Gadgetell | Tech News, Reviews, and Interesting Things

Today during Job’s keynote address, Apple took the wraps off “the world’s thinnest notebook”: the MacBook Air.  Yes, it is real and features a 13.3” wide screen and one of the best keyboards, according to Apple, ever.  They are serious about being thin, only .8” thick.  Check it out here.

iTunes will be renting movies from $2.99 up to $4.99 as predicted.  Apple got all the major studios involved on this one and it is full steam ahead.  Read the nitty-gritty here.

The iPhone gets some new fun like maps with location approximation (looks to be based on triangulation).  Sweet.  Adam Fisher-Cox has the latest over at Appletell.

The iPod touch also gets some love (though we have to pay for it, just like in Vegas).  5 apps (that arguably should have been there from the get-go).

And then there is Apple TV’s Take 2.  The second coming of a good idea, now in better form.  No computer needed to download movies, show photos, DVR functionality looks to be possible and a reduced price of $229.  Check it out in detail here.

Also announced is Apple’s time capsule which combines a hard drive with Airport Express to help us back up.  Nice. Check it our here.

Company page [Apple]

Tomorrow, I’ll be tuned into Appletell’s live coverage of Macworld 2008 and the all-important Stevenote.  The Appletell team, our sister site, is aiming at live blogging, twittering, possible live audio feed, along with images and interviews etc. as the week goes on.  This will be Appletell’s finest hour and I hope you join me in experiencing the event via Appletell.

You can visit Appletell’s Macworld page here.  Their live coverage of Steve Job’s theatrics should start shortly before 9am PST.

Here’s to working EVDO cards, good cell reception and slow-talking speakers.

Read: [Appletell]

I flew to Las Vegas, as did many of us, with the anticipation that this CES would showcase the collective response to the iPhone brought out at last year’s Macworld.  Apparently, that was naive.  I fully expected to be “wowed” or perhaps even “bowled over” by the big guns (LG, Samsung, Sanyo, Motorola, Sony Ericsson).  Instead, largely I was non plussed.  I showed up for all my booth tour appointments and waited to be shown their response.  After all they’ve had just about full year since getting a public glance at what was coming.

To me, CES was the perfect launching pad for return volley.  A response from the makers at this show, would have

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In chatting up the DLO team at a swanky press event, they let slip some loose details about what we might see next week at Macworld.  DLO is the maker of some of the greatest, in my opinion, iPod gear and it seems they’ve been focused on the iPhone for the past design cycle.

We will see a version of the DLO’s HybridShell for the iPod touch, just for the iPhone.  The clear plastic case is gorgeous and really would make an ideal iPhone case: protection without detracting from the good looks.

Another product that should be making headlines is a new Homedock for the iPhone/iPod that upconverts video to HD quality.  An RF remote would be part of that picture as well.  Interesting.

I would suspect there will be more from DLO and as usual, it will all be well thought out.  We’ll have full details as soon as they become available.

Company site[DLO]

One of the common solutions in sharing music with friends or family is giving them one of the ear buds so each of you only have one. That is an annoying solution as you have to blast the music and you still can’t hear it too well, and what happens if you want to share with more that one person? There are a few solutions, but in my opinion, this new Belkin RockStar looks to be the best to me.

Basically, there are 5 headphone slots so up to 5 people can listen at once. You can attach either one MP3 players or attach multiple players to get a unique solution that is fun and easy to all listen in and create a random mashup mix of multiple people’s music. In the case of using multiple MP3 players being attached, each of course still retain their full controls. 

The Belkin RockStar features:

• Five ports to attach headphones or MP3 players.
• One hard-wired connection for your MP3 player.
• Included cable to attach another MP3 player.
• Mixing and fade-ins controlled by the standard controls of each MP3 player.

Chris McGugan, Vice President of Product Management, Belkin International, had this to say:

“RockStar is a simple and fun way to share music, creating more interaction among everyone using it. Students can sit around a lunch table, plug their headphones into RockStar, and then together listen to the songs playing from one MP3 player. Alternatively, they can connect two or three MP3 players to RockStar, and then mix the songs from the different players together. RockStar boosts the amount of interaction between teenagers as they listen to their MP3 players.”

Read [Belkin]

Almost everyone has heard about the products released at MacWorld ‘07 - but not many were able to make it to the event to see it all being revealed. You didn’t have to be there to see the action thanks to panoramas.dk, a site which specializes in putting together QuickTime VRs of major events and places.

Panoramas.dk has put out a new MacWorld ‘07 gallery that contains over 15 full-screen VRs of various booths from the expo including Canon, Microsoft and of course, the iPhone in its beautiful rotating glass case. Be sure to check it out.

Panoramas via [TUAW]

First you had the format wars, and now you have the iPhone wars.  We thought Apple and Cisco were playing nice with each other over the name iPhone, but apparently Apple was thinking differently.  Cisco says that they were in “extensive discussions” to negotiate terms for an agreement, but it looks like Apple’s lawyers feel it’s unnecessary to be civil.  Unless there is paperwork to prove that Apple filed for the trademark before Cisco did, then this is ridiculous.  Here’s what Cisco’s CEO had to say about the debockle:

“Cisco entered into negotiations with Apple in good faith after Apple repeatedly asked permission to use Cisco’s iPhone name,” said Mark Chandler, senior vice president and general counsel, Cisco. “There is no doubt that Apple’s new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without our permission.

“Today’s iPhone is not tomorrow’s iPhone. The potential for convergence of the home phone, cell phone, work phone and PC is limitless, which is why it is so important for us to protect our brand,” Chandler concluded.

No word has come out of Apple yet, so we’re assuming they’re staying quiet on the matter until they either win big, or lose big.

Cisco iPhone [Gadgetell]
Apple iPhone [Gadgetell]

Read [Press Release] Via [Dvorak]

Coming soon to an iPod accessory store near you will be Griffin Technology’s Evolve, a wireless sound system for the iPod. It comes with a charging base and two cube-shaped wireless speakers.

The speakers can be put anywhere you want to hear music without the hassle of wires lying around everywhere. There is no range limit specified on the site, although one would have to assume it exists. What’s very nice about the speakers is that they can also be charged wirelessly; just put the cubes on the base and it’ll charge automatically, giving up to 10 hours of playing time. Each speaker cube has its own On/Off switch and an automatic off feature to save battery.

Evolve is a very nice set of equipment for iPod owners who need the flexibility of moving around the house and yet still want to be able to listen to their music. It also comes with an RF remote to provide further wireless freedom.

Product page [Griffin]

As we chat about in our Apple MacWorld post (don’t forget to submit your thoughts to enter our giveaway), there is a ton of speculation regarding what Apple will do in 2007. As MacWorld 2007 quickly approaches (it begins Tuesday of next week), we are starting to get reports of what Steve Jobs will address in his keynote.

Back at Apple’s “It’s Show Time” event in September, Steve Jobs decided that it was time to reveal Apple’s entry into your living room via a home A/V wireless streaming device dubbed the “iTV.” Jobs said that the device would hit stores in Q1 of 2007 but did not provide a more precise time. AppleInsider has reason to believe that the iTV will be a part of the keynote address—we may actually even get final specs—but consumers should not expect the unit to hit stores for a few more months. It seems that Apple has run into a few snags getting Mac’s OSX operating system to run in a new media function (ala a Windows XP/Vista Media Center Edition competitor).

When released, you can expect the device to have Ethernet, USB, Wi-Fi, component video, HDMI, optical audio, and although not yet officially announced, I expect it to have an internal hard drive (to add DVR functionality), all for a price tag around $299.

The shared software foundation between Macs and iTV also paves the way for Apple to more closely tie the streaming media device to the upcoming iLife ‘07 and Leopard operating system releases, of which several features remain “top secret.” And it’s almost a sure bet that Jobs & Co. will be up for some disclosure in that regard as well come next Tuesday.

Read [AppleInsider]

Every year day the Apple rumor mill chugs along offering more and more bogus stories. This propaganda tends to especially heat up before each Apple conference, including MacWorld. This year, there’s been so much hype about Apple and its plans (iTV, Leopard, iPhone, iLife, MacPro, a tablet...) that we are probably setting ourselves up for a major disappointment. Nonetheless, Thomas Fitzgerald had decided to jump the gun early and list out his predictions in three areas: certainties, probable, and possible but unlikely—sounds like a crap-shoot to me.

Keep in mind that he claims, “These are not secret files I have received or inside information, just careful analysis of the current thoughts and public rumors.”

Certainties

• OS X Leopard - Apple will show and possibly announce a ship date (March/April) for Leopard at MacWorld. Which “top secret” features are shared is another thing.


• 2.iLife 07 - There is no new speculation as to what might be included in the new iLife suite, however I suspect iWeb will probably get the most work, it being the youngest of the Applications.


• 3.iTV - We’ll finally get an official name, maybe a release date, and more spec/feature info.

Probable

• MacPro revisions - Quad core Intel Xeon processors


• Revised Cinema Displays - Refresh needed


• MacMini Revision - Core 2 Duo refresh


• iPhone - Ah, the Apple branded cell phone. The one thing however that does suggest an iPhone’s imminent release is that Apple hasn’t denied it. If they don’t release one at this stage, their share price is going to tank.


• Full Screen iPod - Based on numerous patents and a rumor started on think secret well over a year ago, the full-screen iPod is the Apple rumor that just won’t die.

Possible but Unlikely

• Apple Tablet - They could have their own interesting take, possibly something similar to the UMPC’s


• MacBook Sub Notebook - AKA a Sony’s Viaos TX, cool but unlikely

There is a little taste to get you into the MacWorld cheer. For more, head over to Thomas’ site.

Read [Thomas
Fitzgerald]