Apple bears new fruits…

After weeks of speculation of what “fun products” Apple will unveil, the company announces two new products and one revamped product. Apple introduced a revised Apple Mini with an Intel processor. The Mini will now ship with the new iLife ’06, revised Mac OS X, and Front Row. The new models (1.5 GHz or 1.66 GHz) will be available immediately and will cost approximately the same price as the old G4 models starting at around $599. If you are planning one buying one of these small form factor machines, you have to consider the limited expandability of the machine and shared video memory. The machine will ship with 512 Megs of RAM but 64 Megs of that is used for video purposes. Solution: double the amount of memory to 1 Gigabtye.

The biggest news of the day coming from Apple is the introduction of the iPod HiFi. iPod HiFi is an addon product for the iPod which basically allows any iPod user to connect their iPods to portable speaker system. You can power this baby by using an AC adapter or a couple of D-cell batteries to power this baby. Cost: $429 CDN. Available today!

The third product Apple introduced are new leather cases for your iPod that will cost $129 CDN and will be available in March.

Photo Courtesy: Apple Computers

Microsoft announces Office 2007 & Pricing Plans

Microsoft will ship Office 2007, formerly known as Office 12, sometime in the second half of this year. Like Microsoft Vista (Windows), Office 2007 will come in seven different flavours ranging from basic to enterprise. Prices for Office 2007 starts at around $149 USD. For more information click here.

Motorola RAZR for the Everyday Person!

Finally, Motorola has decided to launch a RAZR for the everyday person! I was really beginning to worry that I am not cool enough to hang with the cool kids in geekville. Today, Motorola introduceda new mass market phone for 2006 – W220. W220 features:

• FM Radio (no MP3 playback)
• 600 member contact book
• 128 x 128 pixel colour screen
• No external display for clock, caller id, status, etc.
• 497 minutes of talktime/293 hours standby
• Availability: Fall 2006

WEIRD GADGETS: HIGH POWER LASERS

I was reading this short little blurb over at Gizmodo. Apparently, there is a company out there by the name of Wicked Lasers, that is selling class 3b lasers to people. So, for about $499.99 (I am guessing USDs), you can buy one of these babies to: “pop balloons”, “scare birds”, or “turn yourself into a Sith Lord or Jedi master come Halloween”. You can also get a cheaper version for $99.00 or a more expensive state of the art model for $1999.00.

Story Credit: Gizmodo
Product Info: Wicked Laser

For all those single geeks out there…

A innovative graduate of the University of Plymouth invented a new washing machine – WashDryIron. The aptly named all-in-one device does washing, drying and ironing. The device is expected to cost $1600 to $1800 CDN.

Story Credit: BBC News

Microsoft Vista Editions Finalized?

According to Neowin.net, Microsoft has finalized the number of editions of Vista (a.k.a Windows 2006/07) it will ship later this year. Instead of coming out in two distinct flavours like its predecessor – Windows XP, Microsoft Vista will come in a seven distinct flavours. These are rumored to be:

1. Microsoft Vista Business Edition
2. Microsoft Vista Business N (European Union) Edition
3. Microsoft Vista Home Basic Edition
4. Microsoft Vista Home Basic N (European Union) Edition
5. Microsoft Vista Home Premium Edition
6. Microsoft Vista Small Business Edition
7. Microsoft Vista Ultimate Edition

Unlike Windows XP, there will not be seperate Media Centre and Tablet PC standalone edition. For a nice writeup/summary of the different editions of Vista, you can click here.

A Scanner for road warriors

Plustek launched a scanner for road warriors – OpticSlim M12. Guys on the road can: scan business cards into contact management software, create PDF documents on-the-go, and scan full legal size documents. The bonus feature is that this device is completely power-cord free. The device draws all the power it needs through a standard USB 2.0 connection. The scanner comes with all the necessary software to scan: pictures, business cards, articles, and brochures. The scanner also supports OCR of up to 176 languages and high resolution output (up to 600 dpi and 48 bits). Expected to cost around $200 CDN.

WEIRD GADGET: Boob Shaper

How to use. Firstly, spray special healthful liquid on bust. After put on bust doctor, plug in and turn on switch button. You can adjust vibration power by button. 15 minutes per day is efficient to make good shaping bust.

~From the Boob Doctor Instructions Manual.

This has got to be one of the weirder ones that I have come acrossed in a long long time. This little item is aptly named Boob Doctor. I do not really know exactly what this device actually does for that part of the human anatomy or to whom the manufacturers intend on selling the Boob Doctor to (i.e. old people, people with man boobies, etc.). You definitely have to credit the geek that invented this “sucker”. For those of you that are looking at scoring one of these for Valentine’s Day, you can only get them in Korea.

~Geekboy.

Story Credit: Red Ferret

World’s First One Inch 12 Gigabyte Hard Drive

Seagate, the world’s largest maker of computer hard drives, introduces one of the smallest hard drives on the market – ST 1.3. The model measures 40 mm x 30 mm and holds approximately 12 gigabytes of information. Seagate hopes to begin shipping these little buggers to cell phone and other mobile device manufacturers sometime later in the summer.

~Geekboy.

World’s Smallest MP3 Player just got bigger…

MobiBLU DAH-1500i is currently the smallest digital music player on Earth measuring at slightly less than 1 inch (24mm x 24mm x 24mm). This little guy is designed to be worn around the neck (trinket style) and weighs a mere 18 grams. The storage capacity on the latest model has been bumped up to 2 gigabytes, which translates to around 500 songs. Besides being the smallest guy on the block, this music player also packs a lot of features, including: blue OLED display, FM radio, voice recorder, SRS WOW surround sound, and rechargeable lithium ion battery and USB 2.0 transfer rates. Retails for around $175.00 CDN and available in three colours: silver, black, and blue.