Apple (AAPL) has just upgraded its line of Macbook Pro laptops; the lowest-priced one starts at $1,199. Details at Apple’s online store and in the press release below.

Apple Updates MacBook Pro Line

Faster Processors, Next-Generation Graphics & Up to 10 Hours of Battery Life

CUPERTINO, Calif., April 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today updated the MacBook® Pro line with faster processors, powerful next-generation NVIDIA graphics and even longer battery life. The popular 13-inch MacBook Pro features the new NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor for up to 80 percent faster graphics and a groundbreaking 10-hour built-in battery.* The new 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models feature Intel Core i5 and i7 processors and Apple’s new automatic graphics switching technology that toggles seamlessly between powerful NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M and energy efficient Intel HD Graphics processors.

“The new MacBook Pro is as advanced on the inside as it is stunning on the outside,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With faster processors, amazing graphics and up to three more hours of battery life, the new MacBook Pro delivers both performance and efficiency.”

All 13-inch MacBook Pro models now include faster Intel Core 2 Duo processors, 4GB RAM, a 10-hour built-in battery and the new NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor. With 48 processing cores, the new NVIDIA GeForce 320M is the fastest integrated graphics processor on the market, ideal for graphics intensive applications or high performance games. The 13-inch MacBook Pro is available in two configurations: one with a 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 250GB hard drive priced at $1,199; and one with a 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and 320GB hard drive priced at $1,499.

The new 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro models are up to 50 percent faster than the previous systems.** Using Intel’s state-of-the-art 32 nanometer process, Intel Core i5 and i7 processors integrate the memory controller and Level 3 cache for faster access to system memory. Hyper-Threading technology improves data throughput by creating virtual processing cores, while Turbo Boost optimizes performance between the two processor cores, accelerating the system from 2.66 GHz to 3.06 GHz for intensive dual core tasks, and up to 3.33 GHz for single core tasks.

All 15-inch and 17-inch models include two graphics processors, the new NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M for peak performance and Intel HD Graphics for energy efficient operation. More than twice as fast as the GeForce 320M, the powerful new GeForce GT 330M provides incredibly smooth, crisp on-screen graphics for the most demanding 3D games, creative software and technical applications. Apple’s automatic graphics switching determines which graphics processor an application needs and switches instantly between processors to deliver peak performance and long battery life. Tightly integrated hardware and software allow the new 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pro to deliver 8 to 9 hours on a single charge.

The new 15-inch MacBook Pro is available in three models: one with a 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M and 320GB hard drive at $1,799; one with a 2.53 GHz Intel Core i5, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M and 500GB hard drive at $1,999; and one with a 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M and 500GB hard drive at $2,199. The new 17-inch MacBook Pro features a 2.53 GHz Intel Core i5, NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M and 500GB hard drive for $2,299.

The MacBook Pro glass Multi-Touch(TM) trackpad now supports inertial scrolling, an intuitive way to scroll through large photo libraries, lengthy documents and long web sites. All MacBook Pros feature bright, LED-backlit wide-angle displays with a broad color gamut. The 17-inch MacBook Pro includes a high resolution 1920 x 1200 display, and the 15-inch MacBook Pro is now available with an optional high resolution 1680 x 1050 display. Customers can also upgrade their MacBook Pro with new 128GB, 256GB and 512GB solid state drives.

As the industry’s greenest notebook lineup, every Mac® notebook achieves EPEAT Gold status and meets Energy Star 5.0 requirements, setting a new standard for environmentally friendly notebook design.*** Each unibody enclosure is made of highly recyclable aluminum and comes standard with energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass. Mac notebooks contain no brominated flame retardants, are PVC-free and are constructed of recyclable materials.

Apple uses advanced chemistry, intelligent monitoring of the system and battery, and Adaptive Charging technology to create a notebook battery that delivers up to 10 hours of wireless productivity on a single charge and up to 1,000 recharges.**** The built-in battery design results in less waste and depleted batteries can be replaced for $129 or $179, which includes installation and disposal of your old battery in an environmentally responsible manner.

All Macs come with Mac OS® X Snow Leopard®, the world’s most advanced operating system, and iLife®, Apple’s innovative suite of applications for managing photos, making movies and creating and learning to play music. Snow Leopard builds on a decade of OS X innovation and success with hundreds of refinements, new core technologies and out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange. iLife features iPhoto®, to easily organize and manage photos; iMovie® with powerful easy-to-use new features such as Precision Editor, video stabilization and advanced drag and drop; and GarageBand® which introduces a whole new way to help you learn to play piano and guitar.

Pricing & Availability

The new 13-inch MacBook Pro, 15-inch MacBook Pro, and 17-inch MacBook Pro are now available through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers.

The 2.4 GHz, 13-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,199 (US), includes:

–  13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
–  2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
–  1066 MHz front-side bus;
–  4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
–  NVIDIA GeForce 320M integrated graphics;
–  250GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion
Sensor;
–  a slot-load 8X SuperDrive® with double-layer support (DVD+/-R
DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
–  Mini DisplayPort (VGA, DVI and HDMI adapters sold separately);
–  AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
–  Gigabit Ethernet port;
–  iSight® video camera;
–  two USB 2.0 ports;
–  one FireWire® 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible);
–  SD card slot;
–  combined headphone/line in (analog/digital);
–  glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
–  built-in, 63.5WHr lithium polymer battery; and
–  60 Watt MagSafe® Power Adapter.

The 2.66 GHz, 13-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US), includes:

–  13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
–  2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
–  1066 MHz front-side bus;
–  4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
–  NVIDIA GeForce 320M integrated graphics;
–  320GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion
Sensor;
–  a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R
DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
–  Mini DisplayPort (VGA, DVI and HDMI adapters sold separately);
–  AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
–  Gigabit Ethernet port;
–  iSight video camera;
–  two USB 2.0 ports;
–  one FireWire 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible);
–  SD card slot;
–  combined headphone/line in (analog/digital);
–  glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
–  built-in, 63.5WHr lithium polymer battery; and
–  60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options for the 13-inch MacBook Pro include the ability to upgrade to 8GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, a 320GB 5400 rpm or a 500GB 5400 rpm hard drive, a 128GB, 256GB or 512GB solid state drive, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare® Protection Plan.

The 2.4 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US), includes:

–  15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
–  2.4 GHz Intel Core i5 with 3MB shared L3 cache;
–  4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
–  integrated Intel HD Graphics + NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M discrete
graphics with 256MB of VRAM;
–  320GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion
Sensor;
–  a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R
DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
–  Mini DisplayPort (VGA, DVI and HDMI adapters sold separately);
–  AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
–  Gigabit Ethernet port;
–  iSight video camera;
–  two USB 2.0 ports;
–  one FireWire 800 port;
–  SD card slot;
–  audio line in (analog/digital);
–  audio line out/headphone (analog/digital);
–  glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
–  built-in, 77.5WHr lithium polymer battery; and
–  85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.53 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US), includes:

–  15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
–  2.53 GHz Intel Core i5 with 3MB shared L3 cache;
–  4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
–  integrated Intel HD Graphics + NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M discrete
graphics with 256MB of VRAM;
–  500GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion
Sensor;
–  a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R
DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
–  Mini DisplayPort (VGA, DVI and HDMI adapters sold separately);
–  AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
–  Gigabit Ethernet port;
–  iSight video camera;
–  two USB 2.0 ports;
–  one FireWire 800 port;
–  SD card slot;
–  audio line in (analog/digital);
–  audio line out/headphone (analog/digital);
–  glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
–  built-in, 77.5WHr lithium polymer battery; and
–  85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.66 GHz, 15-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,199 (US), includes:

–  15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
–  2.66 GHz Intel Core i7 with 4MB shared L3 cache;
–  4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
–  integrated Intel HD Graphics + NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M discrete
graphics with 512MB of VRAM;
–  500GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion
Sensor;
–  a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R
DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
–  Mini DisplayPort (VGA, DVI and HDMI adapters sold separately);
–  AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
–  Gigabit Ethernet port;
–  iSight video camera;
–  two USB 2.0 ports;
–  one FireWire 800 port;
–  SD card slot;
–  audio line in (analog/digital);
–  audio line out/headphone (analog/digital);
–  glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
–  built-in, 77.5WHr lithium polymer battery; and
–  85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options for the 15-inch MacBook Pro include the ability to upgrade to 8GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, a high resolution 15-inch 1680 x 1050 display in glossy and antiglare, a 500GB 5400 rpm or 500GB 7200 rpm hard drive, a 128GB, 256GB or 512GB solid state drive, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

The 2.53 GHz, 17-inch MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,299 (US), includes:

–  17-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1920 x 1200, glossy display;
–  2.53 GHz Intel Core i5 with 3MB shared L3 cache;
–  4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 8GB;
–  integrated Intel HD Graphics + NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M discrete
graphics with 512MB of VRAM;
–  500GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion
Sensor;
–  a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD+/-R
DL/DVD+/-RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
–  Mini DisplayPort (VGA, DVI and HDMI adapters sold separately);
–  AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
–  Gigabit Ethernet port;
–  iSight video camera;
–  three USB 2.0 ports;
–  one FireWire 800 port (FireWire 400 compatible);
–  ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
–  audio line in (analog/digital);
–  audio line out/headphone (analog/digital);
–  glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard;
–  built-in, 95WHr lithium polymer battery; and
–  85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Build-to-order options for the 17-inch MacBook Pro include a 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB 1066 MHz DDR3 memory, a 500GB 7200 rpm hard drive, a 128GB, 256GB or 512GB solid state drive, antiglare display, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual- Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

*Testing conducted by Apple in March 2010 using preproduction 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo-based 13-inch MacBook Pro units with NVIDIA GeForce 320M and production 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo-based 13-inch MacBook Pro units with NVIDIA GeForce 9400M.

**Testing conducted by Apple in March 2010 using preproduction 2.66 GHz Intel Core i7-based 15-inch MacBook Pro units with NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M and production 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo-based 15-inch MacBook Pro units with NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT.

***EPEAT is an independent organization that helps customers compare the environmental performance of notebooks and desktops. Products meeting all of the 23 required criteria and at least 75 percent of the optional criteria are recognized as EPEAT Gold products. The EPEAT program was conceived by the US EPA and is based on IEEE 1680 standard for Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products. For more information visit www.epeat.net.

****A properly maintained MacBook Pro battery is designed to retain 80 percent or more of its original capacity during a lifespan of up to 1,000 recharge cycles. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings. For more information visit www.apple.com/macbookpro/battery.

All right, it was a cafeteria packed with Yahoo (YHOO) employees, but still. Check out Kara’s write-up and video of the experience, but be warned: no embed of the official Yahoo video so far, so those of us who weren’t there have no idea (yet) about what sort of profanity ensued. We’ll keep you posted. Kara also took a look this week at the serialized drama that is MySpace. The latest episode, of course, is the firing of brand new CEO Owen Van Natta, who may or may not have wanted to leave anyway. An insider described the company to BoomTown as a hot mess, since it’s both “impossible to save and hard to give up on.” BoomTown started off the week with a couple of the more amusing takes on Google’s Super Bowl ad, “Paris Love”–now its own meme–which includes the search history of Tiger Woods and a different kind of Parisian story.

Walt recently fired up Windows 7 on a late-model Apple (AAPL) MacBook Pro, using both Parallels Desktop 5 and VMware Fusion 3. Not at the same time, although both have been updated to get the most out of Snow Leopard and Windows 7 and will run the two operating systems simultaneously on an Intel-powered Mac. The quick version is that Walt thinks Parallels is the better product. The version with all the logic and details is in this week’s Personal Technology. He also took time to answer some readers’ questions in Mossberg’s Mailbox about iPad batteries, zooming on text in Firefox, locating the calendar in the latest version of Windows Live Mail and feeling stuck between a Kindle and a Nook. In this week’s Mossberg Solution, Katie Boehret tested some stylishly small scanners and desktop printers: the Fujitsu’s ScanSnap S1300 and PlanOn System Solution’s PrintStik PS905ME. Not surprisingly, she found that style comes at a price with both gadgets.

In Digital Daily this week, John Paczkowski quoted Bill Gates’s underwhelming response to Apple’s iPad hoopla: “It’s a nice reader, but there’s nothing on the iPad I look at and say, ‘Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it.” Then he quoted Gates on his initial reaction to the iPod in 2004: “There’s nothing that the iPod does that I say, ‘Oh, wow, I don’t think we can do that.’” Apparently, Gates was much more forthcoming–with his own Microsoft (MSFT) execs, anyway–about iTunes in 2003 when he wrote in a memo that “Jobs has us a bit flat footed again….” Maybe admitting you have a problem really is the first step toward overcoming it. But then again, Zune as a second step is pretty much three steps back. John also dissected the buzz around Google Buzz this week, which, admittedly, wasn’t overwhelming, but it could still dovetail nicely with the search giant’s mobile strategies.

Jeff Bronikowski, formerly of Universal Music Group–the world’s biggest label–explained in a Billboard interview this week that the business of Big Music is doomed. But Peter Kafka is reserving judgment, at least until a few more music industry vets leave their jobs and weigh in publicly on the matter. Which is not at all the same thing as being optimistic; it’s just being realistic. It’s important to point out, though, that Google (GOOG) made Peter feel better this week about having Time Warner Cable (TWC) as his ISP, which could signal optimism, realism or something else entirely. Back on the music front, MediaMemo spoke with Veoh CEO Dmitry Shapiro and found that although it’s tempting to blame music behemoth Universal Music Group for the company’s demise, the Web start-up dug its own hole.

Here’s hoping for good sound bites for next weekend’s update and no need for mention of the weather. Stay tuned.

For instance, while I am writing this column on a Mac laptop in the Mac OS, using the Mac version of Microsoft Word, I am also simultaneously running the latest versions of Internet Explorer and Outlook—which aren’t available for the Mac—in Windows, on the same machine. I can switch back and forth among these programs with ease.

Now, the two most popular software products for accomplishing this feat, Parallels and VMware Fusion, have been updated to run faster, and to support the latest versions of the two operating systems, Apple’s (AAPL) Snow Leopard and Microsoft’s (MSFT) Windows 7. Each costs $80 and requires a Mac running an Intel processor.

I’ve been comparing these latest versions, called Parallels Desktop 5 and VMware Fusion 3, using each to run Windows 7 on the same Mac laptop powered by Snow Leopard. My verdict is that, after falling behind Fusion for awhile, Parallels is now the best choice again. In my tests, it proved to be both faster, and more capable of handling the heavy-duty visual effects in Windows 7.

Both programs work by creating a so-called virtual machine—a software version of a physical computer—on the Mac. Inside these faux PCs, you can install any of dozens of operating systems and the applications that run on them. That includes numerous versions of Windows, including Windows XP and Vista, and, now, Windows 7. In order to do this, you will have to buy separately a new, full (not an upgrade) version of Windows, which costs about $200.

VMware Fusion’s Aero feature with Flip 3D effect

Both programs can run either the full Windows desktop, or individual Windows programs with the desktop hidden. Parallels now comes with a new mode, called Crystal, which integrates the Windows system even more, by placing the Windows Start menu and system tray icons in the Mac’s own top menu bar.

These virtual-machine programs shouldn’t be confused with Apple’s own built-in solution for running Windows on a Mac, called Boot Camp, which also has recently been updated to handle Windows 7. Boot Camp can’t run the two operating systems simultaneously; you must reboot the computer to switch between them. That gives Windows sole control of the hardware when it’s running, but many people find Boot Camp inconvenient. I didn’t test Boot Camp for this review.

Fusion 3, from Silicon Valley company VMware (VMW), is a relatively minor revision. The latest version is mainly designed to add speed, simplify the interface, make it compatible with Snow Leopard and Windows 7, and to improve graphics performance. It achieves most of these goals, but I still found it ran more slowly with Windows 7 than it did with Windows XP. It also was significantly pokier than Parallels 5.

In addition, I found that Fusion had occasional trouble with the transparency effects in Windows 7, such as its ability to turn transparent Windows that are open so you can see your desktop. It also occasionally switched off Windows’ new Aero feature, which offers live previews of task-bar icons. It sometimes turned all my Windows desktop icons white momentarily.

The bigger story is the comeback of Parallels, which is made by a Swiss-based firm of the same name. It was the first virtual-machine program for Intel-based Macs, but got eclipsed by Fusion. Now, the fifth version of Parallels is much faster and much better at the sophisticated graphics upon which Windows 7 relies.

In my tests, on a 2008-vintage MacBook Pro with 4 gigabytes of memory, Parallels 5 started up and had Windows 7 ready to roll nearly two minutes faster than Fusion 3. Windows 7 Home Premium launched from a cold start within Parallels about a minute faster than it did inside Fusion. And, when I restarted Windows 7 with several common programs running, it took two minutes and 23 seconds in Parallels 5, versus over four minutes in Fusion 3.

Beyond that, I found Parallels 5 handled the graphical previews and transparent effects in Windows 7 more quickly and smoothly than Fusion did. The Aero previews of running programs in the task bar appeared more quickly.

Also, I found Parallels 5 played high-definition video in Windows more smoothly than Fusion did. It also seemed to slow down the Mac side of the computer less.

Parallels isn’t perfect. In particular, it displays a black screen for a bit during start-up, something the company says it hopes to fix. And, while it shares the Mac’s printer, it confusingly mislabels it.

Neither of these programs is the answer for Mac owners who want to run the latest heavy-duty games or other graphics-intensive programs in Windows 7. For them, I recommend either Boot Camp or a separate Windows PC.

But, if you’re looking to run typical, everyday Windows programs on a Mac without rebooting, Parallels 5 is now the best solution.

Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free of charge, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20100210/parallels-fusion-windows-on-macs/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20091216/diabetes-meter-mates-with-pc-to-track-trends/ http://allthingsd.com/20091216/diabetes-meter-mates-with-pc-to-track-trends/#comments Thu, 17 Dec 2009 02:04:33 +0000 Walter S. Mossberg http://ptech.allthingsd.com/?p=1110 This week’s column was, in a sense, written in blood. It’s a review of a new consumer medical device, and to test it, I had to prick my fingertips several times a day to produce a droplet of blood that the gadget could analyze.

The product, called the Contour USB, is an interesting new computer-savvy blood-glucose test meter for diabetics, made by the big pharmaceutical company, Bayer. As a diabetic myself, I’ve been using a more traditional version of such a meter to test my blood several times daily for years. So do millions of others.

What makes the $75 Bayer Contour USB different from typical meters is that it looks and works like a common USB thumb drive, so it was born to integrate with personal computers. It plugs right into a PC or Mac without the need for any cables, and contains—built right in—software you can run on your computer for analyzing your test results. That’s helpful for both diabetics and their doctors, who need to understand the trends in the amount of glucose in the blood to make decisions on medication, diet and exercise.

After testing the Contour USB for five days, I found it worked pretty well and consider it a promising step in diabetes care. More information is at bayercontourusb.com, and the meter can be purchased at the Web site of the drug chain Walgreens and at drugstore.com.

But I am neither a doctor nor a diabetes expert, and I am not advising anyone to switch his or her meter without first consulting a medical professional.

The Contour USB is a compact, rectangular device with a USB connector on one end and a slot for glucose test strips, which collect the blood from the droplet, on the other. The face of the device has a color screen and three buttons that allow you to navigate simple menus.

Bayer’s new Contour USB blood-glucose meter

Loaded inside is a software program called Glucofacts Deluxe that runs on either a Windows PC or Macintosh once you pop the meter into a USB port. It launches directly from the meter’s internal memory, which also contains your test results plus free space for anything else you wish to store on it.

The software reads the glucose results from the meter, and displays them in various logs, charts and graphs, which can be printed out or saved as a file on the computer. The user can provide the printouts to the doctor or email the files containing the data.

This mating of a glucose meter and a computer isn’t a new idea. Many brands of meters can be used with computer programs via extra-cost cables. But because the Bayer device builds in both the USB connector and the software, it makes this process easier than it has typically been. (Another new meter, called Myglucometer, is on the same path. It uses Bluetooth wireless technology to beam results to a PC.)

In my tests, the Contour USB proved quick and easy to use. When you’re actually doing the blood testing, it works pretty much like any other meter, and a computer isn’t involved. The meter’s color screen does, by default, ask you to designate whether the reading was taken before or after a meal, an extra step that can make the results more meaningful. But this feature can be turned off. And there’s an option that allows you to add a canned note, like “Sick,” or “Stress,” to any reading.

The real payoff comes when you plug the meter into a computer and launch the software, which helps you see the trends in your glucose levels over time. For instance, it can plot in various ways how often you stayed in a target zone and when you deviated. I tested this on Windows and Macintosh computers, and it worked. But there were some downsides.

For one thing, to launch the Glucofacts Deluxe software on your computer, you have to click on an obscure-sounding file name. It’s supposed to run automatically in Windows, but I never could get it to do that.

Also, on Windows, the software required me twice to install a new component. And the program is incompatible with Apple’s latest operating system, Snow Leopard. Bayer says it is working on solving the problem.

Another feature some may see as a downside is that the meter’s sealed battery can’t be replaced. But the company sees the freedom from buying batteries as an advantage for heavy users, and claims that even a one-minute recharge session will allow for several tests.

My biggest disappointment with the Contour USB was that it doesn’t provide any way to upload your results to an online repository, where you and your doctor might view them. And the new meter doesn’t tie in with online medical portals from companies such as Google (GOOG) and Microsoft (MSFT). Bayer says it plans an online component for the Contour USB.

Despite these flaws, I consider the Bayer Contour USB to be a welcome move toward integrating home testing with the digital world.

Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091216/diabetes-meter-mates-with-pc-to-track-trends/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20091201/pystar-annihilation-postponed/ http://allthingsd.com/20091201/pystar-annihilation-postponed/#comments Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:17:30 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=30010 Psystar’s 17-month legal battle with Apple may not end in the Mac clone maker’s total obliteration. The two companies have agreed to a partial settlement, court documents show.

Further details are yet to come, but in a U.S. District Court filing Monday, Psytar said, “Psystar and Apple today entered into a partial settlement that is embodied in a stipulation that will be filed with the Court tomorrow. Psystar has agreed on certain amounts to be awarded as statutory damages on Apple’s copyright claims in exchange for Apple’s agreement not to execute on these awards until all appeals in this matter have been concluded. Moreover, Apple has agreed to voluntarily dismiss all its trademark, trade-dress, and state-law claims. This partial settlement eliminates the need for a trial and reduces the issues before this Court to the scope of any permanent injunction on Apple’s copyright claims.”

Odd that Apple (AAPL), which just days ago seemed intent on hanging Psystar’s lifeless body from the gates of 1 Infinite Loop, would agree to such a thing. Odder still, that it would do so when Psystar is petitioning to have its Rebel EFI utility–which enables Apple’s Snow Leopard OS to be installed on generic PCs–excluded from any injunction.

In any event, it’s good news for Psystar, which had previously been facing damages of at least $2.1 million and the shuttering of its business.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091201/pystar-annihilation-postponed/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20091031/weekend-update-10-31-09%e2%80%94heartbreaks-heart-trobs-and-heart-attacks/ http://allthingsd.com/20091031/weekend-update-10-31-09%e2%80%94heartbreaks-heart-trobs-and-heart-attacks/#comments Sat, 31 Oct 2009 19:10:44 +0000 Drake Martinet http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=27914

BoomTown’s week began onstage in front of thousands of chanting women. No, Kara wasn’t filling in for Oprah; she was doing something much cooler. She got snagged to moderate a panel entitled “Changing the World Through the Web” at Maria Shriver’s six-year-strong Women’s Conference. Kara’s panel included a group of VIPs from Facebook, Kiva, Blue State Digital–and the Twitterific Ashton Kutcher. With “Mission: Kutcher” accomplished, Kara followed up with the complicated world of MicroHoo and offered analysis on the still-pending search deal. Moral of the story: Commentators should give it time, and Carol Bartz should quit with the Jerry Yang jabs. BoomTown rounded out the week at TEDMED. The conference covered the scalpel’s edge of med tech. And yes, in case you were wondering, synthetic skin feels gross.

Digital Daily covered the real-time search war early in the week when Microsoft’s Bing search folks announced a nonexclusive deal with Twitter to feed on its data stream. The deal did put Bing out front for once, but no one knows if the new info source will turn into profits for either search group. In a post foreshadowing a grisly murder, John reported results from a ChangeWave research study that placed the iPhone within striking distance of overtaking the Blackberry from Research in Motion (RIMM) in the smart-phone market. Okay, maybe it wasn’t that grisly, but it’s Halloween. Digital Daily rounded out the week by adding the iPhone to the pantheon of cat, dragon, rat and rooster that occupies the rim of your Chinese restaurant placemat. Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone officially made it to China this week, though without its signature Wi-Fi, and at a much heftier price point.

Peter Kafka lives at the crossroads of media and tech, and that’s exactly where he was almost run down by the Windows 7 “Family Guy” episode. Microsoft (MSFT) apparently bailed out of the deal when it took a closer look at what was actually inside. From the “not so fast” files, Peter covered a report from Interpublic Group (IPG) noting that ad revenue isn’t quite as sunny as some have suggested. Grim economic times caught up to AllThingsD’s big brother late in the week when The Wall Street Journal closed its Boston bureau. The move resulted in nine job losses, despite significant resources being poured into the paper by parent News Corp. (NWS).

The leaves are changing color over at Personal Technology, and Walt sensed that chill in the air meant it was time for his annual fall computer-buying guide. Operating-system choice was a big discussion; but he also touched on the latest must-haves in the memory, graphics, processor and form-factor categories. With a cup of Earl Grey tea to fend off the autumn chill, Walt trudged out to Mossberg’s Mailbox this week and came back with a fistful of letters. He dutifully replied to a question about migrating Microsoft files to a Mac running windows, offered clarification on the Windows 7 upgrade process, and weighed in on the rumor of a pending Apple device below a laptop but above an iPhone.

Katie finished it all off with a deep dive on the two latest netbooks. The HP (HP) Mini 31 and the Nokia (NOK) Booklet 3G both offer high style compared with their competitors, and each boast much higher screen resolutions than previous models. Though she came down on the side of the Nokia, Katie remarked that neither option would disappoint.

Bundle up as you head out for tricking and treating, and learn from Weekend Update’s mistakes. Remember to check and make sure that scary face is actually a mask before you bring that new friend home.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091031/weekend-update-10-31-09%e2%80%94heartbreaks-heart-trobs-and-heart-attacks/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20091028/operating-systems-offer-new-choices-in-pc-shopping/ http://allthingsd.com/20091028/operating-systems-offer-new-choices-in-pc-shopping/#comments Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:02:04 +0000 Walter S. Mossberg http://ptech.allthingsd.com/?p=1061 Now that both Microsoft and Apple have finally shipped the new versions of their operating systems, Windows 7 and Snow Leopard, respectively, it’s time for my annual fall computer-buying guide.

This guide stresses laptops, which have become the prevalent choice, but most of its specs also apply to desktops. As always, it is aimed at average consumers doing typical tasks, such as Web surfing, email, social networking, word processing, photos, video and music. It doesn’t apply to businesses, hard-core gamers or serious media producers—groups that need specialized or heftier hardware.

Consumers shopping for new computers this fall have a wide variety of choices with the new operating systems pre-installed, making the machines faster and better. Windows PCs are no longer burdened with the disliked Vista OS.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that the Windows hardware makers and retailers generally are trying to nudge you to spend more. They are anxious to guide consumers away from the popular, but low-profit, stripped-down netbooks to somewhat larger Windows 7 laptops from which they can make more money. This larger-size category goes by a variety of names, which can be confusing.

Windows vs. Mac: The arrival of Windows 7 makes PCs from Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Dell (DELL) and others much better choices than their Vista-equipped predecessors were. Microsoft (MSFT) has closed most of the gap with Apple’s (AAPL) Mac OS X operating system. Also, Windows PCs are often priced hundreds of dollars lower than Macs, and offer many more choices.

But Apple’s hardware is stylish and sturdy, and, in my tests, Macs usually boot faster than Windows machines. Plus, Apple’s chain of retail stores offers a better buying experience and strong post-purchase support. Also, in my view, Apple’s built-in software still has the edge. Snow Leopard is fast and reliable. And it comes with a full suite of excellent built-in programs, including email, photo and video software. Microsoft has stripped Windows 7 of such programs. Some PC makers have restored some or all of these in certain models, although I consider Apple’s counterparts better. Another huge plus: The Mac isn’t susceptible to the vast majority of viruses and spyware.

Cost: Prices on Windows PCs are creeping upward. You can buy a Windows PC for under $500, but many stores are pushing costlier models. And those $250 netbooks are much scarcer. Now, they typically run between $300 and $450. Apple has mostly stuck with its same, higher, prices, though it has boosted the specs on many models. The cheapest Mac desktop, the minimalist Mac mini, is $599. The cheapest Mac laptop, the new MacBook, is $999. The heart of Apple’s line starts at $1,199.

New category: Windows PC makers this season are pushing a category of laptop that is meant to fit between a netbook and a full-size laptop. It goes by a variety of confusing names, such as “ultrathin” or “thin and light,” though these models are often no thinner or lighter than some laptops of the past. They typically cost between $500 and $800, and often have 13-inch screens.

Memory: All Macs come with at least two gigabytes of memory, which is plenty for running Snow Leopard well. Mainstream Windows PCs have at least three gigabytes. But the cheapest Windows machines sometimes come with less. I recommend at least two gigabytes.

64-bit: PCs have long been based on something called a 32-bit architecture, but many models now use a 64-bit architecture, allowing properly written software to use more memory and run faster. If possible, buy a 64-bit computer, which is likely to dominate eventually, even though some software and add-on hardware may be incompatible at first.

Graphics: The new operating systems allow software makers to speed up some tasks by offloading them from the main processor onto the graphics chip. So, if possible, get a “discrete” graphics processor, which has its own memory. Otherwise, find a potent “integrated” graphics chip, which shares your main memory.

Processor: Mainstream Windows PCs sport fast, dual-core processors from Intel (INTC) or its rival, AMD (AMD). These pack the equivalent of two brains onto one chip. But many lower-price Windows PCs have slower processors, such as the Intel Atom, which are best suited for light duty. Apple models all use Intel’s dual-core processors, except for the highest-priced desktops, which come with quad-core chips.

Hard disks: A 250-gigabyte hard disk should be the minimum on most PCs. On a netbook, look for at least a 160-gigabyte disk. Solid-state disks are faster and use less battery power, but often add hundreds of dollars to the price tag.

Touch: Windows 7 lets you control the computer by touching the screen with your fingers, and some PC makers add their own touch-screen features. But this only works fully with newer types of touch screens, adding cost. Make sure any touch-screen model you buy has a full multitouch screen that supports all Windows 7 gestures. Apple uses the laptop touch pad, or its new mouse, as the multitouch, finger-gesture mechanism, instead of the screen.

As always, don’t buy more machine than you need.

Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091028/operating-systems-offer-new-choices-in-pc-shopping/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20091028/running-windows-programs-on-macs/ http://allthingsd.com/20091028/running-windows-programs-on-macs/#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 23:57:15 +0000 Walter S. Mossberg http://mailbox.allthingsd.com/?p=479 If I purchased an Apple Mac that runs both Apple’s OS and Microsoft Windows, is there a way to move my Windows files and applications over to the Mac side? If that was done, would those applications need to be run in Windows? Is there a way to “convert” them so they could run under the Apple OS?

A: Windows programs cannot be “converted” to run directly in the Mac operating system, which is called Snow Leopard. But, if you use virtualization software like Parallels or VMware fusion, and install Windows, then a Windows program like Microsoft Outlook can run simultaneously with your Mac programs. Technically, you are running it in Windows, but the two operating systems are active at the same time. With both of these virtualization products, you can even hide the entire Windows desktop, so that the Windows program you are running simply occupies a window on your Mac like any Mac program does. You don’t even notice that Windows is running.

In the case of files you created in Windows, the situation is even simpler. Most of the common types of files consumers use—including Microsoft Office documents, MP3 music files, MP4 video files, JPG picture files, text files, Adobe PDF files, and others—can be run in native Macintosh programs without conversion and without the need to run Windows programs. So you can just copy them to the Mac side and use them in Mac programs like iPhoto, iTunes, or the native Mac version of Microsoft Office, which uses the same file formats as the Windows version.

If you have an unusual or proprietary Windows file for which there isn’t an equivalent program on the Mac, you would run it in a Windows program, as described above.

If I am planning to upgrade a Windows XP machine to Windows 7, can I buy the upgrade copy of 7 or must I buy the full version?

A: According to Microsoft’s Web site, XP is one of the older versions of Windows upon which you can indeed indeed use the less expensive upgrade versions of Windows 7. The company’s online store says: “All editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista qualify you to upgrade. So, if you’re running either on your PC today, buy a package labeled ‘Upgrade’.”

I’ve been holding out (for what feels like forever) on purchasing a Netbook because I read that Apple was coming out with one. Can you tell me anything about when they might really begin selling them?

A: Apple executives have said repeatedly and emphatically that they don’t plan to offer a netbook, which is essentially a cheap, small laptop. Instead, Apple is widely believed to be working on a small slate or tablet device that would be controlled via a fingertip touch screen. This would be sort of like a larger iPhone or iPod Touch. The company hasn’t confirmed that such a product is in the works, but many analysts and Apple bloggers predict it will debut early next year.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online for free at the All Things Digital web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091028/running-windows-programs-on-macs/feed/ 3 http://allthingsd.com/20091021/apples-new-imac-macbook-grow-better-brighter/ http://allthingsd.com/20091021/apples-new-imac-macbook-grow-better-brighter/#comments Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:02:03 +0000 Walter S. Mossberg http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20091021/apples-new-imac-macbook-grow-better-brighter/ This is the week when Microsoft finally starts selling Windows 7, its much-improved successor to the disappointing Vista version of Windows. PC makers, who have suffered from Vista’s poor reputation, will begin touting models that come with Windows 7, which I praised in a detailed review earlier this month.

But Microsoft’s (MSFT) historic rival, Apple (AAPL), isn’t sitting still. After releasing its own new operating system, Snow Leopard, in August, Apple this week is rolling out new versions of two of the best- known Macs: its iconic all-in-one iMac desktop, and its least-expensive laptop, the MacBook.

Though both new Macs sport important improvements, they are evolutionary, not revolutionary, and neither follows the industry trend toward bargain-basement prices. The MacBook is still $999, and the iMac still starts at $1,199, though the company is giving users more power and features at those same price points. You can pay much less for laptops and desktops from competitors like Dell (DELL) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ).

Apple is, however, introducing one revolutionary product this week: a $69 mouse called the Magic Mouse. It’s the first mouse I’ve seen whose entire surface acts like a laptop trackpad, and allows fingertip multitouch gestures for scrolling and flipping through lists, photos and Web pages on the screen, while still performing traditional cursor movements and clicking. This mouse comes with the new iMac and will be usable on most other Macs as well, once Apple offers a software update for them. It worked well for me.

I’ve been testing these new computers for a few days, and I can recommend both. The new iMacs have spectacular screens that are larger and sport much higher resolutions than those on their predecessors. They also add more memory capacity, bigger hard disks and faster processors.

The new $999, 13″ MacBook now includes most of the key features of the similar-sized MacBook Pro, which costs $200 more. These include a large multitouch trackpad, significantly enhanced battery life, and a brighter screen. Despite its lower price, the lowly MacBook comes with a 56% larger hard disk (250 gigabytes versus 160) than the Pro model.

The New iMacs

Apple has kept the basic design of the iMac, which looks like a stand-alone monitor but has a powerful computer built in. But the new models have larger, wider screens that have been re-sized to match up with high-definition video. The $1,199 base model has a 21.5″ screen, compared to the old 20″ screen, and has 17% higher resolution.

The highest-priced models, at $1,699 and $1,999, have huge 27″ screens, versus 24 inches for the older models, and they have a 60% increase in resolution.

The $1,199 base iMac has 4 gigabytes of memory, double the amount in the prior base model, and a 500 gigabyte hard disk, up from 320 gigabytes. The costlier editions have a one terabyte hard disk, which is roughly 1,000 gigabytes. The top model has a more powerful graphics card and a heavy-duty processor.

All the iMacs now have slots for SD flash memory cards, and the large-screen models can act as external monitors.

In my tests, using a 27″ model, the machine was fast and the screen was brilliant at displaying hi-res photos and high-definition video. Its width allowed me to treat it like two monitors, with, say a Microsoft Word document on the left and a Web page on the right.

One downside: the $1,499 model now has a smaller screen—21.5″ versus 24″—though it has a larger hard disk and better graphics card.

The New MacBook

This 13″ laptop, like its predecessor, is shiny white plastic, but has been redesigned to have more-rounded edges and a rubbery non-slip bottom. It now has the Pro’s large Apple trackpad, which acts as both a huge mouse button and a surface for fingertip gestures like two-finger scrolling, and resizing and rotating photos. It’s still 1.08″ thick—but is a bit longer and wider than the older model, though it weighs less: 4.7 pounds versus 5 pounds.

Apple has dropped the FireWire port from this machine, as well as its ability to be run via a remote control. And it still lacks an SD card slot. But it now has a large sealed battery that Apple claims can last up to 7 hours between charges. On my tough battery test, where I turn off all power-saving features and play music constantly, the MacBook lasted just over five hours. In normal use, I estimate it could easily top six hours.

In my tests, this MacBook was fast and reliable using a wide variety of programs. It started up cold in a mere 22 seconds, and was ready to go after a restart, with several programs running, in 44 seconds. For anyone on a budget, it’s a better deal than the 13″ MacBook Pro, especially considering its larger hard disk.

These new models now round out a full line of refreshed Macs, but they will face stiff new competition from a horde of PCs running the new and better version of Windows.

Find all of Walt Mossberg’s columns and videos online, free, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091021/apples-new-imac-macbook-grow-better-brighter/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20091021/mossbergs-mailbox-15/ http://allthingsd.com/20091021/mossbergs-mailbox-15/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:42:02 +0000 Walter S. Mossberg http://mailbox.allthingsd.com/20091021/mossbergs-mailbox-15/ (See Corrections & Amplifications item below.)

I have a vision problem and can barely read low-contrast print, even the light colors on your Web site. Any ideas for how I and others can solve this problem? I use a Mac and the Firefox Web browser.

A: If your Mac is running the Leopard or Snow Leopard operating systems, you can use an onscreen slider control or keyboard commands to enhance the contrast. You can even switch the display to white-on-black, which really boosts the effect. This works system-wide. These settings are found in System Preferences, under the Universal Access preference, in the tab called “Seeing,” in the section called “Display.”

The new Windows 7 also has a similar feature that applies a “high contrast theme” when you press a certain key combination. It can be enabled or disabled in the Control Panel, under Ease of Access. You click on “Ease of Access Center,” and then “Make the computer easier to see.”

Where can I download the Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade edition for my Vista Home Premium computer?

A: Windows 7 can be downloaded at http://store.microsoft.com/home.aspx. And, after you’ve installed it, you can upgrade to higher versions anytime, if you like, for a fee. This is called the Windows Anytime Upgrade, and is explained at this site: http://bit.ly/VrV58.

Do you know if the new Windows 7 Home Premium will be offered at less than the retail price of $120 to current Vista PC owners who wish to upgrade?

A: That $120 price is the upgrade price for Vista owners moving to Windows 7 Home Premium, though of course some retailers might discount it. The “full,” or non-upgrade, edition of Home Premium lists for $200. Microsoft did run a sale on Windows 7 pre-orders earlier this year, but that’s over.

You can also get a Windows 7 upgrade from participating PC makers free, or for a nominal fee, if you buy a new PC equipped with Vista before the end of January, 2010, or bought one after June 26, 2009. For the latter offer, consult: http://bit.ly/rjAz4.

You can find Mossberg’s Mailbox, and my other columns, online, free, at the All Things Digital web site, http://walt.allthingsd.com.

Corrections & Amplifications

An earlier version of this column erroneously stated that Windows 7 had to be purchased on a disk.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091021/mossbergs-mailbox-15/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20091020/big-apple/ http://allthingsd.com/20091020/big-apple/#comments Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:00:46 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=27024

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091020/big-apple/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20091020/apple-updates/ http://allthingsd.com/20091020/apple-updates/#comments Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:10:28 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=26958 The Apple store went offline Tuesday morning and when it returned, it did so with a groaning board of new hardware, including a range of aluminum and edge-to-edge glass iMacs, Mac minis, a 13-inch unibody polycarbonate MacBook and a wireless, multitouch “Magic Mouse.”

The new iMacs boast LED-backlit 21.5- and 27-inch widescreen displays in an edge-to-edge glass design and all aluminum enclosure. They’re available with Intel (INTC) Core 2 Duo processors starting at 3.06 GHz, and Core i5 and i7 quad-core processors for even better performance. The low-end model is priced at $1,199, the same as the past generation, but its high-end sibling is now $200 cheaper, at $1,999.

The new MacBook features an 13.3-inch LED backlit display, a multitouch trackpad, and a $999 price tag. Though still housed in white polycarbonate plastic, it features an updated unibody design borrowed from the MacBook Pro.

The successor to the Mighty Mouse, Magic Mouse, eliminates mechanical buttons, instead, employing the same multitouch surface found on the iPhone, iPod touch, and Mac notebook trackpads, allowing users to navigate their desktops with simple gesture commands.

Accompanying the Magic Mouse is a a new Apple Remote. It’s got a new design and is, predictably, housed in aluminum.

Finally, Apple (AAPL) also updated the Mac mini. While its design is largely identical to that of its predecessor, it offers far more storage. Starting at $599, the entry-level Mac mini features a faster 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, a 160GB hard drive, five USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800, Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and a SuperDrive.

There’s also a new $999 Mac mini that’s specially configured with a Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server. It’s outfitted with two 500GB hard drives for a total of 1TB of server storage.

Quite a refresh and one analysts are already crowing about. In a bulletin released after the announcement, Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster said Apple’s new machines will undoubtedly improve the company’s prospects for the December quarter.

“We expect the new iMacs, and to a lesser degree the new Mac minis, to help the desktop category rebound in the Dec. quarter,” Munster wrote. “In other words, the headwind that existed in the Sept. quarter due to aging Mac desktops has now turned into a tailwind for Mac units in the Dec. quarter….Bottom Line: Street Mac numbers may also be conservative if positive trends continue coupled with new Macs in the quarter.”

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091020/apple-updates/feed/ 4 http://allthingsd.com/20091020/apple-updates-2/ http://allthingsd.com/20091020/apple-updates-2/#comments Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:10:28 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=26958 The Apple store went offline Tuesday morning and when it returned, it did so with a groaning board of new hardware, including a range of aluminum and edge-to-edge glass iMacs, Mac minis, a 13-inch unibody polycarbonate MacBook and a wireless, multitouch “Magic Mouse.”

The new iMacs boast LED-backlit 21.5- and 27-inch widescreen displays in an edge-to-edge glass design and all aluminum enclosure. They’re available with Intel (INTC) Core 2 Duo processors starting at 3.06 GHz, and Core i5 and i7 quad-core processors for even better performance. The low-end model is priced at $1,199, the same as the past generation, but its high-end sibling is now $200 cheaper, at $1,999.

The new MacBook features an 13.3-inch LED backlit display, a multitouch trackpad, and a $999 price tag. Though still housed in white polycarbonate plastic, it features an updated unibody design borrowed from the MacBook Pro.

The successor to the Mighty Mouse, Magic Mouse, eliminates mechanical buttons, instead, employing the same multitouch surface found on the iPhone, iPod touch, and Mac notebook trackpads, allowing users to navigate their desktops with simple gesture commands.

Accompanying the Magic Mouse is a a new Apple Remote. It’s got a new design and is, predictably, housed in aluminum.

Finally, Apple (AAPL) also updated the Mac mini. While its design is largely identical to that of its predecessor, it offers far more storage. Starting at $599, the entry-level Mac mini features a faster 2.26 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, a 160GB hard drive, five USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800, Nvidia GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and a SuperDrive.

There’s also a new $999 Mac mini that’s specially configured with a Mac OS X Snow Leopard Server. It’s outfitted with two 500GB hard drives for a total of 1TB of server storage.

Quite a refresh and one analysts are already crowing about. In a bulletin released after the announcement, Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster said Apple’s new machines will undoubtedly improve the company’s prospects for the December quarter.

“We expect the new iMacs, and to a lesser degree the new Mac minis, to help the desktop category rebound in the Dec. quarter,” Munster wrote. “In other words, the headwind that existed in the Sept. quarter due to aging Mac desktops has now turned into a tailwind for Mac units in the Dec. quarter….Bottom Line: Street Mac numbers may also be conservative if positive trends continue coupled with new Macs in the quarter.”

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091020/apple-updates-2/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20091019/apple-beats-street/ http://allthingsd.com/20091019/apple-beats-street/#comments Mon, 19 Oct 2009 20:37:07 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=26892 Apple’s September quarter saw, among other things, the release of Snow Leopard, the latest upgrade to its OS X operating system and the first public appearance of CEO Steve Jobs, who’d been on a medical leave of absence for a liver transplant. It was also the first full period since the company launched the iPhone 3GS, in late June.

No wonder it was a blowout quarter.

After market close Monday, Apple reported a fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $1.67 billion, or $1.82 a share, on revenue of $9.87 billion. That topped the estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who’d expected the company to earn $1.42 a share on revenue of $9.2 billion.

The company sold 3.05 million Macs during the quarter, a 17 percent increase over last year. It sold 10.2 million iPods, an eight percent decline from the year-ago quarter.

And iPhones? Apple (AAPL) sold 7.4 million of those–seven percent more than during the same period last year. So much for those supply-chain issues that some analysts warned might undermine iPhone sales.

“We are thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter,” said CEO Jobs. “We’ve got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010.” [Editor's Note: "...really great new products"--is that code for a tablet?]

Apple shares, which closed at $189.86 today, are spiking as I write this. At $203.90, they’re up more than seven percent in extended trading.

Looking ahead to its fiscal first quarter, Apple estimates it will earn between $1.70 and $1.78 a share on revenue in a range of $11.3 billion to $11.6 billion. That’s comically lower than the $1.91 a share on $11.45 billion in sales that analysts are forecasting. But as today’s results clearly demonstrate, Apple subscribes to the underpromise-and-over-deliver school of guidance theory, so there’s likely little cause for concern.

So, to recap: Apple sold more Macs and more iPhones than in any previous quarter in the company’s history. Before the holiday quarter. And in midst of the worst economy we’ve seen in 50 years.

Notes From the Earnings Call:

• Apple COO Tim Cook and CFO Peter Oppenheimer are handling the earnings call. CEO Steve Jobs will not be attending.
• Oppenheimer says this was Apple’s second-highest quarterly revenue ever. Highest-ever operating margin. “We are thrilled with these record-breaking results, particularly given the economic environment around us.” Obviously.
• Macs are showing “fantastic momentum,” says Oppenheimer. Sales have outpaced the market in 19 of the past 20 quarters. Quarterly sales were up 17 percent; portable sales, 35 percent. Interesting: 42 percent growth in Asia.
• Moving on to iPods: Sales were down to 10.2 million from 11 million a year ago. But iPod touch sales doubled. MP3 market share in the U.S. is now more than 70 percent (according to NPD, I think).
• iPhone sales were up seven percent. Apple will begin selling iPhones in China later this month. More than 85,000 apps in App Store. Two billion downloads.
• Apple opened 15 new stores during the quarter. Now has 273. Will soon open first two stores in France, including one at the Louvre.
• Moving on to the Q&A. Asked about those iPhone 3GS supply issues I mentioned earlier, Cook acknowledges that demand did outstrip supply in a number of countries. But the situation improved “markedly” in September. How are things looking for China? Cook: “I would have liked to have had more, honestly, because we were still short in some countries at the end of the quarter.”
• Apple is obviously very excited about the iPhone’s impending debut in China. “There’s a good opportunity, and we’re really excited to get started,” says Cook. “It’s the largest market in the world in terms of total phones.”
• No comment on the broader economy. “We just spend our time projecting our business and leave the economy to the economists.”
• Does Apple worry about iPhone rivals? Android? Not really, says Cook. “We feel very good about suiting up and competing against anyone.” Our competitors are still trying to catch up with the first iPhone, he adds.
• Snow Leopard? Cook says the company’s been “pleasantly surprised” by sales of Apple’s latest OS.
• How does Apple benefit from carrier-exclusivity iPhone deals? Cook says carriers with exclusivity deals are willing to invest more in the platform and that means greater innovation. Visual voicemail is an example of that. That said, he adds, “We’ve found no lack of people wanting to sell iPhones, frankly.”
• International store revenue up more than 20 percent, on average.
• More on iPhone supply issues. Cook insists this is not a component issue, though he notes that silicon can sometimes be hard to get. “We feel good about our position now.”
• And still more on iPhone supply issues: How many iPhones would Apple have sold if it had an adequate supply? Impossible to say, really, Cook says, adding that 3GS units were in short supply virtually everywhere in September.
• Enterprise demand for the iPhone is very strong. It’s either being deployed or already in use at some 50 percent of Fortune 100 companies. Same with Europe and the FT 100. Widely used in higher ed and government as well.
• But perhaps not widely enough. Asked about institutional sales, Cook says Apple isn’t seeing much stimulus funding. The company’s worried about state spending. Says Cook, “We may see more this quarter, but it’s too early to tell.”

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091019/apple-beats-street/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20091019/wall-street-hopes-apple-doesnt-fall-far-from-the-tree/ http://allthingsd.com/20091019/wall-street-hopes-apple-doesnt-fall-far-from-the-tree/#comments Mon, 19 Oct 2009 07:09:44 +0000 Kara Swisher http://kara.allthingsd.com/?p=19512

When Apple reports its fourth-quarter earnings today, investors are hoping–actually, expecting–that the iconic computer company will look a lot now as it always has.

In other words, don’t go changing and it will please us.

Wall Street is anticipating, as it has throughout the econalypse, another estimate-beating performance from Apple (AAPL).

While Apple has signaled that it will be making up to $1.23 per share for the quarter, the “whisper” number for the quarter is much higher.

Revenue is also expected to rise strongly to upward of $9 billion.

The reason for all this happy talk? Strong sales of all of Apple’s innovative hardware products, including iPods, iPhones, and computers, as well as the big, fat profit margins that came with upgrades by consumers this past quarter to its new Snow Leopard operating-system software.

And, of course, the stock has been showing all this investor love by–as BoomTown has noted recently–defying gravity.

Apple shares are up just above 120 percent since the beginning of the year.

The company closed at $188.05 on Friday, giving it a market valuation of $168.5 billion.

Whether it will continue going up is a big question for investors, although Apple is entering the holiday season, when it typically does well.

Plus, many are expecting the company to goose excitement for 2010 with the announcement of its secret-but-everyone-knows tablet offering.

That said, Microsoft (MSFT) is also officially launching a new operating system this week–Windows 7–which is expected to give Apple some clear competition.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091019/wall-street-hopes-apple-doesnt-fall-far-from-the-tree/feed/ 0 http://allthingsd.com/20091017/weekend-update-10-17-09%e2%80%94blogs-drugs-and-rock-and-roll/ http://allthingsd.com/20091017/weekend-update-10-17-09%e2%80%94blogs-drugs-and-rock-and-roll/#comments Sat, 17 Oct 2009 19:30:09 +0000 Drake Martinet http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=26810 For those about to rock, All Things Digital salutes you. The world of tech reporting may, at times, seem like all nerds and semiconductors. But on weeks like this one, the life of the tech journalist/blogger seems wilder than Keith Moon at Mardi Gras. Okay, maybe that’s an overstatement, but highlights from BoomTown this week feature tequila, cocaine, and a trip to The Strip, blogger style.

Kara and the Boomtown blog were in New York this week and started the party early with Bob Pittman–well known media and Web exec. Kara wasn’t dancing on the tables, but did admit that Pittman’s new venture, a top-shelf tequila, was plenty tasty. BoomTown went straight from the sauce to the nose candy in a short interview with Ford’s (F) social media guru, Scott Monty. While Monty might have been using cocaine as a metaphor for a new kind of marketing that changes consumption of all other marketing, Weekend Update gets his subtext. As if BoomTown didn’t have enough hardcore “cred,” Kara headed off to fabulous Las Vegas for the annual meeting of the blogs at BlogWorld. Nothing that happens in Vegas this weekend will stay there–not with thousands of bloggers roaming the Strip in search of a new meme to latch on to.

Digital Daily trapped a Snow Leopard early in the week. John reported on Apple’s (APPL) admission that the Snow Leopard version of OS X occasionally overdelivers on its promise to free-up disk space. In certain circumstances, the furry filcher can sneak in and make off with all your user data. If it was data loss you were looking for though, no one beats the good folks at Danger who, up until recently, housed all kinds of personal data associated with the Sidekick line of smart phones. The Microsoft (MSFT) subsidiary permanently lost contact, calendar and other personal data associated with many accounts. Weekend Update thinks that Sidekick users were given fair warning, though; the company name is, after all, Danger. John rounded out the week with something unusual–good economic news from the tech sector: Intel (INTC), Google (GOOG), IBM (IBM) and AMD (AMD) were all feeling a little more flush than their prognosticators had predicted, each beating their admittedly dismal forecasts by at least a little.

MediaMemo followed up on some important stories, beginning the week with Twitter’s spam problem. Peter reported that the Web’s biggest microblogging pipeline updated its tools for trapping the flotsam and jetsam. Twitter is reportedly in talks with several leading search engines that want to feed on all that delicious real-time data. Peter also updated the readers on the tough times over at Condé Nast. This round of cuts was a little closer to the magazine publisher’s crown jewels than last week’s cuts and closings, with the layoff of at least six staffers from Vogue. Peter closed out the week with a cheeky little open letter to the Federal Trade Commission. He asked some important questions regarding the FTC’s recent obsession with bloggers and disclosure. He seems to think that most serious bloggers don’t like to sell their credibility for tiny discounts to obscure events.

Walt and Katie were all over Windows 7 this week, with help on all fronts for those making “the switch.” Before he got to that, though, Walt spent some personal tech time with some supersmart phones. He elevated Motorola’s (MOT) CLIQ and RIM’s (RIMM) BlackBerry Storm2 to the level of potential iPhone killer and praised their updated features and power as mobile computers rather than simply phones. Mossberg’s Mailbox heralded the beginning of the Windows 7 flood and was chock full of questions about upgrading and replacing some of the functionality that was built into Vista. The Great One also offered thoughts on installing Windows 7 on a virtual machine running in OS X, but couldn’t speak to the boot camp option until Apple releases more info…and the proper drivers.

Katie tested PC Mover from LapLink as an all-in-one option for moving precious data to Windows 7. While she praised the $15 program’s efficiency, she thought it was a little sleazy that it also tried to get her to purchase other programs while it had her data in its clutches. All went well, and the moral of the story is that this one-trick pony upgrade assistant was worth the minimal price tag.

Breaking News: Weekend Update is getting intermittent reports that Kara may have been kidnapped from BlogWorld by a roving band of mommybloggers in white robes, all slowly chanting “mon-eh-tize” as they piled into their Honda minivans. They may or may not have sealed her into a 30 foot-wide, saucer-shaped balloon, which could be floating westward toward the Bay Area.

If we get her back, you can look forward to another fully staffed, fully loaded week at AllThingsD.

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091017/weekend-update-10-17-09%e2%80%94blogs-drugs-and-rock-and-roll/feed/ 1 http://allthingsd.com/20091013/snow-leopard-glitch/ http://allthingsd.com/20091013/snow-leopard-glitch/#comments Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:00:08 +0000 John Paczkowski http://digitaldaily.allthingsd.com/?p=26526 Apple has finally acknowledged that a bug in its new Snow Leopard operating system can, on rare occasions, result in a catastrophic loss of data. The glitch, which first surfaced in support forums in early September, is triggered by logging in and out of a guest account and wipes the main user account of all data.

“When I logged into my MacBook Pro this morning, it was as if I had logged into my Guest Account and not my standard user profile,” one Snow Leopard user explained in Apple’s Support Discussions. “No icons on the desktop, the desktop wallpaper was the default ‘space’ photo and not the one I had assigned, no documents in the docs folder, apps behaved as if I’d never opened them before.”

Clearly, this is not what Apple (AAPL) meant when it claimed the OS would free up as much as seven gigs of space upon installation.

Obviously, this is a nasty flaw, and it’s a pity it has taken Apple this long to cop to it. But it has and, as the company told News.com yesterday, a remedy should be forthcoming. Said an Apple rep: “We are aware of the issue, which occurs only in extremely rare cases, and we are working on a fix.”

]]> http://allthingsd.com/20091013/snow-leopard-glitch/feed/ 2 http://allthingsd.com/20091007/a-windows-to-help-you-forget/ http://allthingsd.com/20091007/a-windows-to-help-you-forget/#comments Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:02:03 +0000 Walter S. Mossberg http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20091007/a-windows-to-help-you-forget/ In just two weeks, on Oct. 22, Microsoft’s long operating-system nightmare will be over. The company will release Windows 7, a faster and much better operating system than the little-loved Windows Vista, which did a lot to harm both the company’s reputation, and the productivity and blood pressure of its users. PC makers will rush to flood physical and online stores with new computers pre-loaded with Windows 7, and to offer the software to Vista owners who wish to upgrade.

With Windows 7, PC users will at last have a strong, modern successor to the sturdy and familiar, but aged, Windows XP, which is still the most popular version of Windows, despite having come out in 2001. In the high-tech world, an eight-year-old operating system is the equivalent of a 20-year-old car. While XP works well for many people, it is relatively weak in areas such as security, networking and other features more important today than when XP was designed around 1999.

After using pre-release versions of Windows 7 for nine months, and intensively testing the final version for the past month on many different machines, I believe it is the best version of Windows Microsoft (MSFT) has produced. It’s a boost to productivity and a pleasure to use. Despite a few drawbacks, I can heartily recommend Windows 7 to mainstream consumers.

Like the new Snow Leopard operating system released in August by Microsoft’s archrival, Apple (AAPL), Windows 7 is much more of an evolutionary than a revolutionary product. Its main goal was to fix the flaws in Vista and to finally give Microsoft customers a reason to move up from XP. But Windows 7 is packed with features and tweaks that make using your computer an easier and more satisfying experience.

The new taskbar shows small previews of many windows and allows for larger previews.

Windows 7 introduces real advances in organizing your programs and files, arranging your taskbar and desktop, and quickly viewing and launching the page or document you want, when you want it. It also has cool built-in touch-screen features.

It removes a lot of clutter. And it mostly banishes Vista’s main flaws—sluggishness; incompatibility with third-party software and hardware; heavy hardware requirements; and constant, annoying security warnings.

I tested Windows 7 on 11 different computers, ranging from tiny netbooks to standard laptops to a couple of big desktops. These included machines from Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Dell (DELL), Acer, Asus, Toshiba and Sony (SNE). I even successfully ran it on an Apple Macintosh laptop. On some of these machines, Windows 7 was pre-loaded. On others, I had to upgrade from an earlier version of Windows.

In most cases, the installation took 45 minutes or less, and the new operating system worked snappily and well. But, I did encounter some drawbacks and problems. On a couple of these machines, glacial start-up and reboot times reminded me of Vista. And, on a couple of others, after upgrading, key features like the display or touchpad didn’t work properly. Also, Windows 7 still requires add-on security software that has to be frequently updated. It’s tedious and painful to upgrade an existing computer from XP to 7, and the variety of editions in which Windows 7 is offered is confusing.

Finally, Microsoft has stripped Windows 7 of familiar built-in applications, such as email, photo organizing, address book, calendar and video-editing programs. These can be downloaded free of charge, but they no longer come with the operating system, though some PC makers may choose to pre-load them.

In recent years, I, like many other reviewers, have argued that Apple’s Mac OS X operating system is much better than Windows. That’s no longer true. I still give the Mac OS a slight edge because it has a much easier and cheaper upgrade path; more built-in software programs; and far less vulnerability to viruses and other malicious software, which are overwhelmingly built to run on Windows.

Now, however, it’s much more of a toss-up between the two rivals. Windows 7 beats the Mac OS in some areas, such as better previews and navigation right from the taskbar, easier organization of open windows on the desktop and touch-screen capabilities. So Apple will have to scramble now that the gift of a flawed Vista has been replaced with a reliable, elegant version of Windows.

Here are some of the key features of Windows 7.

New Taskbar: In Windows 7, the familiar taskbar has been reinvented and made taller. Instead of mainly being a place where icons of open windows temporarily appear, it now is a place where you can permanently “pin” the icons of frequently used programs anywhere along its length, and in any arrangement you choose. This is a concept borrowed from Apple’s similar feature, the Dock. But Windows 7 takes the concept further.

For each running program, hovering over its taskbar icon pops up a small preview screen showing a mini-view of that program. This preview idea was in Vista. But, in Windows 7, it has been expanded in several ways. Now, every open window in that program is included separately in the preview. If you mouse over a window in the preview screen, it appears at full size on your desktop and all other windows on the desktop become transparent—part of a feature called Aero Peek. Click on the window and it comes up, ready for use. You can even close windows from these previews, or play media in them.

I found this feature more natural and versatile than a similar feature in Snow Leopard called Dock Expose.

You can also use Aero Peek at any time to see your empty desktop, with open windows reduced to virtual panes of glass. To do this, you just hover over a small rectangle at the right edge of the taskbar.

Taskbar icons also provide Jump Lists—pop-up menus listing frequent actions or recent files used.

Desktop organization: A feature called Snap allows you to expand windows to full-screen size by just dragging them to the top of the screen, or to half-screen size by dragging them to the left or right edges of the screen. Another called Shake allows you to make all other windows but the one you’re working on disappear by simply grabbing its title bar with the mouse and shaking it several times.

File organization: In Windows Explorer, the left-hand column now includes a feature called Libraries. Each library—Documents, Music, Pictures and Videos—consolidates all files of those types regardless of which folder, or even which hard disk, they live in.

Networking: Windows 7 still isn’t quite as natural at networking as I find the Mac to be, but it’s better than Vista. For instance, now you can see all available wireless networks by just clicking on an icon in the taskbar. A new feature called HomeGroups is supposed to let you share files more easily among Windows 7 PCs on your home network. In my tests, it worked, but not consistently, and it required typing in long, arcane passwords.

Touch: Some of the same kinds of multitouch gestures made popular on the iPhone are now built into Windows 7. But these features won’t likely become popular for a while because to get the most out of them, a computer needs a special type of touch screen that goes beyond most of the ones existing now. I tested this on one such laptop, a Lenovo, and was able to move windows around, to resize and flip through photos, and more.

Speed: In my tests, on every machine, Windows 7 ran swiftly and with far fewer of the delays typical in running Vista. All the laptops I tested resumed from sleep quickly and properly, unlike in Vista. Start-up and restart times were also improved. I chose six Windows 7 laptops from different makers to compare with a new MacBook Pro laptop. The Mac still started and restarted faster than most of the Windows 7 PCs. But the speed gap has narrowed considerably, and one of the Lenovos beat the Mac in restart time.

Nagging: In the name of security, Vista put up nagging warnings about a wide variety of tasks, driving people crazy. In Windows 7, you can now set this system so it nags you only when things are happening that you consider really worth the nag. Also, Microsoft has consolidated most of the alerts from the lower-right system tray into one icon, and they seemed less frequent.

Compatibility: I tried a wide variety of third-party software and all worked fine on every Windows 7 machine. These included Mozilla Firefox; Adobe (ADBE) Reader; Google’s (GOOG) Picasa and Chrome; and Apple’s iTunes and Safari.

I also tested several hardware devices, and, unlike Vista, Windows 7 handled all but one smoothly. These included a networked H-P printer, a Canon (CAJ) camera, an iPod nano, and at least five external flash drives and hard disks. The one failure was a Verizon (VZ) USB cellular modem. Microsoft says you don’t need external software to run these, but I found it was necessary, and even then had to use a trick I found on the Web to get it to work.

System Requirements: Nearly all Vista PCs, and newer or beefier XP machines, should be able to run Windows 7 fine. Even the netbooks I tested ran it speedily, especially with the Starter Edition, which lacks some of the powerful graphics effects in the operating system. (Other netbooks will be able to run other editions.)

If you have a standard PC, called a 32-bit PC, you’ll need at least one gigabyte of memory, 16 gigabytes of free hard-disk space and a graphics system that can support Microsoft technologies called “DirectX 9 with WDDM 1.0.” You’ll also need a processor with a speed of at least one gigahertz. If you have a newer-style 64-bit PC, which can use more memory, you’ll need at least two gigabytes of memory and 20 gigabytes of free hard disk space. In either case, you should double the minimum memory specification.

Aero Peek lets you see your desktop by making your windows transparent.

Installation, editions and price: There are four editions of Windows 7 of interest to consumers. One, a limited version called Starter, comes pre-loaded on netbooks. A second, called Professional, is mainly for people who need to tap remotely into company networks (check with your company to see if you need this). A third, called Ultimate, is mainly for techies who want every feature of all other editions. Most average consumers will want Home Premium, which costs $120 for upgrades.

The system for upgrading is complicated, but Vista owners can upgrade to the exactly comparable edition of Windows 7 while keeping all files, settings and programs in place.

Unfortunately, XP owners, the biggest body of Windows users, won’t be able to do that. They’ll have to wipe out their hard disks after backing up their files elsewhere, then install Windows 7, then restore their personal files, then re-install all their programs from the original CDs or downloaded installer files. Then, they have to install all the patches and upgrades to those programs from over the years.

Microsoft includes an Easy Transfer wizard to help with this, but it moves only personal files, not programs. This painful XP upgrade process is one of the worst things about Windows 7 and will likely drive many XP owners to either stick with what they’ve got or wait and buy a new one.

In my tests, both types of installations went OK, though the latter could take a long time.

Bottom line: Windows 7 is a very good, versatile operating system that should help Microsoft bury the memory of Vista and make PC users happy.

Correction: The edition of Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system aimed at business users is called Windows 7 Professional. This week’s Personal Technology column erroneously stated it was named Business.

Write to Walter S. Mossberg at walt.mossberg@wsj.com

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