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iMac Price DropAs of this morning, Apple slashed the price of its 20-inch 2.1GHz PowerPC-based iMac.  Pricing for the G5 based iMac dropped $199 from $1699 to $1499.  Pricing remains the same on the 17” iMac model.  If you really want to grab a bargain basement price on either of these machines, head over to Amazon where you can pick up the 20” G5 iMac for $1349.99 or the 17” model for $1174.99.  Although the new Intel based iMacs are smokin’ hot machines, the G5 based models are still more than adequate for most average users needs.  Don’t miss out on this great deal!


Read More | Compare iMac Pricing

Gallery: iMac Prices Hit the Floor


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Blue NanoUK residents be advised, here’s a chance to get a totally customized blue iPod nano. NamesCo is giving away 5 free iPod Nano’s during the month of February. All you have to do is answer a simple question - How heavy is the iPod nano?  Once again, prizes are limited to UK residents only.  Rock on you Brits, and enter today.


Read More | NamesCo

Gallery: Special Edition Blue iPod nano For The UK


Motorola SLVRMotorola today announced the new Moto SLVR L7 iTunes Phone.  The 2nd generation iTunes phone is sleeker and slimmer with an all new ad campaign from Cingular to boot.  The new Bluetooth, quad band (GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz) phone features international support and is currently only available from Cingular.  Motorola is claiming the phone measures 4.5 inches tall by 1.9 inches wide by .45 inches thick and weighs just 3.5 ounces. It features talk time of “up to 6 hours” and standby time of “up to 17 days.”  Pretty nifty if I do say so myself.

Other features and extras include iTunes software (same 100 song capacity - ugh), integrated hands-free speakerphone, illuminated etched keypad, VGA camera with 4x digital zoom, 262,000 “vivid color” TFT display, built-in stereo speakers, and video capture and playback. Nice.  Very nice.  Moto is also throwing in some additional ring tones and the typical Java software with AIM/Yahoo/ICQ messaging.  SMS/MMS capabilities are included as always.

Expect to pay about $199 and commit to a 2 year contract for the pleasure of owning this sexy beast. 


Read More | Cingular Sleek

Gallery: Motorola SLVR L7 iTunes Phone Available On Cingular


Intel Core Duo RAM Install

Yesterday, we gave your our impressions of the new iMac Core Duo. In the article, we mentioned that we desperately needed to upgrade from the stock 512 MB RAM the system ships with, up to 2 GB because of the kind of work we do. After thinking about it, we realized that the RAM installation for the new iMac is the easiest we have ever done. Apple has truly made it easy to upgrade the latest iMac - and it is exponentially easier than the last one, where installing RAM frustrated us to no end.

As seen in the image above, the RAM slot is at the bottom of the computer. All you need to do is unscrew a small panel, insert the RAM, and screw the panel back on. It really couldn’t be simpler. We removed the 512 MB stick, and installed two 1 GB chips in under a minute. We applaud you, Apple. We have a better image of the RAM slot after the jump.

Click to continue reading iMac Core Duo: Easiest RAM Installation Ever

Gallery: iMac Core Duo: Easiest RAM Installation Ever


iPod from the backHere’s just a little tip for those of you looking for you iPod serial number.  In case your are wondering why you would do it, check out this guy’s story:

My iPod was recently stolen out of my car, and in the process of reporting it to the police, they asked for the serial number. I was at a loss to provide it, seeing as how my iPod had been stolen.

Anyway, I was playing around in iTunes and went to the iPod tab in Preferences to see if it had the serial number anywhere. It didn’t appear to be there, but when I went to click another tab, I accidentally clicked where it said “No iPod Connected.” It turned into “Last iPod Connected: XYZ123,” where XYZ123 was the serial number of my iPod.

I guess if you are filing a police report it is best to have this information handy.  Hopefully this won’t happen to any of you, but this can also be useful if you lose your iPod at school or work and have an idea of who may have done it.


Read More | macosxhints

Gallery: iTunes Remembers Your iPod Serial Number


Steve Jobs and the gang are busily working on the next build of 10.4, but that’s not stopping them from advertising the fact they need some help with the next version of Finder.  That is, the one for OS X 10.5, or Leopard.  This ad was published on Apple’s site:

- Participate in all of the various stages of feature development from design brainstorms, through feature development, all the way to fixing that last critical elusive bug under a tight release deadline.
- You will be required to produce clear designs, excellent implementation and tight code.
- Deliver tight, well implemented features, fix bugs and develop Finder into the best file browser on the planet.
- Work on performance and responsiveness of the Finder, making it feel lightweight, fast, snappy and pleasant to use.

Mac Rumors tell us that one of the things that have been said about 10.5 is “extensive use of Spotlight alongside an improved user interface and performance improvement.”  My application was just rejected because they said I was a “fanboy.”


Read More | Apple via Mac Rumors

Gallery: Apple Looking for Developers for 10.5?


Intel iMacI have had a 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo iMac for a 7 days now. A few observations:

The stock 512 MB RAM was not enough to keep up with my tasks - that being 15 or so Safari tabs open, iTunes, iMovie, and Garageband open and doing their thing, plus Photoshop, Mail, and NetNewsWire open as well. I know, I am not the “average” user. Truly, even with just the browser and Mail open, I felt the lag. Impressively though, on the G5 my processor would run at about 60% (with 2 GB RAM) when I had all that running. With the 512 MB RAM, the processor was running at 16%. Amazing.

Yesterday I upgraded this thing to 2 GB RAM. It FLIES. I am more than impressed. iMovie and ffmpegx encode video swiftly compared to the G5. You would not believe how many applications I have open right now. In addition to the ones listed above, I also have Adium, Transmit, Windows Media Player, Quicktime, and ffmpegx all running. I have tons of windows open (the 20? screen makes this manageable). My processor is currently running at 17%! Unreal. I have about 120 MB RAM available as well.

Really - the new iMacs are a thing of beauty if you need an elegant workhorse of a PC.

Gallery: iMac 2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo Impressions


iattireWe really thought we’d seen just about everything - we were wrong.  We came across iAttire, a company devoted to outfitting…your iPod.  Their selection ranges from the feminine to the masculine, from the cute to the absurd, and there’s a costume to fit any iPod - even the Shuffle and Nano.  These aren’t the silicone wetsuits you’re used to - these are actual, honest-to-goodness costumes for the iPod, including a whole line of “Valentines Day” themed outfits like a chiffon negligee, boxer shorts, or even a corset. 

The rest of the line covers just about every fashion you’d think to, er, dress your iPod in, from Pop Diva to Fairy Princess.  And for the boys (is your iPod a boy or a girl?) there are a variety of manly disguises, like the Pirate, Cowboy and even Santa Claus - and here we were, thinking the iPod madness couldn’t get any crazier.  We’ll give points for creativity and good fit, however, who’d have thought to make iPod costumes?!

The best part?  They’re planning on releasing a series of iPod Portraits painted on velvet.  Oh, the cheese of it! While my iPod is perfectly happy lounging about naked (that perverted iPod!), we’ve got to admit, iAttire has a great idea - it sure brought a smile to our faces.


Read More | iAttire

Gallery: Just When You Thought You’d Seen It All - iAttire iPod Costumes


Intel iMac Core DuoEarlier today, in addition to the new MacBook Pro, Apple announced the first desktop Mac to take advantage of the Intel Core Duo chip - the iMac. While a lot of the hardware remains the same, the G5 processor has been replaced by the Intel Core Duo, which runs at either 1.83 GHz or 2.0 GHz. The new iMacs also feature an ATI Radeon X1600 graphics processor, and keep the built-in iSight camera. The iMacs are available in 17 and 20-inch models, and now include the newly announced iLife ‘06. You can pick up the 17-inch 1.83 GHz model (160 GB drive, 512 MB RAM) for $1,299 USD, while the 20-inch 2.0 GHz version (250 GB drive, 512 MB RAM) sells for $1,699 USD.


Read More | iMac Product Page

Gallery: New Intel iMac Powered By Core Duo


MacBook Pro

During today’s MacWorld keynote, Steve Jobs let the world know that they had been trying to showhorn a G5 processor into the PowerBook for quite some time, only to fail miserably due to the way the G5 consumed power. That being the case, Jobs announced the official end of the PowerBook line. In its place comes the MacBook Pro, powered by an Intel Core Duo processor. According to Jobs, the MacBook Pro is the thinnest and fastest Mac notebook ever. It runs 4-5 times faster than the G4 PowerBook, and is just 1-inch thin. The unit also features a 15.4-inch widescreen display that is said to be as bright as the cinema displays, as well as an iSight built right in to the unit. Rounding it out, you also get an IR sensor with remote, Front Row software, and a new magnetic power adapter technology called MagSafe. Basically, if someone trips over your power cord, the cord will just pull right off, rather than taking your notebook to the ground. As far as pricing, the 1.67 Core Duo with 512 MB RAM, 80 GB hard drive, and 4x SuperDrive will run you $1999 USD. The faster 1.83 GHz model will go for $2499 USD. Both are available to order today, and will ship in February.

Gallery: New Apple Intel MacBook Pro Replaces PowerBook Line


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