TouchSmarter: Touch Screen Gadgets

NUI in partnership with France based byVOLTA, delivered a customized multi-touch software solution with three Horizons for the exhibition “Towards the First World” in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The press release can be found on NUI’s website in the news section at:
http://www.natural-ui.com/aboutnui/news.html

For more information about the Horizon, visit:
http://www.natural-ui.com/solutions/products.html

AT&T is releasing the Samsung i907 Epix beginning today. The Epix runs Widows 6.1 Mobile Professional and uses a BlackJack II form factor. Being a professional device, the Epix utilizes a touch screen for its 2.55" display.

The Epix is feature packed with 3G speeds, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, video share calling, Voice Command, aGPS, and a 2 megapixel camera with video capture. The Epix will retail for $199.99 with a two-year contract.

 

Primary Specifications:

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Again, the about-to-be-released T-Mobile G1 isn’t a Windows Mobile phone; rather, it uses Google’s Android software. But in this week's column I want to point you to some of the initial reviews, since it’s an exciting device and another strong indicator of things to come. Bottom line: powerful device, Android software is impressive, but needs fine tuning.

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I'll put it this way. If you want to make your Windows Mobile device look and act a little more like the iPhone, then Winterface is for you. It is essentially at it's core, yet another application launcher/manager, whith some messaging and PIM integration. It looks good, and the screen animations were quite snappy on my iPAQ. Make no mistake, I like Winterface but would like to see a few more hooks into the native WM environment.

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For everybody who is interested to see one of the first interactive multi-touch tables of Natural User Interface (NUI), there is the possibility to see them at the following events:

12-15 November in Gothenburg at SACO mässa (fair)
20-21 November in Stockholm at SACO mässa (fair)
27-30 November in Jönköping at DreamHack, the worlds largest computer festival organizer is holding its Winter edition.

This is in collaboration with our educational partner LTU Skelleftea. Search for the LTU booth at these events.

 The Android OS has been lurking in the shadows for some time, and even after the SDK was released, the project still seemed somewhat a mystery. The lurking will end as soon as T-Mobile starts shipping its new G1.

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Wisbar (on the left), and Winterface (on the right) both have new versions of their UI enhancement apps available this month. Vito is releasing Winterface with a new free weather plug-in, so I'll have to put my dusty, shabby ex-weather man hat on and review it. I've been a Wisbar fan since like waaay back in the day when just having something besides the ugly start menu to look at was cool (so we thought). I even have some WA skins of my own somewhere. God, what a lot of work that was...I digress!

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As expected Apple today announced a brand new MacBook Pro. The new MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro both have a precision unibody enclosure crafted from a single block of aluminum, resulting in thinner, more durable and incredibly beautiful designs.

In addition, every member of the new MacBook family includes state of the art NVIDIA graphics, brilliant instant-on LED-backlit displays and new large glass Multi-Touch trackpads that offer almost 40 percent more tracking area and support more Multi-Touch gestures. The entire new MacBook family meets stringent Energy Star 4.0, EPEAT Gold and RoHS environmental standards, and leads the industry in the elimination of toxic chemicals by containing no brominated flame retardants, using only PVC-free internal cables and components, and using energy efficient LED-backlit displays that are mercury-free and made with arsenic-free glass.

“Apple has invented a whole new way of building notebooks from a single block of aluminum. And, just as important, they are the industry’s greenest notebooks,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “The new MacBooks offer incredible features our users will love —like their stunning all-metal design, great 3D graphics and LED backlit displays—at prices up to $700 less than before.”
“Traditionally notebooks are made from multiple parts. With the new MacBook, we’ve replaced all of those parts with just one part—the unibody,” said Jonathan Ive, Apple’s senior vice president of Industrial Design. “The MacBook’s unibody enclosure is made from a single block of aluminum, making the new MacBook fundamentally thinner, stronger and more robust with a fit and finish that we’ve never even dreamed of before.”

The new MacBook line features the powerful new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, a revolutionary new 3D integrated graphics processor that features 16 parallel processing cores and delivers up to five times the 3D graphics performance than the previous MacBook and MacBook Air.

The new MacBook, 15-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air include a next generation, industry-standard Mini DisplayPort to connect with the new Apple LED Cinema Display featuring a 24-inch LED-backlit widescreen display.

Today Apple also updated MacBook Air and the 17-inch MacBook Pro. MacBook Air, measuring only 0.16-inches at its thinnest point, 0.76-inches at its maximum height and weighing just three pounds, now includes new NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics and a faster architecture to provide robust support for 3D games and enhanced performance. Starting at $1,799, MacBook Air is available with a 120GB 4200 rpm hard drive, a 50 percent increase from the previous generation, or a new 128GB solid state drive. The updated 17-inch MacBook Pro keeps its original aluminum design, and now comes standard with a high resolution 1920 x 1200 LED-backlit display and a larger 320GB hard drive or an optional 128GB solid state drive.

The new MacBook, 15-inch MacBook Pro and 17-inch MacBook Pro are now shipping and the new MacBook Air will be available in early November.

An updated 13-inch white MacBook featuring 2.1 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processors, a 120GB 5400 rpm hard drive and a slot-load 8X SuperDrive is now available for $999 (US).

The 2.0 GHz, 13-inch aluminum MacBook, for a suggested retail price of $1,299 (US), includes:

13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
160GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad; and
60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.4 GHz aluminum MacBook, for a suggested retail price of $1,599 (US), includes:

13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
250GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
60 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
Build-to-order options for the MacBook include the ability to upgrade to 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, a 250GB 5400 rpm, 320GB 5400 rpm hard drive, a 128GB solid state drive, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple USB Modem, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare® Protection Plan.

The 2.4 GHz, 15-inch aluminum MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US), includes:

15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, expandable to 4GB;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics with 256MB GDDR3 video memory;
250GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire® 800 port;
ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 2.53 GHz aluminum MacBook Pro, for a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes:

15.4-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1440 x 900 glossy display;
2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT discrete graphics with 512MB GDDR3 video memory;
320GB serial ATA hard drive running at 5400 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
a slot-load 8X SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW) optical drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
Gigabit Ethernet port;
built-in iSight video camera;
two USB 2.0 ports;
one FireWire 800 port;
ExpressCard/34 expansion card slot;
one audio line in and one audio line out port, each supporting both optical digital and analog;
glass Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
85 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.
Build-to-order options for the MacBook Pro include a 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, the ability to upgrade to 4GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM, 250GB 7200 rpm, 320GB 5400 rpm or a 320GB 7200 rpm hard drive, a 128GB solid state drive, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple USB Modem, Apple Remote, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan.

The 1.6 GHz MacBook Air, for a suggested retail price of $1,799 (US), includes:

13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit high resolution 1280 x 800 glossy display;
1.6GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
2GB 1066 MHz DDR3 SDRAM;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
120GB serial ATA hard drive running at 4200 rpm, with Sudden Motion Sensor;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
built-in iSight video camera;
one USB 2.0 port;
one headphone port;
Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
45 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

The 1.86 GHz MacBook Air, for a suggested retail price of $2,499 (US), includes:

13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit 1280 x 800 glossy display;
1.86 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 6MB shared L2 cache;
1066 MHz front-side bus;
2GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM;
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M integrated graphics;
128GB solid state drive;
Mini DisplayPort for video output (adapters sold separately);
built-in AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking and Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
built-in iSight video camera;
one USB 2.0 port;
one headphone port;
Multi-Touch trackpad and illuminated keyboard; and
45 Watt MagSafe Power Adapter.

Apple’s media event where it will unveil brand new MacBook and MacBook Pro models is set to start imminently, World of Apple will update this post periodically with key information.

For live coverage see this post.

• Members of media getting seated, event starting soon!
• Steve Jobs intros Tim Cook who’s talking sales, Apple sold 2.5 million Macs last quarter
• Cook: Apple has “better computers” and “better software”, says “Leopard is far ahead of Vista”
• Jonathan Ive on stage talking about the new manufacturing process for notebooks. One piece of aluminium to build a lighter stronger enclosure.
• NVIDIA came to Apple to show off a new product, now the 9400M is in the new notebooks. Chipset and GPU on one die, 70% is GPU, 16 parallel graphics cores, 54 gigaflops.
• New trackpad in notebooks made of glass for “silky smooth” travel
• 39% larger tracking area, multi-touch gestures, entire trackpad is one button, multi-buttons via software
• Four finger gestures for app switching and Expose
• Introducing brand new MacBook Pro
• New MacBook Pro, LED-backlit, multi-touch glass trackpad, mini Display Port connector, backlit keyboard, magnetic latch
• Both the integrated NVIDIA 9400M in the MacBook as well as the GeForce 9600M GT
• Five hours of battery life on 9400M, four on the 9600M.
• Sot load optical drive, MagSafe, Ethernet, FireWire 800, two USBs, mini DisplayPort, ExpressCard 34, battery indicator on side.
• Mini DisplayPort going into all new products, slimmed down version of the fill-DVI connection, can still drive 30-inch display
• Hard drive easily replaceable
• SSD option available
• $1999, 15.4-inch LED backlit, 2.4GHz, 3MB L2 cache, 2GB DDR3 memory, two GPUs, 250GB HDD, SuperDrive
• $2499, 15.4-inch LED backlit, 2.53GHz, 6MB L2 cache, 4GB DDR3 memory, two GPUs, 320GB HDD, SuperDrive
• MacBook Air also getting revamp, mini Display Port, NVIDIA 9400M, 120GB HDD, 128GB SSD option
• MacBook Pros shipping today, MacBook Airs shipping in November
• Brand new 24-inch LED Cinema Display
• One cable with MagSafe to charge laptop, Display Port and USB.
• 24-inch display is $899, max resolution of 1920 x 1200, stereo speakers. Available in November.
• New MacBook, just like Pro yet smaller.
• Has NVIDIA 9400M integrated graphics, five hours of battery life
• $1299 13.3-inch MacBook, 2GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, SuperDrive
• Optional 128GB SSD also available for MacBook
• $1599 13.3-inch MacBook, 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, SuperDrive
• MacBooks shipping now, in stores tomorrow
• Holding Q&A session; Steve’s blood pressure is 110/70, saying no more on Jobs’ health

This week I have updates on two mobile services: KeyToss mobile portal, and the Slifter mobile shopping service. Plus, we have the news from HTC that the Touch HD won’t come to the U.S. — but that the HTC Fuze is supposedly coming from AT&T later this month.

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