iBlog 

...And We're Back!

2010-06-03T20:15:00.003-05:00

Woah! It's been nearly a year since anyone posted anything on here! Sorry about that if you're even still reading this. WWDC 2010 is less than a week away already, and WWDC '09 was the last thing I posted about on here. That's about it. Don't be surprised if this drops of the planet again, but I'll try to keep this updated.

WWDC Updates

2009-06-08T12:42:00.018-05:00

So far this is what has happened.

Entire notebook line refreshed.
15" MacBook Pro starting at $1,699 with a new 7 hour battery. Also adds SD card slot
17" MacBook Pro starting at $2,229
13" MacBook starting at $1,199
13" MacBook Air starting at $1,499

Safari 4 leave beta stage, goes public.

New features in Snow Leopard:

Quicktime X
Rewritten Finder
Expose built into Finder
Ability to use more cores and RAM with Grand Central Station
Support for Microsoft Exchange

Snow Leopard available in September for $29! Can you believe that?!

iPhone time now! Updates soon.

iPhone OS 3.0 Features

Cut, copy & paste
MMS
Landscape keyboard
Spotlight search across entire phone (notes, email, ect.)
Parental controls
Tethering over USB dock cable or over Bluetooth
Faster javascript engine in safari
support for HTTP streaming audio and video
HTML 5 support!
Support for more languages
All languages include portrait and landscape keyboard
Find my iPhone - MobileMe service that will find your iPhone on a map if it is lost.
Peer-to-peer connectivity over bluetooth
App connectivity with hardware accessories through the dock connector
Google maps for developers
Developers now allowed to make turn by turn directions
Push notification: text, numerical badges, custom alert sounds.

iPhone OS 3.0 available June 17 as a free update for iPhone owners, $9.95 for iPod touch

New iPhone model named "iPhone 3GS". Same on the outside, new on the inside.

Faster, new camera with video built in. 3.2Megapixels, autofocus
Tap to focus feature. Sweet!
Voice controls for calling and controlling iTunes.
"Hey, iPhone what am I listening to?" It tells you.
"Hey, iPhone play more songs like this one." It will. Amazing.
Built in digital compass and compass app.
Improved battery life. Up to 9 hours of web surfing!
Only $199 for 16GB and $299 for 32GB
Both models available in either black or white.
8GB 3G model will remain for sale at $99

WWDC is one hour away...

2009-06-08T10:59:00.002-05:00

...and the Apple store is down. Could this be a sign of something to come? This pretty much means there will be some sort of product announcement. Likely hardware. Maybe a tablet or a new iPhone? Maybe even a netbook? We'll find out shortly. Stay tuned for WWDC updates.

WWDC Rumor Roundup

2009-06-07T11:59:00.001-05:00

So the WWDC keynote is tomorrow. It will be presented by Phil Schiller (as it was announced) but I personally believe we might see an appearance by Steve Jobs.

Based on the banners that have already been hung at Moscone West, it's pretty obvious that the spotlight will be on both the iPhone 3.0 OS and Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Rumors have also been flying around about a new generation of the iPhone possibly called the iPhone video. It would have a built in camera capable of video capture and the video could be easily uploaded to YouTube and other video sharing sites via new tools in iPhone 3.0.

For iPhone 3.0 and the new iPhone model, they'll probably announce a release date in early July like they did for the iPhone 3G. During the iPhone 3.0 demonstration, they will probably have various developers demo their apps to show off certain new features in the SDK like In-App Purchases and Bluetooth multiplayer for games.

Since we really haven't seen anything about Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard since they first announced that it was going to be called that at last WWDC, I think that they will give a brief demo of the OS and give a release date sometime in August or September.

I'd also really like to see a media tablet Mac, but I don't really think it's something Apple is going to do. I'm just being hopeful that they might.

Check with us tomorrow for live updates during the Keynote.

Long Time, No... Post?

2009-05-06T07:28:00.001-05:00

I'm back, and I'm sincerely sorry for the lack of updates in the past 2 months. I'd like to add a few more people to the iBlog team to ensure that we will have pretty regular posts. If anyone is interested in blogging for us, please comment on this blog post and I will try to get back to you. iBlog will continue, I'm not going to just let it die out.

Apple Unveils New iPod Shuffles

2009-03-11T09:05:00.001-05:00

This morning, Apple released the newest version of the iPod Shuffle. The new shuffle has 4GB of flash storage and can hold up to 1000 songs. They have a new more vertical shape than the shorter old model. There is also a new feature called "VoiceOver" which uses text to speech to read the titles of your songs to you before it plays them. All of the controls on the device have been moved onto the headphone cable. The only button the device itself is a slider to turn it off, to shuffle, or to playlist mode. The new shuffle is even smaller than the old generation, though it is slightly taller.

Apple has posted a video tour on their website here.

New Mac mini: It's about friggin' time. (Other desktop Macs too)

2009-03-03T19:52:00.001-06:00

Finally... the long awaited Mac mini update, and it's pretty much identical to what I predicted almost a year ago. It comes in a 2.0GHz and 2.26GHz configuration. Both versions now have an 8x SuperDrive which was previously reserved for the high end Mac mini. The new version also sports 5 USB ports (the previous had 4), a MiniDisplayPort, a mini DVI, and a FireWire 800 port.

There were also updates to the Mac Pro and iMac.

I'll start with the iMac. There are 4 versions and here are the specs:

$1199. 20-inch 2.66 GHz iMac. 2GB RAM. NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Integrated graphics. 320GB HD. Mini Display Port
$1499. 24-inch 2.66 GHz iMac. 4GB RAM. NVIDIA GeForce 9400M Integrated graphics. 640GB HD. Mini Display Port
$1799. 24-inch 2.93 GHz iMac. 4GB RAM. NVIDIA GeForce GT 120. 640GB HD. Mini Display Port
$2199. 24-inch 3.06 GHz iMac. 4GB RAM. NVIDIA GeForce GT 130. 1TB HD. Mini Display Port

That's pretty much self-explanetory. Just spec updates, no aesthetic changes to the product.

The Mac Pro also recieved a spec bump, and now it comes in these 2 primary models:

$2499. One 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 3500 Processor. 3GB of RAM. NVIDIA GeForce GT 120. 640GB HD.
$3299. Two 2.26GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5500 Processor. 6GB of RAM. NVIDIA GeForce GT 120. 640GB HD.

The Mac Pro also now sports a MiniDisplayPort and a DVI port so it can support the 24" LED Cinema Display, or the 30" Cinema Display.

Wow, that face tracking is good!

2009-02-22T15:51:00.003-06:00

iPhoto '09 introduced a new feature called "Faces" which lets you tag pictures with the people in them. It automatically tracks their faces, and once you have entered enough names, it begins to recognize people in the photos and suggests people in your Faces library. Here's a couple of funny things that it has picked up as faces for me.

iLife '09 Review and Unboxing

2009-02-21T11:49:00.002-06:00

It's been about a month since iLife '09 came out, and I've had it for about 3 weeks out of that month. So far, I love it. It is pretty much identical to iLife '08 in the interfaces of the apps, but a lot of great functionality was added. Now I'll break it down, app by app and go through my favorite parts.

iPhoto '09
iPhoto '09 adds a couple new fun features, but nothing too big. The face tracking is pretty good, but the face recognition doesn't work quite as well as it did in Apple's demo during the keynote. Places is a nice feature too, but since I don't have a camera with a built in GPS, I've been having to select my locations by hand for all my events.

iMovie '09
iMovie '09 is by far, my favorite update in iLife '09. It takes the interface of iLife '08, which unlike most people, I actually liked, and added in a ton of functionality. It really feels more like a sophisticated video editing tool now. There are some awesome new features that make it so much more fun to use like video filter effects, world maps, new titles and transitions, picture in picture, and chroma keying. I'm kind of disappointed that the chroma key feature only works with green, however.

GarageBand '09
GarageBand '09 really only added two things, other than a new color scheme. The first and most notable is the "Learn to Play" feature. The lessons in the lesson store are really top notch. I've downloaded all the free ones, and two artist lessons so far, and they're great for learning and improving your skills. The other new feature is the new electric guitar recording interface. It uses "stompboxes" and amp models for effects rather than just drop down menus like before. Right away I didn't think I'd like this feature much, but it works great. The stompbox models are well done and sound just like real effects pedals.

iWeb '09
iWeb '09 only added widgets. There's nothing wrong with them and they work fine, but I would have liked to see a bit more functionality added in this upgrade.

NickMOC: iLife '09 Unboxing

MacHeist 3 is Here!

2009-02-07T20:35:00.001-06:00

Get your detective caps out because MacHeist 3 is here! You can claim 3 free apps now that total in value of $71.90 and the three apps are Stationary Pack, ShoveBox, and Process. All three of them are excellent pieces of shareware and you should claim them while you can and save some money! Of course there is also the MacHeist challenge where you can unlock a suite of software that is worth quite a large sum of money, though I'm not exactly sure, and purchase it for $49. Check it out here.

A Quarter of a Century

2009-01-24T04:53:00.001-06:00

Today marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the day Steve Jobs introduced the very first Macintosh at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts to a group of around 3000 people. That same year, Apple ran their famous 1984 commercial during that year's Super Bowl. Happy twenty-fifth birthday Macintosh!

iLife '09 Now Available

2009-01-20T17:59:00.001-06:00

As announced earlier this month by Phil Schiller at IDG's MacWorld Expo, the new release of iLife, Apple's suite of creative applications is available and shipping now. I haven't picked up a copy yet, but I am planning on doing so very soon.

Apple Allows 3rd Party Web Browsers into App Store

2009-01-14T16:48:00.000-06:00

Apple has begun allowing third party web browsers into their iPhone Application Store. Previously all third party web browsers were banned because they competed with Apple's built in Safari browser for their handset. Apple has made no mention of a reason for suddenly deciding to allow third party browsers.

This could make it a possibility for such browsers as Firefox and Opera to make an iPhone version, however certain SDK restrictions could still prevent it from happening.

New OS X 'Marble' Interface In Snow Leopard

2009-01-14T16:44:00.001-06:00

We all know by now that Apple's next version of their OS X operating system will be named Snow Leopard and will focus on security and stability than the introduction of new features.

A new rumor has surfaced that says Apple will use Snow Leopard's release to tweak the OS X user interface and apply a new interface apparently codenamed 'Marble'. It's likely only an internal codename however. Exact details are not public, and the current developer seeds of Snow Leopard still have an identical interface to the current version (10.5 Leopard).

Jobs Taking a Leave of Absense

2009-01-14T16:39:00.001-06:00

Steve Jobs announced today that he will be taking a leave of absence until June for medical reasons. This news comes following his announcement shortly before the MacWorld keynote that he was suffering from a hormonal imbalance, and expects to make a full recovery soon. This assured us that his weight loss wasn't something more serious like a relapse of cancer which he had in 2004. Here is the announcement he sent to Apple Employees:

Team,

I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very
personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my
personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my
family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the
past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex
than I originally thought.

In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health,
and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary
products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the
end of June.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apples day to day
operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team
will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major
strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully
supports this plan.

I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.

Steve

MacWorld '09: I'm Impressed

2009-01-06T20:23:00.002-06:00

So there were rumors that the reason Steve Jobs wasn't doing the keynote was that they didn't have anything cool and new to introduce. It might have been true, but that's not what I think. Everything new that they introduced today was just an update on a current product, but I'm very impressed with it all.

First of all, iLife '09. I think that this is the most solid release of iLife ever. The main thing that really popped for me was the all new iMovie '09. It's exactly what was missing from iMovie '08 which received tons of critisism for it's lack of features. I think that the new iMovie is the perfect balance between iMovie '08s ease of use and iMovie HD's powerful tools. The new mapping, effects, and themes just really blew me away with their simplicity and beauty. I really can't wait until it's available because this will really save me some time with my editing projects.

iPhoto looks quite nice with the new Faces and Places features. I'm a bit skeptical of the face detection and face recognition thing, but who knows how well it will work yet? I think it could get annoying if it's not very accurate and in situations when you're working with hundreds of photos of people and some may happen to look alike. I think that the geotagging feature is just awesome and the google map to tell you exactly where your photo was taken is quite awesome.

I really like what they've done with GarageBand with the "Learn to Play" feature. I think this is great for people with Macs that are wanting to learn a new instrument but don't want to go get 3rd party software to learn. I'm undecided on my feelings toward the new effects modules for guitar recording. The new "stomp box" setup looks nice, but I'm not sure if I prefer it to the traditional sliders and effects drop downs.

The second announcement of the day was iWork '09. iWork '09 felt like a minor update to me. I personally complain all the time about the non-full-screen Pages layout that was in iWork '08, and now my problems with that are long gone, at least when I upgrade that is. I'm not feeling too compelled to upgrade except for this iWork.com feature that they've added. There's been all this talk about "cloud computing" and Apple is taking their first step into this exciting new revolution. iWork.com is basically a web version of iWork that makes it easy to share documents between several people, or between multiple computers by the same user.

The third and final announcement of the day was the 17" Precision Unibody MacBook Pro. It doesn't have a removeable battery like the previous MacBook Pro did, which could be a problem for some people, but I think the new 8 hour battery life will make up for that. Another nice thing for the pro consumers is the option of a non-reflective screen for those who don't like the glossy finish.

All-in-all, I'm impressed with what Phil Schiller rolled out today at MacWorld. I think that it was a great follow up to ten year of Steve Jobs' keynotes and a great ending to Apple's years of presenting at MacWorld.

Steve Jobs=Fine.

2009-01-05T12:03:00.004-06:00

I've just gotten word that Jobs will not be giving a keynote at Macworld today because of a "hormonal imbalance," unrelated to his past history of Pancreatic cancer. He will also remain the iCEO of Apple, Inc.

Co-founding Apple in his garage, Steve Jobs has been the face of Apple for several years. Rumors about his ill health have even contributed to drops in Apple stock. This week Apple stock is up 5%, and we now know that Jobs will be back to health again soon.

I do wonder, though, if this is a cover-up. I'm leaning towards that he is going to be fine, but still. Even then, I honestly don't think that Apple needs Steve Jobs anymore. The entire Apple team has the skill to lead the company in the right direction now. Steve, you were the best asset Apple could have had, but there are people with even more new ideas now.

Here's the official letter form Steve Jobs.

"Dear Apple Community,

For the first time in a decade, I’m getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.

Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.

I’ve decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.

As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.

Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause—a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.

The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But, just like I didn’t lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple’s CEO during my recovery.

I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple’s CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.

So now I’ve said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this.

Steve"

-LS

Hello, 2009!

2009-01-01T23:49:00.003-06:00

Happy New Years to everyone out there! I can't wait to see what is in store from Apple for us in 2009. MacWorld is just around the corner and we'll be sure to cover that fully for all the product announcements. From all of us at the iBlog team, Happy New Years!

2008 Apple Products: Year in Review

2008-12-31T05:59:00.002-06:00

Now that there are only about 19 hours until the end of 2008 (at least where I am), I think it would be a good idea to look back at some of the product releases and updates that we saw throughout the year.

Time Capsule
Time Capsule is a really interesting product. As stated by Steve Jobs, it is a "backup appliance". With either a 500GB or 1TB hard drive built in, this device makes backing up your data with Time Machine easy. It also doubles as an AirPort base station which is also very cool.

MacBook Air
One USB port? No optical drive? What the heck? Remember all the complaints that came following the introduction of the MacBook Air? The MacBook Air is Apple's ultra-thin, ultra-portable notebook. With a full size 13.3" display and a beautiful full size backlit keyboard, what is to complain about. I think that the MacBook Air makes perfect sense for someone on the go that doesn't need much power, but needs that small, light package.

iPhone SDK & App Store
I think I'm correct in saying that the iPhone App Store is likely Apple's biggest success of the year. They've sold thousands of third party applications, and some developers are making loads of cash off of their applications. I bet the introduction of the App store has also helped iPhone and iPod Touch sales.

iPhone 3G
Making up 39% of Apple's 3rd Quarter earnings, the iPhone 3G was a major sucess for Apple. It was introduced at WWDC in June and hit the stores on July 11th. The iPhone 3G was half the price of its sucessor, and a third of the price of the original iPhone at it's release. It had problems with slow 3G data, long backups, and poor battery life at first, but it has been improved with the 2.1 and 2.2 software updates.

MobileMe
I'm going to say that MobileMe was a total flop for Apple. It obviously wasn't ready to be released which was clearly shown by all the issues early on. I haven't had any experience using it, so I can't judge if it works fine yet, but I'm kind of dissappointed in Apple for releasing a product as premature as MobileMe was.

Tall iPod Nano
In September, Apple updated the entire iPod line. Most of the models remained looking the same. The iPod Touch was only slightly changed cosmetically. The most apparent change in the iPod line was the new tall, curved iPod nano. It ships in either 8GB for $149 or 16GB for $199. The new nanos are what Apple calls "nano-chromatic" and come in 9 brand new colors that are all very vibrant.

Aluminum MacBooks
Finally we get to Apple's last big announcment of the year. In October, Apple introduced the new aluminum MacBook on top of the previous line which still exists in Apple's product lineup for $999. The aluminum MacBook features a beautiful glass trackpad with no button, a precision unibody enclosure, and a very shiny glossy screen. It does however lack a firewire port, and many users were very frustrated with Apple for that. The new Nvidia 9400M graphics chipset is included for up to five times faster graphics processing than on the previous model which used an Intel GMA integrated graphics chip.

That's pretty much it for 2008. I think Apple has a fairly solid product line-up entering 2009, and I can't wait to see what they introduce next. MacWorld Expo is next week already!

Wha... wha... what?

2008-12-16T17:21:00.002-06:00

It has been confirmed that Apple CEO Steve Jobs will not be presenting the opening KeyNote at MacWorld Expo in January. Phil Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing will be taking his place for the presentation. Apple has also announced that this will be their last year exhibiting at MacWorld. Could this be the beginning of the end of Steve Jobs' leadership at Apple?

Help LegoShark!

2008-12-08T02:42:00.000-06:00

http://chris.pirillo.com/2008/12/08/how-to-make-an-ipod-video-ad/

Please leave meaningful comments at this link, details here-http://chris.pirillo.com/2008/12/04/how-to-get-a-computer/

iWork '08 Unboxing and Review

2008-11-10T15:52:00.006-06:00

You may remember from my previous post about the new MacBooks that I mentioned that I had purchased a copy of iWork '08 for school. I recorded an unboxing video, but I went through a lot of issues with it before I finally called in good ol' LegoShark for editing assistance. I lost all the audio for some reason, but it's fine.

I really love iWork. Every since I tried the free trial about a month ago, I've been in love with how awesome it is. Keynote is so much better than Powerpoint. It has very elegant slide templates that really set it apart from it's competition. Pages is nice. There's not really that much that I look for in a word processing application, but Pages' elegant layout and rich set of features really makes it great. I like it a whole lot more than Microsoft Word 2007. I don't really do much with spreadsheets ever, so it's kind of hard to give my impression on Numbers, but so far it seems like it works. I tried making a simple spreadsheet with equasions and a graph, and I really love the graphing features. The charts are so beautiful, it's hard to even describe without showing them.

Hands on Review: New MacBooks

2008-11-09T12:04:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I was at Best Buy to pick up a copy of iWork 08 for school, and the new MacBooks caught my eye. I played with one of them for quite a while. I found that I really like the no button trackpad. I actually prefer it to a trackpad with a physical button. The glass trackpad is wonderful. My fingers just glided across it. I think the glossy display is very nice, and it's reflectiveness is overexaggerated by many people. When the machine is turned on, it looks just fine, but turned off, it's insanely reflective. It's quite a beautiful notebook, and if I had the money and a need for a notebook, I'd totally buy it.

Free CodeWeavers Software: Today Only

2008-10-28T20:48:00.003-05:00

Hurry! There's only a limited time that you can still download CodeWeavers' CrossOver, an application that will let you run Windows applications on Mac OS X. I've been playing around with it for about an hour, and it hasn't accepted any of the applications I tried to install that weren't on the supported software list.

Internet Explorer 6 and Windows Media Player 9 are among the list of supported software that I did manage to get installed, however I've deleted them because I have no use for them, and to add to the fact, they're highly outdated.

You can still get the download until the end of the day today. The free giveaway was inspired by the Great American Lame Duck challenge, so get it while you can here.

Mozilla Test Browser: Minefield

2008-10-26T19:55:00.003-05:00

Mozilla has released a test browser codenamed "Minefield" which is basically Firefox with a faster javascript engine, or in my words, Firefox on crack. When tested alongside Google Chrome, it was faster than the V8 javascript engine, which was previously thought to be the fastest javascript engine available. The new javascript engine is called TraceMonkey, and it is truley amazing. Just playing with it doing everyday websurfing, I've noticed significant speed increases.

http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/nightly/latest-trunk/

Happy 7th Birthday, iPod!

2008-10-23T09:23:00.005-05:00

Seven years ago today, Steve Jobs introduced the first ever iPod. The first iPod was available in 5 and 10GB models, and charged via FireWire. It was 0.78 inches "thin" and weighed 0.41 pounds.

The iPod has become the world's most popular line of portable media players with around 70% of the portable media player market share. Since the original iPod (now called iPod Classic), there have been 4 other models of iPod, 3 of which still remain in the product line.

In 2004, the iPod Mini, Apple's second iPod was introduced as a smaller alternative to the iPod. The iPod mini was available in 4 and eventually 6GB models at a time when the original iPod was available in up to 40GB. The iPod Mini made it through two revisions before being replaced by the iPod nano.

Apple's 3rd iPod was the iPod shuffle. The tiny "stick" shaped design had no screen and no clickwheel, however it has a similar button layout to the clickwheel. The iPod shuffle used the "shuffle" feature that was introduced in previous iPod models to play songs. Apple has updated the iPod shuffle a few times since then, however the biggest change was the form factor change cutting down the size to about one inch diagonally.

In 2005, Apple dropped the iPod Mini in favor of an even smaller flash based music player. The iPod nano was and is the world's most popular music player. It was originally available in 1, 2, and 4GB models in the first generation, and now in the 4th generation 8 and 16GB models are available.

The iPod Touch is Apple's most advanced iPod. It very closely resembles the iPhone, Apple's entry into the mobile phone market. It has a large touch screen and no clickwheel. It has every feature that the iPhone has except for the camera, 3G cell network access, and the ability to call like a phone. The iPod Touch is the only iPod with a built in web browser, or even the ability to access the internet. The iPod Touch is now in it's 2nd generation, however there isn't much difference between the two models.

New "Get a Mac" ad

2008-10-23T08:11:00.002-05:00

Apple has released another one of their popular "Get a Mac" ads featuring John Hodgeman as "PC" and Justin Long as "Mac". The new ad is titled "Bake Sale" and it shows PC selling baked goods to raise money to fix Vista's problems.

Link

New MacBooks, MacBook Pros, MacBook Air, Apple Cinema Display!

2008-10-14T20:49:00.001-05:00

Today at Apple's notebook-focused media event on it's campus in Cupertino, California, Steve Jobs took the stage to announce updates of all Apple's portable computers, as well as a new Cinema Display.

MacBook Air
The MacBook Air recieved a RAM upgrade, a hard drive upgrade, improved graphics, and a Mini Display Port. The Air now comes standard with 2GB of DDR3 RAM, a 120GB hard drive with an option to upgrade to a 128GB SSD, an NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor, and it now includes a Mini Display Port to work with the new Apple Cinema Display.

MacBook Pro
The MacBook Air got a complete redesign. Apple's Senior Vice President of Product Design, Jonathan Ive, introduced a whole new way of manufacturing notebooks. Until now, the aluminum casing of the MacBook Pro has played little part in being the structure of the actual product. There were reinforcments made of Magnesium throughout the inside of the product, which not only took up space, but made the notebook heavier. Apple has a new manufacturing process, that uses thicker aluminum for the casing, however aluminum makes up the entire structure of the case. The new "unibody" design is lighter and thinner. The MacBook Pro now has an LED-backlit display, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, the new NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor. On the side, there is now a Mini DisplayPort for compatibility with the new Cinema Display.

MacBook
Not only did Apple introduce a new aluminum MacBook, but they kept the old plastic one in the lineup, but with a lower price point of $999. Analysts are calling the $999 MacBook the most important part of the KeyNote because it greatly widens Apple's addressable range of customers. This is Apple's first ever sub-$1000 notebook. The new aluminum MacBooks are very similar to the new MacBook Pros. They have an aluminum unibody design, a LED backlit display, and the addition of a Mini DisplayPort. The new trackpad includes no physical button because it is the button. The new trackpads are made of glass and include support for multi-touch gestures. Apple introduced 2 new 4-finger gestures today. One to enter Expose, and the other for quick app switching.

The MacBook recieved a few specification updates, most notably: 2GB of DDR3 RAM, the new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics processor.

24" Cinema Display
Other than the new notebooks, Apple announced a new LED-backlit Cinema Display today. The display is 24", and has 2 cables. One power cable, and one connector which brances off into 3 separate cables specifically designed for notebooks. There is a MagSafe connector for notebooks, so you can hook up a MacBook to charge off of the display's power cable, a USB cable for the display's built in iSight, and a Mini DisplayPort for connecting to computers with that port. An adapter is available so you can use a DVI or VGA port. This is Apple's first display to include a built in iSight camera as well as a microphone and speaker system. As usual, the Cinema Display includes 3 self powered USB ports, so you can use the display as a USB hub as well.

New MacBooks!

2008-10-14T18:12:00.004-05:00

The October 14 Apple event is over, here is what was announced:

Redesigned MacBook and MacBook Pro

-The MacBook and MacBook Pro has been redesigned from top to bottom, looking real sexy, ;-)
-The MacBook and MacBook Pro comes with a better graphics card(NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics).
-The MacBook and MacBook Pro has a new LED-backlit display.

MacBook price: 2.0ghz; $1,299.00
2.4ghz; $1,599.00
The original white MacBook is available on Apple's online store for $999.
MacBook Pro

Apple Networked HDTVs?

2008-10-11T17:37:00.003-05:00

With only a couple of days until the October 14th Apple Media Event, the internet is full of rumors of what Steve Jobs might announce on Tuesday morning. It is already confirmed that there will be something about notebooks, likely a redesign of the MacBook to give it an aluminum case rather than the current plastic ones.

During a live recording of Diggnation in London, Kevin Rose leaked a rumor that Apple is working on an HDTV that will network with iTunes over wifi.

These LCD HDTVs will be fully networked, with the ability to stream all your iTunes content from your Mac or PC. In fact, Calacanis told me they'll function like a standard TV with an Apple TV box, only without the need for the box.

Kevin Rose was right with his leaks of the 4th Generation iPod Nano, and iTunes 8 at the September 9th Apple Media Event, so let's see if he can go "2 for 2". Before the iPod rumors, Kevin was regarded as a bad source because of his complete miss with iPhone info.

Apple Announces MacBook Event - October 14

2008-10-09T23:14:00.007-05:00

Just recently, Apple sent out invites for the new MacBook based event held on October 14th. Expect coverage from us as soon as we get it.

Can't wait to see what Apple has in store for us.

-Timothy

New iPods and More! Let's Rock!

2008-09-09T16:55:00.002-05:00

Apple has released updates for the entire iPod line. There are new iPod shuffles, iPod nanos, iPod classics, and iPod touches.

The most notable new design is in the iPod nano. The rumors were true about the curved design and the tall screen. The new iPod nano comes in 9 different colors. New features in the firmware include a "shake to shuffle" tool that uses the new built in accelerometer to sense vibration, and automatically go to shuffle mode. You can also use the accelerometer to turn the iPod on it's side, and watch video in widescreen, or browse music in coverflow. Another new feature is the "genius" tool. It lets you hold down the center button, and it will bring up a menu that asks if you would like to enter genius mode. If you select yes, it will give a list of songs that are similar to the song you are listening to.

The iPod touch now more closely resembles the iPhone 3G, with a curved backing that is still chrome, despite rumors of it recieving a plastic back similar to the iPhone. The Touch has the same genius, and shake to shuffle features that are in the new iPod nano. There is also a built in speaker on the side. Also introduced was the iPhone 2.1 firmware which costs $9.99 to those who haven't purchased the iPhone 2.0 firmware, but is free to those who have.

The iPod classic got a slight revamp. It now comes just 120GB, in silver or black. The 160GB model was discontinued.

The iPod shuffle now comes in new colors, but the same design, and same storage capacities. The new colors match the iPod nano colors, but not all 9 colors are available for the shuffle.

Also released today was iTunes 8.0. New features are "genius" which, like in the iPod, suggests music similar to the song you are listening to. There is also a new visualizer, and it is amazing. You have to see it for yourself because I can't express the pure shock I was in through words. You can now purchase HD TV shows for the $2.99 per episode.

You can not use the back to school promo which continues until September 15th to get one of the new iPods. Apple also announced new In Ear Headphones for $79.

Google Chrome

2008-09-02T17:01:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, Google announced their very own open source web browser, called Google Chrome. It is available for beta download starting today. The browser uses WebKit, which is also used by Safari. Also included in the new browser is a new JavaScript engine caled V8 which is faster.

http://www.google.com/chrome

Apple Event on September 9th Confirmed

2008-09-02T17:01:00.004-05:00

There have been recent rumors of an Apple event on September 9th focused on media. Apple is expected to unveil the new generation of iPod nanos and touches. MacBook and MacBook Pro updates are possible, but may not happen until October.

New iPod Nano Soon?

2008-09-01T12:29:00.002-05:00

There have been several rumors of a new iPod Nano with a taller screen, which people say will be announced by Apple on September 9th at a special "iTunes Unlimited" event on Apple's campus. With these rumors there have been several images of the new Nano that have been leaked. These may or may not be real, but Engadget Spanish has found a case for the 4th Gen Nano at a retail store. The case very closely resembles the leaked photos that have been circulating in the past few days. The case is labeled "for iPod nano 4G", so we might be seeing a taller nano in the coming days.

iPhone/iPod touch 2.0.2 Firmware Available

2008-08-24T16:28:00.003-05:00

The new version of the 2.0 firmware for iPhone and iPod touch has been released the other day, get it here
No difference in features, but from what I've seen so far, even more bugs have been rid of.

-Timothy

Apple Campus Fire Caused $2 Million in Damage

2008-08-16T16:32:00.002-05:00

Tuesday's fire on Apple's campus in Building 6 caused roughly $2 million dollars in damage. Nobody was harmed in the fire which burned for around 2 hours. Most of the damage was smoke damage. The fire was in Valley Green drive across from Apple's main campus on Infinite Loop. The fire was said to be caused by workers on the roof doing construction work which included welding. It was previously thought that the fire was caused by an air conditioning unit.

10 Years of iMac

2008-08-15T09:16:00.003-05:00

Happy 10th birthday iMac! 10 years ago on August 15th, 1998, Apple began shipping the original 233MHz Bondi Blue iMac G3. The iMac is arguably the most influential desktop computer in the last decade. Nobody can forget it's colorful transclucent case. It was later followed up in several different flavors including Strawberry, Blueberry, Lime, Grape, Tangerine, Graphite, Ruby, Snow, Indigo, Sage, Blue Dalmation, and Flower Power. The fun new cases killed beige. Most computer cases before the iMac were beige or gray, and really ugly, and look at them now. Many have colors or transparent cases. Can you guess where that idea came from?

The iMac is special to me personally, because it was my first computer. I used a Macintosh Performa before it, but it was the first computer that was really mine. I remember my dad pulling it out of the box, how I was amazed at it's shape and color. I saw the picture on the box, but that wasn't nearly as amazing as seeing it in person. I don't still have that iMac, but I do remember how beautiful of a machine it was.

The iMac's design wasn't the only thing about it that made it unique. It introduced USB to the masses, and it killed the floppy drive. A lot of people were afraid of ditching the floppy drive, but now most computer users wouldn't miss a floppy drive. If someone really needed a floppy drive, they could purchase a USB floppy drive from Apple, much like the case with the Macbook Air now, which lacks an optical drive, but gives the option of a USB superdrive.

The iMac brought Apple back. In the years before the iMac, Apple was failing. In 1998, Apple earned $414 Million! That was it's first profit in 3 years. The profits and market share gains only continued to grow. Now, 10 years later, the iMac is the only product around at that time to remain in the Apple lineup.

Apple Campus on Fire (Update)

2008-08-13T18:49:00.003-05:00

Some details of the Extent of the damage at Cupertino have been released on FOX news.
Some of the Roof and the second floor were scorched. Apparently, the fire was not very large, but smoke damage will be a BIG problem.

Apple Campus on Fire

2008-08-13T10:48:00.002-05:00

Apple's sales have been on fire lately, but last night, building Valley Green Six at 20705 on Apple's campus in Cupertino caught fire. The blaze drew 60 firefighters, and has been put out. An air conditioning unit may have been the cause of the fire. Fortunately, all the employees in the building got out unharmed. There is currently no news on how much damage there was.

Best Buy to sell iPhones (Confirmed)

2008-08-13T06:49:00.002-05:00

There have been a swarm of rumors floating around the web in the past few days claiming that Best Buy will begin selling the iPhone 3G. The rumors of Best Buy's interest in iPhone distribution began over a year ago, and it was officially announced that they will begin selling the iPhone 3G on September 7th.

The announcement came on Tuesday. This is what Shawn Score, president of Best Buy Mobile had to say:

"We had a lot of work to do, obviously, to get in a position where Apple
and AT&T would feel good about Best Buy Mobile carrying it, and
that's what we've done in the last 18 months."

Old iPod- Found

2008-08-10T19:31:00.005-05:00

I found an old iPod 3rd generation, 15GB, in very good condition. the stainless steel back plate is a bit scratched up, but that happens generally quickly on iPods. The only actual problem with the iPod is with the Lock, which needs to be pressed with a decent amount of force to be unlocked. my mom said that she actually took it into the Apple Store for this problem, but the warranty was up.

From what I know, this iPod 3rd Generation was bought in 2003... 5 years ago. For those who say iPods don't work for long- Uh-huh. Yeah. Also, this iPod has separate buttons for play/pause, back, forward, and menu. The scroll wheel is still touch-sensitive, as are the buttons. This is the first iPod to feature a backlight, and the only iPod to back backlit buttons, which are red. its very, very cool.

Apple Reports it's Q3 2008 Results (New Record!)

2008-07-21T16:21:00.001-05:00

Apple has set another "best quarter ever" record. Apple's 2008 third fiscal quarter ended June 28th, 2008. I bought my Mac mini the day before. The Company had a revenue of $7.46 billion and a profit of $818 million.

Apple shipped 2,496,000 Macs (41% unit growth and 43% revenue growth), 11,011,000 iPods., and 717,000 iPhones.

If you hurry, you can still catch the end of the live conference call at http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/earningsq308/

A question in the later Q&A asked about Steve Jobs' health, and his future plans, and it was reported that he will be staying at Apple as long as he can, but his health is a personal matter.

A future product transition was mentioned during the live broadcast, but no details were announced, so expect something new in the coming months.

Apple Sues Psystar

2008-07-15T13:22:00.001-05:00

We knew that a company selling unauthorized Mac clones wasn't going to last very long, and Psystar's time is up. Apple filed a suit against the company on July 3rd. Both Apple and Psystar have remained quiet about the issue, which is why we're just finding out about it now.

The suit accuses Psystar of license, copyright, and trademark infringement. Shortly before Psystar began distributing modified versions of OS X 10.5.4, the suit was filed.

iPhone 3G Launch & iPod Touch Firmware Update Almost Available

2008-07-11T22:46:00.003-05:00

The iPhone 3G went on sale in the US today. People began getting in line about a week ago, and there has been a great customer response. Aside from the in-store activation which can take 10-12 minutes per phone, and the pricy data plans, people were still insanely enthusiastic about this device. It was probably because of it's very affordable price of $199. I can't get service here, but if I could, I'd definitely consider this as my new phone.

On a side note, when you plug in your iPod Touch, it will tell you that the new update is available, however when you click the link to get it, it does nothing. The iPhone 2.o firmware update actually came out today, my previous post was incorrect. People had found the link to the updated firmware in Apple's xml files, and posted it. I am very excited about the software update, so I can begin playing with the apps on my brother's iPod Touch. I need to get myself one, but I'm still paying off the Mac Mini.

Showcase went great, iPod Ad done, iPhone on sale tomorrow, App store and 2.0 released early!

2008-07-10T23:47:00.003-05:00

Yay for apple. Well, it went great. the audience was about 45 people, and I went last again, which i love to do. I showed my DVD, which consisted of my model town house thing, the Mac vs. PC LEGO things, my Apple ad and my iPod ad. My iPod ad went over very, very well. the Mac vs. PC things got some smiles, and i got a lot of "stick with this hobby, you'll be at the top" sort of stuff. There was a man who was presenting who needed to get a keynote presentation onto a DVD without illing the quality. I talked to him about that, i might be doing something with him. I use DVD studio Pro, and he saw my DVD, so I have a decent chance of working with him. My big thing was meeting the Product manager at Apple. Basically, he's the head of all of the Apple Retail stores and one of the head honchos. I presented for him, and afterwards he seemed very impressed. he gave me his card and told me to shoot him an email about my stuff. I was given got 4 One to One trial cards to pass out to whoever needed one trial lesson to advertise the whole thing.

Oh, and one more thing...

He took my DVD. He's going to show it to corporate and maybe even advertising. Which is very awesome. I really want to do something with Apple, it would be pwntastic.

__________________

Apart from that, the excitement is already in the air for the new 3G iPhone. i happened to catch the Advertisement on the telly, it rocks. The long-awaited App Store along with the iPhone and iPod Touch 2.0 fimware was released one day early, which is very cool. Apple has been "throwing cuveballs" lately :), which i happen to like.

iPhone 2.0 Software and iTunes 7.7!

2008-07-10T12:05:00.002-05:00

The iPhone 3G goes on sale tomorrow, but today Apple has released the iPhone 2.0 Software, and an update of iTunes (7.7). The updated iTunes includes the app store, and so does the iPhone 2.0 software, but there is no update for the iPod Touch software yet, but when it comes out, it will cost $9.99. It's free for iPhone owners. I'm anxiously waiting for the iPod Touch software update, so I can play around with some of the free ones on my brother's new iPod Touch.

How to make a proper iPod ad... With the Wires!

2008-07-07T22:18:00.001-05:00

Yes, I've done it... but with some help fromt eh amazing Award80 on youtube. (youtube.com/Award80)

In Final Cut Pro. w00t for Apple.

High End MacBook Air Price Drop

2008-07-04T09:43:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Apple dropped the price of the high end MacBook Air $500 to $2598 from $3098. The high end MacBook Air has a 1.8GHz processor and a 64GB Solid State Drive.

The 1.6GHz 80GB Hard drive MacBook Air remains at it's previous price of $1799. This email went out to customers who had just made an order, and were affected by the price drop:

To Our Valued Apple Customer:

Apple has announced a price drop for a component(s) of the MacBook Air that you recently ordered. We have automatically adjusted your order to reflect the new lower price.

For up-to-date information on your order, please visit our Order Status website at . After your order is shipped, you can also obtain tracking information on this site.

Thank you for your shopping at the Apple Store.

Sincerely,
Apple Online Store Support

Patent Forms reveal Touch and Multi-Touch research and development

2008-07-04T09:35:00.002-05:00

At least a dozen patent applications from Apple came into the US Patent and Copyright Office yesterday morning; Most of them involved multi-touch research going on at Apple by Wayne Westerman, former co-founder of Fingerworks.

The patents include avoiding unintentional contact and advancing the hardware technology. Also, 'Gesture Learning' is a way to teach advanced gestures to users. This would teach gestures that appeared to be to unnatural for the user to catch on right away. Apple is researching visual feedback in the form of animated motion trails, hand motions, and interactive games to teach these gestures to users.

A very cool other possibility is using the regular fingertip as a primary 'click' (just like a left click on a mouse) and the fingernail as a secondary 'click' (just like a right click on a mouse). That would enable copy/paste and text selection which would be good for email or instant messaging. Too bad it will still be a while until Apple takes advantage of these features, as the current iPhone has no copy and paste.

App Store Launch Deadline July 7th

2008-07-04T09:12:00.003-05:00

Developers must get their iPhone Apps finished, and submitted to the App Store by July 7th for them to be included in the App Store in the launch. The launch of the App Store is expected to be July 11th, along side the new 3G iPhone, however, Apple could still change things up a bit, and release it a little earlier. Having an app in the store on the first day would give quite a bit of free publicity, as everyone will be playing around and seeing all the new things they can do with their iPhone/iPod Touch.

iBlog Dashboard Widget

2008-07-02T22:01:00.004-05:00

I registered for the Apple Developer Connection yesterday, and today I was messing around with Dashcode, and I made a Dashboard widget for the iBlog RSS feed. If you want the latest iBlog posts just a click on the dashboard away, check it out.

Link

Apple Releases OS 10.5.4

2008-07-01T21:41:00.003-05:00

This morning, Apple released the latest revision of OS X (Mac OS 10.5.4). The update addresses stability, compatibility, and security according to Apple's website. Alongside this update was Security Update 2008-004 for OS 10.4.11-10.5.3. It is most likely included in 10.5.4 because it is not listed as an update for that version of OS X. So far I haven't noticed the changes, but it was a pretty quick download/install process. The whole thing was over before I could have breakfast and get ready for the day.

Macintosh... I has it

2008-06-29T20:51:00.004-05:00

I'm the proud owner of a brand new 1.83 GHz Mac Mini with 80 GB of storage. I got it at the Mall of America Apple Store in Bloomington, Minnesota on my trip this weekend, and I love it. The slim keyboard and mouse are really different from what I'm used to on Windows, but they are way quieter which is great. I haven't fully adapted to OS X, but Leopard is awesome. I've really come to love Photo Booth and GarageBand. I haven't played around much with iMovie yet, but I know I'll be dow... upgrading to iMovie HD. This is an awesome system, and I'm glad I made the switch to Mac.

LegoShark at the Apple Store in Manhattan Village

2008-06-20T03:37:00.002-05:00

I was invited to attend my local Apple Store's second One to One Talent Showcase.

One to One is a program that Apple does. If you sign up, you can schedule an appointment for personal training in anything Apple. In my case, Final Cut Pro, Motion, Soundtrack Pro, and other apps bundled in Final Cut Studio. I am planning on presenting this, along with some other stuff at the showcase.

Firefox Download Day: +8 Million Downloads

2008-06-18T19:54:00.005-05:00

Mozilla set a world record yesterday for the most software downloads in one day with the release of Firefox 3. More than 8 Million copies were downloaded during the 24 hours of Firefox Download Day. In the first 4 hours after the release, one million copies had already been downloaded. The servers were insanely slow around 10 AM PST when it was scheduled to be released. The bandwidth of spreadfirefox.com crashed it for a while before the release too.

On a side note, a web browser I developed was released yesterday too, but it got 16 downloads. If you're looking for a light, IE-based browser for Microsoft Windows, you can find it here.

MacTracker for iPod

2008-06-14T17:43:00.002-05:00

Recently, I downloaded a little app for my iPod, called MacTracker. If your iPod includes the "Notes" feature, you can use this fun little tool. MacTracker is a database of every Apple Product, but it hasn't been updated since around September last year. Tiger is still listed as the most recent version of OS X, and it doesn't include the new updated iMacs, but you can go in and edit them if you want. Since iPod notes include some basic html support, links are enabled, letting you jump from item to item. MacTracker includes product information, technical specs, and startup and death chimes. A quick note is that it takes about 30 seconds upon startup to load all 500 or so files in the notes.

What will you need for MacTracker on your iPod?

An iPod with the "Notes" feature.
2MB of free space on your iPod.

I highly recommend checking this little tool out to anyone with an interest in the history of Apple Computers. If you don't have an interest in Apple Computers, why are you reading this blog?

iBlog Youtube Page/ New Video

2008-06-12T19:23:00.003-05:00

So, we now have a YouTube page. I uploaded this video after getting back from the Apple store with my new iPod, after i traded my old, broken one back.

No PowerPC Support in Snow Leopard

2008-06-11T19:43:00.003-05:00

LogicielMac has posted a screenshot of the system requirements for Snow Leopard, the upcoming release of OS X that was seeded to developers earlier this week. These requirements are listed:

An Intel Processor
An Internal, external, or shared DVD drive
At least 512 MB of ram
Display connected to an Apple-supplied video card
9GB of disk space, or 12GB for developer tools

For those who haven't read the previous post about Snow Leopard, it's the next major release of Mac OS X (10.6). It was announced at WWDC, and a preview was given by Bertrand Serlet. It will not include new features, but will bring many performance and security fixes.

Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard to focus on Performance and Quality

2008-06-09T15:31:00.002-05:00

After Steve Jobs' keynote to kick off WWDC, Bertrand Serlet gave a preview of OS 10.6 "Snow Leopard to the attendees of WWDC 08. Apple plans to focus on performance rather than new features in the new release.

“We have delivered more than a thousand new features to OS X in just
seven years and Snow Leopard lays the foundation for thousands more,”
said Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior vice president of Software
Engineering. “In our continued effort to deliver the best user
experience, we hit the pause button on new features to focus on
perfecting the world’s most advanced operating system.”

The new OS includes the introduction of Open Computing Language (OpenCL). This new technology extends the computing power of the GPU to any app written with OpenCL commands. Snow Leopard will also bring the software limit for RAM to a whopping 16 TB (theoretically).

I'd love to see some performance boosts, but this sounds more like a service pack than a new release of the OS. So far on the Snow Leopard page, it looks just like Leopard on screen, but that could still change as it says it will be released in about a year's time. We'll be sure to keep you updated here at iBlog.

EDIT: Apple has posted a Snow Leopard page on their website.

WWDC Wrap-up

2008-06-09T14:41:00.002-05:00

The entire thing was about the iPhone. First off, Steve Jobs talked about the numbers.

52,000 in attendance at WWDC, 250,000 have downloaded the free iPhone SDK, 25,000 have applied to the beta program, and 4,000 have been admitted.

Mac OS X 10.6 will be named "Snow Leopard" and Bertrand Serlet will be doing a demo after lunch on it.

Next Steve Jobs invited up a bunch of developers from pretty big companies such as: Sega, eBay, Loopt, TypePad, and Pangea Software. Some cool apps include Super Monkey Ball, a game including 100 levels and will cost $9.99. MLB.com, an app with real time video, and detailed scoring; I don't know about pricing on this one. One of my favorite apps is the "Band" app; It includes a virtual piano, drums, 12-bar blues "instrument", and a bass; includes recording capabilities. There were some more apps, but those are the ones that stuck out to me.

I'll skip past just a little bit to get ahead to when it was announced that the iPhone 2.0 software will be available in early July. It will be a free software update for iPhone owners, and it will cost $9.99.

The iPhone App Store will be available in 62 countries. If the app is less than 10MB, it can be downloaded through the "cell" network, otherwise it requires iTunes or WiFi.

After talking about the iPhone apps for over an hour, the subject of interest temporarily shifted to the .Mac service, which is now called "Mobile Me" It's a service which works over the air with Mail, iCal, and Address Book on Mac, and works on Outlook on Windows. iDisk is integrated into me.com as well. .Mac subscribers will automatically be updated to the service. It will cost $99 per year for the service.

After Phil finished his brief demo of the Mobile Me service, Steve took the stage to talk about the iPhone again. He talked about the iPhone having it's first birthday on June 29th.

Now to what everyone cares about: the 3G iPhone. It will have GPS, and obviously 3G networking. It will cost $199 for the 8GB model which will only be available with a black plastic back, and it will cost $299 for the 16GB model which will be available with a choice of a black or white plastic back. The rumors of a (Product) RED iPhone were proven false, for now at least.

That's my report on the WWDC 08 keynote, I was kind of let down. I was hoping for an update on the Mac Mini line or possibly the Mac fusion that there were rumors of.

iBlog Forum

2008-06-09T13:10:00.001-05:00

The iBlog forum is now here. Thanks to Timothy Ratner for the idea. This will add to the functionality of iBlog and possibly create a community. The forum is phpBB3, and uses the Macinscott 3 theme which looks awesome.

WWDC 08 Coverage

2008-06-09T09:54:00.003-05:00

We'll be covering WWDC live as it happens. With every important announcement, we'll make an update. The keynote begins in a little less than an hour. Already, there's a banner covered by a black tarp. I'm guessing it's something about the rumor of a Mac OS 10.6 announcement.

1.) iPhone 2.0 Software: Confirmed
iPhone 2.0 software available as a free update for iPhone owners, $9.95 for iPod Touch owners.

2.) Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: Confirmed
Bertrand Serlet will be giving a demo of the new OS after lunch. I can't wait.

3.) 3G iPhone: Confirmed
It's about time. I was almost starting to think it wasn't going to happen. 3G networking, plastic backing, GPS, it's just about exactly what the rumor sites predicted it to be. $199 for 8GB, $299 for 16GB. 16GB is available in black or white.

Rumor: Mac Fusion at WWDC

2008-06-09T09:25:00.004-05:00

The WWDC keynote begins in about 2 and a half hours, and last night, a rumor surfaced on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) of a new mac aimed at developers called the "Mac Fusion". It would apparently replace the Mac Mini line and be a triple platform system. People have already been shooting it down as fake, but I still think it's a possibility. We'll find out in a couple hours!

Rumor Status: Fake

Lego Touch

2008-06-09T07:36:00.004-05:00

If you're a LEGO fan like us, and own an iPhone or iPod touch, this app is for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEMp15cwrMA

Currently a concept, but it is said this app is to be made officially with the SDK, and available to buy/or possible free download on the new AppStore soon.
Basically, it's just like the LEGO Digital Designer, but for mobile devices(iPhone and iPod touch).
And it can do much more, such as being able to play games with other people, or alone. Though I do not know how they will be able to pull that off(multiplayer).

It would be awesome to see this as an official app, hopefully LEGO will give permission to the person who came up with this to release it. And, maybe the developer/s of this app will think of putting the (R) symbol next to the LEGO logo as it should be. And capitalizing "LEGO" in the app name, as it should be. :)

Stay tuned for WWDC 08 coverage by us. Coverage will start 1:00p.m. EST, 10:00a.m. PST.
Hope for some cool announcements!

Review: Final Cut Express

2008-06-07T01:32:00.002-05:00

I've been using Final Cut Express 4 for some time now, and I have enjoyed it a great deal. Here is a review of this terrific software. Keep in mind, I used clips under 2 minutes long for my editing.

Final Cut Express, when used on a MacBook, is quite good. When handling smaller clips, it is a very efficient and useful editing platform. A big step up from iMovie, Final Cut Express is easily learned with a little bit of tinkering. The filters are very easy to use. Color correction is great, and in most cases, complex color correction softwares like Color, Adobe Photoshop, etc... are unnecassary. The Marking feature is very useful for Stop- motion. My only complaints are no direct capture. This can be done in iMovie, so its not that big of a deal. The multiple tracks are simple and easy to use, and the all-around interface is very simple.

Bottom Line: Great interface, easy to learn with a little time.

Pros: Easy to use, great for people stepping up from iMovie.

Cons: Costs a pretty penny, no direct capture.

9/10

Mac OS 10.6?

2008-06-04T14:49:00.002-05:00

I'm guessing that Steve Jobs will make an announcement of Mac OS 10.6 at WWDC. There are rumors of it being called "Snow Leopard" which I think sounds too much like the current version, "Leopard". There are also rumors that it will drop PowerPC support, and Intel-only. Arstechnica reports that 10.6 will be "Cocoa Only" but that still remains quite vague. References to 10.6 were recently found in the iPhone SDK installer, so it's probably on it's way.

Back to School Promotion

2008-06-04T14:32:00.001-05:00

Apple has just launched their 2008 Back To School promotion. The rules are this year, that if you buy a MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, or iMac before September 15th, will recieve a free iPod Touch or iPod Nano. This deal applies to college students, faculty, or staff members. If you'd prefer not to get the free iPod, you can also get a discount ranging from $100 on the MacBook to $230 on the MacBook Air.

Apple Back to School Promotion

WWDC Predictions

2008-06-04T14:23:00.002-05:00

Well, it's been a while since anyone made a post here, and I'm trying to get another writer (LegoShark) added, but I'm having issues with Blogger. Anyway, here's a list of predictions for announcements to be made at WWDC which is coming up (June 9-13).

1.) 3G iPhone - This one's pretty obvious. People have been speculating about it for a long time, and photos have even been leaked. The new 3G iPhone will likely have a built in GPS, have a plastic back in black or white color choices (possibly red too), and prices may drop even more, so the low end 8GB model would be around $200 rather than $400. If the iPhone is updated, I also think there would be an iPod Touch update.

2.) Mac Mini Refresh - It needs to be done. The current generation Mac Mini has outlived it's product cycle. My guess is that it will receive speed enhancements, and maybe an upgrade to the Penryn processors used in the new iMacs.

3.) Mac OS 10.6 - Leopard has been out for almost a year, and I'm expecting Steve Jobs will make the first announcement of it at WWDC. I'll have more about OS 10.6 in another post.

4.) Apple Cinema Displays - I've heard rumors of these including an iSight. As cool as that would be, I don't really expect that to happen. They will probably get a higher resolution or more sizes introduced. I don't really know what to expect for this product.

5.) Multi-Touch Tablet - There have been rumors of Apple releasing a tablet device since 1996 according to my dad. With the technology they've got in the iPod Touch and iPod, they could probably pull it off. Also it looks like Microsoft is going to make Windows 7 a multi-touch platform, so this is the perfect time for Apple to strike.

6.) .Mac Update - There's been speculation of the .mac service being renamed and revamped. The new name will likely be "Mobile Me". As for features to be added, I don't know what Apple will do.

Predicted and Anticipated Apps for the AppStore

2008-05-27T21:27:00.002-05:00

June is almost here, when the 2.0 firmware update is released for iPhones and iPod touches.
With the update, you get a new app called the "AppStore". Announced in the latest KeyNote with the SDK. Here are some apps that I predict and anticipate on the AppStore.

1. Super MonkeyBall - Saw it in the KeyNote, looks sweet.

2. AIM - I don't know if they confirmed this, but in the KeyNote, they showed the icon for it.

3. prediction: iPhone apps - I doubt they'd do this, but this is my prediction, being able to install the iPhone apps on your iPod touch, from the AppStore, either separately, or all in one.

4. iPhoto - For iPhones, very more usable than the regular camera app you get when you buy it.

That's all I have(for now), I look forward to many great apps from the AppStore, and it'll probably make me change to a legit iPod touch forever. ;)

Axiotron ModBook- Looking for a MacBook Touch?

2008-05-09T18:30:00.003-05:00

That's right.

http://www.axiotron.com/index.php?id=modbook

I have no idea if this is real, but apparently, it looks like it is(tell me if I'm wrong ;) )

I would definitely choose this over a regular MacBook.

Running on OSX Leopard, pricing for the Fast version: $2,279.00, and Fastest: $2,479.00

Actually, with these prices, I would go with a regular MacBook. D:

It's Alive!

2008-04-28T15:54:00.002-05:00

Gizmodo has an exclusive video of the Psystar computer in action, using Mac OS X, or Osx86. So, accordingly, this is real. Looks like it runs pretty good!

[Via Gizmodo]

New iMacs

2008-04-28T07:55:00.001-05:00

As predicted, Apple has released the new iMacs. They now include faster processors which range from 2.4GHz in the low end to 3.06Ghz in the high end model. They also now include the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS (512MB) video card.

New iMacs

We're still waiting on a refresh of the Mac Mini line which is nearing the end of it's product cycle.

The only reason...

2008-04-27T21:02:00.000-05:00

...Windows is cool

Okay, not really a Mac thing, but still cool non-the-less. Takes Windows sounds and makes a song with them. You can bet I'll be trying this with Mac sounds.

My Mac Mini Update Predictions

2008-04-27T18:34:00.001-05:00

Since it is highly anticipated that there will be an update of the iMac product line next week, along with the possibility of an update to the Mac Mini line, here are my predictions of what will happen.

First off, I think that the two existing models will receive a faster processor. .2 GHZ added to each one is my prediction. So there will be a 2 GHZ model, and a 2.2 GHZ model, at the same prices as the previous generation.

Making the Mac Mini smaller is another possibility I've seen rumors about.

iMac Refresh Rumors...

2008-04-26T16:02:00.004-05:00

So, some rumors have been going around about Apple going to have the iMac line refreshed (updated). Just recently, retail sources have told MacRumors that they have received part numbers for new iMacs. Prices appear to be the same as current iMac prices. And while these iMacs have been updated, there is no news of a Mac Mini update.

[Via MacRumors]

Apple Reports Quarterly Results

2008-04-25T09:34:00.003-05:00

Apple announced Wednesday, a quarterly revenue of $7.51 Billion and a profit of $1.05 Billion! A new record for Apple in a March quarter! A breakdown of their sales goes as follows: 10.46 million iPods sold, 2.3 million Mac Computers sold, and 1.7 million iPhones. There was a 43% revenue growth over the previous quarter.

Featured iPhone App: Categories

2008-04-13T07:49:00.008-05:00

Categories is an iPhone/iPod touch app that lets you organize all your apps into categories(basically folders), like on a Mac or PC.

I'm not really a fan of it, but, I decided to give it some exposure.

To add a category, you click add, then type in the name of the category.

You will then get a list of icons to choose to stand for that category, go with the Leopard folder icons, looks neat. ;)

That's basically what Categories is, not as easy as doing it on a Mac, but still helpful.
Categories can downloaded from Installer.app, go check it out.

P.S. Sorry for not explaining the unimportant things, as they are-unimportant.

Microsoft Announces New Windows Version 'sometime in the next year'

2008-04-11T19:41:00.003-05:00

Microsoft has announced a new version of their OS "Windows" to be released in the coming year. No details have been released, but I can guess it will be fairly similar to XP and Vista, not only in features, but in flaws. With every service pack and every new version, they don't fix the issues from the previous ones, they just add on new features with more flaws. If they would take the time to fix the problems they already have instead of inventing new ones, they might not be so far behind Mac OS X in quality.

Link

Free Software: NetNewsWire

2008-04-06T14:52:00.004-05:00

NetNewsWire is a free RSS/Atom Reader that easily brings the news from your favorite sites right onto your Mac. The interface isn't as cluttered as other apps, such as Shrook, and is easy to navigate. It also has some great features, such as being able to use a desktop blogging app to respond to a post, change the way an article is displayed to you, and easy organization of your feeds. Definitely give it a try. Download it at Newsgator's website

New Ads from Apple

2008-04-02T08:18:00.003-05:00

Apple has recently released 2 new "Get a Mac" ads. These ads are titled Breakthrough and Yoga, and I thought they were hilarious. Also, there are 3 new iPhone ads.

Instant Messaging on The Go!

2008-04-02T05:05:00.005-05:00

Hey, Timothy here, with 2 great apps that let you sign in on almost any IM service(AIM, MSN, etc.)for the iPhone/iPod touch.

1. Apollo-

Cool IM app, very simple, supports AIM, ICQ, MSN, and .Mac log-ins.

2. MobileChat-

Cool looking app, a bit buggy, but does it's job. Supports AIM, .Mac, Google Talk, MSN, and ICQ log-ins. Looks like iChat too!

Well, there you go; 2 instant messaging apps that can be used on a jailbroken/unlocked iPhone/iPod touch.

For legit iPhone/iPod touch owners: Point your iPhone/iPod touch Safari browser to http://www.beejive.com

Photoshop Express Beta

2008-03-27T20:31:00.003-05:00

Today, Adobe released Photoshop Express Beta. It's a free version of photoshop. I haven't tried it yet, because I use Photoshop 7.0. I don't know what you get for features, but if you read the license agreement, you'll notice Adobe automatically gets rights to any photo you edit with it. Can you really use your own photos if you use Photoshop Express? It's a possibility Adobe might want the photo later, and they have the rights to it.

EDIT: I played around with the test drive, and I realized that it's entirely online. This could be a handy tool for casual photographers. It comes with 2 GB of storage, which I think is reasonable. I'm going to stick to Photoshop 7.0 though.

Photoshop Express

My favorite iPhone Apps

2008-03-27T12:09:00.006-05:00

Hey, Timothy here again; with some of my favorite apps you can get when you jailbreak/unlock your iPhone/iPod touch.

Sketches:

An etch-a-sketch app, shake to erase. Drawing is a bit delayed, but other than that, it's a pretty cool app.

Tap Tap Revolution:

Like Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero, in your hands.

NES.app:

Great NES emulator, controls are slippery, though.

PhotoBoard:

It's like Microsoft Surface(I believe that's what it's called), use 2 fingers to make the image bigger, and you can add more photos as well.

Pianist:

Great instrumental app, it uses real keys from a piano, and sounds great. You can also change the tune of the piano.
The developers of this app also made a Drummer and Guitarist app, I won't show it because it'll take up too much space.

Well, those are some of my favorite iPhone/iPod touch apps, these apps can all be found in Installer.app.
You know, with all these musical apps, maybe we can expect GarageBand app...

Nice sites for Apple news

2008-03-25T21:10:00.010-05:00

Hello, Timothy here; new writer for the blog.

Interested in iPhone or iPod touch related stuff?

Visit http://www.ipodtouchfans.com/

There is a separate forum for other Apple tech, if not interested in iPhone or iPod touch.

Another great site is http://www.ilounge.com/
Everything Apple is there.

iPhone Apps I'D like to see....

2008-03-24T22:15:00.003-05:00

Hey, there, Jason here, a new writer for this blog, and I'm coming at you with a few apps I'd like to see for the iPhone.

1) Etch-a-sketch. After watching the keynote, and seeing the app they made in 2 days, and the cool shaking action, I immediately thought of this app.

2) An IDE. Some sort of development tool to write apps and web apps and stuff so you can work on an app on the go.

3) FireFox. Yeah, I know Apple said that they won't allow this (at least I think they said that. I'll get a link up soon.), but I still think it would rock!

4) LiquidMac. LiquidMac is a fun app that detects what direction you've tilted your Mac in, and makes a little "water", in a sense, and the water runs down in the direction you tilted your Mac in. So, it, in a sense, gives gravity to your Mac. Just a fun little app to add to the iPhone to demonstrate the accelerometer.

So, yeah, that's about all I can think of right now. I'll post with more if I can think of any more.

iPod Eggs

2008-03-24T16:36:00.002-05:00

I made some iPod easter eggs the other day and I thought I'd share them with you.

iPhone Apps I'd like to see.

2008-03-23T21:42:00.002-05:00

Here's some ideas of iPhone Apps I'd like to see made. I'd be glad to make them, but I don't have a Mac (yet) or an iPhone.

1) iAnimate - A program very similar to Pivot Stickfigure Animator. Which lets you make computer animations by dragging "pivot" points on the character's body to a different position on the screen. It also has a drawing mode which lets you draw your characters/props and chose make the points of articulation static or unmovable.

More to come soon. Prototype image by me.