The written musings of a long-time Apple //e and Macintosh tech nerd. Opinions are my own.
Apple has posted the podcast of the iPad announcement from last week. You can download the video to your Mac, PC, iPhone, or iPod by subscribing to the Apple Keynotes podcast feed.
I skipped watching the iPad event as a streaming video so I can download the event to my Apple TV so I can watch it in my living room on a 42-inch TV. If you can’t see Apple’s keynote events live, then a TV in your living room is the next best thing.
Just saw that Jimmie over at GadgetsOnTheGo.net has a cool graphic of the iPad posted with a compact specs block.
The iPad looks really cool, but I’m not sure I’ll buy one before I get to play with one at Best Buy or an Apple Store. Ya, let’s make that until I play with one at an Apple Store. Sure it’s an hour to the nearest Apple Store, but you kinda have to visit “the holy land” if you’re going to play with the newest Apple hardware and software and talk to someone who really knows the product inside and out.
Regardless of what I do, I don’t see myself buying one of the cellular service editions of iPad. I really don’t want to have to put more money in the pockets of the phone company. I’ve been doing fine with my Wi-Fi enabled iPod touch. Now that I’m thinking about it, I’m willing to bet that hi-def TV shows and movies, which I do watch often on my iPod touch, are going to look great on this thing.
And while we’re talking about the “phone company,” it looks like Verizon is out in the cold again as Apple selects AT&T as their 3G cellular edition iPad partner. I mean why not? It isn’t like AT&T’s wireless network is getting over run by iPhone users as it is.
Now for the part that is going to put me in the dog house for a few weeks: the price! How am I going to walk around the house toting this tech without my wife getting suspicious, checking the bank account, and finding out that I’ve dropped $600-700 on a new “toy” that I don’t need?!
[Images courtesy of GadgetsOnTheGo.net, and Engadget.com]
At long last, the new Apple tablet computer has been unveiled and Apple fans go nuts!
I have purposely been avoiding any leaked news about the iPad for the last few days because I like surprises. If you haven’t seen Jobs’ keynote address yet, you can watching a streaming video from the Apple website. I’m going to hold out for another day or so to see if it shows up in Apple’s keynote podcast feed so I can download it to my MacBook and then sync it up to my Apple TV connected to my 42″ TV.
In the mean time, you can check out all the specs and gallery pictures over on the Apple iPad website.
Today on the AllThingsD.com website, Apple hysteria continues with YAAiR (Yet Another Apple iPhone Rumor). Today’s rumor is that Apple will bring a CDMA iPhone to Verizon Wireless for late Q2 or early Q3.
“iPhone OS 4.0. And the iPhone 4G–on Verizon.
That’s the word from Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek, who believes there’s “a good chance” we’ll hear about all three come next Wednesday.
The phone will be carried on Verizon and hence will operate on the CDMA network,” he asserts, adding, “however, it will also support European GSM and HSPA standards. An updated 4GS version that will support LTE is anticipated to arrive in June 2011.”
You’re guess is as good as mine as to whether or not Apple will announce that the iPhone is coming to Big Red this summer or not, however, I suspect that Apple wants to:
1. Make more money selling the iPhone to more customers here in the US. Ending AT&T’s exclusivity is a clear cut way to make that happen and Apple has already allowed exclusive carrier contracts come to an end in other countries.
2. AT&T is getting battered in the reputation department for having a really crappy network, regardless of whether or not iPhone users are to blame. In the minds of wireless customers, Verizon has a reputation of running a good wireless network.
[Via AllThingsD.com…]
BoyGeniusReport.com has some new details on what could end up being in the final version of iPhone OS 4.0, widely rumored to be either introduced or launched next week during Apple’s media event along side the fanboy insanity that could be the launch of the iTablet.
According to BGR, the following could end up on a fruit themed smartphones near you very shortly:
If the iTablet does end up running iPhone OS, and I think that makes the most sense and allows Apple and their third-party developers to leverage the existing iTunes ecosystem, the changes coming in iPhone OS 4 make a lot of sense and are probably right on.
The bad news is that that, if true, the rumor suggests that folks using the original first generation 2G iPhone will be shutout from future OS updates. Also missing from the rumor is the fate of the current pool of iPod touch owners. If the iPhone 3G and 3GS are eligible for the upgrade, it follows that the most current iPod touch would be also.
Man, I’m suddenly not all that excited about losing access to new software updates on my first generation iPod touch and iPhone. We’ll have to wait and see what happens next week.
[Via BoyGeniusReport.com…]
Apple has confirmed that they will hold a media press event on January 27th at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco. In the emails sent out to the media, Apple invites people to “Come see our latest creation.”
Let the wild speculation begin. Ops! Too late! So what does Apple have in store for us? Well, the leading rumor is that Apple fill finally introduce their new tablet. At this point, we all know that Apple is doing a tablet. The only question people have is what amazing things will it do?
Other rumors flying around the Internet today suggest that Apple will bring out iPhone OS 4.0, but not a new iPhone or iPod touch, and possibly talk about or release a new version of iLife 2010 (and if there is an iLife upgrade, rest assured that there will be an iWork upgrade sooner than later).
Even if we only get half of what is rumored to be shown off next week, it will still be a great event!
Most smartphone fans started out life using devices referred to a “personal digital assistants”, or PDAs. Over the last 10 years, the most iconic PDA was the “PalmPilot.” Apple has reignited a second mobile computing renaissance first with the iPod, then iTunes, and most recently, the iPhone and the iPod touch. While we wait for Apple to unveil their next mobile computing platform, rumored to a new tablet computer, AppleInsider has published a very good historical accounting of mobile computing.
“A variety of vendors have tried to deliver tablet-like products over the past two decades, but none have been a standout success. This has the tech world watching with bated breath to see if Apple can apply its aura of desirability to the tablet segment in the same way that it has managed to do in desktops, notebooks, MP3 players and smartphones.”
Read the full AppleInsider article…
[Via AppleInsider.com…]
Someone saw me with my iPhone recently and asked how to go about converting an .mp3 file they already had in iTunes into a ringtone they could use on their iPhone. Since I haven’t activated my iPhone’s phone service, I never checked out how to make a ringtone. Sure you can buy them from the iTunes store, but it seems silly to spend extra money for a 15 second song clip after having already purchased the full song.
Turns out that the folks at Art of the iPhone have a good tutorial on how to convert a non-copy protected song in your iTunes library into an iPhone ringtone.
Head over to ArtOfTheiPhone.com for more details.
[Via ArtOfTheiPhone.com…]
File this under the WAG rumor department, but new rumors about Apple’s next generation iPhone and iPhone OS 4 are making the rounds on the Internet.
“The Korea Times claimed Tuesday that sources at KT said the new phone would have an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen, would feature video chat functionality, and a removable battery is “highly likely.” The report also said the new iPhone would include dual-core processors, more powerful graphics capabilities, and a superior camera.”
I can see Apple breaking out their design kung-fu to bring us new OLED screens and even a forward facing camera for video conferencing, but a removable battery? Apple? Come on. Apple is dropping removable batteries from their MacBook and MacBook Pro note books. Can you really see Apple switching to a removable battery on the iPhone? I’m less sure about the addition of a dual core processor on the iPhone. Sure, the extra horsepower could be used in next generation 3D games, but I’m concerned with how a dual core processor will impact the battery.
Read the full article over AppleInsider.com.
[Via AppleInsider.com…]
I was looking up the features of Apple’s QuickTime Pro for Windows (yes, this is work related) and I noticed a small ad in the QuickTime Player window for Sherlock Holmes Mysteries, a game for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Clearly a tie-in to the movie now playing in theaters, skimming through some of the screen shots in the iTunes App Store you get the impression that this is a cool game to play. Best of all, Sherlock Holmes Mysteries is only $0.99 meaning that if the game isn’t what you expected, you’re out less than the cost of a gourmet coffee!
I’m definitely going to check this game out over the weekend. For more information about Sherlock Holmes Mysteries, check out the iTunes Store.
[Updated article with pictures from the game.]