Apple seeking a Mobile Marketing Manager

According to a post on MacSlash Apple had a recent post on it's job web site calling for a Mobile Marketing Manager. If it existed, the posting now appears to have been removed

If true this plays into the speculation that Apple is possibly developing an "iPhone".

Supposedly the job post called for a candidate to work with major carriers worldwide. Apple currently only has Motorola phones supported on the Cingular network

Many feel Apple's iPhone device may be sold without service and the activated on any of a number of carriers. That or Apple will become a Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) leasing connectivity from another carrier, something Disney did with it's new mobile service.

Former Apple CFO Andersen resigns from Apple board

Former CFO and current board member Fred Andersen announced his resignation from the Apple Board of Directors

Speculation is that the resignation was prompted by the recent investigation over stock options irregularities.

From the report, "The investigation raised serious concerns regarding the actions of two former officers in connection with the accounting, recording and reporting of stock option grants."

Among other findings, the investigation also found:

The investigation found no misconduct by any member of Apple's current management team.

In a few instances, Apple CEO Steve Jobs was aware that favorable grant dates had been selected, but he did not receive or otherwise benefit from these grants and was unaware of the accounting implications.

Target gets in on movie studio "persuasion"

Apparently Target President Gregg Steinhafel recently sent a letter to the Movie studios expressing concerns of deals for digital movie downloads

In the letter he called for a "level playing field" when it came to pricing and eluding that if they didn't get it Target would reconsider it's DVD business. Target account for 15% of US DVD sales.

This comes after similar reports that WalMart is also concerned over digital movie downloads.

WalMart denied threatening the studios and Variety is reporting a potential Apple/Wal-Mart deal where a "digital download 'coupon' for iTunes would be purchased at WalMart with a percentage of the proceeds going to WalMart.

To me it all seems like idle threats, plus based on pricing of movies in iTunes I don't think Apple is getting a great deal.

One analyst is predicting at least two new studios will come on board after the holidays. Disruption of current DVD business and copy protection worries are primary reasons for hesitation on a pre-holiday launch.

Margins on digital downloads must be much higher though.

Apple posts new "Get a Mac" ads

3 new ads. "Counselor", "Better Results" (featuring Gisele Bündchen), "Self Pity"

Get a Mac

The ads have been playing in Apple retail store and on Canadian TV for the past couple weeks.

Starbucks most recent expansion... iTunes

Starbucks Hear Music catalog is now in the iTunes Store.

Available in a special new Starbucks Entertainment area.

Hear Music are a popular CD series and co-releases sold in Starbucks coffee shops. iTunes versions can be purchased as entire playlists or individual tracks

Is Santa Steve bringing us a real video iPod this year?

Engadget seems to think so.

Widescreen and wireless and they claim multiple "reliable" sources say it will be out before the end of the year.

I frankly would be surprised, but the new iPod would be the Grinch to steal Zunes Christmas.

iPod Screensaver trick

The author of this is Franc Isreal or Francis Real or Franc Is Real

.Mac Francisreal

Set your iPod options to Enable disk use. This option appears on the iPod Summary tab in iTunes 7.

In the Finder, double-click on your iPod icon to open its file browser.

In the top-level iPod folder (the one with your Notes and Calendar and Contacts), create a new folder (File->New Folder, Command-Shift-N). Name it Demo Mode.

In iTunes 7, select any Movie file and rename it to Demo.

Dismount your iPod, but leave it in the charger. After a minute or two, the video named Demo automatically plays and then repeats.

Comment about iTV and HDMI

I asked for iTV feedback couple weeks back

Play comment from Craig

VideoGrunt

Rumors of Core 2 Duo MacBooks (Pros?), but are they worth it?

Reports that Foxconn is now readying Core 2 Duo MacBooks or MacBook Pros have got people excited, but should they be?

Anandtech test show there is not much benefit to the new chips with a slow front side bus being the biggest limiter to performance

Core 2 Duo vs. Core Duo

Generally the chips seem to perform about 10% faster in most tests, with 3D and encoding applications seeing the most improvement.

Battery life appears to be about the same and I have not seen results on heat, but most think the chips should run cooler.

A newer version of the chips, Santa Rosa, is due out next year, so if you already own an Intel Mac laptop you may want to wait to upgrade. If you want an Intel laptop now the newer Core 2 Duo models will give you a very slight advantage over the current offerings.

Is Apple's .Mac customer service sub-par?

Listener Steve points out that many iWeb users have been having issue publishing to .Mac after the 10.4.8 update

www.mac.com

Looks like it really isn't the 10.4.8 update but just a case of continued .Mac reliability issues. I have people tell me all the time about issues with syncing, iWeb, iDisk and especially .Mac Mail

.Mac (and iTunes Store) seems to be an area where Apples famed customer service really falls short.

Should we get better service for $99/yr? ($8.25/mo).

How I create an enhanced podcast

Play comment from Colin

I do use Garageband with a "Podcast" track.

GarageBand 3

Trick: drag any folder of images into the "Pictures" area of the Media browser. Works for other media and in other Apps as well.

Export to iTunes and add additional tags, lyrics, etc.

Delete the Podcast track to export AIFF to iTunes and then do the final MP3 encode there (use Import settings).

Create the XML feed with Feeder

www.reinventedsoftware.com

How to display the date in the menu bar

Easy to show the day of the week next to the time, but what if you want the full date?

Listener Chris found this at paulstamatiou.com

www.paulstamatiou.com

Only works in 10.4 Tiger

1) Open System Preferences by following Apple » System Preferences.

2) Under the Personal section, click on International.

3) Select the Formats tab and click on Customize under Dates.

4) OS X does not offer the date options under the Times section, so we can create the format we like in Dates, copy it, and paste it in the portion for customizing time. Select the dates format you want to start out with, such as Medium or Long and drag items from Date Elements to get your favored format. Highlight and copy this, then click Cancel.

Screenshot

5) Click Customize under the Times section. Select Medium from the drop-down menu and paste what you had copied in step 4 where you want it to appear.

6) Click OK and glance at your menu bar to see the new format. You can go back and add spaces or other characters between elements as needed.

7) You can further modify this by setting options in System Preferences » Date & Time » Clock. Options such as Show the day of the week and Show AM/PM are most likely what you would be interested in changing.

Can we get a non-Apple BT mouse and keyboard recommendation?

I know there are some BT mice out there and of course there is Apple's, but can anyone recommend a non-Apple BT keyboard and mouse combo?

Maybe send in an audio review (2-3 minutes).