Episode BritishMac026
NEWS
Headlines
WWDC Summary (from Mike Bradbrook)
At the 2006 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference at San Francisco's Moscone West, Apple Computer's CEO Steve Jobs kicked off the event with his usual keynote.  Jobs touched on numerous topics such as tid bits on the conference, Apple Retail Store data, and new Hardware announcements.  But the crowd's attention was clearly focused on the OS X 10.5 Leopard preview.  Most of the attention, however, was on the OS X Leopard preview that Apple demonstrated to the public for the first time.  Jobs indicates that the public release of Leopard is targeted for Spring 2007.  Developers will be provided with a developer preview copy of Leopard that includes all technologies and features shown during the demo.  Of note, there was no "One More Thing" announcement from Jobs.

Tid Bits
Jobs used his keynote to provide numerous updates and key metrics on the company and the conference.
    •    Jobs mentioned that this year's WWDC had over 4200 registered attendees, the highest ever.  That's an increase of 20 percent over last year's WWDC.
    •    Jobs also mentioned that developers from over 48 countries were in attendance and were part of the 3/4 of a million registered developers for Mac
    •    Jobs then went on to discuss Apple's retail store success and progress.  Jobs mentioned that the company has 157 stores and he went on to mention the 5th Avenue store in New York City and mentioned that Apple stores saw 17 million visitors during the quarter.
    •    Jobs then went on to discuss market share and how Apple sells 50 percent of Macs to those who are new to the Mac.  Jobs also went on to state that the Mac growth rate is dramatically faster and the company is gaining market share and he even mentioned that the Mac's market share skyrocketed in June.

The Intel Transition is Complete
Jobs then focused the crowd's attention to Phil Schiller who announced that the transition to Intel processors was complete.  This was done by introducing the Mac Pro.  Apple mentioned that the transition was finished and it took just 210 days.  Phil Schiller took the stage and gave an overview of the new Mac Pro as the PowerMac said its good bye.  Some of the specs of the Mac Pro are as follows:
    •    Same PowerMac case but two optical drives, all dual core but the inside is entirely new.
    •    Intel Woodcrest processors that are based on the Core 2 Duo architecture
    •    Up to 3 Ghz and 64 bit
    •    16 GB memory
    •    Radeon x1900 or FX4500 graphics
    •    wireless BT & Airport
    •    4 MB shared L2 cache
    •    128 bit vector engine
    •    4 PCI express slots
    •    More I/O on the front and back

The Mac Pro represents a big jump in performance when compared to the PowerMac G5.  It has room for room for up to four hard drives and 2 TB of internal storage.  Next came the announcement of the new Xserve that utilize the Xeons and have quad performance, similar specifications to the Mac Pro.
Focus on Leopard
Jobs stressed that Leopard is the sixth major release of Mac OS X and it will ship in the first half of 2007, (Longhorn reference).  Jobs stated that Apple has 19 million active OS X users.  Jobs went on to reiterate the 210 day transition from a software perspective and how 86 million lines of source code was ported to run on Intel chips and how that was amazing.  There are now over 3000 Universal Binary applications for Mac OS X that can run on Intel or PowerPC based build of the operating system.

Betrand then took the stand that started to poke fun at Microsoft due to their copy of Mac OS X Tiger.  There was a reference to the 2004 banner, "Redmond Start Your Photocopiers", and a mention how that has been done.  There was then a presentation of slides that showed screen shots of Tiger and Windows Vista.
64-Bit Applications and Time Machine
Jobs then retook the stage and mentioned that the company was only going to preview Leopard as the operating system has some top secret features that cannot be shown yet.  Jobs also mentioned that it's not a good idea to start photocopiers too early, a clear stab at Vista.  The remainder of the keynote showcased the major features included in Leopard such as support for 64 bit applications and the new "Time Machine" backup application.  Leopard can run 32-bit applications side-by-side with 64-bit applications without emulation and no need for translation.  Leopard is a full 64-bit application top to bottom.  With regards to Time Machine, it's a truly versatile backup solution that automatically backs up a Mac to either a server or another hard disk.  You can restore everything or specific files.  Time Machine allows you to get files back by entering a date or time and there is a timeline on the right side.  The cool thing is that Finder windows can move through the timeline and you'll see your Mac sort of travel through time.  Time Machine can work with third-party applications as well as Apple's own software such as iPhoto.
Complete Package
Jobs then went on to discuss how Apple delivers the complete package and how there is some really cool beta software.  He went on to discuss Boot Camp and how it will ship as part of Leopard.  Overall, the reaction to Boot Camp has been very positive with over 500,000 downloads.

Leopard will include the next generation of Front Row and Photo Booth and you'll be able to access all of your media stored on a Mac from across a room.
Spaces - Virtual Desktops
Jobs then went on to introduce Virtual Desktops.  Virtual Desktops allow you to create different desktop spaces for different groups of applications.  You will also be able to drag and drop across desktops.
Spotlight
Spotlight will see several advancements and improvements in Leopard.  A great feature will be the ability to search other machines on the same network (with permission).  This is great if you own several Macs.  There will also be advanced search options (boolean, file type, etc).  Spotlight will include an application launcher that will buffer recently used applications to allow easy access and launch.
Animations
Core Animation, according to Jobs, it will "dramatically increase" the production value of applications.  All that needs to be done is that the developer need to create a keyframe, Core Animation will do the rest. A demo of a screen saver was performed.
Time Machine is built on Core Animation.
Universal Access
Jobs then went on to state that Apple wants to provide everyone the chance to use OS X and that Apple is focusing on access for Leopard users.  Jobs gave a demonstration of the new Voiceover.  The technology has a natural-sounding text-to-speech voice.  There is also closed captioning support for QuickTime, Braille support, and more. Leopard enabled users to access all features within the operating system.
Mail
There have also been major enhancements to Mail, Apple's email application for OS X.  Mail has been updated to include HTML based stationary, notes, and to-do's.  Mail now has the ability to can take any incoming email and turn it into a "To-Do."  There is a new special mailbox in called "Notes".  Jobs demoed the new Mail features.  The features can be integrated with other Apple applications and it is already integrated with iCal.
Dashboard
There are currently 2500 Widgets available for Tiger.  Dashcode, a developer tool, allows developers to easily create Dashboard Widgets by allowing them to design, develop and debug Widgets via templates.  Dashcode also functions as a CSS visual editor and JavaScript editor/debugger. Leopard users can turn any part of a web page into a Widget with "Web Clip", a demo was provided.
iChat
Now has tabs, multiple logins, animated icons, video recording, invisibility, and live Photo Booth effects.  Once again, we saw the usual iChat video conference demonstration with Apple's Phil Schiller showcasing transitions and effects.  iChat now includes the ability to put in photo and video based "Backdrops" to allow you to change the look of where you are, there are even motion backdrops.
Stock irregularities at Apple
Apple Computer Inc. on Friday reiterated that its mishandling of past employee stock options will cause it to miss a regulatory deadline for filing its latest quarterly results as the iconic maker of iPod music players and Macintosh computers digs into its accounting troubles.
As the stock option cloud over Apple Computer Inc. darkened, investors tried to determine Friday whether the company's popular products are powerful enough to overcome the potential accounting and legal risks facing the maker of the iPod and the Macintosh.
The possibility that the improper handling of employee stock options might erase some of Apple's past profits or, even worse, plunge its renowned CEO, Steve Jobs, into a legal morass spooked some investors. Apple shares fell as much as 6.7 percent during Friday's trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market before rebounding to close at $68.30, down $1.29, or 1.9 percent.
"You can't spin this as good news," Standard & Poor's analyst Richard Stice said Friday.
Besides jumbling its past earnings and raising worries about Jobs' possible role in the scandal, Apple's stock option troubles could lead to other complications.
While it reviews possible revisions to its past profits, Apple expects to miss a deadline for filing its most recent quarterly report with the Securities and Exchange Commission. If the delay is long enough, regulators could try to delist Apple's stock from Nasdaq, although the chances of that happening are considered slim.
The deepening problems also expose Apple to legal hassles that extend beyond Jobs, who is widely regarded as the key to the company's success.
Depending on the nature of the possible stock option abuses, class-action lawyers and prosecutors could target Apple's board for alleged misconduct. The directors include several well-known leaders who would attract intense media attention if they are dragged into the stock option mess.
Apple's current compensation committee consists of: former Vice President Al Gore, who has been on the board since 2003; Intuit Inc. Chairman William Campbell, who has been on the board since 1997; and J. Crew Group Inc. CEO Millard "Mickey" Drexler, who has been on the board since 1999. Oracle Corp. CEO Larry Ellison, who calls Jobs his best friend, sat on Apple's board for five years before stepping down in September 2002.
As unsettling as all those scenarios are, Friday's backlash against Apple wasn't as a severe as Wall Street's treatment of several other companies that have recently raised doubts about the accuracy of their past financial statements because insiders mishandled stock option awards.
More than 80 other companies nationwide are entangled in the stock option imbroglio. But Apple's ubiquitous brand makes it stand out from the rest of the pack. "Many will be watching this case because ... Apple may be the closest to a household name," predicted former federal prosecutor Michael Koenig, who is now in private practice in Washington, D.C.
Investors might be more forgiving with Apple because the iPod's success has propelled the Cupertino, Calif.-based company on a hugely profitable streak that most analysts expect to continue for at least the next few years.
"The focus should be placed on what we view as Apple's bright future — not the past," ThinkEquity Partners analyst Jonathan Hoopes wrote in a research note Friday.

In this file photo from Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2006, Apple Computer Inc. CEO Steve Jobs applauds employees during his keynote address at the MacWorld conference in San Francisco. Apple Computer Inc. shares sank nearly 5 percent Friday, a day after the computer and software maker said it expects to restate some of its financial results as a probe into its granting of stock options widens, threatening years of profit. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)
Most other analysts expressed similar sentiments, even as they vented some frustration.
"This issue slightly tarnishes Apple's squeaky clean image, but, more importantly, this does not impact Apple's underlying fundamentals," Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote in a Friday note.
Optimism like that has helped Apple weather the stock option storm remarkably well so far.
Despite Friday's downturn, Apple's stock remained 16 percent above its value before the company's late June disclosure of "irregularities" in the handling of options given to employees between 1997 and 2001.
Apple raised more intrigue late Thursday by announcing its stock option troubles had widened to the point that its reported earnings dating back to September 2002 can't be trusted.
That period coincides with the most prosperous era in Apple's colorful 30-year history. The company has reported profits totaling $3.1 billion during the past four years.
American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu believes only a small portion of those profits might disappear. Wu estimates Apple's stock option expenses for the past seven quarters have ranged from 3 cents to 6 cents per share — while the company's earnings have been much higher, ranging from 34 cents to 65 cents per share.
While Apple hasn't explained exactly how it mishandled stock options, most of the problems at other companies so far have involved "backdating."
Under this practice, insiders try to make the rewards more lucrative by retroactively pinning the option's exercise price to a low point in the stock's value. Usually, an option's exercise price coincides with the market value at the time of a grant, to give the recipient an incentive to drive the price higher.
If companies backdate options without accounting for the move, it can cause profits to be overstated and taxes to be underpaid. It also exposes companies to possible fraud charges.
Much of the angst about Apple centers on whether the stock option headaches will distract Jobs or land him in legal trouble.
Apple already has acknowledged that some of its nettlesome stock options were given to Jobs, but also emphasized that they were canceled in 2003 before he realized any gains — a factor that might help insulate him from any possible fallout.
But one Silicon Valley CEO — Gregory Reyes, the former boss of Brocade Communications Systems Inc. — already faces fraud charges for his alleged role in stock option backdating, even though his attorney insists he didn't personally benefit.
Analysts are betting Jobs will escape serious trouble.
"While we are not exonerating management for its error in judgment, we believe a `worst-case' scenario where Steve Jobs is terminated is ... unlikely to unfold," Hoopes wrote.
Jobs will have a golden opportunity to shift the attention back to Apple's products next week at a developers' conference in San Francisco.
New secret Leopard features!
Windows developers are abuzz with leaked news of unnannounced extra features within Apple's forthcoming Leopard operating system.

A report on a Windows Vista developer community website explains a number of features that seem likely to debut in the new OS. It describes twelve previously unknown features that are of specific interest to developers. All twelve are described as being present in the beta version of the OS which was given to developers this week at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).

However, developers who attended WWDC and received their beta copy of the OS will have signed an agreement not to discuss it, which means the claims on the Windows website will have required that agreement to be broken, if indeed the claims are true.

A number of features are listed, with developers most excited about claims for "resolution independence".

"Leopard will feature a resolution-independent user interface and there are several functions to get the current scaling factor and apply it to pixel measurements," the report claims.

Resolution Independent UI can be used to provide the user with either detail (more pixels per point, but fewer points on the screen), or real-estate (fewer pixels per point but more points on the screen).

However, this feature may not be so new after all. Apple has published notes relating to Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, notes which describe a resolution independent UI in the OS.

Additional Leopard features that have been claimed include: Address Book gaining the capacity to share accounts; a new user interface to Automator; developer tools to let developers exclude unimportant data from Time Machine backups; the capacity to integrate iCal data into third party applications; systemwide grammar checking; direct access to Raw files in Core Image and many more.
Quick But Dull
Apple may be closer than believed to releasing its much-speculated on iPod phone, it seems.

Apple Insider is claiming that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been uncharacteristically discussing the new device with trusted people. This is very unlike Jobs, who rarely discusses an unreleased product, but the report claims the innovative tech industry leader is personally excited by the device.

The report claims two prototype devices have been released to potential manufacturers of the product.

Recent news that Apple is ramping-up its demand for flash memory and rampant analyst speculation of new iPods in September also gets a boost.

Apple Insider's second claim is that the new iPhone will turn up earlier than some expect "in the form of a 'big bang' introduction that will catch even some insiders off-guard," the report claims.
New Store in Leeds
KRCS Leeds plans to reopen its Merrion Street shop as a new Apple Premium reseller on Saturday August 19, following a complete revamp of the store.

It's one of the first independent Mac shops to reopen as a Premium Reseller, a new brand Apple has introcuced in Europe that replaces the long-lived Apple Centre nomenclature. Products in the Leeds store are now collected together into Solutions zones.
 
KRCS managing director, Ken Woods, said: “Now we will offer the city’s premier Apple shopping experience. We have the full Apple range on display for customers to try out, together with linked products from leading manufacturers. We have everything from iPod cases to pro MIDI keyboards. Add in our experienced, customer-friendly staff and there is absolutely no reason to go anywhere  else.”
 
To celebrate the relaunch, KRCS is giving customers who visit their Leeds store 10 per cent off all Macs and free iTunes cards to the the value of £15 and £25 respectively with iPod nanos and iPod videos over both days of the opening weekend. 
and finally...
Play NTi Advert
Uncle Mac's Mac Moment
St. British Mac - In Jobs nos fides
Ye Olde Mac & Mouse
Amazing new Jingle by Alan Vickers
Hello to Frapr Friends
Dave Morgan, North Lincolnshire.
Dave Morgan,

North Lincolnshire
Mighty Mouse review by Mike Bradbrook
Chad's New Website...
Hi,

My name is Chad and I wanted to drop you a line and let you know I really
enjoy your podcast.  I listen to a LOT of mac podcasts!  :)

I am starting a new website to try to help people find new podcasts and help
podcasters get bigger audiences.

The site is called http://www.podcast-review.com

I thought I'd start getting the word out about it by emailing the podcasts I
listen to regularly. Check it out and feel free to add your show if it's
not already on there. If you want to tell your listeners about the site so they can
review your site and others it will help us market podcasts and get the word out
even more!


Take care,

Chad
Photoshop alternative from Rob Halliday
In your last podcast (25), one listener was asking about a Photoshop replacement for his intel Mac mini.  You mentioned Gimp, but there is one better.  Gimpshop a version of Gimp where the UI has been modified to match, as much as possible, Photoshop.  It even comes in Universal Binary.

http://plasticbugs.com/?page_id=294

Cheers, Rob
Dave's Joke
British Icon & Eccentric
British Mac Icon List
British Eccentric - Patrick Moore
Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, CBE, HonFRS, FRAS (born 4 March 1923), known as Patrick Moore, is a British astronomer who has attained an important position in British astronomy as a writer, organizer and presenter of the subject. He is a member and former president of the British Astronomical Association, co-founder and former president of the Society for Popular Astronomy, author of over 70 books on astronomy, presenter of the long-running BBC series, The Sky at Night, and a well-known figure on British television. He has a reputation for eccentricity, stemming mainly from his mode of speech, his trademark monocle, and his fondness for the xylophone.
Play clip
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/space/spaceguide/skyatnight/proginfo.shtml
British Icon - The Good Life
When the show was syndicated in the USA its title was changed to Good Neighbors to avoid confusion with the earlier American sitcom The Good Life (see following entry).
Richard Briers - Tom Good
Felicity Kendal - Barbara Good
Paul Eddington - Jerry Leadbetter
Penelope Keith - Margo Leadbetter

The show had an irresistible premise: a middle-class suburban couple, Tom and Barbara Good, decide to go back to the land and turn their Surbiton home into a self-sufficient farm-cum-allotment, growing their own food, keeping animals and making their own tools and equipment.