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Hard news has been scarce in the Apple-focused blogosphere this week -- time to come up for air? -- but there's still plenty of interesting chatter.
In some of the more interesting recent threads: Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has apparently run into a supply chain issue that's delayed the delivery of its new aluminum unibody 17-inch MacBook Pros, Rapid Repair is Frankenstein-izing iPods with 240 GB hard drives, and some bloggers are watching TV on their iPhones.
Plus, iPhone owners seem to be downloading way more than their fair share of mobile games.
Buy Now, Wait for Weeks
Early buyers of Apple's 17-inch MacBook Pros expected to see their big, shiny, new notebooks ship by the end of January. Instead, they received disappointing emails from Apple this week. The news?
"Wrapping up the new 17-inch MacBook Pro is taking a few days longer than we projected," the company wrote. "As a result, we will be unable to ship your 17-inch MacBook Pro until February 19, 2009."
Ouch.
"This totally blows," commented DHagan4755 on the AppleInsider post on the subject.
"Mine was supposed to ship on Feb. 6, now the delay is until Feb. 19th. I don't know how much more I can take of this!" added paragoat, whose post included a little angry red (not smiling) smiley icon.
"I am just as bummed about iLife and iWork, having to wait on both of those items as well," rbonner noted.
Some commenters suggested Apple might be struggling with quality control, and others said this is just another side effect of being forced to have something big to announce at trade shows -- like the Macworld conference, where Apple announced the 17-inchers. The implication, of course, is that now that Apple has made its last official Macworld appearance, it won't have to stick to the conference's schedule when deciding what to unveil and when.
Either way, several online commenters have reported that in customer service calls, Apple said it was waiting for some components from its suppliers -- though details are essentially nonexistent, and Apple didn't respond to a MacNewsWorld inquiry regarding the delay.
If You Build It, They Will Buy
Meanwhile, the guys over at Rapid Repair are doing much more than fixing iPods -- it's now offering a monster upgrade, capturing the hearts and minds of more than a few bloggers.
"If you're feeling cramped by the iPod Classic's 120 GB of storage space, and you're willing to either get your hands dirty or let others do the work and reward them handsomely for it, then you can double that capacity and get an iPod with 240 gigs of music and video holding goodness," wrote Darrell Etherington on TheAppleBlog.
"There is another catch, though," he added. "You have to have held on to an older model iPod Video to get this to work."
If you do have a 30, 60, or 80 GB fifth-generation iPod Video, Toshiba makes a 240 GB drive that'll fit inside, provided you're willing to crack it open. Rapid Repair says it's working on a method for using it on the newer iPod Classic and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Zune 2G units. Rapid Repair hasn't announced pricing yet for the drive or installation.
The most obvious question is, why do it?
"Because it's possible -- that's the No. 1 reason," Aaron Vronko, Rapid Repair's CEO, cofounder and service manager, told MacNewsWorld.
To actually fill up the monster drive with US$0.99 iTunes songs, Vronko says the total cost would be over $57,000. While most people aren't clamoring for the big drive, Rapid Repair already has sold some pre-order upgrades. So how will a customer actually fill the drive? With video.
No Sling Needed for TV on iPhone
Blogger Sven Rafferty noticed an interesting new product, Equinux's Live TV iPhone app. Live TV works with Equinux's TubeStick, a small USB TV receiver. Working alongside its software, it lets users watch over-the-air or cable TV broadcasts on their Macs. Users in the U.S. will need the TubeStick ATSC hybrid, which goes for $99.95 online at the Equinux store.
"So you're still holding out for that Sling Player for the iPhone, huh? Well, good luck on that because I'm watching television broadcasts today, for free. Apple has finally authorized the release of Live TV, submitted to the Cupertino-based company before Macworld, and now I'm doing what Equinux was showing me back in the beginning of the year. I'm changing channels, viewing programs, and even recording them for later pleasure," Rafferty wrote on SvenOnTech.com.
But what about the quality? Is it worth watching?
"It's pretty good. I've seen Sling on Windows Mobile, and I'd say it's about the same quality, maybe a shade below it," Rafferty told MacNewsWorld.
"I tested over WiFi and not 3G (I was in an EDGE-only area before the post) so quality may be worse on 3G. When I saw Sling's iPhone player, it too was streaming over WiFi," he explained.
"What's nice about the TubeStick is its ability to start recording what you're watching so you can view it later," he added.
iPhoners Out-Game the Competition
In a report from comScore, smartphone owners are outpacing all other mobile phone users in mobile gaming. The number of mobile game downloaders grew 17 percent from November 2007 to November 2008, when 8.5 million people, or 3.8 percent of mobile subscribers, downloaded a game to their mobile device, comScore reported. Last year, not a single smartphone appeared in the top 10 devices uses for mobile downloads.
Even more interestingly, iPhone owners are leading the gaming charge.
"iPhone owners accounted for 14 percent of mobile game downloaders in November, with 32.4 percent of all iPhone users reporting they downloaded a game in the month, compared with a market average of 3.8 percent," the report noted.
"The iPhone has definitely turned into an industry game changer," commented habubauza on the MacRumors.com post on the subject. "No pun intended. I never download games yet I already have several on my iPhone. I must admit when the iPhone first came out I never thought it would be as successful as it is, but surprise, Steve Jobs as a technology visionary proves his worth time and time again."
Some, though, questioned the 32.4 percent figure.
"32.4 % is shockingly low. I would have expected 80-90% would have downloaded a free game just to test," noted iWizzard.
So why the big leap for the iPhone? Is it just the App Store? Or more?
"We attribute the growth overall -- including the iPhone -- to better devices, better games and better merchandising," Jaimee Steele, vice president of corporate communications for comScore, told MacNewsWorld.
"The App store -- which has greatly improved the discoverability of games -- is a big part of that story. Furthermore, the attributes of the iPhone, such as the accelerometer, large, sharp touchscreen, and processing power make it a superior gaming device," she added.
And we couldn't agree more.
