It’s that time again, time to review some of my cherry picked smaller stories of the week for those that might have missed them. This time round we’ve got an Adobe Flash update that doesn’t suck. OK, sucks a little less. Flash 10.1 beta was unleashed to the willing public with GPU video acceleration for certain Nvidia cards on Windows, but perhaps more importantly reduced CPU usage across all platforms. What does this mean? YouTube that doesn’t make your Mac or PC red-line that’s what. A step in the right direction Adobe, maybe Flash isn’t a lost cause after all. I’ve certainly seen some improvements on my netbook and Mac. (more…)

Today has been a day of surprises for Apple aficionados. We’ve already seen the Magic Mouse (yes I know another awful name), but Apple also unleashed bumps and changes to the iMac, Mac Mini and MacBook lines.

First up we’ve got the white polycarbonate (marketing speak for plain old plastic) MacBook, which has gone all ‘unibody’ on us with an integrated ‘7 hour’ battery, LED backlit screen, a multitouch glass trackpad and DDR3. Nothing to shake a stick at, but nothing revolutionary either. I’m suprised anyone still buys these polycarbs considering the ever so appetising 13″ MacBook Pro isn’t all that much more, still each to their own I guess. Next we now have a Mac Mini server, something people have been using the Mini for ever since it’s release, which loses the optical drive in favour of more HDD space and dons OSX server. Aimed at those who aren’t big enough to need an Xserve but still want the Apple server experience, the Mac Mini server I think could do very well. The Mac Mini itself also got a speed bump and storage upgrades so those using it as a media player/server should be happy.

Last but certainly not least for the major upgrades, Apple’s range of consumer desktops got some love. The iMac now encorporates some much more desirable features including an SD card reader (yes, that’s not a typo) and HD+ displays. Gone are the 20″ and 24″ models and in are the 21.5″ and 27″ iMacs. The line can now be configured with a 3.06Ghz Core2Duo (yawn), a 2.66Ghz Core i5 (quad core) or a Core i7, which is where the real fun will be. Still lacking Blu-Ray, the iMacs now feature an optional HDMI input allowing you to use that HD screen for gaming etc. A nice bump if you were about to buy one, but you’re not really missing something if you’ve just bought one.

In other news, the Apple remote got replaced for an aluminium one, which I’m not sure about but I guess it matches all the aluminium used across the rest of the line. The top of the line MacBook Pro got a price cut with the highest spec machine now $1000 cheaper. The Airport Extreme and Time Capsule got full WiFi N certification with 50% improved signal quality and 25% increased range thanks to a new antenna design. Whether the update to the Time Capsule will stop them dropping dead just after warranty is anyone’s guess and we’ll see in a year I suppose.

So if you’re interested in any of the new kit, head on over to your local Apple Store or if you’re in the UK, you might have to wait till tomorrow.

[Via TUAW]

Apple loves their multi-touch technology.  Welcome their newest mouse. Just as I suspected, the age of Apple nipple foundling type mice are gone.  While kind of fun to play with, for some, it had to leave.  Now, scrolling is done just like a trackpad on MacBooks. The mouse also has gesture capabilities for swiping back and forth. It connects via Bluetooth, requires (2) two AA batteries, and costs $69 (by itself or free with a new Mac Mini).  It will be available at the end of this month and would be a great gift to me when I walk up to your door with my candy bag saying “Trick or Apple Multi-Touch Mouse!”

More info at http://www.apple.com/magicmouse/

[via Gizmodo]

Full press release after the break.

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Australia’s largest supermarket chain just got a new logo.  The new look is an apple with a shape of the letter “W”.  If you were to see that logo by itself, would you think “oh, this company sells computers.” In my opinion, no.  But, Apple is the big bully in this story because they are gearing up to sue Woolworths because it looks too much like their own logo.

Really, Apple?! Would you be more happier if the leaf was pointed the other direction? I mean, give them a break.  The artist probably spent a great deal of time getting that logo done.  The logo doesn’t even have a piece of it already eaten.  As much as I love Apple products, (I’m using a MacBook Pro to post this) it sucks to see people getting bullied around for no good reason. So, Apple.  Just stop it. You’re making yourself look bad.

[via Gizmodo]

So as you all know, or at least those who are interested know, today held an Apple music event. Rumours were rife, with everything from an iTablet (not yet), Beatles on iTunes, cameras in touches/nanos and the death of the iPod classic amongst other things. As noted before, certain market analysts were speculating about Steve Jobs return to the stage. Well they were spot on as a clearly emotional Steve Jobs addressed an equally emotional audience to talk about his health and the donor register (of which I’ve been a member for years thanks to a special someone in a past life). After the two-way loving was done, Jobs proceeded to confirm and dash rumours and bust out a couple of surprises. (more…)

Coming straight from Steve Job’s mouth (YAY! HES BACK!) during today’s Apple Keynote, the rumors have been confirmed.  To compete against the growing Flip video camera market, Apple has added video recording to their new iPod Nanos as well as FM tuning, a Pedometer (not PEDO – Meter), and Voice recording. Starting today, the 8GB nano will cost $150 while the 16GB comes in at $180. More photos from the keynote after the break. (more…)

If you recently upgraded to Snow Leopard you might have noticed a couple of programs not working. One program in particular and one I use daily was iStat Menus. Well you in luck cause today version 2.0 makes it debut. If you’ve never tried iStat Menus I would suggest taking it for a spin, it essentially let’s you monitor your computer from Heat to Upload and Downloads speeds. It becomes pretty useful especially during these hot summer days.

[Source]

One word: Efficient? These mofos had it all planned out. I wonder how Apple will step up their security on displayed products. I hope they don’t ruin it for the rest of the class. O_o

Invites have gone out to the tech journalist community today, for an Apple event entitled ‘It’s only rock and roll, but we like it’ for 10:00 PST on September 9th at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco (mirrored via satellite in London as before). It’s obviously going to be a music event, which isn’t a surprise to anyone who follows Apple’s event and release schedules, but whether we’ll be getting iTunes 9 with added social, iPods with cameras, demise of the iPod classic, Beatles on iTunes or event massive iPods/tablets is still up in the air. Analysts have also been speculating about the return of Steve Jobs to the stage for the keynote. Will he be joined by some ageing rockers as the caption hints, or is the Jobsian keynote as we know it deceased? You’ll have to tune in on Wednesday week to find out.

While I would have to admit how pumped I am for Snow Leopard, at the same time I’m a little concerned. I use my Macbook Pro daily for work and I need it running in tip top order. I’ve already started doing some research concerning the compatibility of my favorite and most used Applications. It seems that Parallels should be in the clear but what about other programs? Apparently there are questions though regarding Photoshop CS3. Supposedly Adobe has tested it but there are some conflicting reports. Here’s hoping everything works but then of course that’s the problem with being an early adopter.

Source