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.

Bloomberg reports that the next-generation iPad might be delayed until June. Such delay might be caused by design changes made by Apple. The design changes that are allegedly causing delays could go from new display technology or Retina Display to rear-facing camera adoption and a Light Peak interface for the new iPad. To tell honestly, “design changes” could mean anything. Moreover, Apple usually releases new iterations of iPhone in June, so June sounds a little strange for the iPad 2. A new iPad in June would have to face the obvious competition generated by the iPhone.

Apple stopped to support original iPhone 2G and iPod touch 1G starting from iOS 4.0. Their decision was justified because of the low RAM and sow CPU in these first-gen devices released back in 2007.

iPhone jailbreak community has now come up with a mod, which brings the complete look and feel of iOS 4.2.1 for iPhone 2G, 3G and iPod touch 1G and 2G. The mod is basically based on the iPhone OS 3.1.3, to replicate the experience of iOS 4 on the first and second generation iPhone and iPod touch.

This custom firmware, named WhiteD00r, includes everything from iOS 4.x: wallpapers, new semi transparent dock (and UI), backgrounds, all new icons from iOS 4.x, Voice Control, multitasking, video recording, and more. Full list of features can be found here.

Moreover WhiteD00r was also relased for iPhone 3G and iPod touch 2G. Regular iOS 4.х works really slow, on these devices, while modified 3.1.3 has much more chances.

WhiteD00r custom 4.2.1 firmware for iPhone 2G, iPhone 3G, iPod touch 1G and iPod touch 2G can be downloaded from here.

Here is a video of it in action:

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httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izNoF1SWtSg

CNet has recently reported that soon Apple will unveil a new high-speed connection technology for its devices, which is based on Intel's Light Peak technology. The latter should appear in products during the first half of 2011, according to Intel. But though Apple's new technology will be based on Intel's Light Peak, it was reported that Apple will brand it under its own name.

Light Peak allows to transfer information with 10 Gbps, which is almost three times faster than USB 3.0 (3.2 Gbps) and more than 10 times faster than Firewire 800 (800 Mbps). In practice it will allow to copy a full-length Blu-Ray movie in approximately 30 seconds.

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The Chronic Dev Team has released Greenpois0n RC6.1, a new version of their ‘untethered’ iOS 4.2.1 jailbreak tool which now includes an update that disables Apple’s means of protecting the iBooks application from jailbreakers.

Recent Greenpois0n changelog:

• RC6.1: comex 'hunnypot' iBooks fix, don't overwrite animate if it already exist
• RC6: Apple TV 2 support, fixed emulators compatibility issues with greenpois0n
• RC5.4: Verizon iPhone 4 is now supported !

Greenpois0n RC6.1 supports iPod Touch 2G, iPod Touch 3G, iPod Touch 4G, iPad, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, Verizon iPhone 4 (iOS 4.2.6) and Apple TV 2G.

You can download the latest Greenpois0n RC6.1 here.

Last weekend Best Buy listed five new SKUs for Mac notebooks with price between $1,199 and $2,499. They can be found as "New SKU" in online Laptop Configuration tool, with availability of "Coming Soon".

Though in the past Best Buy's inventory systems weren't precise, new listings provide information on pricing that did not appear anywhere else yet.

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Apple recently filed a new patent application that describes a new feature, “Safe Deposit Box”, which will appear in a new Mac OS X Lion. “Safe Deposit Box” will allow users to secure important files. Users will be able to drag a particular file to a safe deposit icon - files could be automatically encrypted and hidden from access - that then secure the file and also upload the secured file to the cloud for backup that means that important files would be stored beyond the home computer. Users could then access secured files through a safe deposit box window by selecting the safe deposit box icon and verifying his or her identity. It seems that this feature would be included into Lion’s Time Machine but, as usual, there is no guarantee.

Today Apple should start delivering its sealed product line of MacBooks Pro to brick-and-mortar stores of its largest European resellers, according to the information sent by the company to those resellers last weekend.

But February, 21st is also a President's Day in the US, and Apple has been avoiding launching major products on federal holidays, so the partners were told that an official announcement will follow shortly after shipments will be delivered, according to AppleInsider that in turn cites a person familiar with the matter. It was also reported that Apple has vocalized its right to cancel reseller licenses from those dealers who will tamper with the sealed shipment before the announcement will be made.

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Apple today released a fifth beta of Mac OS X 10.6.7 to developers for testing. This time Safary was added to the list of focus area to concentrate on, joining Mac App Store, AirPort, Bonjour, SMB, and Graphics Drivers that had been included in previous builds. No known issues are listed in the documentation again. Fourth beta of Mac OS X 10.6.7 was released on February 11. An estimated target date for public release of Mac OS X 10.6.7 is still unclear.