Apple Releases 8-Core Mac Pros

Apple released the much-anticipated 8-core Mac Pro allowing buyers to specially configure an 8-core 3GHz. The base model Mac Pro features two 2.66GHz Dual-Core Xeon processors (4-core machine) along with 1GB of memory, a 250GB Hard Drive and 16x double-layer SuperDrive for $2,499. Users can specially configure the Mac Pro to include the two 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon Process (8-core) for an additional $1498. Bottom line, a 8-core Mac will start at $3,997 with other upgrade options available.

EMI drops DRM on iTunes Tracks

www.apple.com—02itunes.html

EMI Music’s entire digital catalog will be available for purchase DRM-free from the iTunes Store worldwide in May.

DRM-free tracks from EMI will be offered at 256 kbps AAC encoding for $1.29 per song

Customers will be able to easily upgrade their entire library of all previously purchased EMI content to the higher quality DRM-free versions for 30 cents a song.

iTunes will continue to offer its entire catalog,in the same versions as today—128 kbps AAC encoding with DRM—at the same price of 99 cents per song, alongside DRM-free higher quality versions when available.

Albums will reportedly be available for the same price in the higher quality non-DRM versions.

Apple Sold 100 million iPods

www.apple.com—09ipod.html

Apple announced on April 9th that the 100 millionth iPod has been sold, making the iPod the fastest selling music player in history. The first iPod was sold five and a half years ago, in November 2001, and since then Apple has introduced more than 10 new iPod models, including five generations of iPod, two generations of iPod mini, two generations of iPod nano and two generations of iPod shuffle. Along with iTunes and the iTunes online music store.

AT&T says iPhone will Ship June 11th

According to cNet news Cingular is telling customers the iPhone will be available on June 11h. If this date is accurate, it is also the first day of the WWDC conference. Apple isn't discussing the release date.

Final Cut Pro 4.5 and Final Cut Express 3.0: Issues with Mac OS X 10.4.9

docs.info.apple.com—article.html

Apple has disclosed an issue where Final Cut Pro 4.5 and Final Cut Express 3.0 may drop frames when attempting to capture video if Mac OS X 10.4.9 is installed. Final Cut Pro 5 and Final Cut Express 3.5 are not affected by this issue. Currently, Apple is recommending against running Final Cut Pro 4.5 or Final Cut Express 3.0 in Mac OS X 10.4.9. Apple suggests using an archive and install Mac OS X to revert your operating system to Mac OS X 10.4.8.

Apple Pulls Logic and Final Cut Crossgrades from Store

www.macrumors.com—apple-pulls-logic-crossgrade

Apple has pulled the Logic 7.2 and Final Cut crossgrade options from its Online store. This has lead to speculation that the rumored new versions Logic and Final Cut would be released at Apple's NAB event on April 15th.

Now Make Genius Bar Reservations 2 days in Advance

www.apple.com—geniusbar

Apple has finally realized that it would make much more sense if you could schedule appointments further in advance. They have opened scheduling up to two days in advance for "guests" and 14 days in advance for ProCare members. To make a reservation, just go to the Genius Bar page and select your local Apple Store from the drop-down list.

Intel Releases New Chips

www.powerpage.org—intel_quietly_releases_new_lowpower_chips.html

On Thursday, Intel released two ultra low voltage processors. The 1.06 GHz U7500 and 1.2 GHz U7600 consume a mere 10 watts of power as opposed to the full-fledged Core 2 Duo models, which consume about 34 watts of power. The chips still feature the Merom core which has become successful in current Macs.

The new chips are expected to be used in the smallest PCs and laptops on the market. Prices for the units are not available and Apple has not announced when or if the new chips will make their way into the company's future products.

Apple offers Major League Baseball highlights on iTunes

www.apple.com—30itunes.html

Apple is now offering Major League Baseball video highlights for the 2007 season on the iTunes Store. MLB video on iTunes will include a daily 25 minute “MLB.com Daily Rewind” highlight show and two weekly “Games of the Week,” featuring full versions of the best games from the National and American Leagues. Customers will be able to download individual episodes of “MLB.com Daily Rewind” and each “Game of the Week” for $1.99, or purchase a Multi-Pass for a month of Daily Rewind shows for $7.99 or a Season Pass for every “Game of the Week” for $19.99.

New iTunes Complete My Album Feature

"Complete My Album" allows customers to purchase the remainder of an album for a discounted price. Purchasers have up to six months after first downloading a song from an eligible album to purchase the remainder of the album. Apple has extended the offer allowing customers until June 26th to go back and complete albums reguardless of when they were purchased.

Apple Cuts Video iPod Pricing in the UK

In an effort to spur sales of its aging fifth-generation video iPod digital media players over in the UK, Apple Inc. this week lowered pricing by as much as £20 on some models.

Apple dropped the 30GB black and white video iPods to £179, down from £189. Meanwhile, the black and white 80GB models were marked down to £239 from £259.

"iPod Virus" No Real Threat

There was word across the internet about a new "iPod Virus" that was making the rounds. The virus, which has been named Podloso, is a proof of concept program which does not pose a real threat. First, you have to install Linux on your iPod. Next, you have to install the virus to your Linux-capable iPod. Then you have to launch the virus, because "Podloso cannot be launched automatically without user involvement". Once launched, it infects all executable .elf files with a lame message.

Microsoft releases Vista Patch- Fixes iTunes/iPod issues

www.microsoft.com—details.aspx

The update resolves an issue where an Apple iPod may be corrupted by using the Safely Remove Hardware feature on a system running Windows Vista.

Sprint Challenges iPhone/iTunes with $0.99 over the air music downloads

www.appleinsider.com—article.php

Sprint/Nextel plans to begin offering customers the new "Upstage" phone from Samsung with a form factor that has the look of a phone on one side and an MP3 player on the other. The phone will be available from Sprint beginning in early April for $149 with a two-year service agreement. It will offer easy access to Sprint's exclusive multimedia content, including Sprint Music Store with over-the-air music downloads costing $0.99 and that are transferable to a computer.

Best Buy to Expand Mac Pilot Program to 200 Stores

www.appleinsider.com—best_buy_to_expand_apple_mac_pilot_to_200_stores.html

The expansion of the Mac pilot to 200 stores will represent a fourfold increase in exposure for Apple at the electronics retailer, which until now had been testing sales of Apple's PC line at only about 50 locations nationwide. Investment bank Morgan Stanley has said that a full expansion of the pilot to all of Best Buy's stores could generate as much as $400 million in additional Mac sales for Apple each year. Apple is also running a similar, albeit smaller, pilot at Circuit City retail outlets located on the east coast.

Office 2008 now in Beta

apcmag.com—office_2008_for_mac_hits_beta_shows_slick_ui_and_draws_on_escher

Sheridan Jones, Lead Marketing Manager for Microsoft's Mac Business Unit (MacBU) has confirmed that Office 2008 is in the private beta stages but is unwilling to speculate on the timetable for any public release of the product.

Soldier's Life Saved in Iraq by iPod

www.ipodhacks.com—article.php

Kevin Garrad (3rd Infantry Division) was on a street patrol in Iraq and as he rounded the corner of a building an armed (AK-47) insurgent came from the other side.

The two of them were within just a few feet of each other when they opened fire. The insurgent was killed and Kevin was hit in the left chest where his IPod was in his jacket pocket. It slowed the bullet down enough that it did not completely penetrate his body armor. Fortunately, Kevin suffered no wound." Apparently Apple, upon hearing the story, is moving to replace Kevin's iPod, gratis.