Interesting Apple News 4 the Day

One thing about the news is that it never stops; the news, be it good, or be it bad, just keeps on coming in, day after day, rain or shine whether we like it or not. That goes to for Apple related news as well and there are several pieces of interesting news today concerning Apple.

One of these is concerning the future availability of Google's Chrome browser for the Mac. Considering that Google's Chrome is, after all, is built on Apple's open sourced WebKit, it is rather strange that there is still no Mac version. That is about to change, however, according to a report that states that Google is about to soon release versions for both OS X and Linux around the middle of the year. Good news indeed, especially if your a self-confessed browser junkie like myself. Also, Google has indicated that future versions of Chrome will include the much requested feature of being able to add extensions, which is something that has helped to make Firefox so successful.

Also, one of the big Apple news of the day is the announcement by LG, the world's second largest manufacturer of LED's, that they have landed a huge, five year contract to supply Apple with LED panels for it's computers, monitors, etc. Apple will be making an advance payment of a whopping $500,000,000.00! Wow.... now that's what I call a lot of money, no matter which way you slice it. LG and Apple aren't saying much, but if a half billion dollars is just an advance, then you can just imagine how big of a deal this is eventually going to be.

Still another interesting piece of Apple related news is that Troll Touch will now be offering, if you got lots of money laying around the house, a new 24 inch LED touch screen for the Mac! MacWorld reported the news and even though I think this is cool, I don't think that it is very practical, and especially from a economical point of view in light of this tight economic climate.

I've written about Troll Touch before and even though I think touch screens are cool enough, on large screens, however, I find them limited. This is because when I used HP's excellent Touch Smart computers, for instance, I found that I began to experience wrist pain the longer I held up my arms to use it. I thought it was maybe just me, being an old geezer and what not, but no, my young friend said that he experienced the same as well! On small devices, like the iPhone or Apple's new multi-track glass track pad, I find that they are fantastic - no need to hold up your arm - just move your finger an inch or so and presto - instant gratification! For the cost of a 24 inch Troll iMac screen, over $2,000 dollars, I just don't see the need, unless, as I have said, you have money to burn, just laying around the house.

Yet another interesting piece of daily news revolves around one of the many millions of new switchers to the Mac, and comes to us from MacDailyNews, who pointed out that we can now add Mike Huckabbe to the legends of new Mac users. Mike suffered for 22 years, as MacDailyNews pointed out, as a frustrated PC user, but he is now a happy Mac camper singing it's praises! As you can see from the YouTube video below, Mike highly praises the Mac and the people at the Apple store in New York that sold it to him. All I can say is, 'welcome aboard Mike.'

Last but not least, one other interesting piece of Apple related news is a piece that could impact Apple's iPhone. This is the news coming out of this year's CES in Las Vegas concerning Palm's new Pre smart phone, one, that like so many of today's phones, is modeled after the iPhone itself. Of all the iPhone wannabe's out there, however, the Palm Pre is probably the best of the bunch with it's new WebOS, physical keyboard and it's heavy borrowing from not only from the iPhone itself, but also from the desktop and particularly OS X, with it's adaption of the Dock and Expose, etc. This is not unusual considering that that John Rubenstein, one of the executives at Palm, and one of the main people behind the Pre, was also once one of Apple's chief executives.

Personally, this is a phone that Apple will have to address and soon, for the simple reason that the press is treating the Pre like a school girl gushing and giggling over some cute quarter back or pop star. The press is something that helped make the iPhone what it is today, and Apple, sooner or later, will have to match, or better yet, supersede the Pre in the areas where it shines. This means that whether Apple likes it or not, they are going to have to give in and give people at least the options of having a physical keyboard, better camera, removable battery, cut-n-paste and what have you. The Pre, like all iPhone wannabe's, have had the advantage of simply copying the iPhone and adding unique aspects to help differentiate their versions. With phones like the Pre, Apple can't afford to wait too long to respond or the multi- touch format that they helped to create, in the first place, could easily slip from it's hands much like the Mac did with Windows. This also, of course, would also equally apply to Windows 7 adoption of multi-touch as well.

But does Apple really have reason to fear the Pre? That depends on several things, of course, because as great as the hardware and WebOS is, it's not the most important thing, it is rather the software as some are pointing out, that is the real key that makes the iPhone what it is. Apple, with it's App Store, is presently light years ahead of the competition, but that can change fast and Apple, if you ask me, has to meet the Pre and all other contenders head on and without delay. I know they can do it, and I think that they will, but I've been wrong before and Apple is famous for letting others take advantage of it's own creations before. Hopefully, however, not this time?

Of course, these are just a few of the many Apple related news stories for today. Tomorrow will be another news day, and who knows what else that might bring? Hopefully, we will hear some more good news concerning Apple. It would be nice to hear, once and for all, for instance, that Steve Jobs is in good health and we can finally put all of those negative rumors to rest. Also, I would also hope that there will be news soon of that recently rumored upgraded Mac Mine will be released, including that 28 inch four-core i7 iMac, which hopefully will be released as  part of the Mac's upcoming 25th. Anniversary at the end of the month?

Then again, come tomorrow, I would love to find out that I recently won the lottery so I can go out and purchase one of those reported new and upcoming MacPro's. This is a machine that MacOSRumors editors said they personally got to see demonstrated recently. They were, according to them, everything that people hyped them up to be - namely, that they were unbelievably fast and extremely powerful - in other words - my kind of machine! Now that is the kind of Apple news that I would l love to hear any old day, even if I can't afford to take advantage of it.


And that's my 2 cents 4 this Monday, January 13, 2009

Apple logo via: http://www.socialmediatoday.com