Mac Mini Gets an Aluminum Unibody Update [Mac Mini]

Apple today launched an updated Mac Mini, which now has an aluminum unibody housing and far more powerful hardware than the previous iteration.
The specs now start with a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 2 GB of RAM, 320 GB hard drive, and an NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics chip, all of which will set you back $699.
Those in need of a slightly more powerful machine can get the $999 version, which sports a 2.66GHz Core 2 Duo, 4 GB of RAM, dual 500 GB 7200-rpm hard drives, GeForce 320M graphics, and Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard.
Both versions come with an SD card reader, 802.11n WiFi, 4 USB ports, a Mini DisplayPort jack, and a HDMI-out jack. The elegant new enclosure was created by Apple’s unibody construction process, and it’s only 7.7-inches square and 1.4-inches thin.







[Mashable]

iPhone 4 - Droid Incredible - Evo 4G - Nexus One Comparative Chart [Chart]

Here's a chart showing how the Apple iPhone 4 stands against Android latest and greatest models: The HTC Droid Incredible, the HTC Evo 4G, and the Google Nexus One.

[Gizmodo via TIPB]

iPhone OS 4.0: All the New Features [iPhone OS 4]

The curtain has been pulled back on iPhone 4, and the list of new features is massive: There's multitasking (finally!), a refreshed interface, and literally hundreds of other changes, all coming this summer. Here's the full rundown.
The new OS will ship in June (Fall for iPad, and a developer preview is available today, so we can expect to have plenty of apps updated and ready for launch.

New Features: Multitasking, App Folders and More

• Multitasking: It's here, finally. It's handled with a simple task switcher: double click your home button, and you get a list of running apps. Select, switch, done. Multitasking is limited to audio streaming, VoIP and GPS apps, as well as a few other allowances: they can finish specific, important tasks in the background, for example. As far as non-music/nav/VoIP apps, those can be suspended in the background, but not left running. (See below.) Full details here.

• Fast app switching: With iPhone 4's multitasking, most apps aren't actually running in the background—just certain functions of the app, like an audio stream or a GPS lock. But! All apps can now be frozen, in full, so that when you reopen them, they're restored to exactly the state they were in when they were closed.

• Local notifications: Notifications can be sent between apps on the phone, not just from remote servers. In other words, if something important happens in an app you've opened and moved away from, a notification will pop up in whatever app you're using at the time, effectively saying 'switch back to me!' It's a fairly clever way to keep track of multiple apps without the need for a start bar or dock-type interface. From Apple's dev guidelines:

The advantage of local notifications is that they are independent of your application. Once a notification is scheduled, the system manages the delivery of it. Your application does not even have to be running when the notification is delivered.

Apple's official line:

iPhone OS 4's new multitasking offers users a new way to quickly move between apps, and provides developers seven new multitasking services to easily add multitasking features to their apps. These services include background audio, so apps like Pandora can play music in the background, and VoIP, so VoIP apps can receive a VoIP call even when the iPhone is asleep or the user is running other apps. iPhone OS 4 provides multitasking to third party apps while preserving battery life and foreground app performance, which has until now proved elusive on mobile devices.

And some more technical details, again from Apple's developer guidelines:

An application can request a finite amount of time to complete some important task. An application can declare itself as supporting specific services that require regular background execution time. An application can use local notifications to generate user alerts at designated times, whether or not the application is running.

• App folders: Now you can sort your apps into folders! That's homescreen clutter solved, just like that. Apple's description:

Folders help users better organize and quickly access their apps. Simply drag one app icon onto another, and a new folder is automatically created. The folder is automatically given a name based on the App Store category of that app, such as 'Games,' which the user can easily rename. Using folders, users can now organize and access over 2,000 apps on their iPhone.

2160, to be exact.



• A new Mail app: Unified inboxes, multiple Exchange accounts, fast inbox switching, threaded messages: These new features are actually a huge deal, since the iPhone's mail client has barely changed since 2007, and Apple doesn't allow alternative mail apps. Apple's pitch:

iPhone OS 4 delivers the best mail experience on a mobile phone with its new Unified Inbox, allowing users to see messages from all their email accounts displayed together in a single inbox. With just a few taps, users can quickly switch between inboxes to see messages from any single account.

• iBooks: Oh hey, that iBooks ebook reader app and accompanying ebook store we first met on the iPad has ambled on down to the iPhone. Nice, since you can now take your books with you wherever you go, as oppose to wherever you go with your iPad.

• Custom backgrounds: Jailbreakers have them. Hell, the iPad has them. Now you can choose a persistent background for your iPhone—and not just for the lockscreen.

• Game Center: Apple's going to roll out a centralized gaming service—a multiplayer network like PSN or Xbox Live—to help connect games to one another, by the end on the year. There are 3rd-party services that already do this, like OpenFeint. They will probably die. Full details here.



• iAd advertising: It looks like Apple's finally making use of Quattro, that mobile ad company it gobbled up a few months ago, by rolling out its own advertising platform, a turnkey ad plugin for app developers called iAd. The theory here is that instead of relying on links to external websites, which pull users out of apps whenever they tap on an ad, developers can use Apple's new tools to keep people in the app while still showing them advertising—sort of like popover browser windows. You can watch videos, play games, and even buy apps from within these ads. This is in the iPhone OS 4 developer tools, but it's not explicitly a part of OS 4, so you won't see apps with iAds until later this year. Full details here.

• 5x digital zoom: Could this hint at a higher quality camera in the next hardware? 3.2 megapixels seems a bit low for 5x digital zoom.

• Bluetooth keyboards: Another carryover from the iPad, Bluetooth keyboard support will finally come to iPhone 4.

• A bevy of other new developer features, including 1500 new APIs to play with: See here for more details.


Which Devices Get It, and When?



When the software ships in the summer, iPhone 3GSes and iPod Touch 3rd-gens devices will get all of the new features. The iPhone 3G and Touch 2G will get 'many things,' which doesn't include multitasking. I repeat: the iPhone 3G won't get multitasking, ever. iPhone 2Gs will be left on a hillside somewhere to die of exposure, or something.

Apple didn't drop any clues about the next iPhone's hardware, but it's a fair bet that we'll see some changes come June.


What About the iPad?



The iPad won't get the 4.0 upgrade until Fall of this year, a few months after the iPhone does. So, you'll be able to multitask on your dinky little iPhone before you'll be even be able to listen to Pandora and check your email at the same time on your giant iPad.

[iPhone 4 on Gizmodo]

Apple Holding Special Event To Preview iPhone OS 4 This Thursday [iPhone]

Apple has just sent out invites to press inviting them to a special event where they’ll “Get a sneak peek into the future of iPhone OS”.

The event, which obviously comes just after the launch of the iPad, will showcase the new features coming with the latest release of the iPhone/iPad operating system, giving developers time to plan for and integrate the new features into their apps. There have been rumors for months that this new update will include the ability for certain third party apps to run in the background.

Apple has been holding these developer preview events since before the App Store launched — there was one in March 2008 where the iPhone SDK was announced. And last March

Apple gave a preview of the iPhone 3.0 software update. Historically (by which I mean, the last two years) these updates have been released alongside new iPhones in the summer (the iPhone 3G came out July 11 2008; the 3GS was released June 19 2009).
[TechCrunch]

Apple iPad Official Pictures [Apple]

If you still haven't gotten your fill of the iPad here are some official pictures to satisfy your appetite.
























[Gizmodo via Apple]

Could These Be Pictures of the Real Apple Tablet? [Tablet]

New pictures claiming to be the Apple Tablet have surfaced, and they’re the most realistic ones we’ve seen yet.
The images, posted by designer and user interface guy Dustin Curtis, reveal what appears to be the tablet on top of a MacBook pro. He posted the images on his Posterous.
While we cannot verify or debunk their authenticity, they are the most complete images we’ve seen yet of the rumored device. Without the interface running, any video, or a picture of its backside, we can’t even guess as to whether they’re real. Our gut says no, but they’re convincing images.
We already knew of Dustin Curtis — he’s a talented designer that got attention for his mockup redesign of the American Airlines website and the subsequent firing of an AA employee who gave him a response.
Take a look at these pretty pics; we’ll do the investigating to try to determine if they’re real. Let us know what you think of the images in the comments.

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The Tablet Images

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[Mashable]

Rumor: iPhone 4 Casing Will Be Touch-Sensitive Like The Magic Mouse [Apple]

We're not usually prone to listening to analysts' speculation—especially when it comes to Apple products—but this latest, previously unheard-of rumor could see the iPhone experience reinvented completely if proven to be true. Still, please do BYO salt bag.
Robert Chen, an analyst at Goldman Sachs, told Bloomberg that the next iPhone will launch in June (obvious to anyone in this world), but will also be remarkably different to what we've seen before.

'Apple's going to put a lot of innovation, not just on the hardware, but also on the software of the new iPhone'

The 'new plastic casing' will be touch-sensitive, much like Apple's Magic Mouse, and according to Chen it will also have a 5.0-megapixel camera. The camera will undoubtedly be upgraded in the next iPhone model, so that's not a far reach for Chen to make, but this new touch-sensitive casing sounds intriguing.
Making the next iPhone completely touch-sensitive sounds slightly redundant, if you ask me. Why would you want to be able to make a gesture on the back of the iPhone with your finger, to answer a call or turn the volume up on your music, when it's already all too easy to do that on the touchscreen?
Unless Apple has something else up their sleeve. When you think about how you hold an iPhone, your index finger is usually pointed upwards, resting somewhere in the middle of the back. Could a touch-sensitive area there allow for quicker one-handed scrolling through emails, or application of pressure to perform a different task? Could it be used effectively in gaming?
It's perplexing thinking about what Apple can offer via a touch-sensitive casing that its touchscreen can't already do, but if you've got any ideas about this big fat piece of analyst hype, do let us know.
[Gizmodo via Bloomberg]

Apple Tablet With 7″ Screen Coming in January [RUMOR]

Christmas is coming, and we can’t imagine a better time to revive the Apple Tablet rumors.

We’ve heard it all — from 7-inch to 12-inch screen sizes, with launch dates now mostly pointing to the first half of 2010, but Boy Genius claims they now know for certain just how big the mythical device will be in the end.

According to their report, Apple Tablet is “definitely coming in 7″ size.” This doesn’t exclude a bigger, 10” tablet (although Apple simultaneously releasing two different tablets sounds highly unlikely), but Boy Genius’ source is “100%” about the 7-incher. There’s also a date attached to this rumor, with Apple supposedly set to announce the tablet in January. We won’t mind if they do.
[Mashable via BGR]

iPhone and Android Are Taking Over the (Mobile) Internet [Smartphones]

So, what does it take to snatch a combined 75% of US mobile internet traffic? Two operating systems, a handful of phones, and one great browser core.

That the iPhone is a massive source of online traffic isn't a surprise—that's been apparent since the week it launched. What's interesting here is Android's rise, which is dramatically quickening, already accounting for a fifth of mobile traffic in the US, when the real marketing push for the OS, starting with the MyTouch ads and the massive Droid launch, is only recently starting in earnest. What is a surprise, or at the very least a Sad Thing, is how poorly Palm is faring. Their tiny sliver of market share might seem understandable since they really only had one new phone for the duration of the survey, but this phone was supposed to be their savior; in the year since it was introduced, their mobile traffic actually fell.
Google and Apple's stark gain in the stats, collected by mobile advertising firm AdMob, is a little less spectacular worldwide, mainly because Symbian's established, but waning, 40% smartphone market share helps it snatch about 25% of mobile web traffic. Still though, two things are clear: Android and the iPhone are who mobile web developers are going to have to cater to, and WebKit, which Symbian uses in its browser too, is basically it.

Anyway, how about a bonus chart! Ever wondered how common the different Android handsets are, which is most popular, and which don't register? Well hello, extra pie:

The G1 is the predictable star here, but the Droid is exploding.
[Gizmodo via AdMob via Techcrunch]

Apple Magic Mouse Hands On [Apple]

The Apple's Magic Mouse doesn't have anything on its surface. It's an aluminum base topped off with a smooth multitouch panel. It felt weird to use, but leagues ahead of the Mighty Mouse. I may go back to mice.
The strange thing about the Magic Mouse is not how it works. It is that you have different gestures than on a standard Macbook Pro trackpad.
One obvious example: Since you move the cursor by moving the whole mouse with your hand, there's no point in also using one finger to move the cursor, like on the trackpad. Moving your finger on the surface of the Magic Mouse allows you to scroll in all directions, 360 degrees around.
You can also scroll with two or three fingers, if you move them up and down. But if you swipe them from side to side while using a web browser, your browsing history moves forward or back.
Physically, the mouse is beautiful, and feels nice. The top is made of white polycarbonate that matches the keys on Apple's keyboards. It is one seamless touch surface, and, logically, there is no Mighty Mouse scroll nipple.
The surface can also simulate the left and right buttons. Unlike in previous Apple's mice, the two buttons work perfectly. This time they also added physical feedback, so when you click the buttons, you actually get the entire surface to click—like the original clear Apple mouse.
The mouse runs on AA batteries, and Apple claims 4 months of use per set. You can get it with the new iMac or pay $69 separately.
There was a small thing I noticed, though: the mouse would sometimes move when I tried to scroll — I can maybe get used to this, but it was a thing that happened to me and my presenter who definitely had more time with the mouse. The other reason why Apple went with fewer fingers for swipe and scroll gestures, besides the issue of pointing already being taken care of by the mouse's table action, was because you need your ring finger to hold the mouse properly or the thing slides on your desk.
Also, the mouse will be software configurable for lefties.

Apple Introduces Magic Mouse — The World's First Multi-Touch Mouse
CUPERTINO, Calif., Oct. 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today introduced the new wireless Magic Mouse, the first mouse to use Apple's revolutionary Multi-Touch™ technology. Pioneered on iPhone®, iPod touch® and Mac® notebook trackpads, Multi-Touch allows customers to navigate using intuitive finger gestures. Instead of mechanical buttons, scroll wheels or scroll balls, the entire top of the Magic Mouse is a seamless Multi-Touch surface. Magic Mouse comes standard with the new iMac® and will be available as a Mac accessory at just $69.
'Apple is the Multi-Touch leader, pioneering the use of this innovative technology in iPhone, iPod touch and Mac notebook trackpads,' said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. 'Apple's Multi-Touch technology allows us to offer an easy to use mouse in a simple and elegant design.'
Magic Mouse features a seamless touch-sensitive enclosure that allows it to be a single or multi-button mouse with advanced gesture support. Using intuitive gestures, users can easily scroll through long documents, pan across large images or swipe to move forward or backward through a collection of web pages or photos. Magic Mouse works for left or right handed users and multi-button or gesture commands can be easily configured from within System Preferences.
The Magic Mouse laser tracking engine provides a smooth, consistent experience across more surfaces than a traditional optical tracking system. Magic Mouse uses Bluetooth wireless capabilities to create a clean, cable-free desk top and its secure wireless connection works from up to 10 meters away. To extend battery performance, Magic Mouse includes an advanced power management system that works with Mac OS® X to automatically switch to low power modes during periods of inactivity. The wireless Magic Mouse is powered by two AA batteries which are included.
Pricing & Availability
Magic Mouse comes standard with the new iMac and is available at the end of October through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), at Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $69 (US). Magic Mouse requires Mac OS X Leopard® version 10.5.8 or later.

[Gizmodo]

Verizon Takes iPhone Directly on with “Droid Does” Campaign [VIDEO]

This is the ad campaign we’ve all been waiting for. Verizon has decided to step up to the plate and show Sprint and T-Mobile how to generate serious interest in Android. And what’s the trick? TELL PEOPLE WHAT IT DOES. Start there.

Beginning this evening, Verizon Wireless is running a commercial that points out all the shortcomings of the iPhone with quotes like “iDon’t Have a Real Keyboard” and “iDon’t Run Simultaneous Apps”. Finally, a platform that can do more paired with a carrier ready to spend more.

The ad has a definite “Apple” feel to it with the pop/folk song and simple black on white font. One thing is certain – Verizon is not afraid to take on AT&T or Apple. Their previous “There’s a Map for That” commercial show just how much larger their data network is compared to 2nd place AT&T.

The website DroidDoes.com has a countdown running with numbers replaced by unique carriers. A little bit of math and Encyclopedia Brown work reveal a timer that expires on October 30. The commercial simply mentions “November”. Why conflicting date? Perhaps the countdown reveals an interactive demo site or pre-order ability. We’ll see in a few weeks!

For now, head to the site and register for information and try to contain yourself. If you’re curious as to what happens when you sign up, you get an email like the one below!

[AndroidGuys]

The Next Mac Pro Sounds Like a 12-Core Hellbeast [Rumor]

The next Mac Pro might be using Intel's six-core Gulftown (Core i9) processor, possibly in a 12-core configuration, but'll have a custom motherboard that'll support 8GB and 16GB RAM modules (for up to 128GB), along with 10Gbps ethernet.
Supposedly, we'll see them early next year. If so, and if it uses Gulftown, that'd give Apple a small window of exclusivity with the speed demon chip, which wouldn't be the first time Intel's given them access to silicon before anybody else. [Gizmodo via HardMac via AppleInsider]

New Wi-Fi Direct to Connect Gadgets Without Routers [Wireless]

Coming mid-2010 there will be a new Wi-Fi standard that will allow any Wi-Fi gadget to connect wirelessly with each other without having to go through a wireless router. The best thing: It will only require a software update.
The new standard is called Wi-Fi Direct and—unlike Bluetooth—the technology will enjoy exactly the same speed and range as Wi-Fi. The Wi-Fi Alliance—which includes Intel, Microsoft, and Apple—says that it will automatically detect and hitch any device equipped with Wi-Fi within a 300 feet range, from computers to cameras to TVs to printers to anything in between. All peer-to-peer.
The Wi-Fi Alliance and everyone else—including myself—are pretty excited about this. So excited that they are planning a big advertising campaign to make people move to it. And since it will only require a downloadable software patch, you can expect the technology to become ubiquitous pretty fast.
Farewell, Bluetooth. It was not a pleasure to meet you. [Gizmodo via Wi-Fi Alliance]

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