12-core Mac Pros, 27" Cinema Display may be coming soon

Apple has been very busy on the mobile front, with the iPad launching in two weeks and iPhone OS and hardware upgrades expected this summer. However, Apple hasn't forgotten about its Mac business—sources for AppleInsider report that long overdue updates to Apple's Cinema Display and Mac Pro will be also appear by June.

Expected to join the 24" LED Cinema Display that Apple launched in October of 2008 is a 27" LED Cinema display based on the same panel currently used in the 27" iMac. Issues with the panels caused problems for Apple that resulted in shipping delays for the 27" iMac, though those problems have been rectified. The 27" LED Cinema Display has the same resolution as the current 30" Cinema Display, though it is 16:9 instead of 16:10. Its introduction should finally lay to rest the 30" model, which hasn't been updated in three years.

Apple is also said to be wrapping up an update to its Mac Pro workstation towers, which have only gotten a slight speed bump since they were introduced well over a year ago. Apple has been waiting for Intel to release new 32nm Xeon parts, codenamed "Westmere-EP," which were officially launched this week. These 5600-series Xeons have six cores compared to the quad-core parts used in current Mac Pros. The process shrink from 45nm offers a 60 percent performance boost while maintaining the same power requirements of previous Xeons.

A Core i7-980X Extreme Edition processor, codenamed Gulftown, may be used in the lower-end single processor Mac Pro model. However, there are slight architecture differences between the Core i7 and Xeon variants. Apple may simply offer a single Xeon option as it does now.

Apple is also dealing with the issue that MacBook Pros have also not been updated in some time, despite the fact that mobile Core i3, i5, and i7 parts have been available since January. The delay may be due at least in part by licensing issues. These issues have prevented NVIDIA from building integrated controllers, like the 9400M used in all of Apple's current portables, for Intel's newer processors. However, NVIDIA's Optimus platform may provide the solution to work around the problem and maintain the MacBook Pro's seven-hour battery life.

Additional delays may also be caused by constrained supply of Intel's mobile processors. Intel is reportedly giving priority to "major clients," according to sources for DigiTimes, so our hope is that Intel counts Apple on that category.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs promised a number of exciting product introductions this year at the most recent quarterly earnings call. The coming months might give us a virtual cornucopia of new Macs to choose from.

Source: Arstechnica.com

Apple reconfigures Mac dev program, drops price to $99

Apple has announced that it is scrapping its old developer programs, which included multiple tiers that cost thousands at the top end, for one modeled on its wildly successful iPhone Developer Program. Simply called the Mac Developer Program, it will cost just $99 per year.

Included in the new and improved Mac Developer Program is access to prerelease builds of Mac OS X, member-only developer forums, a series of instructional videos from Apple engineers, and two direct technical support incidents per year. The TSIs give developers direct access to an Apple engineer for assistance with code problems or other troubleshooting, and developers have the option of buying additional TSIs as needed.

The new program replaces the previous ADC Premier, Select, and Student developer programs. The biggest difference between the new and old programs, aside from the much lower price, is the loss of the ADC Hardware Purchase Program benefit that offered steep discounts on Macs for the Select and Premier account holders. Some developers have already said that they'll happily take the lower cost of entry over the hardware discount.

Premier accounts, which cost over $3,000, also used to include one free ticket to Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, which normally cost $1,200. Ostensibly, any Mac Developer Program member will have a chance to buy a ticket next year (at least until it sells out, like it has the past two years).

The lower barrier to entry is expected to spur an influx of Mac developers, much as the iPhone Developer Program did. Developers familiar with developing for the iPhone should have a relatively easy time of transitioning to developing for the Mac, since both use the same Xcode IDE, Objective-C language, and many similar APIs (though obviously UI considerations are quite different).

Current ADC memberships remain in effect until they expire. Developers that bought an ADC membership after Feburary 1 can contact Apple to get a refund if they wish to join the Mac Developer Program instead. The Mac Developer Program will be the only program Apple offers going forward. Basic access to Xcode developer tools and released versions of Mac OS X SDKs remains free.

Source: Arstechnica.com

Parallels cuts virtualization down to the bare metal on Xserve

Parallels, known for its virtualization solutions for both desktops and servers, has announced another option for creating virtual servers on Apple's Xserve. The recently announced Parallels Server for Mac Bare Metal Edition lets admins create Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux virtual servers without the overhead of running Mac OS X Server as a host OS.

Parallels Server for Mac Bare Metal Edition utilizes the comany's own hypervisor to provide both hardware virtualization for creating independent virtual machines running either Mac OS X Server, Windows, or Linux, as well as OS virtualization for running Linux-based Virtuozzo containers. An included virtual machine migration tool makes it easy to move virtual machines from one physical machine to another, or encapsulate entire environments from a physical server into a virtual machine. Configuration templates enable creating new virtual servers with a just a few mouse clicks.

"The 33 percent year-on-year increase in sales of Macintosh computers reported by Apple this quarter indicates a growing interest in Apple hardware," Parallels CEO Serguei Beloussov said in a statement. Beloussov added that the product allows IT admins to capitalize on Mac OS X server while also having the flexibility to run Windows and Linux workloads.

One interesting application of the Bare Metal Edition is that it enables Web hosting companies to offer Mac OS X Server-based virtual private servers. VPSs are usually one option in between an expensive dedicated server and the more common, inexpensive shared Web hosting accounts. Hosting company Go Daddy announced yesterday during Parallels Summit 2010 conference that it will begin offering Mac OS X Server VPS service to its customers using Bare Metal Edition.

Parallels Server for Mac Bare Metal Edition can run on any Intel-based Mac that supports VT-x, though it is recommended for Xserves or Mac Pros for the maximum benefit. If you have an Xserve or Mac Pro that you've been considering targeting for virtualization, you can download a free trial version today. Standard licensing, which includes Parallels Virtual Automation and one year of Gold support, costs $1,999.

Source: Arstechnica.com

Mac Users Can Now Upload Their Old Email Directly to Google Mail

Mac OS X: Two years ago we showed Windows users how to upload old and archived email into their Google Apps mail account. Now the same functionality is available for Mac users.

Google Email Uploader for Mac is the Mac-centric version of the Windows version we've previously introduced you to. Like the Windows version Google Email Uploader for Mac helps you take email you have archived on your computer and insert it into the Google Apps mail account. Google Email Uploader supports Apple Mail, Eudora, Thunderbird and other applications that use mbox or Maildir archives to store email.

Check out the link below for additional information and if you know of other applications or clever tricks for migrating old data into your Google accounts, let's hear about it in the comments.

Google Email Uploader for Mac [via Mashable]

Source: Lifehacker.Com

Five Best Email Clients

Email as a technology has been around for decades, and thanks to wide spread adoption and popularity, it isn't in danger of disappearing. Check out the five most popular email clients to help you wrangle your email.

Earlier this week we asked your to share your favorite email client. We didn't restrict the voting to only stand-alone email applications or web-based email clients, but we did specify that if you voted for a web-based tool it had to have distinctly client-like features—such as Gmail's ability to fetch and sort email from other sources. The email Call for Contenders was one of the most popular we've ever had, with over 1,000 votes logged. Here are the five most popular clients used by Lifehacker readers:

Outlook (Windows, $399 for Office Standard Suite)

Outlook has been around since the 1990s, and by virtue of being part of the Microsoft Office suite and having been entrenched in the business environment, it enjoys an enormous popularity. Even if many people use Outlook because it's the email client provided—and often required!—by their place of employment, that doesn't mean it can't stand on its own merits. Integration with Windows Desktop Search gives you the ability to quickly search through your entire Outlook workflow, and Outlook can handle everything from your email to your calendar and easily transfer tasks, contacts, and more between the two.

Apple Mail (Mac, Free)

Apple's Mail application, also known as Mail.app or simpy Mail, unsurprisingly continues the tradition of Apple applications following the "it just works" method of design. Mail allows you to collect all your email from across the web and various email servers in one place, and it actively engages your email as you read it. For example, if you get an email with an invitation to a meeting next Thursday, Mail will detect it and make it simple to kick that appointment right over to iCal. Like the integration between Windows Desktop Search and Outlook, Mail is integrated with Spotlight to make deep massaging your messages easy.

Thunderbird (Windows/Mac/Linux, Free)

Thunderbird is an open-source offering from Mozilla—the company behind the beloved open-source browser Firefox. Thunderbird is a solid email application that sports the same extensibility of its code-sibling Firefox. Many readers voted for not just Thunderbird but Thunderbird with the addition of Lightning, a Thunderbird extension that adds scheduling and task management functionality to Thunderbird. If you're interested in using Thunderbird you'll definitely want to check out our guide to making Thunderbird your ultimate online/offline messaging hub, and you may also want to consider packing Thunderbird Portable away on your thumb drive for anywhere-access to your email.

Gmail (Web-based, Free)

Google has had quite a hit on their hands with Gmail, their extremely popular web-based email client. Not only do you get a feature-packed email account when you sign up for Gmail—you also get an email client that's is very adept at pulling in email from other services and organizing it with a robust system of filters and tags. You can check out how to manage multiple inboxes here if you'd like to use Gmail as a central hub for managing all your email. Many of the features in Gmail aren't necessarily revolutionary—like the ability to filter messages, flag, or label them—but the featurs are implemented in such a way that makes them effortless to use. And, surprising as it may seem, its much-loved threaded conversations are still relatively unique to Gmail.

Postbox (Windows/Mac, $39.95)

Postbox is stand-alone email client for Windows and Mac operating systems. Postbox is based on Mozilla-code, so the Postbox team has been able to tweak quite a few Thunderbird extensions, including Lightning, to work with Postbox. In addition to its extensibility, Postbox's default interface is powerful. The app includes features like the ability to search and compose simultaneously. You can look up an email address, search for a previous attachment, and check an old email for information all in the sidebar while working on your current email. Postbox also provides email summaries as you read through and search your email, showing you not just the sender and subject line but the attachments and any important information inside the email like addresses, appointments, and URLs.

Source: Lifehacker.Com

Skype 2.1 Beta 2 Puts Screen Sharing in Linux

Skype 2.1 beta 1 for Linux finally gets an upgrade, version 2.1 beta 2 comes with a bunch of new features to boost the stagnant growth rate in which Skype for Linux finds its self.
The major feature here is certainly the addition of Screen Sharing, a feature long present in the Windows and Mac versions of Skype. Screen sharing means – you can show your desktop to a Skype contact by simply calling that contact and sharing all or part of your desktop.

Other features in Skype 2.1 beta 2 include; Instant Message Quoting and support for User Interface Styling.
Skype for Linux now supports abuse reporting and has implemented support for localized time formats.

What else!!!
Many know issues are still present in this release though several bugs fixes have been added and minor improvements made.
- The ugly PulseAudio bug is still there; “When PulseAudio is enabled in the audio settings, only that specific entry will be available; to change the settings, use the PulseAudio manager tool that is bundled with your distribution.”
- Sometimes Instant Messages are not ordered correctly.

For more on the known issues move to the Release Notes.

Download Skype 2.1 Beta 2 for Linux

Source: Kabatology.com