Month: August 2009

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New iMac, well I think I am going to wait now…

I was going to order a new iMac this summer. A 24″ model with 4GB of RAM, a 1TB HDD and a good graphics card. It would be an improvement over my current 20″ iMac which I bought in 2006.

However….

Though I knew that new models were coming out in October, I decided I needed it now and wasn’t going to wait.

However….

I then read MacRumors.

AppleInsider reports that the next-generation iMac will see the inclusion of two “compelling” new features, although sources refuse to provide anything more than suggestions as to what those features might be.

One of those features is said to have long been on the wish-lists of many Mac users while the other is expected to cater to the semi-professional audio/video crowd. This is according to cryptic tips from people often familiar with the Mac maker’s future product initiatives, but who declined to elaborate because they were not authorized to discuss the matter in detail.

My guess (based on what I have read) is Blu-Ray and an SD card slot. Though reading both articles indicate it could be anything or nothing.

However…

I really would like an iMac with  Blu-Ray capability, I do watch a fair few movies on my Mac and I would like to watch them in HD.

Of course I could be completely wrong, who knows with Apple.

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Downloading movies

iTunes Movies in the UK - hmmmm

Back in June 2008 when Apple put movies into the UK iTunes Store I had a go and didn’t have a huge success.

So my first proper attempt to get films off the iTunes Store was not a great success, ah well maybe next time.

So now over a year later, what’s the situation?

Well I am downloading a fair few movies from the iTunes Store now, buying and renting.

I do like how quick and easy it is, and sometimes how much cheaper it is too (and annoyed by how expensive it can be too).

I usually watch the movies via an iPod through the TV, as I still haven’t got round to buying an Apple TV, but then I still don’t have that HD TV to watch them on (and I am pretty sure I can’t easily connect an Apple TV to my current TV).

I will probably get an Apple TV if I get an HD TV as I would prefer to watch HD movies on an HD screen.

I was impressed with HD on the TV Shows and downloaded Lost in HD and the newest Doctor Who special in HD too.

So is everything working?

Well not really.

My ADSL is still way too slow, which means it takes hours to download a movie. Also I have a monthly bandwidth limit which means I usually plan my iTunes downloads overnight as Plusnet my ISP gives me a “free” download time between midnight and eight in the morning.

Also now and again iTunes fails to download the movie “properly”, so it downloads it again! As a result I have two versions in my iTunes library.

However despite a few minor issues I am pleased with movies and TV on the iTunes store and use it on a regular basis.

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ITV sells Friends Reunited for just £25m

ITV bought Friends Reunited for £175m, now amongst other financial troubles they have sold it for just £25m.

The BBC News reports

ITV has sold Friends Reunited for £25m, despite having agreed to pay a total of £175m for it in 2005.

So who has bought it?

The buyer is Brightsolid Limited, which is owned by DC Thomson, Dundee-based publisher of comics such as the Beano.

An old time publisher…

Hmmm…

I wonder what they (if anything) will do with it.

The problem that I would say is that Friends Reunited’s time has passed. People who are love it are still there, those who tried it have moved onto other things, like Facebook or Twitter.

Would you go back to Friends Reunited?

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A billion downloads of Firefox

There have been a billion downloads of Firefox.

The BBC reports

The open-source browser Firefox passed its billionth download on Friday, ahead of the release of its fourth iteration.

The milestone includes downloads of all versions of the web software since its first release in 2004.

Figures suggest that Firefox now has nearly one third of the browser market worldwide, at 31%.

Though I use other browsers, generally Firefox is the browser I probably use the most. Some of those billion are my downloads.