Apple Media Event Today-New iPods Announced

With little fanfare, Apple today made good on its promise to refresh its iPod line of MP3 players at a special media event held in San Francisco, CA. With Apple CEO Steve Jobs stepping out on the stage and proclaiming and I quote "The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated" referring to the recent media reports of his less than stellar health. It made for a great event opening line.

Every year around this time Apple normally announces a refresh in its line of iPods in time for the ever-profitable holiday season. Although no earth-shattering announcements or introductions were made today, the updates to both iPods and more importantly iTunes are significant enough to warrant a rundown of the major announcements.

• iTunes 8.0 was announced today and is available for immediate download with significant changes from verison 7.x. Most notable is the addition of a feature called Genius which creates smart playlists based on songs you choose from your library. Support for High Definition (HD) content and more significant here is the return of NBC television shows to the iTunes store which had been absent for the past year following a dispute between the two companies. HD versions of TV shows will now be available for download at a premium price of $2.99 vs. $1.99 for the standard definition counterpart. Shows like Heroes, The Office & Monk are available for download from the iTunes store today.

• The iPod Nano saw its form factor returning to its rectangular vertical roots with its new curved fourth generation design that makes so much more sense than the hidious looking square version introduced last year. The Nano offers enhanced video playback, an accelerometer, and a new larger wide screen LCD that changes the display from portrait to landscape by simply turning the Nano. Another cool feature is the ability to shake the Nano which in a sense orders it to cue up and play a new song (shuffle if you will). The new Nano will come in three new colors (Orange, Purple & Yellow) for a total of nine different colors-one to suit everyone's taste. The new Nano will come in two capacities-8Gb $149.99 & 16Gb for $199.99 and are shipping starting today.

• The iPod Touch also received a major cosmetic makeover as well with a new curved backside similar to that of the iPhone 3G. The back is now that infamous Apple "Fingerprint Magnet" stainless-steel. The iPod Touch now sports a built in speaker as well as hardware volume control buttons similar to those found on the iPhone, something the first generation Touch lacked. The new Touch will come with a new firmware 2.1 version that will fix some bugs that users of firmware version 2.o have been experiencing. The new iPod Touch line also were granted a price drop across the board, but will still come in three different capacities: An 8Gb version for $229.99; 16Gb for $299.99; 32Gb for $399.99 and all are available immediately. The 2.1 firmware update will be available to users who already have 2.0x firmware installed on thier iPod Touch for free. Users with 1.0 firmware will have to pay $10 for the upgrade, definitely a worthwhile update. The new iPod Touch has been dubbed as "The Funnest iPod Ever!" by Jobs and Apple.
  

• The iPod Classic line has also been updated, reducing this line of iPods to a single sku. The current 80Gb and 160Gb iPod Classics are now history in favor of a single 120Gb model that is thinner than both current Classics. No other significant changes to this line was announced. It's puzzling that Apple would eliminate its largest capacity iPod from it's line, but that doesn't mean that they won't later come back with a new higher capacity Classic later when a 1.8" drive of higher capacity becomes available. The classic will be available in Silver or Black.
  

• The iPod Shuffle line was updated as well today and it will now come in four new updated more vibrant colors in addition to the traditional silver with capacities of 1Gb $49 and 2Gb $69.

• Phone firmware 2.1. Apple announced the new 2.1 firmware update for the iPhone which is slated to become available this Friday September 12th. The firmware upgrade promises to greatly improve battery life, provide for fewer crashes, fewer dropped calls, and allow for significantly faster backups, all issues that needed addressing. Two factors conspicuously missing from mention is any reference to 3G data connection speed improvement, and the previously announced background process feature which is supposed to allow users to do tasks like instant message while talking on the phone.

• Jobs also introduced two new unique iPod earbuds at the media event. The first offers an in-line volume control that also integrates a click button which allows a user to pause, advance to the next song by clicking twice, or back by clicking three times. The earbuds also feature a microphone that allows users to take advantage of the recording feature found on the iPod Nano & Touch. Price is $29 and will be available in October. A $79 enhanced earbud set similar to those made famous by Shure will also be available for the iPod as well. This set will have an earbud that has both a wooferer & tweeter in each earbud, if you can fathom that. The earbuds come with three different ear adapters to best fit the user.
  

In all, Apple made some significant updates to iTunes and it's cash-cow line of music players at a time when the current crop of iPods were getting long in tooth. Gaming seems to be the next frontier that Apple is attempting to conquer as it demonstrated three new games for the iPod Touch & iPhone at the event including one from video game giant EA (Electronic Arts).

Even Microsoft who holds a 2.3% share of the MP3 hardware market (compared to Apple's whopping 75.4% share) is unveiling new Zune MP3 models this week that rival the capacities & capabilities of the Nano & Classic- introducing both a 16Gb and 120Gb Zune-not that anyone is really paying attention.

Lenovo Finally Enters the 17" Laptop Fray

It seems like only yesterday that Lenovo took over the Thinkpad line from IBM. But in the few years since the Chinese computer giant bought the elite notebook computer line from Big Blue they've made great strides in keeping the Thinkpad line of professional laptop computers on the cutting edge while maintaining the signature black finish and solid performance reputation that IBM had always been famous for throughout its history. But Lenovo hasn't rested on its investment laurels since making that enormous cash outlay to buy the division.

After introducing the ground breaking X300 3lb. ultra-portable earlier this year, Lenovo signaled yesterday that it was going in the opposite direction by announcing its Desktop Workstation replacement line of W700 Thinkpads. The W700 line of Thinkpads features an unprecedented list of features and specification that have never been integrated into a laptop before now. With it's 17" 1920x1200 High Definition 400 Nit (brightness) screen, this is the first Thinkpad ever to sport a 17" screen. Weighing in at a hefty 8lbs depending on configuration, the W700 is not the heaviest laptop out there today, nor is it made for the typical road warrior, but it is indeed a transportable machine.

What sets the W700 apart is of course not only the Thinkpad moniker. Thats the good news. Lenovo added Intels recently announced Quad-Core Mobile Extreme Chips which means that the W700 can run native 64bit applications with processor speeds of up to 3.06Ghz operating on a 1024Mhz internal bus. With the ability to house up to three hard disk drives (two internally and one in substituted the ultra-bay sans the optical drive) this machine could conceivably hold up to 1.5Tb of data (WOW!) when using three 500Gb 2.5" drives available today from Hitatchi and Samsung. Raid 0 and Raid 1 are possible with two drives and is supported by Lenovo. Add an 'NVIDIA Quadro FX 3700M video card with 1GB dedicated video memory which is also an option. This marks the first time a laptop features a video card with that much memory. Dual-Link DVI is also a unique feature available on the W700, which gives the W700 ability to run larger LCD monitors (28-30") without the need to use external hardware or lowering the screen resolution to do so. In addition, the W700 has the industry standard Display Port, the next generation HD digital monitor connector. A Blu-Ray recordable drive is also an option available on some models. One unique feature that the W700 sports is the Integrated WACOM palm rest digitizer and pen for CAD/CAM, as well as for other digital manipulation/conversions and digital photography enhancements. Add Integrated color calibration for almost life-like image screen reproduction and you have the makings of a laptop never before seen in the marketplace. Just about every other option is integrated like 2Gb Turbo memory, 801.11n wireless, Bluetooth wireless, integrated Thinkcam, (7-in-1) digital media-card reader, 5 USB 2.0 ports, Trackpoint/Ultra-Nav Touchpad, Dual-Thinklights, fingerprint reader, and something very rare on a laptop computer, an Accountants dream-a full numeric keypad. The W700 comes pre-loaded with Windows Vista OS. 64Gb SSD (Solid-State Drive) is an option, but with prices and capacities still not in check, its not widely expected that many will opt for an SSD drive on this machine.

The W700 is expected to start shipping in September, with prices beginning at a $3,299 list price, with some models/configuration reaching almost $6k (Yikes!). But with the laundry list of features and options, whats not to like about the W700? The only bit of advice we can offer is that you make sure to book that bulk-head seat in First-Class if you plan to watch the soon to be released Blu-Ray version of "IronMan" while flying with this behemoth . And hey, don't forget the back brace!

Blackberry Bold 9000 Still M.I.A.

The iPhone 3G may be still drawing major mall crowds and even some lingering lines at certain Apple store locations, but in the Blackberry world, all eyes are on the imminent North American release of the new Blackberry Bold 9000. The BBB as we henceforth will call it, was expected to be launched on Canada's Rogers Wireless on July 26, 2008, and about three weeks later on AT&T here in the good 'ole USA. But the July launch in Canada didn't happen with two anticipated launch dates coming and going. An August 14th AT&T launch was also pegged, but it looks like that date has been pushed back. Some sites are reporting the Bold already to be shipping in Germany and if of all places--Chile!

Reliable sources have indicated that device over-heating and limited battery life are the issues that AT&T field testing engineers are dealing with. Research in Motion (RIM) has been mum on the launch delays other than to say that things are on track. While AT&T had not officially announced a launch date other than to say Summer '08, there had been consensus that a mid-August launch of the BBB was pretty firm. Major Blackberry News & Blog sites have recently also been mum on the subject lately, although the forums and user boards are abuzz with anticipation and of course speculation on a new release date and reasons for delay.

One popular online source for unlocked GSM phones, MobileCityOnline, had previously emailed its customers last month announcing the pre-sale of unlocked AT&T branded Bold units at a contract-free price of $699.99 (Yikes!) with a slated ship date of August 14, which coincided with the launch date previously thought to be AT&T's. A more recent email from them nixes that date and does not establish a new estimated availability date. With the iPhone finally doing REAL push email, this could spell some real trouble for RIM whose stock price has recently taken a hit. A double whammy if you will. The Blackberry Bold looks like a real promising device if RIM can finally push it out the door, but Apple isn't resting on its laurels waiting for it-Apple will be launching the 3G iPhone in 22 new countries on the 22nd of August, further pushing its might into more waiting hands around the globe.