Anonymous Cow writes "This PDF from Motorola states that all future processors from Motorola will have rapid I/O (page 32). Further down (page 34) it claims that that Motorola has got a dualcore PPC processor in development. No launch dates are given." It also notes that they could achieve 3+ GHz, without significant increase in power consumption.

kalel666 writes "Apple has a big event planned for Thursday in Cupertino with hundreds of representatives from smaller indie music labels."

Nexum writes "MacCentral has the scoop on the entire iTunes Music Store being powered by Apple Xserves. Is this the first really big implementation of Apple's server hardware? I have to admit, that even being a big Apple fan I didn't think that the Xserve hardware would be powerful enough for the severe pounding that the iTMS must have been getting. This seems like great news for Apple being able to show that they can be a real serious force in the server arena, to which they are practically a total newcomer to." I wouldn't see any reason to doubt that hardware and Mac OS X software could handle iTMS. I mean, it's heavyweight hardware, and Unix software. Still, good to see actual examples of Xserve sites in the wild.

drunkentiger writes "Ripped right off their homepage: In a recent Slashdot article, someone asked if it were possible to create a fully-featured bootable Linux LiveCD for the Macintosh. We thought this was a great idea. So today, we are releasing two full-featured LiveCDs for the PowerPC: one with KDE 3, and another with GNOME 2. Take a look at the KDE LiveCD running MacOS X in a window via Mac on Linux. LiveCDs can be downloaded here or from these mirrors."

chrisbw writes "According to this press release, Apple has announced iSync 1.1 and Quicktime 6.3. iSync adds support for more phones (including USB), as well as syncing Safari bookmarks!" Software Update has QuickTime 6.3 now, and iSync 1.1 is available via the web site.

Anonymous Cow writes "From The Register: 'Speculation that Motorola may soon cease to be a supplier of processors to Apple may be premature. The chip maker yesterday said it had successfully implemented low-k dielectric materials in its 0.18 micron silicon-on-insulator (SOI) processors, bringing an estimated 20 per cent speed bump to the PowerPC line. Motorola expects to roll out the process on its 0.13 micron chips this month...'"

no_demons writes "Jonathan Ive, the man behind the iMac and the iPod, has won the first Designer of the Year award from the Design Museum in London. The Independent has the scoop, and BBC2 has the documentary on Wednesday, June 11th."

theloki42 writes "Apple has slashed the prices of the PowerBook G4 line, with the lowest now costing a measly $1599."

We don't usually post announcements of this sort, but with MacHack just weeks away, and me speaking at it again this year, I figured I'd remind readers of Slashdot's Apple section about it. It's in Dearborn, MI near Detroit, and I gotta say that I've gone to many tech shows, but this is a good show. For those of you who saw my Keynote last year, my talk this year promises to be at least as incoherent, except that THIS year I might actually talk about the Mac! Other speakers are far more qualified. ;)

JerryKnight writes "FingerWorks, the inventor of TouchStream keyboards such as the LP, is taking pre-orders for a drop-in replacement for the keyboard in a 15" PowerBook G4 that is pretty much the same thing as the LP. Now the beautiful PowerBook can be completely smooth. Words fail to express the enthusiasm felt by me and hopefully anyone else who has used these keyboards. No word on availability. List price: $259." It's called the MacNTouch. Hm.

memoryhole writes "It seems Apple has come out on top in recent Consumer Reports surveys regarding technical support and hardware failure. Way to go Apple!"

K-dog writes "Apple has posted a firmware update for the slot loading combo drives in Xserves and PowerBooks. 'This update installs new firmware on PowerBook and Xserve Combo drives. The update prevents Combo drives from intermittently failing to eject discs. It's recommended that you install this update to ensure that your Combo drive avoids this problem.' It's kind of ironic that I spent an hour on the phone with Apple trying to get one of our new 12" PB to eject!" I have a new-ish PowerBook G4/867, with a Combo drive, and it reports, "This hardware does not require this update." I wish Apple would be more specific about what systems this is actually for. Or maybe what the problem is.

honestpuck writes "I've seen a fair number of books for OS X and they range in target audience from the raw beginner such as Mac OS X for Dummies and Robin William's Mac OS X Book through to those for technical readers such as Mac OS X In A Nutshell (IAN)." Read on for honestpucks' review of the new edition of Todd Stauffer's Mastering OS X.

An anonymous user writes, "Bare Bones, makers of BBEdit, 'celebrates 3650 days of saving your ass' (according to the new t-shirt) with the the BBEdit Anthology, a limited edition autographed CD with every final commercial release of BBEdit, plus the free versions as 'bonus tracks.' Liner notes are included." It's $250, comes with a BBEdit 7 license, and only 1,000 were produced. OK, the price is a little steep, but it's a collector's item. And the company is also offering a 10% discount on any product orders through June 30, so it is only $225! I still remember the first time I saw BBEdit, a Mac text editor, and I thought, "what, like a word processor?" Some things never change ...

An anonymous reader writes "Adam Tow and Alex King have announced the availability of Read it to Me 1.0, which creates a playlist of MP3 files in iTunes from your unread RSS news headlines in NetNewsWire that you can sync to your iPod. The software utilizes Apple's Text-to-Speech capability and requires Mac OS X 10.2.6 or higher and the full version of NetNewsWire." But if you use Victoria's voice to read http://apple.slashdot.org/apple.rss to you, I'll look at you funny.

oosid writes "The area code in Seattle is (206). Right across Lake Washington in Bellevue the area code is (425). If you're trying to reach the new Apple Store in Bellevue from Seattle, don't forget to dial the area code or you'll find yourself talking to the reception desk at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The 7 digit number, coincidentally, is the same for both places. If you make the mistake I'm sure that the Foundation will be able to suggest some solutions to all of your Apple problems."

An anonymous reader asks: "My iBook is the strongest of my laptops, but it's not running my favorite OS. Knoppix and the various other live ISOs are nice for x86 machines, but (though OS X is nice, and I'm not disparaging it) it would be nice to have all the apps that come with KDE and GNOME, and to have them all available through a nice fluxbox or windowmaker desktop). I've seen smart people nearly cry trying to install Debian on their Macs, but then I've seen smart people nearly cry trying to install Debian in the first place. Knoppix has certainly made it easier to put Debian on x86 machines, but does such a thing exist for Macs? Mac OS X is a very pretty thing, and Apple has supported some great free software projects through it, it's just that on an older iBook (and older iMacs, even more so), a low-key GNU/Linux desktop moves more responsively, and has everything I need. If I could easily run a nice GNU system on them, old iMacs would be worth a lot more to me.".

An anonymous reader writes "ComputerWare, a ComputerLand-like chain of stores specializing in Apple computers, went out of business in 2001. Thinking he sees an opportunity for expansion, the guy who owns Elite Computers, the long-time independent Apple computer store literally across the street from Apple HQ in Cupertino, bought the CW name and leased and reopened the SF Bay Area stores as 'ComputerWare by Elite Computers.' In 2003, Mr. Elite realized the reason the original ComputerWare owners got out -- Apple's engaging in 'unfair competition' -- and announced he is closing the chain along with his original store."

hoist2k writes "CNET is reporting that Opera 7 is going to be released for Mac OS X. I might have to take advantage of their discount for buying the Mac, Linux, and Windows versions all at once!" Opera 6.02 is slated for release on Thursday (the download page currently has Opera 6.0 for Mac OS and Mac OS X, though it erroneously says it is only for Mac OS). Opera 7 is expected "soon," with no word given in the CNET articles for whether it will be for Mac OS X only.

batboy78 writes "In what perhaps is the first 'official' confirmation that IBM's PowerPC 970's will be used by Apple, BusinessWeek claims that IBM has confirmed that it's developing a new set of chips for the Mac: 'IBM says the new Apple chip will be of the 64-bit variety, which means it can process twice as much information per cycle as existing 32-bit chips.'" CT The article has been updated to make the confirmation seem... well, far less comfirming.