Stan's List

T3 reports on Steve Jobs’ comments indicating that 2007 will be the “most exciting” product year in history for Apple. “As ever, Apple’s mercurial mastermind refused to be drawn on what exactly those ‘new products’ would be, but of course, we’ve got a few predictions of our own. We all know iTV will make an appearance in the first three months of the year, bringing with it European iTunes movie downloads, but will it stream in Hi-Def?” More …

Take note, the London Times reports that Apple’s Euro 2006 sales were larger than 2002-04 combined. More …

Jon Poon, the Microsoft employee responsible for anti-virus management, has struck back at Apple’s criticism of Redmond over the small number of iPods which shipped with Windows virus.

“Heard about the portable video and music device that came preinstalled with a virus?
Instead of focusing on how and why it was even included in the first place, the company that published a series of video ads, including this one, actual try to divert the blame on the Windows platform!
It’s not a matter of which platform that the virus originated. The fact that it’s found on the portable player means that there’s an issue with how the quality checks, specifically the content check was done. This also indicates that through the manufacturing cycle, the base device from which the image was duplicated to the other devices in the manufacturing run, was connected to a PC that most probably did not have , and i quote their press release, “up to date anti-virus software which is included with most Windows computers”. More …

CNET posted computer ratings with a link on the front page entitled “Best desktop PCs we’ve ever seen.” It leads to ratings in five categories, three of which Apple took top honors:

Mainstream PCs - 17″ iMac

Media Center - 24″ iMac

Business - 17″ iMac

In “Budget PCs” the Mac Mini came in second but with a caveat that “… if you want a small, innocuous computer for sending or receiving media or other files between rooms, no other computer offers the deal that Apple has with this one.”

In “Performance PCs” the Apple Mac Pro tied for second place with an “Excellent” rating at 8.0, with a Dell costing $1,500 more grading out at 8.1. More …

Radford University reports a sudden increase in Mac ownership on campus. “Macs are located all around campus, including Porterfield Hall, Walker Hall, Curie Hall and the Technology and Learning Center in McConnell Library.Macs are especially popular among media studies, art and music majors, who find that Mac iLife software eases meeting the expectations of their coursework. ‘I am a musician, so I write a lot of music on the computer, and the Mac offered both a hardware and software solution that would apparently be easier than tying my shoes!’ said recent RU graduate Daniel Boothe. ‘I was totally amazed by the interface, the ease of use and the total fluidity with how it all worked.’” More …

Quoting a just-released Gartner research report, ZDNet reports that the Mac’s share of the US market has shot up remarkably to 6.1 percent. However, perhaps the most-shocking bit contained in Gartner’s paper is their assertion that Apple should quit the hardware business.

“Apple should leverage its close relationship with Intel and team up with Intel’s closest ally, Dell,” the report states. “We recognize that this move would surprise and even shock many. We are aware that Steve Jobs cancelled previous Mac licenses when he took over at Apple and that he guards the Apple brand zealously.” More …

AppleInsider: Apple on Wednesday announced preliminary financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter ended September, reporting revenue of 4.84 billion and net quarterly profit of $546 million, or $.62 per diluted share. More …

Mac sales help boost Apple’s quarterly profit: Apple Computer Inc. on Wednesday posted a 27 percent rise in quarterly profit, buoyed by strong sales of its Macintosh computers and higher shipments of its iPod digital music players. More …

According to Forbes, Apple has admitted that a small number of video iPods shipped since Sept 12 carry a Windows virus. Users of the Mac platform aren’t directly affected by this latest contagion. More …

“We are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it,” said Apple in a statement.

MacNN is first to report that Apple has acquired Silicon Color, the company responsible for producing FinalTouch color correction software. More …

T3 reports that plans for an Apple-branded universal remote have surfaced, hinting at an even bigger push by the Mac maker into our living rooms. “Apple’s patent documents show a touch screen remote crafted with typical minimalism, and a range of screen functions. More …