SMART Utility 1.2 detects drive failures...

Volitans software on Monday released SMART Utility 1.2, a significant update to the hard drive diagnostic scanning application. The new features include more readable attribute names, displaying the model family, sending additional information to the smartctl engine, and French localization. The SMART Utility scans the internal hardware diagnostics system of hard drives SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology), a system built into hard drives by their manufacturers to report on various measurements. The information detail can be used to detect when a hard drive is having mechanical or electrical problems, and can indicate when the hard drive is failing. The software can read and display these attributes in an effort to avoid device failure.

Boston Apple store to open May 16th, 6pm...

Apple will unveil the Boylston Street retail store on Friday, May 16th at 6pm in the Boston Area. According to ifoAppleStore, the store will feature three stories of product, will feature mostly glass construction on the surrounding sides of the building, which is currently hidden behind green construction masking, giving it the appearance of the Green Monster at Fenway Park. When the store was first constructed, Boylston Street was closed at 5AM on August 19th for work crews to deliver construction materials.

Apple tops Consumer Reports tech support list...

Apple recently topped Consumer Reports' list of hardware manufacturers technical support services in a recent study. Consumer Reports says that while the industry standard solve-rate for technical issues sits at around 60-percent, while Apple's phone support yielded an 80-percent solve-rate, and the company's Genius bars accounted for a 90-percent solve-rate. The statistics were discovered through a survey of over 10,000 desktop and laptop computers.

First Look: Toast Titanium 9, disc burner...

Every Mac with a Superdrive can burn your iTunes music files to a CD, your iMovie video files to a DVD, and your digital photographs (or any files and folders) to both a CD/DVD. However, if you want to do more than ordinary CD/DVD burning, you may want to look at Roxio’s latest version of Toast Titanium 9, a multi-purpose optical media authoring application that can burn CDs/DVDs and do a whole lot more.

Original ringtone subscription for iPhone...

Composer Geoff Smith today unveiled RingtoneFeeder, a new subscription service that allows users to form a collection of original iPhone-optimized ringtones. The subscription grants users the five most recently finished ringtones, and as long as the subscription is maintained, a new ringtone every week. After signing up, users get ringtones delivered right to their phones. Monthly subscriptions are available for $2 a month, while a yearly subscription costs $20.

RBC: iPhone to go non-exclusive, subsidized...

Sales of the iPhone in 2008 will exceed Apple's projected goal of 10 million and reach 14 million, in part due to some radical changes to the device's distribution schemes, argues RBC analyst Mark Abramsky. He first agrees with suggestions that AT&T may subsidize the iPhone by up to $200, reducing the price of an 8GB model to $199; this could increase sales by between 50 and 100 percent. In exchange, however, Apple would likely have to agree to drop revenue sharing, which has been extremely lucrative but an obstacle to adoption in countries like China.

AudioCodex unifies media types for mixing...

After an extended beta period, MachineCodex has released v1.0 of AudioCodex, an unusual music and video application. The program unifies iTunes libraries with Quartz Composer, and CoreAudio Audio Units (AU) effects; while the software can be used strictly for playback, it also allows time- and pitch-shifting, along with real-time AU chains. Users can moreover create their own loops and Quartz visualizations, enabling the creation of original art and music.

Kensington Battery Pack and Charger for iPhone, iPod...

Kensington on Monday unveiled a Battery Pack and Charger for iPhone and iPod, along with a Mini version. The portable battery packs plug into the Apple devices' dock connectors and power and recharge them, and are themselves rechargeable. The lithium-ion polymer battery packs feature a USB connector that allows them to be charged via either the AC adapter or a PC, whether or not they are also plugged into an Apple device, charging it as well.

iPhone 2.0 firmware adds Chinese handwriting...

The latest developer version of the iPhone 2.0 firmware adds dramatically different non-Phoenician language support, accounts say. Most notable in v5A258f may be new support for simplified Chinese, and in particular handwriting support, a feature that may prove crucial if and when the iPhone is adopted in China. Chinese is a more complex language than English, making it difficult to type out quickly; as a result, companies such as Motorola have developed phones whose primary focus is on easing Chinese writing.

AAPL downgrade reversed, marketcap grows to 4x Dell's...

American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu has reversed a prior downgrade on share's of Apple Inc, changing his rating on the stock to from Neutral to Buy. Wu's downgrade came right before Apple's blowout March quarter, in which the company announced record revenues on surging Mac sales. Barrons quotes Wu: "We overestimated the potential negative reaction on the quarter and in hindsight should have moderated our near-term posture rather than downgrading. While AAPL shares will likely remain volatile and may offer a better entry point, we need to align our rating with our longer term view on fundamentals." Wu has set a $210 price target on Apple's stock. Barrons also notes that RBC Capital's Mike Abramsky has raised his target price on Apple to $220 from $200, predicting that Apple will sell 14 million iPhones this year.

Associated Press launches iPhone site...

The Associated Press has launched a new iPhone version of its online portal, according to an announcement. The newswire service notes that the site should now be visible by visiting apnews.com, and that it contains not just AP news but material from over 100 media outlets, covering topics such as breaking events, business and entertainment. Publications involved include the likes of the San Francisco Chronicle and the Miami Herald.

Apple cash reserves nearing parity with Microsoft...

Apple and Microsoft are on opposite trajectories in terms of their cash reserves, a new report remarks. Over three years ago, the former had a balance of $5.5 billion, while the latter had $64 billion. While Microsoft's reserves have fallen by more than half to reach $26.3 billion, Apple's have climbed to $19.4 billion. Microsoft was in fact arranging to borrow finances until its planned takeover of Yahoo collapsed over the weekend, in the short term saving approximately $44.6 billion.

McAfee for iPhone beta appears online...

A beta version of a McAfee virus scanner for the iPhone and iPod touch has appeared online, according to reports. The application is named iVirusScan (iPhone link), and has allegedly been installed and uninstalled by a number of users. Users can analyze the contents of their handheld for malware, update their definitions, and adjust a variety of settings. The version number is listed as 1.0a07.

iPhone SDK opens to international developers...

The iPhone SDK is now open to developers from outside the United States, language on Apple's official website indicates. Whereas the site previously stated that "the iPhone Developer Program will initially be available to a limited number of developers in the U.S. and will expand to other countries in the coming months," a message now says that it "will initially be available to a limited number of developers during the beta period."