Apple’s media event last week didn’t deliver the iJetpack we’ve been waiting for, but it did bring an improved, Intel-based Mac mini, as well as the iPod Hi-Fi, the company’s first large-scale entry into the iPod accessory market. Joe Kissell has those details. Apple also released a couple of minor updates along with Security Update 2006-001, which deals with many of the security issues we’ve been grappling with in recent weeks. Later in this issue, Adam reviews Docktopus from Startly Technologies and announces the pre-sale and draft availability of "Take Control of iWeb," and Glenn Fleishman tells you why you’re going to hear a lot about ultrawideband (UWB) wireless communications in the future.
iTunes, iPhoto, and Front Row Updated -- Apple last week released iTunes 6.0.4 and iPhoto 6.0.2 to address minor problems with Front Row, Apple's media-center interface software for playing music, photos, and videos on the iMac, MacBook Pro, and just-released Intel-based Mac mini
GarageBand 3.0.1 Released -- Apple posted GarageBand 3.0.1 last week, which fixes a specific podcast problem in the French or Finnish localized versions of the audio-creation software
Blackberry Stays Juiced -- Writing a few weeks ago, Patrick Dennis reviewed the Blackberry 7100i handheld (see "Putting Blackberries in Your PocketMac" in TidBITS-815) and noted that the device's slick email service was in danger of being shuttered due to a patent dispute between parent company Research In Motion (RIM) and NTP, Inc
Responding with reasonable alacrity to the recent Leap-A and shell script exploits, Apple released Security Update 2006-001 last week, fixing a slew of problems
At a special press event in Cupertino last week, Apple announced the next member of the Intel-based processor lineup: the Mac mini, available in two configurations.
One model features an Intel Core Solo (single-core processor) chip, which, according to Apple's tests, runs between 2.5 and 3.2 times faster than the PowerPC G4-based Mac mini, which is no longer available
In addition to the new Mac mini announced at Apple's special press event last week, the company added two new iPod accessories to its product lineup. The least interesting is a $100 leather case, in sizes for the full-sized iPod and iPod nano
Startly Technologies, the folks behind the venerable QuicKeys automation utility and the utterly inexplicable TransLucy (it lets you play movies in a translucent layer over your work, so you can click and type as though the movie wasn't really there), have a new utility out, called Docktopus and alliteratively subtitled "Delightful Dock Denizen." I saw a quick demo of Docktopus at Macworld Expo, which intrigued me enough to look at it more closely at home.
In short, Docktopus enables you to add up to four badges to each icon on your Dock; each badge provides some sort of information display or control
Just when you've mastered the complexities of Wi-Fi standards like IEEE 802.11b and 802.11g, and after you've figured out that Bluetooth can work if you perform the steps just right, a new wireless player ambles into town
"Take Control of iWeb" Available for Preorder and Comments -- With iLife '06, Apple added an entirely new application: the Web authoring tool iWeb
The first link for each thread description points to the traditional TidBITS Talk interface; the second link points to the same discussion on our Web Crossing server, which provides a different look and which may be faster.
iPhoto 6 pros and cons -- Adam shares feedback about iPhoto 6 following his review in last week's issue