A lot of rumors about what Apple will release next have been talked about online as of late. Some say an Apple netbook is in the works, and many others claim the iPhone Nano is on the way. Analyst say they expect Apple will release a cheaper MacBook as well as a cheaper iPhone 3G in 2009. Analyst point out all the Apple accessory makers leaks as of late. Shares of Apple were up after all the talk of these new products showing a lot of confidence in the news. Analyst don’t think Apple will release a netbook however, just a cheaper version of the MacBook. They also think a new Mac Mini may be on the way to give Apple a cheaper Mac for the masses. These analyst also think that these products won’t be ready to be revealed at MacWorld but we should see them later this year. We’ll just have to wait and see what Apple has up its sleeve.
The Grand Theft Auto series has always been known for their social commentary through blatant satire. Apple was not immune to this and the franchise took their swing at Apple in GTA4. Below are pictures from the in game browser which resembles Safari. On a related note, the in game computer OS actually resembles the Mac OS as well.
GTA4 was recently voted as game of the year in Spike TV’s Video Game Awards. The series has generated a huge amount of controversy over its violence but I doubt anyone will challenge what they had to say about Apple. Hopefully we get more from the expansion due out in a few weeks.
While Steve Jobs’ health had nothing to do with Apple’s decision to pull out of Macworld according to a company spokesman, Apple’s stocks did take a hit from the Gizmodo report. As soon as the story surfaced, Apple’s stocks went red very quickly on Wallstreet as paranoid investors began screaming “sell” upon first words of the rumor. CNBC’s Jim Goldman has checked with Apple and confirmed that it is nothing more than a rumor. Apple simply doesn’t want to invest in Macworld anymore and that would include Steve Jobs’ keynote speech. Perhaps Apple has been biting its lip a little too much. Hopefully the lessons learned from this rumor gone wrong might encourage them to be a little more open.
It’s finally official, Wal-Mart is now selling the iPhone 3G in their stores. The retail giant is selling 8GB iPhone 3Gs for $197 and 16GB iPhone 3Gs for $297. So the $99 iPhone 3G rumors were false. But you do get a $2 savings! You can get a refurbished iPhone 3G from AT&T for $99, but who wants someones used leftovers? Check out the video above for a sneak peak of the Apple iPhone 3G display in Wal-Mart stores now.
I think everybody can agree that Apple has not been marketing their gesture based control schemes (also known as multi-touch) enough. All sarcasm aside, the multi-touch and gesture system has been pretty innovative and proved very successfuly for Apple’s iPhone, iPod Touch and Macbooks. The capacitive touch screen developed by Apple is pretty accurate and even works through certain iPhone 3G accessories such as screen protectors. If the following patents are used, expect to see more functionality added to the gesture system in the near future.
The patent is labeled as “swipe gestures for touch screen keyboards” and adds some very intuitive additions. Is this a revolution in human-computer interaction? Probably not, are we one step closer to the super computer of Minority Report? Hopefully!
When the story about Obama using a Zune at the gym broke all the liberal Mac owners had their hearts broken, well official proof reveals that Obama is indeed an iPod user. This photo clearly shows that President-Elect Obama is an iPod user. The photo above shows Obama using a previous generation iPod nano. So the Zune rumors about Obama can finally be put to rest and all the Mac owners can rejoice. I think all the uproar over Obama using a Zune was hilarious, does it matter what he uses to listen to music? The iPod is a cool MP3 player and all, but the Zune ain’t so bad either. Yes I said it.
Word on the street is that Apple is planning on releasing a large screen version of the iPod Touch some time in the fall of 2009. A confidential source from Apple has claimed to have handled the prototype iPod Touch personally. The new screens are rumored to be 7 to 9 inches, a considerable jump over the 3.5 inch screens on current iPod Touch devices. There is no word on whether the new iPod Touch will be compatible with iPod Touch 2G Accessories yet as Apple is supposedly in negotiations with Asia for large scale production. If the rumor is to be believed expect this iPod Touch to replace the Apple Tablet rumors. 7 to 9 inch screens would make the iPod Touch a little unwieldy though, what do you guys think?
That would be a great start to the New Years. The Dev team has said that the jailbreak should be done today so we are crossing our fingers! Good luck guys! Here is what the updated is on there Blog.
The target release date for the unlock is New Year’s Eve 2008.
This unlock method is available to iPhone 3Gs that have 2.11.07 baseband or earlier, we did warn you.
Have you noticed all the “DaysTo” apps that have popped up in the App Store recently? Some may think this is a great way to spend their $.99 but others are just as happy using a good old fashioned paper calendar. There are about 30 “DaysTo” apps in the Apple App Store which all do the same thing. Count down the days till your birthday, Christmas or any other holiday or special event. There is one app that does what all the other “DaysTo” apps do, and best of all it is free! Why pay $.99 for all the various apps when the app Days Until can do it free of charge? Check out Days Until in the App Store.
Once again some French people need rescuing… This time, two French tourists were skiing in the Swiss Alps when they got lost. They had tried to make a phone call but the phone ran out of juice right as they connected. Temperatures in those mountains could go as low as -15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit). Fortunately, one of the tourists brought along an iPod and was able to signal the rescue helicopter with the light from the MP3 player. Both were rescued without any serious injuries. Unfortunately that’s all the details released but hopefully next time the duo will bring along a flare gun or flash light to avoid a similar situation.
-Derek
[Source: Gizmodo]
