More Information / Rumors About Microsoft Tablet

Today morning we reported that Microsoft is developing a tablet prototype. Adding more fuel to Microsoft tablet rumors Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet has posted that she received a tip earlier this year about Microsoft developing a tablet and Chief Experience Officer J Allard leading the development team. Mary wrote:
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Review Roundup: Apple iPod nano 5G with Built-in Video Camera

Apple updated its iPod nano earlier this month by adding video camera, FM radio, pedometer, mic and speaker. The company has sold over 100 million iPod nanos in past four years making it one of the most successful electronic device ever. The new iPod nano has a larger 2.2-inch screen and gorgeous polished aluminum and glass enclosure.
We have added links of 10 most comprehensive iPod nano reviews below:
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Microsoft will Introduce Two iPhone Competitors in 2010

Even though, Microsoft has repeatedly denied that they are developing their own smartphone hardware. 9to5mac is reporting that Microsoft will unleash two new smartphones at CES in January 2010. The new smartphones are being developed under the project codenamed “Pink” with the help from Danger team acquired by Microsoft.
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Review Roundup: Microsoft Zune HD

Microsoft started shipping the new Zune HD on 15th September in US. The Zune HD features 3.3-inch OLED touchscreen (480 x 272), HD Radio, WiFi b/g and HDMI out via optional dock. The player measures 4.01” x 2.07” x 0.35” and weighs 2.6 ounces. Battery life on the player is 33 hours for music and 8.5 hours of video playback. The four main features of Zune HD are Wireless sync, HD video out via optional dock, brilliant OLED screen and web browser. Zune HD is available in 32GB Platinum Silver model for $289.99 and 16GB Onyx Black model for $219.99.
Below we have added links to 10 best Zune HD reviews available online:
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FCC Inquiry Turning Into Cat Fight Between Apple and Google

Last month, FCC asked Apple, AT&T and Google several questions regarding rejection of Google Voice applications from Apple’s App Store. AT&T in its replay said the company had no role in any decision by Apple to not accept the Google Voice Application. Apple in its reply said that the company didn’t approve Google Voice App, but they are continuing to study the Google Voice app.
Google submitted a heavily redacted statement in response to FCC’s questions. However, today FCC and Google released unredacted statement:
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Power of Grand Central and Open CL in Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Hardmac has posted results that illustrate performance improvements in Snow Leopard when an application makes use of Grand Central and Open CL technologies. Christophe Ducommun who is optimizing his applications MovieGate for Snow Leopard has sent results of performance tests done on his Quad Core 2.66GHz Mac Pro to Hardmac. The performance tests compare frame rates and CPU load in Snow Leopard and Leopard for the application.
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ARM Announces 2GHz Dual Core Cortex-A9 Processors

ARM today announced two dual core chips based on Cortex-A9 architecture. The first chip delivers more than 2GHz clock speed while drawing less than 0.25W of power per CPU. The second chip is slower at 800MHz, but consumes half the power at 0.12W for each CPU. These are the first multicore ARM chips coming to the market based on Cortex-A9 architecture, which ARM launched last year.
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Google Releases Chrome 3 with Performance Improvements

Google has released Chrome 3 – the third major update of Chrome browser that Google launched just one year back. Google says the new release comes hot on the heels of 51 developer, 21 beta and 15 stable updates and 3,505 bugfixes in the past year.
In Chrome 3, Google didn’t add many new features, but the company focused on speed improvements for the browser as well as a fresh redesign of some of its features. Google says that Javascript performance is 150 percent faster than the very first beta and is 25 percent faster that most recent stable release (Chrome 2). We have added tables above showing Javescript performance.
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iPod touch Speed Test and More Apple Tablet Rumors

Apple released updated iPod touch models last Wednesday and claimed that the new 32GB and 64GB models are 50 percent faster than the previous generation iPod touch. Macworld’s Dan Frakes has posted basic performance tests for boot process, game launches and performance of a few web tasks. Performance tests compared iPod touch 2G with iPod touch 3G (late 2009).
Dan says, “While the results vary from task to task, the new iPod touch – which Apple dubs the “iPod touch (late 2009)” – is noticeably faster across the board. Booting is dramatically faster, as are launching applications and browsing.”
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HP Announces Six New PC Systems for Holiday Season

Microsoft started shipping new Zune HD today, but the day belonged to HP as the company announced four new laptops, two netbooks and one all-in-one desktop. The first two notebooks that HP announced are Envy 13 and 15 that are housed in aluminum and black plastic shells. Design of both the notebooks looks MacBook Pro inspired with aluminum casing and MacBook-like trackpad that HP calls “clickpad”.
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Microsoft Ships New Zune HD Touchscreen Media Player

Microsoft has announced the new Zune HD touchscreen media player is available now along with updated Zune PC software. As we already known Zune HD features an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) multitouch screen, an NVIDIA Tegra HD processor and HD Radio capabilities. The HD tag on Zune is slight misleading as the OLED screen is not HD capable and you need a separate Zune HD AV dock to actually play 720p video on HDTV. However, the OLED screen on Zune is simply brilliant with great color reproduction and excellent video playback.
Read More and Watch Zune HD in Action

Video Quality Comparison: iPod nano Vs Flip Ultra Camcorder

NewTeeVee has posted a side-by-side comparison of video quality of new iPod nano and Flip Ultra Camcorder. The video comparison covers shooting indoor and outdoor. According to the website, overall, the Flip offered a much better picture indoor and out, providing way more detail in the image and the Flip microphone was also a little better. However, from the video we can see that iPod nano is also not that bad.
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LG Officially Announces First Android Based Handset GW620

LG today officially joined the Android moment by announcing GW620 handset. The new handset features a 3-inch touchscreen and slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Like all other Android handsets, GW620 will incorporate mobile applications and services developed by Google. LG says that GW620 will support social networking functions right out-of-the-box and will have a user-friendly interface.
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Motorola Launches First Android Based Handset CLIQ

This week Motorola launched their first Google Android based handset CLIQ. The company calls the new handset “the first phone with social skills” to highlight its social networking live widgets that integrate Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, MySpace, Yahoo, Last.fm and more on the home screen. The new widget interface is called MOTOBLUR and it gives the user control over various interface features.
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AMD Unveils Radeon HD 5800 Series Graphics Card and New Name Vision Technology

AMD unveiled the new Radeon HD 5800 graphics card series that will start shipping later this year. The new top of the line graphics card can power up to six DisplayPort outputs running at full resolution (2560 x 1600). The card is also capable of merging the six images into one single image as large as 8192 x 8192, if the displays allow it. AMD calls the new technology Eyefinity and it will allow pros and gamers to have panoramic views just like human eyes. AMD will announce Radeon HD 5870 and HD 5850 later this month. No other information about the new graphics cards was released.
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iPod touch Teardown Reveals Space for Camera and 802.11n Chipset

Everyone was surprised on Wednesday when Apple announced new iPod touch without integrated camera. However, teardown of the new iPod touch done by ifixit reveals that Apple left in room for a camera at top of the device circuit. This gives legs to the theory that Apple decided to remove camera in last stages of device development.
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Palm Announces Second webOS Handset Pixi

While the whole world was busy talking about new iPod lineup, Palm introduced their second webOS handset Pixi. The Palm Pixi is a smaller and sleeker candybar shaped cousin of Pre with full QWERTY keyboard. The phone will come with 2.63-inch 320 x 400 touchscreen, 2-megapixel camera, EV-DO Rev.A, Bluetooth, GPS and 8GB of on-board storage.
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Apple Launches New iPod nano with Built-in Video Camera

Apple today launched new iPod nano that comes with video camera, mic and speaker. The nano allows users to shoot video, view it on their nano and upload it to YouTube via their computer. Along with the new video camera iPod nano also gets a bigger 2.2-inch display, FM radio with live pause and iTunes Tagging and built-in pedometer.
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Apple Announces 2GB iPod shuffle and 160GB iPod Classic

Apple today announced that 2GB iPod shuffle is now available for $59 in five colors silver, black, pink, blue and green. The 4GB model also gets the color makeover and it is available now for $79.
“iPod shuffle is the world’s smallest music player and now comes in five great colors starting at just $59,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.
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Apple Introduces iTunes 9 Featuring iTunes LP and Home Sharing

Apple today introduced iTunes 9 with features like iTunes LP, Home Sharing and Genius Mixes, as well as redesigned store and improved syncing.
“iTunes 9 is a great iTunes release, with innovative features that make using iTunes better than ever and iTunes content richer than ever,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iTunes LP, for example, lets artists share more of their creativity with fans and gives music lovers the feeling of being immersed in an entire album with art, lyrics, liner notes, photos and videos.”
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Apple Unveils New iPod touch without Built-in Camera

Apple today announced the new iPod touch without the much-rumored built-in camera. The 8GB iPod touch is now available for just $199, along with new models, which deliver twice the capacity for the same price, with the iPod touch 32GB model for $299 and 64GB model for $399.
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Live Coverage: Apple’s “It’s Only Rock and Roll” iPod Event Wednesday 10 AM PST / 1PM EST

That's all from the live event, we will posted detailed coverage of all the announcements made by Apple later today.

• Steve is back in stage and he thanks Norah Jones. Steve thanks everyone for coming.
  
• So no surprise announcement from Apple. Basically it was just music event with new iTunes 9, iPhone OS 3.1 with Genius Mixes support and new iPods. And the "one more thing" was the most boring ever done by Apple.
  
• It looks like that's it from Apple event as Steve has invited Norah Jones to play some live music on stage.
  
• Apple is showing iPod nano ad. Steve is now showing Environmental checklist for iPod lineup that shows that iPods are Arsenic free, BFR free, Mercury free, PVC free and highly recyclable.
  
• The nano now has 2.2-inch display, polished anodized aluminum casing, microphone and speaker, voiceover, and built-in pedometer. The 8GB model will be $149 and the 16Gb model will be $179. iPod nano is available today in nine colors.
  
• Steve says nano is the most popular player in the world and Apple has sold over 100 million nano. Along with video camera Apple is also adding FM radio and Genius Mixes feature to Nano.
  
• He says we have build a camera into the back of every nano. He compares the size of nano to pocket camcorders available on the market.
  
• Steve is back on stage he says "one more thing". And it's "Video Camera"
  
• Next is iPod classic, it gets 160GB hard drive for the same price of $249. Apple is introducing 5 new colors for iPod shuffle. It will be available in 2GB model for $59 and 4GB model for $79. Apple will also ship a Special Edition 4GB shuffle made of polished steel for $99.
  
• Now he is showing a new iPod touch ad. The ad is dedicated to gaming experience on iPod touch.
  
• Phil adds "we have learned that $199 is a magic price point so that's what we're going to do with iPod touch." 8GB touch will now be priced $199, 32Gb will be $299 and 64GB will be $399. No 16GB model in the lineup.
  
• Phil says iPod touch is more affordable gateway to App Store at $229 and no monthly fees.
  
• Phil is back on stage. It looks like Steve has give full control of the keynote to Phil.
  
• The first hour of the keynote has been all about software, no hardware yet....
  
• EA is showing Madden NFL 2010, it will come to App Store very soon.
  
• Gameloft is showing a FPS called Nova that looks like Halo. The graphics are really good and you can listen to your own music while playing the game and multiplayer is available over Bluetooth and WiFi.
  
• Gameloft is up now. They say that more than 20 million Gameloft titles have been downloaded from App Store and they have 35 titles available.
  
• The game he is showing is Riddim Ribbon, which is like a combo of Wipeout and Rock Band.
  
• Next up Tapulous, Ben Decrem from Tapulous says "when we launched a year ago, our crazy goal was to get 1 million users.. we got that in 3 weeks."
  
• They are showing Prince of Persia. Ben from Ubisoft says "Apple has created a world class gaming experience on this platform."
  
• Now game developers are coming on stage to show their new games. First it's Ubisoft.
  
• Playing a demo video for different games on the iPod touch.
  
• Phil says iPod touch has over 21,178 game and entertainment apps compare to 3,680 for DS and 607 for PSP.
  
• He now compare it to Sony PSP, Nintendo DS and Dell netbook, saying that it bring more functionality than the first two devices and it fits in the pocket.
  
• Now phil is talking how great iPod touch is. He says that customers have figured out that touch is not just a music device but it's a great pocket computer also.
  
• So Apple has sold over 50 million iPhone OS based devices in about 2 years.
  
• Phil says Microsoft has 1.1 percent market share. iPod touch is the fastest growing device in iPod lineup and Apple has sold over 20 million units.
  
• iPod has 73.8 percent market share and Apple has sold over 220 million iPods.
  
• iTunes demo is over Phil and Steve are back on stage and Phil talks about iPod.
  
• It is iTunes Extras feature now showing cast interviews, exclusive clips, behind-the-scenes footage and photo galleries like on DVD or Blu-ray disc.
• Now Jeff is showing iTunes LP features that allows you to view animated lyrics and liner notes, performance videos, artist and band photos and more.
• The iTunes 9 interface is very clean and way easier to navigate. Facebook and Twitter integration is also very intuitive.
  
• He is now showing the new and improved Sync that allows you to do selective transfer of Music, Movies, TV Shows, Audiobook and Applications. You can decided what you want to transfer Automatically and what you want to transfer manually.
  
• Jeff Robbin is now demoing iTunes 9. he starts by showing the new App organization feature.
  
• Apple has also redesigned the store to make it easier to find new artist, songs and movies. And like we wrote before Apple has added iTunes LP feature.
  
• You can now copy songs, TV shows and movies to up to 5 computers in your house. You will see all the computers in iTunes so that you can simply drag and drop content.
  
• iTunes 9 adds App management, improved sync and Home Sharing up to 5 computers
  
• iTunes 9 will have Genius Dj that will play songs from your library that go great together.
  
• Steve says that iTunes is the #1 music retailer in the world and is available in 23 countries. Apple has slod over 8.5 billion songs and they are introducing iTunes 9 (like we said)
  
• Apple is also adding ringtones for iPhone that will be priced $1.29 compared to $1.99 charged by most carriers.
  
• App Store has over 75,000 applications and Apple is introducing iPhone OS 3.1 that adds Genius feature for App Store. That will recommend applications based on previous purchases.
  
• He asks Phil Schiller to join him for the presentation. He announces in 2 years Apple has sold over 30 million iPhones.
  
• He says "I'm very happy to be here with you all. As some of you might know, I has a liver transplant." he thanks everyone at Apple for their support.
  
• So Steve is back and is on stage now.. gets a standing ovation.
  
• The whole atmosphere is of Rock and Roll.
  
• Apple is playing a rock song today.
  
• We are in the hall and the keynote will start in few minutes.
  
• iTunes Extras will bring cast interviews, exclusive clips, behind-the-scenes footage and photo galleries like on DVD or Blu-ray disc.
  
• According to Apple, iTunes LP is a visual experience of the record album. A gorgeous, immersive digital version of select albums that allows you to dive into beautiful animated lyrics and liner notes, performance videos, artist and band photos and more.
  
• The new feature in iTunes 9 are faster navigation, easy preview and buy, iTunes LP, and iTunes Extras.
  
• But like we said in Apple Event Rumor Roundup iTunes 9 will be available as soon as the event finishes.
  
• However, when you click on the download link it takes you to iTunes 8.2.1 download page.
  
• iTunes 9 is already online via this link: iTunes 9
  
• Will Steve Jobs do the keynote, what do you think?
  
• Just twenty minutes remaining.

We have added Apple Event Rumor Roundup that you can read till the Apple Event starts.

Apple invited analysts and media to a press event on September 9th that will be held at Yerba Buena Center for Arts in San Francisco. It is rumored that Apple will launch the next generation iPod lineup with integrated camera and iTunes 9 at the event. There are also rumors that the event won’t be just iPod only and we might see a new device (may a tablet) at the event. We will be doing live coverage of the event at live.TechzTalk.com on Wednesday September 9 starting at 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST / 6 PM London. Please join us then to find out what Apple has up its sleeve.

Intel Launches Core i7, Core i5 and Xeon Processors with P55 Express Chipset

Intel today introduced new Core i7 and Core i5 chips. The new processors are more affordable versions of Core i7 900 series and comes with dual channel memory interface in place of triple channel setup found on 900 series. The new processors also feature Turbo mode that enables the processor to scale up to 3.6GHz for i7-870, 3.46GHz for Core i7-860 and 3.2GHz for i5-750 by switching off one or more core.
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5 Hidden Gems of Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Apple’s new operating system Mac OS X Snow Leopard brings many new features. However, most of these features are under the hood improvements to the operating system. Out of all the new improvements in Mac OS X Snow Leopard, five features will change the way you compute without you even knowing about them. These 5 hidden gems of Mac OS X Snow Leopard are:

Grand Central Dispatch (GCD): It is a set of technologies that makes it easier for developers to create programs for multicore processors. With increase in number of all the cores in a processor it is becoming increasingly difficult to efficiently use power of these cores in a processor. GDC makes Mac OS X multicore aware and optimizes it for allocating tasks across multiple cores and processors. Once developers start using GCD for their applications you will notice significant increase in performance on your multicore system.

OpenCL: OpenCL stands for Open Computing Language – a C based programming language that allows developers to use graphics processors for general computing purposes. Graphics processors are becoming more and more powerful, and by using OpenCL developers can make their applications perform complex operations using graphics processors. Apple says that by using OpenCL developers can make desktop accounting applications with sophisticated financial modeling techniques that required servers before or have more realistic physics simulations in games or design media applications that can handle larger video and graphics files.

64-bit: Previous version of Mac OS X (Leopard) was 64-bit capable in many ways, but Snow Leopard takes the next big step by rewriting nearly all system applications and kernel in 64-bit code. A 32-bit application can only address 4GB of RAM, whereas 64-bit application can theoretically address up to 16 billion gigabytes of memory. Also 64-bit can enable computers to processor twice the data per clock cycle, which will boost overall performance. The best part about Mac OS X Snow Leopard is that it can run both 64-bit and 32-bit applications simultaneously, so you don’t have to worry about whether the applications you use are 64-bit or not.

QuickTime X: Apple did introduce the new QuickTime Player in Snow Leopard, but we aren’t talking about the player. QuickTime X is the media technology that powers audio and video experience in Mac OS X. All the applications like iTunes, Safari or iPhoto use QuickTime to playback audio and video. The new QuickTime X offers optimized support for modern codecs like H.264 and AAC for smooth and stutter free playback of high definition content. It also support HTTP live streaming for Internet video streaming using HTTP protocol, which makes video streaming work reliably with common firewall and wireless router settings. Apple says QuickTime X is 2.4x faster than QuickTime 7 and it uses GPU acceleration for fluid video playback experience.

Automatic Printer Driver Update: Most of us don’t bother with updating printer drivers unless our printer stops working. However, updating drivers can add new functionalities, improve performance and rectify defects. Mac OS X Snow Leopard periodically checks for latest drivers and automatically downloads the newest version through software update. When you connect a new printer to your computer, Snow Leopard can download the most up-to-date driver over the Internet using the new feature.
[Via TechzTalk]

First Images of Upcoming Apple iPod Event Posted

Cult of Mac has posted images of Yerba Burna Center for the Arts showing that Apple has already started preparing the center for upcoming Apple iPod Event on September 9th. Last week, Apple had sent out invitations to various analysts and media for the upcoming event that will be held at Yerba Burna Center in San Francisco at 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST on coming Wednesday.
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AT&T Announces MMS Coming to iPhone on September 25th

AT&T today released more information about the upcoming MMS service for iPhone 3G and 3GS customers. AT&T said in the press release:

We know many of our iPhone customers are eager for an update on our rollout schedule for Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). We’ve been working for the past several months to prepare our systems and network to ensure the best possible experience with MMS when it launches – and that launch date is: September 25 for iPhone 3G and 3GS customers. MMS will be enabled through a software update on that day.

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Nokia Reveals X3 and X6 Music Centric Phones

Nokia introduced two new music centric mobile phone X3 and X6 at Nokia World. The X6 features 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen and 5-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and dual-LED flash. The S60 5th edition based phone comes with 32GB internal memory, quad-band GSM/EDGE, tri-band WCDMA, WiFi, Bluetooth, A-GPS and micro-USB port. The full HTML browser on the phone supports Flash Lite 3.0 and Nokia Ovi application suite for downloading music/video, messaging and other Internet based services.
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Panasonic Debuts Micro Four Thirds DMC-GF1 Camera

Panasonic debuted the new DMC-GF1 Micro Four Thirds camera, which it claims is “the world’s smallest and lightest digital interchangeable lens system camera with a built-in flash”. The GF1 is 35 percent smaller than earlier G models and is even smaller than recently announced Olympus E-P1.
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Cult of Mac: More Evidence That Snow Leopard is a Touchscreen OS

Leander Kahney of Cult of Mac has posted an article arguing that the new Mac OS X Snow Leopard is designed to run Apple’s upcoming tablet. He talks about various parts of Mac OS X that Apple updated and are now more touch friendly. The first feature he points out is Expose in the Dock, which reveals all the open windows in an application when you click and hold the application icon in the dock. He further adds that Stacks is even more convincing with bigger icons and fat slider for scrolling up and down.
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Will Steve Jobs Give Keynote Speech at September 9 Event?

Yesterday, Apple confirmed the rumored September 9 media event and as soon as the rumors about the music event were confirmed by the invitations, the blogosphere jumped to a new discussion – will Steve Jobs do the keynote presentation on September 9th?
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Canon Unveils New High-End EOS 7D Digital SLR

Canon today officially announced the much-rumored EOS 7D digital SLR. The new camera features 18-megapixel APS-C CMOS sensor, dual DIGIC 4 processors, 8fps continuous shooting and full HD video recording. The EOS 7D comes with 19-point cross-type AF sensor offering a range of manual and automatic settings including Zone and Spot AF to track and capture subject quickly and accurately. The EOS 7D also incorporates new Focus Color Luminance metering system that intelligently measures focus, color and luminance across 63 zones.
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September 9th Apple Media Event Now Official

Apple has sent out invitations for September 9th media event, which will be held at Yerba Buena Center for Arts in San Francisco at 10:00 AM Pacific Time / 1:00 PM Eastern Time. The invitation states, “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it” a reference to Rolling Stones song “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll” clearly indicating a music / iPod related event.

Report about Apple’s plan for Wednesday, September 9 event was first published by All Things Digital and was later confirmed by other websites. It has been rumored that Apple will introduce new iPod touch, iPod nano and iPod classic with integrated camera, and iTunes 9 with social networking features at September 9 event. We will be doing a live coverage of the event on September 9th at 10:00 AM PST / 1:00 PM EST on live.techztalk.com.

First 24 Hours With Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Apple released their new operating system Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard past Friday. The first thing I did on Saturday was to install the new OS and take it for a spin. Before starting the installation, I made a disc image of my hard drive in case something goes wrong. The installation process was the easiest I have ever seen for any software. In fact, installing an IM client on your system is harder than installing Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

I installed Snow Leopard on two systems 13-inch unibody MacBook and a 20-inch iMac. Installation process was very simple, just click continue after inserting the disc, agree with license terms and enter your password. After which it's time to sit and relax till installation is completed. By default, Snow leopard keeps your data and preferences intact while upgrading your system. It took about 44 minutes for MacBook to complete the installation process, whereas the iMac took just 23 minutes. In my opinion the reason behind this time difference was amount of data on the systems – iMac had just 44GB and the MacBook had 161GB, plus the iMac had less than 30 applications while the MacBook had over 65 applications.

After installation, the most notable thing on the MacBook was that the available free space on the hard drive had gone up from 140.77GB to 161.74GB and the used space had gone down from 161.79GB to 157.37GB. I believe three factors contributed to this increase in available hard drive space: one Apple is now using decimal system (base 10) compared to binary system (base 2), which means a 320GB hard drive will show 320GB of total available space; second factor was removal of legacy support (Power PC) like Rosetta technology; and the third factor is refinement of over 90 percent of the OS code making the overall size of OS smaller.

I observed that the overall system performance was faster, for example Mail and Safari opened in less than three seconds, iChat video started without any lag and application switching was really fast. Graphics were very smooth for Expose, Stacks and Spaces. System restart took just 41 seconds compared to about a minute previously and booting up after a shutdown took just 32 seconds.

Most of my applications worked perfectly except two iStat and Cyberduck. Developers for both the applications say that they will launch a Snow Leopard version soon. All the applications were faster than Leopard, even Microsoft Word, which was reported to be slower on Snow Leopard was quite fast in my experience. Based on my first 24 hours with the new OS, I would say that Snow Leopard is the best OS upgrade I have ever done and it is worth more than the $29 I paid.
[Via TechzTalk]

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Application Compatibility List

If you are like me, you can’t wait to get your hand on Snow Leopard on Friday. However as always installing new OS can create some problems with old applications that are not supported by the new OS. It is already known that some of the old printer drivers won’t be compatible with Snow Leopard. Apple has published a list of printer and scanner software that is compatible with Snow Leopard. For applications wikidot has posted a list of applications and their compatibility status with Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.
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Snow Leopard Defaults to 32-bit Kernel

Apple has advertised Snow Leopard as full 64-bit operating system, but by default Snow Leopard loads 32-bit kernel, despite running 64-bit applications. Users can boot into 64-bit kernel by holding down the “6” and “4” keys during boot time, but once they restart the kernel will switch back to 32-bit. There is no permanent GUI option to make 64-bit kernel default except on X-Serves that by default boot into 64-bit kernel.
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Rumor: Apple Developing 13-inch and 15-inch Tablet Models

Gizmodo is reporting that a 100 percent reliable source says “Not only Apple may be working on a 10-inch tablet, but also in 13” and 15” models, one running Mac OS X”. The source added that two touchscreen prototype made with aluminum were in a factory in Shenzuen, China. Both the prototype looked like bigger iPhones and one is running Mac OS X 10.5. However, Gizmodo’s source didn’t know whether the units were built for demonstration purposes or as preproduction units.
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Review Roundup: Apple Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

Apple will start shipping their new operating system Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard on Friday August 28th. Apple says Snow Leopard builds on a decade of OS X innovation and success with hundreds of refinements, new core technologies and out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange. Apple engineers refined 90 percent of more than 1,000 projects that make up Mac OS X, and all the system applications like Finder, Mail, iCal, iChat and Safari are rewrite in Cocoa with 64-bit support. Snow Leopard is half the size of the previous version and frees up to 7GB of drive space once installed. Snow Leopard update only supports Macs with Intel processors.
Below we have added links to ten best Snow Leopard reviews posted online:
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Nokia’s Maemo 5 OS Based N900 Now Official

Nokia today announced new N900 handset that uses open source Linux based Maemo software to deliver PC-like experience on a handset-sized device. The new Maemo 5 software allows users to have dozens of application windows open and running simultaneously while taking full advantage of the cellular features, touchscreen and QWERTY keyboard.
Read More & Watch N900 in Action

Augmented Reality App Metro Paris Subway Released for iPhone 3GS

Augmented Reality (AR) is all the rage in mobile application development these days. AR combines the camera, Internet and GPS on a cellphone to give information about the surroundings. Metro Paris Subway is the first augmented reality app released for the iPhone and it works only on the latest iPhone 3GS as it requires digital compass to function properly.
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White MacBook Getting Design Update Soon

AppleInsider is reporting that “13-inch portable are presently undergoing an industrial design overhaul that will see them reemerge in the coming months with a slimmer, lighter enclosure and restructured internal architecture to boot.” The refresh is meant to solidify white MacBook as the base of Apple’s notebook offerings.
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Sony Reader Daily Edition Launched with 7-inch Touchscreen and 3G Network Support

Sony today launched the third member of its e-reader family – the Reader Daily Edition with 3G connectivity. The Reader Daily uses AT&T’s 3G network to access Sony’s eBook store, similar to how Amazon Kindle works. The seven-inch touchscreen with 16 levels of grayscale provides for intuitive navigation and comfortable layout of content. The Reader can be used in both Portrait and landscape modes. It can store up to 1,000 eBooks on internal memory and features SD card slot for adding more memory.
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Steve Jobs Entirely Focused on Tablet Project

Wall Street Journal is reporting that after returning from a liver transplant in June, Steve Jobs is entirely focused on a new tablet device. People familiar with the situation told WSJ “Since his return in late June, the 54-year-old has been poring almost all of his attention into a new touch-screen gadget that Apple is developing. Those working on the project are under intense scrutiny from Mr. Jobs, particularly with regard to the product’s advertising and marketing strategy.”
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Google Answers FCC’s Questions Related to iPhone Google Voice App

Along with AT&T and Apple, Google also responded to the questions put forward by FCC in matter related to rejection of Google Voice application for iPhone. Earlier this month, FCC asked Apple, AT&T and Google what role they played in rejection of Google Voice application from Apple’s App Store for iPhone.
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Nokia Enters Computer Market with Booklet 3G Netbook

Mobile phone market leader Nokia today joined the PC world by announcing Nokia Booklet 3G netbook with 12 hours battery life. Booklet 3G has aluminum chassis, it weighs 2.75 pounds and is about 0.8-inch thick. The Windows 7 powered netbook uses Intel Atom processor and offers connectivity options like 3G/HSPA and WiFi.
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Apple Announces Mac OS X Snow Leopard Shipping on August 28

Apple today announced that Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard would go on sale Friday, August 28 at Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers, and that Apple’s online store is now accepting pre-orders. Snow Leopard builds on a decade of OS X innovation and success with hundreds of refinements, new core technologies and out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange. Snow Leopard will be available as an upgrade for Mac OS X Leopard users for $29.
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Mac OS X Snow Leopard Release Becoming More Imminent

Many blogs are reporting that one person in Japan received next generation Mac OS X Snow Leopard installation disc with his new Mac mini. The image of the disc shown above clearly states “Mac mini – Mac OS X Install DVD”. The image also shows Mac OS version 10.6 and disc version 1.0. We have added a screenshot showing the Snow Leopard installer below from the same user.
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Apple to FCC: Google Voice Rejected, But Still Under Consideration

Both AT&T and Apple answered questions asked by FCC regarding rejection of Google Voice application from Apple’s App Store. AT&T basically said that they had no role in any decision by Apple to not accept the Google Voice application for inclusion in Apple App Store. On the other hand Apple’s reply presented many interesting points as follows:
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Apple Online Store In UK Shows Mac OS X Snow Leopard Shipping on 28th August

Apple’s UK online store is now showing shipping date of August 28th for Mac OS X Snow Leopard Up-To-Date program disc. This is a clear indication that all the reports about Snow Leopard shipping earlier in August are true. However the US online store still shows shipping by September.
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More iTunes 9 Screenshots Leaked

Last week, we reported that iTunes 9 would add support for Last.fm, Facebook and Twitter. Today, BGR has posted some more screenshots of upcoming iTunes version 9.0b15. The features shown in the screenshots include DVD playback, third party device support and Facebook integration. iTunes will allow users to create a new playlist and then share it on Facebook.
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Canon Adds Six New Cameras To PowerShot Lineup

Canon today announced six new PowerShot compact digital cameras including G11, S90, SD980 IS, SD940 IS, SX20 IS and SX120 IS. The flagship G11 replaces the G10’s 14.7-megapixel sensor with a high sensitivity 10-megapixel CCD sensor. With the new sensor, Dual Anti-Noise System and Digic 4 image processor Canon claims 2-stop improvement over the G10. This improves image quality and low light shooting performance by reducing noise.
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