Doctor Q

In a press release, Apple announced that Dr. Eric Schmidt was named to Apple's Board of Directors today. Dr. Schmidt has a long resume, including current positions as CEO of Google, as a member of the Google board of directors, and on the Princeton University board of trustees. He was formerly CEO of Novell and Chief Technology Officer at Sun Microsystems Inc. This brings to eight the...

DailyTech reports that a filing with the Federal Communications Commission reveals that Apple has developed a Bluetooth (wireless) version of its Mighty Mouse, otherwise identical to the current model and its touch-sensitive cover, Scroll Ball, and force-sensing side buttons. The new Mighty Mouse uses two standard AA batteries and will be compatible with OS X 10.4.6 and later. No release date is...

Think Secret claims that Steve Jobs will announce the addition of a movie rental service to the iTunes Music Store during his keynote speech at the Worldwide Developers Conference on August 7. MacRumors reported last month that movie studios had mixed feelings about Steve Jobs, some regarding him as a friend and some as a foe, and Think Secret's report indicates that the studios have won this...

The Mac Observer reports comments by financial analysts from Piper Jaffray and American Technology Research regarding Apple's upcoming Q3-2006 financial results, to be webcast this Wednesday, July 19, at 2pm EDT. They predict Apple sales results that are close to but slightly lower than the Wall Street consensus estimates, with iPod quarterly sales between 7.7 and 8.3 million units, Mac sales...

This story has already been shown to be of little significance, but is being reported here because many have been discussing it. A number of forum members and web sites have noted the appearance of an Apple logo in a frame of a Flash image on Sony's PlayStation 3 web page, where it was visible briefly as the page loaded earlier today. Along with speculation that it was a sign of a...

AppleInsider reports on new configurations of the black and white MacBook models in Apple's retail stores. Each is said to be 2.0GHz with 1GB of RAM, 80GB hard drive, and a SuperDrive, with the black MacBook dubbed the "MacBook Ultimate" and prices of $1,449 USD (white) and $1,599 USD (black). Current 13" MacBook offerings in the online Apple Store remain $1,099 USD (white, 1.83GHz, 512MB,...

Apple today revealed that there were "irregularities" in some grants for stock options made in the years 1997 through 2001. The irregularities were reported to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. One such grant was made, apparently in January 2000, to CEO Steve Jobs. Because the options were canceled in March 2003 without being cashed in, Jobs saw no financial benefit. But...

Apple and MTV announced today the addition of several TV shows to the iTunes Music Store, with content from Spike TV, Nick at Nite, TV Land, Logo, MTV, and The N. Included are full seasons of these shows: Blade: The Series, TNA: iMPACT, Disorderly Conduct, Sit Down Comedy with David Steinberg, Fatherhood, Hi-Jinks, Noah's Arc, U.S. of ANT, Wisecrack, Viva La Bam, and Beyond the Break. "MTV...

A new section on the iTunes Music Store home page, with a heading of "Made in iTunes," has appeared in the stores for some countries. It appears that Apple is adding them country by country. As of the start of Tuesday June 20 (midnight Pacific time), 11 of the 21 stores showed the new section in the bottom right corner of the home page. So far, the section is empty in all stores, with only...

The web is buzzing with the news, announced by Microsoft today, that Microsoft founder Bill Gates will cease to have a day-to-day role in the company after July 2008, with a "smooth and orderly transition" between now and then. Gates, who wants to "spend more time on his global health and education work," through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has had much influence on the history of not ...

As noted by MacDailyNews, Apple has added a Mac@Work web page with Science, Small Business, Pro, and Education sections that link to the corresponding sections of Apple's site. It also has links for Seminars & Training, Trade Shows & Events, and a link to Apple's IT Pro page for "IT Managers and technology professionals." The new Mac@Work page does not add new information, but gives site...

AppleInsider reports that Apple is working on a new all-in-one Mac for education, to replace the phased-out eMac, and that Apple is targeting release in the "September timeframe" 2006. If so, Apple would catch only the tail end of the purchase cycle for the school year beginning this Fall, since many educational institutions, faculty, and students are already planning their next purchases....

Macworld reports that Judge James Klienberg of the State of California Court of Appeal 6th Appellate District has issued a ruling in the Apple lawsuit over the Asteroid leak, agreeing with defense claims that the websites were protected by the First Amendment. The suit was filed in December 2004 against "anonymous parties" after a leak about an unannounced FireWire breakout box, but it became...

System Management Control firmware updates are available for certain Intel-based Mac models. The SMC Firmware Update addresses intermittent boot issues. The SMC Firmware Update 1.0 is a System Management Control (SMC) firmware update for certain Intel-based computers, including iMac (Early 2006), Mac mini (Early 2006) and MacBook Pro (15-inch) computers. The updates can be found here: iMac...

Macworld UK reports claims by security researcher Tom Ferris that last Thursday's Security Update 2006-003 did not correct several "critical" security flaws in Safari, QuickTime, and iTunes that he reported to Apple in January 2006. The article says that Ferris considered publicly releasing the details of these flaws yesterday in his blog at security-protocols.com, but he has not done so as of...

Now in Software Update: Front Row 1.2.2 delivers a variety of fixes for better reliability and compatibility when playing music, photos, and videos on your Macintosh. Bugs fixed in 1.2.2 include: - Addresses bugs that prevented song shuffling within playlists - Front row no longer says the server was not found when its waiting for a large movie trailer or long shared video to load - Corrects ...

Security Update 2006-003 Now Available Now in Software update: Security Update 2006-003 is recommended for all users and improves the security of the following components. AppKit Bom CFNetwork CoreFoundation CoreGraphics curl Finder Flash Player Plug-in ImageIO LaunchServices Mail Preview QuickDraw Ruby Safari securitydFurther details can be found in the Apple Knowledge Base. ...

Now in Software Update: QuickTime 7.1 delivers numerous important bug fixes and addresses critical security issues. QuickTime 7.1 delivers support for iLife 06, and H.264 performance improvements. This update is highly recommended for all QuickTime 7 users.Users of QuickTime Pro 6 or earlier will lose "pro" functionality unless they purchase a QuickTime 7 Pro key. QuickTime 7 Pro users can...

Touting Fox as the number one network for young adults and teens, Apple has added the Fox shows 24, Prison Break, Unan1mous, and Stacked to the iTunes Store, as well as first seasons of so-called "classic" shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly, and Lost in Space. Apple negotiations with Fox were reported last December. Episodes are available for $1.99...

A Reuters story reports plans announced by Steve Jobs for a new 50-acre Apple campus a mile from its current headquarters in Cupertino, California. Jobs made the statements Tuesday at a Cupertino city council meeting. The buildings currently on the new property, which Apple acquired as nine separate contiguous parcels, will be razed and rebuilt to suit Apple. Jobs said that Apple business...