New and Noteworthy: Smith Barney: Apple's stock slide makes it a good buy; ICELink 1.1 for iPod-to-car connection; more

Smith Barney: Apple's stock slide makes it a good buy An analyst with Smith Barnety, Richard Gardner, sees a stock decline in Apple's stock price -- attributed primarily to the company's announcement that a lull in iMac availability would exist over the next two months -- as a buying opportunity. Gardner told CBS MarketWatch "We view the third calendar-quarter's iMac product-transition issues as non-recurring and believe they present an attractive buying opportunity." More.

ICELink 1.1 for iPod-to-car connection Dension has introduced the ICE-Link 1.1, which takes the place of your external CD Changer to provide iPod audio through your car's speakers. The iPod starts when CD changer is selected on a supported factory or aftermarket radio, and paused when other source is selected. Track control from radio and steering wheel controls are provided. ICELink v1.1 - allows cross platform compatibility and migration from classic to 3G or mini iPods without having to replace the entire ICELink unit. More.

iTunes Music Store bitrates criticized A New York Times article takes a critical look at Apple's decision to use a 128 kilobit compression scheme (AAC) for iTunes Music Store tracks. "The bit rate for iTunes, 128, is so low that when played side by side against the original, the difference is audible not only to audio enthusiasts, but also to mortals with ordinary hearing. Wes Phillips, contributing editor at Stereophile, says '128 is like an eight-track,' and he describes the combination of iPod and iTunes as 'buying a 21st-century device to live in the 1970's.'" More.

Previously we noted:

• Secunia reports "Frame Injection" vulnerability that affects Safari, other browsers
• Knowledge Base Updates
• Apple confirms new iMac coming September, stops taking orders for current model

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