Post CES and MacWorld Blues

Now that CES and MacWorld are over, it’s time to look back.

CES is still a much larger event and yet it was eclipsed by Steve Jobs’ MacWorld Keynote. Once again, Apple stole CES’ thunder. I am still processing and formulating the information overloads from CES and MacWorld.

Let’s see.

MacWorld

  • Apple iPhone, AppleTV, and the new Airport Extreme base station. No real news about Mac OS X, Macs, and other softwares from Apple.
  • ModBook – A tablet Mac.
  • No GPS support on Mac OS X from Garmin
  • …to becontinued

CES

  • XBox 360 HD video and larger hard drive.
  • Something about Windows Vista and its variants.
  • Sling Media’s SlingCatcher.
  • Tons of other products, to be added later.

This will take a while for me to write something interesting regarding CES and MacWorld.

Megadeth “United Abominations”: Two More New Song Titles are Revealed

Dave Mustaine has once again revealed two more song titles from the upcoming Megadeth album “United Abominations”. According Mustaine’s Megadeth Official Forums posting the titles are:

  • Sleepwalker
  • Burnt Ice

Other known and confirmed song titles from “United Abominations”:

  • United Abominations
  • Washington is Next
  • Gears of War
  • Blessed Are The Dead
  • Never Walk Alone
  • Amerikhastan
  • Out on The Tiles (cover of Led Zeppelin song)

“United Abominations” is tentatively scheduled for release in March 2007.

http://forums.megadeth.com/showthread.php?p=7594040 (free registration required)

Look! It’s a Phone, It’s an iPod, It’s a MacPhone!

A short editorial

On January 9, 2006 Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, introduced the much rumored Apple iPhone during his annual keynote at MacWorld San Francisco. As written on Apple website: “Introducing iPhone. Apple reinvents the phone.”

For the last 3 years Apple has been rumored to have been working on a phone-like device. Apple and Motorola introduced Motorola ROKR, an iTunes-enabled phone on September 7, 2005 and somewhat closed a chapter on the rumor. Motorola has since then released other iTunes-enabled phones such as RAZR V3 and KRZR.

Apple iPhone is a different breed compared to any iTunes-enabled phones. Its appearance resembles more like an iPod than a phone. There are other smart phones with touch screen, but Apple strives to make its iPhone to be a class of its own. Underneath its shell, Apple iPhone runs a variant of Mac OS X. Its capabilities make Apple iPhone more like a Mac than a phone.

Steve Jobs on his keynote said that Apple would like to capture 1% of Mobile Phone market, or about 10 million units. Should Apple be able to reach that goal, they would be shipping an additional 10 million of Mac OS X. It is a surprise that Apple didn’t call it “MacPhone”.

Apple iPhone is tentatively scheduled for release in June 1007.

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/01/09iphone.html

Apple TV, Apple iPhone, and New Airport Extreme 802.11n

Thanks to bad WiFi receptions, bandwidth hog and some other factor, I didn’t get to connect to the internet at MacWorld.

Ayway, two new products from Apple announced by Steve Jobs.

  1. Apple TV
    http://www.apple.com/appletv/
    Priced $299 (U.S.) and will ship in February.
    As expected, it has 40GB hard drive for local caching and storage.
    “It is a cool product, but not necessarily a must have product at this point. I will find out more before making any purchasing decision.”
  2. Apple iPhone
    http://www.apple.com/iphone/
    Tentatively scheduled for released in June 2006 (U.S.)
    GSM Quad Band (no 3G) and EDGE
    Cingular exclusive (for U.S.)
    $499 (4GB) and $599 (8GB) with 2 year contract.
    3.5 inch screen at 3:2 ratio (landscape)
    Operating System: OS X
    iPod capability
    Built-in 2.0 megapixels camera
    802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
    “Yikes! It is basically a Mac. I’m surprised that it’s not called MacPhone. One thing that might stop me from getting this so called phone is the price with 2 year contract. Now I have to wait till June to spend my hard earned money.”

Apple also shows off the newly redesigned and updated Airport Extreme Base Station.
http://www.apple.com/airportextreme/
It now officially supports 802.11n protocol, offering up to five times the speed and twice the range compares to 802.11g protocol. It has one WAN port and three LAN port. It also has one USB 2.0 port that can be used for printer sharing or USB mass storage sharing.

Megadeth “United Abominations”: Three New Song Titles are Revealed

Dave Mustaine in Megadeth Official Forums posting, has revealed three more song titles from the upcoming Megadeth album “United Abominations”:

  • Amerikhastan
  • Blessed Are The Dead
  • Never Walk Alone

Mustaine also mentions that “United Abominations” will have 11 songs for US release, and 1 additional song for Japanese release. He also reserves 2 extra songs for later use as “B-Sides”.

Other known and confirmed song titles from “United Abominations”:

  • United Abominations
  • Washington is Next
  • Gears of War
  • Out on The Tiles (cover of Led Zeppelin song)

“United Abominations” is tentatively scheduled for release in March 2007.

http://forums.megadeth.com/showthread.php?p=7574234 (free registration required)

iPod shuffle Reset Utility 1.0.1 and Windows Vista

There has been reports that iPod shuffle Reset Utility 1.0.1 is not compatible with Windows Vista, I cannot confirm this as of yet. My main Windows computer currently runs Windows Vista RC2 Build 5744. I also run Windows Vista RTM (Business and Ultimate) on different computers.

According to Apple Support, iPod shuffle Reset Utility 1.0.1 for Windows System Requirements:

  • Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4
  • Windows XP with Service Pack 2

I will test the iPod shuffle Reset Utility 1.0.1 with Windows Vista (RC2 and RTM). Watch for this post for the result soon.

On Windows Vista RC2 Build 5744, iPod shuffle Reset Utility 1.0.1 failed to install.
(screen capture to be added later)

More about iPod Shuffle Reset Utility 1.0.1