Apple is turning its attention to its notebook line of computers, as the company announced a special event being held in Cupertino on October 14 at 10:00 am.

"The spotlight turns to notebooks," reads the invitation sent to select media on Thursday, announcing next week's event. No other information was given, but it's obvious what Apple will be announcing next week.

Some Apple retailers in the United States have been given price lists for a new Apple laptop line, and there's a big surprise: an $800 laptop. The information comes from a source we would categorize as reliable, would have access to such information, and who has been accurate in the past.

According to the source, Apple retail stores have been given price sheets that list 12 price points for the new range, with prices between $800-$3100. Current lines only have 8 price points, 3 Macbooks starting at $1099, 3 Macbook Pros and 2 Macbook Airs. According to the source, retail outlets usually get the price lists 10 days before products hit the market. Technical specs for the new laptops were not included on the price sheet.

The latest set of pictures, posted by a Taiwanese blogger at Apple.pro and republished by MacRumors, may very well be fakes, but they are consistent with reports that Apple has switched to a new manufacturing process that carves the shells of its notebooks out of a single "brick" of aluminum. (See Has Steve Jobs built a secret MacBook factory?)

In a report to clients Thursday, Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster added some meat to the bare-bones invitation Apple sent out a couple hours earlier.

The most important news, according to Munster, is that Apple for the first time since it discontinued the iBook will be offering its premium notebook computers below the psychologically-important $1,000 barrier. Specifically:

.....Munster expects the new MacBooks, which currently sell for $1,099 and come in black or white, to be clad in a new aluminum casing with a gesture-based touchpad and to sell for $899 to $999......

....Munster also expects Apple to introduce redesigned MacBook Pros at the same or slightly lower price. The current MacBook Pro design was introduced almost 3 years ago at $1,999. The new machines, he writes, will likely be thinner and include a more-sophisticated, gesture-based trackpad. He estimates they will start at $1,899.....

Munster expects Apple to introduce new MacBook Airs with updated specs, but doesn't offer any further detail.....

The stars are aligning for Apple to transition its 13-inch MacBook family into more of a premium product while simultaneously slashing prices on new models by as much as 18 percent, according to investment bank Piper Jaffray.

Reacting to Apple's announcement that it plans to hold a special notebook event on its campus next Tuesday, analyst Gene Munster told clients he believes the big news will surround a revamp of the company's entry-level MacBook line with prices starting at $899 or $999.

Members of the media have just received word that the rumored October 14 MacBook event is rumor no more. Invitations sent by Apple's PR department confirm that next Tuesday will see a special event hosted by the company at its Cupertino campus.

The image sent with the email and the tagline "The spotlight turns to notebooks" confirm that the event will indeed see a much-anticipated refresh of the company's laptop line. While it's not entirely clear in the picture, the finish on the MacBook lid does appear to support rumors of all-aluminum casing.

We're used to obscure portents or even no advance notice at all about Apple products, but this one takes the cake for clarity. Apple has invited media and analysts to an event at the company's headquarters in Cupertino on 14-Oct-08. The invitation features a beam focused across an open laptop with an Apple logo, and a headline reading, "The spotlight turns to notebooks."....

The moral of the story is, don't buy a laptop from Apple until October 14th, after which you can decide if the new machines are what you want, or if you want to look around for a deal on the previous generation

Apple Inc will unveil its updated laptops on October 14 and they may cost less, but analysts say the company's drooping stock has already taken any change into account....

Apple enters the fourth quarter against a background of continuing headlines about falling stocks and failing banks, and a September in which retail sales dived beyond expectations.

Just as speculation about Apple's plans in notebook computers reached a fever pitch, a new email from the company arrived: an invitation for a media event focused on that very business, which will take place Tuesday at its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. The invitation shows a single spotlight on the company's logo on a notebook computer.....

Analysts expect the company to unveil new versions of its MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook computers, including a model that would be priced below $1,000 for the first time. Some analysts are expecting the laptops to start at under $800, compared with $1,099 now.

As the baseball post season gets underway and the presidential election marches steadily closer, everybody and their sidekick has a prediction about what's going to happen in the next couple of months. Nor is the rarefied air of the Apple community immune to this disease of predictionalisis. With the announcement that Apple is planning on rolling out new laptops on October 14th, what kind of changes can we expect to the portable lineup that bears the name MacBook?....

Now that Apple has announced plans to hold a special notebook event on Oct. 14, I'm desperately hoping for a new crop of MacBooks that have better video capabilities than the current run does.

MacBooks have been enormously popular since their introduction, but their reliance on Intel-integrated graphics has made them almost wholly unsuitable for most of the graphically-intensive games on the market. They'll do just fine with "casual" games and with older games, but newer games either don't work at all or run so poorly that it's hardly worthwhile to even try them.

Game publishers have responded by noting that "Intel GMA graphics are not supported" in many newer games; in some cases, they're able to eke out enough frames per second on newer MacBooks equipped with the GMA X3100 chipset to make it worthwhile, but that creates a fair degree of confusion for non-technical MacBook users - do I have a supported machine or not?

Apple is expected to unveil new notebook computers, perhaps even one priced for those with tight budgets, at a "town hall" gathering at its northern California headquarters next week.

In typical enigmatic style, Apple hinted at the theme of the invitation-only event but provided no details other than that it would be held Tuesday morning at the iconic firm's headquarters in the city of Cupertino.

The scuttlebutt is that Apple will be introducing an $800 MacBook next Tuesday - and everyone is weighing in on how they think a low-cost Apple notebook will do in a market dominated by cheap Windows PCs that don't run Vista well and cheap netbooks that usually ship with Linux or Windows XP.

I have a different question: What does an $800 MacBook imply for the $600 Mac mini?

For a $200 difference in price, you get a built-in display, a built-in webcam, a built-in keyboard, a built-in trackpad, and a built-in battery backup.

Can you see the handwriting on the wall for the Mac mini - at least at the current price point?...... Who wouldn't buy an $800 MacBook instead of a Mac mini that doesn't include a mouse, a keyboard, or a display?

Applelinks Tech Web Reader - Friday, October 10, 2008
Posted by Staff on 10/10 at 10:22 AM
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Mac vs. PC: Making the Switch - There's a reason you never see an Apple store empty
Modding Your Old Mac to Make It More Useful
Linux at 17 - What Windows promised to be
Toshiba launches latest MacBook Air beater
Mozilla Readies Firefox 3.1 Features
PC Mag: OpenOffice 3.0 to Launch Oct. 13
The Mac Night Owl: How About a Real Business Mac

___

Mac vs. PC: Making the Switch - There's a reason you never see an Apple store empty

The Biscayne Times' Marc Stephens says:

There's a reason you never see an Apple store empty

Maybe it's because I'm a tech guy, but everyone in my orbit who makes "The Big Switch" always seems to tell me about it first. Voice low, eyes wide, they confess to buying an Apple the way one admits to robbing a liquor store, or running off with another woman: Having loved their sleek and functional iPods and iPhones for years, they finally broke down and crossed all the way over to the Dark Side. And yes, they are inevitably happier as a result.

PC makers abound, but there's only one Apple, which creates both advantages and disadvantages for prospective buyers in terms of price, software integration, and overall compatibility. With only 6.5 percent of worldwide market share compared to Dell's 31.4 percent (all stats are from Gartner, Inc.), Apple may be a small player in absolute terms, but they remain a definite "prime mover" as measured by growth and influence.

And it's not hard to see why.....

For the full commentary, click here.
http://tinyurl.com/4pf5kw






Modding Your Old Mac to Make It More Useful

Low End Mac's Phil Herlihy says:

As our Macs mature and get newer software, they can lose the ability to perform even lightweight tasks with reasonable speed. Upgrading is one way to improve their useful longevity, as I discussed in Know your Mac's Upgrade Options.

However, there is another method: Modification (or "modding") is the practice of reengineering something to your own specifications.

Ambiguous as that definition might be, it really is as simple as that. The viability of your ideas is the limit to what you can do. Think of it as an art form: If there are things about your Mac that you've wanted to change or perhaps just spice it up a bit, this is the way to go.

For the full commentary, click here.
http://lowendmac.com/ed/herlihy/08ph/mod-your-mac.html






Linux at 17 - What Windows promised to be

The Register's Timothy Prickett Morgan says:

On October 5, 1991, the young man who would one day become the world's most famous programmer - and the brand name and poster boy for the open source software movement - sent a message to a newsgroup announcing the birth of what would become the Linux operating system.

You can read that original message that marks the birth of Linux as an open source project, posted by Linus Benedict Torvalds, on the Google's archive of a mailing group called comp.os.minix .

It is hard to guess how many programmers and system administrators have been educated by the Linux development project, but it forms the core of what so many experts and newbies believe in terms of what an operating system should have in it, how that code is created, and how the systems software stack that rides atop of it is created and maintained.

It is safe to say that many millions of IT experts have been affected, either directly or indirectly, by Linux and the open source software movement it unleashed on corporations. While academic and government institutions had long since supported open source software projects as well as the Unix open systems movement, it is Linux - first and foremost - that made open source a commercial idea and one that corporations could embrace.

For the full commentary, click here.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/09/linux_at_17/






Toshiba launches latest MacBook Air beater

The Register's James Sherwood reports:

Toshiba has grown its slimline Portg laptop range with the birth of a new model which the firm claims is the world's thinnest and lightest fully featured machine to date.

The R600 weighs in at 1.1kg (2.4lb) and measures 283 x 215.8 x 19.5-25.5mm. Unfortunately for Toshiba, the R600 will have to share its attributes crown with its older brother, the R500, which weighs exactly the same and has identical dimensions....

Unlike the MacBook Air, the R600 packs in a multi-format DVD writer too.

For the full report, visit:
http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/10/09/r600_portege/






Mozilla Readies Firefox 3.1 Features

Computerworld's Gregg Keizer reports:

Mozilla Corp. will use a several-week delay it recently added to the Firefox 3.1 schedule to build a private browsing mode and beef up the browser's address bar, the company said today. Three weeks ago, the company said it would insert four to five more weeks into the timetable, part of a reaction to changes in the browser market, including the introduction by Google Inc. of its Chrome browser. Then, Mozilla said it would probably use the time to add a privacy mode and to punch up its TraceMonkey JavaScript engine performance.

For the full report, visit:
http://tinyurl.com/4bvwtq






PC Mag: OpenOffice 3.0 to Launch Oct. 13

OpenOffice.org will host a launch party in Paris on October 13 to celebrate the eighth anniversary of OpenOffice and the release of version 3.0.

That day will hopefully mark the actual availability of the software as well; "[The] target date is now 13th or 14th of October," Charles Schulz wrote on the OpenOffice marketing blog on Oct. 2.

To read more, go to:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2332283,00.asp






The Mac Night Owl: How About a Real Business Mac

One of the earliest superstitions bandied about when it came to a Mac was that it wasn't a serious business computer. In those days, real computers used command line interfaces, and Apple's graphical flourishes were meant as entertainment. You couldn't, they said, get any real work done on one of those little boxes. But since Apple wasn't heavily into games, just what could you do?

Here's the URL for today's commentary:
http://www.macnightowl.com/2008/10/how-about-a-real-business-mac/

Notes: You can also access our new RSS feed, available at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/rss

Or our new Atom feed at:
http://www.macnightowl.com/atom
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Applelinks iPhone News Reader - Friday, October 10, 2008
Posted by Staff on 10/10 at 10:21 AM
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5 (Yes, 5) Landscape Email iPhone Applications Released
iPhone Tech World Tour Announced
Ad Industry Eyes The iPhone
Smartphone showdown: BlackBerry Storm vs. the iPhone
All Hail King iPhone


___

5 (Yes, 5) Landscape Email iPhone Applications Released

The Apple Blog's Darrell Etherington reports:

In what must be related to an internal policy decision on behalf of Apple, yesterday saw the release of five separate applications (Compose, TouchType, Sideways, Lettera, and Wide Email) that allow you to compose emails in landscape mode.

Each application boasts the ability to type out email text using the much more user friendly (especially for those of us with meaty fingers) landscape iPhone keyboard, which should dramatically decrease the need for rewrites. The apps are not themselves email clients, more like notepads with the ability to export to the iPhone's native mail application.

For the full report, visit:
http://tinyurl.com/4qojhb






iPhone Tech World Tour Announced

The Apple Blog's David Appleyard reports:

Apple have announced a new series of developer events aimed at those creating software for the iPhone. The event will be touring various locations in the USA, as well as Europe, Asia and India, starting with Paris and San Francisco on October 22.

For the full report, visit:
http://theappleblog.com/2008/10/09/iphone-tech-world-tour-announced/






Ad Industry Eyes The iPhone

Fortune's Michal Lev-Ram reports:

Where there are eyeballs, there are usually ads. And the most eye-catching gadget of late has been the iPhone, which can now run thousands of software programs available at Apple's App store.

More than 100 million apps have been downloaded since the store launched in July, according to Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500). Those numbers have caught the attention of advertisers who see social networking widgets, restaurant locators, mobile games and other apps as prime real estate.

The mobile ad market is expected to grow to $12 billion by 2013, up from an estimated $1.72 billion for 2008, according to research firm Informa Telecoms & Media. Most of the industry's efforts have focused on inserting ads in mobile websites, accessible through cell phone browsers.

For the full report, visit:
http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/08/technology/mobile_ads.fortune/index.htm






Smartphone showdown: BlackBerry Storm vs. the iPhone

Network World's Brad Reed reports:

Not content to stand by while AT&T , T-Mobile and Sprint generate all the wireless hype, Verizon last week announced that it would be supporting Research in Motion's BlackBerry Storm smartphone on its network come November.

RIM's first touchscreen device features a "clickable" screen that the company says simulates the feel of a physical keyboard. The Storm can connect to either EV-DO Rev. A or HSPA 3G cellular networks and features 1GB of onboard memory storage and a card slot that allows for up to 16GB of additional storage.

But while Verizon (and Vodafone in Europe and elsewhere) is hoping that the BlackBerry Storm will be its own "iPhone killer," questions remain about whether the offering can match the popular Apple consumer device in several key areas. Here's a look at how the Storm stacks up against the iPhone in terms of call quality, data coverage, price and more.....

You can check it out at:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/100908-storm.html






All Hail King iPhone

MotleyFool's Dave Mock says:

Only weeks after its launch, I floated the opinion that Apple's iPhone 2.0 was already a hit, regardless of all the supposedly serious flaws that junkies and bloggers were highlighting. Now it looks like there's some statistical confirmation -- research firm NPD Group has crowned the iPhone 3G as best-selling consumer smart handset in the U.S.

For the full report, visit:
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2008/10/09/all-hail-king-iphone.aspx


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New Axiotron Service Expands Modbook Mac Tablet Availability
Posted by Staff on 10/10 at 01:18 AM
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Axiotron today announced Axiotron Modservice, a groundbreaking new service that will for the first time enable customers to transform their existing Apple MacBook computer into an Axiotron Modbook, the one and only Mac-based tablet computer. Customers will be able to send their Apple MacBook to an Axiotron authorized and trained service provider for conversion into a full-featured Axiotron Modbook.

Axiotron Modservice will be available for pre-ordering in the U.S. beginning October 28, 2008, starting at just $1,299.
Our Axiotron Modservice is a customer-driven initiative, plain and simple

The Axiotron Modbook is the world's only tablet Mac solution -- an award-winning tablet computer that seamlessly integrates an Apple MacBook, a state-of-the-art Penabled digitizer from Wacom and Axiotron's own hardware and software technology. The result: a revolutionary slate tablet that lets users draw and write directly on the screen.

Until now, all Axiotron Modbooks have incorporated only brand new Apple MacBook base systems. With Axiotron Modservice, virtually any Intel Core 2 Duo-based Apple MacBook can become an Axiotron Modbook. This new service also enables enterprises and educational institutions to take advantage of their existing supply agreements for Apple hardware when purchasing Axiotron Modbooks.

"Our Axiotron Modservice is a customer-driven initiative, plain and simple," said Axiotron CEO Andreas Haas. "We have had intense demand for a service that would give customers a way to turn their computer into a Modbook, and we are excited to offer them this new option."

When Axiotron launches Modservice on October 28, 2008, customers can go to http://www.axiotron.com/modservice to place a pre-order for the service. Customers who pre-order early secure a place in line when Modbook conversions begin in November.

Axiotron will soon announce an expansion of its U.S. network of service providers to perform Axiotron Modservice, as well as a new line of warranty options for the service.

Additional information about Axiotron Modservice is available at:
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MacWay Announces Immediate Availability Of Its SilverDrive Quattro 1.5 TB
Posted by Staff on 10/10 at 01:17 AM
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MACWAY today announced an industry first with the immediate availability of its SilverDrive Quattro 1.5 TB, the world's first 1.5 Terabyte quad interface single drive external Hard drive. It's High-end electronic featuring FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB 2.0 and eSATA interfaces combined with a whooping 1.5 TB hard drive, makes it the fastest, the biggest an the most versatile external Hard drive offering on the market today.

The SilverDrive Quattro 1.5TB is the latest member of the SilverDrive Quattro lineup praised by the press (it got the Editor's pick award of the famous SVM Mac magazine) and users.

It's the industry's first whopping 1.5TB capacity, offering 50% more hard drive space than the biggest competing single-drive products. Moreover, the exceptional speed of the hard drive sets new records.

The quad interfaces allows the SilverDrive Quattro to be connected to any computer using the best speed available. From the universal USB 2.0, the practical FiireWire 400 to the speedy FireWire 800 and the fastest eSATA connection, the SilverDrive Quattro does it all.

Finally, all these technological breakthroughs ship alongside a very stylish enclosure 100% made of high-grade aluminum that allows it to skip a fan, thanks to its passive cooling properties, for the most silent operation possible.

The SilverDrive Quattro is priced at € 299 (19.6% V.A.T included) for the brand new capacity of 1.5TB and with quad interfaces

Specs :

- 100% high grade aluminum stylish enclosure

- Passive cooling to avoid the use of a fan and allow the most silent operation

- Excellent speed – eSATA mode is as fast as internal SATA

- Excellent connectivity thanks to its eSATA, FireWire 800 (x2), FireWire 400 and USB 2.0 ports

- Removable standing feet allowing vertical positioning for a footprint on the desk.

The SilverDrive Quattro hard drives are available worldwide through MacWay's http://www.macway.com online store or its Paris and Strasbourg retail stores :

- SilverDrive Quattro 1.5TB 7200 rpm : € 299

- SilverDrive Quattro 1TB 7200 rpm : € 189

- SilverDrive Quattro 750GB 7200 rpm : € 169

- SilverDrive Quattro 500GB 7200 rpm: € 129

- SilverDrive Quattro 320GB 7200 rpm: € 109

For more information, visit:
http://www.macway.com/fr/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=silverdrive+quattro+7200&sort=4d


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Samsung Launches High-capacity Ultra-compact External Hard Drives
Posted by Staff on 10/10 at 01:15 AM
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Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced its new S Series external hard disk drives. The Samsung S Series family consists of a 2.5-inch drive S2 Portable and a 1.8-inch HDD S1 Mini. The new external drives are designed in a sleek high glossy casing with a leather back-cover for a professional look and feel.

"With an explosive 20 percent annual growth in the notebook market, external hard drives have become a popular and rapidly growing data storage medium," said Tae-Yeop Oh, vice president, storage marketing, Samsung Electronics. "Samsung's line-up of external drives is tailored for demanding consumers who want the best in capacity, reliability and industrial design."

By incorporating a USB controller within the conventional hard drive, the Samsung's S Series has a smaller case footprint vs. competing external hard drives. The USB on-board technology also reduces the weight and the power consumption of the drives. In addition, a power savings intelligence program monitors the drive's use and places the drive into a low power "sleep mode" whenever the drive has not been used for 10 minutes.

Added features enhance the usability of Samsung's external hard drives. A Samsung Auto backup function allows the user to program the default backup in real time or as scheduled. A SecretZone protects important files and data in the form of software-based AES-128bit or AES-256bit encryption. The external drive owner's data is also locked with a password-protecting SafetyKey which ensures data security. A capacity gauge enables users to see at a glance how much space is available, used, or designated as backup storage

Samsung's external hard drive S Series is available in 2.5- and 1.8-inch form factor devices. The 2.5-inch S2 Portable, weighing 154g, is available in 160-, 250-, 320-, 500-GB capacities. The S2 Portable's smaller form factor is a 17 percent reduction over competing 2.5-inch drive and power consumption shows a maximum 30 percent reduction rate. The credit card-sized 1.8-inch S1 Mini comes in 80-, 120-, 160-GB capacities and weighs just 91g.

The S Series will be available in Q4 in the U.S. The new drives are designed in four colors: piano black, snow white, wine red, and chocolate brown.
For more information, visit:
http://www.samsung.com
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iPod touch Fans: A Quarter Of A Million Strong
Posted by Charles W. Moore on 10/10 at 01:14 AM
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Minutes after Apple Corp.'s Steve Jobs introduced the iPod touch music player to a captive audience in San Francisco, Bobby Georgescu, a Stanford Computer Science major and founder of Vigorous Media LLC, worked feverishly to launch iPod touch Fans. The irony of the fact that the website would go on to become the largest iPod touch community on the internet (boasting, as of today, a quarter of a million members and nearly a million forum posts) and the go-to site for unofficial customizations of Apple's closely-held iPod touch software was lost on Georgescu as he sat a few blocks from the Apple CEO's Palo Alto working to launch the site.

When iPod touch Fans opened its virtual doors a week after the September 5, 2007 Apple event, the site immediately became a hotbed of discussions relating to the customization of the device's software, or firmware. As more and more tinkerers got their hands on Apple's new touch-screen device, the forum experienced immense growth, netting its first thousand members in less than three days. Users were drawn by the allure of nearly risk-free personalization and added functionality. They used a technique called "jailbreaking", a broad term that encompasses security exploits that have allowed users to escape from the virtual walled garden established by Apple for its iPod touch and iPhone software. Though legal due to protections afforded to reverse-engineering of gadgets, jailbreaking is frowned upon by Apple, adding an element of thrill to the modification process.

A center of unsanctioned innovation

While Apple focused most of its energies on stomping out bugs in its official firmware and improving the functionality of its much-touted iPhone, iPod touch enthusiasts on iPod touch Fans worked to squeeze as much functionality as possible out of their coveted devices.

When Apple tried to smother jailbreaking with its 1.1.1 software update, a group of users published instructions on using a vulnerability in the way the iPod touch software loaded image files to allow enthusiasts to jailbreak their updated devices. Later, one of the site's users discovered and published a method of adding an external microphone to the iPod touch, allowing it to be used for Voice-over-IP telephone calls and voice recording, and later still, another user released a Bit Torrent file sharing application that run completely on the iPod touch, taking advantage of its Wi-Fi connection.

Of course, iPod touch Fans users have also had their share of misadventures. One recent posting that quickly spread through the technology blogosphere was entitled "iPod touch vs Pickup truck", and contained a gallery of photos of an iPod touch that had had an unfortunate run-in with a pickup truck after slipping out of its owner's pocket.

Jailbreaking's "killer application"

In a recent interview with MacNewsWorld, Georgescu said that "Jailbreaking's killer application is customization ... everything from the icons, to adding a [Mac OS X-like] 'stacks'-like functionality, to skinning the iPod and Safari applications." Indeed, even as what others argued was jailbreaking's biggest benefit, the ability to run third-party applications on the iPod touch and iPhone, became officially sanctioned (and commercialized) by Apple's iTunes App Store, iPod touch Fans has continued to grow, buoyed by an ongoing and widening interest in customization of the iPod touch interface.

Today, iPod touch Fans boasts a lively forum section dedicated to customization of the interface, where users not only share and trade customized themes, but also instruct each other on how to create original materials of their own. Georgescu remarks that "the creativity of iPod touch Fans members never ceases to impress me... we routinely see work submitted on our forums that rivals that of professional graphics artists."

What's next for iPod touch Fans?

With a second-generation update of the iPod touch released almost exactly a year after the original version was announced, the growth of iPod touch Fans doesn't seem to be dampening.

When asked about what's next for the site, Georgescu mentioned a continuation of the zero-tolerance attitude towards pirated commercial applications, more work on organizing the nearly one million and growing postings, more engagement with application developers, and the addition of content intended to guide new users. The Vigorous Media LLC founder spoke confidently about the future. "In the first year, we've seen close to a million posts, a hundred thousand threads, and a quarter of a million members... I think that we can expect the site to continue growing as we improve our user experience and add more quality content," he said.

Indeed, with Apple's apparent yearly release cycle and the continued interest in device customization, it seems unlikely that iPod touch Fans' ranks will stop growing any time soon.

iPod touch Fans:
http://www.ipodtouchfans.com/

Vigorous Media LLC:
http://www.vigorousmedia.com/
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iPhone Users Frustrated With Mobile Portals of Popular News Sites, Keynote Study Reveals
Posted by Staff on 10/10 at 01:13 AM
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Keynote Systems, a leader in on-demand mobile and Internet test & measurement solutions for continuously improving the online experience, today announced the results of its first ever Keynote WebEffective for iPhone study of actual user satisfaction of mobile Web sites. Keynote WebEffective for iPhone is a brand new way of conducting online usability studies of iPhone customers interacting with mobile Web sites.

"The iPhone is a breakthrough mobile smart phone," said Dan Richards, senior product manager at Keynote, "but our Keynote WebEffective study shows that the user experience of surfing Web sites is not." Richards went on to say, "There are some areas of usability that need to be perfected for end users to be fully satisfied. Mobile Web designers are having to learn and adapt to a brand new world."

Study Results

• In the Keynote WebEffective for iPhone study, more than 75 participants were tasked with finding an entertainment news story, reading a news article, and searching for a story on a specific topic then sending it to a friend. Highlights of the study include:


• Satisfaction rates were low for both Yahoo! (51 percent) and Fox News (64 percent) mobile Web sites and less than half of users found the sites to be appealing.


• Only four percent of users tapped into advertising; nearly a quarter noticed advertising but did not click through.


• While Fox News users were more likely to find the mobile experience to be better than a computer experience, Yahoo! users were more likely to find the mobile experience to be much worse than a computer experience.


• Significantly more Yahoo! users (60 percent) reported frustration with the site than Fox News users (33 percent).


• Expected user frustrations included site errors, cluttered pages, poor site speed as well as excessive scrolling. Path analysis reveals how users encountered and attempted to work around these issues.


• Unexpected findings included a lack of visual appeal and difficulties around the search feature.

About the Tool

Keynote WebEffective is the only mobile online research tool providing marketers, researchers and advertisers a customer experience and usability lab without walls. Unlike simple survey products, WebEffective tracks user behavior as the participant completes assigned tasks. Providing insights into a mobile Web site's effectiveness and online business performance through in-depth customer experience research, WebEffective combines the behavioral aspects of clickstream analysis, the quantitative data of surveys and the qualitative feedback of usability labs to not only understand what customers are doing on the mobile Web, but also why. Keynote WebEffective is a commercially available SaaS (software-as-a-service) product.

About the Methodology

The Keynote mobile Web usability study for iPhone was run using Keynote WebEffective. The study examined the satisfaction and usability levels of more than 75 consumers who accomplished three separate Keynote-assigned tasks on the Fox and Yahoo! News mobile portals using their iPhone. Participants were questioned on why they took the actions they did, their overall satisfaction and what could be done to improve the experience. During the test, the users' activities were tracked by the application and compiled for clickstream analysis to identify how users accomplished the tasks, their navigational choices and the time involved between navigation activities.

Availability

To receive the complete Keynote WebEffecitve for iPhone study, visit:
http://www.keynote.com/Key_Ads/ceux_iphone_study_2008.html

For more information about Keynote's WebEffective user experience testing product, visit:
http://www.keynote.com/products/customer_experience/web_ux_research_tools/webeffective.html •iPhone •iPhone News •Comments •Tell-a-Friend


Article URL:
http://www.applelinks.com/index.php/more/21601
AT&T Adds Online Account Setup for Its iPhone 3G Customers
Posted by Staff on 10/10 at 01:12 AM
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AT&T Inc. has announced that its iPhone 3G customers can set up accounts online before heading to the nearest store to activate and complete the purchase, reducing in-store wait times as the busy holiday shopping season approaches.

New customers can perform a pre-qualifying credit check and determine eligibility to port an existing phone number to AT&T in advance by visiting http://www.att.com/iphone . Existing AT&T customers can also determine eligibility to add a new line for iPhone.

The new AT&T online service joins Apple's existing offering to give customers the fastest way to get up and running with their new iPhone 3G by starting the setup process online and finishing in the store. For more information, please visit http://www.apple.com/iphone/buy .

iPhone 3G combines all the revolutionary features of iPhone plus 3G networking that is twice as fast(1) on the nation's fastest 3G network, built- in GPS for expanded location-based mobile services and iPhone 2.0 software, which includes support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs thousands of third-party applications that are available through the Apple App Store.

For the complete array of AT&T offerings, visit:
http://www.att.com

(1) Based on 3G and EDGE testing. Actual speeds vary by site conditions.

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QuickerTek Introduces New MacBook Pro External Battery/Charger
Posted by Staff on 10/10 at 01:11 AM
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QuickerTek announces the Apple Juicz External Battery/Charger for the 15 and 17 Inch MacBook Pro. This new product gives users up to 10 additional hours of computing power.

This product is an logical extension of our first MacBook Air External Battery/Charger, gives MacBook Pro users far more flexibility in how and when they choose to use their computers. A total of 8 to 10 additional hours of battery power and uses the MagSafe adapter which is included in the kit.

The Apple Juicz External Battery/Charger recharges in only three hours, while the stock MacBook Pro battery recharges in five hours. Styled to blend with your Apple equipment, the MacBook Pro External Battery/Charger is both lightweight and good looking.

Specifications:
* Physical: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
* Weight: 5 pounds
* Battery: Li-ion Polymer

The Apple Juicz External Battery/Charger will be available in three weeks. Pre-orders are being taken through the webstore. Like most QuickerTek products, the Apple Juicz External Battery/Charger for the 15-17 inch MacBook Pro is backed with a one-year warranty on parts and labor.

QuickerTek:
http://www.quickertek.com/

Apple Juicz External Battery/Charger:
http://www.quickertek.com/products/macbook_pro_15_charger.php

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