My Apple Obsession

6G iPod Video: Hoax or Not?

2006-03-06T22:25:00.000-08:00

Here we go again! After last week's disappointment over at Apple's mini-announcement over at the Town Square Auditorium over at Cupertino. It brought us the new Intel Core Duo Mac Mini (good product, but no surprise), the iPod Hi-fi (overpriced speakers), and of course, leather cases for our iPods, yippeee! I meant that sarcastically, of course. I personally would've liked Apple to release new iPods. This is, of course, because I haven't gone out and bought the 5G iPod yet. Have we come to expect too much from Apple? Everytime they have an announcement, Apple denizens like you and me start to salivate over the possibility of new Apple products. Thousands of Photoshop wizards come up with designs of supposedly "new" hardware and software.

This time is no different. With Apple's 3oth Anniversary coming up on April 1st, rumor sites are once again amuck with news of new Apple gizmos, once again. However, I just came across this video of the"new" iPod. Looks real, but I'm not a video expert. But worth a look.

All of us will just have to wait and see.

New MacBook Pro..

2006-02-20T22:23:00.000-08:00

I WANT ONE!!!

Is My iPod Telling Me Something?

2006-02-20T18:22:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my iPod died on me, again. This is the third time my beloved iPod crashed. The hard disk inside the much-loved player started giving out this horrifying clicking sound, which signified its demise, much like the flat-line beep for us carbon-based beings. So I brought my iPod to the nearest Service Centre, where the guy officially pronounced the death of my iPod, like a surgeon after the expiration of a patient.

"But don't worry," he said, " since your warranty is still valid, we'll replace your unit as soon as possible." This would be my 4th iPod, and my 3rd replacement iPod, thanks to the extended warranty I bought last October.

Maybe my iPod is, in weird subliminal way, telling me to buy the new 5G iPod. To be honest, I'm pretty tempted. However, my warranty would be wasted if I did. This is the excuse i give myself, but really, I'm holding out for new iPods, which have been in the rumor mills lately, an iPod with a 3.5 wide screen spanning the full length of the iPod, with, of course, higher capacity.

While I was at the Service Centre, I helped myself to test out the new Intel-based iMacs that were on display. I tried opening some heavy applications, and the thing just opened and as Steve Jobs put it, scrolled like buttah. Needless to say, I once again suffered from gear lust as I think of the iMac G5 which I bought a mere 4 months ago, which is now, 2 generations behind.

The MacBook Pro is finally shipping. As some who have seen the packaging, the machine is a thing of beauty. A geek's porn paradise. The packaging, like it's contents, sleek and slim, packaging porn, as some called it.

Can't wait to test it out.

A Post-Vacation Update

2006-02-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

After 10 days of vacation back in the P.I., I realized that so many things happened while I was away. Red iPods, 1GB nanos, ShowTime content on iTunes, possible CBS shows on iTunes, etc.

Once again rumors are flying about again, this time talking about iBooks , an Intel-based Mac Mini, an
Apple-branded mobile phone, and a new iPod (again!?).

The rumors on new iPods resurfaced after analysts from Needham and Co. predicted a special event to be held in April (most probably April 1, Apple's 30th anniversary) to introduced its Intel Yonah single core iBook and maybe a new iPod with a screen that will occupy the whole iPod surface. A more recent article in appleinsider.com also reported news that Portal Player, one of Apple's key iPod suppliers/partners, is prepared to ship chips capable of WiFi access and Bluetooth connectivity. interesting.

Definitely, I'm holding out for these babies.

A Very Good Article

2006-01-24T23:54:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy reading David Pogue's tech articles in the New York Times (www.nytimes.com). They are witty, concise and provide a much needed reality check in this world of increasingly more complicated marketing jargon.

The article follows:

Intel Inside. Huh?!
By David Pogue

Published: January 25, 2006

THE buzzwords for the 2006 technology outlook fly thick and fast in nerd circles: high-definition DVD. À la carte TV shows from the Internet. Windows Vista.

Most of these goodies will take time to reach the masses. One, however, has already arrived, six months ahead of schedule: Apple's switch to Intel chips for its Macintosh computers.

The first such retrofitted model, the iMac, went on sale last week. Like the existing iMac model, which remains available, the new one is a sleek, thin, snow-white flat-panel screen with no actual computer box; the guts of the computer are hidden inside. The new iMac, like the old, is virus-free, spyware-free and gorgeous to behold. It still has a built-in camera for live Internet videoconferences, still can record DVD's, still comes with a remote for controlling music, photo slideshows and DVD playback from across the room, and still has built-in Bluetooth and Wi-Fi wireless networking. Even the price is the same: $1,300 for the 17-inch model, $1,700 for the 20-incher.

But now there's Intel inside.

Why on earth would Apple abandon the I.B.M.-Freescale processors that have served Mac fans so well for so many years? The official reasons are speed and heat; Intel's newest chip, the Core Duo, offers more of the first with less of the second. That's a big deal, especially in laptops; Apple's existing PowerBook laptops already get so hot, the smell of barbecued meat practically wafts from your thighs.

The switch is also good for Apple because it puts to death the Megahertz Myth. For years, Apple was at a public-perception disadvantage because consumers mistakenly believed you could rate a computer's speed by its chip. "That 3-gigahertz PC must be faster than a 2-gigahertz Mac," they would say. But megahertz comparisons are valid only between two chips of the same family - say, two Pentium 4's.

Now, though, many Macs and PC's will indeed contain the same processor, Intel's new Core Duo chip. As a computer-speed measurement, the chip-speed rating is still bogus - memory, operating system, circuitry, hard drive and other factors also determine a computer's speed - but less bogus than before.

Now, you can't just drop a new chip into a computer and expect it to work. Tens of thousands of software programs run on the Mac - and every one of them expects to find, at the other end, a PowerPC chip (the old Mac kind). Each one, not to mention the operating system itself, must be rewritten in the Intel language.

That's a nightmarish mountain of work, but Apple has pulled it off almost flawlessly. The operating system, Mac OS X 10.4.4, has indeed been rejiggered to speak Intellese, while otherwise remaining 100 percent identical in look, feel and features. The armada of Mac OS X ancillary programs has also been rewritten: Safari (Web browser), Mail (e-mail), Address Book, iCal (calendar), iTunes (music playback), Calculator, Chess, Dictionary, DVD Player and on and on. Even Apple's new iLife '06 suite has also been converted, and is included on all new Macs: iPhoto (for photos), iMovie (for editing your home videos), GarageBand (for podcasting and music composition) and iWeb (a new supersimple Web site-creation program).

For some real fun some Saturday afternoon, set up an Intel iMac and its identical-looking predecessor side by side. Sit there with a stopwatch, perform the same software timing tests on each one, and keep score in a notebook. Invite some friends over to share in the excitement.

What you'll discover is that the new iMac is deliciously fast when it's running Intel-ready software. Just turning the machine on is a joy, because starting up now takes 20 seconds instead of 60, like the previous model; you'll want to do it again and again. Programs open up a lot faster, too: GarageBand, for example, is ready for your musical inspiration in only 9 seconds, rather than 20. Web pages appear startlingly quickly: nytimes.com pops open in about 1 second (versus 2), Amazon is ready in 2 seconds (versus 4) and MSN appears in 6 seconds (versus 8).

In other words, if your computer world is complete with programs for e-mail, the Web, word processing, graphics viewing, music playing and editing of photos, movies, basic Web sites and music tracks, then choosing the IntelliMac over the regular iMac is a no-brainer. The computer comes preloaded with all the software you need, all Intel-ready. You get a heck of a lot more speed for the same price.

But not everyone lives on Apple software alone, and here's where things get more interesting. Software companies are hard at work converting their programs into IntelliMac-compatible versions; you'll know them when you see them, because they'll bear a new, yin-yang logo labeled "Universal." (In other words, these programs run on both old and new Macs.)

To tide its fans over until those programs are ready, Apple has embedded a seamless, completely invisible translation program (code-named Rosetta - get it?) in the operating system. It allows the existing versions of these programs to run just as they are.

Some existing programs, including Microsoft Word, Excel, Entourage and PowerPoint, open, work and scroll "like butter," as the Apple chief Steve Jobs puts it. America Online, Quicken, Firefox, FileMaker Pro and other programs also work perfectly in this mode. There is no visible indication that your software is being translated into a different language in real time. (The only way to tell an old program from a Universal one is to highlight its icon and choose the Get Info command. There you will see either "Kind: PowerPC" or "Kind: Universal.")

Other programs, including current versions of Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator and After Effects, run, but slowly. In the Dreamweaver Web-design program, for example, palettes and windows pop onto the screen with a slight delay.

Alas, there's a third category of professional, intensive programs that don't run at all on the new Macs, even with Rosetta translation. They include Microsoft's VirtualPC, Digidesign's Pro Tools, and even some sold-separately Apple programs like Final Cut Pro, Aperture and DVD Studio Pro. (Apple says that its software conversion will be finished by March.)

No, wait - actually, there's a fourth software category: really, really old software, pre-2001 programs that require Mac OS 9. They don't run on Intel-based Macs, either, and never will. (These Macs no longer include the translation program called Classic that allows such software to run.)

If your work depends on these professional or very old programs, you don't want an Intel Mac. Wait until everything you need has been Universalized.

Apple has real chutzpah asking its faithful followers to drag themselves through this major architectural changeover; it is, after all, the third such switch in 12 years. First there was the switch to so-called PowerPC processors in 1994, which also required all new software versions; then the switch to Mac OS X in 2001, which again required new software versions. These can be expensive switches; for example, you'll have to pay Apple $50 for each Universalized professional program (Final Cut and so on) even though you don't get any new features for the money except speed.

From a technical standpoint, though, Apple has brought a staggeringly complex ship down for a surprisingly soft landing. It has made an excellent computer even snappier without increasing the price, and done an amazing job of concealing the technical plumbing.

The next Mac to receive the Intel conversion will be the PowerBook laptop. The new MacBook Pro, as it has been renamed (to widespread befuddlement), makes its debut next month with the promise of even greater speed gains. The Power Mac, iBook laptop and Mac Mini will presumably follow.

The best news, though, is yet to come. It comes in two parts: first, the increasing speed as more and more programs are Universalized.

Second, in principle, with the assistance of a driver kit that someone will surely write, Intel-based Macs can be restarted in Microsoft Windows. Everybody wins: Microsoft can sell more copies of Windows, Apple makes the only computers on earth that can run both consumer operating systems at full speed, and the masses don't have to sacrifice the huge library of Windows-only software.

How's that for an outlook?

David Pogue is an accomplished tech journalist and has written several books and articles. Visit his website at www.davidpogue.com

Disney buys Pixar for US$7.4B

2006-01-24T18:48:00.000-08:00

It's official, folks. Disney, the House of Mouse, has bought its long-time partner, Pixar Animation for US$7.4 Billion. That's one huge chunk of change. I am quite happy about it, coz it means that we will continue to experience the magic of Disney-Pixar movies like Toy Story 1&2, Monsters Inc, A Bug's Life and most recently, The Incredibles. The original partnership would've ended with the release of Cars.

I also looove the shirt, quirky animation featurettes Pixar makes, which are usually shown just before the main feature. Featurettes like For the Birds , Luxor, Geri's game and Boundin' have raised the bar in digital animation and in storytelling in animation.

I believe this new acquisition is a boost in Disney's animation armor. Since the release of Toy Story, box-office receipts of traditionally animated features have dipped. Disney heaved a huge sigh of relief when their first digital animation project made without the help of Pixar, Chicken Little, was a success at the box office. But anyone who has seen Chicken Little will notice the dip in quality in the animation as compared to Disney-Pixar productions.

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and CEO of Pixar Animation is laughing all the way to the bank and to the boardroom. This purchase will make Jobs as the biggest individual shareholder in Disney and a seat in the Board. It will also give animation genius John Lasseter huge influence as the head of the animation division at Disney. This is a far cry from the troubles Jobs had with Disney when it was still headed by Michael Eisner. Apple Computers, Pixar and Disney's partnership is a godsend for consumers who want creative content.

I foresee iTunes-exclusive features from Disney-Pixar. With this new partnership, the rest of the big networks (Fox and CBS) should rethink their current online distribution strategy to join in with Disney-ABC-ESPN and NBC Universal.

Just sit tight, relax, and watch the magic.

New iPod offerings coming?

2006-01-22T19:33:00.000-08:00

Speculation has once again begun with the pulling out of iPod offerings in the recent Macworld Expo 2005 held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. I don't think 5G iPod owners out there should worry. Rumored offerings include a home-stereo type device with internet radio capabilities. Based on my observation of Apple's hardware-release, the only portable hardware they may introduce could be a higher capacity iPod.

News of a possible release began when Apple reportedly registered the names "iPod Boombox" and "iPod Hi-Fi".

Has anyone seen the new Apple remote with FM radio capabilities? Looking at initial reports, it looks to be quite a nice accessory. What I think Apple should introduce black earbuds and improve sound quality of their stock Apple earphones. Third-party companies are making a killing on higher-end in-ear headphones. The current stock Apple earbuds are nice, but after a while, the wire-casing tears and that is extremely irritating. I bought an Apple remote just over a year ago, and I've stopped using it as the wire casing tore and I can see the small, colored wires inside.

So I'm back with the earbuds. The original one that came with my 4G iPod was decommisioned when...yes, the wire-casing tore. Hopefully, the second one holds out much longer.

Pix from Macworld Expo 2006

2006-01-19T00:16:00.000-08:00

This is why I hate being in Singapore. Apple enthusiasts have to bear with small crowded displays during 3 annual IT shows. These displays are just so impersonal with ignorant salespeople giving you more information. They try to sell you things you don't need. What I wouldn't give to be in MacWorld Expo where you see displays like these.

Why I'm not sold with iLife '06

2006-01-17T00:11:00.000-08:00

Don't get me wrong. I think iLife'06 is a great offering offering great updates to its predecessor, iLife'05. Updates to iPhoto, Garageband and iMovie are most welcome and appreciated, but the introduction with a new weblayout software, iWeb has some people salivating and some foaming at the mouth. Yes, it is extremely easy to use and it does have great-looking templates, but what I think is missing is the customization aspect. You're stuck to the standard menu bar on the top page. You're stuck to using one of the templates that accompanies the software. But what I think sucks the most is, in order to use this tool, you HAVE to buy a .Mac account, priced at US$99.95 a year. No other alternative. I don't think it supports CSS or javascripts.

It's not only iWeb that's reliant to the .Mac service. Basically iLife'06 requires you to buy a .Mac account. iPhoto has Photocasting, Garageband has the podcast publishing through RSS.

When you do the math, you have to a: Buy iLife '06 costing US$79 and then a .Mac account for US$99.95 A YEAR.

It's a good thing to have if you have an extra US$180 bucks lying around. Unfortunately, I don't.

Trademark and Patent Filings: A Sign or a Diversion?

2006-01-15T19:35:00.000-08:00

All Apple enthusiasts have heard or read rumors based on Apple's numerous trademark and patent filings over the past few years. Rumors about a cellular phone have dogged Apple fans for such a long time. But a recent trademark filing has seen more speculation all over the web. I personally have decided that I will not buy a new cellular phone until I see the Apple phone. Unless, of course, my phone gets stolen(again).

As sort of evidence that not every device Apple files for comes to fruition is the filing of a Apple mouse with a rotary dial patent. This design was, of course, replaced by the Mighty Mouse, now shipping standard with all Apple desktops.

A recent filing with the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department for the terms iPod Hi-Fi and iPod Boombox. It's anyone's guess if this is an oracle to new products in the horizon or merely a diversion.

All we can do is wait and see.

Apple Spyware in iTMS?

2006-01-13T17:23:00.000-08:00

I know that one of the main reasons Apple enthusiasts out there give to friends to make the switch is the security of the Apple OS, OSX, or lack of viruses and spyware written directly for Apple's OSX. But, in a recent article, a new feature in Apple's iTunes 6.0.2, the MiniStore, which is shown as a small window on the bottom of your screen, has raised concerns on privacy. Some users claim that Apple is looking at their personal playlists. The MiniStore can be easily disabled—just hit Shift-Command-M, or choose Edit: Hide MiniStore, and it’s gone. My personal take on it is, if you don't like this feature, turn it off. There is no use griping about privacy issues when you actually have the power to control what you show. It's a non-issue and is a total waste of time. What people should be worried about is how Windows has gypped them of their money selling them software and OS full of bugs and backdoors. The lack of security in Microsoft's systems is the reason why a renegade few have started switching to open-source based OS and systems like Linux and OSX.

Macworld Expo 2006 recap

2006-01-13T03:24:00.000-08:00

Well, unless you've been living under a rock somewhere in the Arctic, you would've heard about the escapades of Apple's Steve Jobs at Macworld Expo 2006. As usual, the crowds waited anxiously for his much-awaited keynote speech. Over the past few months, multitudes of rumor sites have predicted the launch of new Intel-based hardware from Apple. This followed the trend of Apple, releasing new hardware and software offerings during big events like MacWorld. One might remember Macworld Expo 2005 where Steve Jobs announced the Mac Mini, a low-cost, bare-bones computer targeted towards potential switchers, luring them into the Apple fold.

This time, there was more anticipation. Everyone had their own theories. A new Intel-based Mac Mini with DVR capabilities? This rumor had some meat when Intel announced their Viiv (pronounced "vive") chip, a new, more digital entertainment-centred piece of silicon. But, in true, Apple style, Jobs came out with what i think, are better offerings.

He started off, as usual,reporting some key statistics. 14 million iPods sold in the holiday quarter, $5.7 Billion in revenue, Apple isn't really getting chump change. Investment houses and stock analysts drooled and a day later, UBS Investment Research raised its target price on the company's shares to $100. Apple's stock (AAPL) on the NASDAQ stands at 84.291 as of this writing. What I wouldn't give to own some Apple shares...

Jobs then continued to give figures on the iTunes Music Store, easily dominating with its 87% slice of the digital music download pie. 870 million downloads to date, 4.7 million video downloads. He also announced the availability of classic Saturday Night Live skits on sale in the iTMS, sold at the usual $1.99 price point. He then introduced the Apple FM remote, priced at US$49. Checking the other worldwide Apple online stores,including the one here in Singapore, no trace of the accessory can be found. I wonder why...

He then premiered a new ad for its iPod + iTunes offering. This time featuring world-renowned jazz artist Wynton Marsalis performing his new song, entitled "Sparks". Some might remember Wynton from Apple's last major event, where he performed at the end of the show. This event, coincidentally, was the one where the new 5th generation iPods were introduced.

He then introduced iWork '06, featuring Pages 2 and Keynote 3. Visibly absent was the much talked-about "MS Excel-killer", an application rumored to be called Numbers.

An easy way to create great looking documents from simple letters and flyers to professional-quality newsletters and brochures, Pages 2 features mail merge with Mac OS X Address Book, making it easy to personalize documents with predefined fields within templates and quickly drag and drop individual contacts into documents.

Pages 2 also features two dozen new templates for newsletters, flyers, posters, school reports, scrapbooks, brochures, business proposals and invoices to give users a head start in creating custom documents. New thumbnail and search views make it easy to work with large documents and quickly find any word or phrase within a document.

Keynote 3 offers more ways to create cinema-quality presentations and interactive slideshows with new features designed to bring those presentations to life. The new version features new cinematic transitions including vertical or horizontal blinds, revolving door, and swoosh. Additionally, the application offers even more Apple-designed themes, including four specifically designed to take advantage of HD displays. A new Light Table view mode makes it easy to view an entire presentation at-a-glance and reorganize slides using drag and drop while flexible build animations provide more control of bullet lists, tables and charts including unique timing and sequence of individual bullets, rows, columns or series.

iWork '06 supports a wide range of industry standard file formats including Microsoft PowerPoint and PDF. Keynote 3 imports and exports PowerPoint files and exports presentations to QuickTime, Macromedia Flash, HTML and iLife. Pages 2 imports and exports Microsoft Word, RTF, HTML and plain text files. Both Keynote 3 and Pages 2 export to PDF and import associated AppleWorks files.

iLife '06 was next. iLife '06 features iPhoto 6 with faster performance, new printed books, calendars and cards, and Apple’s new Photocasting for sharing photos over the Internet; iMovie HD 6 with new motion themes for adding spectacular production value to movies; iDVD 6 for authoring custom DVDs for today’s widescreen TVs; and GarageBand 3, now the complete solution for creating professional-quality Podcasts. iLife '06 also introduces iWeb, a new iLife application that makes it super-easy to create websites with photos, blogs and Podcasts and publish them on .Mac for viewing by anyone on the Internet with just a single click.

Ok, enough software, let's get down to what everyone was waiting for...new hardware. First off, Jobs premiered a new ad for the Intel-Mac partnership. The ad features people in white cleanroom suits creating Intel's new Dual Core while a voice narrates the story of how Intel chips have been trapped in PCs for so many years. It introduces the new era where Intel chips can be found of a Mac. It states, "Imagine the possibilities."

After a whole-hearted applause by the audience Jobs unveils the new Intel-based iMac. The widely praised iMac design now features dual-core processors, a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing out-of-the-box, and the breakthrough media experience of Front Row with the Apple Remote for a simple, intuitive and powerful way for consumers to enjoy their content from across the room.

The new iMac comes standard with a SuperDrive for burning professional-quality DVDs, 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory expandable to 2GB, hard drive storage capacity up to 500GB, and ATI Radeon X1600 PCI Express-based graphics with 128MB of GDDR3 memory for outstanding graphics performance and realistic game play. With the latest high-performance connectivity options, the new iMac includes built-in 10/100/1000 BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet for high-speed networking, built-in AirPort Extreme for fast 54 Mbps wireless networking,** built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), a total of five USB ports (three USB 2.0) and two FireWire 400 ports. The new iMac now includes mini-DVI video output to connect up to a 23-inch Apple Cinema HD Display. With mini-DVI and the new iMac’s extended desktop mode feature, users can more than double their available screen real estate.

When everyone thought that was it, Steve Jobs did his trademark "Oh, and one more thing.." spiel. He introduced the MacBook Pro, a new, top-range laptop aimed at replacing Apple's current PowerBook G4 line. The MacBook Pro features a stunning aluminum enclosure just one inch thin, weighs only 5.6 pounds, includes a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing on-the-go, and the Apple Remote and Front Row software for a simple, intuitive and powerful way for users to enjoy their content wherever they go. The new MacBook Pro, available in February, also features Apple’s new patent-pending MagSafe magnetic power connector, designed especially for mobile users. The MagSafe power connector makes charging the notebook’s battery easier than ever by magnetically coupling the power cord to the MacBook Pro. The MagSafe power connector safely disconnects from the notebook when there is strain on the power cord, helping to prevent the notebook from falling off its work surface when the power cord is inadvertently yanked.

The MacBook Pro features the new Intel Core Duo processor which delivers dual-core performance in a breakthrough power-efficient design, making it ideal for use in MacBook Pro’s thin and lightweight design. MacBook Pro is up to four times faster than the product it replaces, the PowerBook G4, running industry standard benchmarks.

The new MacBook Pro features a 67-percent brighter 15-inch display, which is now as bright as Apple’s Cinema Displays, and offers a completely new system architecture for faster performance, including a 667 MHz front-side bus that is four times as fast as the PowerBook G4 and 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory expandable to 2GB that is twice as fast as the PowerBook G4. Each MacBook Pro comes standard with ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 PCI Express graphics, with either 128MB or 256MB of dedicated GDDR3 graphics memory. Each MacBook Pro also includes built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), integrated AirPort Extreme 54 Mbps 802.11g WiFi wireless networking,** a scrolling TrackPad and Apple’s Sudden Motion Sensor that is designed to protect the hard drive in case of a fall.

Well, that wraps up my account of the happenings at Macworld Expo 2006. I know that my brother, who just a month ago bought a 20-inch iMac, must be gritting his teeth. For those out there who just bought an iMac or PowerBook in the past 2 months, you're out of luck and don't worry, my prayers are with you. Wink! Wink!

Welcome to My Apple Obsession

2006-01-12T23:30:00.000-08:00

This blog is my pathetic effort to become a tech journalist. This obsession with Apple Computer started, like everyone, with my purchase of an Apple iPod 4G (40GB, white). My utter amazement with how easy it was to use the iPod, as well as how it is able to carry my HUGE music collection was the deciding factor for me to finally shift to Apple. On Sept 1, 2005, I bought myself an iMac G5 (2.0 Ghz, 160GB HDD, 1GB RAM) and an Applecare for my beloved iPod.

I've been a happy camper since. Well, almost. My iPod, like any other electronic device, suffered from the normal wear and tear until finally, the HDD inside gave way. I heard loud clicking noises when I attempt to turn it on. Thank God for Applecare. I brought it to the shop and they replaced my unit for me (nothing's wring with my personal unit, just my iPod, ok? Don't get any ideas.) This has happened to me TWICE. Sometimes I wish they used a Flash-based iPod's storage. Anyway, while my Applecare is still valid, I have to stick to my old iPod (I can't believe that in one year, I'm already 2 generations behind.)Unless of course, some kind angel gives me a 60GB 5G iPod (looking to heavens). I've already welched on my three other "I'll buy a new iPod if they have.." promises: ability to play video, hard case for 5G, and ability to play radio. Hereby, I declare that I will buy a new iPod when they have a 100GB iPod.

In the following posts, I will ATTEMPT to do some reporting of key Apple-related stories throughout the web and in the rumor circles and maybe give my impressions and opinions (however insignificant). I may be writing this only for my own reading and benefit, but hey, it's something to do, right?