Technology Blog

Apple have quietly updated the Mac Mini-

http://www.apple.com/macmini/

- 2.4GHz or 2.66GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- 1.4″ thick Unibody enclosure
- NVIDIA GeForce 320M Graphics Card
- Built-in Power Supply
- HDMI port and Mini DisplayPort

Apple have posted some examples of what can be acheived using HTML5 code.

While HTML5 is still an emerging technology, implementation has already begun by some major content providers-

http://www.apple.com/ipad/ready-for-ipad/

http://developer.apple.com/safaridemos/

Recently there has been a lot of coverage regarding this debate. Apple have said never, they are currently being investigated by the FTC for this.

There are a lot of pro’s and con’s for both sides, Apple and its supporters are hedging their bets on an emerging technology to replace flash in the long run and provide a better user experience for new mobile devices.

In the past few days some heavyweights have had their say-

http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/opera-joins-in-jobs-v-flash-argument-687597

http://hothardware.com/News/Microsofts-Take-On-Flash-HTML5-Is-The-Future-But-Well-Support-Adobe/

Looks like the tide is slowly turning…

ROFLMAO

The daily show’s Jon Stewart’s take on the recent Apple-Gizmodo shenanigans, really funny-

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-april-28-2010/appholes

ElJobso has finally stated, in an open letter to the world why Apple are restricting flash on its mobile devices, he makes a lot of valid points that I’m sure will fall on a lot of deaf ears-

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/

Conclusion from Steve-

Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short.

The avalanche of media outlets offering their content for Apple’s mobile devices demonstrates that Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content. And the 200,000 apps on Apple’s App Store proves that Flash isn’t necessary for tens of thousands of developers to create graphically rich applications, including games.

New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too). Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind.

UPDATE, Adobe CEO comments on above-

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2010/04/29/live-blogging-the-journals-interview-with-adobe-ceo/

Apple have applied for a patent that could revolutionize the design/print industry. They are looking into developing a monitor and software that displays CMYK natively. This will benefit a lot of people that rely on colour management to display CMYK gamuts on RGB devices. Story here-

http://industry.bnet.com/technology/10007133/apple-monitor-technology-could-change-all-commercial-graphics/

Now with Core i5 and i7 CPU’s and other improvements-

13″ MacBook Pro
- 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo, NVIDIA GeForce 320M, 4 GB RAM, 250 GB hard drive
- 2.66 GHz Core 2 Duo, NVIDIA GeForce 320M, 4 GB RAM, 320 GB hard drive

15″ MacBook Pro
- 2.4 GHz Core i5, Intel HD Graphics and NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 256MB, 4 GB RAM, 320 GB hard drive
- 2.53 GHz Core i5, Intel HD Graphics and NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 256MB, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB hard drive
- 2.66 GHz Core i7, Intel HD Graphics and NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 512MB, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB hard drive

17″ MacBook Pro
- 2.53 GHz Core i5, Intel HD Graphics and NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M with 512MB, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB hard drive

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/

With all the fuss recently regarding Apple’s decision to restrict developers on iPhone and iPad apps, including this ‘wonderful’ website-

http://stopthemadnessstevejobs.com/wordpress/

Here is a funny comic -

http://www.pidjin.net/2010/04/11/stop-me-if-i-can/

Foxconn, an international supplier of high end electronic goods and components have a large, walled city patrolled by security guards that operates like something out of a 007 or a CIA movie. Secrets and need to know details abound and the workers are kept in such secrecy they have no idea what the final product is from the components they are working on. Read more here-

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61G3XA20100217

Apple have initiated a promotion to award the single person who purchases song number one billion, a US$10 000 iTunes gift card.

In the event of multiple purchases at the same time (yeah like thats not going to happen) a random winner will be chosen from that bunch.

Check out the counter here-

http://www.apple.com/itunes/10-billion-song-countdown/

Here is some  information and links to the keynote quicktime stream and marketing material from Apple on the iPad-

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/specialevent0110/

http://www.apple.com/ipad/specs/

http://www.apple.com/ipad/ipad-video/

Analogue have already placed their order via US supplier and should have it early April

From the murky depths of the rumor mills, 3 images have surfaced-
http://www.engadget.com/photos/is-this-the-apple-tablet/#2653751

For all you fence sitters and naysayers, McGraw-Hill’s CEO mentioned today on CNBC that Apple are releasing tablet tomorrow….

“Yeah, Very exciting. Yes, they’ll make their announcement tomorrow on this one. We have worked with Apple for quite a while. And the Tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system and so it will be transferable. So what you are going to be able to do now — we have a consortium of e-books. And we have 95% of all our materials that are in e-book format on that one. So now with the tablet you’re going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tablet is going to be just really terrific.”

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?play=1&video=1396376379

Update – McGraw-Hill spokesman Steven Weiss would not confirm the CEO was describing Apple’s actual product.

All will be known from 7am tomorrow morning…

Until the Apple event on the 27th, some people (possibly in the know) have already added sections to their online stores-

Others will just wait… until it happens.

Tech Crunch report-

http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/24/steve-jobs-tablet-most-important/

So while no-one outside Apple appears to have the entire story, lots of people have been fed small bits of information that indicates Apple have been fueling this hype for maximum reaction and coverage.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/01/18/apple-tablet-iphone-launch-confirmed-january/

Bring on the-

Apple 10″ tablet

iPhone V4

iLife 2010

Kodak is suing Apple and RIM-

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100114005746&newsLang=en

Nokia suing Apple-

http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/22/nokia-sues-apple-says-iphone-infringes-ten-patents/

Apple strike back-

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/16/apple-retaliates-requests-us-import-ban-on-nokia-phones/

Microsoft infringe xml copyright-

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/01/13/microsoft_office_2007_yanked/

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2009/12/microsoft-office-word-2007-banned-from-sale-starting-january-11/

Valleywag have offered a range of rewards to anyone who can supply irrefutable proof of the Apple tablet-

http://valleywag.gawker.com/5447390/announcing-valleywags-apple-tablet-scavenger-hunt-win-up-to-100000

Apple wins big!!

http://valleywag.gawker.com/5448177/update-apple-wins-the-first-prize-in-our-tablet-scavenger-hunt

With 2 weeks to go to until Apple are supposed to announce their tablet offering, rumors are flying wild-

http://www.fingerworks.com/ website content has been pulled, Apple acquired this company 5 years ago and they have pioneered some great multi touch gesture keyboards and pads.

French Telecom executive supposedly confirms January tablet announcement-

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbtgfd_linterview-politique-de-jeanpierre_news (in french) translation from MacRumors here-

Jean-Pierre Elkabbach (the interviewer) : According to Le Point (a french magazine), your partner Apple will be launching a tablet
Stéphane Richard: Yes.
Jean-Pierre Elkabbach: … equipped with a webcam.
Stéphane Richard: Yes.
Jean-Pierre Elkabbach: Will Orange customers also be able to enjoy it?
Stéphane Richard: Of course!, they will actually particularly enjoy it because the webcam will allow live video streaming. It’s a new take on mobile video-conferencing.

Apparently a statement has been released saying that the executive was only agreeing with the rumors regarding the tablet…yeah right.

Apple employees confirm they have been working on application development of iWork for multi touch tablet use-

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/09/technology/personaltech/09reader.html

Interesting article below by former senior marketing manager at Apple.

Lets see how the hype builds for the next few weeks…

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/how_apple_does_controlled_leaks/

Rumours are flying around regarding the imminent release of Apple’s ‘iSlate’ tablet device-

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/12/24/possible_apple_tablet_multi_touch_tactile_keyboard_detailed.html

http://www.macrumors.com/2009/12/25/apple-islate-trademark-and-what-is-a-magic-slate/