Year: 2001

An interesting O’Reily Network article discusses how an ISP in Maine is providing wireless Internet access using 802.11 technology (not 802.11b, as AirPort uses) along Maine’s coast and other areas where broadband is not available. While the upfront cost is relatively high, users akin to connecting at no more than 28.8Kbps are able to share a T1 for access.

MacUser UK has “confirmed” that Apple will introduce updated portables on October 16. The site speculates that the iBook will get a boost to a 600MHz while the PowerBook G4 will be ugraded to 667MHz. Other details are less certain, although it’s rumored that the CD-ROM iBook may be dropped due to low demand, and that the PowerBook G4’s DVD-ROM drive will be replaced by a CD-RW. The October 16 announcement date is in line with what we at MacMinute have been hearing.

SonicBlue has posted a 2.10 firmware update for its RioVolt MP3/CD player. The update reduces the gap between tracks, reduces mechanical noise between tracks, reduces disk recognition time, and adds support Japanese Katagana fonts.

In a meeting by a House panel earlier this week that discussed how Congress could improve computer security, Rep. Vernon Ehlers (R-Michigan) suggested using a Mac, notes a Wired story. “I own a Macintosh. I got through Y2K — I didn’t even think about it. And I’ve never had any problems with viruses. Maybe there’s a lesson to be learned.”

IBM is set to introduce a new PowerPC processor, code-named Sahara, that could boost the performance and megahertz beyond that of Motorola’s PowerPC G4, according to eWeek. The chip is expected to be introduced at next week’s Microprocessor Forum seminar, and will debut some time in 2002 at speeds from 700MHz to 1GHz.