A Real Time Machine....

If you are like me, you always look to what Steve Jobs and the crew in Cupertino have in store for us in the future. But every now and again I like to visit a website called "TheWayBackMachine," I use it to literally go back in time and visit those long forgotten pages that greet me everytime I open Safari.  I enjoy looking at the first glimpse we got at some of the new product, reminiscing about my thoughts when i saw the page and just to look back on what I missed before  I jumped into the apple pool. Enjoy!

Steve's where's my free gift?

So here we are, exactly two weeks since Stevenoteday.  I know it's still early in the day but since there are no Air's in store yet, I'm looking for the Apple TV update.  I awoke this morning to no news on the Apple site, the Tuesday morning staple.  I drove by my local Apple store with no new displays to see.  So what is left for Macintuesday that I can be excited for?  My brand new shiny Apple TV Take 2 of course.  The update was said to be released two weeks from the Macworld Keynote so here's your reminder to keep a watchful eye out today for the software update. 

1 Infinite Loop Cupertino, CA 95014

So I consider myself a fairly observant person, but I found something out today that I had never noticed before. While talking with a friend of mine today about what else but Apple, he pointed out to me that the Google maps icon on your iPhone is actually the address for Apple headquarters in Cupertino CA. Always one step ahead aren't we Apple.

iPhone 1.1.3 jailbreak released

Although initial reports stated the 1.1.3 jailbreak for the iPhone would not be released until the SDK this February, I awoke this morning to find that it is now available to both Mac user's and PC users.  Although initial reports of unlocked phones suggest that the phones remain unlocked, it would be smart to wait for a more definite conclusion on the matter.  

Update:  I personally haven't been able to update and a friend of mine with an unlocked iPhone is stuck locked again, so I must stress use at your own risk.

iPhonetaculer

Like chocolate and peanut butter. Halo is my chocolate, and Apple is my peanut butter. I know I'm not the only Halo playing, Mac user out there, so I thought I would tell you about the Halo stats iPhone app. A perfect addition to the Halo 3 recently played widget.

Pink is the new Black

So if you are an apple geek like me you wake up every tuesday in a fit of excitment for what new things may or may not be on Apple.com's website. Most of the time its nothing, just the same page I see every day, but Today was surprisingly different. 

Newly announced today is a addition to the iPod Nano lineup, the new pink nano has been a huge request among many apple fans, including my girlfriend. Many were disappointed when Steve took to the stage in August and announced new colors on the "phatty," nano, but to many people's disappointment  pink was no longer in the mix.

The new pink nano is still priced at $199 and has 8 gigabytes of memory and it is now available at Apple.com.

MacBook Air or MacBook Fizzle

The newly announced third member of Apple’s ever popular MacBook series, the MacBook Air, is clearly the highlight of MacWorld 2008, but many are wondering if Apple can wow stock prices and customers with this new venture into the ultra-portable notebook market.

The Air, if you have not already discovered it is Apple’s new 13.3” widescreen sub-notebook that weighs in at only 3 pounds , has an Intel 1.6 or 1.8 Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2 gigabytes of RAM.

“It reminds me of the PowerMac G4 Cube,” said Tony Miles, a Flight Instructor and Mac owner from Colorado, “it’s not very expandable and it is limited, but it’s in a neat package.”

A week later and the notebook is still the talk of the web log community, with a mixed emotion among bloggers and commenters alike on exactly who and what kind of customer the Cupertino team is after with this MacBook.

"Say what you will about Steve Jobs, but when he pulled Apple's latest laptop out of a standard inter-office envelope I stood in awe - of both his showmanship and of the laptop's remarkably slim design," says CNet.com’s Michelle Thatcher.

Is the Air aimed for the consumer, no as simply an average customer would not spend $1800 on a MacBook with less specs then a slightly more expensive MacBook Pro or even the almost half the cost MacBook, and the professional users will not sacrifice the loss of processing power, expandability or input/output devices in such a light notebook।

“The MacBook Air, the only thing we didn’t shrink was the price,” said Superfresh a commenter on Engadget.com’s website.

But for whoever the Air is meant for, one thing is clear is that the purchase of a MacBook Air has some influence in the design.

"Every element is super sharp, the hidden ports are a thing of beauty, and the backlit keyboard is certainly a nice touch," says Engadget’s Paul Miller. "It's almost silly how light it is, and multitouch is smooth as butter. With the dimensions and curves Apple is playing with, we can almost forgive the lack of removable battery - almost."

Minutes after the Air was announced by Jobs on stage in San Francisco the blogs went live with announcements that Steve didn't mention. The onboard memory is soldered to the motherboard as well as the battery being no replaceable by the consumer, all features that one would like in a sub-notebook.

"Has Apple turned the PC into a throwaway commodity? Absolutely, says The Inquirer "Also missing is the ability to do anything about the spec once it's arrived. The Macbook allows you to upgrade the hard drive and memory very simply indeed - not so on the Air. The all-in-one aluminum shell precludes not just upgrades but battery replacements, too. This is starting to become a worrying trend for Apple - first the iPhone, now the Air."

Only time will tell with Apple’s first jump into the sub-notebook category as many predict a price drop as well as newer faster models in the future.

“Time will tell. The iMac wasn’t all that popular when it first came out, but look how that turned out,” said Logical Extremes a commenter on WebWorkerDaily.com. “People have to realize that not every product is targeted at every user. And, as always, a year from now there will be a newer, faster, better version that will increase its appeal over whatever this one gets.”

1.1.3 jailbreak

Just a quick note for all you iPhone 3rd party app enthusiast, check out this video of 1.1.3 jailbroken glory.  Too bad they are waiting for the SDK in february to release.

  

Macworld...Our take Part 1.

Welcome to Eple Sauce and welcome to our first post. A mini review on the announcements at Macworld. We won't go over everything, just the things we think had the largest impact. First Let's go over the iPod Touch update. Not all things were great for the kiddies on stevenote day. It seems that for iPod Touch owners there comes a fee to update to all of the same features that come standard with the iPhone. A $19.99 charge for the update is the cost, oh and did I mention it comes standard with all new iPod Touch's. Very Microsoftesque Steve.

Moving on, it seems some of the best things in life are actually free. Making up for their stingy iPod touch move, comes great updates to both the iPhone and the Apple TV. Although nothing really surprised with the iPhone update, it was nice to legitimately see it released.

That was freebie number 1, freebie number 2 comes in the form of an Apple TV update. The ability to download directly to the "TV" will appease many, and the option to rent from iTunes should appease the rest. Oh and did I mention HD movies now available. Finally you can put the HDMI and component inputs on the back of your Apple TV to good use. It was very nice to get something for free on stevenote day. Something's in life are free but the best thing's hardly ever are. That's what we will focus on next time, a small toy with a large impact...Macbook something!