Tidbits: X1900 ATI Video Card, MXM in iMac, Parallels for Mac Pro, Multifunction

[Macmaniac]

I am shocked so few people have commented on this story. The patent is quite remarkable. Its like a blank touch screen which can become an iPod,phone, camera, etc which is incredible!

 

[asphalt-proof]

I doubt that this patent would apply to anything that they are going to release on the 12th. Think about it... would they take the chance of applying for a patent at the last minute, right before release of the product, and have that patent pre-empted by someone else? I really doubt it. I believe that this is something that we will see, if ever, much later on.

 

[tny]

Vista RC1 does not work with the latest Parallels beta, however, Beta 2 does seem to work according to reports on the Parallels forum.

I can confirm that Vista Beta 2 (Public Beta) does work in Parallels on a MacBook. There seems to have been differences in implementation of ACPI between Beta 2 and RC1 . Note that RC1 just came out, so the Parallels folks haven't had time to work with it yet.

 

[TBi]

ARS Technica mentioned something about maybe a new cube. With the iMac 24" using MXM cards it is conceivable that if there is a new cube it will use MXM.

 

[rtdunham]

I doubt that this patent would apply to anything that they are going to release on the 12th. Think about it... would they take the chance of applying for a patent at the last minute, right before release of the product, and have that patent pre-empted by someone else? I really doubt it. I believe that this is something that we will see, if ever, much later on.

i think if you read the reports you'll see that apple filed for this patent in march. its being released days before sept 12 might in fact simply represent good planning and good timing. or not.

 

[FreeState]

I am shocked so few people have commented on this story. The patent is quite remarkable. Its like a blank touch screen which can become an iPod,phone, camera, etc which is incredible!

I so agree... Im so excited for this... way more than anything else Apple has put out for a while. If anything even close to this comes out Tuesday I have my credit card ready and my fingers twitching.

 

[Fatal Darkness]

The PCIe PowerMacs DID have graphics cards available despite what the original poster wrote but AFAIK only from Apple. Go to the Apple store online and search for 6600 and you'll get the PCIe G5 card as an option.

Which were the exact same cards the PowerMacs shipped with. (Unless you had the one low end model with the LE card) these were not upgrades, more like replacement parts. Neither the 7800GT nor the Quadro FX4500, the only other cards that would work with the machines, have ever been available outside of BTO. This screwed over a lot of people who bought in good faith that they'd be able to upgrade later; not to mention that whole Aperture fiasco.

Not only that, but with earlier PowerMacs you could also buy the Bluetooth and Airport cards at any Apple store and pop them in yourself, but they decided to take away that ability with the PCIe/970MP PowerMacs too.

 

[Multimedia]

ATI Plans To Offer A 970MP PowerMac Compatible PCIe Card Soon

Which were the exact same cards the PowerMacs shipped with. (Unless you had the one low end model with the LE card) these were not upgrades, more like replacement parts. Neither the 7800GT nor the Quadro FX4500, the only other cards that would work with the machines, have ever been available outside of BTO. This screwed over a lot of people who bought in good faith that they'd be able to upgrade later; not to mention that whole Aperture fiasco.

Not only that, but with earlier PowerMacs you could also buy the Bluetooth and Airport cards at any Apple store and pop them in yourself, but they decided to take away that ability with the PCIe/970MP PowerMacs too.

Someone recently posted here that ATI Plans To Offer A 970MP PowerMac Compatible PCIe Card Soon. I hope it's true 'cause I'm sitting on two of them. Don't see leaving my Quad G5 before Apple offers 8 cores in a Mac Pro. The 4 core Mac Pro is NOT significatly faster than the G5 Quad for what I run all the time.

 

[GreatOne08]

I love parallel!

 

[4np]

true video ipod / iPhone / etc

Mark my words, this 'multifunctional device' is the true 'iPod Video' device we have all be waiting for. The patent shows an iPod like device with full touch screen and a small antenna. This resembles earlier iPhone-like patents which also showed a device sporting a full touchscreen and the true iPod video which is rumored to have a full touch screen as well. I have always suspected the true video iPod and the iPhone to be the same device (because of the touchscreen similarities); and now this patent pops up as well...

I think this 'multifunctional' device will be the next generation iPod; being able to play audio and video, having cellphone capabilities and -probably- some PDA type functionality. This patent also mentions GPS, Radio, Remote, Camera and Game functions as part of this device.

We also know apple has switched from portalplayer to another manufacturer which would require another iPod OS; perhaps some lightweight version of Leopard? Have a look at the patent images:

The multifunctional device (image 1)

The multifunctional device (image 2)

The multifunctional device (image 3)

The 'iPhone' patents

The 'iPod Video' patents (multi-touch screen)

Apple's proximity detection patents

Greenstork also mentioned some previous stories that might very well relate to this 'multifunctional', 'true iPod video 6G' device:

The pieces are starting to fit together.

Apple & Intel developing the UDI connector cables, fully compatible with HDMI:
http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=1586

Apple rumored to be releasing a streaming media device:
http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2016

I'm positive this is the long rumored 'true video iPod' and/or 'iPhone', along with a lot of new functionality. Steve Jobs has been very enthousastic about the 'iPhone' to his inner circle. Wouldn't you be very enthousiastic if you knew this device was coming? I certainly would be...