes 4.9, and its features reflected that reality. Although it
doesn't look much different from the previous versions, iTunes 6
(and the iTunes Music Store) breaks new ground in a variety of
ways, most notably in its support for video.
Along with the oodles of songs available on the iTunes Music
Store, iTunes 6 now enables you to buy short films from Pixar,
music videos, and select ABC and Disney TV shows for $1.99 each;
TV shows currently available include Desperate Housewives, Lost,
Night Stalker, The Suite Life, and That's So Raven. New episodes
will appear the day after they're broadcast. Each episode checks
in at about 180 MB, and Jobs claimed they'd take 10 to 20 minutes
to download over a broadband connection. Along with the television
shows, you can also buy music videos and short films for $1.99
each; they're smaller and thus faster to download. The videos are
320 by 240 pixels in size (the same resolution as the new video
iPod), so don't expect to watch DVD-quality presentations.
Also new in iTunes 6 is the capability to give people music, TV
shows, or music videos to anyone with an email address, making it
possible to build digital music and video into gift-giving habits,
something that's been tricky for downloadable products so far.
In yet another attempt to help you buy more from the iTunes
Music Store, iTunes 6 now provides "Just For You," a built-in
recommendation service that points you toward music that you might
like, based on music that you've bought already. Just For You is
still in beta, and although some of its recommendations seemed
reasonable, others were truly wacky (such as recommending the
audio book of C. S. Lewis's "Prince Caspian" because I'd bought
the album "Painting It Red" by the Beautiful South). If you don't
like the automatically generated suggestions from Just For You,
you might be able to learn more about new music via reviews
submitted by iTunes customers. With these Amazon-like features,
how long will it be before we have an iTunes Music Store
popularity ranking for every song and TV show as well?
Currently the TV shows are accessible only to United States
customers, probably due to licensing agreements. It's too bad,
since first run television shows from the United States would
be wildly popular in countries that must normally wait months or
years for the shows to air locally. Some BBC shows from the United
Kingdom would undoubtedly enjoy a similar popularity in the United
States.
Clearly, the handful of TV shows currently available in the
iTunes Music Store is just the tip of the iceberg, given the
number of other shows and, looking forward, full-length movies
produced by ABC and Disney and their subsidiary networks, like
the cable sports channel ESPN. Once the near-certain popularity
of downloading TV shows is proven, Steve Jobs will undoubtedly
manage to convince other networks to sell through the iTunes
Music Store as well, including the back catalog of old but still
popular shows. And that, my friends, will be a major change in
the entertainment landscape, since there are many people, like
Tonya and me, who will happily (and economically) trade cable
TV for access to individual programs.
I can't see music video sales being as popular, since music videos
started primarily as a way of advertising an artist's music, and
as advertising, have always been available for free up to this
point. There's no question that some music videos have excellent
production values and stand on their own as an art form, but
pricing a several-minute music video the same as a 60 minute
television show seems wrong.
It's also worth noting that with video gaining a central spot
in the iTunes Music Store and being played through iTunes,
those names are becoming increasingly inaccurate and almost
uncomfortable, much along the lines of clicking the Start button
in Windows when you want to shut down. That said, Apple has a
great deal invested in "iTunes" and "iTunes Music Store," making
it difficult to switch to something more all-encompassing and
generic (like calling the software "iPod for Macintosh" and
the store the "iPod Store").
iTunes 6 is of course free as a 14 MB download, and Software
Update has it as well. iTunes 6 requires Mac OS X 10.2.8 or
later, with 10.3.9 or later required for video. Playing videos
purchased from the iTunes Music Store also requires that you
install QuickTime 7.0.3, a free download you can get via Software
Update or as a 32.3 MB stand-alone download.
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/>
<http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/>
RealNetworks and Microsoft Settle, Present New Unified Front
------------------------------------------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <gl...@tidbits.com>
The moral of last week's settlement agreement between RealNetworks
and Microsoft is apparently that if you continue a lawsuit long
enough against the Redmond software giant, they pay you off -
in this case, to the (pun-intended) tune of $761 million.
<http://www.realnetworks.com/company/press/releases/2005/real_microsoft.html>
That's not to say that ex-Microsoftie and RealNetworks founder
Rob Glaser's complaints about Microsoft's past predatory practices
were invalid. On the contrary, Microsoft clearly engaged in
activities designed to make it harder for Windows users to use
RealNetworks's audio and video products reliably. Whether these
points were illegal in a criminal or civil standpoint had not yet
been proven; Microsoft had been found to violate anti-trust laws
in 2000 (see our coverage in TidBITS-525_).
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=05875>
The $761 million that RealNetworks will receive comes in two
pieces. The first installment of $460 million, paid up front,
is intended to resolve all Real's claims for damages worldwide.
Real also gets long-term access and licenses for Microsoft's
Windows Media technology. Microsoft will also let RealNetworks
integrate its player much more fully into Windows, let users more
easily choose which media player to use, and allow companies like
Dell to pre-install RealPlayer without crying foul or imposing
sanctions.
The second chunk, $301 million, is actually credit against
services. Microsoft will market Rhapsody, RealNetworks's
subscription Windows-only streaming service, through MSN,
and RealNetworks gets the right to buy ads on MSN to promote
Rhapsody. In turn, RealNetworks will incorporate MSN Search
within RealPlayer and will commit to using Microsoft technology
for some services.
How does this affect Apple? Microsoft isn't buying RealNetworks,
so we still have three large competing formats:Windows Media,
RealAudio/RealVideo, and QuickTime. The market will remain in
three pieces. In fact, it's clear that both RealNetworks and
Microsoft are committed to developing their own formats further.
But the disturbing part for Apple is that the two companies
will work to make their digital rights management (DRM) schemes
interoperable, which could create more unified competition for
Apple's iTunes/iPod/iTunes Music Store troika, in which content
is protected by Apple's closely held FairPlay DRM.
In recent years, RealNetworks has transformed itself from its
roots as a server software company that gave away a free player.
Now the company is increasingly a premium subscription services
firm that licenses content and distributes it through its
RealPlayer Gold service, which handles video, and its Rhapsody
music subscription service, which streams an unlimited number
of different tunes to a PC for a monthly fee.
Real's stock surged upwards by 36 percent following the
announcement, closing at nearly $8 per share. The stock, adjusted
for splits, hit its all-time high of nearly $100 per share in
2000. In the last two years, the stock has gyrated between bands
of about $5 and $7. The first payment of $460 million will bring
the company's cash on hand from $260 million to $720 million.
(Disclosure: I own a very small number of RealNetworks shares
because of the purchase eight years ago of a company I helped
out in its early days. I never worked for RealNetworks, and my
material benefit is not significant in terms of overall holdings.)
Instant Messaging World Coalesces, a Little
-------------------------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <gl...@tidbits.com>
For a technology that enables people the world over to
communicate easily, the current instant messaging (IM) networks
are surprisingly close-mouthed. Currently, users of the three
major IM networks - MSN, Yahoo, and AOL (which Apple uses for
iChat) - cannot chat between different services. However, that
limitation will start to disappear within the next six months,
as Microsoft (MSN) and Yahoo announced last week that they would
have interoperable instant-messaging networks by the second
quarter of 2006.
<http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1870365,00.asp>
The two networks together represent about 44 percent of users,
but eWeek points to research showing that AOL, with 56 percent
of the market, has about 40 percent of regular usage. For years,
MSN, Yahoo, and AOL have sparred over interoperability, and
occasionally one has tried to build a temporary bridge between
the networks. But it was clear that only a top-level agreement
could pull together the pieces.
Basic shared features between MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger
will include buddy lists, computer-to-computer voice calling,
and emoticons (thank goodness ;-}).
It's possible that this consolidation will eventually force
AOL to join the club and allow interconnections as it will be
increasingly frustrating for their IM users to not be able to
reach the combined Microsoft/Yahoo networks.
In the United States, cell-phone based SMS (short messaging
service) text didn't take off until the several cellular operators
cleaned up their act to allow simple cross-network messaging. SMS
and more advanced multimedia messaging caught on here only after
that. Text messaging users in the rest of the world, already able
to communicate across networks, were addicted years before.
Windows users who subscribe to multiple instant-messaging networks
have had a leg up with the Trillian application for some time.
Though Trillian can't bridge different chat networks, it
consolidates your login for multiple networks into a single
program with additional features. Mac users can look at Fire 1.5
or Adium (in pre-release development). Both support all the major
services, including Yahoo, MSN, and AIM, though they don't resolve
the issue of a subscriber of one service being able to contact
a subscriber of another.
<http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/>
<http://fire.sourceforge.net/>
<http://www.adiumx.com/>
Cheap Palm, Connected Palm
--------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <gl...@tidbits.com>
Before Apple started teasing the press last Wednesday in a cell
phone-unfriendly auditorium, Palm announced their two latest
handheld organizers, both of which come with Mac OS X support
out of the box.
Palm, Inc. dropped the Zire and Tungsten "sub-brand" names, as
they called them, keeping just the initials. The $100 Palm Z22 is
aimed at casual users who can't always remember to keep a battery
charged, while the $300 TX offers greater connectivity at a mid-
range price.
<http://www.palm.com/us/products/handhelds/z22/>
<http://www.palm.com/us/products/handhelds/tx/>
**Palm Z22** -- The Z22 comes with infrared and a mini-USB port
(with a special cable), but more cleverly includes 32 MB of
flash RAM (which doesn't lose its data if the battery goes dead).
The Z22 works with Mac OS X 10.2.8 to 10.4.x, Windows 2000,
and Windows XP.
Palm hopes that this model will appeal to folks who want to be
able to run Palm applications and have a portable device with
a color screen (160 by 160 pixels), and who will find the price
point appealing. Palm also understands that the primary problem
for this audience is, in fact, keeping the battery charged.
The non-volatile memory is a great idea.
The Z22 comes with a USB sync cable (but doesn't require or
include a cradle). The Z22 also comes with an AC adapter and
a selection of built-in software, including a few games.
**Palm TX** -- The Palm TX will attempt to work its magic on a
different audience: one that wants the portability of a small
computing device along with Internet connectivity and a good media
player. It comes with infrared, Bluetooth 1.1, and Wi-Fi built-in,
128 MB of memory, and a massive 320 by 480 pixel screen.
The screen orientation can change from landscape to portrait with
a single click, making it easier to view Web pages and videos.
The device has an SD/SDIO slot that can accept cards up to 2 GB
in size (Palm lists a 2 GB card as coming soon on their in-house
store for $250).
Out of the box, the device can play only MP3s using PocketTunes,
but an upgrade to the Deluxe version enables playback of WMA files
and Plays4Sure-protected files and streaming media from compatible
services like Rhapsody. This is one way a Mac user could gain
access to those subscription music services, as none work on
the Mac.
<http://www.pocket-tunes.com/>
Transferring music from a Mac requires an SD card, which appears
on the Mac desktop as if the Palm TX were just another USB storage
device. The PocketTunes Deluxe version doesn't add playback for
AAC or Protected AAC (used by the iTunes Music Store) because
Apple doesn't license its FairPlay digital rights management
system.
Palm bundles a variety of Palm software, but two of the three
third-party packages that Palm highlighted in its announcement
have some issues with the Mac. Avvenu is a remote desktop file
access program, but it works only on computers running Windows
XP SP1 or later. DataViz's Documents To Go handles opening and
editing Microsoft Office documents; Mac PowerPoint files can
be viewed but not edited. It also reads specially converted
PDF files, although a later version promises to be able to
open them without conversion.
Finally, although it's only sold separately, Palm's pre-release
briefing and press release both mentioned a subscription-based
television service called MobiTV that should work well over
Wi-Fi. MobiTV's pricing hasn't been set in this trial phase,
but they expect to offer at least 10 channels of news, sports,
and entertainment, growing over time.
<http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?
ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20051011005023&newsLang=en>
<http://www.mobitv.com/>
**Video, Video, Everywhere** -- I couldn't help being struck by
the differences between Apple's new 30 GB video iPod and the Palm
TX, both of which cost $300. The new iPod has a 240 by 320 pixel
screen, half the area of the Palm TX's screen, and a 30 GB hard
drive that dwarfs the TX's 128 MB of RAM. The Palm features four
connection methods, three of them wireless; the iPod has only its
dock connector. Out of the box, the iPod can play several music
formats, but offers no option for Microsoft DRM-protected tunes
or WMA (without conversion); the TX plays only MP3s and WMA
(protected and not) with a separate $35 upgrade.
That's where the feature-to-feature comparison ends. The Palm is
a general purpose computational device with an operating system
supported by a microcosm of Palm OS developers. It can play video
and music, edit documents, run terminal sessions, and browse
the Web.
The iPod plays music and video. Apple has secured music and video
licensing rights and one assumes much more content will be coming
down the pipe. Palm has none. Though many people may not realize
it, the iPod provides a variety of built-in PDA-like features,
along with its capability to act as an external hard drive
(see Steve Sande's "Take Control of Your iPod: Beyond the Music"
for details). But there's no way to write new software for the
iPod, and it seems unlikely that Apple will ever open it up to
developers.
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/ipod-btm.html?14@@!pt=TRK-0025-TB801>
This doesn't make the iPod worse in any sense. Its hard drive
makes up much of the difference in price versus functionality,
for instance. But it's a stark comparison, because the Palm isn't
unusable in the way that many of the music players that compete
with the iPod are unusable. Its interface isn't terrible. Its
speed isn't slow. The Palm does many things quite well; the iPod
excels at just a few tasks.
I wouldn't have thought of comparing an iPod and a Palm head to
head just a few days ago. Now, it's an obvious comparison.
Take Control News/17-Oct-05
---------------------------
by Tonya Engst <to...@tidbits.com>
**"Take Control of Permissions in Mac OS X" Released** -- When
Adam and I conceived of the Take Control series back in 2003, we
imagined multiple ebooks, each functioning like a chapter in a
huge volume about the Mac - readers could buy only those chapters
that were of interest, and we could provide deeper and more
current coverage than a print book could offer.
In our initial brainstorming sessions with authors, a number of
people suggested writing about permissions, those sometimes-pesky
settings that control who can do what to which files, folders,
and disks on a Mac. Between swapping stories of permissions
problems that we'd encountered - files that wouldn't delete,
boot drives that wouldn't give us access to our own accounts,
the ubiquity of the recommendation to repair permissions to
solve random problems - we kept trying to slot the topic of
permissions into an ebook that someone was already writing,
such as "Take Control of Users & Accounts in Panther" or
"Take Control of Sharing Files in Panther." However, giving
readers the knowledge to take control of permissions requires
providing a careful mix of practical details and theory,
and the topic was just too deep to cover in the context of
sharing files or user accounts.
Fast forward a year. Out of the blue, Brian Tanaka contacted
us because he wanted write an ebook about permissions.
With his years of solid Unix experience and genuine love
of the Macintosh, Brian was perfect for the job, and I took
on the task of editing the ebook, knowing that it would stretch
my technical understanding of Mac OS X (especially since I have
essentially no Unix background) and because I felt that if
I could understand the ebook, almost anyone could. After many
months of writing, thoughtful discussions, and expert review,
it is with great pleasure that I announce "Take Control of
Permissions in Mac OS X."
Reading this ebook will help you understand your Mac as never
before, and you'll learn how you keep your files private, copy
files to and from servers effectively, set the Ignore Permissions
option for external disks, repair screwy permissions, and delete
files that just won't die. For those who want to learn advanced
concepts, the ebook delves into topics like the sticky bit, access
control lists, bit masks, and symbolic versus absolute ways to set
permissions. The ebook also discusses the pros and cons of working
with permissions via the Finder's Get Info and Inspector windows,
in several more-capable Macintosh utilities, and through the Unix
command line; for each option (particularly the flexible and
powerful Unix command line), it gives detailed instructions.
You can read more about Brian's ebook, download a free 26-page
excerpt, and place an order at:
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/permissions-macosx.html?
14@@!pt=TRK-0026-TB801-TCNEWS>
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/17-Oct-05
------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <edi...@tidbits.com>
The first link for each thread description points to the
traditional TidBITS Talk interface; the second link points to
the same discussion on our Web Crossing server, which provides
a different look and which may be faster.
**iDisk Performance** -- Slow performance when accessing files
on an iDisk prompts discussion of alternatives. (3 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2737>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/586/>
**10.4 vs 10.3.9** -- An owner of a new Mac mini is unhappy with
Tiger; can he downgrade to Panther? As part of the discussion,
readers offer solutions for improving performance, disabling
Dashboard and Spotlight, and more. (14 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2738>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/587/>
**Activation in Adobe CS2** -- Adobe Creative Suite 2 can be
installed on two machines per license (such as on a desktop
and a laptop), but what happens if one machine dies? (3 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2739>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/588/>
**How to clean keyboards?** Damp cloth? Compressed air?
Dishwasher?!? Explore the many methods of cleaning keyboards.
(7 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2741>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/590/>
**Review: The iBook/AirPort/OS X experience** -- A reader new to
the Mac posts his experiences and some further questions about
buying an iBook and AirPort Base Station. (8 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2743>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/592/>
**TidBITS 800: Trends to Watch** -- Readers respond to Adam's
article on the state of the Mac world. (2 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2744>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/593/>
**The iMac Cyclops** -- The integrated iSight camera in the new
iMac G5 gained a lot of attention, but TidBITS Talk readers
also noticed that the machine lacks a built-in modem (an external
modem is all that's available). (10 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2745>
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/594/>
$$
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