Next wednesday, September 1st, Apple will deliver a new keynote. As usual at this time of the year, the event will deal with new ipods en music. As the company has started preparing for the media event, the rumors pile up and one can easily predict this keynote to become a disappointment once again.
As with many Apple events, people try to get their hands one every single piece of information about the event in the hopes they can unravel the secrets behind new products etc. The downside of these rumors, is the fact that people start expecting too much of Steve Jobs, which leads to disappointment.
This year’s rumors talk about an iPod touch with FaceTime capabilities without the need of any SIM-card. There are also rumors about a new Apple TV and a web-based iTunes. People are also expecting to here some new information about iOS 4 for the iPad. As the above picture shows, Apple is fully preparing for the event. The image of the guitar clearly shows the importance of music during this event. The Yerba Buena center is ready to receive its guests on September 1st, at 10 o’clock in the morning, local time.
Technologizer has posted a list of 32 tablets/slates currently available or with an availability labelled ‘soon’. Particularly with the approaching holidays this list will grow in numbers. Some tablets might be actual iPad killers, like some of the Windows 7 tablets.
There are also smaller tablets like the Archos 5 with a 4.8-inch screen and the Dell Streak with a 5-inch screen. You’ll also find tablets with screens bigger then the iPad screen, like the Asus EeePC EP121 who has a 12-inch screen.
The prices are very different from each other. The Indian tablet will cost only 35 dollar while the Toshiba Libretto W100 has a price tag of $1100. What do you think? Will one of these tablets defeat the iPad?
Aqua Globs HD is a game with colorful little figures (called ‘Globs’) that need to be connected with each other to earn points. The game is available for both the iPhone and the iPad.
As the title suggests the game has some familiarity to it, since it combines the line drawing feature of Flight Control with the colorfulness of Super 7. The gameplay area is the water in which you’ll see orange and blue Globs. Globs of the same color need to be connected with each other by drawing a line. If they touch each other they’ll form a bigger Glob. By combining to bigger Globs of the same color you’ll earn more points and those Globs will disappear.
Blue and orange are not allowed to touch each other, but a green Glob can touch both colors. If orange and blue Globs are combined, you will loose one of three lives. After loosing all three lives, the game is over. The goal is to constantly try to make a new record a become the best of the world, since you scores will be submitted to OpenFeint. Another very addictive game for the iPad and it’s cheap as well.
Apple released a new iPad commercial two days ago. It aired on primetime television and was also posted on Apple’s website and its YouTube page. The ad shows what the iPad can do and offers a quick look at some amazing applications.
You see a one or two seconds shot of various apps. After each shot is a word related to the app just shown. The ad starts with “iPad is…” and then shows the words: delicious, current, learning, playful, literary, artful, friendly, productive, scientific, and magical.
If you’d like to have a small and compact desktop computer which will not need a lot of space, maybe you could consider buying the Mac mini. That would be a very cheap solution and you don’t have a screen yet. So the trick here is, to combine the iPad with the Mac mini to create a very compact desktop computer. A mouse and keyboard make the package complete. You’ll have a miniature computer with the functionality of Mac OSX and a touchscreen interface.
The video below shows how this can be done. The guy uses VNC to connect the iPad with the Mac mini. It’s not very quick, but it is working and there are not many troubles. It’s also possible to connect an iPhone or iPod touch with the Mac mini at the same time.
There’s one more thing you need and that’s a iPad stand. The picture shown at the top of this article shows it can be done (developed by iPad Unwired). One downside; the price. The new Mac mini costs $699. The cheapest iPad costs $499. Together with the necessary accessories the price could be at least $1300 to $1400. But at least you’ll have a very sleek and compact desktop alternative.
