October23
Latest
Talkcast: Looking ahead to iPad mini, earnings and more
It's Talkcast time again, and it's a doozy -- we're on the brink of a new product announcement and a quarterly earnings report, and that just gets us to Thursday. What will we see at Wednesday's announcement? Will there be pie? Plus a hands-on assessment of the current flagship in mini tablets (for the next few days, anyway), the Google/Asus Nexus 7, from the perspective of an iPad owner. It's going to be nothing but fun -- and better if you join us. To participate, you can use the browser-only Talkshoe client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; or just call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (Viva free weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8. If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free X-Lite or other SIP clients (aside from Skype or Google Voice); basic instructions are here. Talk to you tonight!
Media invitations for October 23 Apple event are in the air
A few minutes ago, Twitter lit up like a jack o'lantern with word that Apple's long-anticipated email invitations to the October announcement event have arrived in inboxes near and far. The media event, to be held at the California Theatre in San Jose, will serve as the finale for months of speculation on the widely rumored "iPad mini" shrink of Apple's market-leading tablet computer. Engadget's got the invite graphic -- "a little more to show you," indeed. Macworld chief Jason Snell points out that the last Apple event to be held at the theater was the iPod photo launch featuring U2's performance. In case you're in the market for more than a teensy iPad, 9to5Mac suggests that new Mac minis and a new 13" Retina MacBook Pro will be sharing the stage. As Erica noted this weekend, the launch of a scaled-down iPad could mean big things for the textbook market. Publishers are rumored to be part of the 10/23 event, as are game developers. We'll be here with our popcorn and nachos come October 23, so stay tuned!
Acer: Windows 7 coming October 23rd pre-loaded on Z5600 AIO
If all this talk of Windows 7 Release Candidate 1 has thoroughly piqued your interests, here's something to tickle your fancy even more. Acer UK marketing director Bobby Waltkins has told Pocket-Init that the Z5600 all-in-one PC is due out October 23rd along with -- and here's the kicker -- a genuine copy of Windows 7 pre-loaded on the device. That jibes with what Compal's president said back in late February, but it's hard to say for certain from the wording of his response whether he's referring to the OS's wide release or just his company's 7-equipped desktop, although his talk of a 30-day upgrade free upgrade period might be suggesting the former. Until the boys in Redmond call it official, we're just gonna mark our calendars very lightly with a pencil.
