We’ve been pretty slow on keeping you all up-to-date recently, so a quick apology for that. There are some big things in the works for later on this year and I’m working hard to get these new features up-and-running. Now back to the news:

• Apple updated its desktop line today, bring hardware updates to the Mac mini (long overdue), iMac, and Mac Pro. Most of these updates deal with detailed specifications on hardware (processor, hard drive, graphics, etc), so check out Apple.com for all the details.
• Amazon launched the “Kindle for iPhone” application yesterday, bringing almost all the features of a $359 device for FREE. Users cannot purchase books directly from the app and subscriptions are not automatically updated, but users can get their full Kindle library on the device and purchase books via the Safari Mobile browser on the phone and get them directly on the device. Basically, users have a fully loaded Kindle (without subscriptions and the controversial text-to-speech features) on the iPhone, something almost everyone has been waiting for.

So that’s the news everybody. Again, apologies for being pretty slow recently, but we’re working on big things, so stay tuned.

The next generation iPhone will have a matte-black metal finish according to some recent leaked photos. Do we trust those recent leaked photos? Not really. Sure, we’re not gonna immediately deny these photos’ legitimacy, but a big signal that these are fake: the case uses metal. Why would we immediately say metal means its not real? Because metal is a complete failure when dealing with cell and WiFi signals, so that’s why we’re gonna give this rumor a big “iffy” stamp. MacRumors and iPodObserver both received the images earlier today, and iPodObserver did post the first pics of the iPhone 3G’s glossy back months before the release, but we’re still doubtful. Check out some more pictures at MacRumors.

Just as predicted, the kindle 2 (official name) will be available on February 24 for $359 and the leaked pictures were real. Some key specs of the new device: 25 percent thinner than the iPhone, 25 percent longer battery life than the original Kindle, 7 times more storage space, 20 percent faster page-turning, and most importantly: IT READS TO YOU. It’s got text-to-speech built-in for those of you to lazy to move your eyes. Oh, and another major design change, the next/previous page buttons are tiny and won’t accidentally be pushed, which was the worst feature of the original Kindle (the sides of the device were buttons). Will this new model sell out in one day just as the original did? Who knows, but the kindle 2 is pretty tempting.

via Gizmodo

Amazon will launch it’s new Kindle at 7:00 AM Pacific (10 EST) this morning during a press event. Pictures of the device leaked to the media this weekend, while BGR had pictures of the device months ago. According to sources, the device will cost $359 and be available on February 24. All will be known in just a few hours, when Jeff Bezos will undoubtedly make the announcement of the new device. Engadget and Gizmodo will both have live coverage from the event, so check both sites out for up-to-the-minute news.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced that the Windows 7 beta will be available for download starting this Friday (January 9), for everyone. Ballmer delivered the opening CES keynote; Bill Gates has delivered the keynote for practically the past 15 years and last year was his last keynote. So the first announcement Ballmer made of his keynote was this Windows 7 beta availability. Windows 7 has been pictured and seen a lot over the past couple of months and this announcement was already expected (along with almost all the “announcements” from today’s keynote). Download the beta and learn more at the Windows 7 site.

This year marks my third for attending the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.  As a few of you might already know, my father is the almighty Yahya Ahdout, the owner and CEO of dreamGEAR, a video game/iPod accessory and speaker producer and distributor, and he is my ticket into this amazing show.  You can find his wonderful products at many places including your local Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Blockbuster.  One of his latest items is the Warbeast Guitar Controller for all Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Rock Revolution games on PS2/PS3. But, enough of that, lets get to the good stuff.  I will be at the show for its entirety, and I will constantly be blogging and posting every interesting thing that I find.  Like Engadget and Gizmodo, we will be posting about the biggest announcements by all the different companies, but I will also use my time to go around the smaller booths and post about the pretty cool things that everyone forgets about.  As I roam from hall to hall and booth to booth, I will be accompanied by a very good friend of mine, Michael York, who is getting his new blog off the floor, and will be working in compliance with us at blargKABOOM.

Finally, the things I will be bringing with myself on my journey:
Canon EOS 30D – To snap pictures of everything for all you guys to see!
Asus eee 901 – For blogging on the go while on the show floor.
Apple iPhone 3G – For constant tethering, and music on the go. As it is also of course my telephone.
MacBook Pro – Yes, mine is in fact the first generation model, but it will be my home-base for posting in the hotel room. 

And also, a little background for those of you who do not know what CES is; ah god im too lazy, just read about it on Wikipedia here!

Enjoy!

via Engadget

So which fact is more important, Jobs not delivering the keynote or Apple ditching MacWorld? We’re gonna go ahead and say the real news is Jobs not delivering the keynote. So, is this the end of Steve Jobs? Doubtful, but more likely it’s the start of a transition phase. The transition from Steve Jobs the high holy God of Apple – to – Jobs, Schiller, and Cook: the executive team. Who is this Cook? Well, Tim Cook is Apple’s COO and delivered the “State of the Mac” to start off this October’s notebook event. According to many articles, Cook is the cheese to Jobs’ macaroni (yes, a Juno reference), he is more numbers based while Jobs is more “boom” and “wow” based. But back to point: this switch doesn’t represent Jobs’ retirement, just a transition. If this was his retirement there would probably be a big show with Jobs himself (not a sidekick) handing over the reigns.

But what about another theory: does Jobs just have nothing to present? Doubtful, if there was nothing, Jobs would spin it as something. Remember, we’re talking about a man who could turn water into wine.

The keynote will take place January 6 starting at 10:00 am, until then: let the rumor mill keep on spinning. But one thing is for sure: things will never be the same.

What?!!?!?!?!?! COPY AND PASTE ON THE IPHONE!!!!!!! If that was your immediate reaction, maybe you should calm down a bit. First off, it’s only via Safari to Mail (not the other way around). Second, it requires opening a bookmark. Those are the negatives. Now you can get back to jumping and screaming. The positives: it’s completely legal, not software or jailbreaking necessary. You don’t even need to download an app from the App Store. Here’s the deal: a service called Pastebud, launching this Friday (December 12), operates via two bookmarks. The user navigates to web page and decides they want to copy and paste something. Next, open your “Copy” bookmark and a new page will open with the ability to select text. Select your text and then at the top of the page, select either send to Mail or copy to clipboard. If sent to Mail, a new Email will open with the text as the message. If sent to clipboard, you can then paste the next by opening your “Paste” bookmark. Seems pretty simple and hopefully it works well. If only Apple would get on this, then we’d be in heaven. Because seriously, more than a year and a half of an iPhone with no copy-and-paste, it’s a bit ridiculous. Check out a video over at Gizmodo.

via Engadget

We aren’t big BlackBerry users here at blargKABOOM, being the Apple/iPhone fanboys we are; however, this month has been pretty exciting over at the BlackBerry camp so here’s the latest in BlackBerry news.

• the Bold launches on AT&T, finally: after seeing the Bold practically a year ago, the phone has finally launched on a major US carrier. AT&T users rejoice, the Bold is yours for a cool $299 with 2-year contract and $100 rebate. The phone has pretty much been branded, the greatest BlackBerry yet, and the combination of the screen, speed, and operating system give it that. This final product is definitely much improved from the version we previewed during this summer, so delaying it to keep out the kinks was definitely the smart move.
• the Storm’s Verizon launch date and price are still nowhere to be found: even though RIM and Verizon have been teasing us with press shots, manuals, simulators, and anything else they can delay us with, the launch date of the first ever touchscreen BlackBerry is still unknown. Vodafone, the phone’s European carrier, has supposedly been posting pre-order dates and launch dates, but nothing very concrete. Verizon, the US carrier, isn’t spilling on launch dates or pricing yet, even though they’ve had launch parties and released bundles of information about the phone.

You can check out our unboxing and hands-on video of the Nintendo DSi on our Youtube page and above. The device just came out in Japan last week and is selling like crazy. North American launch is expected mid/early next year and unless you can speak and read Japanese, count importing out: these puppies can’t switch languages. Once we figure out either how to hack it and switch the language or figure out what means what, we’ll get a true hands-on video with pictures up.

Barack Obama elected President is definitely the main story tonight, but the side store – CNN used hologram technology during their election coverage. What? Hologram do you say? No…. this isn’t Star Wars. Well, it may not be up to the Star Wars bar yet, but it’s getting there. CNN “beamed” (as Wolf Blitzer says) Jessica Yellin into their election central zone via hologram. The technology worked by circling Yellin with cameras and computers than analyzing the data and projecting it onto our TV sets. Unfortunately George Lucas and the Star Wars team take the lead here because it looks as if the TV viewer is the only person seeing Yellin and she is not actually there in the studio projected in front of Blitzer. But still, there was a hologram on TV: the future is here.

CNN video

story via Engadget

UPDATE – To see will.i.am and a behind-the-scenes CNN video, read more.

T-Mobile’s G1, the first Google Android-powered phone, is arriving for some lucky customers. Slated for an official launch Wednesday, the G1 has been selling extremely well in pre-orders and customers are slowly but surely starting to receive their Google powered wonders. Whether the phone and the platform itself will turn out to be a success, only time will tell, but if any of you out there have received your phone, tell us what you think in the comments.

The MacBook Pro’s update came first today, as Steve introduced them. Biggest updates to the Pro: the iMac-look with the glass and the black bezel covering the display, dual-graphics chips, and the new multi-touch giant button glass trackpad. The Pro is thinner than the current model, but heavier as well. Shockingly, only the 15″ MacBook Pro model was updated to the new model and the 17″ just received a slight component refresh. The new MacBook Pro is available today in two models, a base $1999 model including a 2.4Ghz processor, 2GB of DDR3 memory, 250GB of storage, and the dual Nvidia graphics cards. The better model is available for $2499 and has a 2.53Ghz processor (upgradable to 2.8Ghz for $300), 4GB of DDR3 memory, 320GB of storage, and new graphics cards.

The new MacBook is the largest updated product at the event. The current entry-level MacBook is still around for $999 and available in white, but then say hello to the new MacBooks. Probably a better term would be 13″ MacBook Pro, because that is almost what the new MacBooks are. The MacBook has the same design as the new MacBook Pro’s and the only features the new MacBook Pro has over the regular MacBook is the Firewire port (which the MacBook drops), the higher speed graphics card, and the faster processor. Besides those key differences, they are almost the same computer. The base new MacBook retails for $1299 and includes a 2.0Ghz processor, 2GB of memory, and 160GB of storage. The better MacBook retails for $1599 and has a 2.4Ghz processor, 2GB of memory, and 250GB of storage.

Both notebook lines are available today online and should be in stores now.

“The spotlight turns to notebooks.”

With Apple’s notebook event starting in almost 10 hours, its only fitting that we roundup the most recent rumors and give you a spotlight of where to go for coverage.

COVERAGE:

As with normal Apple event coverage, check out Engadget and Live.Gizmodo for live up-to-the-second coverage. Besides those two live sources, MacRumors will be gathering news while it happens. blargKABOOM coverage will be intermittent and will be as up-to-date as possible. The event starts at 10:00am Pacific Time and will almost surely star Steve Jobs and a couple of new MacBooks.

RUMORS:

The rumor mill spins extra fast during the Apple event season and this notebook event produced tons of rumors.

The biggest rumors, and almost facts, are around updates to the MacBook and MacBook Pro line. Apparently, aluminum will be key to the new line and the new MacBook will ditch plastic for aluminum. Also rumored is that the MacBook Pro will feature a similar black bezel around the screen like the current iMac (see supposed leaked image above). Faster processors, more storage space, and normal hardware boosts are also expected. Also expected are new lower prices for the notebooks.

After the notebook line updates, what could the “One more thing…” be at this event?

A new Apple display that competes in the television market and includes a built-in hard drive is also rumored. Even if Apple ever produces this product, its highly doubtable that this event will be its launch.

Other rumors include a touch-screen based “iTablet,” a netbook/mini-notebook, and freshly redesigned cinema displays.

10:00am sharp, notebook event, Steve Jobs will be there, will you?

Confirming the rumors, Apple has invited the press to a notebook event on October 14. Looking at the image itself, bbGadgets looked at the image and scaled it to the current MacBook Pro. Apparently, if the Apple logo is 1.5 inches, that laptop is 13.3 inches diagonal (current MacBook dimension.) So could this image be of the new aluminum MacBook? It definitely could be. We’ll just have to wait until the event is actually held to find out for sure. October 14, 10:00 am is the date, live blog coverage will be found at the same sites as usual, engadget.com and live.gizmodo.com. But we’ll remind you of that sooner to the event.

Rumors have been flying around for months about Apple refreshing their MacBook and MacBook Pro lines in design orientated way. Neither the MacBook nor the MacBook Pro has faced major design and style changes since each products respective introductions back in May and January of 2006. Since the end of last year, rumors popped up stating refreshes are coming. Now, the most solid rumor we have is that we will see these new laptops on October 14 (next Tuesday). What will the changes include? For the MacBook, a new aluminum shell making it more recyclable and giving it a more sophisticated look. For the MacBook Pro, a more refined aluminum shell with some sort of black bezel similar to that of the current iMac.

The biggest rumor that went around recently had to deal with codename “Brick.” Internally, Apple calls this new product, or rather technology, “Brick”. Most speculated that the Brick would either be some new smaller touch based device, or a mini-notebook to compete with the Eee PC and the like. Now, 9to5mac.com has shared to us from credible sources that the Brick is a new technology in the way Apple will make the laptops. Unlike current aluminum laptops like the MacBook Pro where the computer contains many pieces of aluminum fit together and cut up and the such, the Brick technology allows for the use of one “brick” of aluminum. Using just lasers and jets of water to literally carve new MacBooks, the new technology offers many benefits: no weak spots, no screws, it’s cheap, and it is made directly by Apple and isn’t done by Taiwanese companies like Foxconn so there are less rumors and leaks. It sounds odd, but check out the full description over at 9to5Mac and it will make more sense.

So, October 14 is the day. New MacBooks, new MacBook Pros, and the introduction of the Brick. Set your calendars.

Nintendo announced a new addition to the DS line tonight with the DSi. Maintaining a similar design to the DS Lite, the DSi is much thinner because it is getting rid of the GBA slot and has 17% larger screens. Along with the larger screen size, a 3 megapixel camera is in the device and I’ll bet Nintendo has some fun ways to use that camera thought up. An audio player and a DSi shop are built-in as well. The DSi shop will use the Nintendo Points used for the Wii and will have downloadable content.  Japanese markets will see the DSi on November 1 and we shall have to wait until next year for a North American and European launch. The device sells for the equivalent of $180 and will be available in black and white.

via Kotaku

In the beginning of this month, Microsoft launched a new $300 million ad campaign designed to start combatting back against the ever-so-popular “Get a Mac” ads and the increase in Mac popularity. Their first attempt grabbed funny man Jerry Seinfeld along with Chairman Billy G to give Microsoft a more amicable and personal feel. The ads weren’t really successful and most people didn’t relate the ads to Microsoft and didn’t get the point. Only two Seinfeld/Gates ads aired, the first about Bill Gates getting shoes at a discount shoe store, the second about the two living with the average family. Well, the second phase of that ad campaign has begun and Microsoft has kicked Seinfeld out and switched to a larger campaign to attack the “Get a Mac” ads more literally. Featuring a John Hodgeman (PC in the Mac ads) look-a-like starting the ad by him saying “Hi, I’m a PC, and I’ve been made into a stereotype,” and then the ad continues with a large amount of people all saying “I’m a PC” or something of the sort. This second campaign aired tonight during The Office and will, hopefully for Microsoft, be successful. Check out the ad after the jump.Click here to view the embedded video.

The BlackBerry Javelin 8900, the soon-to-be successor to the BlackBerry Curve, hasn’t been too shy about getting shot in public. Even so, having your not-yet-announced (or released) product to be put on Ebay, let alone photographed, isn’t the smartest plan. The Javelin is basically a more Bold-like Curve, with matching color combination and a more angular design. The phone features a keyboard similar to the current Curve, WiFi, GPS, and a 3.2 megapixel auto focus camera. 3G is sadly not included. BlackBerryForums member fr0zen posted pictures of the Javelin, check it here for four more pictures. Check out Ebay to find the $4,056.99 and rising unlocked non-3G phone.

For the first review of the top secret “Apple Killer” as RIM has called it, it hasn’t scored to well. As we’ve known before, the Storm only has four physical buttons, but we didn’t know the screen is one giant button. We’ve learned from the video the device does have an accelerometer and the screen’s orientation will rotate with your rotation of the device, but the review also told us that the screen is just a giant button. You can select things by touching them, but for them to actually open, you need to push the actual screen and it will click. Also, scrolling is funny and is done by holding something and waiting for it to scroll. The review did mention that the keyboard is pretty good, however. We’ll see when the device actually comes out! A mid-November launch for Verizon seems pretty likely for know. The Storm’s part of the video starts at around 2 minutes and 55 seconds in.

via Boy Genius Report

Even if we were certain of the new iPod nano, Steve Jobs officially pumping it out always makes us feel a whole lot better. Featuring a form factor similar to the previous tall iPod nano, the new fourth generation iPod nano features a new curved body, along with a new curved glass screen. The new nano features a user interface change which looks pretty fantastic along with some new colors to choose from. Well, some doesn’t really make it a big enough word. Count ‘em, the new nano comes in nine colors. We call it the nano rainbow, Apple calls it “nano-chromatic”, but the new nano is definitely not color prejudice. An 8GB version is available for a cool $149, while a 16GB version rocks a $199 price tag.

Engadget posted a picture of the rumored fourth-generation iPod nano that Kevin Rose called around two weeks ago. The picture does look pretty real, however it is blurry. MacNN received a blurred version of the photo just a few hours before Engadget got the real one. Whether this is just the work of a Photoshop magician or an actual product, we won’t be able to tell until the man in the black turtleneck comes out at 10:00 am next Tuesday, the 9th.

Yesterday, Dell popped out a netbook of its own to jump on the bandwagon made popular by the Asus Eee PC as well as other small notebooks. The Inspiron Mini 9 has an 8.9 inch screen and rocks a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor with either 512MB of RAM or 1GB depending on which model you spring for. There are two Windows XP models and there’s even an Ubuntu Linux version. The Linux version has a 4GB solid-state drive (SSD) and 512MB of memory, but includes 2GB of free internet storage from Box.net, that model retails for a cool $349. Next is a Windows XP model with the same 512MB of RAM but includes an 8GB SSD and retails for $399. Last up is another XP model, except this one not only has a memory boost to 1GB of RAM, but also brings up the storage space to 16GB (still using a SSD) and retails for $449. However, Dell is running a promotion until 6 am (central time) September 9 where if you are ordering another Dell computer (either the Studio 15, XPS M1530 or XPS M1330), you can get the Mini 9 for just $99.

Remember around two months ago when Ryan Block, former editor-in-chief and current editor-at-large of Engadget, announced his resignation from Engadget and that he and Peter Rojas (founder of Engadget and Gizmodo) would be starting a new gadget-focused online site. Well, say hello to “gdgt” (prounced g-d-g-t). gdgt is their new consumer electronics site that they have been preparing for months. The site hasn’t launched yet, but they have released gdgt weekly (iTunes link)–a podcast featuring the dynamic duo similar to the style of the old Engadget Podcast. The first edition is around an hour long and overviews what has happened in technology throughout the past year. Personally, I can’t wait to see more from these two guys and am pumped for the launch of gdgt.

Well the invitations have been sent, there is an Apple event on September 9th just as rumored. It looks like iPods will be the name of the game, considering there is always an iPod refresh around this time (and the invitation is definitely the iPod style.) Hoepfully, Steve will throw in some new notebooks in the “one more thing…” I guess we’ll all see soon. September 9th, 10:00 am, get ready.

Google is a pretty busy company. Not only does it run the largest search engine in the world, but it also has Gmail, YouTube, Google Reader, Google Docs, Google Maps, and even its own 411 service. But that accounts for a tiny percentage of the services Google offers. Well, you can add a web browser to that list. Google Chrome is the latest innovation from Google, and it aims to give you the best browsing experience yet. Chrome is a web browser based on WebKit, the same basis for Apple’s Safari web browser. Offering users a newer, easier tabbed interface that saves memory and makes the browser faster, Google Chrome looks like it could be a great browser. The beta version will be released for Windows tomorrow with Mac OS X and Linux following soon. To give a simple explanation of the browser, Google has released a comic book to explain it all.

via MacRumors