While all signs are pointing to updated MacBook Pros appearing later this week, most likely on Thursday, details on what changes might be included have been rather scant. But a new report from BGR now offers a few claims about what might be included beyond an upgrade to Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors.
The first tidbit of information claims that the new MacBook Pros will offer larger trackpads than those found on current models, opening the door for greater flexibility for users and perhaps options for more complex gestures.
The report also claims that the updated machines will offer a dedicated solid-state drive of 8-16 GB to house Mac OS X system files that would allow for fast system boot-up and performance. Additional machine storage would be made available in either traditional hard drives or with solid-state drive upgrades.
The next bit of information doesn’t quite make sense to us, but we have been told the OS on the laptops will be loaded to a separate (internal) 8-16GB SSD while everything else will remain on the regular hard drive. There will be options for just SSD drives but the base models will feature regular hard disks with the SSD combo for the OS.
The idea of separate flash-based storage for system files is not a new one, as reports dating back to early 2006 suggested that Apple might adopt Intel’s “Turbo Memory” feature that offered similar functionality. At the time the advantages of using an SSD/Hard Drive hybrid were improved performance and longer battery life:
[Turbo Memory] utilizes NAND flash memory instead of the hard disk for computer startup and launching frequently used applications. The use of this technology would allow for faster boot up times and improved battery life in portables utilizing the technology.
Finally, the report’s source indicates that Apple has shaved approximately half a pound off of the weight of each of the MacBook Pro models.
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Amazon yesterday announced that as of December 1st it will begin offering new revenue sharing terms for magazine and newspaper publishers seeking to bring their content to the Kindle. Under the new terms, Amazon will keep 30% of revenue while passing along the remaining 70% to publishers, with delivery costs for content moved via paid services such as the company’s Whispernet cellular data package shared between publishers and Amazon at the same 70-30 level.
Amazon.com, Inc. today announced that magazine and newspaper publishers will soon be eligible to earn a larger share of revenue from each title they sell in the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore). For each magazine or newspaper sold, publishers will be able to earn 70 percent of the retail price, net of delivery costs. These new 70-percent royalty terms will become available on December 1, 2010.
In order to be eligible for the program, publishers must comply with a set of requirements ensuring a quality customer experience, including at least a 95% match of content to that offered in the print edition and delivery of the content to Amazon at least three hours before print delivery begins.
Amazon’s move to what is quickly becoming the standard revenue sharing model for digital content has been seen as a response to Apple’s negotiations with publishers in which it is offering a similar split. For their part, publishers have been in large part holding out in hopes of moving their subscriptions outside of the traditional App Store or In App Purchase delivery streams for Apple’s devices, looking to avoid having to give a 30% cut to Apple. With Amazon and Apple now on roughly the same page regarding delivery of magazine and newspaper content to their devices, publishers may finally be willing to come onboard with the stabilized pricing structure.
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The invention disclosure comes as Apple continues to shrink the general overall size of its portable devices, with reducing thickness in particular being a focus for the company. As devices continue to shrink, certain physical features become limiting factors for further size reduction, as can be seen in the current iPod shuffle and iPod nano, where the thickness of the devices appears to be approaching the limits imposed by the need to accommodate the headphone jack.
Apple’s new iPod shuffle (left) and iPod nano (right)
Apple points to the current “cantilever beam” design for headphone jack contacts as requiring significant space in two dimensions to accommodate the contacts while also requiring sufficient length to ensure the necessary leverage to maintain contact with the headphone plug.
Cross-section of headphone jack showing pogo pin contacts
Switching from the cantilever beam to a series of spring-loaded pogo pins lined up along the side of the headphone jack could allow the jack to essentially require space in only a single dimension, allowing for thinner device designs.
The pogo pins can be positioned in the audio jack using any suitable orientation. In some embodiments, the pogo pins can be positioned in substantially a single plane such that the pogo pins require space in a single dimension of the audio jack assembly. The pogo pins can be oriented substantially orthogonal to the audio jack cavity (e.g., such that the deflectable tips extend orthogonally into the cavity), or at an angle relative to the cavity walls.
The patent application was filed in June 2009 based on a provisional patent application filed in March of that year and is credited to Apple engineers Sean Murphy and John DiFonzo.
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Gizmodo reports that iOS 4.1 has reincluded the Field Test mode to iOS. Field Test mode allows you to get a numerical figure for your antenna strength rather than the traditional bar measure. To get to Field Mode:
- First, upgrade your iPhone 4 — or any iPhone — to iOS 4.1.
- Dial *3001#12345#* into your phone [and press Call].
Pressing Home will exit you from the Field Test mode. For reference, Anandtech provides a good discussion about bar strength and signal values. Since that article was published, Apple has remapped the signal strength to # of bar ratio. More negative numbers are worse, and Anandtech reports they were surprised they were able to hold calls with signals as low as -113db.
Most customers won’t care about their numerical signal strengths, but the antenna strength changes generated a lot of publicity surrounding the iPhone 4 launch due to issues with new antenna system.
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With the release of iTunes 10 on Wednesday, Apple has revamped the application’s icon for the first time in many years, doing away with the traditional design of music notes on top of a CD. Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the change at Wednesday’s media event, noting that with iTunes likely to surpass physical CD sales sometime next year, it was time to remove the CD from the icon. The icon change has caused mixed responses, however, with some users appreciating the simplified design while others have criticized it as amateurish in appearance.
Wired reports that one user sent Jobs an email criticizing the new logo for its design and abandonment of the iTunes brand that has developed over the years.
Steve,
Enjoyed the presentation today. But…this new iTunes logo really sucks. You’re taking 10+ years of instant product recognition and replacing it with an unknown. Let’s both cross our fingers on this…
Despite all of the activity surrounding the media event, Jobs took the time to respond with another one of his brief, to-the-point emails:
We disagree.
Sent from my iPhone
While Jobs obviously provided no additional thoughts on why Apple prefers the icon design over the old one, it’s clear that he is taking in users’ comments and taking the time to respond rather than simply ignoring the feedback entirely.
The new icon is not the only visual tweak included in iTunes 10, as Apple also took the opportunity to move the “stoplight” buttons for closing and resizing the application’s window into a space-saving vertical orientation from the standard horizontal orientation. The company also switched to a a more subdued, grayscale pattern for items in the application’s left sidebar.
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Yerba Buena Center for the Arts prepped for Apple’s media event
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple will launch its 99-cent TV show rentals through the iTunes Store tomorrow, with Fox and ABC set to serve as launch partners for delivering content. A report earlier today had indicated that Walt Disney (which owns ABC) was on board with that plan and that News Corp. (which owns Fox) was undecided but leaning toward participating.
As part of the Apple event Wednesday, News Corp.’s Fox and Walt Disney’s ABC networks are slated to be announced as offering 99-cent rentals of television shows through the iTunes store, according to people familiar with the matter.
According to the report, Fox’s participation will be limited in duration, at least to start, and will be limited to shows such as Glee, Bones, and Lie to Me for which it owns both the production and broadcasting rights.
Echoing the report from earlier today, the new article claims that a number of News Corp. executives are uneasy about Apple’s plan, fearing a disruption of the traditional television business. The company ultimately agreed to go along with Apple, however, as an experiment in alternative means for delivering content to consumers and in order to win goodwill with Apple to set stage for partnerships in other digital content ventures.
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The iPhone could soon replace the doctors’ best friend, the traditional stethoscope, thanks to a free application created by a University College London researcher.
Read more from the original source:
iPhone app a threat to the stethoscope