Steve Jobs: Rest in Peace

Sadly, Apple has reported that Steve Jobs died today:

http://www.apple.com/stevejobs/

Thank you for everything "magical" you brought to our lives.

iPhone 5 will be redesigned

Another case post on BGR seems to confirm that the new iPhone 5 will take on this new design:

http://www.bgr.com/2011/10/04/images-of-new-iphone-5-cases-again-show-dramatic-redesign/

We should know for sure in a few minutes.

UPDATE: Well... that was longer than a few minutes... and while this may indeed be the case for the iPhone 5... Apple didn't announce one... just an iPhone 4S. So what is CaseMate and HardCandy going to do with these?

Zune finally gone?

 (image from zunerama.com)

Back in March, many sites were reporting the death of the Zune prematurely. Well... maybe just really prematurely. According to thisismynext.com, Microsoft is out of the Zune business so they can focus on Windows Phone:

http://thisismynext.com/2011/10/03/microsoft-will-producing-zune-players-final-word/

Think that guy can cover that tatoo with an Apple logo?

Thin is in! Sony VAIO SE 15.5" Full HD now out...

For notebooks, I'm obsessed with thin, light frames with high resolution screens and long battery life. That's why the MacBooks (both Pro and Airs) have been an envy (not the HP Envy) of mine.

With new Ultrabooks coming out... it seems I'll have more than I want... however most of these are using that really bad 720p (1366x768) resolution except for the Asus.

Luckily, some of them are still making hi-rez, fairly thin notebooks, like the Dell XPS 15z (which I owned for a while but ended up not liking) and the Samsung Series 7. One that has my attention is the Sony VAIO SE from their S family, a 15.5" notebook that weighs under 5 lbs and has a full HD (1920x1080) screen.

I was at a local electronics store last Friday and they actually had one out for display:

And... these start at $999!!! You can get it in silver or black and add options like i7, Blu-Ray and SSD drives.

I will probably end up buying one to try it out and will post my impressions here. I started a thread for it in the forum section of notebookreview.com (awesome site):

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/614822-sony-se-frys.html

Attack of the Ultrabooks!

I don't know how many of you remember the old Ultraman series... but if you do... this image should bring back memories.

So "ultrabook" is the term for the new light and thin notebooks coming out that are comparable to the MacBookAir (so did Apple invent another category?). I've been waiting for these for a long time... especially since I've been drooling over the MBAs ever since they came out... and actually caved in and bought one last year (the MBA 13" which I Bootcamped Windows 7 onto).

And while it's a great machine, Windows isn't very stable (I lose the touchpad functionality after waking from sleep) and have ended up using it in OSX (which actually has better battery life). So I want a native "ultra" thin notebook that has a better keyboard (I miss my dedicated Pg/Home/End keys).

And IFA, 3 were previewed (after the jump):

TouchPad: RIP... one down... how many more will go?

I hope webOS lives on... but this just goes to show that if you can't beat Apple significantly in price or features.. it's going to be an uphill battle.

I think it's funny that TouchPads are so hard to find now that HP slashed their prices... but they probably could have got away with $199 and $249 (half off).

If someone can port a fully working, stable Android/Honeycomb to the TouchPad or make an Android emulator for webOS (ala QNX), there might be some life left.

In other news, I like my Asus Transformer more each day. The latest update now adds Netflix capability (although you have to find the APK yourself) and ad-hoc WiFi access (go tether go!).

Still waiting for the "summer" release of the Galaxy Tab 8.... or even the redesigned Galaxy Tab 7. The smaller form factor is the market where other tablet makers can compete because it's going to be very hard to go against a 10" tablet with 2048x1536 resolution (iPad3). Although, Tim Cook could go back on Jobs and throw Apple into the 7" tablet arena.

Steve Jobs Leaves Job

If you have not heard... then you probably don't have electricity and so it doesn't matter.

Sadly, this may indicate a problem with his health and I wish him the best. I think Apple will be fine under Tim Cook because if you think about it, Cook has been at the reigns several times since Jobs has been having health problems dating back to 2004.

And I'm sure the rest of the management team is as key to Apple's success as much as Jobs. 2014 is where we'll see how Apple can evolve without its top guy. Although... if he can stay healthy, being Chairman of the Board is probably just as effective.