• Apple is planning an event for late January, possibly the 26th to showcase some new products

• Silicone Alley Insider has reported that some developers are being asked to showcase large screen versions of apps.

• Jobs is supposedly very happy with the upcoming tablet and an upcoming surprise

• A new patent from Apple shows what is called “Keystroke tactility arrangement on a smooth touch surface”.  Possibly a way t interact on a tablet.

• iSlate.com was purchased by Apple in 2007.  Possibly the name of the new tablet?  We certainly hope not.
•  
• 

There you have it in condensed form.  Now we wait to see what is next in this fog of rumors. 

  The PS3 Slim was announced today and not really much of a surprise.  Sony did the same with the PS1 and PS2 and so inevitably PS3 was next.  The new console consumes 34% less power, is 36% lighter and 33% smaller.  The price will be a reasonable (finally) $299 and it will launch in September.  The current consoles will be dropped in price as well, but no reduced price was given.

[via Engadget]

  Over a year ago and long before Google launched the Chrome Browser there were many who suspected that the search giant would launch an operating system.  Today, Google has announced that it is indeed working on an OS x86 and ARM processors.    The OS should be out the second half of next year and will be focused on the web which comes as no surprise.  Microsoft may not be nervous about Mac, but you can bet this shakes them up a little.  See the full release below:

It’s been an exciting nine months since we launched the Google Chrome browser. Already, over 30 million people use it regularly. We designed Google Chrome for people who live on the web — searching for information, checking email, catching up on the news, shopping or just staying in touch with friends. However, the operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web. So today, we’re announcing a new project that’s a natural extension of Google Chrome — the Google Chrome Operating System. It’s our attempt to re-think what operating systems should be.

Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. Because we’re already talking to partners about the project, and we’ll soon be working with the open source community, we wanted to share our vision now so everyone understands what we are trying to achieve.

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We’re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don’t have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

Google Chrome OS will run on both x86 as well as ARM chips and we are working with multiple OEMs to bring a number of netbooks to market next year. The software architecture is simple — Google Chrome running within a new windowing system on top of a Linux kernel. For application developers, the web is the platform. All web-based applications will automatically work and new applications can be written using your favorite web technologies. And of course, these apps will run not only on Google Chrome OS, but on any standards-based browser on Windows, Mac and Linux thereby giving developers the largest user base of any platform.

Google Chrome OS is a new project, separate from Android. Android was designed from the beginning to work across a variety of devices from phones to set-top boxes to netbooks. Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems. While there are areas where Google Chrome OS and Android overlap, we believe choice will drive innovation for the benefit of everyone, including Google.

We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up. They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to worry about losing their computer or forgetting to back up files. Even more importantly, they don’t want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates. And any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the Internet.

We have a lot of work to do, and we’re definitely going to need a lot of help from the open source community to accomplish this vision. We’re excited for what’s to come and we hope you are too. Stay tuned for more updates in the fall and have a great summer.

  We knew a new iPod lineup or refresh was coming this september as usual.  What we did not really know is that the lineup looks to include an iPod Touch that has a camera built in.  This comes as no surprise as we always thought that Apple would add a camera to their iPod Touch line.  

Techcrunch reported:

"One of our sources in Asia say that Apple has placed an order for a massive number of camera modules of the type that they include in the iPhone. These are inexpensive cameras, in the $10 range. And the size of the order, our source says, means they can only be used for one thing – the iPods."

The picture above comes from The AppleLounge who found this case at Deal Extreme.

  For some time yesterday, ClubMac had an image of a 2TB Time Capsule Box posted within its product detail section.  The image is no longer on the site which usually is a hint of confirmation.  It is no surprise Apple would release larger iterations of the Time Capsule, which combine a wireless router with a hard drive for backup or storage.  We suspect they put this up by accident as it was showing under the 500GB Time Capsule details and most of these images are from the manufacturer and could have simply used the same file name for the image.  Other than this, there is no more information, but we can assume the release would be just around the corner.

[ClubMac]

  This may not be a surprise for most of us as the iPhone offers one of, if not the best web experience from a phone.  

"Net Applications’ February results show the iPhone operating system having managed over nine times the usage of its next smartphone competitor, Windows Mobile, which had just 6.91 percent of the traffic measured across tens of thousands of sites."

This does not say that other phones are not used for this purpose, but seeing how the iPhone is the newcomer to the smartphone category, the lead is significant.

[Appleinsider]

  A .pdf that has since been pulled from Apple on their site confirmed that there would be late 2008 MacBooks.  This is no surprise, but it does help ramp up what the nuances of the new MacBooks have for us.  

The document simply informs the repair personnel of how to assemble the airport belongings into the display. 

"Before installing the replacement display, install the AirPort card on the display assembly. The display assembly does not come with the AirPort card installed."

Now we wait and see what goodness Apple has for us on Tuesday.

[MacRumors]

  Cnet is reporting that they had a chat with Jason Calacanis who informed them that Apple was working on their own HDTV.  We have heard this rumor years ago and it sort of trickled out of existence with the Apple TV. 

Now the new rumors say that Apple is creating its own fully networked HDTV with Apple TV built in features.  The new TV’s would feature an iTunes movie and TV show rental service and allow full integration with you Mac or any PC running iTunes.

This comes as no surprise , but it could be just something Apple is playing with in their labs that may never come to be.  There is no reason Apple could not make their own TV’s and maybe we will see them soon, but I certainly hope the price is nothing like their current displays if they do come to market.
 

[via cnet]

  Apple has been trying to get the iPhone in every country around the world and they are almost set with China.  China Mobile, the country’s largest carrier is close to finalizing its deal with Apple for iPhone sales.  

The news comes as no surprise as China is the worlds largest population of cell phone users in the world.  We think they are trying to get in the door before the September 9th event which would make sense.  

Apple is edging closer to being the most used cell phone in the world, but it will take some time.

[via MacDailyNews]

  The Mac seems to be the home computer and the other two happen to be the work computers.  This is not to say Macs aren’t capable as we know full well they are many times more capable than Windows and more user friendly than Linux.  

The conclusion is quite simple: we work and suffer with MS and Linux, we relax with Apple on the weekends. If you have another conclusion, there is a great comment box at the end of this post.

[Read]