December 2004

All times are GMT.

December 23, 2004

 * Apple Inc. has applied for a patent on technology that would allow an iPod to more likely survive a fall by detecting when it is dropping and then stop reading or writing to the hard drive inside the machine. (MacMinute)
 * The Apple Store in Pittsburgh's Shadyside neighbourhood was burglarised by two thieves on December, 2004, local time; USD 9,000 of Apple laptops are gone in just 19 seconds. (MacMinute)

December 22, 2004

 * Citibank is offering an iPod mini. Anyone who opens a Citibank EZ checking account, deposits at least USD 2,500 and pays two bills online will receive a blue or silver mini iPod. (Macsimum News)

December 21, 2004

 * Apple Inc. sues three developers for distributing over the Internet development releases of Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger", and subpoenas three sites (two rumour sites) for releasing sensitive information on an unannounced product.
 * Adobe Systems releases Adobe Illustrator 11.0.2, fixing errors involving the application unexpectedly quitting. Also, Adobe Reader 7.0 and Abobe Acrobat 7.0 are released.
 * The Omni Group releases OmniOutliner 3 beta 6. Bug fixes are mainly predominant in this beta version, which expired January 20, 2005. (MacNews.de)
 * Australia is ripe for an iTunes Music Store after many local services failed to deliver. (Macworld UK)

December 20, 2004

 * Apple releases AirPort Express Firmware 6.1.1. and AirPort Extreme Firmware 5.1.1. Hard reset behaviour, improved reliability of WDS networks upon use of WPA security, and some other issues are all resolved by the updates. (MacMinute)
 * The iPod mini is nearly impossible to get in Canada as supplies run dry. On the last shopping weekend before Christmas Day, electronics retailers across Canada ran out of iPod minis. (MacMinute)
 * Apple Inc. delays the shipment of Xsan, its storage management software, from this year to early 2005. It provided no reasons for the delay. Last month, Apple unintentionally delayed the opening of its iTunes Music Store for Canada
 * OmniWeb 5.1 beta 5 is released: errors involving input methods, URL autocompletion, bookmark synchronisation and text rendering are fixed. (Macworld News)
 * Speculation predicts that Apple is to move its European headquarters from Paris, France to London, England. The expected address is Crown Estate's and Stanhope's 1 Hanover Street in Mayfair. (Macnews.de)
 * Apple is speculated to be topping out 1 billion songs sold over the iTunes Music Store by late 2005. (MacNews.de)

December 18, 2004

 * The Wiki Information Project for Macintosh Users is officially announced at the 27th Meeting of the Beijing Macintosh User Group and goes live officially. The project was in "beta mode" as of early November 2004.

December 17, 2004

 * A CND 25 "MP3 player levy" (copyright levy) may soon be done away with after the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal ruled the levies illegal. An iPod with the levy currently costs around CND 400. (MacNN)
 * The Tokyo Apple Store turns a year old.
 * Piper Jaffray forecasts that based on Apple's announcement of 200 millions songs being downloaded from the iTunes Music Store so far, Apple is selling approximately 5.5 million songs per week, an increase of almost 2 million songs per week from last quarter. (MacMinute)
 * Apple Inc. is suing unnamed persons who leaked specific information about an unannounced product. The detailed information was posted on the Web. (MacMinute)
 * Microsoft attempts (unsuccessfully) to shut down MacSlash following an apparant incident when an anonymous poster on MacSlash posted an allegedly legitimate serial number for Windows 2003 Server Standard. MacSlash's web services provider refuses and MacSlash removes the offending code. (MacSlash)

December 16, 2004

 * Apple is planning five new confirmed retail store locations in Salt Lake City (Utah), San Antonio (Texas), Grand Rapids Michigan, Nashville (Tennessee), and Houston (Texas). All of them are in the USA. (MacMinute)
 * Apple announced that 200 million songs were sold from the iTunes Music Store.
 * Apple Inc releases Mac OS X 10.3.7.

December 15, 2004

 * Adobe pulls its recently-released security updates for Adobe Acrobat 6.0.x and Acrobat Reader 6.0.x due to potential conflicts with the PDF print function in Microsoft Office 2004. (MacNews.de)
 * Apple ads spill into Market Square subway station in San Francisco USA. (MacBidouille)

December 14, 2004

 * Apple has updated software on the iPod photo to prevent users from playing music bought from RealNetworks online music store. Real promises to look for ways to circumvent the block. (The Mac Observer)
 * Apple India releases the iPod photo and iPod U2 Special Edition in India; the iPods are available through iPod resellers and the AppleCentre in Bangalore. (Press Trust of India)

December 13, 2004

 * Penn State University recently told students to dump Microsoft Internet Explorer, and recommended alternative browsers (e.g. Safari). The university recommended the switch due to security concerns.
 * Apple releases iCal 1.5.5. which improves iSync sychronisation on Macs running Mac OS X 10.2 "Jaguar".
 * Organisers of the upcoming Grammy Awards are letting voting members hear nominated songs for free through Apple's iTunes Music Store. (MacMinute)

December 10, 2004

 * Apple will open a new mini retail store at the Galleria shopping center in St. Louis Missouri, USA at 8:00 a.m. local time on December 18 2004. (MacMinute)
 * Apple announces that the iTunes Music Store in the USA now accepts PayPal payments. The first 500,000 customers to open a new iTunes account in the US using PayPal as their method of payment before March 31, 2005, will receive five free songs. (MacMinute)
 * Francis Hwang of Downhill Battle's "U2 vs Negativeland iPod" variant of the iPod has been challenged by Apple Inc. for violating intellectual property rights. (Beijing Apple House)

December 9, 2004

 * Apple has launched a second Dashboard Widget Contest. Through January 5, 2004, developers have another chance to win a 40GB iPod and receive public recognition for their work.
 * Consumers in Wyoming seeking an extended warranty (AppleCare Protection Plan) for their iPod or Mac are being refused.
 * Apple Inc.'s iTunes Music Store has posted the top 100 songs and the top 100 albums of 2004.

December 8, 2004

 * Apple. changes its Start page for Safari users who used to use the previous AOL/Netscape version.

December 7, 2004

 * Apple Switzerland shows "Make Music on the Mac" at the Palais X-TRA in Zurich.

December 3, 2004

 * Apple Inc. releases Security Update 2004-12-02, including a number of security enhancements and updated components for Mac OS X. It is available for 10.3.6 Client, 10.3.6 Server, 10.2.8 Client, and 10.2.8 Server.
 * Apple would open a mini retail store in Bethesda, Maryland, USA on December 11, 2004.

December, 2004

 * Apple Inc. opens the Canadian iTunes Music Store with a one-day delay.
 * Band Aid's Do They Know It's Christmas? recording is now available on the UK iTunes Music Store after Apple Inc reaches an agreement with the charity; GBP 0.79 is the price, with an additional GBP 0.70 donated for each song to the Band Aid Charitable Trust.