journals

Wall Street Journal: Apple phone is coming

By Nick, January 8, 2007

Okay, maybe this phone thing is real after all.

Various Mac news outlets are reporting that the Wall Street Journal anticipates that an Apple cell phone release is imminent, and that the phone would work with Cingular’s network.

You read that correctly: the Wall Street Journal. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill rumor outlet, folks (Captain Obvious strikes again!).

The fact that the Wall Street Journal is making this claim significantly improves the credibility of prior Apple phone claims, considering that it is one of the United States’ most trusted newspapers and accurately predicted Apple’s switch to Intel. We all know how that one turned out.

The keynote is less than ten hours away as of this writing. Come on, you can hold out a little longer!

	0	2230
Nick	comments	views

Yet another Macworld predictions article [UPDATED]

By Nick, January 8, 2007

As I sit and write this, we are within 18 hours of the Macworld Expo keynote. The rumor mill has been cranked up to 11, and Mac users are wetting their pants over speculation of what tomorrow may bring. I decided to whip out my crystal ball and attempt to predict what new goodies we’ll see this year. The likelihood is measured in tater tots; one tater tot being least likely and five being most likely. Remember that I have no insider sources; this is only my gut instinct responses, so don’t bet on any of this.

iPhone

This is one rumor I really want to die. Like, now. At this point with the exception of assertions by Kevin Rose and a few others who claim to have “inside sources,” there is nothing but hot air surrounding this one. I have a theory that there is no Apple iPhone; insiders heard about the Linksys iPhone, and they instantly thought it was an Apple product.

Still, an Apple cell phone would make some sense if it had iTunes integration, ~~so I’ll give this one 3 tater tots~~. UPDATE: The Wall Street Journal predicts a phone. I’m bumping this to 4 out of 5.

iLife updates

Given Apple’s yearly iLife release schedule since 2003, this is almost certain. I give it 5 out of 5 tater tots; I do not expect any new applications, however.

iWork with a spreadsheet

Rumors of an Apple spreadsheet app to replace AppleWorks have been around for a…
(Continue)

	3	2494
Nick	comments	views

Microsoft at CES 2007

By UnnDunn, January 7, 2007

Microsoft seems very much focused on promoting Windows Vista and Microsoft Office, but that's to be expected, as those are its cash cows and it's got new versions of both products coming out this year.

Well, Microsoft’s CES 2007 keynote address just wrapped up, and it was lackluster at best. Most of what was talked about were things we already knew, and the handful of new products they announced were not that exciting. Microsoft’s theme at this address was “connected experiences,” and predictably, they spent a lot of time talking about how Windows Vista would bring a lot of those connected experiences together, in conjunction with technologies like Windows Live, Live Search, Media Center, Microsoft TV, Microsoft Auto, Xbox 360 and Zune. Microsoft also talked about their “ home of the future”, which they use to showcase their vision of the future. That was perhaps the most exciting part of the entire keynote address.

But let’s start at the beginning, and the beginning for Microsoft in 2007 is Windows Vista. Scheduled for release on January 30, Windows Vista forms the linchpin of Microsoft’s connected experiences strategies throughout 2007. To illustrate the point Microsoft belabored how much time and effort it has spent in making sure Vista is the highest quality OS it has shipped yet. It claims that the investment it has made in Windows Vista is the biggest ever made on a software application (and judging by the length of time it took to develop Vista, I would agree). Microsoft demoed a few features new to Windows Vista, including the ability for Windows Instant Search to search across all the computers on your network; and the new preview pane in Windows Explorer, which lets you…
(Continue)

	0	2075
UnnDunn	comments	views

Microsoft CES 2007 Announcements

By Eric, January 7, 2007

Tonight at 6:30 PM PST, Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, took the stage at CES 2007 to announce what is coming this year for his company. After bombing a few poorly thought out jokes, he recapped the intensive growth of the computer and technology industry before moving on to Vista, speaking about the huge steps it takes forward, and the effort and development that has been put into it.

Christian Hutchenson then took the stage to demonstrate Vista, and he put on a strong display of the new features, finally ~~stealing~~ catching up on Apple’s developments from the last 6 years. He touched on the new searching, the new automatic backup system, Windows Media Center, the new photo tools, and even the new features of Windows Ultimate. Everything featured fancy new graphics, and he made it all the way through the demo without encountering a single bug or blue screen of death.

Gates then spoke more about the hardware and software integration, playing a flashy video showing off some of the better looking PCs that are going to be running Vista. He then introduced the brand new Windows Home Server, which was censored from the live broadcast by Microsoft with the following message:

In respect to the Intellectual Property being demonstrated on-stage, we are temporarily suspending the audio and video portion of this broadcast. Normal programming will begin shortly. Thank you for your patience.

The feed quickly returned, and we caught a quick glimpse of a nice black HP server looking…
(Continue)

	2	2160
	comments	views

Bill Gates CES Keynote tonight

By Nick, January 7, 2007

The biggest week in tech is about to start!

The 2007 Consumer Electronics Show kicks off tonight with Bill Gates’ keynote. The keynote is scheduled to start at 6:30 PM Pacific time, and the show itself begins tomorrow.

A Windows Media format keynote stream will be available on Microsoft’s site. Deep Thought will provide a wrap-up after the keynote with news and analysis. See ya after the show!