iTunes 9 to bring Blu-ray support, iPhone App management?
According to sources speaking to BoyGeniusReport, the upcoming iTunes 9.0 software update will include Blu-ray support and iPhone App management, along with social networking integration.
Blu-ray support would be a welcome addition, and the App management would allow users to connect their iPhone or iPod Touch and visually manage the apps.
Social networking integration would allow easy access to Twitter, Facebook and Last.fm.
For now, this is rumor and Apple has not confirmed or denied any of the details or a release date for iTunes 9.
App management, via TechCrunch:
DSi sales pass 3 million in Japan
According to figures published by Enterbrain, Nintendo’s DSi handheld console has sold more than 3 million units in Japan since its launch in November 2008. The latest version in the DS series was marked as having moved 3,062,920 units as of August 2, showing that the sales milestone for the device was achieved in nine months on the market.
In Nintendo’s quarterly results published last week, the company noted that 3.65 million DSi units had been sold in the three months ending June 30th, part of the total 6.68 million units sold to date.
In the NPD figures for June 2009, a particularly bad month for the industry, Nintendo noted that 424,000 units of the total 766,000 DS units sold (representing more unit sales than all other consoles combined) were of the new DSi model.
Several days ago, Nintendo also announced the integration of Facebook into the DSi console via a firmware update, allowing users to upload pictures taken on the handheld gadget to a Facebook profile.
Microsoft denies CHKDSK bug is ‘critical show stopper’
Microsoft has come out in defense of the much-anticipated Windows 7 operating system after a number of blogs and other sources flaunted a discovered bug as a potential “show-stopper”. Some had reported that a bug with the operating system’s CHKDSK utility could delay the planned rollout, which is being watched closely as hopes are high of Windows 7 providing a much needed jab in the arm for the PC industry.
Screenshots of the Windows Task Manager depicting the CHKDSK process eating up several gigabytes of memory (apparently leading to a BSOD in cases) have circulated around the blogosphere, but Microsoft is denying that the bug is in the Windows software. Instead, Microsoft is pointing at a chipset controller issue as the culprit and advising customers to update their chipset drivers to the latest versions providing by the motherboard manufacturer.
Microsoft’s Windows division President Steven Sinofsky said that the company has not reproduced the crash or experienced any crashes with CHKDSK in any measurable number. “While we appreciate the drama of ‘critical bug’ and then the pickup of ’showstopper’ that I’ve seen, we might take a step back and realize that this might not have that defcon level,” he said.
He continued: “Bugs that are so severe as to require immediate patches and attention would have to have no workarounds and would generally be such that a large set of people would run across them in the normal course of using their PC.” Sinofsky went on to say that this is not a big issue but that Microsoft will continue to pursue and investigate any issues with Windows 7 if/as they arise.
Defective By Design targets Amazon’s Kindle in new petition
Following the recent issue surrounding the deletion of George Orwell works (1984, Animal Farm) from users’ Kindle readers, anti-DRM activists Defective By Design has targeted the device with a new petition. The text of the petition reads…
We believe in a way of life based on the free exchange of ideas, in which books have and will continue to play a central role. Devices like Amazon’s are trying to determine how people will interact with books, but Amazon’s use of DRM to control and monitor users and their books constitutes a clear threat to the free exchange of ideas.
That is why we readers, authors, publishers, and librarians demand that Amazon remove all DRM, including any ability to control or access the user’s library, from the Kindle.
Amazon’s assurances that it will refrain from the worst abuses of this power do not address the problem. Amazon should not have this power in the first place. Until they give it up they will be tempted to use it, or they could be forced to by governments or narrow private interests. Whatever Amazon’s reasons for imposing this control may be, they are not as important as the public’s freedom to use books without interference or supervision.
The petition already has a few recognizable signatures listed on the right-hand side of the message. To sign the petition, visit it at defectivebydesign.org/amazon1984
Toshiba starts volume shipments of 512GB SSD
The sheer potential of solid-state drives to boost the performance and other aspects of computers is starting to show in the regular announcements of SSD developments from manufacturers. The drive to capture a large piece of the pie is accelerating the evolution of the technology, and one of the major factors under focus now is capacity, with a race to catch up to the standard HDD.
Toshiba has begun volume shipments of new SSD drives with capacities of up to 512GB. These drives are already featured in new (expensive!) Toshiba laptops. The new drives, offering capacities of 64GB, 128GB, 256GB and 512GB are manufactured on a 43-nanometer process using multi-level cell (MLC) technology, and available in either a 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch enclosure.
For whatever improvements the SSDs might offer over a standard run-of-the-mill HDD, the price is a hard pill to swallow. The component costs themselves aren’t quite clear yet, but consider that a Toshiba Portege R600 laptop with a 512GB SSD will set you back $3,499.
There are also other areas of the technology that are being built-on, such as random access speeds which can fall behind their mechanical HDD counterparts.
Microsoft killing Xbox 360 Pro?
New pictures of Xbox 360 console packaging allegedly from GameStop have been spread around and seem to confirm rumors that suggest Microsoft is dumping the Xbox 360 Pro model. The picture, shown below, shows an Xbox 360 Arcade box (left) compared to a newer box (right), with the newer box only showing the Xbox 360 Arcade, and Xbox 360 Elite versions of the console.
Source: Kotaku
So if Microsoft is indeed shrinking its Xbox 360 console packs from three to two, it would seem very likely that it plans to re-adjust the Xbox 360 Elite price as well. Such a price cut soon would be advisable as Sony’s launch of a new slimmer PS3 model doesn’t appear to be in the distant future.
AT&T points finger at Apple for rejection of Google Voice App
AT&T has told the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that Apple Inc. is to blame for the rejection of the Google Voice application from the iPhone app store. According to AT&T, the company does not manage to approve any applications for the App Store at all. The FCC had asked Apple and AT&T to explain the process by which Apps are approved or rejected, and to what extend AT&T is involved in any given decision.
AT&T’s claim that is does not approve or reject applications for the App Store is not entirely true however, as it clearly had some sway over App limitations at least. The Slingbox and Skype apps have been forced to go WiFi-only in order to be listed in the App Store, largely due to network congestion fears from AT&T.
Even Apple CEO Steve Jobs stated that AT&T is “policing” VoIP applications, attributing Skype’s limitations to the carrier. The new issue highlights what is being seen as a rift between both companies in recent times which even saw Apple accused of making several swipes at AT&T at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
Palm writes to USB-IF over iTunes Pre block
Palm has written a letter of protest to the USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the non-profit organization that maintains the Universal Serial Bus (USB) specification and promotes the interface. The Palm letter concerns Apple’s iTunes update (8.2.1) which blocked the Palm Pre from being used with the iTunes software
in exactly the same way as an iPod is. iTunes even identified a Palm Pre as an iPod and showed iPod artwork when connected.
The support for Apple’s iTunes software was seen as an important selling point for the Palm Pre. The device was able to fool iTunes into identifying it as an Apple product by manipulating the USB standard’s device descriptors. Apple’s iTunes blocks access to any device that isn’t an Apple product by checking the idVendor descriptor when connected.
Palm was so unhappy about its device being blocked by iTunes that it informed USB-IF in its letter that it was going to update its webOS software to use Apple’s USB Vendor ID in order to regain iTunes access — a move it made on July 23rd. Palm is appealing to the USB-IF group because it claims Apple’s moves block interoperability with the USB interface.
“Interoperability is central to any standard-setting organization,” the letter reads, “because, without widespread interoperability, many of the benefits of standardized (as opposed to proprietary) technologies are lost.”
There are several ways that Apple can block use with a Palm Pre, but it is likely that Palm can issue updates to the thwart the efforts quickly, meaning it may be a cat and mouse game that goes on for a while, unless USB-IF intervenes for either side.
PlayStation 3 production doubles
According to the DigiTimes, Sony has ordered enough supplies for one million PS3 consoles for the Q3 2009, a number double the quarter before it.
The news has led to even more speculation that a Slim PS3 is coming this month, alongside an imminent price cut on current models.
The announcement is expected at the GamesCom event on August 18th, where Sony will have a three-hour press conference.
Earlier this week, Amazon dropped the price of the 160GB Uncharted bundle by $50 USD, prompting even more speculation of a price cut coming.
OCZ releases 1TB SSD
OCZ has announced the launch of their Colossus solid-state drive (SSD), which will offer an impressive 1TB of storage space.
The drive will be aimed at consumers needing an external drive and will be specifically marketed to gamers, due to its extremely fast speed and high capacity.
ComputerWorld says the drive will use a Indilinx controller and will “come with two or four controllers depending on the capacity, and can be configured for internal RAID 0 for increased performance.”
Each controller is a virtual drive, running off a seperate RAID controller.
The drive has “a maximum sequential read rate of 261MB/sec and a maximum sequential write rate of the same rate.”
“The initial results we have tested show that the Colossus really excels in the small file random reads/writes,” an OCZ spokeswoman said, via CW.
Now however, comes the only catch, the extreme price tag. A standard 1TB 3.5″ HDD costs between $70-120 depending on model and make. The Colossus will run you $2200 USD. Maybe a thing to consider before throwing it in that new rig you have been making.
