Mac News

On MacWorld UK today
The Open University has promised to be more Mac and Linux friendly, following protests from students and a petition demanding support for non-Microsoft systems. The OU says:

The Open University is committed to supporting Mac users and also users of other platforms such as Linux in all future activity.

Apple has filed patents that suggest it is considering a smaller clamshell iPhone.

The newly-disclosed patent application waas filed in the US in September 2006. It shows a device that’s around half the size of current generation iPhones, featuring a transparent dual-sihttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifded touch sensitive trackpad cover. The patent says both sides of the cover can be controlled at once.

And on AppleInsider
Apple snags 14 percent of US-based PC retail sales in February

New goodies from Apple

At the Macworld Expo in San Francisco today, CEO Steve Jobs unveiled some new goodies from Apple.

First up is MacBook Air, an ultra thin notebook, which has been rumoured for some time. It is an amazing piece of kit featuring 13.3 wide screen LED back lit display, multi touch track pad, 2GB RAM, 80GB and is just 1.94cm thin. There is no optical drive, but as it is a wireless device, you won't need one much of the time. If you do need one, you can buy an external SuperDrive or use a new feature called Remote Disc, which enables you to access a CD or DVD on a remote Mac or PC.

You'll need to fork out £1,199 for the 1.6GHz machine, or if you are feeling particularly frivolous, you can spend £2,028 the 1.8GHz version with a 64GB solid state drive.

Other new stuff announced included Time Capsule – automatic wireless backup for your Mac, software updates for the iPhone and iPod Touch, iTunes Movie Rental (available in US only at present) and an updated AppleTV.