The Gadget Gazette

Mac news roundup (so far), Windows 7 Beta out in the wild (kind of)

gadgetteer — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 23:14:24 +0000

With Christmas Eve Eve upon us, there has been vast swaths of Apple and Microsoft news around, thanks to a couple of events entitled Macworld and CES. Ive written about most of the Apple news so far, but here is a quick recap of everything you would want to know about breaking Apple news within the past week or so.

There have been rampant reports of a new iMac and Mac Mini after the mentioning of a iMac 9,1 and a Mac Mini 3,1 in OS X documentation
Reports of a new iPhone Nano have come out, a shorter, fatter, wider version of its 3G cousin after XSKN released cases and pictures without regret
Psystar, the Mac cloner, has claimed that Apple, the most secretive and protective company in America, doesn’t have valid copyrights for OS X, though a Google search can find correct copyrights in a minute or two.
An application by the name of “iBoobs” was rejected from the App Store, leading to the belief that the guys over there operating the store may in fact be alive.

And also some news coming from Redmond…

A link to a Windows 7 Beta download came up twice on Microsoft website, and because Steve Ballmer’s keynote is on January 7th, chances are this thing will be a reality

So that’s it folks. Happy Christmahanakwanzidan

Read (iMac/Mac Mini rumors)

Read (iPhone Nano rumors)

Read (App Store rejection)

Read (Win7 Beta download page)

iPhone Nano reflections

gadgetteer — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 03:11:55 +0000

There has been much speculation recently as to what will be coming up at Apple’s last Macworld Expo. New iMacs and Mac Minis are penciled in to the lineup by now, but there has been much speculation as to the release of a so-called “iPhone Nano” that is noticeably smaller, and most likely lower spec’d and priced. Of course, there isnt any word of this coming from Apple HQs, but rather from case manufacturers, including some even having pictures of the phone compared to its larger, more expensive 3G brother (or sister).

The latest sighting of an iPhone Nano case is from the company XSKN‘s website, where a case for the iPhone Nano is listed right next to the iPhone 3G and first gen. Many might have never heard of XSKN, but the company has a very, very good track record. It has succesfully previewed/predicted the iPhone 3G and the iPod Nano 4G with both case listings and pictures that were dead-on, but this new listing of an iPhone Nano only has a case listing and no picture. The way-less respectable iDealsChina has posted some pictures that show the size of the Nano, but the fully orange screen in the Nano model makes the rendering/mock-up idea come up.

But why? The iPhone 3G outsold the entire Blackberry lineup in Q3, so why release a possibly flawed device afterwards. And besides, the iPhone 3G has only been out for a couple months when you think about it, and there has already been 2 versions in its short lifespan. Answer- Walmart and reccesion. This new iPhone would most likely be priced reasonably- i would guess $100. It may or may not have 3G, but i have to assume it will, because of how much of a downgrade that would be from the current iPhone (EDGE compared to HSDPA is like snails compared to cheetahs). It would likely have 2 or 4GB of memory, and Nano would imply that it is smaller and thinner than the current model.

The consequences of this could be great for the company. It would get the phone in many more hands, including mine if i could convince my parents. The only thing that could improve this and the iPhone 3G even more would be an extra radio, an EV-DO radio to be exact. If this phone was on Verizon and Spritn as well as ATT, i would guess that Apple could consistently sell 10 million total iPhones every quarter, which would blow away Blackberry and Nokia combined.

If the iPhone Nano dream comes to reality, it could greatly increase market share and it would raise the bar for companies like that of Blackberry and Nokia, and even HTC, to keep innovating and , lets face it, catch up. This effect would only be strengthened by putting this phone on Verizon or Sprint, which, in reality, seems like the best idea to ever hit Apple Computer.

Via MacRumors

iPhone, you just got Pwned (and unlocked!)

gadgetteer — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 04:09:24 +0000

Not all too much to say here. The iPhone Dev Team has succesfully unlocked the iPhone, which was demoed by Dev Team member Musclenerd using the long awaited Yellowsn0w app to get the phone working on T-Mobile. Problem- Because T-Mobile uses the all but un-heard-of 1700 MHz HSPA band, you wont get 3G on T-Mo even if you have the iPhone 3G (unless you manage to get the right radio in there, which doesnt seem possible). So, though you may be stuck with “High speed EDGE data,” you can officially say that your iPhone, has been Pwned.

Watch the video

Read

Tip of the Week- For the week of December 21, 2008

gadgetteer — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 17:44:39 +0000

Welcome to our Tip of the Week section, where i share my knowledge of computers and what they are able to do to make your life easier. This episode is for the week of December 21, 2008.

This weeks tip has saved my family hundreds of dollas and hours of yelling, twice. It is a seemingly common problem in Windows Vista where some sort of random power surge or failure, or unexpected sleep/hibernation can nock out the system sound. Upon returning to your account, you will see the normal spacker but with an x over it, and when clicked an error message saying “No audio output device installed.” The fix is simple. Go into Control Panel>Devices>Sound and uninstal the audio driver. Then, restart, and you have sound when you return.

This problem seems to be the most common with the Realtek HD audio devices and SigmaTel Audio devices, both of which are common in PCs. If you have furthur problems, go to the Microsoft Forums here.

The T-Mobile G2 Rumors Explode

gadgetteer — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 09:32:48 +0000

In a seemly cataclysmic explosion of new rumors, it seems as if the HTC G1 wasnt a 1 and done. New rumors and renderings of a still mythical HTC/ T-Mobile G2 have come out, and it is nothing to laugh at. First, a CellPhoneSignal report stated that the G2 was coming, and it was soon to be upon us. They ever were nice enough to give us a spec sheet, which looks more like a wishlist in reality. Included is the Android OS (if your wouldn’t have gotten that already), 3G, WiFi, Full Touchscreen, a front and rear facing camera (VGA and 5MP, respectively), Memory card slot (most likely MicroSD), and the ever present “High speed EDGE data” and GPRS.

Then, the more reliable “ninjas” of The Boy Genius Report followed up by saying that there would be video calling/conferencing and the release date would be pushed back to April rather than the January reported by CellPhoneSignal. Also, this new phone would not have any physical QWERTY, and it will keep the trackball currently present in the G1. Lastly, there is also a G3 being developed as we speak according to their source.

But i started thinking about why this doesnt make sence. First is the video calling/conferencing. This is T-Mobile, the ones with the 1700 MHz HSPA band, which is poor at best, so how could they be able to have video calling? You would need very good signal at both ends, even though it is hard to get decent signal on one end for T-Mo. Second is the fact that even though i called the images renderings, a commenter on the Engadget story never mentioned these to be mock-ups or renderings. And when you look closely at the pictures, you can see some errors with the graphics. One such occurance is on a photo of the Home screen with an Engadget RSS feed on it, and one of the stories had the date March 18, 2009, which, as far as i can tell, is wrong (especially because i remember rading that story not too too far back).

Think what you may, but don’t get too excited about this new dreamphone. Links galore after this.

http://img381.imageshack.us/img381/6574/g2hddesktoprevealsqwertnh2.jpg
http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/6746/slidingg2hdthreespotliglu0.jpg

http://img90.imageshack.us/my.php?image=g2hdchromoxi1.jpg

http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/1831/g2hdwhitedesktopio6.jpg
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/5885/swipingg2hdms7.jpg
http://www.talkandroid.com/android-forums/android-hardware/341-t-mobile-g2-phone.html

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/1632/tmobileg2redesigntilteddv3.jpg

CellPhoneSiganl report

Boy Genius Report report

Read

Welcome to The Gadgetteer

gadgetteer — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 08:32:34 +0000

Welcome to the new Gadgetteer blog, brought to you by WordPress. I will be talking about the latest technology news, along with some personal stories. Have fun reading.