Written by Darryn Lowe | 09 May 2007
Posted in International

Sun has announced an AJAX killer by the name of Java FX. Allowing Web2.0 developers to create sites with content that behaves on all platforms and all browsers as expected with less headaches in trying to get Web2.0 apps working across the board.

The press release reads - "JavaFX Script Simplifies Development of Rich Internet Applications - Sun Microsystems, Inc., today previewed JavaFX Script, a radically simple scripting language for creating rich content and applications to run on billions of Java-powered devices from mobile phones to Blu-ray Disc players to the browser."

Written by Alan Smith | 07 April 2007
Posted in International

Fastmac today announced the first & only Blu-Ray optical drive upgrade for Apple's PowerBook, iBook & MacBook Pro computers. The new slimline, slot loading drive uses one of the fastest & most compatible Blu-ray mechanisms to provide up to 50 Gb of storage on 1 disk, without sacrificing compatibility with standard DVD & CD recordable media.

Fastmac's Blu-Ray optical drive upgrade is scheduled to ship within 10 days and is available for pre-order from www.fastmac.com for a special introductory price of US$799.95. Each drive carries a 1 year warranty and a 30 day money back guarantee .

Written by Philip Roy | 11 January 2007
Posted in International

UPDATE Suit Filed to Protect Cisco's iPhone Trademark

Cisco today announced that it has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against Apple, Inc., seeking to prevent Apple from infringing upon and deliberately copying and using Cisco's registered iPhone trademark.

This comes a day after Cisco released an official comment saying that they were expecting to receive a signed document from Apple that had been the basis of the discussion between the two companies.

Written by Philip Roy | 24 August 2006
Posted in International

Apple and Creative Technology, Ltd. today announced a broad settlement ending all legal disputes between the two companies. Apple will pay Creative $100 million USD for a paid-up license to use Creative's recently awarded patent in all Apple products.

Apple can recoup a portion of its payment if Creative is successful in licensing this patent to others.

Written by Philip Roy | 06 July 2006
Posted in International

UPDATE [22/7/06 - Apparent confirmation] Reuters is reporting that Microsoft has been apparently touting a new player to record companies that they intend to launch by Christmas. Speculation is that companies will receive prototypes in coming weeks to test.

Interestingly, reports suggest that the iPod rival will also play video and have wireless functionality included, although Microsoft has declined to confirm any suggestions related to the story, which can be read here.

Written by Philip Roy | 17 February 2006
Posted in International

A Trojan Horse application that affects Mac users has appeared on the Internet. Despite some disagreements, most suggest the Trojan is not a virus as it does not take advantage of any  security flaws in the operating system. DO NOT DOWNLOAD OR RUN THIS FILE EVEN AS A TEST

Extensive details about the Trojan are available on the Ambrosia Software discussion forum and please note that this threat will only run on the Macintosh OS X version 10.4

Written by Philip Roy | 13 January 2006
Posted in International

I’ve never been a great fan of Windows Media Player for the Mac. But when a lot of your work is multimedia based, you generally need to have it installed. However, with certain events that happened earlier this week, the news that Microsoft is to end development of their Windows media Player for the Mac is both expected and, I think, a sensible move.

For around four months now, I’ve been using a third-party plug-in to watch WMV files on my Mac using QuickTime and have been able to remove the Windows Media Player from my Mac. This plug-in was both updated and released free to all in the middle of this week.

Written by Philip Roy | 17 November 2005
Posted in International

Think Secret recently started suggesting that pans for an Intel-based Mac were far ahead of schedule, beating all estimations of a mid-2006 first release. Now, they’re sure that we’ll see iBooks in January 2006 that include the Intel chip.

Ryan Katz, Senior Editor with Think Secret speculates that Apple will release entry-level iBook laptops with Intel processors at Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

Written by Philip Roy | 25 August 2005
Posted in International

In the 18th Annual Reader Satisfaction Survey conducted by PC Magazine it's not surprising to read "As usual, Apple receives the highest ratings for overall satisfaction with both desktops and notebooks, and it is a Readers' Choice award recipient."

PC Magazine surveys often highlight consistently impressive results from Apple in terms of their products and support. It's great to see such an non-Mac-centric website acknowledging the feedback from its users and the fact that so many Mac users are very happy indeed.

Written by Philip Roy | 25 August 2005
Posted in International

Google has entered into the Instant Messaging arena with the release of the PC-based "Google Talk" application. Aligned with their Gmail mail system (in many respects the same way as iChat requires a .mac or AIM user account) there does appear to be some compatibility with iChat, which Google have emphasised by developing a page showing iChat users how to connect up and communicate with Google Talk users.

It's important to emphasise that the Google Talk application is quite rudimentary at the moment, as is what Mac OS X Tiger users can do to communicate with PC users who make use of the application....only text chat is possible at this stage.