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Macworld 2010 special iPad event liveblog
We are live from the floor of Macworld 2010, where they're be talking about the iPad in a special event feature Jason Snell, Macworld editor-in-chief, and a panel of industry experts. We have heard that won't be an actual iPad on the show floor, so it's not clear whether we'll get to see the device, but we will hear commentary and insight on what the iPad means for Apple and the world at large. After the break, find an updating liveblog of the event as it happens, straight from Moscone Center in San Francisco. Note: Entries below are listed from most recent to earliest, as per our liveblog format. If you want to read the liveblog in chronological order, read from bottom to top. Apologies to Dan Moren for misspelling his name, which he made a point of telling us when he stopped by the booth after the session. Whoops! Our bad.
Join us for a TUAW Talkcast tonight at 10pm Eastern
Our talkcast returns to the virtual airwaves this evening as usual, bringing your chance to get in on the discussion with us. This week's topic? Obviously, the iPad will be front and center as we discuss and digest what Apple's new device means for the world (and whether it's underwhelming or overpowered), but we'll also talk about Adobe's Flash and whether it's even worth pursuing for us Mac users, as well as the iPhone revision that wasn't (but hopefully will be later this year). Please do come and join us -- we'll kick things off at 10pm Eastern (7pm Pacific), and once you sign in on Talkshoe, you'll be able to call in with your own phone and chat live with TUAW bloggers and listeners. See you then! To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (take advantage of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): 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 Gizmo or X-Lite SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk with you then!
Natal to use 10-15 percent of Xbox 360's computing resources
A few details about Project Natal's technical capabilities slipped out alongside the holiday 2010 release window at Microsoft's CES press conference. The most revealing of these specifics is that the hardware will only siphon 10 to 15 percent of the 360's computing resources, according to a statement from Natal lead developer Alex Kipman. "Natal has to work on the existing hardware without taking too much hardware processing away from the games developers," Kipman added. However, according to a report obtained by GamesIndustry, the processing power could have been further reduced. The original build for Natal included a chip that processed the "bone system," assumed responsible for creating a skeleton of the player in front of the device's glossy eye. However, in an attempt to lower costs, the chip was removed from the device's final build, putting that processing onus on the software that will utilize Natal. In other words, it's extremely unlikely that any software will be able to have Natal support patched into it -- a fact that Digital Foundry's Richard Leadbetter says could help "serve to focus developers on Natal-specific concepts as opposed to revisiting old classics." Update: Updated language to reflect that of the original source -- Natal will use 10 - 15 percent of the 360's overall computing power, not just its CPU.
iPhone as TV remote coming to CES
It's kind of a shame the iPhone didn't include an IR port at all. While it's not a necessity (certainly the device has sold plenty of units without one), I have quite a few devices in my house that still require an old school IR remote to control -- it's 2010, but my TV still isn't hooked up to Bluetooth or WiFi. That's why this accessory looks interesting -- it's an IR transmitter that plugs into the iPhone's port and turns the device into a touchscreen-based universal remote. It's made by a company called L5 Technology, and they'll show it off at CES later this week. Previous systems have required you to connect up your television (or other device) to expensive controllers so the iPhone can access them via WiFi, but this seems like a much more sensible solution. They're asking $50 for it, which sounded expensive at first, but that's relatively cheap when it comes to high-end universal remotes. Assuming that the accompanying app is well-designed and full-featured enough to compare to some of the other offerings out there, it might end up being a nice solution for combining all of your various remotes into just your iPhone or iPod touch. [via Cult of Mac]
'iGuide' another rumored tablet/service name from Apple
"iSlate" isn't the only less-than-exciting name that Apple may be considering for their rumored upcoming tablet release. MacRumors has uncovered another possible trademarked name for the new device: iGuide. They found what appears to be a shell company created by Apple a while back (December 2007, around the same time that the iSlate trademark was filed) designed to trademark the name "iGuide" for a new device or service. The purpose of said service? To browse, transmit and play many types of multimedia content, including videos, audio, movies, photos, and even electronic publications like books, magazines, and blogs. Obviously, this is a pretty vague stab in the dark, but paired with recent rumors that the new tablet will include some Kindle or Nook-style reader functionality, iGuide could certainly be a delivery service for the new device, sort of an iTunes but for all kinds of media, designed to deliver content directly to the reader. We're just giving out ideas here -- as I said yesterday, this thing isn't real until it is. But the possibilities are very interesting for sure. [If you want to see more speculation and prognostication around the tablet in convenient video format, check out Mike R.'s appearance on Fox Business News earlier today.]
Nvidia CEO loves Apple, possesses mysterious alien device
Talk about burying the lead -- Shufflegazine did a piece on Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Hwang during a visit to Dubai recently, in which he talks about how much he and his family love their Macs, and Apple's machines add value, and in his house it's just "Mac, Mac, Mac," and OH MY GOD, what is that SITTING ON THE TABLE in front of him? OK, it's probably not definitely not an Apple tablet (yet), as there's no clear Apple logo on it, but man that's a nice looking tablet device, and even Engadget says they have no idea what it is. The thing is, this picture just appeared with Shufflegazine's piece, and while Hwang did go on and on about how much he loves Apple stuff (and yes, the two companies have a long history of sharing some hardware), there's not word one about that tablet or anything like it in the piece, no hint of any other hardware or partnership announcement. It could be a prototype, it could be another tablet we're just not recognizing, or yes, Hwang could have just thrown it down on the table during the interview, and Shufflegazine could have just completely missed it. [They didn't. -Ed.] Though if that last one is true, we have no idea how it happened. How do you cover Apple and their gadgets and avoid being drawn to that tablet. It's so... thin and well-designed. We'll be honest, if we were in the room, we might have licked it then and there to claim it as our own. Thanks to Nemanja for the tip.
Adobe points finger at Apple over Flash for iPhone
The lack of Flash of the iPhone has been an issue, complaint and breaking point for many current (and potential) iPhone users. It seems that Adobe is just as fed up as the rest of us and has started to more publicly blame Apple for the lack of this technology. When a website requires a Flash plugin, it provides a link to a "Get Flash" page. From here and on most devices, you can download the appropriate version of Flash and be up and running in a few minutes. In the past, iPhone users have been greeted with a message that basically states that Flash is not available for their device. A recent change, pointed out by GearDiary, shows Adobe getting a bit more snippy with Apple. The updated page now states that: "Apple restricts use of technologies required by products like Flash Player. Until Apple eliminates these restrictions, Adobe cannot provide Flash Player for the iPhone or iPod Touch." While this may not be "breaking news," it does say a number of things. For one, Adobe is clearly able to develop Flash for the iPhone and obviously wants to introduce it on the iPhone and iPod touch. This also shows that Adobe is very in tune of all the complaints and has redirected the blame to Apple.
Future iTunes versions could block the Pre, but why?
Yesterday, Megan noted a Fortune story saying that iTunes syncs flawlessly with the new Palm Pre. This, of course, got the water-cooler talk bubbling: "How did Palm pull it off? Will Apple allow this to happen?" Turns out they already have. A tech note on Apple's website notes the two dozen or so third-party players that iTunes (for Mac OS X, at least) is compatible with, including Rio and Creative Labs Nomad MP3 players. True, many of the models listed predate the iPod, and the tech note itself was last updated a little less than a year ago. But third-party device compatibility with iTunes isn't without precedent. Daring Fireball's John Gruber pointed to a story by Jon Lech Johansen that says Apple may block iTunes access to the Pre in a future update; Gruber himself said he "wouldn't be surprised if they did." I'm not so sure. First, let's look at how it works. According to Johansen, a unique USB device ID allows iTunes to recognize MP3 players (including iPods) that it's compatible with. Johansen speculates that Palm is using one of these IDs when communicating with iTunes. If it's an iPod's unique ID, then it will work with iTunes for Windows, too; this is an important litmus test and we don't know the results yet. I can understand Apple might not cotton to a Palm Pre specifically masquerading as an iPod USB device. Given that, allowing the Pre to freely communicate with iTunes isn't necessarily bad business sense, presuming Palm implements the functionality in a forthright manner (like other third-party MP3 players that iTunes already supports). Why limit access to the Pre, aside from pure spite? If someone already uses iTunes, chances are they have some quantity of DRM-free iTunes Plus music on their computer. There's no technical reason why the music shouldn't be easily playable on the Pre. One of the upshots of removing DRM in the iTunes store is to facilitate device interoperability. Allow non-Apple devices to play iTunes music, and suddenly Apple has customers it didn't have before. If Apple chooses to cut off just the Pre, and Palm is following the rules, Apple is unnecessarily cutting a stream of revenue. That's something I don't see Apple doing lightly.
Chinavision portable emulator plays it all
Gaming emulation isn't exactly the most legal activity you can take up -- as such, we can't help but admire the bravado of Chinavision's brilliantly named device. CVFH-N03-4G, pictured above. Housed within its minuscule frame is the ability to emulate games from the NES, SNES, Game Boy Advance, Sega Genesis, SNK Neo-Geo and Capcom's arcade platforms, CPS1 and CPS2. It also plays a number of audio, video and image formats, and apparently serves as an e-book reader using text-to-speech technology.In other words, for just $87.31, you can pick up a device that's capable of playing every form of pirated media known to mankind. Thanks, technology!
USB Digital Endoscope: you will see what you want to see
USB Fever has a real eye-opening item on offer: the USB Digital Endoscope. While they claim this product is for "medical" uses, looking at it, it strikes us as an unlikely candidate for actual, legitimate endoscopy. Luckily, the seller offers a helpful slew of other suggested uses, including forensics, tinkering, industrial inspection, science education, serial number identification, unicorn hunting, and crime scene investigation. You can order it now for $139.99 and it'll supposedly be shipped out the week of November 17th. Oh, and Mac users -- go ahead and get indignant -- this instrument is compatible only with Windows and Linux. [Via Book of Joe]
MMOs and the iPhone SDK
As you may already know if (like me) you are an iPhone owner, Apple spent the better part of this morning laying out just what will be in the iPhone SDK, which is basically a set of tools program developers can use to create applications for the shiny little touchscreen cell phone. Wait, did we say applications? I certainly meant games -- Apple (which is not, as of late, known for their gaming prowess) had EA and other game companies appear on stage to show off what kind of games can be based on the platform. I also spend some of my time blogging on TUAW, which is Weblogs, Inc's Apple blog, and I went on record there a while ago saying that the iPhone is the best handheld gaming device ever. Given what we saw today (along with the fact that programmers will have access to the gadget's multitouch, accelerometer, and even microphone and camera features), I believe that more than ever -- all we need is some games to play on it.So what does this all mean for massively multiplayer games? Lots.
Wii - now with bonus Bluetooth functionality? [update 1]
You'd think a company like Nintendo would hype up all the features of its new console to the point of abject sin, right? Well, all you savvy tech guys out there, there may be at least one Nintendo isn't telling you about.Some readers over at the Official Nintendo Forums are claiming an interesting ability of the Wii: it has the capability of receiving Bluetooth signals from various devices, including cellular phones. Apparently, one is able to go right into the Photo Channel of the Wii and immediately access pictures from a nearby Bluetooth-enabled cell phone, with no hassle or setup, as long as an SD card is inserted into the system. This is an extremely convenient way to view pictures from a cell phone on a larger screen, and would be a welcome addition to the functionality of the Photo Channel.With the Wii's apparent ability to receive and transmit Bluetooth to any generic device, might we see Bluetooth headset compatibility for voice chat in the future? Not having to buy a proprietary headset would be awesome, no?[Update 1: Alas, this has been proven 100% false. Why are people such jerks?][Thanks, Nick!]
Disney CEO confirms iTV has a hard drive under the hood
Mr. J is either going to be ticked that Disney's new CEO Rober Iger leaked a much-speculated feature of the upcoming iTV, or it's a clever piece of marketing to which he gave a thumbs up in the first place. Regardless, thanks to the iPod Observer, we now know the iTV, Apple's upcoming AirPort-Express-for-your-TV device they previewed at the recent September 12th It's Showtime event, will sport a hard drive so users "can download what you put on the device on your computer, on your iTunes, through the television set" (perhaps he could used more rehearsing when leaking big stuff like this).Now don't get ahead of yourselves - for a second there I too thought that "download what you put on the device on your computer" bit meant he was hinting the iTV might do DVR, but that wouldn't make any sense as it would cannibalize the TV shows and movies they sell in the iTS. Either way, stay tuned for more (hopefully less awkward) iTV detail leaks.[via MacMinute]
iChat Mobile: could this be the iPhone?
Alright boys and girls, WWDC is less than a week away, rumors are flying and now: so are the images. This 'iChat Mobile' device could exist only in Photoshop for all we and Engadget know, but the possibilities sound pretty delicious. If you let your imagination run wild for just a little bit, however, even that slogan can sound like something Apple would produce.Could this somehow tie into iChat itself, fulfilling so many of those VoIP + Leopard rumors that have been flying around? Might this also offer a true iTMS experience, packing iPod-nano sized memory, sans a song cap? Time will only tell if WWDC reveals anything about one of Apple's worst kept secrets as of late.Alright: let the speculation continue!
iLounge reviews USB transfer device
iLounge has posted a review of Hitch, a sort of USB middle man device that allows transferring files between two USB devices, including iPods. The Hitch is apparently a little slow, taking 6 seconds to transfer a 4MB song, but hey: it beats needing a computer to do it if you're a chronic swapper borrower, or if you're getting into the 'I bought a new iPod and I need help to move over all my music' business.There is one catch with the device specific to the Mac community though: it can't read HFS formatted iPods. Still, I figured this was worth posting, as not all of our readers are 100% Mac users all of the time (and yes, it's ok. We won't hold it against you). Plus, if we can help get the word out on such a handy device, maybe enough Mac users *ahem* could send an email to Sima Products, the Hitch's manufacturer, and make a request for some HFS love.
Migraine zapper stops headaches before they start
The BBC reports that a group of researchers lead by Dr. Yousef Mohammad of Ohio State University Medical Center have developed a device that can stop migraine pain at the first signs of a headache -- and, no, it doesn't work by clobbering someone over the head with it. The device, called the TMS, actually works by creating a short-lived electromagnetic field that interrupts the "aura phase" of a migraine before it leads to a serious headache. The researchers also say that they device can be effective in treating nausea, and noise and light sensitivity, but that further study is necessary before the device gets put into widespread use. Still, the early results look fairly encouraging, with 69% of the patients treated with the TMS reporting mild or no pain, compared to 48% of those in the placebo group. Stranger still, however, is the 2% of the control group who experienced exploding-headitis when using this device. Eh, go figure.
