The new AppleTV boxes are starting to find their way to the public. Lucky Walt Mossberg has had a test unit for evaluation for ten days already. Here’s part of his review:
It performed flawlessly.
What else do you need to know?
If you want to see the unboxing of an AppleTV, head over to Gizmodo for some pictures that only Mac addicts would consider pornographic.
Apple’s iPod scored another member to the family with Nagmai getting not one but two Nanos! Congratulations!
Next up is getting a Mac of course. 😉
Update: I’ve lost track of new members of the Mac and iPod Ohana since I counted back in 2005. Didn’t Follow Da Leedah get an iPod recently too? And oh yeah, the Tabasco Man went for a pair of pods. Anyone else I missed?
Fortune Magazine announced their 2007 list of America’s Most Admired Companies, and the Top 20 has some personal notables. General Electric tops the list this year. Even with a diluted experience, Starbucks comes in at number 2 followed by Toyota at number 3. Apple and Google come in at the seventh and eighth spots. Microsoft is number 12. Costco is at 18 and Pepsi and Wal-Mart tied for the 19/20 spot.
I thought Google treated its employees well but the search engine giant came in at number 3 for People Management, beat out by FedEx (#1) and Procter & Gamble (#2).
In the field of Innovation, Apple led the way (and this is before the release of the iPhone!). Google was second, Nike in fifth place, and Starbucks rounding out the top 10.
Not surprisingly, Hawaii had no companies in the Most Admired List with Alexander & Baldwin getting a Contender status. California had top honors followed by New York and Texas. Other states with zero companies on the list are Alaska, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Hey aren’t most of these states members of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC)??
My first generation iPod Shuffle that I got free for buying a bunch of Dockers pants is giving me more and more problems. First, it would stop playing for no apparent reason. The other day, after doing a sync, only 2 songs were available even though iTunes showed 16 songs.
I tried another sync and iTunes said the media was uninitialized, and there were no songs on the iPod. I then downloaded the iPod shuffle Reset Utility from Apple and gave that a shot. This utility wipes out a Shuffle, returning it to clean state with the latest firmware.
At first, the tool did not recognize my Shuffle. Scary. I waited a few minutes and tried again. This time, it saw my Shuffle and successfully reset it. I transfered songs to my reset Shuffle, and everything seems to be working okay so far.
Any other first gen Shuffle users having issues with their iPods? Is it time for an upgrade?
A very interesting article about the possibility of Apple’s upcoming AppleTV being a peer-to-peer device. Makes a lot of sense and the timing of Steve Jobs’ fight against DRM in his Thoughts on Music is uncanny.
Also consider the fact the Apple now understands how the game is played and how you win at these games. The game is not beating the competitor at their game. In order to win, you need to change the game.
The iPod is merely a well thought out and designed MP3/music player, but the iTunes Store is the game changer. Other good music players are out there but not with an easy way of getting music like the iTunes Store offers. This is the same strategy Apple is using with its movies downloads. Instead of beating Netflix or Blockbuster in their DVD rental game, change the game and offer direct downloads (and not necessarily at the costs dictated by the movie studios). Macs are great computers, but a Mac capable of running Windows changes a bunch of things and opens the eyes of many potential Mac-wanna-be switchers. And the iPhone? Don’t get me started how this changes the cell phone game.
So yeah, there could be a lot more to the AppleTV than first thought. Hi-def television shows via a P2P distribution using AppleTVs? Change the game on cable companies. Brilliant!
Apple may be opening a retail Apple Store in the Armpit of Cali, better known as Fresno, California. While unconfirmed, there have been some job postings online for a location in the Fashion Fair mall (the one with Tommie’s Burgers).
This will give me something to check out the next time I’m in the neighborhood. I wonder what Fresno’s finest thinks about this prospect?
Technorati Tags: Apple
Grand opening of the Apple Store at Kahala Mall is set for Saturday, February 10. The store opens at 10am, and the first 1000 people get free t-shirts. There’ll also be a drawing to win a MacBook, Nano, and an iPod Hi-Fi sound system.
Are you going?
Technorati Tags: Apple
Just a few juicy rumors concerning Forrest Gump’s favorite fruit company.
Full screen iPod announced during SuperBowl XLI? Take the iPhone, rip out the Phone part, and you got yourself a full screen video iPod. A special edition with music from the Beatles to corroborate Apple’s special announcement?
Apple Special Event coming soon? Where are the new Mac products that weren’t discussed at Macworld? iLife ’07? iWork ’07? Maybe Apple saved up some goodies so they don’t have another boring Special Event like the one in February 2006.
Looks like the Starbucks/Apple relationship will be getting serious in ’07. While a rumor in 2006, this recently announced venture will let you buy downloadable music at Starbucks stores sometime this year and load them directly to your music player (most likely an iPod).
Starbucks already has an exclusive Starbucks Entertainment section on the iTunes Store. This partnership will transform this on-line arrangement into a physical one at the brick-and-mortar Starbucks stores. I wonder if I’d be able to buy a Cinnamon Dolce Latte with an iTunes gift card?
Apple has something up its sleeves for the upcoming SuperBowl XLI happening on February 4. There have been rumblings that the company will have a SuperBowl commercial announcing the exclusive release of music from the Beatles.
While this is a big deal for some music fans, I’m nonplussed. From a historical perspective, Apple aired their 1984 commercial to launch the Macintosh starting this crazy ride we’re currently on with the iPhone and iPods. If Apple were to do something during the SuperBowl, it’d better be an attention getter announcing something revolutionary.
How about going for an all out musical blitz with the licensing of their FairPlay DRM mechanism so that others can get some of the iTunes action. It would be iTunes everywhere (including the Zune?)!
Sidenote: I’m rooting for the Saints over the Patriots in SuperBowl XLI.
So we missed out on the live announcement of Apple’s iPhone. We can watch the streaming version on-line but hey, I got a video iPod so why can’t I watch the keynote on it?
Now you can. Apple has made the 2007 keynote where the AppleTV and iPhone were discussed in detail available for free download at the iTunes Store.
As MacWorld Expo 2007 looms, more rumors begin to surface.