The Mac Newb Tube

Oscar winning “The Usual Suspects” is iTunes 99¢ Movie Rental this week. Not only a personal favorite, but a perfect movie for those who have yet to rent a movie from iTunes. It will set you back less than a buck, and you’ll have 24 hours to squeezing in that second or third viewing (and trust me, after the ending you will).

iTunes rentals will playback on Macs or PCs with iTunes 7.6.2. They can also be transfered to iPhone, iPod touch, and iPod Classic and 3G Nano (sorry 5G video iPod). It can be viewed easily on Apple TV as well.

Special pricing last through Thursday, May 20th.

The net is a buzz about all the iPhone news occurring this week. Here is the quick and dirty.

• With WWDC looming, Apple has seeded iPhone SDK Beta 5. Within it’s code is a not so subtle screen of 3G capabilities.
• Current iPhone stock of the current model is “unavailable” at Apple.com. If you’re in the market for one… please, dear God, wait and don’t run to a physical Apple Store and buy one.
• Colors, even minimal aluminum/plastic shades are expected. Black, aluminum, white, are rumored. Product Red would be great :).
• Removal battery. Ok so that rumor hasn’t hit yet, but seeing as 3G is such a battery drain, TheMNT believes that iPhone 2 WILL have a swappable battery.

Not Apple related, but TheMNT related nonetheless. It seems that an odd weather change has occurred here in the Willamette Valley of Oregon; it’s actually nice! So I will be getting to the Macs for reporting a little less in the coming weeks. I’ll have the beast that is the Powerbook on the road, and will be giving as much Mac updates as possible, but the sun and surf (ok maybe not) beckons.

Oh yeah, quick Apple note, it’s pretty definite that iPhone 2.0 will be coming this June at the WWDC.

Actually, I had an email asking how I got my Mac news… well here’s a good portion of it, plus podcasts (The Maccast, Mac OS Ken, TWiT, etc). Well here ya go:

The big news today is the shipping of Psystar’s new OpenMac PCs. These are PCs built to run OS X Leopard in lieu of Apple hardware . The reports are in and they are loud and very few of the parts used in construction show up in the “About this (Fake) Mac” pane. A tear down has yet to be accomplished, we are awaiting with anticipation :). You’ll know when we know.

Looks like the Apple news was so slow this week that some had to make the iMac revision speculation yet again. All the Apple rumor sites are touting a “reliable” source to the iMac update, which is supposed to bump up Intel speeds (3Ghz!), bigger HDs, and… well thats about it. If you’re in the market for a shiny new iMac, you might want to wait till Tuesday, just in case.

What’s possible:

• iPhone aesthetics with full touchscreen and HD resolutions
• Up to 3Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo “Penryn” Processors
• 4GB SSD RAM
• Blu-Ray SuperDrive

[Update] Apparently, retail chains are leaking out info that new SKU’s are upcoming for the iMac line, reinforcing the iMac refresher rumor.

Time to brush up on your Cocoa and Xcode skills, WWDC is coming this June. The internets are talking about the (final) release of the iPhone SDK, new iPhones (GPS, wildly redesigned), and possible new Macs. Also, ingenuity in touchpad innovation will be an obvious interests, due the Macbook Air and Macbook Pros gaining this functionality.

Anyone feel like sending a field reporter for hire? I love SF!

Business Week released their annual innovation issue today, revealing Apple as their top pick for innovation during a slumping economy. Throughout the recession, Apple has maintained the ability to make their products relevant to consumers, even through hard times.

As you can see, three regions voted; Asia, Europe, North America, respectively. Apple, Google, and Toyota all took the same top three spots. Microsoft and Nintendo battle back and forth on all three list. Sony clocked in a dismal less then top ten average.

No Pixar…?

[Update] Psystar OpenMac may be Vaporware! Order at your own risk… or just get a Mac Mini!

Sorry, couldn’t resist them. Tell us the reference and you win… a shout-out!

News funneling in this week include OpenMac, a PC offered by Florida company Psystar, which is supposed to be a non-Apple PC that can run OS X Leopard “with minimal patching”. Starting at $399, it is considerably cheaper than a Mac Mini, no doubt. But, TheMNT is highly suspicious of how much life and productivity one can get from a machine that is not only violating Apple’s OS X EULA for Leopard and hardware, but will also lack the seamless integration of Mac apps and updates.

If you remember from ye ol yesteryears, Apple had a slew of copycats from 1996-97. These included the Motorola StarMax and UMAX SuperMacs clones. Any MNT readers had these?

The Mac Newb Tube has reached an excess of 50,000 views in our meager six months of existence! Thank you all for giving us some eyeball space among some very hard competition. We love the input and hope to hear more! What else are TheMNT readers looking for here? Drop us an email or comment below. Thanks again!