Wireless everything... It's one of those clichés that usually come to mind when talking about the future of technology. While wireless has seen plenty of success with the invention of the mobile phone and WiFi networks, our computers still have a truckload of wires attached to them.
It's probably safe to say that the majority of you have been gadget collectors for as long as you can remember. If that's true, it's also probably safe to say that somewhere in your home, there's a stash of old gadgets and random accessories that you just can't seem to part with, just in case you might need them some day.
Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) kicked off yesterday and missing from the event, of course, was Steve Jobs. In his place was Phil Schiller to give the keynote filled with some major announcements. While Schiller did a decent job, he is certainly no Steve Jobs.
When it comes to portable media players like Microsoft's Zune or Apple's iPod, we always find ourselves asking, "What could they possibly do next?" In Microsoft's case, the next "big thing" is possibly HD. Engadget recently posted some images from an apparent marketing campaign. One of the images clearly includes the new ZuneHD logo, and another gives us a glimpse at what the device looks like.
Over the last few years it seems as though the iPhone has really sparked a greater interest in smartphones, and has managed to show consumers what handheld devices are capable of doing. Of course they aren't alone in the market with both Windows Mobile devices and Blackberries all competing to be the one you carry in your pocket.
It sounds almost surreal to actually happen, but many Zune owners are waking up this morning to find that their 30 GB Zunes aren't working. Upon first reading the headline over at Gizmodo, we were thinking that it was just a few isolated cases, but after further investigation, it's happening to many, many people.
I've been an iPhone owner for about a year now, and I have jailbroken it off and on throughout the time that I've owned it. When I first got the device I jailbroke it to play with some of the apps people were developing, but I really didn't see any that were must-haves, and they especially didn't touch the quality of what's available in the official App Store today.
As promised, today Apple launched the iPhone 2.1 Firmware. They actually surprised us by including details on exactly what it was that they changed with this firmware instead of vaguely saying "bug fixes." This update has been highly anticipated, simply because it is supposed to fix issues with dropped calls, battery life, and accuracy of the 3G signal strength.
Apple's big "Let's Rock" event just finished up and as expected, the iPod Nano stole the show. As you can see from the picture above, the new Nano is longer and has some more rounded features, but it also comes in a whole rainbow of colors sure to please anyone.
Perhaps Microsoft was hoping to take a little bit of the spotlight away from Apple (their iPod announcement is coming tomorrow) by confirming the new Zune line-up today? Yes, new Zune's are on the way. Consumers can expect some extra storage space for both the hard drive and flash models.
As expected the Best Buy consumer electronics retail chain will start selling the iPhone 3G tomorrow. They are really boasting the reduced cost of the phone with the 8GB model starting at $199 and the 16GB starting at $299. To make this seem like even more of an unbelievable deal they are stating that the regular prices are $599 and $699 respectively.
Apple is predictable when it comes to iPods. For the last several years, they have launched new iPods in September, conveniently, right before the holiday season. This was the case last year, as well as in 2006 and 2005. Once again this year, in 2008, new iPods are expected. September 9th (a Tuesday) in San Francisco at 10 AM is the big day. So what can we expect?
It was only about 6-weeks ago that TechCrunch decided they wanted to build a $200 web tablet, and they were trying to recruit all of the talent they could to get the job done. The image above is showing off the first prototype that has been assembled, but it won't be nearly as thick as what you see:
Kevin Rose claims to know what the new iPod nano is going to look like and if he's right, Apple is going back to more of the original look. As you'll see in the photo below, they are ditching the "fat" look and going for a longer/slimmer look:
First generation iPod Nano owners may have a little more to worry about than the simple fact their devices are going on three years old. Japan's trade ministry recently blamed the battery in the 1st gen iPod nano's for causing three fires. In addition to the fires, there were two cases of people getting burned from them, just in Japan.
Once again, Apple has unexpectedly released an updated version of the iPhone firmware. Version 2.0.2 was released last evening, but not many details were provided as to what the update included, other than it "fixes bugs." Which bugs you ask? Well, we're not quite sure.
Microsoft has announced today that five Sheraton hotel locations around the United States will be sporting the Surface computer. Each unit has been customized to offer entertainment and information about the local area, including satellite maps that make it easier getting from the hotel to your destination. All of this is done on the 30-inch digital table.
Last year about this same time, rumor had it that Apple was preparing to allow their "revolutionary" iPhone to be sold in Best Buy stores. One site, AppleInsider said on August 3rd, 2007,"By October -- and more likely by September -- all Best Buy locations should have iPhones on hand to sell to customers.
It looks as though Amazon's Kindle is going to turn out to be more of a success and a moneymaker than many people ever expected. It will be if what CitiGroup analyst Mark Mahaney says is correct. He says that in 2008, Amazon will sell about 380,000 units which is about double of what he originally said would sell.
Preparing for vacation can be stressful, especially if you are flying. You have to worry about getting to the airport on time and making sure your carry-on baggage is an acceptable size.