Appletell

Hate rushing to the store to make sure you are able to get one of the few copies available of your favorite movie on the day of its DVD release?  We’ve all been there, and it sucks.  Well, Apple has now come to the rescue.  You are now able to purchase iTunes movies on the same day as their hard copy DVD release.  This deal covers a ton of studios, including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and Lionsgate.  The new releases go for $14.99 currently at the iTunes store.

“We’re thrilled to bring iTunes Store customers new films for purchase day-and-date with the DVD release,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “We think movie fans will love being able to buy their favorites from major and independent studios.”

It was going to happen eventually, and I’m glad the time has finally come.  Could this be one of the largest steps in a while towards moving completely to digital entertainment, or is there still a long way to go?

A few weeks ago I wrote about a possible rumor that Canada may be receiving the iPhone.  Now, it has been confirmed.  Although the statement from Roger’s was extremely short, with no details about a release date or model, it is now certain that the iPhone is heading north.  All the statement read was:

“We’re thrilled to announce that we have a deal with Apple to bring the iPhone to Canada later this year. We can’t tell you any more about it right now, but stay tuned.”

I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that Roger’s won’t bother releasing the iPhone until they have the 3G version.  In my opinion, it would only make sense to wait for that device as I’m sure all the customers are.  However, the point is that Canada will be getting the device, so all of our Canadian friends can now start saving their pocket change.  Congratulations guys, it has been a long wait, but you will find it well worth the time.

According to the latest iPhone firmware release, Apple is currently working on an iTunes controller for your iPhone called, you guessed it, iControl.  This application would allow you to wirelessly browse your iTunes library from a local source and stream your music and other content.  This information came from a group of strings in the latest beta release of the new iPhone software and could be one of the apps Apple will be releasing themselves when the SDK comes out.  If you’ll remember, back in July, Apple applied for a patent for this sort of thing.  That patent stated:

A portable multimedia player (such as the iPod. manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif.) is used to wirelessly access and control a media server (such as a personal computer running iTunes software) that is streaming digital media by way of a wireless interface to a media unit (such as a stereo/speakers in the case of streaming digital audio).

This all sounds pretty cool to me and would be another great addition to the phone.  However, it leaves me wondering whether or not, like above, other iPods will get the same functionality.  It may be kind of hard at this point considering all iPods (besides the Touch) have yet to receive some sort of wifi connectivity.  Could this be a sneak peak of things to come?

Via [TUAW]

Though most seem to be happy with Mac OS X 10.5.2, a select few, Steve Jobs apparently included, aren’t. Mac OS X 10.5.3 is on the fast track to release, as yet another developer build was seeded over the weekend.

While 10.5.2 had widely publicized bugs it was fixing, 10.5.3 has but one: WiFi issues, most recently exemplified when New York schools halted Mac shipments due to the issue. Two other issues it is known to have fixed are shutdown hangs and system mode issues. The others are anybody guess. Or anybody’s guesses, as the list of bugs fixed by this update is apparently longer than 170. This specific build, 9D22, fixes 15, and has no known issues.

Update: After this writing was finished, Apple released Build 9D23, adding 8 more fixes. Once again, no known issues.

Given the rapid succession of build releases, the consensus is that 10.5.3 will be available by mid-May. Perhaps this will give way for 10.5.4 in June?

Have you had any 10.5.2 issues? Or would you just like them to leave well enough alone? Sound off below.

Via [World Of Apple]

After its many delays, Final Cut Server is finally here. Apple’s online store had a short downtime today, and resulted in Final Cut Server being released. After its announcement at the NAB 2007, Final Cut Server is now available from Apple’s online store and Apple retail stores for $999 (10-client), and $1999 (unlimited client licenses). For those that don’t know what I’m talking about, Final Cut Server is “a scaleable server application...allows searching across multiple disks and SAN volumes and enables viewing, annotation and approval of content from anywhere using a PC or Mac®.”

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All the MacBook Air pre-orderers have been waiting for this day for over two weeks now. The MacBook Airs are starting to ship according to TUAW. The online Apple Store in all countries lists the MacBook Air as shipping in 2-3 weeks, but, if you ordered right after the keynote your MacBook Air may just be on its way. TUAW have received several emails of excited MacBook Air owners, saying that their MacBook Airs are shipping as we speak. In fact, one reader’s MacBook Air is due for delivery on February 1st.

It is unclear whether Apple Stores will get stock in shortly - it could just be the pre-orders getting a special early delivery. Hopefully, very early next month we’ll be seeing the MacBook Airs in Apple Stores across the world. But there’s always the possibility of this happening with Apple - nobody ever knows what’s going to happen next. So, have a look for any changes in an Apple Store near you, they could be preparing for some new MacBook Airs.

Via [TUAW]

After an excruciatingly long wait, Adobe has finally announced plans for a Photoshop Elements 6 - yes, 6 - show at MacWorld. The new software is great enough in that it is finally a Universal Binary, which means it won’t be clogging Intel Systems up, like it’s predecessor, Photoshop Elements 4, does while running through Rosetta emulation. However, it also packs new features that will most likely only be useful to amateur users.

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Flip4Mac WMV, the WMV solution from Telestream, has finally been updated to a stable Leopard-compatible release.

Flip4Mac WMV 2.2 doesn’t bring much else than Leopard compatibility, and if you have already downloaded the Leopard compatible beta, updating is a cinch. Just open your Flip4Mac WMV System Preferences Panel and run an update check.

Flip4Mac WMV is a QuickTime Plugin released in cooperation with Microsoft that allows for videos of Microsoft’s proprietary format WMV and audio format WMA to be played in QuickTime on Mac OS X. Microsoft began distributing Flip4Mac after they discontinued their stunted Windows Media Player for Mac in 2006. Flip4Mac enables WMV and WMA to be played most everywhere in the system, including Front Row, Safari, Mail, and all other QuickTime reliant programs.

Via [Mac Daily News]

For a very small number of people, Christmas presents are coming early this year. That’s right, I’m talking to you Java Developers. The mighty Apple has released a developer preview for Java 6 for Leopard. Many were disappointed when Leopard did not ship with the newest version of Java, Java 6, support.

There was no timeline for the release, and many thought that Leopard would stay Java 6-less for a long time. Well, if you have a free Apple Developer’s Connection membership, you can download Java SE 6 Developer Preview 8, and try it out for yoursef. Unfortunately, it requires a 64-bit Intel Mac, which means you need at least Core 2 Duo to use the preview. You also will need 10.5.1. Merry Christmas Java Developers!

Via [TUAW]

TransGaming has just announced a new GameTap player for the Mac (the PC version has also been updated) that expands the GameTap experience for Macs and PCs. Launching games is now far faster than before, and searching and discovering new games is far easier than ever before. There are some new community features too, like the Buddy Hub, which lets you find, play games with and talk to friends online.

“The Mac is enjoying faster growth than any other computing system and the launch of the new GameTap player enriches the Mac experience even further for that large audience,” said Vikas Gupta, CEO and president of TransGaming. “TransGaming and GameTap are committed to bringing the greatest games to the Mac, which has already included Myst Online: Uru Live, and we are pleased to continue this partnership that enhances the Mac gaming landscape.”

There is one issue with the Mac player I can see right now. The fact that, at least under free games, only very few games are Mac-compatible. Most are Windows-only. But, at least this is a step in the right direction for the Mac - we are finally starting to see the major gaming companies give in to the ever-expanding platform.

Via [MacNN]