http://apple.blorge.com Apple news, views and rumors Sat, 07 Apr 2007 22:21:05 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en While Apple continues to lag on including even the option to install a Blu-Ray (or HD-DVD) drive on any Mac, FastMac (a third party vendor) has stepped in and is offering the drive for some Apple computers going all the way back to a PowerBook G3. It ... http://apple.blorge.com/2007/04/07/fastmac-offers-blu-ray-drive-upgrade-for-some-macs/ For those of you who have 30" Cinema displays, hooray for you. For those of us toting Macbooks or Macbook Pros, we know all too well how valuable that 13"-17" display space is. Without buying an external monitor, or engaging in a frenzied maximize/minimize battle, how do you ... http://apple.blorge.com/2007/04/05/maximize-your-mac-2-virtue-desktops-multiplies-your-desktop-real-estate/ The European Commission (EC) issued a Statement of Objections against alleged territorial restrictions in online music sales to Apple and unidentified record companies, believed to be EMI, Sony BMG, Universal Music and Warner Music. The EC asserts that agreements between Apple and the music labels "violate the EC Treaty's rules ... http://apple.blorge.com/2007/04/05/european-commission-files-formal-objection-to-itunes-sales-model/ Apple must have felt their "wow factor" was a little low; what with their relative silence since the rush of hardware updates; the iPhone being the most recent bit of hullaballoo. Today they kicked it up a notch, releasing an 8 core Mac Pro, as well as lowering the ... http://apple.blorge.com/2007/04/04/apple-debuts-8-core-mac-pro-lowers-cinema-display-prices/ Google has just released their desktop application to users of Mac OSX 10.4 or later.  Of course, Mac users already have the advantage of a desktop search application built right in to the OS, Spotlight which is an instant search utility and can launch programs. This is much of ... http://apple.blorge.com/2007/04/04/google-desktop-released-for-mac-osx-104/ I've decided to begin a small featurette designed specifically to keep my fellow Mac users, new and old, in the know about the best ways to get the most out of your Mac. What does that look like? Everything from cleaning tips to third party applications, widgets to ... http://apple.blorge.com/2007/04/04/maximize-your-mac-1-quick-keys-for-computing-ease/ That is the most requested feature according to Jacobs Media. The FM tuner feature appears to be a more popular option for the iPod Shuffle and iPod Nano. With many other players offering more features than the iPod, why hasn’t Apple included any of these features on their iPods? I don’t ... http://apple.blorge.com/2007/04/03/ipod-users-want-fm-tuners/ The murmers were right on the money regarding the purpose of today's early press release. Steve Jobs made the announcement official today that EMI would be releasing its DRM-free music, at the higher bit rate of 256 kbps, for all of 30 cents more than the DRM-equipped music. Why leave ... http://apple.blorge.com/2007/04/02/itunes-releases-256-kbps-quality-emi-tunes-drm-free-for-130/ As with any Apple news, we were happy to jump on the recent Apple announcement that Steve Jobs would be making some sort of announcement tomorrow in London, England, with a special guest appearance by an unnamed band. We automatically put two and two together, and thought lofty thoughts ... http://apple.blorge.com/2007/04/02/emi-records-will-be-the-first-label-to-bring-drm-free-content-to-itunes/ Recent buzz surrounding the possibility of the Beatles' tunes finally gracing iTunes has grown stronger over the last few weeks. Today, Apple notified certain members of the press that they would be making a press release in London, England tomorrow, April 2nd. Though press release rumors are always better than ... http://apple.blorge.com/2007/04/01/apple-springs-surprise-press-release-for-monday/