Stan's List

Macworld UK reports on an Apple education deal which may point to a January release for Intel-based Macs.

Macworld UK cites a Kinston Free Press report which states, “The school system will sell its 2,041 existing laptops before Apple announces its new product lines on January 9, 2006.”

The new deal for the school system will save around a million dollars. The report appears to suggest that Apple will release new notebook products at MWSF in January, although it is unclear whether these would be iBooks, PowerBooks, or both.

I put my bet on PowerBooks, especially with Intel’s announcement on the 5th of January.

CNN is reporting that Google just acquired a 5% stake in AOL for $1 Billion, shutting Microsoft out of the deal.” Under this new agreement, among many other things, Google Talk will now interface with AOL’s instant messenger according to the announcement on Google’s site.

IDG World Expo today introduced the “Creative Corner,” a new Exhibit Hall feature at Macworld Conference & Expo, taking place January 9-13, 2006 at San Francisco’s Moscone Center. The Creative Corner is a dedicated area on the Exhibit Hall floor that is open to all attendees. It will highlight music and audio in the Berklee Dream Studio; digital photography with the “Dr. Is In” digital photography help area; and creative products and services on the Creative Professional Stage and Special Interest Pavilions.

MacFixIt has had a number of reports from readers who just plug in the device, like a wireless PC card, and it just works. Usually with no additional software.and at a much cheaper price. Some reported devices:

Linksys WCG200 wireless router

Verizon CDMA Express Network PC Card

D-Link DWL-G122 802.11g Wireless USB Adapter

Samsung SPH i500 smartphone

Linksys WPC54GS v1.1 PC card

Dell printers (usually repackaged brand printers) which may have an alternative Mac driver.

Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit has announced that support for Internet Explorer will officially end on Dec 31, ‘05.

Good reddens.

Frequently asked questions about viewing and syncing video with iTunes and iPod

How to set the screen contrast on iPod

iSync 2: How to set up a USB Palm OS device to sync with your computer

DVD: More memory recommended for encoding HDV

iDVD: Make sure you have enough drive space for OneStep DVD

Using Restore discs with computers that ship with Mac OS X 10.3.4 through 10.3.7

Mac OS X 10.4: Error -8058, unable to eject when trying to copy a disc in Finder. Use Disk Utiltity.

Mac OS X 10.4 - 10.4.2: Cannot adjust display brightness or resolution on PowerBook

AppleInsider noticed a message on the Apple Store’s shuffle web page, the $129 iPod is “Sold out for holiday”.

Apple is offering “free” overnight shipping on a range of Macs in each of its product lines. This offer applies only to stock models, so regular charges apply when shipping BTO kit.

Use these links to track down eligible models:

• PowerMac G5

• iMac G5

• iBook

• Mac mini

Naturally, some restrictions and quid pro quos apply, but Apple does state that product will ship within 24 hours of it being ordered (not necessarily the same day).

Not quite, but quoting chunks of Morgan Stanley’s analysis, AppleInsider’s article makes it clear “Morgan Stanley remains bullish on Apple and believes the company’s growth-driven portfolio franchise will continue to accelerate in 2006.”

For all RADEON cards (incl. OEM/Apple). The new release adds support for the iMac G5, the 15″(1.67/1.5 GHz) and 17″(1.67 GHz) G4 Powerbook 2005. It also has improved reliability for self repair feature, and V-Sync has been disabled for Mac OS X 10.4.3; enabled for prior OS versions.