APPLE iOS EVENT ROUNDUP

Apple held a hotly anticipated event today for their new version of iOS and device lineup. Unfortunately, the highly expected and rumored iPhone 5 was not announced.

To start our roundup of the event off we have iOS itself. Apple’s iOS 5 will be released on October 12th for the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad, iPad 2 and the last two iPod touch generations. We’re expecting the Gold Master to be released for developers later today. Apple’s free iOS 5 software update brings over 200 new features to the platform including some big ones like redone notifications, iMessage, built-in Twitter integration, Newsstand and more.

Tim Cook then announced the "new" iPhone would be the 4S. This was expected to be the lower end iPhone with the iPhone 5 being the high end model. It turns out the iPhone 4S will be the only new model. The 4S has the same look as the existing model, however the internals have been vastly improved. To start with the chip has been upgraded to the A5, which is the same as the current iPad. Apple has also redesigned the antenna system which will "“intelligently switch between two antennas” giving users better call quality. A new 8 megapixel camera and the ability to shoot 1080p HD video are also new. Apple has including the ability to use AirPlay Mirroring right on the iPhone 4S in addition to the iPad 2, which already supports this feature.

The iPhone 4S will have a new voice feature named "Siri". The feature enables you to interact with your device much as you would with a human assistant; you can speak to your phone naturally and it will perform as a personal assistant. Apple demonstrated different voice tasks during its press conference on Tuesday, such as asking what the weather is like today, or do I need a raincoat today? More voice tasks? Wake me up at 6AM tomorrow and Siri will set your phone alarm. What’s the time in Paris? How’s the stock market doing today? Find me an italian restaurant in New York? Give me directions to a location? Siri will even read your text and email messages to you.

Additional announcements included the iPod Touch will now be available in white and the iPod nano gets a new multi-touch screen, with pricing at $129 for the nano.

APPLE TO HOLD MEDIA EVENT ON OCTOBER 4TH; PROBABLY INTRODUCING iPHONE 5

All Things D is reporting today that Apple's next big media event will be held on October 4th, where freshly minted CEO Tim Cook is expected to unveil the iPhone 5. Sources close to the situation say Cook will be the main presenter at the event, with execs Phil Schiller, Scott Forstall and Eddy Cue playing supporting roles. This would mark the first time that Cook has actually led an Apple event, adding an extra wrinkle of significance to an already highly anticipated occasion. The site's sources went on to say that the next-gen iPhone will be available for purchase "within a few weeks" of the announcement, though All Things D acknowledges that the exact date of its unveiling is still subject to change.

RUMOR: APPLE HOLDING iOS 5 EVENT IN APRIL

German Apple enthusiast blog Macerkopf.de(translated) cites a trusted source in claiming that Apple will reveal iOS 5 and new MobileMe features in early April. The timing of the rumor is in line with Apple’s announcements in years past; Apple held its iOS 4 event last year on April 8th. Among the more anticipated changes expected in iOS 5 is a completely revamped notification system.

iOS notifications have been described “as disruptive as notifications on a mobile device can possibly be.” Apple is well aware of the problem, and the company hired Rich Dellinger last year — the man widely regarded as being responsible for the fantastic notification system found on HP’s webOS platform. Apple has not yet confirmed any details surrounding the next version of iOS or an event next month.

ROUNDUP: APPLE EVENT - iPAD 2

iPad 2

Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad 2 today. As expected it will come in both black and white and be 33% thinner, down to 8.8mm, and lighter at only 1.3 pounds. The processor is an Apple A5 dual-core which has 2x the CPU speed and 9x the graphics speed of the previous model.

The iPad 2 will come with both front and rear cameras and a gyroscope. Jobs promised the new iPad would still have the same battery life at 10 hours as the iPad 1. The iPad 2 Wi-Fi will be available in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB capacitties for $499, $599, and $699 respectively. The iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G will be available in the aforementioned sizes for $629, $729, and $829. The new iPad will launch in the US on March 11th and the rest of the world on March 25th.

Accessories

Additionally, Apple announced a HDMI-out connector cable. The 30-pin dock connector to HDMI cable will support full mirrored output from your iPad 2, output video in full 1080p, support rotation, and cost just $39. The accessory also allows you to charge your device while connected.

A "Smart Cover" was also shown off during the event, which will be built by Apple specifically for the iPad 2. The new cover (not a case) uses magnets to attach and auto-align itself to the iPad, adds minimal weight, and it has a micro-fiber lining to clean the screen. As an awesome little twist, the Smart Cover will automatically put your iPad to sleep when closed and it will wake the tablet when opened. Smart Covers will be available in polyurethane for $39 and leather for $69.

FaceTime/Garage Band/iMovie

Apple unveiled FaceTime for the iPad 2. The video calling app and service will function just as it does on the iPhone 4, and it will obviously support video chatting with both iPads and iPhone 4s. FaceTime for the iPad 2 is part of iOS 4.3 and will be available immediately at launch on March 11th. Apple also introduced iMovie for the iPad, which includes a precision video editor, multitrack audio recording, over 50 sound effects, new themes and AirPlay for sharing videos in HD with popular sites. The new iMovie app is also universal, so it will also run on iPhone and iPod touch as well — and it’s still just $5 in the App Store. Garage Band for the iPad, also announced at the event, features a variety of touch instruments and recording capabilities. Users can also plug in a guitar and play real instruments as well. The app sports guitar amps and effects, 8-track recording and mixing, over 250 audio loops to play with, and it’s compatible with the popular OS X version for Mac. Garage Band will cost $5 in the App Store when it launches on March 11th.

iOS 4.3

After a month long stint in beta-land, Apple’s latest iteration of iOS — version 4.3 — has been rubber-stamped and pronounced ready for public consumption. Demoing the new code at the company’s iPad 2 event today, VP of Engineering Scott Forstall showcased several of the updates new features, including Wi-Fi hotspot creation, a new Photobooth app, and Home Sharing (streaming audio and video from your computer to your iOS devce). iOS 4.3 will be available on March 11th to all iPad, iPhone (GSM), and iPod touch (3rd & 4th generation) owners.

RUMOR: STEVE JOBS TO APPEAR AT iPAD EVENT TOMORROW

According to several sources close to the situation, Apple CEO Steve Jobs–who is on a health-related leave from the company–is definitely considering an appearance at its big iPad 2 event tomorrow.

But the possibility–which would be a big sensation at the San Francisco gathering and has been subject to great speculation–is also just as definitely not confirmed as yet, stressed sources.

If he did appear, sources said, Jobs would make at least a brief appearance on stage along with other top company execs in showing off Apple’s latest version of it hugely popular tablet.

The new device reportedly has a sleeker look, as well as a camera and other improvements, changes that tech’s top showman would certainly love to tout and that his legions of fans would like to see him introduce.

HP PRESS EVENT ROUND-UP; VEER, TOUCHPAD AND PRE3

Below is a roundup of HP's press event today. One notable abscense from the event was Palm, which HP acquired fairly recently. Has HP killed the Palm name? Possibly for now anyway.

HP VEER
The very first webOS-based device to bear the HP name alone without Palm's alongside packing Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7230 processor at 800MHz. Other headline specs include a 2.6-inch 320 x 400 display, 5 megapixel EDoF camera, HSPA+ support, 8GB of storage, an accelerometer, proximity and light sensors (as usual), Touchstone compatibility, and mobile hotspot support. Keyboard usability will be a big question that we'll need to have answered when the phone is released this spring. No word on carriers yet, and pricing is set to be decided upon "at a later date."

HP PRE3
Here's to a decidedly Palm-less round three. The QWERTY slider with the all-too-familiar form factor has a 3.6-inch 800 x 480 display (a marked improvement over past Pres), 5 megapixel camera with AF and LED flash, 720p HD video, a front-facing camera for video calling, mobile hotspot, and webOS 2.2. Under the hood? A Qualcomm MSM 8x55 CPU running at 1.4GHz (!), 802.11a/b/g/n 5GHz, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, A-GPS, a 1230 mAh battery, HSPA+ and EVDO Rev A -- yep, it's a world phone -- and the same RAM as the Pre 2 (that's 512MB DRAM). It'll be Touchstone compatible, naturally, and will switch to Exhibition mode when docked to show pictures and upcoming appointments. There's some interesting synergy going on where the TouchPad tablet can take Pre 3's phone calls, and just touching the two devices together will let you share URLs (aptly titled touch-to-share). This one's gonna keep you waiting, though -- availability is this summer with both 8GB and 16GB storage options.

TOUCHPAD
the TouchPad (previously known by Topaz) is shaped almost exactly like the iPad. It tips the scales at 1.6 pounds and measures 13.7mm thick, which is somewhat of a downer for those already put off by the heft found in Apple's slate. As we'd heard last month, HP's shipping this one with its own Beats audio engine, Touch-to-Share (a feature that lets users easily transfer a website, document, song, text or call from the phone to the tablet -- or vice versa -- simply by tapping the two devices together) and a huge reliance on the cloud. Also of note, Jon just mentioned that this is only the "first in the webOS TouchPad family," hinting that the Opal may be just around the bend.

Other specifications include webOS 3.0, "true multitasking," Touch-to-share, instant-on productivity, a 9.7-inch display (1024 x 768 screen resolution), a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon CPU (!), inbuilt gyroscope, accelerometer, compass and 16GB / 32GB of internal storage space. There's also a front-facing 1.3 megapixel webcam, support for video calling, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, A-GPS (3G model only), "twice the memory of a Pre 2" and a set of stereo speakers. Rubenstein claims that this here tablet is "screaming fast," and the software UI we're seeing looks downright luscious. There's a new paneled email application a Growl-like pop-up notification system, support for Skype calling, compatibility with Amazon's Kindle e-book store, plenty of cal / email integration courtesy of HP Synergy, a slick virtual keyboard, VPN support, wireless printing as well as Google Docs, QuickOffice, Dropbox and Box.net compatibility. One of the killer features that can't be found on a competing tablet right now is this one's ability to talk to the Pre 3 -- so long as there's a Touchstone involved, one can have their Pre 3 and TouchPad communicate, even piping over notifications and texts from the phone onto the slate. It's a brilliant idea, and we're obviously amped to see just how well it's implemented.

OTHER NOTES
HP confirmed it has teamed up with Time, Inc to offer subscriptions to some of its magazines on the TouchPad when it launches this summer. That will apparently include Sports Illustrated, Time and People initially, with Fortune and other Time Inc. titles to follow further on down the road, according to AdWeek. Still no word on pricing, but HP promises they'll deliver an "immersive reading" experience.

HP's decided to end its fireworks-rich presentation on a gorgeous bombshell: webOS is coming to PCs! The company says it's thinking beyond today and intends to take webOS to "other connected devices, including printers, and some form factors you haven't seen before." Aside from the groundbreaking discovery that our next LaserJet might run the same code as the dashing new TouchPad, there are few specifics to be learned, but HP promises to share further details as the year goes on.

GOOGLE HOSTING AN ANDROID EVENT FEBRUARY 2ND

Google has just announced an Android event for Wednesday, February 2nd. The event will include "an in-depth look at Honeycomb, Android ecosystem news and hands-on demos." Google wouldn't host an event just to re-hash Honeycomb, so they must have something else planned as well. There is a lot of speculation as to what will be announced (if anything) with some folks predicting Android 2.3, new tablets and even Honeycomb for smartphones.

If you didn't get an invitation or can't make it to Mountain View, CA, Google will live-stream the event on YouTube.

SPRINT ANNOUNCING 'ANOTHER INDUSTRY FIRST' ON FEBRUARY 7TH

Sprint just sent out invitations to a press event that will be held early next month in New York City. It is unclear what will be announced at the event, which will take place on February 7th — just one week ahead of the annual Mobile World Congress convention in Barcelona. Sprint’s invitation states that CEO Dan Hesse will be on hand to introduce what Sprint is calling “yet another industry first.” Adding to the mystery is the fact that illusionist David Blaine will be there to “show you that the impossible is possible.”

RUMOR: VERIZON iPHONE BEING ANNOUNCED ON TUESDAY

According to the Wall Street Journal Verizon has announced a special event for Tuesday January 11th. They are reporting that the long rumored Verizon iPhone will be announced. In a further rumor, Steve Jobs is said to be making a surprise appearance at the event.

Why is Verizon announcing the iPhone and not Apple? According to some buzz going around, it is because the Verizon iPhone is not a new device, simply an existing Apple product being offered by a new vendor.

The biggest question right now seems to be whether or not the Verizon iPhone will have LTE. Obviously, Verizon has launched its LTE network in a big way, with plenty of upcoming devices, but it sounds out of character for Apple to jump on so early -- they famously went with EDGE for the original iPhone, despite 3G being a rather mature tech on AT&T at that point. Of course, Qualcomm makes a Gobi chipset that has LTE along with EV-DO backwards compatibility, and there is a SIM slot in those parts photos (LTE requires a SIM, EV-DO doesn't). It will probably remain a mystery until Tuesday, but our money is on no LTE -- there's always the iPhone 5 launch in the summer to offer an LTE upgradeportunity. Overall we're probably looking at an iPhone 4 that runs on Verizon, nothing fancier for now. Rumor has it that the phone will begin to ship in February, after this January announce.

The Wall Street Journal has one of the best track records of correctly predicting new Apple products.

HP HOLDING webOS EVENT FEBRUARY 9TH

HP just sent out invites to a webOS event of its own happening on February 9th. What are we expecting? You mean besides the first PalmPad tablets? The wording on the invitation, pictured above, could mean we’re in store for multiple devices of varying sizes, thought we’re just speculating for the time being. The odds are good, however, that we can now completely discount earlier reports of Palm unveiling its PalmPad line at CES. But don’t despair, webOS fans… your OS of choice is just over a month away from being supersized. [BGR]

GOOGLE CHROME OS EVENT CONFIRMED

Google just announced an event in San Francisco for December 7th, which promises "exciting news about Chrome." Naturally, we're expecting that to be the announcement of a Google-branded netbook that runs the Chrome OS, in addition to the launch of the Chrome Web / App Store. Interestingly, it's pretty short notice for this sort of announcement, and it's also conflicting with the D: Dive into Mobile conference which is happening a few miles north on the same day. We don't know if that's poor planning on Google's part, a sign of last minute adjustments in the product, both, or neither, but either way it's going to be a pretty exciting week!

ANGRY BIRDS DAY - DECEMBER 11

December 11th is the first annual Angry Birds day.  This is a special day when Angry Bird players come together  to discuss and play Angry Birds.   Rovio, makers of Angry Birds, also has a big announcement planned for that day.  The event will be held in Trafalgar Square in London.

There is a ton of speculation that the event will herald the announcement of Angry Birds for Windows Phone 7.  There is also some chatter that further announcements will include Angry Birds for consoles and an Angry Birds movie.  However, given Rovio's past events they could have something even bigger up their sleeves. [TechCrunch]

APPLE TEASES TOMORROW 'JUST ANOTHER DAY YOU WILL NEVER FORGET'

Apple just updated its homepage with a new screen with "Tomorrow is just another day. That you'll never forget" and an "exicting announcement from iTunes" at 10am tomorrow. There are lots of rumors swirling around about what it could be from streaming subscription services to apps for Apple TV.  We will keep you posted on what the event has in store. [Engadget]

APPLE EVENT ROUNDUP

Apple held their annual Mac event today titled 'Back to the Mac'.  A number of exciting things were announced. Read the recap below.

iLIFE '11:
Upgrades to all components including iMovie, iPhoto and GarageBand.
     iMovie - a bunch of new tricks to help regular people do advanced video editing.  The audio editing gets closer to Final Cut Pro in terms of precision of editing clips.  With built-in adjustment controls you can adjust audio volume very easily for the whole range or a user specified clip, just by dragging a bar up or down.  The ability to add voice-overs has been added as well.  Special effects have been greatly enhanced.  Apple calls them one-step effects and it allows the user the ability to add things like instant replay and flash and hold easily.  iMovie now includes the ability to create trailers.  By defining the "actors" in the story and using a storyboard feature to layout the trailer, iMovie is able take that information and create a trailer using a dozen or so templates.

     iPhoto - a new full screen mode has been added to allow more detailed views of photos.  Users can create enhanced slideshows as well as emailing directly from the app using a very iPad like interface.

     GarageBand -  two new features will definitely make your band sound more professional and help fix those pesky mistakes.  The first is Groove Matching.  This allows the user to make the music more in-sync.  By picking one track to sync with, all the other are automatically synced to that one track, kind of like Autotune for your tracks.  The second feature is Flex-Time which lets the user fix timings in songs.  If your guitar player plays a bit too long at the end of a song, you can use Flex-Time and shorten his track to end with everyone else.  Some new guitar and piano lessons have been added as well.

New Macbook Air:

Apple debuted not one but two new Macbook Airs an updated 13.3 inch and a new 11.6 incher.  Both have unibody construction.  They each have Core2Duo processors and Nvidia GeForce 320M graphic chips.  FaceTime cameras will be included as well.  Both are priced at just under $1000.

    13.3 inch - Will have a full size keyboard and multi-touch trackpad.  The screen has a 1440 x 900 resolution and it weighs just 3 pounds.  Battery life is being touted as 7 hours of active use and a month on standby.  Only one flavor with this bigger Air, a 1.86Mhz processor with 128GB of storage.

     11.6 inch - The new Air is smaller and weighs just 2.9 pounds.  It will also have a full size keyboard and multi-touch trackpad.  Battery life is a bit less than its bigger brother coming in at 5 hours of active use and 30 days of standby time.  The smaller Air is running a 1.4Ghz Core2Duo processor and has 64GB of storage, though you can upgrade to 128GB for approximately $200 more.  The storage is interesting on this smaller Air in that it is neither SSD or and HDD, but an SSD card, much like RAM, that is flash.  This makes for near zero boot times.  

OS X Lion:

The update to the current OS X will launch in Summer 2011.  It will include some elements of the iOS like an app store and springboard, renamed Launchpad.  Apple is going full-screen mode with most applications, especially iLife '11.  Windows aren't going away though.  Apple is hoping that this approach will simplify the way people use computers and does away with the clutter of multiple windows.  This is very similar to the way consumers are use to using the iPhone, iPad and iTouch devices. 

Mission Control will be introduced in Lion.  It is basically and updated Expose integrating the Dock, Dashboard and views from open apps, both windowed and full screen.  Launchpad works just like Springboard on the iPad.  It shows all the applications you have installed and uses pages to to display them and swipe gestures to navigate.

The Mac App Store is another big introduction to Lion.  It works just like the iOS App Store.  When a user purchases an app, the Mac will automatically install it in Launchpad.

Full Screen Mode

Mission Control

Launchpad

Launchpad Folders View

RUMOR: NEW MACBOOK AIR

Rumors are swirling around Apple's event next week.  AppleInsider is insisting a redesigned Macbook Air will make an appearance at the event.  Supposedly, the new Air will be 11.6-inches making it ultra-portable.  Also, it will sport a new storage medium dubbed 'SSD Card' that looks like a stick of RAM, which will allow the Air to be smaller and thinner.  This new storage medium could allow for instant-on wake feature, which has been rumored by a few other sources.

CNET is reporting a significantly lower price than the current model's $1,499 price point, however with all this goodness the Air may still be running an older Intel Core 2 Duo chip and NVIDIA chipset.

I'm sure this will not be the last rumor about the 'Back to Mac' event, so come over to TGG for all the latest rumors. [Engadget]

APPLE HOLDING 'BACK TO THE MAC' EVENT OCTOBER 20TH

It is time of the annual Mac event held by Apple.  This year's theme will be 'Back to the Mac'.  This event will definitely cover hardware, so a new iMac is probably going to be debuted along with new MacBooks.  Rumor has it the iMac will get a touchscreen display.

Software won't be left out and we expect to see new iLife software introduced as well.  Apple has intimated they will discuss the next version of OS X.

TGG will post a wrap up of the event as soon as possible, so come back next Wednesday to see the highlights. [Engadget]

BEST BUY BRINING THE JUICE

Best Buy, in conjunction with ECOtality, will begin installing the Blink EV charging stations for electric vehicles at 12 Best Buys in Tucson, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Diego and Seattle my March 2011.  With Best Buy starting to sell electric scooters and motorcycles in some of its stores this makes sense.  The deployment of the charging stations is part of the government funded EV Project being overseen by ECOtality.  Best Buy stated if the trial is successful they would be expanding it to other stores nationwide. [Engadget]

DUKE NUKEM FOREVER VIDEO RELEASED

Gearbox held and event in Amsterdam and showed off video of Duke Nukem Forever.  Fortunately there were a number of people in the audience with camera phones to record the video and post it on YouTube. [Geek]

LIVESTREAM THE APPLE EVENT TOMORROW

Apple will be livestreaming their media event tomorrow.  Head on over to apple.com tomorrow at 10am PT to watch all the announcements live.  Of course this is limited to those on Macs, running Safari on Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard, an iPhone, iPod Touch running iOS 3.0 or higher, or an iPad.

APPLE HOSTING AN EVENT SEPT. 7TH

Apple will be hosting and event on September 7th.  This is, as almost all Apple events, on a Tuesday and in line with an iPod refresh announcement.