MacRumors' Mac Blog: Mac Apps, News and Rumors

Digitimes again is making waves on the Mac web about a possible use of Intel technology in upcoming Macs. Although Intel only demonstrated its Robson cache technology in the fourth quarter of last year, sources now claim that Apple Computer will launch a notebook computer in the middle of this month that utilizes the NAND flash based cache memory technology. Robson utilizes NAND flash memory...

MacOSXRumors claims that despite previous rumors that Apple's Intel laptops may lose their Firewire connections, Apple is expected to keep at least one Firewire port on the upcoming Intel Macs. Instead, Apple may be increasing the number of USB connectors to the upcoming machines, but will retain at least one Firewire...

MacDailyNews points out that Apple's .Mac accounts now allow up to 1TB ( terabyte ) of monthly bandwidth allocation. Speculation points that this may corroborate a previous report that Apple is working on a new media content delivery system including feature length content and using users .Mac iDisk storage for content...

Apple is now offering 10% discounts on select accessories at their Education site until Feb 1st. Cram your backpack with big savings on accessories for your new Mac or iPod. College students and teachers can save 10% on some of the most useful stuff available today. Free shipping on orders over $50. Hurry, this offer expires on February 1, 2006 The discounts appear limited to 3rd party...

Emsnow claims that Quanta and Asustek have obtained the contracts for producing Apple's newest Intel-based Macs. The production appears to begin in the 1st quarter of 2006. Quanta is reportedly responsible for the PowerBook while Asustek will produce the iBook. The article is poorly translated, and so the specifics are difficult to...

MacRumors Forums, the discussion section for MacRumors, MacBytes, MacPolls, DailyTunes, and iPodGear, has reached another milestone: two million forum posts. The two millionth post was made by member ITASOR at 6:27PM EST on Friday, December 23, 2005, in the Marketplace forum. Congratulations, ITASOR, and congratulations, MacRumors! The first forum members joined in June 2000. Today, over...

At least one financial analyst believes that Apple's business will tilt further toward consumer electronics in the coming year. A Forbes.com article quotes analyst David Bailey of Goldman Sachs as saying If early indications from suppliers prove correct, Apple is likely to move further from its Mac core in 2006, leveraging its brand and building on the consumer success of iPod. Bailey raised his ...

Several sites are pointing to this local news story about Greene County Schools trading in their laptops early to Apple to get all new laptops in early January. At a special meeting held Monday night at the Greene County Board of Commissioners meeting, the Greene County Board of Education voted to refinance its lease from Apple Computers. The school system will sell its 2,041 existing laptops to...

MacBidouille adds fuel to the fire by posting an advertisement from a French distributor which labels the 12" iBook G4 as "End of Life"'d. Products typically reach End-of-Life designation when it has been discontinued to make room for a newer/updated model. With Apple's attention to secrecy, most retailers do not have much...

The New York Post reports that Apple will be opening up a third Manhattan store across from the Empire State Building at 21 W. 34th Street. The computer giant net-leased the entire, 30,000-foot five-story building from Jeff Sutton of Wharton Realty and his partner, SL Green Realty Trust, sources said....

Several readers report that the 1GB iPod shuffle is out of stock for the holidays at Apple's online store: Ships: Currently Unavailable Sold out for holiday. Expected availability mid-January....

Appleinsider points to a Front Row job listing indicating that Apple is just getting started with Front Row. The Job (Req. ID 2443440) is described as follows: Do you want to join a team building revolutionary new multi-media software for Mac OS X? Would you like to create software for a centerpiece in Apple's...

Reuters reports that HBO's chief executive hopes to make a deal with Apple for supplying iPod/iTunes Video content at some point in the future. Fox had previously made similar comments....

MacRumors Forums is approaching its two millionth post. To celebrate, we are having an avatar-creating contest. Winners will be chosen in three categories: * Best Animated Avatar * Best Static Avatar * Best Apple-themed Avatar Click here for a full list of rules and how to enter. The MacRumors Forums reached one million posts on August 23, 2004 and held a similar contest then....

Appleinsider reports that the early Intel Mac prototypes "sport an unfamiliar boot chime". They speculate that Apple could change the startup sound on the upcoming Intel...

The New York Post revives a connection between Apple and Sirius Satellite Radio. Chief Executive Officer Mel Karmazin has spoken with Apple Computer Inc. CEO Steven Jobs about working together This is not new information as it was revealed in Feb 2005 by Mel Karmazin. At that time, Apple wasn't interested in putting a satellite radio into the...

A first time poster to MacGeneration (French) forums posted the contents of an email, which was originally sent to another website. The writer claims that Apple is reviving "Yellow Box for Windows" -- a development environment which promised Mac OS X developers the ability to develop and then deploy on both Mac OS X and Windows environments. The original plans for Yellow Box were promised...

Digitimes reports that Apple's Intel lineup of Macs will launch on June 6 2006 in Taiwan. Intel processors will be initially adopted in Apple Computer's entry-level Macintosh PC lineup, including the Mac Mini, iBook, and iMac series, with a launch in Taiwan slated for June 6 2006, according to sources at Taiwan PC distributors. The...