Crave

Apple's delay in shipping the 27-inch iMac may have more to do with the sheer volume of sales than any problems with the graphics chips, according to numbers from market research firm NPD.

(Credit: Apple)

Stephen Baker, NPD's vice president of industry analysis, told CNET on Monday that for October and November, Mac desktop sales were up 74 percent over the same period last year. While NPD did not break the numbers down by desktop model, it's clear the iMac is a top seller.

In fact, the 27-inch iMac appears to be selling so well, it could account for the shipping delay that Apple apologized for on Sunday.

"It's not surprising Apple would be having problems supplying them [iMacs]," said Baker. "I can't imagine in their wildest dreams they would have thought they would sell like this."

Reports over the weekend suggested Apple was delaying shipments of the 27-inch iMac due to reported problems with the graphics card. While those issues remain, it may not be the root cause of the delay.

The surge in Mac sales was not limited to the 27-inch model. Baker said that the 21.5-inch iMac and the Mac mini are also doing very well.

Piper Jaffray financial analyst Gene Munster estimated in a research note to clients on Monday that Apple could sell 2.9 million to 3 million Macs for the current quarter, according to a report on AppleInsider. Munster cautioned that approximately 50 percent of all Mac sales for the quarter happen in December, so that number could change.

Mac notebooks saw a 5 percent increase for October and November, while iPod sales were down 11 percent year-over-year for the same time period.

On this week's Digital City, we discuss Google's rumored new phone; get to the bottom of the current iMac shipping delays, and go over the best games you can play on a Netbook (all after Dan had to get up at 5am to shoot a local news TV segment on his favorite holiday games).

Then, things take a turn for the weird with a solid gold PlayStation 3, rumored to be under Jay-Z's Xmas tree; and a surprising NYC find -- a Mario-themed pizza place that is calling out for a visit from the ghost of intellectual property lawyers past (see below).

Related links:
>>Is Google making a phone?
>>Top 20 Netbook games
>>Top 5 Holiday Game Picks (CW11 morning News)

>>Watch the Digital City live every Monday at 3pm EST on CNET Live!
>>Subscribe to Digital City on iTunes
>>Join the Digital City Facebook fan page
>>Need more? Follow Dan on Twitter! And Scott!

Spotted on Houston street in NYC.

(Credit: Dan Ackerman)

Just in time to round out your holiday shopping season, we've consulted the Web traffic oracles and compiled a list of the most popular laptops of 2009.

Based on which system reviews CNET readers clicked on most often, this list shows what's on the minds of laptop shoppers -- and the emphasis is clearly on value over all else.

We've got six Netbooks in the top 10, including the Asus Eee PC 1005HA, which we've held up as a classic example of a Netbook done right. Apple, and 13-inch laptops in general, are also well-represented. Interestingly, while five major PC brands are represented, there are a few big names missing in action, including Gateway, Lenovo, and Toshiba.

To see what the most popular laptops of 2009 were, based on reader interest, click through to the slideshow below.

Top 10 most popular laptops of 2009 (photos)

On this week's Digital City, we tackle one of the most contentious issues of our time -- Mac vs. PC -- as Dan offers an enlightened path to peace for both camps. We also hear about some free municipal Wi-Fi for the new Times Square pedestrian mall; a sweet TV/PS3 combo deal at Best Buy; and discuss the fate of the vaporware-like CrunchPad.

Later, Scott laments the lack of Microsoft synergy in the Zune gaming business model; we check out some new game releases, including Zelda: Spirit Tracks and The Saboteur; and debate the ethics of adding adults-only DLC to games.

Quick note: tune in next week for a chance to win a Zune HD!

Related links:
>>A modest proposal: Detente between Mac and PC laptop fans
>>Can Zune gaming compete?
>>Times Square gets free WiFi

>>Watch the Digital City live every Monday at 3pm EST on CNET Live!
>>Subscribe to Digital City on iTunes
>>Join the Digital City Facebook fan page
>>Need more? Follow Dan on Twitter! And Scott!

(Credit: Joi Ito, via Flickr)

There are a handful of topics guaranteed to get readers all ginned up and at each others' throats in the comments section of any Web site. While PS3 vs. Xbox or AT&T vs. Verizon are solid go-to choices, anything that gives Apple and Microsoft fans a chance to vent at each other is on another level entirely.

Not that we don't enjoy pouring a little lighter fluid on the fire occasionally, but in the spirit of the holiday season, we have a proposal for peace between PC and Mac laptop users--or at least finding some middle ground both sides can agree with.

With that in mind, we offer the following modest proposal for a détente in the war between Mac and PC fanboys.

>PC Makers will agree:
To adopt the large multitouch touchpad that has become so popular on MacBook laptops. Once you get the hang of using two fingers to scroll down a page or flipping four fingers up to hide all your active windows, there's really no going back.

Yes, we acknowledge that many Windows laptops now support some kind of multitouch gestures. But we have yet to find a single PC that implements them particularly well--the worst offenders being touchpads that require your fingers to be lined up on a mathematically precise plane to activate simple two-finger scrolling. Even worse, they shoehorn gestures into the same tiny touchpads we've been cramping our fingers on for years.

Additionally, when you close the lid on a MacBook, it goes into a low-power sleep state, and then wakes up in a few seconds when you open the lid. It works the same every time, like clockwork. No matter what kind of sleep, hibernate, or other lid-close function we set up on a Windows laptop, the result is always a roll of the dice--yes, even in Windows 7. We particularly like the one where the machine wakes up, but the screen doesn't, requiring us to open the close the lid repeatedly until it randomly starts working.

Therefore, PC makers will agree to work with Microsoft to come up with a sleep mode that actually works the same way every single time.

>Apple will agree:
To turn touchpad tapping and click-dragging on by default, and not make us dig around in the menus for this very basic functionality. Secondly, Apple will agree to finally acknowledge the concept of two mouse buttons once and for all. That means second buttons on all mice (although the two-finger touchpad tap really works quite well), and no more pretending to be a one-button OS while actually including right-click functions for just about everything.

Finally, Apple will agree to ditch (or augment) its mini-DVI ports with plain old HDMI. It carries HD video, plus audio, and it's built into pretty much every other AV device known to man. Heaven forbid we should want to watch HD iTunes videos on a TV by plugging our laptops directly in, instead of buying an Apple TV unit.

Apple products have topped the list of the most popular computers sold in U.S retail in October, an analyst for market research firm NPD Group told CNET on Friday.

(Credit: Apple)

The recently introduced 21-inch iMac was the top-selling desktop for the month, Stephen Baker, NPD's vice president of industry analysis, said in an interview. Apple's high-end iMac 27-inch model took the No. 3 spot in the desktop category, he said.

"Apple gets a bounce whenever they come out with new computers," Baker said. "For the most part, October was a down month on the Windows side because [PC manufacturers] were working through inventory before the Windows 7 launch."

The company also took the top spot in the notebook category in October, with the $1,199 MacBook Pro, Baker said. Overall, Apple took 4 out of the top 10 positions for notebooks in U.S. retail for the month, according to Baker. In addition to the top-seeded MacBook Pro, Apple also secured the 8, 9, and 10 positions.

"[The $1,199 MacBook Pro has] always been a great seller," Baker said. "It's priced pretty aggressively for Apple, but to some extent, it also benefited from the same slowdown on the Windows side."

NPD has not released an official report on the sales data, and Baker declined to give CNET a rundown of the other computers in NPD's top-10 lists for desktop and notebook retail sales in the United States in October. It is important to note that while the NPD data includes online and retail stores, it does not factor in direct sales.

Sales of computers in October were obviously very good for Apple, but Baker doesn't feel that the so-called "halo effect" from the iPhone or iPod is what is driving sales. Rather, he points to the overall consumer experience.

"Over past few years, Apple has continued to gain share in the market, and there are a lot of ways to explain that," Baker said. "It could be the stores, the computers themselves, the iPod, or iPhone. I think it's a combination of all those things."

Apple on Friday quietly updated its high-end Mac Pro computer with an option for a faster processor.

(Credit: Apple)

First noted by AppleInsider, the 3.33GHz quad-core Intel Xeon option will add $1,200 to the price of the base configuration, which currently sells for $2,499. An option for the 2.93GHz processor, introduced in March, is still available for an extra $400 over the base model.

The current Mac Pro base configuration ships with a 2.66GHz quad-core Intel Xeon "Nehalem" processor.

The custom configuration options for the Mac Pro also enable buyers to add up to 16GB of RAM, as many as four 2-terabyte hard drives, and a variety of graphics cards, in additional to other components and software.

When it introduced the Intel Xeon-based Mac Pro in March, Apple added options for the Nvidia GeForce GT 120 and the ATI Radeon HD 4870 graphics cards, as well as three channels of memory designed to cut latency by up to 40 percent on the machines.

While Apple's iMac and Mac Mini are recognized by most consumers for their design, the Mac Pro is the machine of choice by many IT, graphics, and audio pros for its superior power.

The Vestax Spin gets spun.

(Credit: Donald Bell/CNET)

There's never been a better time to get into DJing. Gone are the days when DJs had to break their backs hauling turntables, record crates, and heavy analog mixes. Today, just combine a laptop, a USB DJ control surface, and a hard drive full of MP3s, and get ready to set the roof ablaze.

That said, professional DJ control surfaces aren't exactly cheap. Two of my personal favorites, the Vestax VCI-300 and the Numark NS7, hover around the $1,000 mark.

For those looking to dip their feet into digital DJing, but not quite $1,000 deep, the Vestax Spin ($249) offers a ton of bang for the buck. A stripped-down version of the Vestax VCI-300, the Spin delivers on the DJ dream of two (virtual) turntables and a microphone, powered by Algoriddim's Mac-only DJay software.

Vestax Spin (photos)

Beyond the requisite smattering of knobs and faders, the heart of the Vestax Spin are the twin, weighted platters used to control song playback. The top of each platter includes a metal surface that acts as a capacitive touch control to stop and manipulate audio playback with uncanny responsiveness. Having used the more expensive VCI-300, I can tell you these are the exact same platters. However, the Spin does not include the individual tension adjustment knobs.

Existing VCI-300 users shouldn't cry themselves to sleep over paying four times as much for their version, since there are some considerable drawbacks to the Spin compared to its higher-priced cousin. For starters, the outputs are RCA only, you can't insert multiple cue points, you can't route in external audio sources (beyond the mic), and the overall construction is far less rugged. Most importantly, the Spin is permanently married to the bundled DJay software--which is a fine program, but lacks PC support and doesn't include the outstanding waveform display of Serato Itch.

Pro DJ gripes aside, the Vestax Spin represents one of the better values in the amateur DJ market. It is currently sold exclusively through the Apple store.

For a closer look at the Vestax Spin, check out our Crave photo gallery.

Psystar's Mac clones are unavailable after Tuesday's settlement with Apple.

(Credit: Screenshot by Erica Ogg/CNET)

As part of Psystar's partial settlement with Apple, all models of the company's Open Computer featuring preinstalled Mac OS have been removed from its Web site.

A quick visit to Psystar.com Wednesday morning reveals all five products the Mac clone maker had been selling since 2008 are suddenly "out of stock." It follows Tuesday's partial settlement, in which the Florida-based Psystar agreed to pay $2.65 million to Apple for copyright infringement, in exchange for Apple dropping the other claims of trademark infringement and unfair competition.

Though Psystar has agreed to a settlement payment amount already, and is done selling Mac OS preinstalled on hardware, it doesn't mean the company is done fighting. Part of the agreement included that Apple will not get paid until "any and all appeals in this matter are concluded or the time for filing any such appeal has lapsed," according to the court documents.

Psystar still intends to appeal to a higher court the November 13 ruling of U.S. District Judge William Alsup, in which he said Psystar violated Apple's copyright and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. It's a process that could stretch on for years.

Until then, if Psystar wants to stay in business, it's going to have to figure out another way of selling hardware and Mac software.