Hasta La Gadget!

Cupertino released a lot of new products today, and it was easy to miss something in the press release onslaught. To stay versed in the Tome of Apple, here are 10 things you need to know:

1. iMacs Get Next-Gen Processors
The most important upgrade to iMacs is that they’ll now support Intel Core i5 and i7 processors for prices starting at $2000. You can buy a Core 2 Duo model for $800 less, but…I mean…really?

2. The iMac Is a Cheap Monitor, By Apple’s Standards
A 30-inch Cinema Display will still run you $1,800 while a new 27-inch iMac starts at $1700. Oh, and now the iMac can work simply as a monitor through its mini DisplayPort, too.

3. Apple Sees the Mac Mini as a Server, Not an HTPC
Apple may have given the Mac Mini a slight spec boost and the option to load Leopard Server, but it still missing the critical feature it needs to be a competitive home theater PC—the HDMI port.

4. New Metal Remote Looks Like an iPod Design Reject
For those who couldn’t stand the humiliation of using a white, plastic remote with their black-and-silver iMac, there’s a remote for that.

5. Replaceable Batteries Are Dead in Apple’s Entire Laptop Line
The trusty old white MacBook was holding out, battling designers’ attempts to replace its swappable battery with a longer-life non-swappable version you see in every other modern Apple laptop. Today, it lost that battle.

6. Apple Still Hates Buttons, Nubs, Etc
The multitouch Magic Mouse has risen over the Mighty Mouse’s corpse, and as Jesus points out, the whole no-button design is déjà vu.

7. Jobs’ Polycarbonate MacBook Must Have Slipped Off His Lap
Not only is Apple keeping the white MacBook around, they’ve added a non-slip rubber bottom in what may be the most aggressive design change since May 16, 2006, when the model original launched.

8. Time Capsules Should Be 60% Less Frustrating
Anyone who’s grown tired of the ridiculously slow experience of interfacing with the Time Capsule, know that Time Capsules have seen a tacit spec boost promising to make systems “60 percent faster than before.”

9. Jonathan Ive Could Still Sell a Ketchup Popsicle to a Fanboy in White Gloves
Also of note, sales on Hanes midnight blue tees are going through the roof, and big muscles don’t make you look dumb so long as you speak with an Essex-region English accent.

10. No, the Nook Is Not an Apple Product
But it’s about a bajillion times closer than the Kindle.

If you just ordered a Kindle, stop reading now or you’re in for a giant dose of buyer’s remorse. Barnes and Noble unveiled a new e-book reader called ‘Nook’, and it is hot, both inside and out.

Nook looks a lot like Amazon’s white plastic e-book reader, only instead of the chiclet-keyboard there is a color multitouch screen, to be used as a keyboard or to browse books, cover-flow style. The machine runs Google’s Android OS and it will have wireless capability from AT&T.

The $260 Nook–same price as the Kindle 2-is expected to be on sale at the end of November.

The Nook has the regular black-and-white E Ink display and a 3.5-inch color touchscreen. The latter allows users to browse books. The Nook also comes with built-in WiFi, 2GB of internal storage, MP3 player and supports open formats such as EPUB. Nook users have features such as bookmarks, and the ability to share books with friends for up to a fortnight through other e-readers, smartphones or computers.

Barnes and Noble has said Nook customers will have access to its online bookstore that includes books, newspapers and magazines. The Nook itself can hold up to 1,500 e-books.

Gizmodo, first showed leaked images of the Nook last week. The blog said that B&N will be discounting titles heavily in their electronic format, which is as is should be (no paper, printing or shipping costs). The Nook will also be able to get books from the Google Books Project.

Earlier Tuesday, Wall Street Journal, had a peek at an at ad set to run in The New York Times this coming Sunday. The ad features the line “Lend eBooks to friends,” and this has the potential to destroy the Kindle model. One of the biggest problems with e-books is that you can’t lend or re-sell them. If B&N is selling e-books cheaper than the paper versions, then the resale issue is moot. And lending, even if your friends need a Nook, too, takes away the other big advantage of paper.

In fact, this loaning function could be the viral feature that makes the device spread. Who would buy a walled-garden machine like the Kindle when the Nook has the same titles, cheaper, and you can borrow? The Nook is already starting to look like the real internet to the Kindle’s AOL.

Exclusive: First Photos of Barnes & Noble’s Double Screen E-Reader [Gizmodo]
Barnes & Noble Reader Out Tuesday [All Things D/ WSJ]

See Also:

• Kindle Goes International — With a Little Help From AT&T
• Crippleware Alert! International Kindle Gets No Web Access Outside …
• International Kindle Now Shipping: The Good, the Bad and the …
• Large-Screen Kindle Won’t Mean Squat if Apple Tablet Arrives …

Barnes and Noble‘s late to e-books. But the company’s new gadget—first seen here—should address the weaknesses of all other readers with screens evoking a Kindle and an iPhone. A source from within reveals.

The Barnes and Nobles e-reader project, set to be revealed next week, has been under development for years, with several devices of varying size and capability in the pipeline. First rumors said it would have a color e-ink screen. Then people said it didn’t. They were both kind of right: The layout will feature a black and white e-ink screen like the Kindle has—and a multitouch display like an iPhone underneath other. Pow!

More hardware details of the Barnes and Noble E-Ink/LCD reader here:

What’s interesting is that B&N will sell the books it also publishes (yes, remember, they are also a publisher and not just a store) at a deep discount compared to print editions. And the device will have some sort of access to all books scanned by the Google Books project; probably books that are out of print.

The name of the gadget, which I cannot reveal and may have changed anyhow, is freaking terrible. I hope they change it before it ships. Oh and yeah, it runs Android.