Gateway unveils One (ugly) all-in-one PC. iMac says, “eh”.

Gateway today revealed the unexpected; another shot at emulating Apple’s trend and design, rather than venturing into an entirely new and refreshing concept of the PC, ergo the “One”. The all-in-One desktop sports some nice features, including more customization than regular Apple fare, with a spiffy, car-hood like mechanism for adding RAM and an extra hard drive. Also, an ingenious power brick design maintains a couple of USB, networking, and audio inputs tucked out of the way for a more astute wireless PC experience. But, early reviews have more criticism than crave it seems.

Both Computer Shopper (7.9/10) and CNET (7.1/10) found in their reviews a lackluster attempt at the iconic iMac’s share of the All-in-Wonder computer. Priced between $1300 and $1800, both found no reason to jump into the One, neither in the entry level range nor the extreme end. CNET sums up the One’s performance prowess against the iMac’s, stating that “it’s clear that Apple takes the iMac’s performance as an actual computer far more seriously than Gateway does.” The screen lacks “pop”, where as the iMac’s display has been reviewed as screaming for attention. The One’s display is awkward, lacking any true vertical adjustable viewing angle (it begs to be flopped on it’s face) and is supported by a surprisingly sturdy, Apple Cinema Display of yore type stand. Probably the biggest let down to both sites, and not the most surprising, is the inclusion of Microsoft’s Windows Vista OS, which lacks in comparison to the iMac’s one-two punch of Mac OS X Tiger and iLife ’08 productivity suite. Computer Shopper sums up their review asserting that “the Gateway One is a regular midrange PC with an uncommonly alluring design philosophy.”

Nonetheless, both reviews state that among the heated contentions for the all-in-one/media center/pro-sumer market, the One may turn a few heads with its offerings, especially those unable to make the whole-hearted jump into Apple’s OS, or any other alternative operating system. Those codependent to or requiring Windows might find comfort in the stylings of the One, rather than reaching for that next grey box.

 

 

 

Macbook Nano / Mini with current Apple keyboard?

This rendition of the rumored Macbook Nano/Mini has the new Apple bluetooth as the keyboard. Will Apple go this route and forego the past all aluminum look? Or will they stay with the tried and true Powerbook/Macbook Pro keyboard?

[Note] Original rendition created and posted by “Anonymouscoward” here, followed by PS work by TheMNT.

On Safari: Firefox 3 theme candidate spotted, drops not too far from the Apple tree

A proposed theme build for the upcoming and anticipated Firefox 3 release has quite a few Safari user making a double-take. A Bugzilla thread from Mozilla reveal these notes and images on an apparent final candidate for the OS X build of Firefox 3. An eerie resemblances indeed.

An internal post has identified increased traffic of the site, adding this reply:

Since this hit digg it looks like we will be getting a lot of traffic.  A
couple of notes for people who are curious:

-This is currently a mockup, not the final design
-We are taking visual integration seriously on every platform, but we are also
working on ways to create a design that is still uniquely Firefox, and
recognizable across all of the platforms
-Calling it an identity crisis is going a little far since most apps try to
match the OS they are running on
-While we are not going to exactly match Safari, a massive number of mac users
have written in to request that we put greater effort into visual integration
with OS X for Firefox 3

 

Apple Update onslaught! Intel iMacs, iPhones, and iWork ’08 to name a few…

Fresh from a refresher of Apple’s online store comes a slew of updates for our beloved Macs. The biggest news is the 1.1.1 update we all knew was coming. Apple had a pretty clear statement with it’s warning message within the update, stating in bold:

“IF YOU HAVE MODIFIED YOUR IPHONE’S SOFTWARE, APPLYING THIS SOFTWARE UPDATE MAY RESULT IN YOUR IPHONE BECOMING PERMANENTLY INOPERABLE..”

Other major changes include:

• iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store app and support.
• Video out to TV set or monitor.
• iPod touch like Home button functionality.

A misleading MyiTablet article claims 1.1.1 bricks unlocked iPhones, while in actuality, you are unable to re-authenticate the phone, NOT bricking it entirely. It is currently unclear if anyone has successfully done so, yet.

Intel iMacs, Mac Pros, and Macbooks received an updated firmware, versions 1.2 and 1.1, respectively. Touting performance and reliability improvements with the Intel Core 2 Duo processor and fixes for better boot camp use; you can find all of them here.

Also, all iWork ’08 apps were all updated.

Sadly, an tv update was no where to be found…

Talks of the Apple Newton reborn, touch screen “MacTablet”.

Two mock ups of the rumored new Newton have surfaced, fueled by the combination of Steve Jobs comments at “D: All things Digital” and the slew of touch screen Apple devices. Both MyiTablet and ArsTechnica have cited this SlashGear article, telling of a team at Apple known as the “PDA Team”, who have been working on a device along side with the iPod touch and iPhone teams at Cupertino. Also, Slash Gear states that “it would have more functionality, and apparently they are even working on more functions for the touch screen including drag and drop and copy and paste. Word on the street is we could see it some time in the first half of next year, maybe even as soon as MacWorld.”

Don’t count on it . Steve has a self stated 10 million sell quota for the iPhone and he wouldn’t want to cannibalize that market even more.

Quick note: Apple Store down as of 12am PST.

Probably just updating and maintenance, but what if Apple is readying the up-coming Leopard release, sooner than we thought? New OS X 10.5 builds have been cited as stable and only having minor tweaks and issues. Maybe the rumored slim Macbook Mini/Nano? I guess we’ll find out soon enough!

[Update] Apple has done a redesign of the online store front. Upon quick inspection, no new revisions noticed on any hardware (sorry, Macbook Mini/Nano proponents), but there was some shifting of sections including special deals and refurb items, which have been a little more buried.

Apple (AAPL) Shares hit above $150 mark… should have bought when I switched!

Apple Shares broke the $150 mark by $o.83, shattering it’s previous day all time high. It is now up 1.72%

The cupertino company is now valued at $131,167,952,030, which is more than double that of Dells ($63,718,772,700).

For the record, when I switched, Apple shares were at a respectable $82.66 back in January. Man I should have…

Mum’s not the word concerning iPhone hacks, says Apple

A very omnious statement was reported today by The Unofficial Apple Blog about Apple’s stance concerning iPhone hacking and sim unlocking. The previously thought stance from Cupertino was that of disregard and ignorance, without much concern for those tooling with the phone. Things have changed apparently, as TUAW reports that Apple is telling consumers that “unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone’s software, which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed.” Also, Steve Jobs made another quite impacting comment at the UK iPhone release stating that “[hacking the iPhone] is a continuous cat and mouse game. Are we the cat or mouse, who knows?”

It is unclear whether or not this sudden change of heart is an apparent internal decision by Apple, or related to pressure from Apple’s partnership cell phone carriers (AT&T, O2, T-Mobile, etc).

Leopard looming ever so slightly. Developers see new build, possible Gold Master.

Apple Insider, Mac Rumors, and Think Secret have released details into the new developer seed of Leopard (9A559). In depth details are available via previous links, but here is the gist:

• Two known issues in build: archive installs and HP printer drivers. The later may be dealt with in a software update after release.
• Build primary purpose to test software update mechanism.
• New spaces icon, and iCal abilty to show date in icon, even when not open.

Leopard must be made “Gold Master” in as little as three weeks to keep in line with Apple’s promised October release of the operating system.

10 & 12-inch, Macbook Nano / Mini. Touch gestures, glass screens, flash HD, and Blu-ray?

[UPDATE]: Rumor realized! The all-new Macbook Air. Details here.

Renditions have surfaced surrounding the rumored slim Macbook Pro. Speculations give a window from a release with Leopard this October, to an unveiling at Macworld ’08. Supposedly, mockups surfaced, in fear of releasing real photos, ala iPod nano “fatty” pics and Apple legal debacle last month. Speculations include iMac aluminum aesthetics, glass screens with black border, larger trackpad with integrated touch gestures (pinching, flicking), flash HD (upto 80gb), slimmer profile, and Blu-ray drives.

Alternate Tag line: “Touch like a Pro”. Got a better one? Let us know in the comments!

[Update] Optical drives maybe out on some ultra thin models, touting “zero-movable parts” and iPhone thinness. Unclear whether or not this non optical drive model will either be a Macbook or Macbook Pro, or a new line all together (we place our bets on “Macbook Nano” or “Macbook Mini”). Dedicated GPUs for all models possible due to Leopard’s graphical demand and desired better gaming through emulation (Boot Camp, Parallels, etc).