Author: atmasphere

And this time from SF Bay Guardian writer JH Tompkins. While it states the obvious, the juicy and laughable bit is at the very bottom of the story. “Rhapsody is so much better than iTune that they should scarcely be mentioned in the same breath,” Real.com staffer Matt Graves said. Good lord, what are these guys from Real smoking these days. If anyone, and I mean anyone how has downloaded anything from Real.com with less than three clicks, please get in touch with me. I mean wow! making a claim like HP is as cool as a Powerbook. Nevertheless it is still a great article, worth reading about the cultural and social implications of what I have dubbed, IPoddery. [nthoctave]

I’ve wanted a bluetooth mouse since seeing the Apple device and getting a machine with bluetooth built-in, but the Apple mouse left me wanting more as it only has one button. I love the idea of a wireless mouse and have actually been using a Kensington PocketMouse Pro Wireless which uses a USB dongle to transmit an RF signal to the mouse. This works nicely (and is a great mouse) but still Bluetooth seemed like the ultimate.

I’ve seen two possible models, one from Microsoft and one from Logitech. In my research, they both seemed to be only Windows compatible which seems odd, given that they are just mice afterall… though both come with USB cradles that charge the mice and serve as bluetooth hubs for the rest of your computer set-up. In my case, Bluetooth is built-in so I felt I could get away with using just the mouse without the cradle (other than charging) if my computer would recognize the device.

Fortunately Apple has a great Bluetooth set-up utility which lets you pick the type of device and then automagically pairs the two if possible. Once I figured out how to get the mouse in auto-discovery mode (you just press the connect button on the bottom for a sec) my laptop was able to find and set-up the mouse, even properly recognizing it as the Logitech MX 900. Not too bad considering this is not a supported device.

The only issue now is getting some Logitech software to install so I can program the mouse properly and make real use of the extra buttons. There are actually quite a few packages to choose from but so far none seem to work. The latest version of mac software simply does not see the MX 900. I can still use the mouse, the second button and scroll wheel as well as the small scroll buttons on either side of the scroll wheel. These scroll at a much slower rate than the wheel… There are two other buttons by the thumb (think they are designed for Volume… or anything else you want to program them for) which I can’t get going as well as another button on the top which I was actually successful in activating Exposé.

I miss the chording (two button commands) from my Kensington which I used frequently for a quite “enter” while computing… but for now I am quite happy with this mouse. Hopefully Logitech will come through with some real compatibility.

This time officially supporting Palm OS…

Good Technology has announced the next version of its GoodLink software and service. GoodLink 3.0 aims to extends enterprise data and applications to smartphones and connected PDAs. GoodLink 3.0 supports multiple devices, carriers and operating systems, all from a single server. [PalmInfocenter]

“According to the Consumer Electronics Association, some 3.1 million prepackaged systems – five speakers, a subwoofer and an audio-video receiver – were sold last year, nearly triple the number sold in 2000.”… [Panbo]

According to this article at PCPro, Sony is investing in G5s…. which is very interesting as it means that the Cell will not be their own concoction (but rather G5 PPC) of silicon. With Microsoft on board as well for the XBox I wonder what the future could hold for computers in general. Is RISC finally starting to get the action ? [MacSlash]

This is an interesting bit considering the quote recently coming out of Europe saying that Palm was looking at other operating systems to run on its devices… like Symbian.

PalmSource is expected to announce a new OS strategy that could put the PalmOS on more mobile phones, including more consumer level models. [MobileTracker]

As had been previously discussed here… this one is back and redhot. If true, it should be most interesting to see whether the G5 can give the “Sony Cell” (for the PS3) a real run.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, Microsoft plans to use three IBM-designed PowerPC G5 chips in its next-generation Xbox video game console… [MacMinute]