News tagged ‘eBooks’

Five years ago, Apple was selling the iBook G4 which evolved from the original iMac. The iBook released mid 2005 got 1.33 or 1.42 GHz PowerPC G4 processors, 12.1 inch or 14.1 inch display, weighted 4.9 lbs (2.2 kg) (smaller version) or 5.9 lbs (2.7 kg) (larger version). Both models had 1024x768 screen resolution and were 1.35 inches (3.4 cm) thick.

Apple's latest laptop, the 11.6 inch MacBook Air, is equipped with  1.4 or 1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, weighs just 2.3 lbs (1.04 kg) and is only 0.68 inches (1.7 cm) at its thickest.

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Apple seems to have grate plans for 2011. So, we’d summarized all rumors and official statement, and formed the following list, which shows Apple's plans for the new year:

• Lion OS;
• Mac App Store;
• iPad 2
• Implementing of Light Peak optical interconnect technology developed by Intel to replace such things like USB, DisplayPort and HDMI. In future, the technology has the potential to reach speeds of 100Gbps. it is also requires smaller connections and thinner cables;
• New model of MacBook Pro notebooks equipped with Intel's Light Peak, 512 GB of SSD storage, without an optical drive. These MacBook Pro's will last longer, run quieter and be lighter and more power-efficient;
• Apple-branded Blu-ray player/burning device which is also capable of burning standard optical media such as DVD or CD;
• Subscription service via iTunes, which would be focused on video services.

Apple recently published a press release stating that new firmware iOS 4.2 for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad will be available today.

Apple® today announced that iOS 4.2, the latest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system, is available today for download for iPad™, iPhone® and iPod touch®. iOS 4.2 brings over 100 new features from iOS 4.0, 4.1 and 4.2 to iPad including Multitasking, Folders, Unified Inbox, Game Center, AirPlay® and AirPrint.

The iOS 4.2 update is available today to download to iPad, iPhone and iPod touch by syncing the device with iTunes 10.1. iOS 4.2 is compatible with iPad, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, second and third generation iPod touch (late 2009 models with 32GB or 64GB) and new iPod touch. Some features may not be available on all products. For example, Multitasking requires iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, third generation iPod touch (late 2009 models with 32GB or 64GB) or later.

However users are unable to update through iTunes right now, as well as there are no download links yet. The expected release time is 10 am Pacific Time.

Full press release is under the cut:

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Today Toshiba started selling Blade X-gale Solid state drives for mass market, the same that are used in the new MacBook Airs. That was confirmed by MacRumors, which compared Toshiba's part numbers with the numbers of the components found in the latest Apple's notebooks.

Here are the short specs of the SSDs:

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Famous technology journalist Walt Mossberg published another review where he analyzes new MacBook Air notebooks and describes them as "gorgeous, very thin and light, but very sturdy aluminum computers".

After using notebooks for some time he made a conclusion that the 11.6-inch system is very iPad-like, the battery life of the devices is "strong" and the systems wake up from sleep every time almost instantly. Though such machines won't fit as primary computers, especially for power users, they should fit fine for light-duty users. Walt revealed that even the $999 model can run 7-8 programs at the same time, even if there are iTunes, Safari Web browser with couple of dozens of apps opened and Microsoft Office among them.

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Few hours ago Steve Jobs presented two new MacBook Airs, which became the result of hooking up the iPad and a MacBook (according to his words). They have neither hard nor optical drive, as they keep all the data on the solid state drive. Here is how Steve Jobs explained such an innovation:

"MacBook Air is the first of a new generation of notebooks that leaves behind mechanical rotating storage in favor of solid state flash storage. We’ve taken what we have learned with the iPad—solid state storage, instant-on, amazing battery standby time, miniaturization and lightweight construction, to create the new MacBook Air. With its amazing responsiveness and mobility, it will change the way we think about notebooks."

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For those who have no time or desire to read the entire transcript of Steve Jobs’ Apple Q4 Earnings Call, here are the most interesting facts he revealed during the speech.

• Apple has sold 14.1 million iPhones, 3.89 million Macs (2,6 million notebooks and 1,29 million desktops) and 4.19 million iPads for the last quarter.
• The total profit in fourth fiscal period is $4,46 billion.

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It is reported that Apple issued invitations for "Back to the Mac" special media event to be held next Wednesday, October 20th  at the company's campus in Cupertino, California. This time the invitation contains an image of a lion peeking out from behind the Apple logo. It conveys the suggestion that Apple is going to seed a new Mac OS X 10.7. The next-generation operating system is commonly suggested being named as “Lion”. Also it is expected that the company's media event may focus on notebooks if new hardware is included on the agenda. Apple has refreshed at least a portion of its notebook line each October or November for the last several years.

Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse was finally unveiled for the whole world. It is a sexy mouse designed by Microsoft, whose concept is very similar to the latest generation of Microsoft’s Arc Mouse, except that it has a touch-sensitive surface, and you can straighten it and curl up as you wish! Isn’t it a curious idea to combine Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad? Isn’t it quite interesting?

Of course, it has not yet been officially introduced by Microsoft. We took these photos from a German online store, which reports that it will be available on October 13.

You can buy Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse at € 69,99 in Europe or $ 69.95 in the USA.

Because of an upcoming iOS 4 and iPhone 4 Apple released new version of iTunes which has a number of significant improvements that listed below:

• Synchronizing with iPhone 4;
• Synchronizing and reading ebooks with iPod touch or iPhone with iBooks 1.1 and iOS 4;
• Synchronizing and reading PDF documents as books in iBooks 1.1;
• Organizing apps into folders on iOS 4 home screen via iTunes;
• Improved back-up speed while syncing an iPod touch or iPhone with iOS4;
• Improved artwork appearing speed when exploring media library.

iTunes 9.2 may be downloaded directly from Apple's Site here or via Software Update in Mac OS X (~102MB) or Windows (~92MB).

According to the sources from Apple Insider, AMD representatives have been seen recently on the meeting with Apple's top brass. The discussion was about the possible partnership between these two organizations as Apple looking forward in bringing AMD's CPUs to workstations and notebooks. The main reason for changing its main processor supplier is probably the try to increase the flexibility and competitive options of Cupertino's company. Another explanation is problems, that were encountered with Intel recently (they include limited availability of recently produced processors and new chipset designs that don't allow using any video chips except its integrated graphics chip).

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Last week Alexander Vaughn from the AppAdvice.com resource had a chance to take a first look at the iBookStore. As you see from the screenshot above, late rumors about higher e-book prices for iPad are confirmed to be false. Moreover, 27 of the 32 books presented in the NYT's Bestseller section cost $9,99 which is exactly the same price as for Amazon Kindle versions.

To expand their market share Amazon chose a strategy of selling the most popular and newly released books at a loss. Now it seems that such a serious concession won't take a proper effect.

iBookStore is a platform for selling iPad e-Books. The working scheme is the same as for iPhone developers - publishers are free to set the prices they want, but Apple keeps 30% of it.

Here is an interesting video from CNN about iPad, Kindle and publishers:

Here's a link to youtube.

As time goes by Apple CEO receives more e-mails and answers on some of it. If you analyze his behavior, you can see that it becomes a tradition to answer to company's customers before the announcement of a new device. So maybe we can expect something revolutionary again, but at this moment we can just take a look at what we have for today.

Two days ago a Macrumors reader mailed a letter to Steve Jobs. He was concerned about whether Apple will lose their vision on the MacBooks' department. The answer was:

"Not to worry."

Another TUAW reader asked if he will have an ability to transfer his Google Docs to the iPad through iDisk or iWork.com. Steve Jobs answered shortly again:

"Yes".

A man calling himself Julio R. was wondering, if we can expect a universal mailbox on the iPod Touch or iPhone. Jobs reply:

"Yep".

TheAppleLounge reader mailed this:

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