MacWorld is reporting that Apple now has 17.6% of the laptop market, with an overall market share of 5.9% and a solid third place in overall computer sales.
That's 2.2% over the same period in 2006. Money and market share does appear to grow on trees. Apple trees. (Bad pun...I know.)
No wonder Mr. Mac is happy.
In a recent interview with a gaming news site called Kikizo, Valve Software co-founder Gabe Newell explained that he thinks Apple "has never taken gaming seriously" and the company "can't even follow through [sic] on any of their commitments [to] game developers"
It is this, Newell explains, that has created an environment in the gaming industry where Macs are a non-existent platform. And while I agree with Newell that Macs have very little gaming presence, is there a reason that Apple should have a presence? It seems to me that high-end gaming is best kept on Windows where players can either purchase incredibly powerful machinery or build their own rigs. That's simply impossible on a Mac.… Read more
Apple said the next Mac OS X version would arrive in October, and two reports out Thursday say the company's going to use as many days of this month as it can before letting Leopard loose.
Both AppleInsider and ThinkSecret reported Thursday that Leopard is tracking for a October 26th release, which would be the last Friday of the month and, if my baseball luck continues to hold, will probably be Game 7 of the World Series. In April, Apple delayed the release of Leopard from June to October, citing the need to get the iPhone out on time.… Read more
It's been a busy week in digital music, to say the least. Today Zune 2 was announced, and Amazon finally launched its MP3 download service, though it's currently still in Beta.
I gave it a short try and found that overall it is a competent start. It's not a significant step beyond iTunes in terms of functionality or usability (more on that in a moment), though it's price/quality ratio is very good: 89-99 cents for 256kbps bit rate, DRM-free MP3s. Albums vary a lot in price, from a bit over $4 to $8.99 so … Read more
After having a day to reflect on Microsoft's latest Zune offering, I began to think that perhaps the iPod vs. Zune battle is a little too obvious. Whether the iPod's position at the top of the MP3 player food chain is deserved or not, history has shown us that it will likely stay there. The real question is, "As the holidays approach, which MP3 player will come in second place?"
When it comes to interface and killer features, the challenger that Microsoft should really keep an eye on is the yet-to-be-released Samsung YP-P2 I reported on back in August. Although Samsung hasn't released pricing information yet, things could really heat up if the YP-P2 can get close to the $149 and $199 price points of the iPod Nano and Flash-based Zunes. Not only does the YP-P2 offer a 3-inch touch screen and built in Bluetooth, but it also has the advantage of not being Microsoft. Honestly, after Apple's successful "I'm a Mac" smear campaign, it's tough to convince people that Microsoft makes cool gear (unless you've got Halo 3 as bait).
We've been able to dig up two videos on YouTube that demonstrate the interface for both the Zune and Samsung YP-P2.… Read more
Welcome to my first post on the newly relaunched MP3 Insider blog. I'll be updating this blog regularly with MP3 player-related rants and predictions. If you're a fan of the MP3 Insider podcast I co-host with Jasmine France, you'll probably enjoy this blog as well. I wanted to start with something classy, but instead, let's get the ball rolling with a juicy product smackdown.
After having a day to reflect on Microsoft's latest Zune offering, I began to think that perhaps the iPod vs. Zune battle is a little too obvious. Whether the iPod's … Read more
Apple today released security updates for the Windows version of Quicktime. The update is available from the Apple Downloads site.
The patch affects users of QuickTime 7.2 on Windows Vista, XP SP2, and addresses the vulnerability in CVE-2007-4673. Currently, viewing maliciously crafted Quicktime files may lead to arbitrary code execution. "A command injection issue exists in QuickTime's handling of URLs in the qtnext field in files with QTL content. By enticing a user to open a specially crafted file, an attacker may cause an application to be launched with controlled command line arguments, which may lead to … Read more
After a while with my newly dehacked iPhone, I'm left with Tap Tap Revolution withdrawal, many fewer icons and a loss of some of the features I had come to appreciate from my iPhone.
Could you say I'm bitter? Perhaps. But what may surprise you is that I've had a bit of a change of heart. (In my pre-update post), I told you that if Apple decided to brick iPhones and disrupt hacks, it will have single-handedly destroyed its ability to maintain its post as the world's most influential tech company.
But after analyzing the update that actually came out, I don't blame Apple anymore. Instead, I blame AT&T for forcing Apple to do something that it has never done before and effectively become the bad guy while AT&T laughs its way to the bank.
Shame on you, AT&T.… Read more
Microsoft has officially revealed its plans for new 4GB, 8GB, and 80GB Zune MP3 players (the rumormongers nailed this one). The new players are expected out in November, priced at $149, $199, and $249, respectively. The 80GB version is only available in black, but both the 4GB and 8GB versions will be available in black, red, pink, and green. While the news hasn't exactly knocked us off our feet, there are some interesting new features worth noting (skip to the end to find out what they didn't add).
Wireless sync Zune users can now sync their player to a computer over a home Wi-Fi network. This is a feature Zune users have been asking for from the very start, so it's nice to see it finally implemented. Existing Zune users (all 1 million) will also be given the new wireless sync feature… Read more
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Christina Milian and the gadgets she loves
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