Cupertino

As the much-anticipated Macworld Conference & Expo begins, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is putting rumors of his health to rest. In a letter addressed to the Apple community, Jobs said he is still in charge and will be the first to inform Apple's board if his health should get in the way of running the Cupertino, Calif.-based company.

Jobs posted the letter after speculation about his health ran rampant following a December announcement that he would not keynote Apple's last appearance at Macworld. Vice President Philip Schiller will deliver this year's keynote on Tuesday.

Features galore are included in Apple's new 2.2 software update for the iPhone, which became available a day earlier than expected. Apple released the new software one day before Verizon Wireless and Research In Motion's BlackBerry Storm hit store shelves, but analysts say it was just a coincidence.

One of the major features of Apple's iPhone update includes the ability to download the millions of free podcasts available on the iTunes Store over both a Wi-Fi connection and a cellular network connection, according to Apple.

Call it upgrade fatigue, or perhaps Apple's fondness for teasing its die-hard fans, but the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer manufacturer has announced it will not introduce new Mac computers this year.

In a statement first published by Macworld, Apple spokesperson Bill Evans said, "Our holiday lineup is set." The stark statement (the Apple press office offered no elaboration) puts to rest persistent rumors on Mac-related blogs that the company planned an event in November to announce upgrades to the Mac Mini and its iMac desktops.

A Busy Year

Apple is taking some shots at Microsoft by launching its own series of commercials. It didn't take long for the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer giant to poke fun at Microsoft after it launched a $350 million advertising program with a series of "I'm a PC" and Jerry Seinfeld commercials.

One commercial, the bean counter, features an accountant sitting at a desk with two piles of money. The accountant is dividing the pile into two, with one pile for Windows Vista advertising dollars and the other to be used to fix problems with Vista.

At last Tuesday's laptop event on the Apple campus in Cupertino, Calif., the environment got a lot of attention. CEO Steve Jobs, who has been pushing for a "greener Apple" for months, flatly declared that the new Mac laptops, with their unibody aluminum construction and less toxic parts, "are the industry's greenest notebooks."

The much-anticipated Apple notebook event took place Tuesday at the Apple Town Hall on the manufacturer's Cupertino, Calif., campus. Although the trendy manufacturer may not have hit every item on Mac fans' wish list, Apple clearly intends to keep the pressure on Microsoft and the universe of Windows PCs.

Jim Denham, the assistive technology coordinator at the Perkins School for the Blind, is looking forward to spending this rainy weekend, at home, on his computer.

Thanks to a technological advance, Denham, who is blind, can sit at home by himself and browse among the thousands of audio books, podcasts and albums digitally stored on Apple's iTunes.

"There's a podcast out there that identifies different bird calls, and I really want to check that out," he said yesterday, during a break from teaching two Perkins students how to use the new software.

The crystal ball is getting a good polishing this week as speculations fly about what Apple will -- or will not -- announce next week at a Sept. 9 event in Cupertino, Calif. Apple sent out cryptic invitations to reporters this week featuring an iPod-toting silhouette and the words "Let's Rock" and "playing soon." Nothing more.

What's Up?

Shares of Apple Inc. fell sharply as investors focused more on the company's cautious guidance for the current quarter than on the blockbuster Macintosh and iPod sales during the previous three-month period.

Investors sent Apple shares down $12.60, 7.6 percent, to $153.69 in midday trading Tuesday.

Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple said it shipped more Macs in its fiscal third quarter than ever before -- 2.5 million, up 41 percent from a year ago, with desktop shipments growing faster than laptops.

Five software companies announced Monday that they have created the Enterprise Desktop Alliance to help welcome Macs into Windows-based enterprises.

The founding members -- Parallels, Atempo, Centrify, Group Logic, and LANrev -- said enterprises "can easily integrate Macs and achieve the same level of control, security, policy compliance, and service that they currently have with their Windows platforms."

Helping to Avoid IT Headaches