Archive for February 22nd, 2011

AppleInsider confirms that the lineup of the next-gen MacBook Pros will be officially unveiled this Thursday because this day is also Steve Jobs' birthday. On February 24 Apple's CEO turns 56.

In the first place, previously MacRumors reported that Thursday is the earliest date when Apple can unveil its new models, though next-gen MacBook Pros were originally expected to be released in early March. In the second place, traditionally Apple has been launching its new laptops on Tuesday.

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A new ad of Motorola's upcoming tablet Xoom on the website of Verizon Wireless shows that the device has 1 GHz dual-core processor that is "fully Flash-enabled for video-rich web". But as you can see on the screenshot above, there is a note, which shows that actually Adobe Flash is expected in Spring 2011.

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A new Apple’s patent tells us that the company at this point works on the gesture-based commands determined with audio transducers on the corners of a given surface. That means that if you press or tap on a surface, the audio receivers would determine where and how you touched it. The application describes a microprocessor that can "interpret electrical signals generated by the one or more acoustic transducers as input." The idea is that these transducers detect a finger making contact with the chassis and register those vibrations as gestures. Now the company found five different ways how it could be done.

Apple will open it’s the furthest-north Apple Store in Anchorage, Alaska in September. Now the company is looking for retail staff in the Fifth Avenue Mall (Anchorage). The store reportedly locates in the second floor of the mall and will become the most-northern Apple retail store at 61° north latitude, 20 miles south of the Arctic Circle. The new Store will be geographically located “above” the current most-northern Aberdeen store in Scotland and any Scandinavian city that might be chosen by Apple in the future. No official construction plans have surfaced at this point.

Rumors suggest that updated MacBook Pros appear later this week, most likely on Thursday. The new MacBook Pros will feature larger glass trackpads than those found on current models for greater flexibility and perhaps for more complex gestures. The lower-end models will have 8GB-16GB solid-state drives to house Mac OS X system files, and will also come equipped with a regular hard drive. This will offer the benefits of SSDs - instant on and super fast performance - while also providing lots of room for heavy users’ files. The idea of separate flash-based storage for system files is not a new one. Intel's "Turbo Memory", in 2006, offered similar functionality. The new machines will be up to a half-pound lighter than current models and there will be five different SKUs.

The United Kingdom wireless carriers have begun lowering their prices on the first-generation iPad in anticipation of the launch of the iPad 2 in April. Both T-Mobile and Orange are now selling the original iPad for £99 with a 24-month data contract. This £100 is a strongly indication that carriers know that their current iPad stocks will soon be in less demand. Though, there is no information on official launch of the iPad 2. But on April 3rd will be a year since the original iPad was released, the history of iOS product launches strongly suggests a late March or early April debut of the iPad 2.

A new leather case for the next-generation iPad appeared on German website Macerkopf.de. Design of the leaked case confirms all rumors about tapered edges, thinner design, rear-facing camera and flat back, but also provides some details on the actual name of the “iPad 2”. The terms iPad 2 was used by journalists and bloggers for indication of the second-generation iPad. That case comes with packaging with a simple label “For the new iPad” that might mean that iPad 2 will actually be called simply iPad.

It is also noteworthy to say that current iPhone 4 accessories don’t come with labels like “Made for the iPhone 4″. Instead, Apple went for a simple “Made for iPhone” that doesn’t point to the “iPhone 4” name in any way.