Well as I will be doing a news section on the podcast, I thought it was also fitting to cover some news here on the blog.  I will still be doing my other segments “Packard’s Tips” and “Packard’s Gripes” as well.

This week as you all know (unless you have been under a rock someplace) that the new Mac OS X 10.6 has come out. Now with it’s shelf life less than a week old, there are already rumblings of an update to 10.6.1! From what I have uncovered so far, that this latest update has been due to the multitude if program incompatibilities and on some systems a dreaded Spinning Beach Ball Of Death (SBBOD)!  One thing that Apple has been known for is pressing forward with their operating systems to keep bringing us closer the point of something that only really Apple knows for sure where it want to bring it’s users to their way of thinking or way using technology around us.  Recently, I also uncovered that with this latest update, according to someone that that I spoke with that works with Apple, during the install of 10.6 should you have to force the install to restart by rebooting or suffer a power outage, it will have a better chance of picking up and getting messed up during this upgrade.  I have also been hearing and from my own personal experiences with the “new OS” that a lot of the upgrades are so far under the hood that a lot of code will have to be rewritten to take advantage of this new system. Other than a few items, that have been “polished” there isn’t really too much new with this “update” from Apple. Is there a reason to rush out and get this latest update?  I would have to say no.  Was the price right for the amount of upgrades, perhaps, but by all accounts it isn’t a “new” OS but one that feels more like a service pack.

What are your thoughts on the latest “update” from Apple? Love it, hate it, or just waiting on the side for the fluff to settle?

Posted in Macrumors.com this week an apparantly lucky so and so received their brand new Mac Mini with a little extra surprise.  A Snow Leopard 10.6 instal disk.  Could this be a mistake?  Could have this been a planned Apple leak?  Is this fake?  You decide.  But it has done a lot to stir up the rumor mill as to when Snow Leopard is shipping.

In fact, most rumors are now pointing to Aug. 28th as the date.  Here is a question for you all.  Since this is WAY earlier than Win 7, will this effect Win 7’s launch at all.  The two positives out the of the gate for Snow Leopard would then be the early release and the price.  Any thoughts?

Pics are below.

Cal

We like to talk about industry news a lot on the SMACKDOWN.  We speculate based on news/blogs from analysts and industry gurus and our own experience with tech.  One of the problems with speculating about the future of tech is that unless you are one of the executives at the corporate table, it’s all just guess work.  Another problem is that competition and human behavior are unpredictable.

That’s immediately what came to mind the other night when I was watching the SciFi channel.  Following the new HP add featuring Lauren from the “Laptop Hunters” and yet another “images on the screen are not what happens in real life” iPhone add, I saw for the first time the new U2 Blackberry ad.  In case you haven’t heard, U2 has ended their ‘partnership’ with Apple and have Blackberry sponsoring their upcoming tour.  The add ends with prominent, white, sans serif font reading, “Blackberry Loves U2.”

RIM already has the largest market share for cell phones, right?  Are marketing shifts like this game changers?

Only time and the buying power of the World’s population can tell.

OK, I’m going to file this under the “I have no idea what to think about this so someone explain it to me” department.  Infoworld reported this week that:

Oh boy! It appears that Microsoft’s glowing track record with Windows 7 is about to come to an abrupt and unceremonious end. According to various Web sources, the RTM build 7600.16385 includes a potentially fatal bug that, once triggered, could bring down the entire OS in a matter of seconds.

The bug in question — a massive memory leak involving the chkdsk.exe utility — appears when you attempt to run the program against a secondary (that is, not the boot partition) hard disk using the “/r” (read and verify all file data) parameter. The problem affects both 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and is classified as a “showstopper” in that it can cause the OS to crash (Blue Screen of Death) as it runs out of physical memory.

So what are we suppose to make of this?  Is this the “showstopper” that Infoworld is making this out to be?  I mean, are consumers really going to come up against this flaw in everyday use?  If this flaw is not fixed before the launch is this a major irresponsible move on the part of Microsoft?  What do you think?

Ok, I am a bit late with this post but Rich over at WindowsObserver.com posted something on Sunday that is quite an eyebrow raiser.  According to rich:

After seeing a few tweets on this I had to go check it out myself and was quite amazed at what I saw. On the Amazon.com MAC OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard product page it shows what customers ultimately buy after viewing the item – and it shows that 75% of them head over and purchase either the Windows 7 Home premium Upgrade (50%) or the Windows 7 Professional Upgrade (25%).

If the OS X update is #1 in Software already then that means a lot of people are buying the Windows 7 upgrade from that page. I would love to talk to some of those folks and find out how they got on that page in the first place and then ended up buying the Windows 7 upgrade.

WHAT?!  Some interesting developments.  What does all this mean? One thing is for sure, the Win7 vs. OSX debate will be a fantastic one once both OS’s are ready to go.

Any thoughts?  We welcome your comments.

Bringing modern, medical technology to underdeveloped areas of the world is a significant challenge.  This article from the Public Library of Science describes a portable, prototype microscope that attaches to a cellular phone that can be used to image pathogens in human blood samples.  The intent is to provide a methodology for diagnoses in regions that lack adequate equipment and expertise, but “are often well served by mobile phone networks, suggesting the possibility of leveraging portable, camera-enabled mobile phones for diagnostic imaging and telemedicine.”

The phones were “Nokia N73 camera phones, equipped with a 3.2 megapixel (2048×1536 pixel) CMOS camera with a 5.6×4.2 mm sensor, yielding an ~2.7 µm pixel spacing,” but probably any camera with service for the area could be used.

The research was funded partially by grants from Microsoft Research, Intel, and Vodafone Americas Foundation.

Is this cool, or what?

I was reading on Appleinsider this morning about rumors reported on TechCrunch.  It states that Verizon is scrambling to roll out their 4G network to go along with Apple’s new “tablet” rumored to come out in 2010.

Citing a “knowledgeable” source, TechCrunch reported Friday that the deployment of Verizon’s new 4G mobile broadband network, originally planned for a limited launch in late 2010, is allegedly being fast-tracked.

“Our source says that Verizon is putting just about everything it has in to moving many of these markets up to Q1 2010 — which is the same timeframe for this supposed new Apple device,” the report states. “While the source had no information to specifically tie Apple to this move by Verizon, they did note that there was talk of at least one non-dongle (wireless card) product that this LTE launch was being specifically geared towards.”

One particular news of note is that the rumor also states that the plan would be data only and therefore less expensive than a plan with AT&T via the iPhone.

Verizon’s LTE network is reportedly capable of speeds up to 60 Mbps — much faster than any existing 3G network.

TechCrunch reports that their source believes a data-only service offering for the tablet, which will not include a microphone, would not be in violation of the existing AT&T-Apple iPhone contract, due to expire in 2010. They said their source believes that a deal between Verizon and Apple “seems inevitable.”

“Our source doubts that Apple would want to sell the device with a subsidy, locking customers into another contract, but believes that Apple could either try to bake the cost of the network into the device (which would work like Amazon’s Kindle),” the report reads. “Or, more likely, customers could sign up for a month-to-month data-only plan for the new device. And because it’s data only, the price would be significantly cheaper than current cellular bills we’re used to.”

So, with a Kindle like device are we to assume then that THIS is the foray into the netbook alternative from Apple?  I would assume so.  But one thing troubles me.  Again, if the rumors are true than that would mean people like myself who own an iPhone and a laptop (not to mention the netbook I just bought…but that’s different) would have ANOTHER wireless carrier they would be beholding to.  Now, granted, the idea of a “Kindle-like” device that has the wireless costs built into it holds off the monthly hit from my wallet.  But then what does that do the cost of the device?  Can it actually be the $800 tablet sweet spot anymore?

This whole thing makes me a bit nervous.  I can’t wait to see this new innovation but I trust wireless carrier about as much as I can throw them.  So, I’m going to hold onto my excitement on this one for now.

What I DO wish Apple would do…BUY SPRINT!  Do it yourself Apple.  Kill the Palm Pre, run the network yourself and innovate with the great customer support you are known for.

Well, one can dream right?

By Eric L.

A new malware program poses as a  video player and will check your computer to see if it is Mac or Windows operating system.  After the program determines the operating system, it will launch a customized attack.

The malware poses as a peephole video of ESPN Sportscaster Erin Andrews and once the computer user clicks to launch the video, a malicious program is downloaded to the computer.  Remember, this program affects both Macs and Windows.

Be careful out there of the websites you visit and know what you are clicking.

Original story can be found at MacWorld, Erin Andrews video attacks target Macs and PCs.

CNET Reports today:

Users of Computer Associates anti-virus software were complaining on Thursday after the company’s anti-virus software mistakenly identified a Windows XP systems file as a virus.

Some customers were concerned that the Windows Service Pack 3 and files from the commercial Cygwin application files deleted when they couldn’t find them. However, CA said the files were intact but quarantined and the file extensions were modified.

CA said it learned on Wednesday that its software had detected the file “Win32/AMalum.ZZQIA” as a false positive and was urging customers to update Signature 6606 to address the situation.

The CA advisory reads:

“CA Internet Security Suite users should restore affected files from quarantine using the GUI. CA Threat Manager customers should search local hard drives for files with the extension .AVB and manually rename to their original file extension by removing the appended text on the original file name.”

Through its customer support CA also is offering a tool to search for the affected files and restore them to the original extension.

In the meantime, CA customers were griping on the CA forum. “Shame on CA for not being on top of this,” one customer wrote. “Sure things happen, I’ve seen game patches erase hard drives, stuff happens. But it’s what you do after that defines the value of your company.”

Thanks to Packard Sonic for the heads up on this one.  Man…just too funny.

Oh come one Rachel, you KNOW I have to post this.  People, just watch this for now.  We will discuss on the show tonight.

Pitiful, just pitiful.