Limited supply of iPods available for Christmas...

Apple iPods are one of this year's most popular Christmas gifts, and stocks are expected to be limited as we get closer to Christmas..

Apple's pro post-production software for photographers is now available...

Apple have begun to ship Aperture, a new software package aimed at professional digital photographers. Aperture costs 499 euro (inc. VAT) and is a non destructive image processing application. It allows photographers to download their images in native RAW format, and to organise and edit their images..

Using Word with an Irish keyboard layout disables spell check

We recently reported on a bug in Final Cut Express, where the application would unexpectedly quit if you had your keyboard layout set up as "Irish" instead of "British". .

Handy widget includes DART timetables

Many of the widgets for Mac OS X Tiger are aimed at North American users, so it was refreshing when we found a new train timetable widget which includes Dublin DART trains..

CompuB to have stand at RDS with Macs and iPods...

The annual Toys 4 Big Boys exhibition starts at the RDS on Friday November 11th and runs until Sunday 13th.
Amongst the mix of gadgets, stereos, sports equipment and cars will be Apple retailer, CompuB. They will showing off the new iPod with video, the iPod nano and other Apple products..

Major Macintosh UK show starts on 27th October 2005

Apple will be attending the Mac Expo, held in Olympia's National Hall, London from 27th-29th. This is the only other significant European show, following on from the Apple Expo, Paris, in September. It is also probably the easiest show for Irish Mac enthusiasts to attend..

Apple and Disney agree deal to sell top US shows for viewing on iPod

Apple have launched the new iPod which can play video on its new wider TFT screen. The new iPod is thinner than its predecessor, but has a larger screen and better battery life.
The video iPod comes in two colours- the traditional white, and a new black model. There are also two sizes available: the entry level 20GB, and the 60GB top of the range model..

iSight camera now built into the new iMac

Apple announced the new iMac yesterday (12th October 2005). The new model comes with some ground breaking features, such as a built-in iSight camera for video conferencing (using iChat AV). It also comes with a new Apple remote control, which works with the included Front Row media software. Front Row is an interface which allows you to turn your iMac into an entertainment system, to play your music and watch movies..

Ships second largest number of Macs in the company's history

Apple reported the highest revenue and earnings in the company's history this evening (October 11th 2005). Here is a breakdown of the main figures from the results.

Adrian Weckler's review continues a poor record on Apple products

In the past, this site has been critical of Adrian Weckler's poor knowledge about Apple products. Weckler's inaccuracy in reporting products was seen again on Sunday (9th Oct. 2005)..

iPod nano expected to boost Apple results

Apple are due to announce their financial results at 10pm (Irish time) on October 11th. There will be a webcast of the conference call with analysts. During the webcast, Apple executives will be questioned by members of the financial media about Apple's results and their views on future prospects for the company..

Apple launches replacement for the iPod mini

Apple have replaced the iPod mini with the new iPod nano. The iPod nano comes in two storage sizes, 2GB (500 songs) and 4GB (1000 songs), and both of these models are available in two colours, the traditional iPod white, and black..

Apple Expo website removes all mention of a keynote speech

The keynote address in Paris, the highlight of any MacWorld or Apple Expo, has been cancelled. Over the past few months, the show's organisers had allowed visitors to apply for tickets for the Paris keynote, although the details of the event were yet to be announced. Last week Mac Information received their tickets for the event, including the keynote pass and a map showing how to reach the keynote venue. However on Monday 5th Sept., the event was pulled from the Apple Expo website..

Two prominent outlets selling Macs and iPods

The availability of Mac products at city centre locations in Ireland has long been a problem for Apple. In recent years Compustore opened (and then closed) an "Apple Store" on Kildare Street in Dublin, when the company folded.
However over the last two years, O2 and Spectra have moved into stocking Apple products and both now have a strong retail presence in Grafton Street, Dublin.
O2 have an Apple Store above its mobile phone "experience" outlet in the middle of Grafton Street. They sell iPods, PowerBooks, iBooks, Mac minis and a limited number of accessories and software titles for the Mac..

Microsoft expect sync feature to arrive in first half of next year

Mac Information contacted Microsoft this week to find out when they expected to ship their update to Entourage 2004. Since Tiger was released on April 29th 2005, we had expected that an update would be released for Office 2004 users. .

Interview with Mark Rogers, head of Apple UK & Ireland

MacWorld UK has posted an interview with Mark Rogers, head of Apple UK and Ireland. Rogers talks about Apple's presence in education, including their relationship with the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland. The RCSI, based on St. Stephen's Green in Dublin, have had a long term relationship with Apple, with students using iBooks in their course work..

Dublin film centre running courses in Final Cut and DVD Studio Pro

Filmbase, the Dublin organisation supporting independent filmmakers in Ireland, is offering training courses in a number of Apple's professional software applications.
To take part in a training course you need to be a Filmbase member (cost: 55 euro) and courses include Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro. Course fees start at about 400 euro..

Solution for Irish keyboard users

Just thought it was worth running this one by readers, in case anyone is experiencing the same issues:
PROBLEM:
Final Cut Express (FCE) 2.0.2 & 2.0.3 on Mac OS 10.4.2 unexpectedly quits if you try to use any keyboard shortcut. This is an issue which effects Irish keyboard layout users (but not British or US layouts)..

Faster Macs to kick off the education buying season

Apple have updated their iBooks and Mac minis, with the laptop line now coming with built-in Bluetooth. The range has now been reduced to just two products.
The 12" iBook starts at €1059 and comes with a combo drive (burns/plays CDs, plays DVDs), comes with a 1.33 Ghz chip, 512MB of RAM and a 40GB hard drive.
The larger 14" iBook costs €1368.99, comes with a SuperDrive (burns/plays CDs, burns/plays DVDs), comes with a faster 1.42 Ghz processor, 512MB of RAM and a larger 60GB hard drive..

Expo to be held from Sept. 20th to 24th 2005

The annual Apple European Expo is to be held in Paris from 20th-24th September 2005. This is Apple premier European event. Apple now only hold three major conferences per year, with MacWorld San Francisco (January), the WWDC (World Wide Developers Conference, held in May) and the Apple Expo in Paris. Each of these are normally attended by Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who delivers the keynote address. His attendance has not yet been confirmed for 2005, but this would be expected..

Discounts on refurbished products from Apple
Although not heavily publicised, Apple offer deals through their Irish online store (www.apple.com/irelandstore/). The Special Deals section on the front page points buyers to discounted products which have been refurbished by Apple. These still come with the standard one year limited-warranty, but because they are refurbished goods they come at a lower price tag..

Last Friday's 'The Ticket' supplement in the Irish Times ( June 17th 2005) contained a column by Brain Boyd which attacked Apple for its treatment of Francis Hwang, and its general treatment in relation to intellectual property.
The first section looked at the case of Hwang who, according to Boyd, loaded songs onto his U2 iPod, modified the case of the iPod, and tried to sell it on eBay as an "extra special edition." There is a certain rebellious element in this story which makes us smile, but Boyd seems to miss the point, that loading an iPod and then flogging the songs to another user is illegal. After all, is Boyd suggesting that we can all load our music onto iPods before selling them? Or maybe loading ours PCs with software before putting them on the open market?.