In broad, soap operatic strokes of the finest sort, IBM and Apple are at each other's throats over Apple's latest recruit: IBM's vice president of microprocessor technology development. Improbably named Mark Papermaster, the man in question is responsible for IBM's blade server division, and IBM is pretty sure there's a non-compete in there somewhere, especially with Apple's recent acquisition of PA Semi, a chip developer with PowerPC technology similar to IBM's -- IBM has filed lawsuits both against Apple in California (a state traditionally indifferent to non-competes) and against Papermaster in New York. We're not going to get into all the sordid details, but just because IBM and Apple are very, very angry at each other right now doesn't mean they're mad at you. Probably.

PowerPC users, your days could be numbered. According to an alleged screenshot of Snow Leopard's system requirements, only Intel CPUs will get to take a ride on the 10.6 train as of now. The grab comes from an early version of the OS seeded to developers at WWDC this week, though given that Jobsy said we're a year out from an actual release, these things could change. Still, it's not looking promising for those of you who've stood by your older models -- but Apple shutting out legacy users doesn't come as a real shock, does it?

[Via Mac Rumors; Thanks, Kiwi616]

It's no surprise to hear that Leopard smokes on the latest Intel box, right? That's all fine and dandy for new Mac owners but what about the rest of us (the majority) who are still pumping that legacy PowerPC architecture beneath Cupertino's OS? How does Apple's OS of tomorrow run on say, an 8 year old Power Mac G4 (AGP Graphics)? We decided to find out. Our test machine sports a paltry 512MB and 1GHz clock courtesy of an after-market CPU upgrade (was 400MHz) -- just a tad better than the 867MHz / 512MB minimum requirement. While the box held up surprisingly well, there's one major problem which you old-timers should be aware of.

Don't call it a comeback. Or, um, something like that. Amiga hasn't been exactly prolific since 2001, when it "began" development of AmigaOS 4.0, but now that it's finally shipping that retro-modern OS, attention has turned to hardware: where oh where is a modern PowerPC machine to run this on? To that end, Amiga is teaming up with ACK Software Controls to build two new desktops, both offering complete experiences to new and seasoned Amiga users. Twelve months in the making, the flavors are a $500 consumer version and a $1500 "power design." Both seem rather cheap, given the exclusivity of the Amiga market these days, but we're not complaining -- and we're sure the imaginary people who will actually buy these aren't either. Full launch deets and hopefully specs should be unveiled next week sometime.

[Via TG Daily]

If you didn't bite when Elgato released its pocket-friendly EyeTV Hybrid, you may be interested in its supercharged successor, the EyeTV Diversity. The USB 2.0 stick makes for easy travel, and this rendition sports dual attachable antennas and a DSP, "which uses information from both tuners to generate the best signal possible." Designed to work with DTT / DVB-T signals, the device supports dual tuner functionality, PIP, scheduled recordings via the included EveTV 2 software, and a one-year subscription to the "tvtv" program guide. It touts seamless integration with Toast 7, and even provides easy converting for use on video-playing iPods. The company also notes that 1080i and 720p viewing / recording is possible on Macs housing "dual PowerPC G5 or Intel Core Duo" processors, and the dual-tuner USB stick can be picked up now on the other side of the pond for €149.95 ($191).

[Via digg]

Steve Jobs' announcement -- almost a year ago, now -- that Apple was transitioning to x86 processors was one of the most shocking bits of news that the industry had ever heard, and yet there were a group of employees at a startup chip manufacturer called PA Semi who were even more shocked than most, according to reports, because right up until that keynote, they were sure that their company, and not Intel, would be chosen to supply the brains for what's now known as the MacBook family of laptops. The Register is reporting that PA Semi had a close relationship with Apple in the months prior to the switch, and that the two companies were working together to gauge the feasibility of running native PowerPC-coded software on 2GHz dual-core chips that PA Semi claims run at only a third of the 21 to 25 watts consumed by Intel's Core Duo models. Sources who spoke to El Reg say that executives were virtually positive that they'd win the contract, and that CEO Dan Dobberpuhl was understandably "furious" when he found out PA Semi had been passed over. The company still has a bright future developing chips for the embedded market and storage devices, but they'll probably never again have the opportunity to become an instantly-recognized name like Intel, AMD, or IBM.