Appletell

Apple has released updates to Quicktime and Front Row in support of the new iTunes 8.

Quicktime 7.5.5 fixes a number of security issues. Front Row 2.1.6 improves compatibility with the new version of Quicktime and iTunes.

Details and links after the break.

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On Tuesday, Microsoft unveiled new updates to its Office 2004 and 2008 programs.

Office 2004 version 11.5.0 adds an update to the Open XML File Converter, allowing for compatibility with the randomly changed file formats of Office 2007 for Windows and Office 2008 for Mac.

Office 2008 12.1.1 offers improvements in Word and Excel, with performance and stability updates for PowerPoint and Entourage. It also fixes issues with date formatting in charts. Word has fixes pertaining to Macros, opening files from the Finder, and general graphics updates. Excel now has improved reliability when calculating and editing formulas and updating data.

You can download the updates via the Microsoft Software Update Application.

Via [MacNN]

Apple today released Firmware Updates for the Intel iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Aluminum Keyboard.

The firmware updates are available at apple.com and through Software Update. They “[fix] several issues to improve the stability of [the] computers.” The keyboard update addresses an issue with keys repeating themselves wittttttttttttthout warning.

Firmware Updates require a restart and the keyboard update renders your keyboard useless for as much as 5 minutes while it installs, then it, too, requires a restart of your computer. Follow the instructions (usually “Quit Everything, Touch Nothing") to the letter, other wise your computer may get messed up. Potentially REALLY messed up.

Oddly, I downloaded the Firmware Update for my MacBook Pro manually, as Software Update didn’t find it and it told me I didn’t need the update. Is this happening to anyone else?

Click image for large version

So AT&T recently sent out a small survey of about 30 questions to most iPhone owners asking whether or not they’d like certain features or upgrades. Some of the questions were very interesting and show us what AT&T and Apple may be working on, they include:

How interested are you, if at all, in the following iPhone potential enhancements?

• Ability to control my DVR (TIVO) with my Apple iPhone
• Apple iPhone Insurance
• iPhone purchase anniversary rewards (free iTunes, videos etc.)
• Ability to use my iPhone as a credit card

These questions are all very interesting and lets hope we see them in the future. But in the survey AT&T also confirmed that there would be a 3G iPhone...in 2009. Now, we’re not sure if this was just AT&T talking or both Apple and AT&T, so we may have to wait another year before we see 3G in our iPhones.

At Macworld 2008, Steve Jobs noted that Apple had provided updates every week for the year so far (at the time only 2 weeks). He also remarked that that was only 2 down, and 50 more to go. As time goes on, it’s becoming more and more clear that he was hinting that Apple would be updating something every week of the year. So far, it has held true.

In previous years, Apple updates were big. When a product was updated, it usually had a different look. Look at the iMac G3, iMac G4, and iMac G5 as a prime example. Little speed bumps were infrequent. Since Apple’s transition to Intel, there have been many more speed bumps, but not as many case changes. The iMac is the only product that has seen a case change since the introduction of Intel. The Mac Pro has held the same case since its PowerMac G5 days. The MacBook Pro has had the same case since the PowerBook G4. And the consumer level notebook, now named the MacBook, has been a white plastic slab since the iBook G3 back in 2001.

So why has Apple seemingly changed course? I believe the reason is twofold. First, Apple’s main computer idea is self-containment and thinness. At this point in time, there is no way to keep the specs of any of their computers while at the same time making them thinner. The iMac has pretty much achieved the goal of being “just a display.” Hence the last update keeping the same form factor and just changing the material the iMac was made from. Also, Intel is putting out chip updates much faster than the PowerPC chips ever came out. And Intel isn’t waiting around. They have announced that they are going to actively slam their new chipsets into the market leader seat, by cutting off the old chips, instead of phasing them out as before.

Overall, these updates are better. I like having little speed bumps more and more often. Though a case change is always fun, right now (with the exception of the MacBook), all of Apple’s computers are both beautiful and functional, something that other companies have caught onto but still haven’t perfected.

Yet another pre-release build of OS X Leopard 10.5.2 has been released with no known issues.

In build 9C27, the bug fix list swells to over 130 fixes. The new fixes are related to the Finder sidebar, iChat Bluetooth, disk space management, Time Machine, and desktop backgrounds (probably a fix for desktop backgrounds developing large sections of “missing pixels").

Apple had its developers focus on about a dozen specific system components.

It seems that 10.5.2 may include support for remote disc from all computers, not just the MacBook Air.

Read [AppleInsider]

iWork ‘08 has seen some steady releases of updates since its release last year, here’s the first for 2008. Keynote 4.0.2 “primarily addresses performance issues while playing or exporting presentations.” Pages 3.0.2 “addresses compatibility with Mac OS X.” And last but not least, Numbers 1.0.2 also “addresses compatibility with Mac OS X.” So there are no new features to be seen in these updates, just some performance enhancements for Intel and Leopard, along with the usual bug fixes found in software updates.

The updates are 32.4MB 29.3MB and 27.4MB for Keynote, Pages and Numbers and are available to download through Software Update. Alternatively, you can download them or see the info on Apple’s website: Keynote 4.0.2 , Pages 3.0.2, Numbers 1.0.2.

Via [TUAW]

As we’ve already seen, 10.5.2 has fixed some things that many users complained of, most notably in the dock. You can now completely turn off Stacks, or show Stacks in a list view, among other things. Unfortunately, the ability to change from 2D to 3D anywhere, of which a screenshot was forged, is not an option, at least in the latest 10.5.2 builds.

Apple needs to continue to move towards bringing spaces back up to where it was originally in the developer builds. Most notably, there needs to be an option for making a random selection into a stack. This means being able to select 5 items from your desktop, one from Applications, and 2 from the Documents folder, dragging them to the dock, and having them form a Stack. This was present and, as far as I know, stable in the developer builds, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why they decided to remove the feature. It was the only real “improvement” that Stacks offered over the old “folder in the dock” from Tiger, besides the arguably easier browsing.

If Apple doesn’t re-instate that feature, then they absolutely must put this one in (though it would be great to have anyway): If there is a folder inside the stack, clicking on it should not open it in the finder, it should fan out, replacing the current stack.

Elsewhere in the System, Leopard needs to get a hold on Airport. I pretty much expect to have to reconnect manually each time I wake from sleep now…

Front Row also needs some attention… It’s crashed a few times.

Luckily, 10.5.2 looks to be very helpful, packing a list of over 30 fixes, including fixes in Data Detectors, Dock, Finder, Grammar Checking, iCal, iChat, Mail, Parental Controls, Quick Look, Rosetta, Safari, Time Machine, AirPort.

This is part one of a five part series leading up to MacWorld.

Mac desktop predictions:

Mac Pro- There is a near 100% chance that there will be a new Mac Pro released this MacWorld. Rumors are that it will sport Penryn processors up to 8-core 3.2 GHz. It owuld be nice to see a case change, but it looks very good as it is, and a case change would have to be in tandem with a Cinema Display Update, which we’ll talk about in a minute. Apple will most likely tout a 32 GB RAM ability as a new feature, even though the current Mac Pros can handle 32 GB of RAM since the introduction of 4 GB RAM Modules. Hard Drive Space will most likely be expanded to a 4 TB Max, perhaps more.

Cinema Displays- First, let’s talk about a case change. If the Mac Pro gets a case change, these will get one to match. If not, the Cinema Displays will still be changed up a bit. As of right now, the Cinema Displays are about the same thickness as an iMac. And the iMac has an entire computer inside. If the Mac Pro remains aluminum, then the Cinema Displays will probably look the same from the front, except with any luck they will have an iSight camera built in (perhaps a BTO option.) The sizes of the new displays are up in the air. Personally, I think the two most likely options are 24”, 27” and 30” displays, or perhaps cutting off the 20” and leaving just a 24” and 30.” I have a feeling that the current 23” display will be replaced by a 24” because they use 24” panels in their iMacs. The new displays will probably have a glossy option, like the MacBook Pro displays, but it is highly unlikely that they will make glossy mandatory.

iMac- Not much to say here. As these were only released in August, the only update I would expect is a bump in the entry-level speed: from 2 to 2.2 GHz. A far out hope is hat they might make a matte screen option, but then there would have to be some sort of redesign, because there would have to remove the lass, so I’d call that one a 5% chance of happening.

Mac Mini- I don’t think much will heppen here either. The best I think we can hope for is for it to be brought up to par with the MacBook. This means an entry level machine at 2 GHz, Intel GMA X3100 Graphics, 80 GB HDD, and a higher end 2.2 GHz with a 160 GB HDD. There is also the possibility of the Mac Mini being killed and (hopefully) replaced with a mini tower.

After a meeting with key component suppliers and manufacturers in Asia this week, investment bank Goldman Sachs researchers said they believe Apple will introduce two revisions to the iPhone in 2008—one minor, one major—and an Apple TV revision (the long awaited Apple TV 2.0) during the second half of the year.

On Tuesday, researcher David Bailey advised clients that “Apple has several important new products lined up for 2008,” though none will be as big or important as the introduction of the company’s iPhone last June.

The analyst said that one of them is the second generation iPhone, currently in it’s “final design phase.” The handset is expected to “have a similar form factor as the current version although it could have a different look and will probably include 3G capability.”

Bailey estimates that the next-gen iPhone will launch sometime during the second half of the year, but also believes the company will tie over consumers with “a smaller upgrade with more flash memory earlier in the year.” Most likely an addition of a 16 GB iPhone will be unleashed. Perhaps the second generation iPhone will sport 16 and 32 GB versions?

Bailey’s Asian contacts advise him that “Apple will be making changes to Apple TV” sometime in the second half of “which could include an LCD display.”

“Apple will refresh its entire Mac line-up throughout 2008, but information about the potential launch of a subnotebook was scarce, with one supplier saying that the product may be pushed out, citing possible design issues,” he added.

Regarding the iPods, “Both the iPod Touch and nano are seeing strength while iPod shuffle demand seems stable, which should cause blended average selling prices (ASPs) to come in above our $150 estimate.”

Goldman Sachs maintains a Buy rating on Apple shares with a 12-month price target of $205 per share.

Via [AppleInsider]