New PowerMacs

All feature the PowerPC 970 dual-core processor

Single 2.0 GHz Dual Core CPU - $1,999.00 USD

Single 2.3 GHz Dual Code CPU - $2,499.00 USD

Dual 2.5GHz Dual Core CPU (the Quad) - $3,299.00 USD

Memory is all DDR2 and these systems add support for Error Correction Code (ECC) RAM

Dual-core machines can handle up to 8GB of DDR2 RAM and feature 1 MB of L2 cache per core.

The Quad takes up to 16GB of DDR2 RAM with each core having its own 1MB of L2 cache.

NVIDIA graphics cards, either a variation on the GeForce 6600 or the NVIDIA Quadro FX 4500 (Dual Dual link, to support 2 30in displays).

PCI Express graphics and expansion slots (No more AGP) which means dedicated bandwidth to and from the controller.

And just because everything else is dual, two dedicated Gigabit Ethernet ports. Apple says one for public networks (Internet) and one for private (NAS)

New PowerBooks

Processors stay the same. 12" 1.5 GHz and 15",17" 1.67 GHz

New higher resolution brighter displays on 15" and 17"

15" - 1440 x 900 and 17" - 1680 x 1050

22 percent longer battery life

8x DVD-RW Superdrives are now standard.

7200 RPM drives available as an upgrade option

Apple's new pro photo app, Aperture

A digital workflow, management and production application for working with digital photos in RAW format

"Aperture is designed to make your Raw workflow as painless as managing JPEGS"

Aimed at Photo professionals, looks like iPhoto on steroids to me. Some are saying it's a Photoshop killer, but I disagree. I think it will actually be a companion.

Most photographers don't need many of the editing and manipulation features of Photoshop. The just need management, color correction, etc. Aperture does open PSD files, but has no layer support.

Some interesting features:

- Aperture deals with the RAW data coming from the Camera

- All edits are non-destructive

- No "save" command, all changes are logged to a SQL database

- Advanced web galleries, photo books and prints. Photo books are higher resolution and have more flexible layouts than those offered through iPhoto.

- "Smart" web galleries which have images posted based on certain criteria

Price drops on cinema displays

$200 drop on 20" - $1,299.00 USD

$500 drop on 30" - $2,499.00 USD

Apple releases iTunes 6.0.1 update

Apple didn't provide more details than, “several stability improvements over iTunes 6,”

“After purchasing music from the iTunes Music Store with iTunes 6 or later, you will also need to upgrade your other computers that purchase music from the iTunes Music Store to iTunes 6.0.1.”

Apple posts Pro Applications Update 2005-02

"addresses several issues with underlying frameworks and shared components for Apple's professional applications, and is strongly recommended for all users of Final Cut Studio, Final Cut Pro 5, Motion 2, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro 4, LiveType 2, Compressor 2, Apple Qmaster 2, and Final Cut Express HD 3."

iTunes Music Store Australia coming next week?

Is it finally happening? October 25th is the rumored date.

Apple is holding a special press event in Australia next tuesday with vice president of iTunes, and Greg Joswiak, vice president of iPod product marketing.

Looks like, just like in Japan, two-tired pricing structure prevailed with prices expected to be AU$0.99 and AU$1.69 per song.

iPod Nano lawsuit filed

Was filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., by attorneys with Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro in Seattle and Columbus, Ohio-based David P. Meyer & Associates.

Alleges that Apple violated state consumer protection statutes, as well as express and implied warranties. The complaint charges that Apple knew that there were design problems with the Nano

The lawsuit charges, however, that the Nano contains a thinner coating of resin than on previous iPod models.

Correction on the Correction

Right at the end of my last correction I called Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 1492 again. I give up.

Fast Forward and Rewind do work on iPod Video

You can FF and RW video on new iPods

Works in the same way as audio.

Performance is in question

Great technical review of iPod with Video on ArsTechnica

ArsTechnica iPod with Video review

arstechnica.com—iPod review

Exchanging your recently purchased Apple items for the new models

Ken Crockett, from Apple News Now Podcast found this

Apple News Now

Apple's Self Service Transition Program allows you to change or exchange recent on-line purchases of Apple products for new models.

Self Service Transition Program

"Thank you for your interest in Apple products. Apple has recently announced several enhancements to our product lines and we are offering customers the option to select one of our new products. You may change your order or request a return using this web site."

Enter your order email and order number.

No details on what qualifies or how recent the purchase needs to be, but worth a shot.

Quicktime Pro 7.0.3 has an export for iPod feature

Export-->Movie to iPod (320 x 240)

iPod has basically two supported formats

H.264 video: up to 768 Kbps, 320x240, 30 frames per sec., Baseline Profile up to Level 1.3 with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats

MPEG-4 video: up to 2.5 mbps, 480x480, 30 frames per sec., Simple Profile with AAC-LC up to 160 Kbps, 48 Khz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats

Response to GDisk software

GDisk. Play review from Josiah.

gdisk.sourceforge.net

Most people responded and said it works fairly well. Some crashes and issues with downloading files from GMail

It sends files up to your GMail account as attachments to single emails.

It places them in the "drafts" folder with lables for different categories like movies, music, documents, etc.

Another app from Francois, XMail HardDrive BETA. Web based. I personally am leery about giving out my account info.

Xmailharddrive.com—beta

Mitch pointed out that the whole Gdisk thing is against the Google TOS, so beware as they could terminate your account.

Jesse pointed out this great article on ExtremeTech which offers additional tips and tricks for getting the most out of your GMail account.

ExtremeTech.com—Using GMail to...

What is ECC RAM and do we need it?

Error Correction Code DDR2 RAM.

Comment from Marius, "ECC RAM is most commonly used on server machines and provides much more reliability through special circuitry. Machines running ECC memory are not completely immune to sudden lock up’s, however it TREMENDOUSLY reduces the risk of lockup during critical applications."

Really a feature for high end pro level users.

Like a milk carton for iPods

Listener Jason told me about LostiPods.com

http://www.lostipods.com

For $5 you can post your iPod serial number and post a message and reward.

I doubt if it is worth it.

No sound in iTunes Videos

Listener Michael recently had an issue with the new iTunes 6 where videos in iTunes would play, but there was no sound.

Music in iTunes had sound and the same videos played in QuickTime outside of iTunes were fine.

Turns out it was the Volume Logic audio enhancement plugin. Removing it solved the issue. VolumeLogic is part of Plantronics.

www.volumelogic.com

Comments from Tee

Play comments

PodioBooks

www.podiobooks.com

Double Lyrics when pasting in iTunes

Listener Dave discovered a bug in iTunes 6 when you copy and paste lyrics. They appear to paste in twice.

This is happening even after the 6.0.1 update.

I am wondering if it has anything to do with PearLyrics or SingPod?

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Password: "macgeek"

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