Otaku Gadgets

It’s the end of the week and its time for another Saturday Apple Pie. This week saw frenzied Apple posts are fresh Tablet rumors were let loose. Other than that, there have been some great new iPhone Apps as well, with Google Earth going 2.0. Get over to the other side and get your piece of the pie.

Apple Tablet Gets OLED, Gets Delayed

Rumor has it that the Apple Tablet is getting a new version that will have an OLED screen. This decision was taken quite late into the tablet’s development and hence the launch schedule is now (apparently) planned for the second half of next year. The OLED version would be 9.7” with another TFT LCD version planned around 10.6”. Of course, no part of this is official yet. [read]

Condé Nast Has A Tablet App Already

Condé Nast is the company behind Wire,Vanity Fair, etc. and they have taken a preemptive decision about the Apple Tablet. They do declare that they have not been told anything about it officially but if it were to exist, they would support it with their new concept tablet app in 2010. [read]

Even CNN Knows The iSlate/Tablet Exists

CNN spoke to a lot of subject matter experts in multiple industries about the Apple Tablet and most seem to be quite excited and also impressed by it. Some are still skeptical about such multi-purpose devices. But if CNN is going about conducting surveys about a product that officially does not exist – wow! [read]

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General:

Snow Leopard Hacked Into Working With Atom Machines

The OS X 10.6.2 update that had support for the Intel Atom removed from it, has now been hacked to add that support back. Atom-based hackintosh owners can rejoice now. Looks like if there’s one thing Apple will always fail at, it is stopping the hackers from making hackintoshes. [read]

New Core i7 iMacs Beat 8-Core Mac Pros!

According to Macworld’s comparisons, the latest Core i7 iMacs beat the current 8-Core Mac Pro models! Now that is some performance! Look at the comparison chart above to confirm (courtesy MacWorld). [read]

Boot Camp 2.2 Adds Magic Mouse Support

Boot Camp 2.2 will now let you use your spanking new Magic Mouse when your running Windows on your Mac. [read]

Patent For Forced Ads Makes Apple Look Evil

Apple filed for a patent that describes a platform for selling high-end products at really low prices through forced ads that make sure there is human interaction involved so that they cannot be ignored. According to the filing, consumers can later choose to pay the full price of the hardware and upgrade to an ad free experience. Almost everyone intensely dislikes the idea. [read]

Black Friday Discount Rumors

A rumor was started by an image published by BGR that shows Macs and other things going at 25% discount during Black Friday. Nothing to that end has been revealed yet but you never know. If it were to be real, it would also mean that Apple stores will be completely mobbed that day… more than usual I mean. [read]

You Smoke, Your Mac Dies

Recently, two Apple customers were denied repairs by Apple Care because they used their machines in a cigarette smoke filled environment. This might seem ridiculous on the surface but cigarette smoke can cause residues to get built up inside the machine that can cause it to malfunction or fail. [read]

Apple Laptops Are A Resilient Lot, Period

We already knew this but a survey has just made it more official sounding and proof-laden. SquareTrade research has shown that Apple laptops are amongst the top laptops in terms of how often they malfunction. Well, they reserve the top places for Asus and Toshiba but do not think their data is complete regarding Apple. I rather doubt if Apple Care ever releases their own data regarding this. But consumers love ‘em MacBooks, shown by constant top positions of these devices on consumer reports. [read]

Why Apple Does Not Want To Do Business

Here’s a brilliant 4-piece article where Computer World’s Mike Elgan talks about why Apple’s product strategy is vastly different from its competitors. Also, why Apple makes decisions that sometimes do not make any sense.

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iPhone:

Apple Might Be Making Its Own iPhone Games

Apple has been advertising opening for AAA game developers for some time now. This supports a rumor that Apple is planning to build more and serious first party games for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. It would make a lot of sense too because Apple sells 400 times as many games on the iPhone platform as Google does on Android. [read]

iPhone Doing Okay In China Despite Earlier Problems

Even though the iPhone ran into some troubles in China at the beginning, it seems to be doing okay now. The App Store there is making sales at a healthy rate and Unicom’s president has some high hopes for the iPhone in China. Unicom is the carrier that sells iPhones in China. [read]

Qualcomm Chips To Power Next-Gen iPhones?

Apple is in talks with Qualcomm about the next generation iPhones. CEO of Qualcomm, Paul Jacobs said that the talks are still going on and nothing has been finalized. So there is officially no deal. Still, this is exciting news, because Verizon is one of Qualcomm’s main partners and this could mean that the iPhone really is coming to the carrier. Although, I do want to know what the PA Semi team is up to if not making iPhone chips? I smell a tablet! [read]

Customers Try To Move Court To Get iPhone’s Source Code

The customers who went to court over the iPhone OS 1.1.1 update killing their jailbroken iPhones, are now asking Apple to hand over the iPhone OS source code. They want to see if Apple maliciously broke their phones or was it just a by-product of the update. We wish them good luck with their own mission impossible. [read]

Google To Launch Interactive Ads On The iPhone

After acquiring the mobile ad company Admob, Google is now planning to utilize it fully. They are about to launch interactive video iPhone ads and the template for it already up for buyers. [read]

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iPhone Apps And Accessories:

Unofficial Google Wave App Slips Into App Store!

An unofficial Google Wave App slipped into the App store, which would’ve otherwise been banned immediately by Apple’s App reviewers and trademark team. It has probably been taken down by now. [read]

Magellan Goes iPhone Way

Magellan has finally stepped into iPhone realm and released an app of their own. They have also released a new car dock that lets your iPod Touch give you turn-by-turn directions. The dock also allows you to enjoy your music at a slightly higher volume thanks to the integrated stereo speakers. [read]

Google Earth 2.0 Is Here

iPhone users addicted to Google Earth and My Map can now rejoice because the new 2.0 update to Google Earth has connected the twain. It is part of the multiple new features in this new version of Google Earth for the iPhone. [read]

TouchDJ Finally Allowed On The App Store

Apple has finally allowed a fantastic little Dj-ing app called TouchDJ. This App was initially denied entry into the App Store due to some confusing reasons. [read]