Geekology

Could Apple be holding off a product announcement? The way Steve Jobs ended quickly and abruptly and the fact that ended at a rather strange time just didn’t seem right. I was expected there to be more than that. I mean, an Intel Mac Mini and some iPod accessories isn’t bad, just not what a lot of us expected. Could Apple have held back due to Microsoft’s “surprise media presentation” to be held this evening where an "innovative concept in development" will be unveiled? People believe Microsoft will announce the Origami Project at this evening event. Could Apple be holding out on us so Microsoft won’t steal Apple’s thunder? This is just what I see from the situation. I am probably way off, but it could be a possibility.

The Apple Store is back up. Go check out those new products!!!
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The keynote has ended. The Apple store is not yet open. Could Apple have a suprise in store for us?
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Steve Jobs has walked off stage and thanked everyone for coming. Could this be all?
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From iLounge: Pull black grille off of white box to reveal three speaker drivers. Integrated power supply - no brick. Power it off of six D-size batteries if you want. "Several hours outside." Two 80mm mid-range drivers in sealed acoustic suspension. In center is 130mm dual voice coil woofer, ported bass reflex design. Great bass, doesn't distort when cranked up. Universal Dock connector and integrated handles.
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Apple announces iPod Hi-Fi iPod dock. Looks like one center speaker. Could there be more. Home theater?
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From iLounge: "New Mac mini Based on Intel Intel Core Solo, Intel Core Duo versions 2.5x - 3.2x faster Same exact form factor Front Row software IR sensor on right of disc slot Six button Apple remote -- New Features -- Shared Music - Bonjour technology, allows devices to find themselves automatically over a network, access music library wirelessly. Shared Photos and Video - Same idea only for photos and videos. Can stream iTunes TV shows. "Front row with Bonjour" is the software's name. Media from any other mac or windows computer running iTunes will be piped over to the Mac mini hooked up to your television set. Mac mini comes with iLife '06. Standard features: Tiger + iLife '06, Apple Remote + Front Row, Airport Extreme + Bluetooth, DVI Video Out, USB, FireWire, Gigabit Ethernet. 1.5ghz Core Solo 667 mhz fsb, 512mb memory, integrated graphics 60GB drive, combo drive - $599 Second model with Core Duo - 1.67, 80GB drive + SuperDrive - $799 Both available today."
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Apple has announced to new Mac Mini models with Front Row. There will be a Core Solo model at 1.5GHz and a Core Duo model at 1.67GHz.
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From The Business Online: "APPLE, whose iTunes internet music site sold its billionth tune last week, is preparing to launch a film download service. An announcement is expected as early as this week." They also said: "There is also speculation among US analysts that Apple is also working on additional video and audio-enabled products to complement a revamped iTunes services offering feature-length films. Some believe Apple is also planning to unveil a new widescreen computer notebook to be called the “Macbook”, which will be distinctive because of its small size and widescreen cinema display. It is expected to retail at less than $1,500 (£840, E1,215). There is also talk that Apple is planning the launch of an Apple-branded hi-fi that will enable iPod users to dock their iPod music player into a device that will then turn the compact digital music player into a fully-fledged hi-fi that will enable them to share their music collection in the living room, the kitchen or at the beach." So let's sum this up. On February the 28th Apple is going to release a widescreen MacBook, a Video iPod, movie downloads, and an iPod boombox. All I will say is that they will definitely unveil a widescreen iBook dubbed the MacBook.
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I made a trip over to the good ol’ Apple Store today to get a look at the MacBook Pro. At first glance it looked just like a G4 PowerBook except for the noticeable iSight and the brighter screen. It seemed noticeably faster than a G4 Powerbook, although all the MacBook Pros there were the 2GHz models. They seemed as fast as the new iMacs and the screen looked awesome. As for the reports of a whining noise coming from the LCD or the screen being brighter at the bottom, I barely noticed either. If you put your ear up against the keyboard you can hear a hissing noise, but it was not very noticeable. As for the screen, you could only notice the screen defect if you turn the brightness way down and it is still hard to notice then. I coerced the Apple sales guy to go hunt me down a Apple Remote so I could test Front Row. I was thoroughly impressed. It was very fast and simple to use and it looked great. The only thing is that the remote would control all three of the MacBook Pros at the same time, which could become an issue if you are around other people with MBPs, although I don't think it would interfere unless you are pretty close to them. I closed the lid and then waited about 30 seconds and when I lifted the lid it woke up almost instantaneously. After turning it off, booting it up seemed to take a while. I played around with Word in Rosetta and it seemed fast enough. The only thing I noticed was it was a little slow while backspacing. So I bet you are wondering about battery life and the MagSafe connecter. Well, I quickly unplugged the MagSafe connecter and checked the time before the Apple Sales guy saw me and the meter read 3:43. As for the connector, it locked into place tightly, yet could be pulled out if jostled. That was just my first impressions and thoughts. For a full review and benchmarks see Macworld's Review.
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I was customizing a MacBook Pro to do some pricing and when I added it to my cart to get tax and shipping information I saw that under the "Other Recommendations for You" it had a 1.83GHz MBP listed but it appeared to have a 12" screen. This probably doesn't mean anything, but it is kind of strange. Here are the screenshots:
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Hey guys. I just wanted to spread the word about an awesome podcast I listen too. It is a pop culture podcast that has movie reviews, funny clips, and all the latest pop culture news. They also have a great Lost podcast and a new book club podcast. Be sure to check them out and if you like what you hear then be sure to join there fan club.
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As you all know, Apple sent out invitations to a press event to be held on Tuesday, February the 28th. Let's get to the rumors surrounding what will be released at this event. 1. Analysts Predict Intel Mac Mini and iBook. "We believe Apple will take the opportunity to round out its Intel Mac portfolio 6 - 9 months ahead of plan with a new widescreen consumer notebook (likely called "MacBook") and entry-level Mac mini, both of which will include a remote control and Front Row software." 2. iTunes MOVIE Store. Shaw Wu expects Apple will use the event to launch a world-first - a movie download service through iTunes. He said: "We believe there is a greater-than-50 per cent chance that Apple will announce its first, full-length feature films available for download on iTunes." 3. The "True" Video iPod. This photo was sent to Mac Shrine and appears to be from the same factory where the iPod pictures last November were taken. It follows the description provided by several rumor sites. Update: The above pciture is definitely a fake. The guy who did it was a genius though. Click HERE to see how he did it.

Apple has sent out an invitation to select media, including iLounge, to a special event that will be held at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California on February 28th. The invitation, which only features an iCal-like calendar image, reads: “Come see some fun new products from Apple.” I will get to all the rumors in my next post.
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Here are more patents filed by Apple Computer that point to an Apple Tablet. The example shown is a on-screen keyboard with OS X above it. I think this definately means Apple has a tablet in the works. I wouldn't buy that MacBook Pro to soon.
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Here he goes again. In article written for PC Mag, John C. Dvorak predicts that Apple will move to Windows and abandon OS X all-together. Thus Apple would become a hardware company. I don't really see this happening, but he does make some compelling arguments. After all, Steve Jobs did say that Apple is a hardware company and not a software company. Dvorak also "predicted" Apple's move to Intel and people thought he was crazy then.
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Apple has upgraded the new MacBook Pros to a 1.83 GHz Core Duo (from a 1.67 GHz) on the $1999 model and to a 2.0 GHz Core Duo (was 1.83 GHz) on the $2499 model. You can also upgrade the $2499 model to a 2.16 GHz processor for $300 more. If you purchased a MacBook Pro before this update you can send it back and they will give you a new one with the upgraded processor.
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Intel has announced that its new four-core processor codenamed Clovertown will be shipping to manufactures late this year and will be available sometime in early 2007. They will be made specifically for servers with dual processors. So you would have an eight-processor server, two processors with four-cores each. I want one of those.

Could this be the fix for the iPod's screen problem and be a possibilty for a new touch screen iPod? "New spray-on, nanotech coatings could keep iPod screens from scratching, make paper products waterproof and perform other minor modern miracles."
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Apple has filed a new patent application on Mode-based graphical user interfaces for touch sensitive input devices. Could this be the touch screen video iPod we have all been hoping for? In Figure 35D is something much larger than an iPod. Could it be the Apple tablet? This looks like a pretty good design, but even the current iPod screen gets smudged and scratched easily. How will this not get smudged when you are running your fingers across the screen. Here is a picture I found in the comments of digg. This could be what an Apple Tablet/iPod could look like:
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From PC Mag: "AT&T possesses several patents related to video compression, which the company says are an essential component of the MPEG-4 video technology. In a bid to drive its global licensing program, AT&T has targeted Apple Computer, Inc., CyberLink Corp., DivX, Inc., InterVideo, Inc., and Sonic Solutions as unlicensed companies whose products and software utilize the MPEG-4 technology." I sure hope that AT&T won't really get much from this. They only care now that everybody is using MPEG-4 in there players. A spokesperson for AT&T said: "The intellectual property developed by AT&T is a core component of MPEG-4 capability. We are actively discussing and working out terms with each company for the licensing of that intellectual property, to enable them to fully take advantage of the technology."
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This looks pretty realistic, but it is probably just photoshopped. It is probably pretty true to what Apple might be making. UPDATE: Looks like these are definately fakes. Somone on Digg noticed that the song it is playing in the picture "A Certain Romance" isn't on the album "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor. Also, that is not the correct album art.
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There is countdown to the billionth song purchase on Apple's site. You can watch the counter go up right in front of you and see the album art of what people are buying in real-time. It is also a contest with some awsome prizes. Here are the deets: "The music fans who download every 100,000th song will receive a prize package featuring a black 4GB iPod nano and a $100 iTunes Music Card. And if you're the lucky grand-prize winner who downloads the billionth song from the iTunes Music Store, you'll receive a 20-inch iMac, 10 60GB iPods, and a $10,000 iTunes Music Card to jumpstart your digital music collection. In addition, Apple will create a full-ride scholarship in your name to a world-renowned music school."
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"*Drum Roll* Introducing... we're very excited about this... the new 1GB iPod Nano." That is what Steve Jobs would have said if he announced the new Nano at a keynote. We all knew that this was coming, just not without a keynote. Apparently Apple just added it to the Australian store last night and it became available in the U.S. store sometime this morning. The price is $150 which is 50 bucks more than the 1GB shuffle. I guess that an extra $50 is worth it to get a screen and the sleekness of the Nano.
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I don't know if any of you remember this story. Engadget: "An 82-year old Alaskan Senator (by the name of Stevens, sir) was given an iPod by his daughter, which resulted in his finally coming to understand how real people interact with real technology, and supposedly thusly found content execs getting the third degree as a result of it." Well because that worker Ipac (the Intellectual Property Action Committee) has started a campaign to buy iPods for all the senators that are for the Broadcast Flag and other restricting acts by the MPAA and RIAA. I am thinking about giving money to this. They have already sent 2 iPods to senators.
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Ok I know what you are going to say... "People still use that?", "IE what?", or "Microsoft has a browser?" Even though IE is a thing of the past for most techies, IE 7 does have new features that might be "competitive" with Firefox. I have been playing around with it and the RSS features are kinda nice. There is also another feature that I like that you can probably get in Firefox with an extension. It is called "Quick Tabs" and what it does is give you a preview of all your open tabs. This is useful if you are one of those multi-taskers that has like 70 tabs open. The interface is ok. I much prefer Firefox's UI and feel, but at least with IE 7 you don't get memory leaks every 10 minutes. Overall, IE 7 is an ok browser, but it still lacks support for extensions and themes. There is still the issue of security. I think I will stay with Firefox for now.
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