Late Thursday, Apple released version 1.3 of its Boot Camp beta. Introduced in 2006, Boot Camp has become extremely popular thanks to its ability to run the Windows XP and Vista operating systems on a separate partition of Intel-based Macs at native hardware speeds. The new version, a 274 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and changes:
-Support for keyboard backlighting (MacBook Pro only).
-Apple Remote pairing.
-Updated graphics drivers.
-Improved Boot Camp driver installer.
-Improved international keyboard support.
-Localization fixes.
-Updated Windows Help for Boot Camp.
Boot Camp is currently not officially supported but is available for free. The software requires an Intel-based Mac, Mac OS X 10.4.6 or later and a full version of Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2, Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2, WIndows Vista Home Basic, Windows Vista Home Premium, Windows Vista Business, or Windows Vista Ultimate to run.
If you’re tried the new version and had either a positive or negative experience with it, let us know.

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On Thursday, NewerTech announced that it had released its Intelligent Battery Charging Station, a charger specificall y designed to charge and condition Apple’s MacBook and MacBook Pro laptop batteries.
The charger contains two battery bays which, according to The Mac Observer, can be used to either charge two batteries in succession or charge a single battery while conditioning the other to hold a longer charge. NewerTech has claimed that the unit can help extend a battery’s lifetime and also deliver the longest possible charge time.
NewerTech is currently selling the unit in specific models to accommodate the MacBook and MacBook Pro batteries at a retail price of US$149.95 before shipping and handling.

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Palm Desktop for the Mac users have always felt a mutual love and hate for their program. It works…for the most part. Still, when the time came for a specific feature or new trick, this was like trying to find a pop stand in the middle of the Sahara.
On Thursday, Mark/Space released version 6.0 of its Missing Sync for Palm OS 6.0 communication and synchronization software for Palm handhelds. The new version, a 38.7 megabyte download.
Full version notes as to changes provided can be found here.
Missing Sync for Palm OS 6.0 retails for US$39.95 for new users and US$24.95 for upgrade users. The program requires Mac OS X 10.4.9 or later, a Palm OS handheld or smartphone running Palm OS 4 or later and a USB, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connection and is coded as a universal binary which functions at native speeds on both PowerPC and Intel-based hardware.
If you’ve tried the new version and had either a positive or negative experience with it, let us know.

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On Thursday, Miglia announced two new TV tuners to their product line.
The units, known as the TVBook Pro Express and TVMicro Express, are powered by Equinux’s The Tube. The TVBook Pro Express functions via a MacBook Pro’s ExpressCard slot whiile the TVMicro Express works as a USB 2.0 device.
According to Macworld UK, the TVBook Pro Express also ships with a signal-amplifying antenna powered by the laptop’s USB port.
The TVMicro Express requires a Mac with built-in USB 2.0, a 1.25 GHz or faster G4, G5 or Intel-based processor and Mac OS X 10.4 or later to run and retails for about US$68.29 (or 34 British Pounds).
The TVBook Pro requires a MacBook Pro laptop, free ExpressCard/34 slot, USB port for the amplified antenna and Mac OS X 10.4 or later to run and retails for about US$195.96 (or 99 British Pounds).

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A wiki has emerged pushing Apple to acknowledge a defect in its 17″ 1.67 GHz PowerBook G4 laptops.
According to MacNN, hundreds, if not thousands, of users who purchased the laptop have been experiencing what are known as “Bridget Riley” vertical lines on the display. The problem manifests itself as one or more vertical lines appearing. These lines span the full color spectrum and can appear as any color.
The problem appears to predominantly appear in the M9689 model, which is represented by serial numbers often beginning with “W85″. Although Apple has yet to officially recognize the problem and offer to investigate claims, the creators of the site hope that the company will eventually initiate a free repair program for affected units.
If you’ve seen this or a similar problem surface, let us know.
A wiki has emerged pushing Apple to acknowledge a defect in its 17″ 1.67 GHz PowerBook G4 laptops.
According to MacNN, hundreds, if not thousands, of users who purchased the laptop have been experiencing what are known as “Bridget Riley” vertical lines on the display. The problem manifests itself as one or more vertical lines appearing. These lines span the full color spectrum and can appear as any color.
The problem appears to predominantly appear in the M9689 model, which is represented by serial numbers often beginning with “W85″. It’s currently believed that the defective batch of computers was manufactured at a Shanghai factory around March or April of 2005. Although Apple has yet to officially recognize the problem and offer to investigate claims, the creators of the site hope that the company will eventually initiate a free repair program for affected units.
If you’ve seen this or a similar problem surface, let us know.

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Although the web browser wars may never be fully settled (and this is a good thing), some interesting new updates emerged on Tuesday that are worth looking into:
Camino, by the Camino Project, just reached version 1.5. The new version, a 14.8 megabyte download for the English version and an 18.1 megabyte download for the multilingual version, adds the following fixes and changes:
Click the jump for the full story…

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The new MacBook Pro laptops have emerged, and, of course, there are questions.
Me, I’m counting myself lucky I’m not standing in a t-shirt in an Apple Store at the moment, as it’s probably now considered fair game to literally tackle employees and make them explain what the refresh rate is on the new LED-backlit displays.
Still, some worthwhile early guides have emerged. Gizmodo was able to sit down with Apple representatives and fire questions about the new hardware along, as represented here. The interview doesn’t answer everything and Apple keeps mum about forthcoming technologies such as the possibility of Blu-Ray optical drives arriving in future models, but there remain some good tech tidbits in there.
Keeping with the techie dementia that led him to create the PowerPage in the first place, Jason O’Grady has posted two updated blogs about the new hardware over at The Apple Core. The first offers details about the new NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics card found in the newest MacBook Pro laptops and what this offers over the previous ATI cards. The second describes the changes found within Intel’s Santa Rosa architecture such as improved 802.11n support, better power management and new features that allow network administrators to quarantine, repair and inspect the laptops remotely in given situations.
Take a look and tell us what you think.

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Somewhere between geek pride and techno-lust lies the classic unpacking photo gallery of a new item that just hit the market. The upgraded MacBook Pro, released by Apple only yesterday, definitely qualifies and the first unpacking photo gallery can be seen over here at geeksugar.
So far, it’s par for the course where unpacking a new MacBook Pro is concerned, but the visibly brighter LD-backlit display pops, especially when compared to the previous model.
Take a look and if you have a gallery of your own, feel free to send the link along. We’ll do what we can to get it posted.

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On Tuesday, Adobe released version 8.1 of its free Reader program. The program, which has long been a staple for viewing and printing Portable Document Format (PDF) files, includes the following changes:
-Improved forms performance.
-New Acrobat 8 3D support.
-New Integrated FedEx Kinkos Print Online – Send any PDF directly to FedEx Kinko’s.
-Print Online for printing (US only).
-Bug fixes.
-Security improvements.
Adobe Reader 8.1 requires Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later to run and its download file size varies depending on version chosen. For more information, click here to begin the selection and download process.
The program is coded as a Universal Binary and can run at native speeds on both PowerPC and Intel-based hardware.
If you’ve had either a positive or negative experience with the new version, let us know.

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In spite of the hype, remaining questions and overall speculation still remaining about the iPhone in the final weeks before its June 29th release, carrier AT&T may be doing what it can from its end to ensure a technically smooth launch.
According to Gizmodo, which cites an anonymous source in AT&T’s operations deparment, AT&T has been performing last-minute refinements on its EDGE network for as many as six weeks. The changes, which went unannounced, are aimed at improving the network’s throughput, latency and coverage.
The source then cited that the company, which saw the data backend as the limiting factor, has been adding additional T-1 connections to the network’s poorest performing towers in hopes of boosting their 40 kbps rate to the new minimum of 80 kbps. Internally referred to as “Fine Edge”, the program will continue repairs and upgrades until June 15th.
Prior to this, the carrier’s efforts were geared towards constructing a new 3G network, though repairs on the current 2.5 network should help things along, especially with an appreciable boost in handsets to provide for come June 29th.
Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

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