Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Smaller Than Your Palm

- 2000.09.12

Reasoning that if you can't join 'em you should beat 'em, Apple is jumping back into the PDA market with a vengeance.

For the first time since killing off the Newton line on 27 Feb. 1998, Apple will offer something smaller than a PowerBook. In this case, the unnamed product will be far smaller than any Palm or PocketPC ever - small enough for you to wear.

Working with IBM, which is moving toward 200 dot-per-inch flat panel displays, Apple can duplicate the 160x160 screen of the Palm on a 1.2" square, 133 dpi 24-bit color screen. That's small enough to wear as a watch.

In fact, sources speculate this product will be called the iWatch (or possibly Mac Tracy) and will be designed to be worn on the wrist. Rumors are it has a screen saver mode which makes is appear as a watch, either analog or digital and in a variety of styles.

The iWatch is purported to be based on the Transmeta chip and OS X in ROM, a technology which Apple is just putting the finishing touches on.

To keep battery consumption at a minimum, Apple is resurrecting bubble memory technology, something almost unheard of since the mid-1980s. Although slow compared with other popular media, the high data density of Apple's new microbubble technology will allow them to store 1 GB of information on a bubble disk built into the watch.

The entire device will be sealed just like a waterproof watch, and the battery is expected to last 4-5 years.

Communication will be exclusively via AirPort, a technology supported by all current Apple computers. In fact, the AirPort antenna will be built into the iWatch's strap - clever!

The only drawback our sources have indicated is that the minuscule screen only allows input of a single character at a time. However, Apple will supplement this with voice input using IBM's ViaVoice software. Just like Dick Tracy, we may soon be talking to our watches.

But it gets better. Using a built-in minicam, we'll actually be able to carry on videophone conversations with anyone on the Internet (well, at least Mac owners with the right hardware) or with their own iWatch - as long as both iWatch owners are within proximity of an AirPort base station.

Our insider says we'll really be blown away with pricing, which is projected at under US$100. That's right - Apple will somehow sell the whole iWatch for less than the AirPort card itself.

I guess they're going to make it up on volume.

The iWatch should be available fifth quarter 2000.

- Anne Onymus

Read more about bubble memory
Read about Linux on a wrist watch at IBM
(no, I didn't know about this before submitting this article)
Also see iWatch2: News from Apple cyborg technology section, Eolake Stobblehouse, MacCreator.

Recent Rumor Mills

Microsoft Announces Cash for Clunker PCs, 07.29. Beleaguered Microsoft, with declines in profits and market share, is offering cash for old computers to boost sales of new PCs with Windows Vista installed.
StealthMac: 2 Hardware Solutions for Mac OS X on Windows PCs, 01.26. Apple has been working on hardware to put a Mac inside a Windows PC for over a decade. The latest developments, according to our MacMole.
Apple Announces Mac OS X Licensing, 01.14. Apple decided it would rather switch policies than fight Pystar and others. OS X licensing program could change Psystar's future.
New Apple drive supports Blu-ray and HD DVD, 09.11. Tired of being second-guessed and sometimes outmaneuvered by Microsoft, Apple has embraced both next gen DVD formats with its new SuperDrive Extreme.
More in the Rumor Mill index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Mac IIfx, Mar. 1990 - This 'wicked fast' 40 MHz Mac trumped the 33 MHz DOS world.
Group of the Day: StarMax List is for anyone using Motorola StarMax Mac clones.
March 19 in LEM history: 90: Mac IIfx - 99: Fool me twice? - 01: Add FireWire, USB to older Macs - Time to replace your iMac? - 02: The Mac Challenge - Installing Linux on a low-end Mac - 03: Value of the Lombard PowerBook - Your portable should have WiFi - PowerBook 1400 upgrades - 04: The video iPod - 07: Troubleshooting an iMac - 08: Intel Mac mini value
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best Intel iMac Deals, 03.17. Used 17" from $600; 20" from $750; 24" from $825; refurb 21.5" nVidia, $999; new, $1,099; refurb Radeon, $1,299; new, $1,399; refurb 27" 3.06, $1,499; more.
Best G5 iMac Deals, 03.17. 17" 2.0 GHz, $380; 1.9 GHz iSight, $479 shipped; 20" 1.8 GHz, $509 shipped; 2.1 GHz iSight, $549 shipped.
Best Time Capsule Deals, 03.17. Close-out 500 GB, $140; new 1 TB, $279; used 2 TB simultaneous dual-band, $400; new, $455. Shipping included.
Best iPad Deals, 03.16. 16 GB iPad, $499; 32 GB, $599; 64 GB, $699; 16 GB with 3G, $629; 32 GB 3G, $729; 64 GB 3G, $829. Free ground shipping.
Best iPod classic Deals, 03.12. Used 20 GB, $119; 40 GB, $139; 60 GB, $159; 30 GB video, $129; 60 GB, $159; 80 GB, $169; refurb 120 GB, $189; new, $214; 160 GB, $228 shipped.
Best G3 iBook and AirPort Card Deals, 03.12. 366 MHz 12" clamshell, $89; 466, $125; 500 white CD, $100; 600, $199; 800 Combo, $239; 14" 900, $225.
Best Xserve Deals, 03.12. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $499; 2.0 dual G5, $599; 2.3, $749; refurb 2.26 4-core Nehalem, $2,499; new, $2,699; 8-core, $3,449; refurb 2.66, $4,299; new, $4,799; more.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2010 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.