Posts Tagged ‘Apple’
Apple’s new OS geared for multicore future
August 31st, 2009 | 
Author: Apple began shipping Snow Leopard on Friday, but the true importance of the Mac OS X update likely will emerge well afterward.
That’s because Mac OS X 10.6 begins a longer-term Apple attempt to get ahead by cracking a problem facing the entire computer industry: squeezing useful work out of modern processors. Instead of stuffing Snow Leopard with immediately obvious new features, Apple is trying to adjust to the new reality in which processors can do many jobs simultaneously rather than one job fast.
“We’re trying to set a foundation for the future,” said Wiley Hodges, director of Mac OS X marketing.
Apple shed some light on its project, called Grand Central Dispatch at its Worldwide Developer Conference in June, but most real detail was shared only in with programmers sworn to secrecy. Now the company has begun talking more publicly about it and other deeper projects to take advantage of graphics chips and Intel’s 64-bit processors.
The moves align Apple better with changes in computing. For years, chipmakers such as Intel and Advanced Micro Devices had steadily increased the clock rate of their processors, and programmers got accustomed to a performance boost with each new generation. But earlier this decade, problems derailed the gigahertz train.
First, chips often ended up merely twiddling their thumbs more because slower memory couldn’t keep the chip fed with data. Worse, the chips required extraordinary amounts of power and produced corresponding amounts of hard-to-handle waste heat.
Full Story :
http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-10319839-264.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Posted in Apple, Mac, OS X, Snow Leopard, software | 
Tags: Apple, Mac, OS X, Snow Leopard | 
Comments Closed
64-bit Snow Leopard defaults to 32-bit kernel
Apple’s Snow Leopard operating system, released Friday, by default loads with a 32-bit kernel, despite running 64-bit applications.
While Mac OS X version 10.6 ships with a number of 64-bit native applications, the kernel itself defaults to 32-bit, unless the user holds down the “6” and “4” keys during boot time, at which point the 64-bit kernel is loaded. Only Apple’s X-Serve products, using Snow Leopard Server, boot into a 64-bit kernel by default.
“For the most part, everything that they experience on the Mac, from the 64-bit point of view, the applications, the operating system, is all going to be 64-bit,” Stuart Harris, software product marketing manager at Apple Australia said.
Harris said that at this stage there were very few things, such as device drivers, that required 64-bit mode at the kernel level but the option is available.
“But we’re trying to make it as smooth as possible, so people don’t end up finding that ‘oh, that doesn’t work’ because it’s not available yet,” he said.
Full Story :
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10320314-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
Rumor: Apple planning new iPods with cameras
Apple’s expected September event may see the introduction of new iPod models, according to a report on AppleInsider.
(Credit: Apple)The fact that Apple would use a September event to launch new iPods wouldn’t be a big surprise, but the new iPod Nano and iPod Touch will reportedly have cameras. AppleInsider didn’t cite sources for this detail but said it “has it on authority” and that it has been able to “independently confirm” the information.
The addition of cameras would increase the functionality of iPods, making them dual-purpose devices.
AppleInsider, Boy Genius Report, and other rumor sites have also speculated that iTunes 9 will debut in September and add social networking to the music organizer, among other changes.
A new digital album format will likely debut in September, as well. Code-named Cocktail, Apple’s new album format is said to include photos, lyric sheets, liner notes, and clips from music videos.
It also seems clear at this point is that an Apple tablet will not make its debut during the September event.
Apple hasn’t officially announced the event yet, though it is expected to take place after Labor Day weekend. For the past several years, the company has gathered in September to launch its newest iPod products for the holiday-shopping season.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10319162-37.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
iPods and Transistor Radios Separated at Birth?
@Michael Jack. An iPod with the Regency TR-1 in red (1954-55) and TR-4 (black).
Recording engineer and music producer Michael Jack has amassed an amazing collection of 1,100 transistor radios.
@Michael Jack. Look familiar? An iPod with a Zenith RE-10
These models from the 1950s look like predecessors of the iPod, he notes on his flickr stream:
“When I fist saw the Zenith RE-10 I figured I had come upon the most obvious inspiration for the iPod… Although all these radios appear to have similar design elements to the iPod I would ALMOST bet that the RE-10 was studied (or at least observed) by the Mac design team.”
@Michael Black. Note: the size of the iPod’s click wheel about the same as radio’s tuning dial.
I love the still-modern look of these half-century old radios, whether Jonathan Ive used them for inspiration or not.
What do you think?
Source :
http://www.cultofmac.com/ipods-and-vintage-transistor-radios-separated-at-birth/15104
Posted in Apple, iPod, Tech |
Tags: Apple, inspiration, iPod, Sony, Transistor Radios |
Comments Closed
Snow Leopard could level security playing field
Friday’s release of the new version of the Mac OS, dubbed Snow Leopard, could include some security features that would make it secure, or at least push it closer to the level of security that Vista and Windows 7 have, experts said this week.
Contrary to popular Mac fanboy belief, Macintosh is not more secure from a software standpoint than modern Windows; it’s merely safer to use because malware writers prefer to target the platform with the biggest install base, according to Charlie Miller and Dino Dai Zovi, co-authors of The Mac Hacker’s Handbook, which came out this spring.
“Apple hasn’t implemented all the security features that Vista has,” Miller said. “They made some improvements in Leopard, but they are still behind.”
If there is any truth to rumors circulating about Snow Leopard, the operating system security playing field could become more level as of this weekend and Mac users will really have something to brag about.
Full story :
http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10318943-245.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20
