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 | Apple quitting Macworld Expo, no Jobs keynote in January
In a shock move Apple has announced that this will be the last time it attends the Macworld Expo, and that Steve Jobs will not deliver the keynote speech
Jim Dalrymple, Macworld.com
Apple has announced that the Macworld Conference & Expo 2009 will be the company’s last. The company also said Steve Jobs will not deliver his traditional keynote at the event in January.
In his place, Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, will deliver the keynote on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at the Moscone West hall. That, said Apple, will be the company's last keynote at the annual trade show.
“I think its the end of Macworld Expo,” Michael Gartenberg, vice president of market research firm JupiterMedia and editor of the MobileDevicesToday blog, told Macworld. “It’s the end of an era.”
But Paul Kent, vice president and general manager of Macworld Expo organizer IDG World Expo, said that his organization would strive to serve Mac users at next January's trade show and beyond.
“Macworld Conference & Expo has thrived for 25 years due to the strong support of tens of thousands of people in the Mac community worldwide who use [Expo] as a way to find great products, partake in professional development training and cultivate their personal and professional networks," Kent said. “We are committed to serve their interests at the Moscone Center, January 4-8 2010.”
Kent added that future events “will continue to provide quality education, dynamic product viewing and will additionally focus on the amazing ways people are putting Apple products to work across all endeavors from desktops to iPhones to games to music. We look forward to many successful years of Macworld to come.”
In a press release announcing its decision to pull out of Macworld Expo after the 2009 event, Apple explained that it has developed new avenues for interacting with its customers.
“Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers,” the company said in a statement posted to its website. “The increasing popularity of Apple’s Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways.”
Besides its stores, Apple also holds its own events during which the company has introduced new iPods and computers in the past few years.
“Unlike other companies, Apple are able to draw press and analysts to an event anytime they want,” said Gartenberg.
Gartenberg also believes that the absence of Jobs at the keynote sends a signal to the community. “Without Steve Jobs it’s probably going to be a tame Macworld this year,” he said.
Kent disagreed. “We are on track for a terrific show this year with strong attendance and nearly 500 exhibitors showcasing their products at this January’s event,” he said.
Apple pointed out that it has been scaling back on trade shows recently. Earlier this year, the company didn’t exhibit at the NAB show, an annual trade event for broadcasters and video pros where Apple had introduced updates to its professional video-editing tools in the past. The company also didn’t participate in this year’s Apple Expo in Paris and pulled out of the Mac Live Expo in London two years ago.
In 2002, when IDG World Expo announced plans to relocate its East Coast Mac trade show from New York to Bsoton, Apple announced it would stop participating in the summer trade event. After two Macworld Expos in Boston, IDG World Expo pulled the plug on that event.
It’s been a tough lead-up to Macworld Expo this year. Earlier this month, Belkin pulled out of Expo citing economic conditions. And Adobe will also not be exhibiting at the trade show this year, but it will have employees on hand to lead training sessions.
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| Inside the Mac OS X 10.5.6 update
Apple iCal events now works again, improved synching of bookmarks, contacts, and calendar changes
Rob Griffiths Macworld.com
Monday’s release of OS X 10.5.6 included a number of updates that fix bugs, improve security, and in some cases, add new (or bring back) functionality to the Mac operating system.
Apple detailed many of these changes in its official release notes. Of the things Apple documented, one change was of particular interest to me (and, perhaps, to many other Macworld readers):
Fixes an issue when running the New iCal Events Automator action as an applet.
That’s right; the Create iCal events from anywhere hint from April of 2008 now works again—the 10.5.3 update broke it, and 10.5.6 fixes it. I’ve confirmed this on two machines here; my most-used Automator applet is now back in business!
Another interesting tidbit revealed by Apple is greatly improved synching of bookmarks, contacts, and calendar changes—regardless of where you make changes, those changes should propagate to all devices within a minute.
In the past, updates from the computer to an iPhone, for instance, could take quite a while. In my testing, this seemed to work as described, with updates to my calendar sometimes showing up in less than a minute on my other devices.
Being able to update information on any source device and have those changes propagate quickly and automatically is a welcome addition to OS X’s capabilities.
Apple highlights a number of other changes, from the important (improved printing from Adobe’s CS3 applications), to the interesting (all laptops get a new Trackpad System Preferences panel, though four-finger gestures haven’t migrated to older machines) to the mundane (Chess is now more reliable).
Beyond what Apple told us about, however, there are more changes—with an update approaching 200MB in size, that’s to be expected.
To see what else I could find, I dove into the update’s bom file, found in /Library -> Receipts -> boms, and examined the 10.5.6 bom file with lsbom. Most of the changes I found there correspond to Apple’s release notes—updates to iCal, Mail, Safari, Address Book, Chess, DVD Player, and more would all be expected based on the notes.
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| BBC iPlayer for Mac & Linux released
BBC announces that the long-awaited version of iPlayer for Mac complete with download functionality is now available
Mark Hattersley
The BBC has announced that a version of its iPlayer application for Mac and Linux operating systems is now available for download.
The BBC has worked with Adobe to develop a cross-platform version of its BBC iPlayer Desktop application; the new version of iPlayer uses Adobe Air technology to enable cross-platform support. iPlayer is the BBCs online media player that enables viewers to watch television programmes online up to seven days after they have been broadcast.
While Mac users have been able to watch iPlayer content via the BBC iPlayer Web site, the new application enables them to download shows and store them locally on their computer.
Users looking to download the new iPlayer Desktop application can get a trial version from the Labs section of the iPlayer site. The BBC news site claims that a finished version is likely to be released in February 2009.
When iPlayer was fist launched, the BBC was heavily criticised by both the Mac and Linux communities for creating a program that only worked with Microsoft Windows XP. The Windows version of iPlayer uses Microsoft’s Digital Rights Management (DRM) to ensure that television programmes can not be watched after seven days.
Speaking to the BBC news Web site, the BBC’s head of digital media Anthony Rose defended the BBC’s adoption of DRM technology saying: "The BBC Trust said we could make content available for seven or 30 days after broadcast. The ability to take things away after some time requires DRM."
BBC iPlayer now uses three DRM technologies: Windows Media Player, Adobe Air and OMA for mobile devices. The BBC also enables media to be streamed (but not downloaded) to the iPhone using Apple’s H.264 codec. Because Apple does not share its FairPlay DRM with other companies, the BBC has had to use Adobe Air to enable DRM content to be downloaded to the Mac. Because the iPhone does not support Adobe Flash, a version of BBC iPlayer for iPhone that downloads television shows would appear to be some way away.
"We may embrace other DRMs as needed," said Mr Rose. The BBC news site also noted that putting the iPlayer on phones, game consoles and more computers was helping to drive the success of the application.
The BBC iPlayer service is only available to users with a IP address located within the United Kingdom.
Click here to visit the BBC iPlayer labs and sign up for labs features.
Click here to visit the BBC's iPlayer Desktop download site.
Update: The BBC iPlayer Desktop service is currently only compatible with current versions of Firefox and not Apple's Safari Web browser. To download and run BBC iPlayer Desktop you must access the BBC iPlayer website with Firefox. Not all television shows are available for download.
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| After Apple, Intel invests in London-based Imagination Technologies
Company behind technology used in the 3G iPhone's graphics chips
Sumner Lemon
One day after Apple took a 3.6 per cent stake in Imagination Technologies, the company that developed the technology used in the 3G iPhone's graphics chips, Intel responded by increasing its own stake in the company - and said it would consider an outright acquisition of Imagination if another bid emerged.
London-based Imagination Technologies develops intellectual property found in systems-on-chip (SOCs), including its Meta processor cores and PowerVR graphics engines.
A graphics chip based on PowerVR provides the graphics for Apple's 3G iPhone and other companies, including Samsung Electronics and Intel, have licensed Imagination's graphics technology.
Intel licensed PowerVR technology for its Atom processors, as well as its CE 3100 and CE 2110 processors, SOCs designed for consumer electronics that are based on the Pentium M processor core.
On 18 December, Imagination revealed in a filing with the London Stock Exchange that Apple acquired 8,200,000 shares, equal to a 3.6 per cent stake in the company.
The next day, Intel responded by acquiring 934,422 shares in Imagination through Intel Capital, raising its total stake to 6,934,422 shares, or 3.04 per cent.
Imagination's shares closed 21 per cent higher on Monday, up £0.11 to £0.64 per share.
In a statement filed with the London Stock Exchange, Intel warned it may bid to acquire Imagination if another company tabled an acquisition offer - an apparent reference to Apple's interest in Imagination. At the same time, Intel said, "it has no current intention to make an offer for Imagination Technologies."
Imagination confirmed Intel's increased stake with a separate filing with the London Stock Exchange on Monday,
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| Palm gets $100 million cash infusion
Deal puts momentum behind new Palm products for 2009
Agam Shah
Smartphone maker Palm received a cash infusion from a venture capital firm on Monday that could lift the company from its sagging fortunes.
Under terms of the agreement, Elevation Partners will provide $100 million and increase its investment in Palm. The investment comes at a time when Palm is struggling to remain a player in the mobile phone market, where it has been eclipsed by rivals Research In Motion and Apple.
Palm's product offerings include the Centro and Treo smartphones.
"The additional capital from Elevation Partners will enable us to put added momentum behind the new product introductions scheduled for 2009 and will provide us with enhanced stability in unsettled economic times," Ed Colligan, Palm's CEO, said in a statement.
Colligan acknowledged that the company was working through an "undeniably difficult period," in a statement last week when announcing the company's second-quarter financial results.
Palm reported revenue of $191.6 million for the second quarter ending 30 November, down from $349.6 million it reported a year earlier.
The company sold 599,000 smartphones in the quarter, down 13 per cent from a year earlier, while revenue from smartphones saw a 39 per cent drop.
The company may continue to struggle through next year as sales are expected to slow down. IDC last week said mobile phone shipments would decline by more than 2 percent next year compared to 2008.
That is the largest decline since 2001, IDC said, noting that the global economic crisis was a major factor in the drop.
Palm will reportedly introduce new smartphones and a new Linux-based operating system for mobile devices, code-named Nova, next year.
Under terms of agreement, Elevation will pay $3.25 per share, a 31 per cent premium on last Friday's closing prices of Palm's stock. The deal is expected to close by the end of January.
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| BBC introduces child friendly CBBC iPlayer
Comes with a simpler interface using large colourful images to entice children
Nick Spence
The BBC has launched a child friendly version of its popular online catch-up TV service BBC iPlayer.
“Welcome to iPlayer for CBBC,” runs the blurb. “Watch CBBC your way.”
The Web site comes with a simpler interface using large colourful images to entice children into watching online.
“Check out the most popular shows or pick out your favourites via the CBBC Shows A-Z button at the top of the page. iPlayer for CBBC will even remember the last 5 shows that you have watched. Brilliant!”
Currently popular shows available to view include MI High, The Story of Tracy Beaker, Bear Behaving Badly and the Doctor Who spin-off The Sarah Jane Adventures.
As well as watching archived shows the channel is also streamlined on the Web site between 7am and 7pm each day.
A range of CBBC games including Gastronuts and Pinky & Perky: Power Pig are available to play for free.
Shows are also available for streaming that include sign language including The Crust and Extreme Animals.
The new dedicated Web site comes as the BBC announced that a version of its iPlayer download applications now compatible with Mac and Linux operating systems.
The BBC’s director of future media and technology, Erik Huggers noted that teen drama MI High had a higher proportion of viewers watching on the iPlayer than Eastenders - 20.7 per cent compared to 2.4 per cent - though he said viewer research showed iPlayer viewing to be supplementary rather than 'cannibalising' traditional TV viewing.
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| Apple Expo Paris cancelled
Reed Exhibitions will not hold Apple Expo Paris in 2009
Jim Dalrymple Macworld.com
Reed Exhibitions will not hold Apple Expo Paris in 2009. The show organisers confirmed its plans for Macworld on Wednesday.
Apple has slowly been moving away from the Paris expo for the last several years. In 2005 Apple cancelled Steve Jobs' keynote in Paris, although Apple, and Jobs, still atended the show.
That was Jobs' first appearance in Paris since undergoing pancreatic cancer in August 2004.
In 2008, Apple said it would not participate in the Paris expo at all, saying they were participating in fewer trade shows.
Of course, on Tuesday Apple announced that 2009 would be its last year at the largest Mac gathering, Macworld Conference & Expo, held in San Francisco, Calif. Steve Jobs will also not be giving the keynote address at the company's last appearance at the show.
In addition to Apple Expo Paris and Macworld Expo San Francisco, Apple has also pulled out of Macworld Expo Boston and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) trade shows in recent years.
Macworld Expo organisers, IDG World Expo, vows to keep the San Francisco show going in the future.
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 | Create Audio Files from text documents
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| Say hello and introduce yourself
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| Hi there. My name is Jason. I've listened to the last couple of episodes of the British Mac podcast and thought I'd drop by and say hi. I'm a relatively new mac user, having bought the new macbook pro, and I absolutely love it. Well, don't have much else to say right now. Look forward to the next podcast.
Jason
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| William's the name, aspiring entrepreneur my game. Heard the podcast hated it, heard it again, loved it (love is a strange game isn't it?)
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| Oliver Postgate & Peter Firmin
These two need a mention. Creators of the Clangers, Ivor the Engine, Noggin the Nog, Bagpuss amongst many others.
All the best,
Paul
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| Jump to end of thread
When you click on a topic in this forum you can click on the bright blue "new" icon. This will take you to the last post made in that thread instead of the first post which is what you get when you click on the topic title.
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| Boolean Spotlight
If you want to search more exactly for stuff in Spotlight you can use Boolean logic. Simply type in CAPITALS the words AND or NOT or OR between your search words to give a more refined result.
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| Hide all
If you liked this one the I have another similar one that you may also like.
Hold down alt and Command () at the same time. Then click on any window.
All of the applications will be hidden except for the one that you have clicked on.
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| BBC Radio on the iPhone/Touch
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| I'm sure some of you out there are keen radio listeners.
Personally, I grew up with Radio (particularly The Archers) as we never (and still don't) have a television at home.
I'd like to point you to my site. I know this may seem like a bit of self promotion but I genuinely hope people will find the website useful http://www.bbcstreams.com.
On the site I've listed all of the BBC's National Radio stations streaming URL's (basically the "stream" from the radio put out onto the internet). Not only that, but I've included a really simple tutorial on how to listen to BBC Radio on your iPhone, the application in question is FStream (http://www.sourcemac.com), the tutorial doesn't scratch the surface of what FStream can do, such as recording the radio stream onto the iPhone so that you can listen to your favourite show when out of range of a mobile signal.
I'm hoping to add more to the tutorial and I'd be interested in getting all your feedback through this forum or by emailing me (williamtildesley@me.com).
Hope you enjoy.
-William
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| $19.84 DVD (£13.36)
Either $25 (£16.84) or $7 shipping (£4.71)
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| About WeatherBug Local Weather
Helps get live, local weather conditions in the world on your Mac’s Dashboard. Featuring detailed forecasts, radar, news, and severe weather alerts from WeatherBug’s proprietary network.
What’s New in this Version
- Live weather cameras.
- International weather conditions and maps.
- Temperature maps.
- More radar maps.
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| About Maintidget
Displays the last date/time the OS X Maintenance Scripts (a.k.a. Cron Tasks) were last run. It also includes the ability to run the scripts on demand, straight from your Dashboard.
What’s New in this Version
- New authentication logic should reduce false-negatives when running scripts and should also help those with blank passwords.
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| Forum advertising free from January
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| William Graham Green, Born 12 January 1935 - Died 20th December 2008, musician, entertainer and my Dad.
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