Stan's List

The Mac web has been abuzz over what Apple must have in mind for the PPC CPU company. ZDNet suggests that, in response to the military’s request for a non-Intel laptop, the PA Semi’s dual-core, 64-bit, low-power PWRficient processor will be seen in future. This is a design based on IBM’s Power 3 CPU’s, cousins to the G5 processors.

Forbes’ initial report, for example claimed the P.A. Semi deal “could spell a new future for Apple’s flagship iPhone.” Ars Technica concluded that Apple’s move “disses Intel’s Atom”-a reference to the new low-power processor line from Apple’s chipmaker of choice.

Is it just to obtain patent rights, and the engineers who created those patent rights, as some have suggested? Apples secrecy is not strange to us. It will be a wait and see.

Apple silently slipped in the second update to Apple TV 2.0. No word on what the update includes. As last time, access the update with Apple TV

All along it was thought that the lack of agreement between Apple and the labels was keeping the tunes locked. Then Amazon.com announced DRM free music It seemed certain that labels purposely denied Apple the same opportunity? According to afterdawn.com, the truth is a bit surprising, then logical. After all, it is the recording labels we are talking about.

iTunes 7.6.2 provides bug fixes to improve stability and performance. This is an update to iTunes 7.6, first to include the ability to rent movies.

Front Row 2.1.3 update provides improved iTunes 7.6.2 compatibility.

Apple has released Apple TV 2.0.1, a dot release that fixes or improves a few features, nothing really new. Gleaned from the around the internet, here are the changes:

• Implementation of Genres in the My Movies list
• There is an option to remove podcasts from your favorites that aren’t available
• Fixed an HD podcast freeze issue
• Plus, minus buttons on remote now give progress bar
• Added trashcan icon to podcast delete function
• Apple TV now respects the Skip When Shuffling option

Apple does not have anything about the update, not surprising with such a minor update.

Apple TV 2.0.1 Update can be obtained by using Apple TV’s Settings>General>Update Software command. Users will then see a “Software updating” message and after a few minutes, depending on Apple TV’s connection, the user will be presented the choice “Update now” or “Update later.”

Choosing “Update now” leads to a restart, then approximately four Apple logo flashes, an Apple logo with a progress bar, then about 5 more logo flashes and finally the short Apple TV intro movie.

This Apple Care article shows you haw to publish an iMix of your favorite songs to the iTunes Music Store or to your own web page. You can also choose from over a million iMixes already posted to the iTunes Music Store. More …

The New York Post reports that with hundreds of million dollars collected, starting with Napster, with the stated purpose of compensating music artist for lost revenue, nothing has been paid. This has caused artist representatives to consider legal action It appears the bad press is motivating the labels into release some proceeds from the Napster settlement. More …

The Ghost and the Darkness, starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas, contains guns and predators that attack in the darkness. A marked difference from last week’s Hours. Is this a plan to alternate movies for a variety of interests? All for the good.

Never wanting to revel too much, iTunes 7.6.1 includes several bug fixes and improves compatibility with Apple TV software version 2.0.

Apple has also started offering a movie for the weekend, at a $0.99. The first movie is The Hours.

In case you were wondering, Apple has a matrix of file size and estimated download time. Your internet connection will determine download time, but even so some of the estimated download times cause me to pause. With a 1 Mbit/s connection a two hours movie could take up to 2 hours to download.