2010

All times are at GMT (London).

5:48 PM: Everyone is getting seated and the event will start in 12 minutes.

6:00 PM: The lights have gone down.

6:02 PM: “We want to kick of 2010 by introducing a magical and revolutionary product today… but first I have a few updates.”

6:05 PM: “Next update, the app store. We have over 140,000 apps, and a few weeks ago we announced a user downloaded 3 billion apps.”

6:08 PM: “SO all of us use laptops and smartphones… the question has arisen; is there room for something in the middle. We’ve wondered for years as well — in order to create that category, they have to be far better at doing some key tasks… better than the laptop, better than the smartphone.”

6:10 PM: “We think we’ve got something that is better. And we call it the iPad.”

6:28 PM: “Let’s go back to the hardware.” .5 inches thin, 1.5 pounds — 9.7 inch IPS display

6:28 PM: Full capacitive multitouch

6:29 PM: “It’s powered by our own silicon. The 1GHz Apple A4 chip. It screams.”

6:29 PM: Available in 16GB, 32 and 64GB models.

6:29 PM: 802.11n WiFi, Speaker, Microphone, 30-pin connector and 10 hours of battery life, up to a month on standby. Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR.

6:54 PM: Apple eBook reader app called iBook.

6:55 PM: Apple uses the ePub format for the iBook app, which means it’s open.

7:13 PM: It syncs just like the iPhone and comes with 3G.

7:14 PM: $14.99 for 250MB of data or $29.99 for unlimited. Free use of AT&T WiFi Hotspots. No contract. International deals by June. iPad 3G models are unlocked.

7:17 PM: “WiFI plus 3G if you want it. So iPad. It’s phenomenal. Email is fantastic, best device for photos, great for music, great for video. It runs almost all of the 140k apps on the app store, as well as a whole new generation of apps.”

7:20 PM: “So $499 for 16GB of iPad. That’s our base model. 32GB is $599, 64GB is $799. 3G models cost an extra $130. $629, 729, and 829 with 3G.”

7:20 PM: “We will be shipping these in 60 days. 3G models will ship in 90 days.”

Apple Files Patent For A Proximity-Sensing Touchscreen

The Patent Office has granted Apple 13 new patents, including #7,653,883 for a proximity-sensing multi-touch screen. The proximity-sensing screen patent, describes a touchscreen that can detect when an object (like a finger or a stylus) is close to the screen but not touching it, and then offer up context-dependent controls based on what it detects.

Apple Event Invites Sent Out

The invites have now been sent to all those invited to the Apple event on January 27th. The invite has a spray painted look, a time of 10 am Pacific and a place of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. The invite says ‘Come see our latest creation’ hence confirming we are going to be seeing something new from Apple, so at the point everything is pointing to a tablet, but as before we could be completely wrong.

Apple Causing Shortage Of 10″ OLED Screens?

Rumour has it that Apple has caused a shortage of OLED screen components, possibly for their upcoming tablet or possibly for the iPhone 4G.

“We were told that Apple pre-ordered them all. All 10 inch LCDs, and all 10 inch OLEDs too,” an anonymous designer commented during CES.

Another rumor from last year said that the tablet had been delayed because Apple was waiting for OLED components for the device. It seems plausible then that Apple could be behind an OLED shortage, as they can usually control component prices due to the bulk in which they buy. As they have done with flash memory in the past for iPods and iPhone’s.

The source also says there is also a shortage of LCD screen components of the same size, hinting that Apple may offer an LCD model alongside the OLED model, maybe as a low end option. Only time will tell but it’s not long now until the event where the tablet it due to be unveiled.

7 inch Apple Tablet is Being Announced in January?

A source has told BGR that they have solid info about Apple’s upcoming tablet. It has been widely reported recentlythat the size of the tablet is 10 inches but the source, who is very connected, says there is also a 7 inch model.
There connection said there is definitely a 7 inch Apple Tablet, that will be announced in January. There might be a 10 inch model too but there source had no information on that.

The Financial Times also believes the announcement for the Apple Tablet will come in January. The WSJ points to a March release date.

iPod Classic & iPod Nano Being Phased Out By Apple?

Latest reports hint that Apple are trying to slowly phase out the iPods that feature the trademark Click Wheel. It seems strange as they just re-released the iPod Nano with video support.

Joystiq reported on some upcoming games, they happened to mention that some of the original Click Wheel games, Song Summoner and Song Summoner 2, were coming to the iPhone soon. However Song Summoner 2 never was released for the iPod because apparently Apple has abandoned the Click Wheel game format. Perhaps this means that Apple wants to move to cheaper iPod Touches to maximize profit from the App Store but also keep the Shuffle.

The App Store still offers a big amount of iPod Click Wheel Games from the iTunes Store, but no new games have been released since Cake Mania 3 in February of 2009. Apple had introduced iPod Click Wheel Games with the release of iTunes 7 in September 2006 and a total of nearly 50 games were released over the next 2 and a half years.

These reports are not confirmed yet and so are still rumours, it may not mean that Apple are ditching the iPod Classic and iPod Nano but maybe focusing their attention elsewhere, on the Apple Tablet perhaps?

Apple Killing Off Intel Atom Support

The latest build of Snow Leopard (10.6.2), no longer supports the Intel Atom chip which is widely used in netbooks.

In the current developer build of 10.6.2, Apple appears to have changed around a lot of CPU related information. One of the effects of this is Apple killing off Intel’s Atom chip.
Among other things, Sleepenabler.KEXT is now ineffective and will need a new version. It is now suggested to run CPUPM with a proper DSDT.

Although Apple has long engadged in a hack-and-mouse game with with users who use Mac OS X onto third-party hardware, some people see it as a shot against low-cost netbooks, maybe meaning a low-cost MacBook soon? Others believes its another sign of the Apple Tablet as it’s rumoured to have a price point a lot higher than netbooks and so Apple is trying to get rid of the competition.

Stellarola also notes that similar restrictions in Leopard 10.5.9 may disable the Atom, and so advises any pre-Snow Leopard hackintoshed Atom netbooks to stick with 10.5.8.

Who know’s how this will be implemented or how long it will take them to figure away round it. But hopefully this won’t end the use of Mac OS X on third-party hardware.

Apple’s September 9th Event Confirmed

Apple has sent out invitations to their annual music event on September 9th, with the tag line “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it”. The rumours of the past few months have been centered around this event as this is when usually the iPod’s are refreshed.

We can tell from the image that it’s based around the iPod refresh as the silhouette dancer is holding an iPod. The event is to take place at Yerba Buena Center for Arts Theatre, San Francisco at 10AM PST. There is no confirmation on who will be holding the keynote, maybe Steve Jobs?

There are so many rumors for this upcoming event at least some must be true. We have rumors of a camera enabled iPod Touch and iPod Nano and possibly iPod Classic. Some believe that an Apple Tablet will be released or at least announced however this seems a bit less likely.

Apple Tablet (iPAD) Outed in Borders Survey?

An online survey from the Borders Bookstore a reference to the Apple iPAD, this presumably being the tablet device which if in fact is used as a book reader could challenge the Kindle.

If what is shown is in fact true then the Apple iPAD must be released this year to fit in with the reference from the survey. This further backs up the fact that an Apple Tablet is imminent.

Apple Tablet (iPAD) Pictures Leaked

Yet more pictures of Apple’s rumoured tablet have appear online, once again they look quite convincing but you can never really tell these days. But using video as they did to try and prove the new 3rd generation iPod Touch is a good way to prove it.

The second picture shows a phone to show both the size comparison and to try and prove its authenticity. It certainly fits the idea of an Apple tablet, with only one button, but we will have to see what else appears.