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Friday, February 28th 2003 13:33 CDT

Does the TDK Bluetooth PC Card Work with Macs?

Reader Paul may have sent us the information we've been looking for:

I checked out the TDK bluetooth site and this is the information that they had in their support FAQs <P> Q:    What operating systems do the TDK Bluetooth PC Cards or USB adapters support?

A:    The PC Card and USB adapters support the following operating systems:

Windows 98SE
Windows Me
Windows 2000
Windows XP
and will work with Mac O/S 10.2

The web site is: www.tdksystems.com

I have one of the USB adapters that I use with my Windows laptop that I plugged into the back of my mirrored door G4 (Dual 1 ghz); the system profiler sees the bluetooth adapter. If I run the Bluetooth Setup Assistant, it does say that this computer has bluetooth wireless capabilities.

If TDK is also correct about their PC Card, then this might be the solution that people have been looking for. According to pricegrabber.com, CDW has it for 99.59 (not in stock), mobileplanet has it in stock for 99.95 and PC Connection has it in stock for 104.95.

Final Version of First Bluetooth Control App Posted; Another Released; 100 Meter Bluetooth Adapter for $30

The "1.0" version of SonyEricsson Clicker, the application that allows you to control your Mac using a Bluetooth-enabled wireless phone, has now been posted. It's $10 until March 2nd, at which time it becomes $12.95. There's a demo version that allows you 30 clicks before it's disabled.

Meanwhile, there's another Bluetooth control app out there called Romeo. We're linking its Versiontracker information page so you can see the results other users have had. We think it's the first application that allows you to actually independently move the cursor with the Bluetooth phone.

There's also a 100 meter range Bluetooth adapter from Belkin that claims 10 times the performance of the "regular" adapters. It's only $30 refurbished at that link, $5 more than the refurbished "standard" adapter.

Quick 17" PowerBook Update

Reader Carlos sums up what we've heard lately:

I was one of the first people to order a 17" right after the keynote who saw "30 days" on Web site. But at the end of the day on 1/7, I also received an email from Apple apologizing for the erroneous information, and the true shipping estimate was 7-10 weeks.

Apple called me yesterday, 2/27, to confirm that despite any rumors of delays, they are committed to meeting the original 7-10 week timeframe. So in my opinion, if Apple delivers my PowerBook before 3/18, they met the deadline.

So no "delays" at all, but recent reports of "mid-March" seem to be accurate. "February" (being 7 weeks) seemed to be the most optimistic estimate which unfortunately didn't happen.

PB 667 Screen Flicker Replies

We got a few replies to our request yesterday for corroboration of PowerBook G4 667 "screen flicker" issues after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.2.4. They all basically said this:

Yep, I had the same problem after upgrading to 10.2.4 via Software Update. After running Apple Disk Utility to repair disk permissions, I restarted the machine and the flicker was gone. Haven't seen it since.

Airport Extreme Base Station Dissected

A Mac user has carefully torn apart an Apple Airport Extreme 802.11g wireless base station and put the results on this detailed page.

Thursday, February 27th 2003 13:00 CDT

Shaun Jackson Design Joins PBZone Advertisers

Shaun Jackson Design is now a PBZone.com advertiser. They're best known as makers of the "Lapdog" portable office for your PowerBook or iBook, but they've also recently introduced a line of new products called Higher Ground.

Check out all of their products, from the Laptrap to the Back Office to the original Lapdog on their website.

PB 667 Screen Flicker?

Reader Steve wrote in with a note:

Iıd like to float this problem report here in the event others are having the same issue:

I have two clients with one year old Powerbook 667s. Both complained earlier this week about screen flicker. Both cured it by restarting their Powerbooks. Since both recently updated to 10.2.4 perhaps this issue relates to that.

I read an old Pismo discussion that suggested resetting PRAM. Iıll have them both do that and will hope the problem doesnıt recur.

Wednesday, February 26th 2003 12:19 CDT

Bluetooth PC Cards

A couple of readers have asked whether there are any third party Bluetooth PC Card drivers. So far, we have not heard of any. As soon as there are any available, we'll post it here because a PC Card is probably much less prone to breakage as a "dongle"-style Bluetooth adapter hanging off the back or side of your PowerBook/iBook.

AirPort Extreme Firmware Updated

Apple has updated the new AirPort Extreme basestation's firmware to version 5.0.3. You can find details here. These are the changes included in the firmware update:

This firmware update fixes an issue where an AirPort Extreme network appears to be unavailable as displayed by the AirPort Menu Extra or the Internet Connection application. This behavior may result from excessive 2.4 GHz radio interference which causes the wireless network to disappear. The update allows the base station to more gracefully recover when exposed to sources of interference. For additional information on reducing the effects of interference, see the Apple Knowledge Base document "AirPort: Potential Sources of Interference. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58543.

The AirPort Extreme Base Station will no longer spontaneously restart itself.

There is now no known limit to the number of FTP connections that can be initiated through the base station.

Fred Anderson Speaks; Mac Media Listens

There are several articles that discuss the interesting comments made by Apple Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson to a Goldman Sachs technology conference.

Among the highlights:

• Apple has an "intermediate" goal of 5% marketshare, up from its current 3% share.
• Anderson also said to expect "more and more" Apple-brand software.
• Apple's revenue target is $8 billion per year, up from the current $6B/year.

Tuesday, February 25th 2003 00:01 CDT

SonyEricsson Clicker Released: Control Your Mac with a Bluetooth Cellphone

Here's the description of this Mac OS X application from its website: If you don't have one of the compatible Sony Ericsson phones (and a Bluetooth-enabled mac) you'll want to get one! Here are some ideas on what you may want to do with Sony Ericsson Clicker:

• Control PowerPoint or Keynote when giving presentations.
• Control DVD Player or iTunes from your sofa or bed.
• Use AppleScript to control anything you like!

Further, Sony Ericsson Clicker has a built in "proximity sensor", allowing you to trigger actions when you leave or come back to your Mac. Again, here are some ideas

• Pause iTunes when you leave the room, turn it on when you come back.
• Use AppleScript to let your presence (or absence) control anything you like!

The sky is the limit when it comes to controlling AppleScriptable applications from Sony Ericsson Client. So far, the application only supports the T39M, R520M, T68, and T68i.

PowerBook Handle for $30

A reader emailed the following link to the Titanium PowerBook Handle at DevDepot for only $30.We've reviewed a similar product that cost $40.

Monday, February 24th 2003 14:49 CDT

Used PBG4s Fall Under $1,000

We noticed today at PowerBook Central that Small Dog Electronics has two used PowerBook G4/400s in stock for $999 with Jaguar installed. Look in the "PowerBooks" section to find them. To our knowledge, this is the first sale price for a PowerBook G4 from a reseller less than $1,000.

12" PowerBook: 3 speakers, 3 Different Ranges

Reader Jim writes:

I am sure I am not the first person to notice that the left and right speakers on the PB12 do not put out the same sound. The left speaker is clearly a tweeter and the right is a midrange speaker, the middle speaker is for "bass" or at least as much as you can get from a speaker that small. Listen to the speakers yourself and you'll here the difference. I have found the speakers more than adequate for all the things I use them for, iMovie, Final Cut, MAME etc. Also, If you could please mention that I have started a yahoo group specificaly for PowerBook 12" the link is

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/12inchPowerBooks/

Every PB12 owner should join!

PowerBook 12" Electrical "Tingling" Problem Cures

A few more readers sent email regarding the slight electrical charge experienced by some when touching a 12" PowerBook plugged into AC power and what you might be able to do to prevent the problem:

Thought you might be interested in this. My wife experienced this with her white iBook. We found it only happened when plugged in and while using it while wearing shorts. We discovered that the metal screws on the bottom of the laptop were the culprits. A little clear tape over the screws, and the problem was gone. Another solution (I haven't bothered) would be a thin coat of clear fingernail polish on the screw heads - if you do this make sure you don't fill in the holes so you can still get in there with a screwdriver.

---

...is not uncommon in electrical equipment. Typically, if you experience tingling, just flip over the two-prong plug, you'll find that it should feel much better. Of course if you use a grounded 3-prong plug, then there should be no tingling.

---

THe tingle issue is a phasing issue with the wiring in the building. As many may have noticed in recent years, one on the two flat prongs on most cords is fatter at the end then the other. This is to assure proper phasing with the building wiring via a receptacle that can only accept the plug in one orientation. Since most power supply plugs do not have this wider prong, the phasing could be incorrect.

Tingle solution:
1.) Pull out AC plug, rotate 180 degrees and reinsert into receptacle.
2.) Check that receptacle is proper grounded.

---

I had this same problem with my PB 550. The problem got worse as time progressed to the point where I avoided plugging in my 'Book unless I was wearing rubber shoes. I went to my local Apple Reseller (in Tucson, AZ) and they went ahead and replaced the battery and the power supply under warranty.

This solved it for me. BTW, we were able to verify that this was occuring by having the tech use a wrist strap to ground himself with an electrical socket.

Free iLife?

Reader Jim sent this in:

I am just sending a quick email to let you know apple just sent me an email confirming they are sending me iLife... for free!! I bought a superdrive PB12 on Jan 9. Pretty cool.. I think I'll stick eith apple. I don't think microsoft would ever do anything similar. Go Apple! And people wonder why we are so loyal to Apple.

Where's the 80GB PowerBook Hard Drive Option?

Reader Ray asks:

If Apple is releasing an iPod with 40GB hard drive this week, doesn't it seem a little ridiculous that 60GB is the largest hard drive available for a TiBook?

However, it seems that despite the drive's announcement a few months ago, it's not available anywhere we could find it online. The 4200 RPM version was supposed to ship in January and the 5400 and 7200 RPM models are supposed to follow in the "first quarter of 2003." The Travelstar 80GN 7200 RPM will be the first 2.5" mobile hard drive to feature a rotational speed of 7200 RPM.

We'll keep you updated on when the 80GN is available.