Fortune Magazine's Brent Schlender, editor-at-large, claims that "Steve Jobs might be promising more than he can deliver," referring to the Apple TV, Apple's pet project aside from the much-awaited iPhone.

Schlender, in particular, hits Apple TV's current design:

There are shortcomings that even Microsoft would not have overlooked: Apple TV doesn't have a DVD drive or a volume control on its minimalist remote or ... but enough. You get the feeling that Apple didn't create this thing because it was insanely great but in order to freeze competitors out of downloadable video.

The root of the problem? According to the Fortune editor, it is Apple's tendency to "pre-announcing products months in advance - the iPhone is just the latest - and even then has missed promised ship dates." He further explains that no matter how good a product is hyped up, it's bound to disappoint no matter how good it is.

With that aside, it should be noted that Apple TV is still testing the waters; we'll never know how it will turn out several months from now. Apple did promise to give out new software features and improvements for Apple TV free of charge, something worthwhile for Apple TV users to look forward to.

We get to see a candid Steve Job in this ten-minute video interview with the Apple head honcho taken at All Things Digital 2007. It's a rare glimpse of the man who invented the iPod and what he thinks is in store for the company that dared to go up against fellow giant Microsoft.

Steve began the interview by explaining how Apple is trying to become four different things at once, and being pretty good at it: a computer business, a music business, a phone business, and a hobby. He also reported of the recent growth spurt the company's having, quantified as five times the growth of the PC industry.

When asked about the iPhone, it was then that Steve clammed up, playfully avoiding questions about its features and functions. He did let slip a juicy tidbit of information -  the release of the highly-anticipated iPod-slash-cellphone is still slated for late June  which is definitely good news for us who can't wait to get their hands on one.

Still on the subject of what he touts as "the best iPod ever made", Steve promised that owners will receive the Internet as they know it with the iPhone and not the mobile Internet we're made to make do with on our handhelds. He meant the actual, honest-to-goodness Internet we receive every time we log into our computers.

Certainly a tall order, and Steve's confident he'll make good on it. A lot more info in the video itself, so enjoy!

Sometimes messages need to be sent to the other camp to trigger some kind of response or to psyche out the opposition. Microsoft's Zune people earlier released an image of their "iPod Amnesty Bin" and had it find its way to Flickr. The weird picture drew bemused reactions from readers there.

Message sent, though no body's quite sure if it means anything at all. The only thing we all can be sure of is that the boys in green probably spent a bundle on those iPods. Either that or they already own iPods and placed them in the bin as props or something.

We're really not sure what to make of all this, especially the "bite me" message. It's just plain weird when you consider that professionals are behind this. Help us figure out the mysteries by posting your comments.

 

Connect360">NullRiver Software released a new version of Connect360, tagged as Connect360 v3.0. Before we discuss the changelog for this new version, let's first take a look at what Connect360 is about.

Connect360 is an application that bridges the Mac to the Xbox 360 by allowing music playbacks and photo viewing on Microsoft's next-gen console. In previous versions, Connect360 has worked on the internet radio broadcast capabilities, as well as iPod libraries access on the Xbox 360. Apart from that, they also made the application compatible with Xbox's Spring dashboard update, and required Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later.

On to what's in store for us in this new version:

• Choose where your videos are stored
• Support for H.264 and MPEG4 videos in MOV and MP4 containers
• Support for iTunes Podcasts in the above formats
• Bug fixes

If you're interested to get Connect360 v3.0, we suggest you follow our Read link below. As for the registration of your own Connect360 copy, you better prepare US$ 20 for it.

Cease and desist letters were fired off to Apple as well as other technology giants such as Microsoft, Adobe, and RealNetworks on Friday. According to MacNN, the C&D letters demanded that the aforementioned companies integrate Media Rights Technologies' (MRT) proprietary technology to prevent music streams from being "ripped."

MRT claims that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) "forces companies to comply with the act and provide copy-control technologies." Each company has been given 10 days to respond and MRT will reportedly file lawsuits totalling more than US$ 200 billion against the companies.

MRT also claims that companies such as Apple, Real, and Microsoft are deliberately designing their players with loopholes to allow copyright infringement. MacNN also reports that according to MRT, the suits could also extend to companies like YouTube and CNN, which also use the infringing technology.

In case you turned off the Microsoft AutoUpdate feature on your Mac, be informed that there's a new version of MS Office 2004 ready for download. The file is around 59.5 MB and contains several improvements that will enhance the security and stability to your system.

Aside from the above mentioned, Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.5 also contains fixes for vulnerabilities that, when exploited by attackers, overwrite the contents of your computer's memory with various malicious codes. Online site Power Page noted as well the following additions:

• Corrects a bug that can increase the use of system resources when files or objects are dragged to an Office application windows
• A patch for Excel which would prompt the program to suddenly open workbooks or other files
• A patch to reduce PowerPoint's number of unexpected quits
• An update which improved responsiveness in Microsoft Entourage

The update should be used on Mac OS X 10.2.8 (Jaguar) or any other higher versions of Mac operating system. Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac 11.3.5 applies to Office 2004 Standard Edition, Office 2004 Student and Teacher Edition, Office 2004 Professional Edition, Word 2004, Excel 2004, PowerPoint 2004, Entourage 2004.

The Read link below should take you to Microsoft's download page for the update.

According to Mac News Network, Apple's recent patent application clued in a couple of images detailing the Mac OS X Dashboard and its ability to be manipulated in a 3D fashion. In addition to being able to flip the Dashboard to reveal several other faces of multiple Dashboards, each new face will sport different assortments of widgets as defined by the user of the system.

While it's a novel idea, the concept looks just as similar to Beryl, a breath-taking interface modification for users of supported flavors of Linux. In a similar fashion, Beryl allows Linux users to flip their entire desktop to reveal other different faces of the cube, and each new face also sports a different assortment of windows as set by the user.

Mere "coinkidink"? We'd like to say yes, but then the Apple patent doesn't rip off the concept of "Vista-killer" desktop interface to level against Microsoft's Aero interface. You can hop to the article in MacNN through the "Read" link below, but before you do, check out a demo of just what Beryl does and judge for yourself. Thanks to w00styl3 for the video.

A lot of people in the gaming circuit have already made up their minds on the question of which gaming company is the most innovative of them all. However, it's a different take in the eyes of business executives around the world as Business Week conducted a survey on which companies did the most to bring new products that made sense to consumers.

Apple led the bunch with a comfortable margin over second-placer Google. As far as game-related enterprises are concerned, Microsoft led the way. It was fifth on the overall standings by virtue of software advances. Amazingly, there was no mention of games in the explanation.

Sony was at the tenth spot powered by its new PlayStation 3 console.The magazine says that it took gaming technology to the next level by transforming the game system series into a gateway to a virtual world. The reference was probably aimed at the PlayStation Home system, but hey, hasn't that been done by Second Life and Miis by Nintendo already?

Nintendo lagged behind at the 39th spot with its independence from sequels and its ability to appeal to all age groups.Yes, we know what you're thinking. Go ahead and post them in the comments section.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was recently interviewed and among the topics discussed was the business in comparison with smaller rival Apple. Ballmer held nothing back when he talked about Apple's prospects.

"There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance," says Ballmer as he talked about the much-anticipated mobile phone entry of Apple.

"It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60% or 70% or 80% of them, than I would to have 2% or 3%, which is what Apple might get," adds Ballmer.

Mac Daily News pointed out that the outspoken CEO seemed to veer away from the subject of the iPod and the devotion that fans have shown it. "Would I trade 96% of the market for 4% of the market? (Laughter.) I want to have products that appeal to everybody," comments Ballmer.

The Apple iPhone is due out in the second half of this year.

All you Apple fans waiting for the OS X Leopard will have to sit down and wait some more, but if you're itching for that new OS experience and it's causing you to lose sleep, why not try Windows Vista for now to cool your rods?

The new Microsoft Windows incarnation is compatible with Apple hardware, which means you can split your hard drive to accommodate both. For users crazy about speed and tweaking, the typical MacBook Pro hard drive with 80GB of space may not be enough, so the guys at Extreme Tech decided to try and upgrade the disk to accommodate both systems at optimum performance levels.

What they did was not like anything you'd do with the regular MacBook which requires only screwing the disk loose and popping in a new one. With the Pro, you'd have to really dig in and void your warranty. Extreme Tech took a Seagate 7200 hard drive and replaced the Mac 5200. The new hard drive runs much faster because of the substantial RPM increase. It has 160GB of space, which should be enough for just about anyone. You can check the read URL to find instructions on how to do it yourself.