We all know that Steve Jobs is a non-conformist and a risk taker. I guess you'll all agree with me when I write that Mr. Jobs have learned through his shortcomings that the mark of a true leader is someone who could be a company evangelist and brand spokesperson.

Nowadays, Apple is the connotation of Steve Jobs and vice versa. And because Apple is all about innovation, so is Steve Jobs. With that, maybe it is apt to say that the newly-erected glass cube smacked right in the middle of Manhattan could be a monument for the man himself.

When interviewed by NBC Nightly News' Brian Williams, Mr. Jobs was his usual charismatic and candid self. Topics such as technological innovations and where he fits in the elite American family of thinkers, were some of the things that the interview tackled. Here are some excerpts of the interview:

Brian Williams: Is this (Apple Retail Store, Manhattan) your Model T? Is this your space program?

Steve Jobs: This is the best store we've ever built, and I think that it's the state-of-the-art that we know how to do. Like, the cube is [an] extremely state-of-the-art use of glass. You know, there's hardly any metal holding it up. It's glass fins holding up glass. It's not just the stuff in the store or his company. It's the fact that Steve Jobs helped bring us many of the icons of American life today. From tiny trash cans to clicking and dragging Â? the now-commonplace language of computers, the hand-to-mouse movements we no longer think about Â? it's a language he helped teach America.

Williams: Do you know the downside of innovation? The rap on it is the minute you buy an iPod, you have to get the newest iPod.

Jobs: You know, you keep on innovating, you keep on making better stuff. And if you always want the latest and greatest, then you have to buy a new iPod at least once a year. That makes the Manhattan store the new center of the universe for those who swear by Apple.

To read the full interview, click on the 'Read' link.

Deborah Conrad who is the head of Team Apple inside Intel spoke with some reporters today.  It seems that while Intel raised a fuss at Apple's commercial referring to their chips living 'boring lives' inside PCs, they're quite enjoying the partnership.  Conrad says that while they're not looking toward putting their chips in the iPod at this time, they're quite excited about getting under the hood of future Apple gadgets.  Hmm, could that mean an upcoming, iPhone?  Or a tablet?  We can only wait.

Intel appreciates the Apple way of thinking.  They're enjoying a partnership that pushes them to new heights in technology.  I think we will all enjoy the results of that.

Part of Appletalk's series on running Microsoft Window's on Intel's Mac is an interview with the guy who made the remarkable exploits of  making Windows run on your Mac. Jesus Lopez a.k.a blanka talks about the motivation behind the success of his achievement, explained how the Boot Loader/CSM works, surmounting challenges, revealing his time frame and addressing some issues. Excerpts from the interview below.

His motivation
In random order, Jesus Lopez claims that the benefit the project could give to the people, his disire to come out with a carputer using software that will work with Mac Mini, the challenge of surmounting apparently impossible to solve problems fueled him to win through the competition.

The Boot Loader/CSM
Brieftly,  blanka explained the gist on how the  Boot Loader/CSM.
Â?    Reconfigure the i945 and ICH7 chipsets to map memory at the usual BIOS memory areas.
Â?    Program those areas with a custom written "BIOS". This BIOS is coded in 16 bit real mode assembly. It implements all interrupts (legacy API calls) by switching into 32 bit protected mode and calling the CSM code.
Â?    The CSM code implements a subset of the legacy interrupts by invoking the appropriate EFI API. All the other unimplemented interrupts are handled by breaking into a built-in debugger.
Â?    Implement legacy boot protocols: El Torito, MBR and Boot sector specifications are followed to figure out what code to execute.
Â?    Once the target code is found and loaded into memory, the boot loader switches into 16bit real mode and relinquishes control to it.
That's the gist of it. Additionally, some Windows code had to be patched in order for it to not reject the slight hardware differences between the Apple hardware and the standard legacy AT architecture still prevalent in all modern PCs.
Â?    Lack of 8042 keyboard controller.
Â?    Apparent lack of VGA text modes (for now, it hasn't been possible to switch the video hardware into a character-based text mode, although it is still believed to be possible).

The Challenge
Jesus Lopez complained the difficulty in figuring how why the Window's did not perform as expected.

The Time Frame
Relatively fast. Started working a day after learning about the competition.

What a whiz!







.

Half of the team that cracked the Windows on Mac problem - Jesus Lopez, otherwise known as blanka - gave an interview at AppleTalk Australia. The XP on Mac news has been met with lots of cheers and jeers. The potential is very interesting, yet it seems to be largely for early adopters still. There are definitely a few kinks to be worked out.

Jesus talks about the driving factors in solving the problem, issues encountered, and what exactly the bootloader does. Go have a read. If his work has changed your life send the man a thank-you note.

source: appleinsider


â??Following the release of financial results from its second fiscal quarter, PortalPlayer hinted at a few of its forthcoming music player technologies and release dates to analysts and the media.

For its June quarter, iPod chip supplier PortalPlayer announced a profit of $6.3 million, or $0.25 per diluted share, on revenues of $44.6 million. The results rose sharply from its year-ago quarter, in which the company reported a $880,000 loss. In its announcement, the company hinted at a few plans for the second half of the year.

"We have completed the design win activity for our customers' exciting new models intended to ship in the second half of 2005. In addition, we worked with the supply chain to prepare our operations for significant demand in the second half of the year," said Gary Johnson, president and chief executive officer of PortalPlayer. "During the second quarter, we also accelerated our investment in innovative wireless technologies that we believe will help fuel our growth in 2006 and beyond."

Johnson went on to say that revenues for PortalPlayer's third quarter of 2005 are likely to benefit from new flash-based chip designs. The company currently supplies Apple with controller chips for its hard disk drive (HDD)-based players, while Sigmatel is responsible for the chips inside the flash-based iPod shuffle.â?�