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>> Postings for November 2006

Do you DotMac?

Thu, 30 Nov 2006

It’s that time of year again. The nights are getting longer, the days colder and I’m looking forward to a week of solid drinking, eating and not working.

To add to this festive cheer Apple has just sent me a renewal notice for its .Mac service (www.mac.com). For this service Apple wants £70 (although you can buy a boxed copy for £57 from Amazon, which renews it just as well).

Mark Hattersley | Read more...


Who wants to buy EMI?

Wed, 29 Nov 2006

Major UK record label EMI yesterday revealed a takeover bid, variously reported as emanting from private equity investment firms.

Firms named as part of the deal proposals include Permira (according to The Guardian) and US investment group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and investment bank Goldman Sachs (according to the FT).

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Finding a place for iPhone

Tue, 28 Nov 2006

There is a lot of talk right now about whether Apple is about to launch itself into the mobile phone market with the revered iPhone.

Yesterday I was chatting to Avi Greengart, a mobile analyst at Current Analysis (expect to read more about our conversation soon). Avi mentioned a few of the challenges Apple may face in entering this market. He also explained how some of the characteristics of Apple could help it meet with success.

Karen Haslam | Read more...


Beatles and Apple to Come Together

Mon, 27 Nov 2006

I was suddenly taken with the urge to buy the "new" album 'Love' by The Beatles on Sunday, and unthinkingly went straight to Apple's iTunes Music Store to download it – or at least play a few samples.

As soon as I got there, of course, I remembered that The Beatles don't like Apple after its logo legal spat.

Simon Jary | Read more...


Listening to your iPod legally

Thu, 23 Nov 2006

Great! We won’t be committing a criminal offence if we use one of those FT transmitter devices, like the Griffin iTrip or the Belkin TuneCast with an iPod after 8 December.

Thing is, those devices are all pretty useless in London where there are so many pirate radio stations that you simply can’t find a free frequency anywhere on the dial to tune into. It’s nice that these FM transmitters are now legal here in the UK, but whether they are any use to us is another point altogether.

Karen Haslam | Read more...


iPhone - fact or fiction?

Thu, 23 Nov 2006

I don't believe in prognostication, but the Apple market is unique in its capacity to generate rumours, sometimes years before an event.

As a case in point, just look at the five-year-long string of reports which claimed Apple to be considering a move to Intel processors - rumours which were commonly circulated before the company revealed its plans last year.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


Is Skype safe?

Thu, 16 Nov 2006

I was speaking to some people from Vicomsoft the other day and they told me something interesting:

If you are using Skype you have a massive backdoor wide open to your computer, and since Skype data is encrypted it can fly through your firewall, in both directions...

Karen Haslam | Read more...


'Notebooks' or 'laptops'?

Thu, 09 Nov 2006

Have you noticed how most PC manufacturers categorise their mobile PCs as notebooks even though most people if you asked them would call a laptop a laptop?

Don’t believe me? Just take a look at Google. There are almost double the amount of returns for laptop computer (96,700,000) as there are for notebook computer (57,300,000).

Read more...


Aftershock - life beyond iTunes

Tue, 07 Nov 2006

Like a tidal wave, iTunes is changing the music-buying landscape forever. With Apple now a dominant force, should its competitors give up hope, or focus on delivering services for life after the wave?

With a stunning global slice of the fast-growing digital music download market, iTunes has trail-blazed the path toward legitimate online media services.

Jonny Evans | Read more...


PR bunnies

Tue, 07 Nov 2006

Yesterday I received a press release from a camera manufacturer who shall remain nameless. They sent the press release by post! Seriously, in this age where the only mail anyone gets is junk, or bills, there is a camera manufacturer who is still photocopying press releases and popping them into envelopes.

Now, if the company was also emailing me the press releases I might have forgiven them this slip back into the 1990s, but quite frankly, it winds me up, and having been a PR myself, PRs who get it so very wrong, really do wind me up…

Karen Haslam | Read more...


Shall I kill this damn mouse?

Fri, 03 Nov 2006

I've had an Apple Mighty Mouse since it was released in August 2005.

Now I think it's time to call in the exterminators. The thing is a health hazard, and requires frequent maintenance.

Simon Jary | Read more...


Apple's sense of humour

Thu, 02 Nov 2006

One of the things I love about Apple and Macs are all the hidden files and secret shorcuts in OS X (or even in its older operating systems). Apple programmers always seem to find time for a few jokes.

Another one has turned up. This time an audio test file:

Mark Hattersley | Read more...


Spam fritters

Thu, 02 Nov 2006

My email is driving me mad at the moment. I seem to be receiving all the spam I could possibly want, at the expense of the emails that I need – they seem to be ending up in some black hole, bouncing back to the lucky few…

While it is very entertaining to read the miss-spelled, grammar lacking emails requesting my Lloyds bank account details and those wonderful emails that are going around at the moment that so creatively combine great works of fiction into illegible prose, I really do have better things to be doing.

Karen Haslam | Read more...


Let's work together

Wed, 01 Nov 2006

MySpace has changed the way labels look for new artists, YouTube has kick-started online video, sites like Digg.com are bringing in a user-edited web. All of this is kick-starting a new paradigm across multiple technology industry areas.

iTunes users are being presented with a growing selection of playlist-creation and sharing services, everything from software like Beatunes to online services, such as iLike.com.

Jonny Evans | Read more...