Safari 3 Beta & iPhone Firmware Updates

Just released.

Safari 3 no longer seems to hang in Gmail (I was one step away from uninstalling Safari 3 and going back to 2, it was driving me nuts). It also seems that the iPhone firmware update (which, according to Apple, is comprised solely of "Bug Fixes") makes application switching and sleep / wake functions speedier. Who knows, it could all be perception. I'm just glad Safari 3 and Gmail are finally fond of each other.

Apple Store Update

A testament to my current work / (lack of) sleep schedule, I am up and at it at 5am and, to my surprise, I notice the online Apple store is being updated. Perhaps they are doing maintenance or adding some trivial items (iPhone accessories, etc). I'm interested to see if this is the much rumored 12'' MacBook Pro update I've been waiting for. I love my trusty 12'' PowerBook and I would love a speedier rev.

I was going to buy an Airport Extreme base station, but I guess I'll just walk over to the Michigan Ave. store. I swore I wouldn't go back there for at least a month after I bought my iPhone. It is one of the very few places that get me to act on my impulses (go figure).

I Finally Purchased A Mac Pro

After waiting months for any kind of upgrade, I finally pulled the trigger on a Mac Pro. Apple finally gave the Mac Pro a refresh (adding an eight core option). Although I weighed the option of getting the eight core model, I decided to get the four core (3GHZ) model with added airport and bluetooth functionality instead.

I'm pretty excited, but also a bit bummed that I waited this long without a price drop, etc. I promised myself I would pull the trigger as soon as Apple refreshed the product line in any way, so this is what I get.

This machine will replace my Mac Mini, which is currently my primary desktop computer (pretty sad). I waited a very long time to upgrade and this is good timing as I need an Intel machine that will run Windows (for XNA game development) and I am really looking forward for dual 20'' widescreen monitor support (just purchased another display today as well).

I will likely be selling my Mac Mini (for any of you interested, drop me a line). This will leave me with my trusty 12'' Powerbook (last G4 revision, love it to death), my new Mac Pro, my Linux cluster / RAID (3 generic white boxes), and my first-generation aqua clamshell iBook (keeping it around for sentimental reasons, it served as our trusty Mac test machine for Warp Pipe).

I should receive the machine later this week, so I will have it all setup sometime this weekend. I will post an update in due time.

Mind The Details

Given this year's Macworld keynote, which featured zero newly introduced or refreshed computer products, Apple's name change from "Apple Computer, Inc" to "Apple, Inc" doesn't surprise me. However, after refreshing their new post-keynote website the footer still reads "Apple Computer, Inc.".

They made a very large impact, it has now clear that they are no longer a computer company with one solid selling consumer electronics device (iPod). They have established, through sales, marketing, and a powerful new product presentation that they are a true lifestyle company that is technology oriented.

Given all of this, they still did not mind the details. I normally wouldn't put up such a fuss about something like this, but this is Apple, Inc. we're talking about.

iPhone Hath Arrived...

The news just broke and It looks like the folks at Gizmodo were right. We did, in fact, get word of the iPhone. Sadly, it's not quite the iPhone we were hoping for.

Looks like Linksys, in an effort to sell their trademarked "iPhone" name to Apple decided to ride the iPhone wave and rebrand their VOIP phones with the launch of a new phone.

Opportunism on behalf of Linksys: 1
My much sought after excuse to ditch my Sidekick: 0