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MacMinute Executive Briefing: Oct. 30
October 30, 2004 - 06:00 PDT
MacMinute's Executive Briefing for Oct. 30, 2004--a recap of all the news we have posted over the past week--is now available. If you think you may have missed something, here is your chance to catch up.
Apple News
 Apple on Tuesday introduced iPod Photo, a new version of the popular device that "lets you take your entire music and photo library with you wherever you go." iPod Photo, which is shipping immediately, holds up to 25,000 digital photos alongside your music library and displays them on a high-resolution color screen. iPod Photo lets you combine your music and your favorite photos to create slideshows on your iPod, and features TV-out for sharing your slideshows on televisions and projectors.The new device also allows you to view album artwork. iPod Photo comes in 40GB (US$499) and 60GB ($599) models, and offers an extended battery life of up to 15 hours of music playback or up to 5 hours of slideshows. [More]
 Apple also introduced the iPod U2 Special Edition as part of a partnership between Apple, U2 and Universal Music Group to create "innovative new products together for the new digital music era." The new U2 iPod holds up to 5,000 songs and features a black enclosure with a red Click Wheel and custom engraving of the U2 band member's signatures. Apple also announced that it has "created the online music industry's first-of-its-kind 'Digital Box Set.'" The first digital box set, "The Complete U2," will contain over 400 tracks including all of the band's albums and over 25 rare and unreleased tracks. U2 fans will be able to purchase and download The Complete U2 beginning in late November for US$149, and U2 iPod customers will receive a coupon for $50 off the purchase price. The new 20GB iPod U2 Special Edition is expected to be available in mid-November for a suggested retail price of $349. [More]
See also:
As noted first by MacMinute, Apple launched an expanded European Union version of the iTunes Music Store, adding Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain to the the mix. The same price of €0.99 per song applies, as well as all the other features currently enjoyed by France, Germany, and the UK. Apple today also announced it will launch the iTunes Music Store in Canada in November.
Shares of Apple (AAPL) climbed to above $50 on Wednesday for the first time in four years. The stock rose $2.33 (4.86 percent) to close at $50.30 following the introduction of the iPod Photo, U2 iPod and nine new European iTunes stores.
Apple this week announced that it will open its London retail store on November 20. The Regent Street store, which will be the company's first in Europe, is expected to span 20,000 sq ft. "Come and meet our amazing multi-lingual team. Stop by the 14-metre-long Genius Bar and talk to the smartest Mac people in town for advice, problem-solving, repairs and technical services. Check out the state-of-the-art 64-seat theatre where we’ll be hosting free workshops and presentations for everyone from beginners to seasoned pros."
Following through on its plans to have 100 US retail stores open by the end of the calendar year, Apple announced the grand openings of three new Apple Stores. On Thursday, November 4, the company will open a new store at the Alderwood Mall in Lynnwood, Washington. On Saturday, November 6, the company will open news stores at the Carousel Center in Syracuse, New York, and at the Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Hardware News
 Virginia Tech this week announced that its rebuilt "System X" supercomputer cluster, which consists of 1,100 Xserve G5s, is now operating at 12.25 teraflops--an increase of almost two teraflops over the original system's 10.28 teraflops. "Virginia Tech will learn of its new ranking when the list is unveiled in November of this year at SuperComputing 2004 in Pittsburgh," said Srinidhi Varadarajan, the lead designer of the system. "We expect to do well." Last year, the university's system ranked third among the world's 500 fastest supercomputers. [More]
Merrill Lynch analyst Steve Milunovich does not think Apple will introduce a video player iPod or add wireless capability in the near future. Milunovich recently visited with Apple's management team, including CFO Peter Oppenheimer, VP of iPod Product Marketing Greg Joswiak, and Chief Software Technology Officer Avie Tevanian. He said in a research note that the Apple executives did not reject the idea of a photo iPod, and expressed surprise that Sony's new portable photo player does not have A/V output jacks to enable viewing of pictures on a TV. In his discussions with the Apple team about usage patterns, Milunovich said it was clear that a video iPod (for playing movies) gets the thumbs down. [More]
 PalmOne introduced the Treo 650 smartphone, a new version of its device that combines a full-featured mobile phone with email, a Palm OS organizer, messaging and Web access. The Treo 650 adds: a higher-resolution screen (320 x 320); removable battery, integrated Bluetooth, enhanced camera, improved QWERTY backlit keyboard, MP3 player, a single inbox for text and picture messaging, the capability to access EDGE based networks on GSM; and support for direct corporate email access to Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 using PalmOne's VersaMail. The Treo 650 will be available as either a digital dual-band CDMA/1xRTT or a GSM/GPRS/EDGE quad-band world phone, with pricing to be set by individual carriers. Carrier availability is expected to begin later this year in the US, with worldwide rollout to follow in 2005.
Software News
Bringing music store support for nine new European countries, Apple on Tuesday released iTunes 4.7 for both Mac OS X and Windows XP or 2000. The update also includes a new feature that allows users to search for and delete duplicate songs, and a new "Artist Alerts" feature that sends an email alert notifying users when music from one of their favorite artists has been added to the iTunes Music Store.
Apple this week announced it has begun shipping Logic Express 7, the next major release of its music composition and production software that delivers professional quality audio and MIDI tools at an affordable price of $299. Logic Express 7 allows musicians to create, record, edit, and mix music, and offers new Apple Loops support, software instruments and high-quality effect plug-ins. In addition, Logic Express 7 can open songs from GarageBand, making it ideal for users seeking to step up to a more advanced application with a studio-style mixer, movie scoring capabilities, and the ability to edit and print performances using music notation.
Apple released QuickTime 6.5.2, an update to the company's multimedia software. According to the release notes, version 6.5.2 is an important release that includes a security update and bug fixes. This release also includes enhancements in the Apple Lossless Encoder and AAC codecs, as well as improved support for iTunes and other QuickTime-based applications.
Apple also released Security Update 2004-10-27, which provides several Mac OS X security enhancements and fixes for Apple Remote Desktop 1.2.4 (ARD). According to the release notes, the update will prevent an application to be launched behind the ARD loginwindow which will run as root. "If the ARD Administrator application on another system is used to start a GUI application on the client, then the GUI application would run as root behind the loginwindow. This update prevents ARD from launching applications when the loginwindow is active. This security enhancement is also present in Apple Remote Desktop v2.1. This issue does not affect systems prior to Mac OS X 10.3."
Finally, Apple released iPod Updater 2004-10-20, which includes iPod Photo Software 1.0 for use with the new iPod Photo. The 2004-10-20 update contains the same iPod software included in iPod Updater 2004-08-06 for all other iPod models. [More]
Intuit this week announced QuickBooks Pro 2005 for Mac, a new version of its flagship small business application. The latest version brings more customizable forms; the ability to share QuickBooks data; iCal and .Mac integration; the ability to hide inactive list items and sort lists on any column; new reports for cash flow and unbilled hours; and the option to "QuickZoom" to individual bills and invoices from Pay Bill and Receive Payment windows. QuickBooks Pro 2005 for Mac is priced at $299.95.
Other software:
- Fast DVD Copy 3 - copy DVDs, audio CDs, PlayStation 2 games, DVD-ROMs and CD-ROMs
- ShapeShifter 2.0 - Mac OS X customization software
- Internet Cleanup 2.0.3 - privacy tool that blocks suspicious data transmissions, cookies, referring URLs, spyware, ad banners, and pop-up windows
- DayLite 1.7 - business relationship manager
- Eggplant 2.0 - tool for automated, cross-platform testing
- SoundSoap 2 - "one-click" audio cleaning software for Mac OS X
- iVideo 2.5 - advanced video organizer and player
- RadicalSafe 1.0 - securely stores various kinds of information, such as serial numbers and passwords
- DeskDoodle 1.0 - draw directly onto their screen (above or below running applications)
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