Otaku Gadgets

It is Monday again, which means blink-and-you-miss Sunday is over already. Back in the world of tech, things have been really busy. Just after a big week full of Apple products and (glowing) Apple financial reports, the rumors are back again. Plus, Samsung has quietly launched their second Android phone in Russia (of all places). This time I have some iPhone apps to talk about as well.

Get over to the other side and start catching up.

Quad-Core MacBooks [?]

Nothing like fresh Apple rumors to start the week with. And these are extra delicious because they combine quad-core processors with MacBook Pros. Do I see you sitting up and taking notice? Good, because it seems like there’s some pretty convincing evidence on the table here.

The Mac OS 10.6.2 (build 10C531) that is currently being seeded to developers has two new versions of MacBook Pro listed within the system (the highlighted ones in the screenshot up top).

The current MacBooks Pros are at version 5_5, which means there’s at least something coming up. In the meantime, 9 to 5 Mac reports that they have information about Apple Geniuses being trained on Core i5 and i7. Yes, those chips are present in the new iMacs. But there’s more.

As the post rightly points out, high-end iMacs and MacBook Pros have traditionally shared chips with only one exception till date. And the Core i7 iMacs have not arrived yet. Over all, this pre-holiday season just keeps on getting better and better. [read]

More Tablet Rumors

Now that the product launch frenzy has died down, we have tablet rumors once again. There’s been an incident where New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller let slip two words during a talk with the New York Times’ digital group. The two words were ‘Apple slate’. It is around the 8:30 mark.

If you remember correctly, there was an incident where Gizmodo reported several newspapers and publishers meeting with Apple for content distribution on the future device?

Put them together and bam! You have a fresh new reason to speculate about the Apple tablet.

The other bit is more technical. It seems like there is a handkerchief on the floor, with floral design and the faint scent of jasmine. So we all think a lady dropped it. Similarly, we have a new SIM-tray meant for a future generation Apple device and it is quite different from the current SIM card tray. I mean as different as those tiny things can be. See for yourself.

We all think that this might be for the iPad because it is bigger and stronger (part metal) than it needs to be for a normal iPhone to use it. [read]

Study Suggests Apple Needs To Price The Tablet At $600

There is no (official) product and already there’s a study to find the right price point for it. But they have done it and you get to hear about it. A study by retrevo suggests that $600 or slightly lower is the sweetspot for making PC users buy the tablet. [read]

Samsung Releases New Android Phone (In Russia)

While we were busy looking at Droid, Samsung has slipped out another Android phone. Its their second one so far and the announcement happened in Russia. The phone features an 800MHz processor and a 3.2” display but for all the (usual) praise, the press release doesn’t say what version of Android the phone will be using when it comes out in November. [read]

Verizon Storm 2 In 2 Days, BB OS 5.0 Released For Original Storm

The original Storm was supposed to be the iPod killer. Not only did it fail to kill the iPhone (no one expected it to) but it also failed to satisfy its users. Blackberry is looking to change that with the BlackBerry Storm 2. They will be launching this device on the 28^th of October and it will be available on Verizon Wireless.

In the meantime, BlackBerry OS 5.0 has already been released for the original Storm. The new OS has also failed to gain much popularity. [read]

T-Mobile Project Dark Plans Unveiled

T-Mobile has been preparing something that is internally called ‘Project Dark’. Initially people thought it was a phone but as it turned out, it is a slew of new plans and marketing, etc. to get back some marketshare from the jaws of the competition.

The ongoing saga of rumors finally ended when T-Mobile officially confirmed the Even More and Even More Plus plans yesterday. These are new unlimited plans that will let you talk, text and surf all the time, any time. Of course, you will have to pay for it. The Even More plan is for $79 (for everything, $49 for voice only) and the Even More Plus plan is for $99 (for everything). [read]

You Can Catch U2 Live on (Yo)UTube At 8:30pm Pacific

You are sure to have heard this by now but just to remind you – you can catch the U2 California gig live on YouTube right here. If you want to tweet about it, use the #U2webcast hashtag and it will show up under the player during the gig. Time: 8:30pm Pacific.

Nokia Brings Out Purple/Pink Illuvial Phones

Nokia has brought out a line of phones in pink and purple color accents and they are called ‘Illuvial’ special edition phones. I still find this trend of making products pink and adding floral accents to be pretty demeaning to women. Plus it’s a way to get more money for the same thing. [read]

eviGroup Windows 7 Touch Pad Spotted, Looks Nice

No one is quite sure about how well a Windows 7 slate/tablet will work out, but these things are attractive. There’s no denying it. So now you have another one of these from eviGroup. Atom 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM and 160GB HDD. Let’s hope it’s not too heavy. [read]

Voice Chat Channel Coming On DSi

Rumor has it that the DSi is about to get a voice chat channel. The entire rumor is based on a line from the support of the device that exemplifies something called the Speak Channel. Well, having both Wi-Fi and microphone, it shouldn’t be too hard for Nintendo. [read]

New iPhone Apps!

Here are some of the newer iPhone Apps you should know about.

Amazon Shopping App For The iPhone Now In UK Too

The Amazon app that allows iPhone users to shop on Amazon through the device, is now available to UK customers as well. This app connects the users to their Amazon account and offers some of the same features as the website, like 1-click ordering and Amazon Prime. [read]

Plus, Amazon’s Kindle App will be here in November. Hopefully, Apple will allow it. They may block it though, who knows.

NASDAQ Releases Its Own iPhone App

The American stock exchange, NASDAQ, now has its own iPhone APP. The obvious functions are all there – you can view the market activity in realtime while it is open, view graphs, quotes, etc. Then there is the unexpected feature that shows you the latest tweets about the stocks using StockTwits. Pretty cool app I say and looks really good too. [read]

Start Your Car From Anywhere With Free iPhone App

Yes, there is a catch there. The app is free, it is the engine kit that you have to buy to get this thing working. This is the Viper SmartStart system and Best Buy has an exclusive on this one. Once you get it installed, you can start your car from practically anywhere. So you can get it all warmed up, ready to go by the time you get to it. [read]

-

Did I miss something? Let me know via a comment below.