RumorTT: Apple's September 12 event will see the unveiling of new iMacs - we think we're going to see 5 products unveiled on the day

Anthony Garreffa | Computer Systems | Sep 7, 2012 11:39 PM CDT

Fox News are reporting that "multiple sources" have teased that Apple will unveil new desktop iMacs next week at their September 12 event. I think we're going to see them, too.

The new iMacs would most likely sport third-generation Intel Core CPUs, as well as Retina displays. Right now there's no confirmation, but I think we're going to see more products unveiled at the event. Maybe a new iPhone, new iMac, new iPad mini, new iPod touch and iOS 6. Count those, that's 5 things. The shadowing on the last teaser posted showed the number 12, with the shadow reading '5'. Everyone thinks it's going to be the iPhone 5, but what if it's actually 5 separate, refreshed and brand spankin' new Apple devices? That would be quite the epic event, especially after what we've seen from Motorola and Amazon in the past week.

Think about it, there have been 6 iPhones, meaning that the new iPhone being called 'iPhone 5', would make it feel out of whack with Apple's numbering scheme. The new iPad dropped its number, and was just called the 'new iPad'. I really think we're going to see Apple do the same thing with the iPhone, and just call it the 'new iPhone'.

Continue reading: RumorTT: Apple's September 12 event will see the unveiling of new iMacs - we think we're going to see 5 products unveiled on the day (full post)

Apple lowers memory chip order from legal adversary Samsung

Trace Hagan | Business, Financial & Legal | Sep 7, 2012 4:33 PM CDT

Apple, seemingly trying to strike a blow to its favorite legal adversary, has lowered its memory chip order to Samsung for the next iPhone. Samsung has long provided many components for Apple's products, even though Apple and Samsung are constantly involved in legal battles around the world.

Apple has continually been trying to diversify its suppliers and reduce the business it sends towards Samsung, a company Apple continually accuses of copying. "Samsung is still on the list of initial memory chip suppliers (for new iPhones). But Apple orders have been trending down and Samsung is making up for the reduced order from others, notably Samsung's handset business," the Reuters source said.

The reduction in orders is not expected to hurt Samsung by very much. Analysts figure that Apple's purchases of DRAM and NAND chips only make up about 2.5 percent of Samsung's business, so that is the most it could hurt Samsung if they were to completely end their business relationship.

Continue reading: Apple lowers memory chip order from legal adversary Samsung (full post)

Google acquires online virus scanner VirusTotal for undisclosed amount

Trace Hagan | Business, Financial & Legal | Sep 7, 2012 3:33 PM CDT

Google has acquired the online virus scanner VirusTotal for an undisclosed amount of money. The deal appears to be a straightforward one, with VirusTotal continuing to operate independently. VirusTotal will gain access to Google's resources and infrastructure, which should help VirusTotal to continue improving their service.

Our goal is simple: to help keep you safe on the web. And we've worked hard to ensure that the services we offer continually improve. But as a small, resource-constrained company, that can sometimes be challenging. So we're delighted that Google, a long-time partner, has acquired VirusTotal. This is great news for you, and bad news for malware generators, because:

VirusTotal will continue to operate independently, maintaining our partnerships with other antivirus companies and security experts. This is an exciting step forward. Google has a long track record working to keep people safe online and we look forward to fighting the good fight together with them.

Continue reading: Google acquires online virus scanner VirusTotal for undisclosed amount (full post)

Apple looks to be lessening restrictions on Apps, allows remote control app for torrenting

Trace Hagan | Software & Apps | Sep 7, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

It looks as though Apple may be lessening some of its restrictions on apps, if the addition of Conttrol to the App Store is anything to go by. Conttrol is an app that allows the remote control of uTorrent running on a PC, so while the app doesn't itself torrent, it controls a program which does, thus enabling torrenting.

Transmission RPC, a similar app in function to Conttrol, was also approved a few months ago. It's important to note that neither of these apps torrent on the device itself, so this is possibly how they managed to get through the checkpoint. It could also be that they slipped up and accidentally let them through and will ban them as soon as they notice.

"Currently the app supports connections to uTorrent & BitTorrent clients but there are future plans to support Transmission on the Mac, as well as planned development of a native iPad version," Conttrol developer Craig Donnelly said.

Continue reading: Apple looks to be lessening restrictions on Apps, allows remote control app for torrenting (full post)

BitFenix unveils new chassis dubbed Ghost, offers 'superb silence'

Trace Hagan | Cases, Cooling & PSU | Sep 7, 2012 11:28 AM CDT

Your options for a new computer case have just increased as BitFenix has just launched a new chassis dubbed Ghost. According to BitFenix themselves, it features "superb silence with powerful water cooling capabilities and flexibility for the latest hardware," something everyone wants in a computer case.

"After changing the way people think about the mini-ITX form factor with Prodigy, fans around the world have been wondering what would happen if BitFenix were to design a chassis with focus on silence. Today, it gives us great pleasure to reveal the answer to that question - Ghost," says BitFenix Product Manager David Jarlestedt. "Extremely silent yet surprisingly capable, we believe fans of silent chassis are going to fall in love with our newest creation."

The new case features:

Continue reading: BitFenix unveils new chassis dubbed Ghost, offers 'superb silence' (full post)

Wikipedia founder will encrypt the site if the UK passes their Communications Data Bill

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Sep 7, 2012 5:32 AM CDT

The UK government proposed their controversial Communications Data Bill earlier this year, which would see British ISPs made to keep records of every website that their customers visit for 12 months. Of course, you can see where civil rights groups, and others, would have problems with this.

Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales, has stepped up to the debate and joined the opposition to the proposed bill, saying:

If we find that UK ISPs are mandated to keep track of every single webpage that you read at Wikipedia, I am almost certain we would immediately move to a default of encrypting all communication to the UK, so that the local ISP would only be able to see that you are speaking to Wikipedia, not what you are reading.

Continue reading: Wikipedia founder will encrypt the site if the UK passes their Communications Data Bill (full post)

Foxconn forcing university students to work on the new iPhone

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Sep 7, 2012 2:42 AM CDT

The new iPhone looks to be announced next week at Apple's September 12 event, and one analyst estimates the new iPhone could sell as many as 10 million in its first week. The question is, how do Apple amass 10 million (or so) new iPhone's in a short amount of time?

Simple. Force university students to work 12 hours per day, six days per week for around $243 per month on the new iPhone. This is what Foxconn is doing, reports the Shanghai Daily. Foxconn reportedly couldn't get their soul machine to work normally, so they secured more workers from universities, as classes were suspended at the start of the new semester.

Students began working on the new iPhone last Thursday, and are being "compensated" by the $243 per month wage. One student who wished to remain anonymous, claims that the authorities had ordered the schools to round up students to help Foxconn, with the company not informing parents, or signing agreements with students. Another anonymous student said that some universities would go as far as punishing students if they tried to leave the factory.

Continue reading: Foxconn forcing university students to work on the new iPhone (full post)

Raspberry Pi revision 2.0 boards announced

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Sep 7, 2012 2:22 AM CDT

The original $25 Raspberry Pi was a success, even though it had its fair share of manufacturing hiccups, but the Raspberry Pi Foundation have just announced revision 2.0 of the micro device. We're not looking at it featuring a new processor, or any massive changes, instead we're looking at smaller concerns from the first Raspberry Pi that the team received from the original device.

Revision 2.0 will sport changes to the GPIO pin out, which will add ARM JTAG support and to present a different I2C peripheral. Revision 2.0 also features a reset circuit which can be used by adding an appropriate header to P6. The Raspberry Pi team says that shorting P6 pin 1 to P6 pin 2 will cause the BCM2835M to reset. Resetable fuses that were used to protect the USB outputs on early revision 1.0 boards have been removed, and replaced with links.

Two GPIO pins have been interchanged, while the primary and secondary I2C channels have been reversed. Revision 2.0 has also seen the removal of four GPIO signals that were used for verification identification in revision 1.0, as they were said to be redundant. In their place, will be a new connector site, P5, which the foundation says is perfect for adding a third-party clock and audio codec board.

Continue reading: Raspberry Pi revision 2.0 boards announced (full post)

Sprint Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S 4G to get Jelly Bean updates today

Anthony Garreffa | Software & Apps | Sep 7, 2012 12:28 AM CDT

Yesterday we heard rumors that Sprint would be pushing out Android 4.1 Jelly Bean updates to the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S 4G, where today this news has been confirmed. The updates should already be hitting handsets, or will any minute now.

Jelly Bean updates will provide a bunch of new features such as Google Now, which is a Siri-like assistant, an improved notification and voice search system, offline dictation, and more. One of the better features of Jelly Bean is 'Project Butter', which makes the entire OS' UI move at 60fps.

I've been using Jelly Bean for only two days now on my recently-acquired Nexus 7, and it truly is beautiful. If you're a Sprint-based Galaxy Nexus, or Nexus S 4G owner, keep checking your phone for that JB update!

Continue reading: Sprint Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S 4G to get Jelly Bean updates today (full post)

Amazon also unveils lower-end Kindle Paperwhite, revamped Fire's

Anthony Garreffa | Mobile Devices | Sep 6, 2012 10:24 PM CDT

Amazon didn't just keep their high-end fans happy today with the announcement of the Kindle Fire HD range of tablets, or the 4G LTE-powered version, but the retail giant also announced some new lower-end tablets, too.

First up we have the revamped budget fourth-generation Kindle, which is priced at just $69. The revamped Kindle is the company's best-seller, and is now $10 cheaper, while sporting new fonts, crisper text, and 15% faster page turns. This model should ship next Friday, September 14.

Next up we have the new backlit Kindle Paperwhite, which will be priced at $119 for the Wi-Fi-only model, and $179 for the 3G-capable model. Amazon is proud to announce the Paperwhite sports patented technology that distributes light evenly across the Paperwhite's entire surface, just like ambient light. The Kindle Paperwhite measures in at just 9.1mm thick, weighs 7.5 ounces and sports an insane 8-week battery life. Amazon's Kindle Paperwhite will ship on October 1.

Continue reading: Amazon also unveils lower-end Kindle Paperwhite, revamped Fire's (full post)

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