iPod Cinema?

Can this be the much anticipated, full screened iPod? The photo appears to be taken with a camera phone and does not have much detail. What's intriguing is that the green notepad the iPod is placed on seems to read: "Release Date 4/1/06 [Line Break] iPod Cinema [Line Break] Invites Out 3/19/06." Is it proof or spoof?

Are they soon?

While using Spotlight in the Finder today, I noticed that there was something new in the metadata fields: Architecture. Now, I dont know how long this has been here, but I've never noticed it before. Maybe it was added in v10.4.3? So maybe Intel Macs will be coming soon...

Mac vs. PC: The war between good and evil.

Apple, a name you’ve come to be familiar with lately due to the ever-so-popular iPod music player, hasn’t always been such a posh brand. You’ve probably heard all the rumors bashing Macintosh computers, claiming that they’re hard to use. These couldn’t be more false. Actually, these stories reflect the Windows operating system, which is stripped down and hard to use. Whenever I hear someone bash a Mac, it makes me cringe. I can’t help myself but bud in and tell them the truth.


Ever since the birth of the personal computer, Apple has been the innovator in consumer and enterprise electronics. Their products are not only easy to use, but use the latest technologies. This combination of innovation and usability, I believe, is one of Apple’s keys to success. Apple chooses to take the next step, not stopping where other companies have left off.


Microsoft’s Windows operating system is the most popular operating system on the planet, but this does not mean its the best one. There are two reasons for this, one which we discussed earlier. Microsoft chose to license its operating system to computer manufacturers, instead of producing their own like Apple. By doing this, manufacturers were able to charge much less for their computers than Apple, which led to world domination by Microsoft. Consumers began to use Windows due to its low price tag, and forgot the wonderful land of Macintosh they had left behind. New users who started out on Windows started to bash Macs because they weren’t ready to accept anything that they weren’t familiar with. Soon, Apple began to have a not-so-hot reputation.


I know it sounds a little odd to be in love with your computer, but I have to admit it, I am. Why not? My PowerBook G4 does not only offer the ultimate balance of power and mobility, it’s beautiful. Apple takes the extra steps to keep their customers coming back, like my backlit keyboard that automatically lights up when it gets dark out. More importantly, their software is state-of-the-art, and not just for professionals. There are only two versions of Apple’s operating system, Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server. Mac OS X is the most advanced operating system in the world, offering features Windows doesn’t, such as instant searching. With Mac OS X, everything just works. 


Weather you need to meet with colleagues from around the globe or type a monthly sales report, Mac OS X can do it all. In fact, Apple’s iChat AV is the only instant messaging application that supports four-way video conferencing. What’s more is the three dimensional space iChat puts you and three friends in, and also has reflections that make it look like you’re all sitting around a glass table. Not in the mood for video? Thats fine, use iChat to have an audio chat with up to ten people. And these chats couldn’t be easier to use, just highlight some friends on your buddy list, and click either video or audio chat at the bottom. Can your PC do that?


If you’re a PC user, you are probably used to waiting forever for results when you search for a file on your system. That’s not the case with Mac OS X. Spotlight, Apple’s search technology, instantly finds whatever you’re searching for. It even searches metadata and inside documents, so you’ll only get the most relevant results. Want to find photos taken with a specific camera? Just type in the model and Spotlight does the rest. And since the Spotlight icon is on the menu bar, you’ll always have quick and easy access to files you need. In fact, Spotlight is so intelligent that you can set it to put all files with a certain keyword in a specific folder. Whenever a qualifying file is created, its instantly added. Try that on your old Windows machine...


I can go on and on for hours about all the features that make Mac OS X the best operating system ever created, but we have better things to talk about. Now, you’re probably wondering if there are any negatives to Mac OS X, or just Apple computers in general. Well, there’s one that I can think of. The first being that some companies don’t offer software for the Macintosh platform. As the popularity of Mac OS X grows, more and more companies are writing applications for Macs so they can accommodate more customers. Most applications that you need are in fact written for the Mac as well, such as Microsoft Office, and games including Myst and the Sims.


Now, Microsoft will always try to defend itself by saying “Everyone uses Windows,” but the fact is, people aren’t going to settle for crap for much longer. iPod users have started to switch to Macs, and they’re spreading the word. Microsoft’s new operating system is going to be released in late 2006 or early 2007, which will be a whole six years since the last major version of Windows was released. On the contrary, Apple comes out with a major operating system release approximately every eighteen months. Would you rather have an outdated machine, or an up to date one?


I switched from a Windows machine to a Mac almost a year ago, and my transition to my PowerBook was as easy as pie. I didn’t read the user manual at all... I just turned it on and it worked. Everything was so easy to find, and the interface was so clean and elegant. It was such a pleasure to just have everything working for once, no viruses to fight.

Is Apple's new iPod a true multimedia player?

Apple's new iPod can now play video files, but is it worthy of being called a true video iPod? Surprisingly, I don't think I can officially call the new iPod a true multimedia player. My reasons? Read on.

The Screen
iPod's new screen actually disappoints me a bit. First, it has a 4:3 aspect ratio which is going to be obsolete pretty soon -- especially if Apple plans to have movies available for purchase and download. This aspect ratio is fine, but its not the extra step that Apple usually takes. While I was speculating on this product coming out a few days before their special event, I thought that it was almost certain the player's display would be widescreen (16:9). The display also has one other minor fault, the resolution. While 320x240 is nothing to laugh at, the resolution is just not that great.

The Formats/Video resolution
The new iPod can play H.264 encoded video, which is a big step in the right direction, but at a maximum of 320x240 resolution, you're not going to want to hook this thing up to your new 50-inch plasma. Even in H.264, this small resolution blown up to 15" (my Powerbook's display size) gets a little pixelated. Thats not to say the quality is horrible within any streach of the imagination, but I think that the resolution could be greater -- maybe 640x480? Formats are also limited to QuickTime, but thats really not a problem for me because almost everything I would watch is in QuickTime format.

No Ability To Record Your Own TV
What I would like to see in future versions is the ability to record video from my television without purchasing it from iTunes. This would allow me to record shows I watch that are on networks such as A&E and Food Network. At the moment, iTunes only offers 5 shows from Disney networks, only one of which I would actually watch. While I would like this ability, I doubt it being in future models because there's too much money in selling it online. But then again, maybe they'll move on to movies and forget about television shows. Who knows? There does seem to be open room for this, though. Apple could easily add a TV tuner to their new iMac G5 and integrate it into their new Front Row app.

Battery Life
Apple claims that the new iPod gets 16 hours of battery life, but this is for music playback only. In fact, you only get a big two hours of battery life while playing back video (30GB model). This means if you plan to watch three episodes of "Lost" or "desperate Housewives," you're battery's probably going to die on you. Even in the 60 GB model which has a battery capacity of three hours of video, you'll be pretty squeezed on time. In future models, I expect to see at least 4 to 5 hours of video playback, even if the design is a little thicker.

What do I see next?
In the next, or future, models, I expect to see a widescreen display with higher resolution and extended battery life. Then, Apple will have created, in my eyes, a true multimedia player.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not an Apple-basher. Actually, I absolutely love Apple and their products... but I just think they could have done better on this product.

--Andrew