Fun products, Apple style? Español | Deutsch | Français | Italiano | Português

There has been a lot of rumours surrounding today's special event. With the rumour mongering cumulating in the saga of the video iPod, which sadly in the end turned out to be a hoax. We were left with, what? The only fact that any of the rumours sites had been able to discern was that you could no longer bulk order the Mac mini. That wasn't really a lot to go on considering the leaks surrounding some previous special events.

CREDIT: Engadget

In the end it looks like AppleInsider had the inside track, although their predictions of a widescreen Intel iBook were well off base, their forecast of an updated Intel Mac mini was spot on and their other prediction, of an "iPod BoomBox" was pretty close. Since nobody else seemed to have the vaguest idea what was coming out, I think you have to hand them the prize for the closest guess.


The new Intel Mac mini, looking a lot like the old Mac mini...
The main star of today's event pretty much has to be the new Intel Mac mini, it's not quite the media centre some were hoping for but the specifications are pretty nice, and it does come as predicted with Front Row and an Apple Remote. Both Core Solo and Core Duo models are available, and the new minis ship with Gigabit Ethernet, four USB ports, and both analogue and SPDIF audio out. Apple are advertising them as between 2.5 and 5.5 times faster than previous models, depending on the processor. However surprising perhaps the prices have gone up, the two models are now priced at $599 and $799 in the US, and £449 and £599 in the UK. On the up side, the new minis are apparently shipping today...

CREDIT: Engadget

Interestingly Front Row comes with a new feature, you can now share your iTunes and iPhoto pictures and videos from any other Mac or Windows computer running iTunes. This squarely positions Apple on the way to a media centre, staking out the ground, even if the mini isn't quite a media centre yet.

Apple also announced an iPod Hi-Fi unit, and some leather cases for your 5G iPod. Which really doesn't rack up when compared to the rumours of a video iPod. When it comes down to it, considering the rumours flying thick and fast before hand, you have to class this as a pretty disappointing event...

Update: I'm still confused about the invite, normally there is some connection between the invite and the final product announcements. If I were seriously into conspiracy theories I might speculate that the iPod leather case, and perhaps the iPod Hi-Fi as well, were last minute stop gap products to fill in for a something a bit more interesting that just wasn't ready yet. After all, neither of them are exactly ground shattering leaps forward are they? I wouldn't call a press conference to announce I was charging $99 for a leather case, even if I was Steve Jobs. So maybe we'll get our video iPod, or even an Apple PDA, after all...

Update: Another interesting question you have to ask is, what does Apple want with a $50 million data centre, if not to sell full length movies via their iTunes store?

Update: If you haven't seen enough already Inside Mac Media have now put a video podcast of the event online...


The Inside Mac video podcast

Tags: Apple Special Event Fun Announcement Mac mini iPod

What would Steve do? Español | Deutsch | Français | Italiano | Português

Engadget have just announced the results of their WWSJD 3 competition. The winning entry was a palmtop computer that looks like a neater, cleaner, Apple version of my HTC Universal which is sitting in-front of my iMac right now...

CREDIT: Adam K (via Engadget)

The winning entry, iPalm anyone?
As I've mentioned before I'd pretty much kill for this, or an iPod sized PDA, which I could easily sync with my iMac and Powerbook. Failing that I'd take a small tablet Mac as a good substitute, come on Steve mobile computing is the way to go, give us what we want...

Update: Coverage of the Apple Special Event and the new Intel Mac mini. Nothing mobile related after all, despite the fact that virtually all the entries to Engadget's competition had a portable angle. Isn't mobile what people want?

Tags: Apple Special Event Rumours

Da Vinci Code copyright theft? Español | Deutsch | Français | Italiano | Português

The BBC is reporting on the weird case where two authors, Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, are suing their publisher Random House over the publication of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code because it featured the same "idea" as their own book, also published by Random House.

It doesn't appear they're suing their publisher because Brown's book directly plagiarises their own, instead they're suing because publication of the book which explores similar ideas constitutes "theft of intellectual property".

Huh? I don't understand this one at all, you now can't publish a book which explores the same ideas as someone else? The world has officially gone mad...

Tags: Da Vinci Code Copyright Theft Court Case Lawsuit Intellectual Property

The "real" video iPod? Español | Deutsch | Français | Italiano | Português

After several days of the rumour mill running at full speed, it looks like we might finally have some hard information about the upcoming special event. MacShrine has posted a picture (via TUAW and Engadget) of what appears to be a pre-production sample of the much rumoured video iPod.

CREDIT: MacShrine (via TUAW and Engadget)

The rumoured video iPod?
Interestingly this looks a lot like the leaked images that circulated in the hours leading up to the "One more thing..." announcement, which turned out to be accurate. The serial number on the picture reads "MB719ZA", and according to MacShrine the Chinese characters on the tag read "this way up", which doesn't exactly help us out a lot...

If this is a fake, it's a very good fake indeed. I'm still wondering about the iCal related invite though, could we be looking at an iPod with at least some PDA functionality? Now that would be fun...

Update: Does that cable look like the MagSafe connector from the MacBook Pro to anyone else, or is it just me?

Update: There seems to be some discussion over on TUAW about the veracity of the Chinese characters,

The Chinese isn't written by a native. The characters aren't even consistent with one another as each character has the same radical, but whoever wrote this didn't know that and they wrote each radical differently, an idiosyncrasy NOT characteristic of any Chinese speaker. - Eno Compton

Strictly regarding the so-called Chinese characters, the two characters are copied incorrectly. I'm assuming they are supposed to be 这边, literally meaning "this side". I can't remember if the two characters are in long-form or short-form Chinese but aside from the incorrect use of root characters within the two characters, the stroke patterns, ie. number, direction, connection of strokes, are also incorrect. most definitely not "written" by native Chinese speaker nor anyone with a formal education in Zhongwen. - Timothy

However a video iPod would fit well with the other rumours (via The Register) of a iTunes movie store, so I guess your milage may vary.

Update: Despite these images, Apple Insider still seem to think that we're looking at an updated Mac mini. Interesting, do they have a source, or are they just guessing?

Update: Dan Abrams has had a close look at the picture, and has come to the conclusion that it's a fake. Unfortunately his analysis looks pretty sound, so on balance it's looking like this is yet another video iPod hoax.

Update: Following close behind a second image of the video iPod, a video showing how the fake image was made has shown up (via Digg). It looks like we have to conclude that this one, at least, is definitely a fake. I must admit to not being a little just a little bit disappointed...


Quicktime 3.4MB
Update: Coverage of the Apple Special Event and the new Intel Mac mini, and my musings on the importance of a $99 leather case...

Update: In the wake of the special event more rumours about the video iPod, possibly shipping as early as March, have started spreading...

Tags: Apple Special Event Video iPod Rumours

ROM upgrade for the SPV M5000? Español | Deutsch | Français | Italiano | Português

Current rumours suggest a ROM upgrade from Orange for their new SPV M5000, to offer the new push email facility, should arrive before the end of the month. It's also been suggested that the update will offer some new Bluetooth functionality, such as support for the Bluetooth stereo profile.

However, having just got my device working as a Bluetooth modem I'm a bit loathed to do the update, especially when you have to be running Exchange to take advantage of push email which, funnily enough, I'm not...

Tags: Orange SPV M5000 Mobile Phone GSM GPRS 3G Windows Mobile Push Email ROM Update

Google Page Creator Español | Deutsch | Français | Italiano | Português

Yet another online Web 2.0(ish) application from Google, this time allowing you to build and host your own web pages, with the release of Google Pages. It looks like you get 100MB of free web hosting when you sign up but, as usual, it doesn't seem to work with Apple's Safari...

The new Google Pages
Potentially Google now has control over my search history, email, instant messages and my web pages. Well I for one welcome our new Google overlords, and I'd like to remind them as a trusted blogger, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground, err, search farms...

Update: There isn't much point me talking about the new Google Pages, since Nik Cubrilovic, standing in for Michael Arrington over at Techcrunch, has done a pretty good write-up of the new service already...

Update: So, can anyone figure out why there doesn't seem to be any integration with Blogger? Also owned by Google, also used to create web pages? Surely a Web 2.0 tool to create a website should have support for blogging? A tool that would let you author an entire site, which also has a blog, rather than just create a website, or create a blog, and have the same look and feel running through both the site and the blog would actually be useful...

Update: Inside Google also has a write-up of the service and, just like Techcrunch, they aren't that impressed with it...

Tags: Google Pages Page Creator Web Web 2.0 Publish

The rumour mill rolls... Español | Deutsch | Français | Italiano | Português

Close on the heels of the announcement of an Apple special event on the 28th come the traditional rumours, fakes, hoaxes, and the odd honest to God actual leak from Apple.

In the total absence of any actual facts Engadget reports on a "leak" which claims that Apple will be releasing a new Media Cube. The leak is accompanied by an unconvincingly photoshopped picture of a spray painted cardboard box, so we probably won't be seeing that one on the Apple Store.

CREDIT: Mac Daily News (via Engadget)

The new Apple Media Cube?
At the same time AppleInsider is quoting analysts who are speculating on the release of a widescreen iBook replacement, presumably without any more insider knowledge than the rest of us...

Secrecy surrounding the event is tighter than we've seen before, either that or what Apple are announcing is so minor that nobody actually knows what it is yet. I'm still hoping for an Apple branded PDA, but I might be in for a long wait.

Update: The latest rumour (via faq-mac.com originally?) comes from an "anonymous tipster", and features a Nokia Series 60 N80 in black, with an added iTunes button.

CREDIT: faq-mac.com (via Engadget) & Mobile Scraper (via Gizmodo)

iTunes and FrontRow, on a Nokia?
Gizmodo picked this one up, but called shenanigans almost immediately claiming that nobody outside the cellphone community knows what a Series 60 phone is...

Update: Engadget aren't impressed with the veracity of the leak either. I'm starting to wonder if anyone outside of Apple knows what's up, none of the normal rumour sites seem to have any better idea of what's coming up as the rest of us...

Update: We might have the first solid hint at what's coming, it looks like Apple has halted bulk ordering of the Mac mini (via TUAW). Could this mean an Intel mini? Presumably they wouldn't replace the mini with a pure media centre box and do away with something that fills a niche so successful, but the announcement did say "...some fun new products"...

Update: Of course we also shouldn't forget the rumours that circulated just after the last Macworld of something "...much cooler" than a 12 and 17 inch Powerbook replacement.

Update: The Register has picked up on the same sources as Apple Insider, but is carrying an article focusing on the prediction that event next week is to launch Apple's plans to sell full length movies on the iTunes store, rather than the widescreen iBook replacement, which they mention as more of a footnote. I'm going to be really disappointed if this is all about selling movies on the iTunes store, especially since it'll almost certainly be restricted to the US store if it happens.

Update: While admitting that nobody seems to know anything for certain, Chris Seibold reverts to first principles at Apple Matters and tries to guess the answer. He speculates that an Apple PVR is the most likely product to appear on the 28th, and you can't fault his reasoning. But I can't get over feeling that the iCal related invite picture is significant, although it doesn't really say "fun" does it?

Update: In what has to be the best leak so far, a picture posted to MacShire seems to show a pre-production sample of the much rumoured video iPod.

Update: Despite the leaked images, Apple Insider still seem to think that we're looking at an updated Mac mini. Interesting, do they have a source, or are they just guessing?

Update: Dan Abrams has had a close look at the leaked picture of the video iPod, and has come to the conclusion that it's a fake. Unfortunately his analysis looks pretty sound, so on balance it's looking like this is yet another video iPod hoax.

Update: A video showing how the picture was faked has shown up on Digg. Definitely fake then, very disappointing...

Update: Coverage of the Apple Special Event and the new Intel Mac mini...

Tags: Apple Special Event Rumours

Wind turbines for mesh networks Español | Deutsch | Français | Italiano | Português

Late last year Nature carried a news snippet about mini-wind turbines for powering wireless networks, which cited a paper in Applied Physics Letters by Shashank Priya which talked about using piezoelectric materials and mini-turbines for distributed power generation. I actually meant to post something about it at the time, but the link has sat in my edit queue since November.

However Engadget's post about the micro-windmill for charging your mobile phone, developed by an Indian graduate student, started me thinking about wind turbines and mesh-networks again.

The interesting thing about mesh-networks is that they don't really operate in the same way as more traditional network designs, they're often compared to cellular networks but the comparison is flawed. In mesh networks each network node participates in the routing process, relaying packets intended for other nodes. This isn't the case in a cellular network where routing takes place only over the backbone network connecting the cell base stations, rather than between individual handsets although I've talked about how to use Bluetooth to do mesh networks between handsets in the past.

Of course the really different thing about a mesh network when compared to traditional network designs is that mesh-networks are ad-hoc in nature, and are fully self-configurable and self-healing. After distributing the nodes over a widespread area (perhaps by parachute drop?) the nodes themselves discover their nearest neighbours, and discover routes to other nodes in the network independently. If an existing link fails then network automatically reconfigures itself to compensate. Funnily enough this aspect of mesh-networks means that a lot of work has been done on them by the military, whose network nodes (e.g. tanks, soldiers) tend to get shot out from under them a lot. Although after a long time as specialist equipment, gear to do mesh-networks is starting to become mainstream although it's not exactly a cheap solution at the moment.

However in the past mesh-networks have tended to rely on batteries, which eventually have to be replaced, or mains power, which in a lot of situations defeats the point. This probably comes from the military background of most of the work done on them, the military usually aren't that interested in long term operations and aren't really that concerned about cost. Mesh-networks are perfect to networking large sparesely inhabited regions, think third world countries, or to serve as the network backbone for a ubiquitous computing environment in a more developed and urban environment. The holy-grail of mesh-networks would be to make the node itself cheap enough to be thrown away. You air drop the nodes out of a transport plane and they're basically self-sufficient, and when they do finally fail, they're cheap enough to be replaced without an expensive operation to retrieve the first one. For that, you need distributed power generation.

I've talked about distributed power generation before, and of course wind power isn't the only solution to the problem. With spiralling energy costs centrally provided power might eventually become a thing of the past as more people want to take control into their own hands.

Technology is giving us a choice, we can follow the path of central control, or that of decentralisation. More and more, technology is giving governments or large corporations the power to federate information and monitor its flow. Alternatively, it's also giving us the power to decentralise. Things that before were only provided centrally because of the prohibitive cost, such as power and networking, can now be distributed, and done entirely on a peer-to-peer basis. We face a cross roads, and the technology itself won't tell which way to turn.

Tags: Wind Power Wind Turbine Mesh Networks Wireless WiFi Disruptive Technology Distributed Computing Ubiquitous Computing

Fun new products, from Apple Español | Deutsch | Français | Italiano | Português

Coverage of the Apple Special Event
Following previous rumours, that were later proved to be a hoax, of an Apple special event tomorrow, Engadget apparently has reliable information that this time it's for real...

CREDIT: Apple (via Engadget)

The invites usually give some subtle hint of the type of product that Apple are going to announce, what are we to make of a iCal related invite? Can Apple finally be shipping a replacement for the Newton? Are the recent rumours surround Apple's touch screen patents wrong, are we heading for an Apple branded PDA?

Update: The Register points out that security surrounding this launch has been particularly tight. Thinking about it I can't remember the last time we had a special event actually on the Infinite Loop itself, or when we knew so little about what was going to be announced? Either this is a really big announcement, or a really small one. Do they want it on-site so they can have total control of things, including venue security? Or was the Moscone Centre just all booked up? Does anyone have any leaks? I haven't seen anything yet, which is quite telling. This could be interesting...

Update: The Apple rumour mill starts to roll, more news on what might be arriving at the special event...

Update: Coverage of the Apple Special Event and the new Intel Mac mini...

Tags: Apple Special Event Rumours