Apple updates MacBook Air and Mac Mini and rolls out the all new OS X Lion

Today Apple updated MacBook Air and Mac Mini with the latest greatest 2nd generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors that are twice as fast as the previous offerings. The recently introduced Thunderbolt port is now a standard offering too. The new MacBook Air now also sports a very much needed backlit keyboard. Noteworthy updates to the Mac Mini lineup include a twist off base for easy memory upgrades and an integrated power supply - so long the chunky paper weight power supply brick. A new Mac Mini Server is also available with Lion Server edition. All new Macs now ship with the brand spanking new OS X Lion, which introduces over 250+ new features. You can download OS X Lion upgrade from the App Store today for a nominal fee of just $29.99.

All-in-all Apple is on a roll and there is seemingly no stopping them now! Next up iPhone 5 and iPad 3...

Apple iCloud coming this fall

Apple iCloud coming this fall

Apple's iCloud coming to all iOS 5 devices this fall. iCloud stores all your digital content and wirelessly synchronizes it with all compatible devices. This all sounds great in theory but it begs the question of personal data security - how will my personal data be secured and protected by Apple and at the same time from Apple?

iCloud features at a glance:
- free
- 5GB of storage
- purchased music, applications, books and Photo Stream do not count against free storage
- only mail, documents, Camera Roll, account information, settings and application specific data use up the free storage
- backs up all of the following: music, photos, videos, books, applications & their data, device settings, home screen & apps arrangement, SMS & MMS, ringtones
- available on all iOS 5 devices

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[iCloud]

Apple iOS 5 coming this fall

Apple iOS 5 coming this fall with 200+ new features

Stay tuned for the upcoming iOS 5 release that promises over 200 enhancement to the already great mobile operating system.

Some of the new features at a glance:
- The all new Notification Center (less interruption, more at a glance)
- iMessage (send unlimited text and multimedia messages to any iOS 5 device)
- Newsstand (all your subscriptions in one convenient place)
- Reminders (to-do lists with location triggered reminders)
- Twitter (natively integrated into iOS 5)
- Camera (helpful grid lines)
- Photos (edit on the fly, auto-enhance, remove red-eye)
- Safari (tabbed browsing, to read later list, uncluttered reader)
- PC Free (wireless activation & setup, software updates, back up & restore using iCloud)
- Mail (format and indent text, flag messages, search email body)
- Calendar (year view on iPad, week view on iPhone & iPod touch, create & edit calendars, tap to create & drag to adjust events)
- Game Center (profile picture, friend recommendations, size up opponents by overall score)
- Wi-Fi Sync (wireless sync with PC or Mac over Wi-Fi, automatic backups while charging)
- Multitasking Gestures for iPad (4 or 5 finger up swap reveals multitasking bar, pinch to return home, left & right swipe switches apps)
- AirPlay Mirroring for iPad 2 (video mirror iPad 2 onto HDTV via Apple TV)
- Accessibility improvement (even easier for people with disabilities, enable LED flash & custom vibration for when someone is calling)
- plus many more features...

iOS 5 compatible devices:
- iPhone 3GS & 4
- iPod touch 3rd & 4th generation
- iPad 1 & 2

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[iOS 5]

Apple iPhone 4 now available in white color

Today Apple finally released the WHITE iPhone 4. Long overdue, the white iPhone 4 models are available immediately from the Apple Online Store and at Apple Retail Stores, AT&T and Verizon Wireless stores, and select Apple Authorized Resellers. Apple fans rejoice - the balance of good/white and evil/black has been restored once again!

Flexible future tech

Since a picture is worth a 1000 words I bring to you the future of flexible technology in pictures...

Microprocessor:

Bendable microprocessor

IMEC have created a cheap (potentially 1/10th the cost of silicon chips), bendable microprocessor by layering a plastic substrate, gold circuits, organic dielectric, and a pentacene organic semiconductor. It's 8-bit logic circuit with 4000 transistors is capable of executing 6 instructions per second. Not a screamer by today's standards but it is still a step in the right direction. [Engadget]



Display:

Flexible display

When they arrive, flexible displays will be a big leap forward from today’s LCDs (liquid crystal displays) and even OLEDs (organic light-emitting diode displays). In terms of power consumption flexible displays will consume 100 times less power than LCDs. Even OLEDs (2-3 times more efficient than LCDs) can’t match this kind of efficiency. These displays have thin-film transistor arrays on specialty polymer and thin stainless-steel substrates and use electrophoretic ink (E-Ink). Does extremely low power consumption and flexibility sound too good to be true? According to Wired we are about 2-3 years away from in-field army trials.

Speakers:

Paper-like flat flexible speaker

Engineers at the University of Warwick have created a paper-like flat, flexible speaker that is lightweight and just 0.25 millimeters thick. And they say it could be commercially available by the end of the year. The flat, flexible speaker technology takes a flexible laminate, which when excited with an electrical signal vibrates to produce the sound. The flexible laminate is made of a number of thin, conducting and insulating materials. According to researchers the speaker arrangement allows for highly directional and accurate sound. [Wired]



Solar panels:

Rollable Flexible Solar Cells

The Rollable Series Flexible Solar Cells were built with the outdoors in mind. Each unit is assembled using high grade marine components, sealed edges for waterproofing, and built in grommets for easy fastening. To store the cells, simply roll them up and toss in your bag. [FlexSolarCells]



As you can see we have all the individual parts to make flexible wearable gadgets. And I think its just a matter of time before someone combines all of these technologies and creates a new truly revolutionary device. Whether its Apple or the US Army RD that first puts these pieces of a larger puzzle together one thing remains clear - the future of technology is bright, flexible, and wearable!

Apple refreshes MacBook Pro, adds Thunderbolt aka Light Peak

Today Intel is scheduled to announce their new innovative Light Peak data transfer technology which is said to offer transfer rates 25 times faster than USB 2.0. It is also no incident that Apple chose to refresh their MacBook Pro lineup at the same time by adding the new Light Peak port re-branded as Thunderbolt.

Currently Light Peak transmits data at 10 gigabits per second. However, Intel says the new technology could be ramped up in the future to support up to 100 gigabits per second, which would be 250 times faster than USB 2.0. Light Peak also offers greater flexibility as it can employ both copper wires and fiber optics. It also makes it possible to combine Light Peak, USB and FireWire into one single cable of much greater length.

Thunderbolt features:
- Dual-channel 10 Gbps per port
- Bi-directional
- Dual-protocol (PCI Express and DisplayPort)
- Compatible with existing DisplayPort devices
- Daisy-chained devices
- Electrical or optical cables
- Low latency with highly accurate time synchronization
- Uses native protocol software drivers
- Power over cable for bus-powered devices

Intel is hoping to establish its new connectivity standard and it has partnered with Apple to drive the early adoption. This is not unlike 1998 when Apple helped push the USB standard by making it the only port on the first iMac.

In addition to the new Thunderbolt port Apple has made other important upgrades to its MacBook Pro line. Apple finally embraced the Intel Core i7 quad-core processor and blessed its 15 and 17 inch Pros with it, while the 13 inch now sports a dual-core i5 or i7. This should make all three versions twice as fast as the one they replace. It is about time Apple embraced quad-core processors in their notebooks as the competition has been offering quad-core laptops for quite some time now. The 15 and 17 inch MacBook Pro models also get the new refreshed high-performance AMD Radeon graphics processors, which boost graphics performance up to 3x times. To further compliment the new more powerful graphics Apple also added the new FaceTime HD camera, which makes full-screen HD video calls 3x times crispier.

MacBook Pro - new features at a glance

[Wikipedia]

Internet is running out of IP addresses...but don't panic!

It's time to update your calendars: the world IPv6 Day will start on June 8!

IPv4 vs IPv6 protocol comparison

The internet as we know it is running out of available IP addresses. The current IPv4 web protocol only provides about four billion unique web address and with almost seven billion people on the planet that means not everyone can even have their own IP address not to mention having multiple internet enabled devices. This is where the new IPv6 standard comes to the rescue. Unlike its 32-bit predecessor the new 128-bit IPv6 format allows for trillions of Internet addresses which will support a virtually unlimited number of devices.

IPv4 address utilization in 2000 vs 2010

And what if we do not embrace the new Internet standard? Well, there is no need to panic. According to a Google network engineer tasked with transitioning the Internet giant to the new IPv6 standard: "The Internet won't stop working; it will just slowly degrade," and with time "things will get slower and flakier."

Apple comes out with the new Mac App Store

Mac App Store

With Mac OSX 10.6.6 Update Apple introduced the all new Mac App Store which enables users to buy and upgrade applications for their Macs right from their Macs. Apple installs the new Mac App Store directly into the Dock. According to Apple over 1,000 apps are available in the store right now and Apple is calling out to all developers

to create more new innovative apps and has provided developer tools in the form of the Mac Developer Program.

Standardized phone chargers are just around the corner

That's right folks you've heard it right - phone chargers as we know them will soon adopt a common standard. Talked about for years the European Commission is finally working out a common standard for phone chargers and amazingly enough ten major phone makers agreed to embrace the new standard. Among those enlightened companies are Apple, Motorola, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, LG, NEC, Qualcomm, Research in Motion, Samsung and Texas Instruments.

The new universal charger will be based on a micro-USB connector already common on many phones these days. The rollout plan initially calls for new phones shipping with new chargers included and gradually phasing the chargers out at which point phones will ship without them.

micro USB

This move will make end consumers happy while keeping landfills free of the ugly entanglement of wires. Phone makers will benefit from cost savings associated with manufacturing and shipping of chargers. This looks to be a win-win situation for all including the environment.

No longer would you have to roam the hall ways looking for someone with a similar phone to borrow a charger from.

Makers of other gadgets and electronic devices should really take heed and start thinking towards standardizing their plugs.