Apple has once again revolutionised the way we listen to music by introducing integrated podcasting in their latest incarnation of iTunes version 4.9.

Podcasting in a nutshell is like having your favourite radio program on demand. Not quite real time but pre-recorded media is streamed to your iTunes in real time giving the effect of a live radio program. This feature is extended by allowing the download and playback of podcasts on your iPod.


Related article:

• iPod | Podcasting since August 2004

Apple should be releasing Steve's keynote speech soon. Keep an eye out as the teaser page is already up for Steve's WWDC 2005 keynote speech Quicktime stream.

"Still sitting on the fence about switching over to Mac?"

Its not our practise to Windows bash but seeing this featured article in MacWorld, we decided to feature it as well.

Winn Schwartau* of Network World, a security expert of 22 years has thrown in the towel and appears to have not only switched to Mac but convinced his entire office to do so in under two days. In his article he goes on to detail several more reasons to switch. Reasons beyond pure aesthetics.

Read the full article at the 'Mad As Hell, Switching To Mac, at the MacWorld site.

Schwartau is a security writer, lecturer and president of Interpact, a security awareness consulting firm. He can be reached at winn@thesecurityawarenesscompany.com.

Mac fans, keep this date in mind. Unfortunately, Apple's cost cutting measures earlier in the year, means that the traditional Quicktime stream of the keynote speech will probably only be made available several hours or days after the actual event. Nevertheless, as the saying goes, "better late, than never." To view the upcoming and earlier keynote speeches and other Apple Events, surf over to the Apple Quicktime Events page. We hope that its a great time, for those of you who have made it to WWDC 2005.

It is also not uncommon for Apple to release new Apple products during WWDC and we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Apple has always been a supporter of open standards that allow for greater universal compatibility and one of its latest attempts to dispel myths and bridge the Windows/Mac gap further is the availability of Bonjour for Windows.

'Bonjour' used to known by Mac users as 'Rendezvous'. A technology that transparently linked devices and Macs together over a network. Be it a wired, wireless or even Internet network. Because of copyright issues, Apple has since had to rename 'Rendezvous' to 'Bonjour'.

Fancy techno names aside, Bonjour and Rendezvous is basically a universal standard that's being quickly adopted, known to techno geeks as a 'zero configuration protocol'.

Once again, Apple has released a press release requesting for customers who have bought iBooks or Powerbooks with faulty batteries to return them to Apple for an exchange.

To find out if your Apple portable is affected please visit the CPSC site.

iTunes 4.8 is the latest installment from Apple and now includes new Music Store features and support for transferring contacts and calendars from your computer to your iPod (requires Mac OS X version 10.4 on your computer).

Synching of contacts and calendars requires Mac OS X 10.4, otherwise, iTunes 4.8 continues to work on earlier versions of Mac OS X.

Download your copy of iTunes 4.8 now!

This is an excerpt from the Apple iTunes site that seems to suggest that synching calendars and contacts to an iPod using iTunes 4.8 requires Mac OS X 10.4. We have no confirmation on this at present. Any feedback is welcomed.

The net rumour mill is once again going slightly haywire with the prospect of Apple venturing into including a 15.4" iBook into the iBook range to propel Apple's portables into the HD era.

This report comes from The Channel Register citing DigiTimes as its source. Rumours of a widescreen iBook shipping as early as Q4 2005 have excited many and may put a damper on 14" iBook sales.

The long wait is finally over. Apple announced the release date of the much anticipated update to their current, Mac OS X 10.3 Panther operating system. Although slated to be released from 1800hrs onwards on 29 April 2005 in USA, the international release dates are yet to be announced.

Packed with more than 200 brand new features Tiger looks poised to set the Mac world a buzz once again. The single-user license version retails at USD129.00 whilst a single-residence five user license Family Pack retails at USD199.00.

Good news for iPod Shufflers! There's now a FM Transmitter available from XtremeMac, dubbed the AirPlay for iPod Shuffle. Sadly, we have to report that its a product that brings about mixed feelings.

Details and images inside!