[OFFICIAL] Electronics Week (MacWorld + CES) thread...

Didnt see a thread, thought I'd get the ball rolling for all the gadget geeks out there.

What:
1. MacWorld San Francisco: Jan 5-9

2. 2009 CES (Consumer Electronics Show): Jan 8-11

I'll post what's rumored to be released at both conferences in a few minutes...

 

MacWorld rumors (source: Mac Rumors)

New iMac and Mac Mini - NVIDIA Based

The most likely hardware releases for Macworld San Francisco include updated versions of the iMac and Mac mini.

While there has been talk about these updates for months, the most convincing evidence actually came from Apple themselves. The latest versions of Mac OS X were found to include references to NVIDIA-based iMacs and Mac minis. The NVIDIA chipsets were just introduced into Apple's notebook line and promise faster graphics hardware for these new models. DigiTimes has reported that iMacs should be shipping in quantity in January and Apple may have been waiting specifically for new Quad-Core processors from Intel.

Early details about the Mac mini update came from internet hosting company MacMiniColo.net, who was able to confirm that the new mini would include a Mini DisplayPort, increase in max RAM to 4 GB and an SATA Optical drive. Since then, Wired and TUAW have confirmed that we'll see a Mac mini release at Macworld. Other claims from AppleInsider suggest that the mini will get some significant new features, including FireWire 800, dual-monitor capabilities and an additional USB port.

All of these changes will be welcome to this otherwise neglected product line.

17" MacBook Pro - Fixed Battery

One product that was left behind during the October notebook updates was Apple's high-end 17" MacBook Pro. New reports released in the past few days have revealed that Apple will be releasing the new 17" MacBook Pro as early as Macworld. Aside from adopting the NVIDIA chipset and aluminum unibody design, the most notable change that was first reported by 9to5Mac is the elimination of a removable battery. Instead, Apple is said to have chosen a slimmer but longer-lasting battery that is not replaceable, as in the MacBook Air.

This information has been confirmed by a number of sources, and we feel accurately describes the new 17" MacBook Pro.

iLife '09. iWork '09 - The Cloud

A series of reports from 9to5Mac indicate that Apple is going to make a major effort to turn portions of their iLife and iWork products into Internet services. This would allow some or all of iWork and iMovie to be accessed from your web browser and possibly your iPhone. Critics of the move, however, point to the problematic launch of Apple's MobileMe web-services.

While these original reports drew some outrage from existing customers, many expect that Apple will continue to offer traditional Mac-based applications. To further add to 9to5mac's source's credibility, we've heard their most recent report about a GarageBand update may also be true. The rumor site believes that Apple will begin selling "celebrity music lessons" to GarageBand customers.

Snow Leopard

Some reports have suggested that Phil Schiller may demonstrate or provide more info on Apple's upcoming Mac OS X revision codenamed Snow Leopard.

An Apple employee presentation first suggested that we could see the release of Snow Leopard in the first quarter of 2009. Meanwhile, Apple rushed certification of OpenCL to be ready in time for Snow Leopard's release.

iPhone and iPhone Nano

The rumor that has gotten the most attention seems the least likely possibility for a Macworld update. In fact, we had originally heard that Apple was planning on focusing on Mac products at Macworld, though this was well before Apple's announcement that they were withdrawing from the event.

This rumor gained traction after both XSKN and Vajacases posted teasers and case designs on their sites about a new iPhone Nano. This fact by itself may not have generated so much interest, but both sites also provided links and photos to iPhone 3G cases in May before its release.

We're still unsure what to make of the iPhone Nano claims, since there have been no reliable sources stepping up to corroborate this possibility. Even if the iPhone Nano coming, it seems Macworld is unlikely to be the venue for its release.

Finally, there have been suggestions that some updates may have been delayed from Macworld altogether, which could mean this or other iPhone announcements may be forthcoming in the next few months.

Cinema Displays / Mac Pros / Home Media Server / Tablet or PDA

- Despite an early rumor that we might see new LED Cinema displays at Macworld 2009, there has been no other confirmation. While it seems obvious that Apple will be moving towards LED across all their displays, no one seems to have heard if Tuesday will be the day.
- Unfortunately, despite a long wait on Mac Pro updates, desktop customers may have to wait a little longer. Mac Pro-suitable processors will be released in the first quarter of 2009 but may not be available in time for a Tuesday release.
- Apple Home Media Server seems like an interesting idea that Apple has been toying with, but no one knows when or if Apple will release this to the market.

- The latest about an Apple Tablet seems to push off the product until at least the Fall of 2009.

And, of course, there's always the promise of something amazing that we've never heard of before.

3rd Party

- Google is rumored (unconfirmed) to be releasing a Mac version of Picasa.
- CulturedCode will be releasing the 1.0 version of Things, a task management app for the Mac.
- Freeverse Slotz Racer iPhone/iPod Touch game.
- Delicious Monster hints at a free iPhone app.
- Filemaker 10 said to be announced on Monday.

 

CES Rumors

Zune Phone (aka Project Pink) - first official info about Project Pink aka Zune services, or Zune phone - while previously we were thinking that Microsoft denied, that anything in this area will be mentioned at CES 2009, several reliable sources are now claiming that indeed it will happen! Since Zune (Microsoft's media player device) is available only in USA, it could be that Zune services extension will be also unveiled in USA and since the only next major event in USA is CES, the likelihood of using CES for this announcement is quite high!

Windows 7, - i.e. successor to Windows Vista, that is going on sale in second half of 2009. While Windows Vista is too clanky to run smoothly on netbooks, the Windows 7 is designed to work fast also in netbooks

More to come....

 

Also, this morning on Electronista, I saw details about Palm's new Nova OS, designed to compete with the iPhone. Supposedly, this would effect future design of Palm phones, which could possinly be manufactured by HTC.

 

More rumors from CES (via preview from Geek.com)

Sony’s Mystery Laptop: Sony has been teasing us with a mystery laptop of some sort that they claim to be “revolutionary.” Boing Boing thinks that it will be the return of Sony’s picturebook while CNet thinks that with the current trend in technology, it may be a netbook. I personally think it will be a competitor to the MacBook Air. A smaller netbook of some sort will definitely meet the demands of consumers.

Toshiba’s 512GB Solid Sate Drive for laptops: Toshiba’s production of a 512GB hard drive will be the largest to date designed for use in laptops. The drives achieve a maximum sequential read speed of 240MB per second (MBps) and maximum sequential write speed of 200MBps. This may provide college students with more long term usability for their hectic four year voyage.

Acoustibuds: Made by Burton Technologies, these earbud headphone adapters are basically like the small silicone adapters that you find standard on SkullCandy headphones. What Acoustibuds do is reduce outside noise and funnel more of the music into your ears. It’s new because it’s not very often that you see the silicone adapters made and sold individually. And yes, they’ll work for your iPod headphones. These simple additions will notably improve the performance of many headphones providing they grow in popularity.

Callpod: Callpod previewed their multiple device charger that seems to be powered by one USB port. Expect to have an easier way to charge all your devices on the go as our lives become more and more centered on always being on the go. Check out our post on their mobile conferencing system to give you an idea of what other fun things this company has in store for us.

Newber: Imagine your house phone, office phone and cell phone calls all routed to one place. That’s the concept that was previewed by a company called Newber–whose sole purpose is an iPhone app that does just that without giving away your personal cell phone number. It’s an intriguing concept that will help users micromanage their lives much easier. With it, expect to see a demand for even longer battery life from cell phones as the world becomes more and more energy efficient.

Ooma: This company says that you can get rid of your landline and have VoIP calling without the use of your computer–now in a cordless version. It’s an interesting idea and they’ve been baking it for a while, so it remains to be seen if they’ll get some traction. Some Geek members saw the cordless one in action and said it was sweet to look at, so hopefully that will give Ooma the traction it needs.


Intel’s Convertible Classmate PC: Complete with a swiveling touch screen, Intel plans to team up with software vendors to preload the laptops with a stack of touch-focused applications. The new tablet PC will come with a stylus and an improved accelerometer. Either way one thing is for sure–touchscreens will become more and more mainstream. Hopefully, their interface will also improve.

AMD’s Phenom II processor: As an alternative to seeing more of Intel’s Corei7 processor, AMD will debut their Phenom II. It will be aimed at the enthusiast segment. With the graphics capabilities that we saw in 2008 with games like Fallout 3 and Crysis Warhead, expect this to help push the limits even further.

Digital Cameras: Although we are bound to see a lot more at PMA 2009 in March, we should be seeing a couple of new items at CES in the digital camera category. Specifically, one can speculate that we can see more consumer oriented touchscreens, smaller DSLRs, better connectivity and more DSLRs that shoot HD video. As a side note, I’m positive we all want them cheaper.

Palm Nova OS: The design and launch of the OS is being led by John Rubinstein. Rubinstein became a celebrity while at Apple after leading the development of Apple’s most successful products including the iMac and the iPhone. Rubinstein’s title at Palm is executive chairman in charge of product development. See our opinion piece on the new OS.

Google’s Android OS: Expect it to appear on other handsets at CES as it begins to be grow and emerge more into the market. Experts from G4TV say that 2009 may be the year that Android turns into the main competitor to the iPhone.

Net-enabled TV Prototypes from Yahoo and Intel: The two companies hope products to be shown at the Consumer Electronics Show in January will mark the beginning of their Internet-fueled expansion to the world of TV. The products may be featured from companies like Samsung, Toshiba and others. If successful, it could mean a boom in online content reaching the masses. How so? A recent Pew study shows that many Americans still get most of their news content from television–but online users have increased.

3D Display Prototypes: With 3D cameras and imaging becoming possible it will create a market for 3D viewing as well. iZ3D LLC will be featuring a hands on demonstration of three of its upcoming product prototypes for 2009. See our review of one of iZ3D’s monitors here.

LG W2486L LED BLU display: The slim LED backlit 24-incher will boast a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. Additionally, users may be happy to hear that it will feature an automatic brightness control feature, a 2ms response rate, and LG claims it consumes about 50 percent less power than similar products.

Windows 7: Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will kick off CES this year, replacing Bill Gates. He’s expected to give a peek at Microsoft’s Windows 7 OS, which many hope will be better than Vista. This may be asking for too much as well, but many would also like a glimpse of new Microsoft Office software.

Energizer’s Solar Recharger: Energizer’s presence at CES will feature this nifty little product that will charge AA and AAA batteries using solar power–for $49.99. It will also have a USB-out port to power other devices, can be charged from an AC wall outlet in addition to the sun, and will be weatherproof to accommodate the needs of those always on the go.

Twin-GPU NVIDIA GeForce GTX295: Yes, you read that right–twin GPU. The graphics card will house two 55-nanometer GT200 chips, 480 total stream processors, 1,792MB of DDR3 memory and a power consumption rating of 289-watts.

 

Not gonna be at either unfortunately, although I would love to be in Vegas for CES though. The AVN Adult Entertainment Expo is going down on the same days as CES.

Have a blast bro!

 

Another CES leak courtesy of Electronista....

Samsung to unveil 6.5mm TV at CES 2009

While some details were leaked last week, Samsung offered some more insight into its CES announcements. On Sunday, Samsung said it has developed the "world's thinnest" TV and expects to unveil several ultra slim HDTVs at CES. According to a new report, the new HDTVs are expected to be only 6.5mm thick - about 2mm thinner than the firm's last product; the HDTV's will range from 40-inches to 55-inches and will support Samsung’s Motion plus technology (240Hz) and Samsung’s LED backlight technology; however, Samsung's newest model does not have a built-in tuner or receiver within its unit, but said it comes with a separate external tuner device. [via Akihabara News]

[IMG]http://images.macnn.com/macnn/news/0901/090105_samsung_lcd_tm.jpg

 

JVC to show lightest 32-inch HDTV at CES

JVC is due to show off the world's lightest HDTV set at the CES show on Wednesday, with the that tips the scales at just over 11lbs. While not the thinnest 32-inch HDTV, it's near the top with a near 0.28-inch (7mm) profile. The company promises technology used for the prototype 1080p-capable TV will be made commercially available before the end of 2009.
JVC claims the set's low weight allows it to be hung from ceilings like so many plants, leaving walls clutter-free and adding to the layout options of a room. The unnamed set also uses up about 50 percent less materials for a low carbon footprint. The LED backlight is also brighter than those used in conventional models while using less mercury in its construction.
JVC was not any more specific in terms of a release date or pricing information for the prototype HDTV. [via Impress]

 

I just found about Picasa and was about to post it here....but I see you beat me to it. Congrats on your wish coming true!

Tomorrow is Apple's final big day at MacWorld. My wish is Apple choosing to go out with a bang!

Stay tuned....

 

Motorola will be launching 3phones at CES, including the MotoSURF 3100, a full touch-screen phone who's design is aimed at competing with the iPhone. MotoSURF will have a rear 3MP camera as well as a forward-facing video camera for video chat.

Electronista: MotoSURF

 

MacWorld keynote going on right now. You can follow the action via Gizmodo's LiveBlog or Engadget's keynote page (w/pics updated)

Engadget LIVE @ MacWorld