Episode BritishMac048
News
Headlines
Munter's Monster Predictions for Apple
Munster believes Apple is on target to shift one million more than the NPD-predicted 9.5 million iPods during its current June quarter - that's slightly under Wall Street expectations (9.8 million) but more than the 8.1 million iPods sold in the same quarter last year. Munster thinks Apple will sell 10.5 million iPods.

Munster also advised investors to hold steady as Apple prepares for June's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), where he expects Apple to release a new MacBook Pro, possibly toting an all-new and environmentally friendly LED screen. He also predicts a new-breed iMac for June debut.
Apple Sauce with iGasm
Apple v Ann Summers in iGasm spat (from Macworld.co.uk)


The retail chain has been promoting a £30 sex toy called the iGasm, a device which connects to any music player and offers users an erotic vibrating treat in time to the beat.

A News of the World report claims Apple is furious about Ann Summer's promotion of the device, and is demanding all posters for the gadget be taken down, under threat of court action.
The neon-pink posters depict an underwear-clad female silhouette holding an oval white device with two cables - one connected to a pair of white headphones, the other heading down toward the female's knickers.
The sales pitch urges music fans to: "Go at it hard and fast with a pounding drum 'n' bass track or chill with an ambient classic."
Apple is claiming the ad to be an abuse of the silhouette-based images it uses in its own advertising.
Ann Summers hasn't bowed to Apple's threats, the report explains.
EMI back digital downloads as future
EMI has agreed to its acquisition by UK private equity investor, Terra Firma, confirming a 15 per cent decline in recorded music sales and offering an update on its digital music strategy.
In the UK, EMI revealed that physical sales declined by an estimated 11.8 per cent in the year, while digital sales increased by 79.7 per cent to give a total market decline of 8.8 per cent over the 2006/07 financial year. 
Digital revenue for 2006/07 in the UK grew by 31 per cent over the previous year with fixed line downloads increasing by 16 per cent, mobile downloads increasing by 41 per cent and subscription by 38 per cent over the period.
Quick News
IBM release G6 processor
Facing a slowing Unix market, IBM released its PowerPC Power6 processor on Monday, its fastest chip yet for high-end servers. The chip runs at double the speed of its Power5 line, but uses the same amount of power.
The one-time Apple processor supplier also launched a server based on the chip, the System p 570, which will be available in configurations with two to 16 cores. It employs new virtualization technologies to reduce power consumption while keeping performance up. The chip and server will be available in about two weeks, IBM officials said.
Death knell tolls for 17-inch iMac - from Think Secret
May 21, 2007 - Apple's pending iMac update will spell the end of the day for the 17-inch iMac, the most affordable computer in the line. The refreshed iMac, currently on track to arrive by the end of June according to sources, will feature just 20- and 24-inch models.



The decision to axe the smallest iMac comes as display prices continue to track downwards, making the cost difference for Apple between a 17-inch display and a 20-inch display almost negligible. Demand from display customers for larger sizes coupled with more productive manufacturing plants in Asia have been the guiding factors in those lower prices.
Apple released the first seed of Mac OS X 10.4.10 to developers Friday. The pending update will mark the first version of Mac OS X to see a ninth substantial update since release.
and finally...
iPod plays the piano

Introduced at the music industry tradeshow Winter NAMM 2007, iQ received a Best in Show award for Trendsetter Products.

iQ can be operated from an array of music delivery devices, including iPods. It can also be operated from a computer's iTunes library.
For iPods, once you have docked your music player into the piano's docking station, you simply choose a song and the piano will play it on its own, following what it detects of the melody of the track played on your iPod. The solution can also play music from CDs and DVDs.
iQ uses PianoDisc's patented 88-note SilentDrive technology to play the piano with full expression at even whisper-soft levels. The electronics are hidden within the piano - yet control all aspects of a performance from key to pedal response.
iQ also integrates with Smart Homes, connected homes, home audio and home theatre systems. With this last combination, you can play a PianoDisc PianoVideo. As you watch the pianist play on the screen, the music he's performing will play live on your piano.
An introductory video showing the features of iQ is available online. There's more on how this exciting device works here.
Frankenwidget

About ZX Spectrum
Relive the glory days of the 80’s guiding Miner Willy through the "Solar Power Generator," defeating Doomdark near the "Mountains of the Moon," or just programming your next BASIC masterpiece. 

Features: 
- A few great games to get you started. 
- New games can be easily added. 

Pull those bedroom curtains even tighter together, pull out those Crash magazines and ignore your mother calling you for your dinner. Plunge into a nostalgia trip all at the press of F12.
What’s New in this Version
- Custom sizing - upto 1000x800 (milage varies by machine) 
- Basic (10 Print “Neil rules! “; 20 GO TO 10) 
- Important: If you added any games to the previous version you must back up your games out of the game folder before upgrading, and copy them back once the new install is complete. The game folder is replaced during the upgrade.
Uncle Mac's Siesta
Dan Wood Interview
St. British Mac
Keyboard Shortcuts
Desert Island Applications
Dan Wood
Ye Olde Mac & Mouse
Worst Album covers from Christian @ Documentally

http://www.stevecarter.com/albumcovers.htm
Ben - Macbook pro or normal?

hi will, great podcast have been listerning for the past couple of months.  i am a pc user and have become interested in the mac after using macs at college with music creation software.  my pc has served me well although i intend to go uni this year and will require a laptop.  i am hoping to study a new course based around the electronic distribution of music, i.e. itunes!
so i have decided to switch to the mac, although i am unsure of what to spend my hard earned cash on.  orignally i had my heart set on the black macbook, then the 17" macbookpro, and now the macbook as i come to terms with the price!  looking at the spec comparison it seems that the main difference between the macbook and macbookpro is the hard drive space and screen size.  i am also concerned over the possibilties of a new laptop being introduced at wwdc and the fact that i will have to purchase my new mac with tiger rather than leopard.  overal, my question to british mac is whether the £400 is worth the upgrade from the macbook to the macbookpro?  hopefully you can give me some pointers.  when ive got the funds together and get my new mac il try to write a switchers diary.  (even though ive learnt most things about the mac already from this show!)

hope you can help!

regards

Ben
Apple - the album

Will:

I never miss an episode of British Mac.  Thanks for the special effort you make to produce such terrific podcasts.  I sweat that they're addicting!

I recognize that music is a big part of your podcasst.  Are you aware that there's an album of 1986 Apple related music on the Internet?  You may want to check it out and download  the album art and songs.  I'm sure that you'll be able to find a place for some of the music on your podcasts.  I've included two URLs for the music:  a Digg citation and a FTP download site.

Digg URL -

http://www.digg.com/apple/The_Apple_Boogie_In_1986_Apple_Computer_released_their_own_album

FTP URl -

http://www.apple2.org.za/gswv/me/Music/Apple.%20Boogie/

Best of Luck.

Devon
Murray power switcher

Hi Will,

Hope you had a good holiday.

I switched to Mac at Christmas becoming a proud owner of a 20-inch Intel Imac and very happy with it I am too. I have been in the I.T. industry for just under 30-years and have known many Mac owners who have advised me how great these machines are. They are right - I have never owned or worked on a machine so simple to use yet so effective and well designed - I should have switched earlier.

One major help in switching and setting up my Mac was the book 'Switching to the Mac Tiger Edition' by Pogue and Goldstein. It is one of the Missing Manual series and I found it invaluable and written in an irreverent style that made it entertaining.

Although I like Safari I decided to download Mozilla's browser Firefox and this has worked extremely well. I was determined to avoid Microsoft's software on my machine for as long as possible and therefore downloaded NeoOffice, which has turned out to be an excellent application (I am just downloading the upgrade to version 2.1 as I am writing this email). My son, who has his own Windoze powered laptop has started using NeoOffice in preference to his copy of Microsoft Office.

You may interested in one aspect of my use of my Mac as, for my sins, I am an analyst programmer who often has to provide out of hours support for my works computer from home. I connect to the computer (an IBM AS400) via a remote desktop using a Citrix client application on my Mac. This means that when I log onto my company's portal I see a copy of my Windows desktop as if I was at the office but it is on my Mac at home and I can access the AS/400 from there. This has other uses other than just accessing the AS/400 as I can see any emails (based on Lotus Notes) that have been received at work and use Microsoft Office to carry out paperwork remotely. It is also a very strange experience sending an email from my remote desktop from home and watching it arrive in my mail on my Mac. The chaps who support the remote desktop servers at work are quite happy that I am connecting using a Mac, after all they don't have to worry about my accidentally uploading a virus.

Thats about it for now - thanks for an excellent podcast it often makes me laugh out loud which can be a bit embarrassing when I am travelling to work on the tube.

Carry on the good work

Regards

Murray Aulsebrook

PS I know you can never say long surnames so mine is pronounced 'all see brook'.
The real reason for Leopard's delay? From Will @ the Dementia Scotland

http://www.blackfriarsinc.com/blog/2007/05/leopard-secret-end-of-windows


It's already known that Leopard will introduce a series of new APIs, many of which will replace existing ones to optimize performance, increase flexibility and generally just make the life of a developer much easier. There will also be several new APIs that have tremendous impact on application development – Core Animation is not just an API to add some sexy animations to your app, it's something that can easily revolutionize the way applications work and exist entirely.

In fact, Core Animation opens up the possibility of a brand new user interface. Time Machine is an example of an application that breaks a lot of conventions about window management, application windows and general user interfaces. Core Animation is what makes it all possible.
British Icon
Frankie Howerd