07/23/01

Mac World Expo NY coverage, part II : atmosphere and new products (with photos).

Here are several pictures of MWNY that can help you feel how the show was. Today, we'll also present you some of the products that were shown at the expo.

Apple

Apple was presenting several products. We already taked about the new iMacs and towers and about OS X 10.1. But there were also the iBook, the PowerBook G4 and some software like iDVD 2.0.

Irez

Irez Kritter Digital. We talked with a representative of iRez. Their new Kritter Digital Firewire camera which was supposed to ship at the beginning of spring is now supposed to ship in september. They had to change the design of the product in order to comply with the FCC specifications. They currently sell another Firewire web cam which does not have the beautifull design of the Kritter Digital but basically has the same features and components (it is bigger and was less difficult to design than the Kritter)

Sonnet

Sonnet announced HARMONi G3, a new combo card for the first generation iMac. This card features a 500 Mhz G3 and a FireWire port to connect digital cameras, DV camcorders, CDRW or hard disks. This card will ship in early Q4 and will cost less than $300.

Sonnet also announced a USB RAM drive : Piccolo. It will be available in 32, 64, 128 and 256 MB. It requires no drivers and can run on several platforms including Mac OS and Windows.

We also have some good news for the Performa 6400 owners. Sonnet will apparently make drivers for OSX for the L2 G3 cards for those computers. We did not believe it was possible, but it is apparently planned . The drivers may be released before the end of the year.

ATI

ATI introduces RADEON VE dual display Mac Edition This new card features: Flexible dual-display support enabling any combination of VGA, DVI and TV It is powered by the ATI Radeon VE graphics processor, with 32MB of DDR memory The maximum resolution is 1920 *1440 the card use a 66 Mhz or a 33 Mhz processor.

Essential reality

Essential reality presented P5. P5 is a data glove that connects to a USB port and lets you play, for example, with Unreal Tournament or Quake as if you were really carrying the gun. This reality glove is perfect for games.

Data Play/Imation

Data Play/Imation was showing its micro optical engine. This very small optical disk will ship at the end of the year. You can save 500 megas on it (nealy a CD!). It is not rewritable, but it only costs between 5 and 10 dollars per disk.

Griffin

Griffin introduced two new sound-related peripherals. They both are USB peripherals.

Griffin Technology demoed two new audio products. The products represent a new genre of computer audio products. The PowerWave (at the top of the picture) is, according to Griffin, a professional quality USB audio recording and playback adapter with integrated digital amplifier. The PowerMate (at the bottom of the picture) is a USB volume controller for your computer's audio output. Not only is it capable of controlling the sound volume on your computer, but it also supports soft power on and off and can also be used as a universal input device and game controller. The PowerMate has a programmable button that can support every conceivable task from muting your audio output, to marking your in and out points in iMovie, Final Cut Pro, Premiere, After Effects, etc., to replacing your missing power button, and it also supports your favorite games as unique game controller. The PowerMate has a polished aluminum finish. Its glowing base dims and brightens to reflect the volume level of your computer. The PowerMate also includes a pulsating base when your computer is asleep and adjustable brightness level of the glowing base. The PowerMate has a MSRP of $45.

The PowerWave combines high quality audio recording and playback capabilities with a powerful built in amplifier and great style to provide the ultimate audio accessory for your computer. The PowerWave is fully outfitted with RCA and 1/8" audio input and output connectors, a built in USB hub, an Apple Pro speaker connector and standard hi-fi speaker connectors. The PowerWave incorporates a DSP as well as the latest in digital audio amplifier technology for incredibly efficient and and breath taking audio output. The PowerWave's MSRP is $99.

NVIDIA

Nvidia demoed its video cards on its booth. There were several demos including an impressing bouncing ball (the picture in the middle). NVIDIA was also sponsoring the game area where a lot of players could play together (Quake or Tomb Raider were some of the games used...)

Roxio

Roxio demoed the OSX version of Toast 5. You can now burn CDs with OSX and the powerfull Toast software. The final version should ship soon.

Cubes

Of course there were no Cube on the Apple booth, since this product was not sold anymore. However there were Cube on a lot of booths. They were even used as game machines in the game area of the show.

07/21/01

New version of the Maquarium presented at MWNY : the iMacquarium

That is one of the best products we have seen at the expo. Do you remember the old Maquarium, made with a Mac Plus, water and fishes? This is the same concept, but the iMac now replaces the old Mac Plus. The fishes have more room since the screen is a 15" screen and not the old 10". The model presented at the expo was a pink one. It will be a good way to recycle your iMac if the TFT iMac ships one day....

Bookendz : TiBook and iBook (prototype) dock station presented at MWNY (with picture)

Bookendz was showing two peripherals. the first one is already available it is a dock station for the PowerBook G4 Titanium. The other one is a port replicator for the new iBook. Featuring an ice look, it connects to the iBook and offers several ports including a standard VGA port. The unit we saw was only a prototype. It should ship before the end of the year. The design may change.

07/20/01

Mac World New York Coverage (with pics), part I.

The Cube-Zone and the OSX-Zone were in New York this week. Walking in New York, one could see Apple ads everywhere. Small I love NY (mmm I Apple NY....), big ones and even giant iBook ads. Everybody was forced to know there was an Apple event in NY this week.

The second day (18th of July), the keynote took place and the Expo was opened to the Public. Everybody could see the new products that were supposed to ship (PowerMac G4 and iMacs). Once again Steve Jobs surprised us with several new products....Well.... in fact he did not.... everybody had seen the new towers on the Web, including on that site (even if we were skeptical about them) We definitively like the new towers, even if they do not replace the Cube. The color is great and the new features (nearly DVD-R for the rest of us and dual 800 Mhz G4 on the high-end) rock. However, we could have expected more. When will Apple break the Ghz? The design is great, but we would have liked a really new design not a slight cosmetic change. However, the Pro users may not be the people who are first attracted by the look of a product. They are looking for more bang for the buck. The dual G4/800 may be an answer to their expectations.

Steve Jobs also introduced three new iMacs. As expected, the new iMacs do not have a TFT screen. It should be for the next revision.... Did you say Apple Expo Paris? The new iMacs come in 3 colors : indigo, graphite and the ugly snow. Flower power and blue dalmatien disappeard The expo was a little bit disappointing, or maybe the rumors were too exciting. We were not the only one to be disappointed. Apple shares lost 4.3 .% at the end of the day (it lost 18% just after the keynote, but went up again during the day...)

Steve Jobs also made a presentation of Mac OS X 10.1 which is supposed to be dramatically faster than the current version (10.0.4). We tested Mac OS X 10.1. Good news : it is definitively faster. However, we tested it on the dual G4/800. It remains to be seen if the dramatic speed improvements can be feeled on lower-end computers. Mac OS X 10.1 also has new features: you can set up the sound, the display resolution or see you battery level in the menu bar. There are now small icons in that bar thatballow you to perform those tasks. There are also several other refinements. Mac OS 10.1 should ship in September (Apple Expo Paris may be a great Expo!)

Stay tuned for more detailed New York expo reports during the day.... We may have some very good news for the Cube owners......

The Cube-Zone is back!

The Cube-Zone death was greatly exaggerated. We just posted that joke to make fun of some other sites who apparently want us to die (we won't name them...). It was also a good way to show that something put on ice can easily be reactivated.... We are still commited to the Cube and will keep publishing news for a long time.

07/16/01

The Cube-Zone puts itself on ice.....

The Cube-Zone today announced that it will suspend its activities for some time. The company said there is a small chance it will reintroduce an upgraded edition of the unique web site in the near future, but that there are no plans to do so at this time."Cube owners love the Cube-Zone, but most customers decided to read our wonderfull OSX-Zone instead," said Cyril, the Cube-Zone's editor. The Cube-Zone, at less than one fourth the size of most other Mac web sites, represented an entirely new class of web sites delivering accurate information . The Cube-Zone ignited the Cube web site revolution in August 2000.