Hasta La Gadget!

The Apple rumors game can be a volatile thing. Just as we’d heard about last minute alterations to the Apple TV before it hit the market, we’ve gotten word from sources that the iPad 2 slated to be announced next Wednesday will be sans a few of the features we’d previously reported. Notably, that SD card slot and higher resolution display won’t make it into the new model (the latter we’d been hearing rumblings about for a little while). What’s the cause of the switch? Well our sources weren’t crystal clear on the exact reasons, but the gist of what was explained to us centered around vague “engineering issues” which may have forced some changes at the eleventh hour. It’s worth noting once again that these sources have been dead right on specific Apple plans and specifications for unannounced products in the past, and we have no reason to believe these changes are due to anything more than legitimate engineering decisions made close to launch.

So what will we see on March 2nd? We’re hearing it’s most likely a thinner, spec-bumped variation of the original iPad with a screen size and resolution identical to the current model. More RAM (512MB) and a more powerful CPU (the A5) are expected as well. It’s also a pretty safe bet the tablet will be sporting at least one camera up front — though if some of those case mockups we’ve seen tell us anything, expect a shooter around back too. It’s also almost guaranteed that we’ll see the next version of iOS (number 5 in all likelihood, along with its SDK for devs), and an expansion of Apple’s cloud services (that part is a little… foggy right now). Of course, that will perfectly set up Apple’s announcement of the iPhone 5 in June, which is when iPad owners can likely expect to be using the new software. Regardless, we’ll have the goods come next week, so stay tuned!

Sources: iPad 2 lands in thinner body with spec bump and cameras, SD slot and higher resolution display are out originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 21:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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With the Tokyo Marathon just round the corner and the climbing season about to begin, retailers are still hoping to capitalize on the growing boom in all things outdoors and the so-called yamagaaru mountain-loving young females trend.

This is best represented by the North Face, who next month is opening its first store aimed at women. Located bang on prime Meijidori, the store is set to be designed in a chic white and black wooden decor, a blend of the cool and the natural. Clearly these kinds of yamagaaru like to remain stylish when they are outdoors.

The American brand is not alone. Sankei reports that in the spring Asics is reviving its outdoors range Mescalito, which it had originally suspended in 2006, only this time switching the focus to women consumers. Descente is also adding outdoors goods to its sports products and Marmot is planning to raise sales of outdoors gear from 65 billion yen last March to 80 billion by 2013.

There are implications for tourism as well. Chichibu City in Saitama hopes to regenerate its fortunes through girls-only mountain tours in collaboration with travel agency JTB. The area has suffered, like many parts of Japan’s regions, from depopulation and the aging populace, and an injection of fully costumed, fashionable mountaineering urban girls might be just the trick for boosting the local economy.

And just because you apparently love the outdoors does not mean you even need to leave the house to indulge your hobby. Yamagaaru now have their own niche digital community site called, perhaps not surprisingly, YamaGirl.net, which recommends products and shares fashion snaps of women in snazzy outdoors wear.

Xtreamer Prodigy features AirPlay support, USB 3, and a GUI that will delight fans of Flash (and fans of GUIs) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 20:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s newest MacBook Pro has new CPUs, GPUs, and something called Thunderbolt. Read on for our hands-on impressions of the new hardware.

Graf_chokolo tells blog readers about Sony allegedly raiding his house and urges readers to redistribute his files on reverse engineering the PlayStation 3 in retaliation.

Originally posted at InSecurity Complex