Isaiah's Tech

Apple's awaited event has come and gone but it was one to remember. Tim Cook, the new CEO, showed up to announce a bunch of new things. First off, he announced that Lion was downloaded 6 million times which is a great number for digital downloads. Afterwards, Tim boasted numbers for their iPod, iPhone, and iPad devices which are pretty astonishing. An unexpected twist happened when Apple announced the new "Cards" app which will allow you to create a card on your iPhone and Apple will do the rest: print it out and mail it for you. All for $2.99 in the US.

Moving along, they recapped the great parts about iOS 5 which you should already know about: new Notifications, iMessage, Twitter integration, Reminders, Newsstand, improved Camera, Tabbed Browsing, etc. Along with mentioning Find my iPhone, there's also a new feature called Find my Friends which does what it says. Oh yes, of course, they briefly mentioned iCloud again and 5GB of storage will be free!

Apple decided that the first thing they would announce would be a new iPod Nano. Since Apple noticed that a bunch of people last year were using the Nano as a watch, they decided to add 16 new clock faces so you'll be able to stay fresh. The 8GB model will be $129 and the 16GB model will be $149. It'll be available today.

Next up is the new iPod Touch which will, obviously, have iOS 5 at launch. It's touted as having an ultra-thin design, a gyroscope, a Retina Display, and as the number 1 portable game player. 8GB for $199, 32GB for $299, and 64GB for $399. It'll be available in black and white on October 12th. Oh, there's also a new Shuffle which is 2GB and costs $49.

Now, the good stuff! Apple has also announced the iPhone 4S - it's official! This one has a similar design to the 4 and sports an 8MP camera (with a Hybrid IR filter, face detection, better colour accuracy, etc.) with 1080p video recording, HSPA+ (14.4Mbps), Siri (voice control), and iOS 5 with the dual-core A5 CPU - same as the iPad 2. Yeah, it'll reportedly be great at playing games so they demoed Infinity Blade 2 which looked very impressive. Yes, they also boasted battery life, a new antenna system, and the fact that it's a world phone - finally! So, the 8GB iPhone 3GS is now free on a 2-year contract, while the 8GB iPhone 4 will be $99.

On October 14th, the 4S will be available in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, France, Germany, and Japan for $199 (16GB), $299 (32GB), and $399 (64GB). Yes, it'll hit Sprint, geez! Seriously!? That's it, a mediocre update. I was hoping for more Apple!

[This Is My Next, Engadget]

9 to 5 Mac has just scooped the picture you see above which is rumoured to be the front face of the upcoming Apple iPod Touch. Yup, looks like there'll be a white model if Apple can pull it off. Of course, it has a front-facing camera hole and that's all we know about it right now.

[9 to 5 Mac]

Possibly the biggest news of the day is this - let's hope it's not fake. This image, along with a few others, have surfaced today and it's reportedly the next iPod Touch. Since it's still very early, this one's looking like a prototype. This model reportedly has 128GB of storage, dual cameras, and a buttonless face. Yeah, the Home spot on the phone will actually be activated by a touch - it's a capacitive button. Pretty interesting stuff and it would be a good move for Apple since they hate buttons so much.

[Crunch Gear]

Apple kicked things off by announcing iOS 4.1 and 4.2 (for the iPad) but that's not what we'll talk about here - you'll have to wait until November for iOS 4.2 on your iPad by the way. We're focusing on the iPod refresh that took place today, and Steve Jobs said that this is the biggest iPod update ever. The first thing he announced was the new iPod Shuffle. After the third-generation failed, they've brought the buttons back in its small factor. It has the clip on the back and comes with 2GB of internal storage. This will cost you $49 and will be available in 5 colours (gray, blue, pink, green, and yellow) each with 15 hours of audio playback. Keep scrolling down for the new iPod Nano.

Next up is the new iPod Nano, which is being touted as a small iPod Touch. As expected, it's a plain (and small) touchscreen with no buttons on the front. On the side there's the volume button and on the back there's a clip which is great if you like to clip it. I put mine in my pocket so that doesn't really matter to me. It has a multitouch display along with 24 hours of audio playback. This reminds me of the third-gen (fat) iPod Nano so let's see how successful this turns out to be. This will come in a bunch of (they say six, I see seven) colours and they're all above for you. The 8GB model will be available for $149 while the 16GB model will only cost $30 more, at $179. iPod Touch next.

Update: The iPod Nano does not have video playback, I repeat does not. You won't be able to watch of your movies or podcasts on this device. Yup, no video playback.

Of course, this event wouldn't be complete without the most important iPod of all, the Touch. This model is even thinner and comes with a flat back. This iPod Touch sports the same retina display you'll find on the iPhone 4 and it also sports the Apple A4 CPU along with iOS 4.1 (with Game Center), 40 hours of audio playback, a front-facing camera, and a rear-facing camera with 720p HD video recording for FaceTime. You can pre-order them right now and they'll be going for $229 for 8GB, $299 for 32GB, and $399 for 64GB. Yes, there's no more 16GB model. They'll be available starting next week in the US (I don't know about the Canadian release dates).

[Engadget]

Apple is holding an event on Wednesday and it looks like that 3cm x 3cm touchscreen Apple display that leaked way back when will become the next iPod Nano. The photo above is supposedly a case for the iPod Nano and the photos below show another two iPod Nano cases and two shots of a new iPod Touch case which has slots for a camera. Both the iPod Nano and the iPod Touch will have the famous 30-pin connector so that won't change. The iPod Nano should be sporting a 1.7-inch display if the rumours are correct.

[Engadget, Apple Insider]

The latest word on the street is that Apple will be holding their annual September event on the 7th and it'll, of course, be focused on media. This includes the predictable iPod refresh (new Touch, Nano) and could actually be the announcement / release of the next Apple TV, which may or may not include 99 cent rentals. This would be really interesting and would be the start of the next Google and Apple war since they're already competitors on so many different levels. You never know, maybe it'll also be the event where Apple will pull the big unveil on their MacBook Air update as well.

Update: iPodNN has just pointed out that Apple has officially announced that they'll be holding their event on September 1st which is on a Wednesday - different from their usual Tuesday-held events.

[Tech Radar]

There's a rumour going around that Apple will be updating their iPod Touch in the near future. Actually, that's not the rumour because everyone should know that Apple will be updating that PMP in a couple of weeks. The rumour is that the new iPod Touch will feature a Retina display (similar to the iPhone 4) along with dual-cameras (front-facing and on the back) for FaceTime (using e-mail). Look out for it to be announced in the near future and should be hitting the market in the next couple of weeks.

[9 to 5 Mac, Engadget]

Thanks to a case maker, Apple's next iPod Touch could look similar to what you see above. Of course, we already know that the company plans to introduce a new iPod Touch in early September and we know that it should feature a camera on the back. Could the camera on the back of the iPod Touch be in the corner and not in the middle like those prototypes that we've seen a couple of times? We'll really just have to wait and see.

Update: Another 9 to 5 Mac post has leaked the pictures you see below. It clearly shows an Apple case that has a hole in the front for the front-facing camera. Interesting. This could be possible seeing how FaceTime only works over WiFi (unless your iPhone 4 is jailbroken).

[Pocket-Lint]

DigiTimes is back at it again, two days in a row, with another Apple rumour. This time we're talking about their thin-and-light notebook and their PMP; I'm, of course, talking about the MacBook Air and the iPod Touch. The rumour states that Apple will be launching a new MacBook Air with an Intel Core 2010 ULV CPU built by Quanta in the second half of this year. This update to the MacBook Air will be the smallest notebook that Apple has since the rumour states that the display with be 11.6-inches.

The other rumour is that the iPod Touch with a 3MP camera will be available in August or September of this year. I'm expecting September, since that's when Apple usually updates their iPod line-up. Also expected is that the iPod Touch will be using the A4 CPU - who knows what it'll be clocked at though.

[Slash Gear]

We recently heard rumours that Apple is planning to implement a 5MP camera on the back of the iPod Touch that gets introduced this year. Well, apparently, that may be slightly off seeing how a new rumour is stating that the camera on this year's iPod Touch will actually be a 3.2MP sensor - similar to the one in the iPhone 3GS. Last year we heard about the iPod Touch gaining the camera you see above - right in the middle of the back of the PMP. We'll see what gets unveiled this September.

[9 to 5 Mac]

There's a big rumour going around that Apple will be updating their iPod line-up and possibly the biggest update of them all will go to the iPod Touch - of course. To catch up to the iPhone 4, Apple's PMP is rumoured to be getting a 5MP camera on the back (presumably the same as the iPhone 4) with an LED flash, a gyroscope, direct YouTube video uploads, and a front-facing webcam for FaceTime. I'm going to assume that they're going to put their own A4 chip inside as well for the slight speed boost. Of course, this PMP should be running iOS 4.0 as well. As usual, you can expect the iPod refresh to come this September!

Update: According to 9 to 5 Mac, the two pictures below could be the face of the new iPod Touch coming in September of this year. Since there'll be no earpiece in the top, the front-facing camera looks like it could actually be in the center of the PMP, keeping the symmetry of the device.

[Slash Gear]

A couple more interesting pieces of detail has just been spotted in the code of the iPhone 4 Beta 4. It seems just about certain that the next iPhone that comes out in about a month from now will have an LED flash which isn't too surprising.

That's not all though. Apparently, a future iPod and the next iPad will likely have it as well.

Of course, the next iPod Touch will have a camera.

Last, but not least, it looks like we can expect Apple to release the Mac OS 10.7 sometime in the near future. This means Apple plans to launch the next iteration of the Mac OS within a year from now. It's expected that their latest version will have touch support.

[9 to 5 Mac]

I don't know how Vietnam is getting all these leaked Apple products, but Apple must be pissed at this point (unless it's controlled). This actually may not be a final product however, seeing how it has the "DVT-1" mark-up on the back. This is indicating that this model may actually be Apple's first prototype for an iPod Touch with a 2MP camera. Either way, we should be expecting the iPod Touch with a camera this year - we were expecting one last year too. Check out the video below!

Earlier this morning a couple of iPod Touch prototypes were spotted on eBay. Both of these prototypes sported cameras, so you can bet that the model that comes out this year will sport them. Of course, since then they've been pulled off of eBay. Not much to tell you seeing how they've been pulled.

[9 to 5 Mac, Mac Rumors]

Today, Apple announced something extremely huge. iPhone OS 4.0 was introduced which is a huge improvement over their current OS 3.0. It reportedly improves over 100 minor updates and a couple of game-changers like multitasking(!!), organization (folders for your apps), unified mailbox(!), iBooks, their new Game Center, and their new [HTML5] iAd platform. Apple has apparently figured out a way to do multitasking without taking a huge hit on the battery life. Unfortunately, only the iPhone 3GS and the third-generation iPod Touch will support multitasking because they said that it's a hardware issue. If you're interested in learning more about the iAd platform, check out the post on Computer World. The iPad will be upgradeable to iPhone OS 4.0 this Fall. Crunch Gear has a short video below showing off the multitasking.

Update: According to Engadget, you can now download the iPhone SDK 4 Beta. Check out the direct link here.

Update: Gizmodo has just mentioned that the iPhone OS 4 software includes three new functions: AVCaptureDevice.hasFlash, AVCaptureDevice.flashMode, and AVCaptureDevice.hasTorch. This likely points out that the next iPhone will have some sort of flash for its camera - not Flash on the browser.

Update: According to Engadget, there's also evidence for a front-facing camera as well. They've found a couple of different files that imply this.

• The OS will support multitasking. Jobs claims that multitasking will not consume significantly more power or system resources than normal single app operation will.
• Multitasking will be available on seven classes of apps.
• The first is music. Apps like Pandora will now be able to run in the background without dramatically affecting browser performance or speed.
• VOIP is another class of apps that will be able to run in the background. Skype can now run in the background, allowing you to receive texts and calls while not actively using the app.
• Navigation and other location-based services are important applications of this multitasking feature. Now apps like TomTom Navigator and Navigon can run in the background, allowing you to browse and still receive directions.
• Push notifications will also be able to run in the background.
• Apps that take time to run a process, like uploading photos to flickr, will be able to do these processes in the background.
• Apple will also allow local notification apps to run in the background.
• Apple does not expect multitasking to significantly increase the strain on network traffic for AT&T.

[Mobile Magazine, The Next Web, TUAW, Crunch Gear, Engadget]

Already! What's going on here? It looks like the iPad's file system hinted at some future products. New iPhones (iPhone3,2 and 3,3), a new iPod Touch (iPod4,1), and a new iPad (iProd2,1). The new iPhone is rumoured to be the iPhone HD, while the next iPad should hit the market next year. Who knows what these new products will bring.

[Boy Genius]

Could it be? A front-facing camera making its way onto the next iPhone? Or could it be for the iPad or a new model of the iPod - seeing how it's got the Apple's clickwheel trademark. We don't know, but we'd honestly be happy with a front-facing camera on anything Apple has right now - except for the iPod Classic. Let's hope we see it in a future iPhone, iPod Touch, or even the iPad.

[Gizmodo]

It looks like some hard diligent worker has just spotted the possible future iPhone and iPod Touch "codenames." Reportedly, the iPhone's codename is the N89 and the iPod Touch's is the N80. What does this tell us so far? Absolutely nothing, but I guess it's worth noting.

The K48 you see above is reportedly the iPad's internal name, just in case you were wondering.

[Engadget, Electronista]