Doctor Q

According to AppleInsider, Apple will announce its own brand of iPod speakers in January. Along with the new iMac, reliable sources say the company will also debut its own brand of powered iPod speakers.Currently, the online Apple store offers iPod speakers ranging from $24.95 for lightweight 4-watt Sony personal speakers to $349 for powerful Logitech "THX" 500-watt surround sound speakers. Apple ...

Based on "highly reliable sources", Think Secret reports that Apple is expected to announce a $499 G4 iMac at Macworld Expo, probably 1.25GHz, with 256MB of RAM, a 40GB to 80GB hard drive, a Combo optical drive, USB 2.0, Firewire 400, 10/100Base-T Ethernet, a modem, and support for Airport Extreme, VGA, and DVI, packaged with Appleworks and a special version of iLife without iDVD. The new Mac is...

Think Secret reports announcements they expect at Macworld Expo in San Francisco in January:iLife '05:iTunes 4.7.1 -- minor updateiPhoto 5 -- updateiMovie 5 HD -- new name; support for high definition video, MPEG-4, and the 16:9 aspect ratioiDVD 5 -- one-click copying of DV tapes to DVDs; support for dual-layer DVD media; burning directly from an iPhoto libraryGarageband 2 -- additional...

Taiwanese newspaper Apple Daily reported yesterday that ASUSTeK Computer Inc. has received an order to manufacture about 5 million iPods based on flash memory for delivery next year, with the deliveries beginning in the first quarter of 2005. The FOB (wholesale export) price is said to be $65. Taiwan-based ASUSTeK is a major manufacturing company, capable of producing two million motherboards ...

CNN reports on rumors that Apple may be working on a deal with Sirius Satellite Radio to bring satellite radio service to the iPod.Technical hurdles include the difficulty of integrating the Sirius chip set into a device as small as an iPod, but both companies could benefit from such a deal in both publicity and sales.Speculation is that a deal could be announced as soon as the Consumer...

As rumored, Apple released Mac OS X 10.3.7 today. It it available via Software Update. Standlone installers are also available: the 10.3.6 to 10.3.7 update for Mac OS X 10.3.6 and the Combined Update for Mac OS X 10.3 through 10.3.6. The 10.3.7 Update delivers enhanced functionality and improved reliability for Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther" and is recommended for all users.Key enhancements include:...

A CNET news.com story claims that iPods will no longer be able to play tunes purchased from the RealRhapsody online music store operated by RealNetworks, which relies on technology named Harmony to allow their digital-rights-managed music to play on iPods. There was no doubt that Apple wanted to disable or defeat this technology, given Apple's statement in July that RealNetworks was using the...

Apple announced that PayPal can now be used to pay for music downloads, audiobooks, and gift certificates in the iTunes Music Store. This lets customers pay by transfer from a bank account, expanded the potential customer base to those with checking accounts but not credit cards. To attract new customers to the iTMS/PayPal system, Apple is offering five free songs to the first 500,000 customers ...

In an opinion piece in The Register, columnist Cormac O'Reilly speculates that once IBM sells its PC division it will stay in the personal computer business by buying or joining Apple.Excerpts: Once publicly free of the PC division IBM will either buy, or form a close joint venture with Apple to sell its PCs, which coincidentally are now built around IBM's PowerPC chip.Just think how many...

The eMac G5, which in October was rumored to be imminent, has been delayed until early 2005 due to shortages of the 1.6GHz G5 processor, according to AppleInsider sources. The 1.6GHz processor, once used in the Power Mac G5 line, is used in the current entry-level 17" LCD-based iMac, while the 17" CRT-based eMac introduced in April still tops out with a 1.25GHz G4 processor. The new eMac was to...

Some Apple retail stores show signs of having special deals on Friday, November 26, the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday and the traditional kickoff of the holiday shopping season.Last year, Apple offered 10% off on iPods and iPod accessories on the day after Thanksgiving.[Update] - A graphic at the online Apple Store and a page at Apple's web site give hints at savings without giving...

iCal 1.5.4 for Mac OS X 10.2.3 or later is now available through Software Update or download. iCal 1.5.4 includes security enhancements to help protect your computer when importing events with alarms that open files or applications.iCal version 1.5.3 was apparently never released as a Software Update, the previous update having been the January 2004 release of iCal 1.5.2.[Update] - A Knowledge...

All signs indicate that Apple is on the threshold of their launch of a localized iTunes Music Store for Canada. Many members have noticed that the message "The iTunes Music Store is not available in your country yet" appears when they select any country, which mirrors the behavior just before the launch of the European iTMS stores on October 26.A Canadian launch tomorrow, November 23, would be...

Mac News Network reports that the iMac G5 will grace the cover of the December issue of Consumer Reports Magazine, due out this week. According to MacNN, the caption will read "Unspectacular results for Intel's new processor. Plus 59,940 reasons to reconsider Macs." and the article will contain these comments: In this atmosphere of low expectations, Apple Computer has actually raised its support...

As first reported in February, Apple will open a retail store in London this year. The first European Apple Store will open in London on November 20, making it the third non-U.S. Apple Store, the others being in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan.In Tuesday's press event, Steve Jobs reported that Apple's 93 stores had had 24 million visitors in the fiscal year and brought in $1.2 billion in revenues. The...

iPod Update 2004-10-20 is available for download from Apple's iPod download page. In addition to support for the new iPod Photo, it provides improved power management for clickwheel iPods, improved playback performance for other iPods, and compatibility with iTunes 4.5 or later and the iTunes Music...

In its Q4 2004 financial report, Apple announced revenue of $2.35 billion, a gain of 37% over the same quarter last year. International sales were 37% of revenue. Net profit was $106 million, up from $44 million for Q4 2003. During the quarter, Apple shipped 836,000 Macintosh units and 2,016,000 iPods, up 6% and 500%, respectively, over Q4 2003. In annual results, Apple reported net...

Apple will webcast its Q4 2004 financial results conference call via QuickTime at 5:00pm EDT (2:00pm PDT) on Wednesday, October 13, 2004. Please note that comments made during this call may include forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. For more information on the factors that...

The online Apple Store is no longer selling iChat AV for Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar). iChat AV, Apple's videoconferencing software designed for use with the iSight video camera, is part of Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) and was previously available for Jaguar (10.2.5 or later) for $29.95 in the online Apple Store. Apple's iChat AV page no longer mentions the use of the software under Jaguar and the iCha...

According to AppleInsider and a column at USA Today, the System X supercomputer at the Virginia Tech Terascale Computing Facility has been upgraded to Apple Xserve Dual G5s running at 2.3GHz, up from 2.0GHz. The cluster consists of 1100 Apple Xserve G5s, each with 4 GB RAM, and was previously upgraded in January from Power Mac G5s to Xserves. Apple still describes the Xserve G5 as running...