Hasta La Gadget!

According to a previously reliable source, Apple misrepresented the reasons behind Macworld and Jobs’ keynote cancellation. Allegedly, the real cause is his rapidly declining health. In fact, it may be even worse than we imagined:

Steves health is rapidly declining. Apple is choosing to remove the hype factor strategically vs letting the hype destroy apple when the inevitable news comes later this spring.

This strategic loss will be less of a bang with investors. This is why Macworld is a no-go anymore. No more Steve means no more hype. Saying they are no longer needing [Macworld] is the cover designed by the worldwide “loyalty” department.

This source has repeatedly been 100% correct before. Those times, however, were always related to news and images of unreleased Apple products. I can only hope that, in this more personal matter, it is absolutely wrong. And that if he is not, that sentence just means that Steve Jobs is retiring according to his plan.

While Steve Jobs’ health is nobody’s business—not the press, not investors, not the public—we believe that there’s a line between saying “no-comment” and plainly misleading—once again—the public.

Steve Jobs have been giving Macworld Expo keynotes since he came back as interim CEO of the company in 1997. Since then he has never failed once, always introducing notable products both at Macworld San Francisco and Macworld New York. During his latest Macworld keynote, in 2008, he introduced the MacBook Air. Later this year, he used his WWDC presentation to announce the new iPhone 3G. In his last two show-n-tells, for the new iPods and the new MacBooks, he used less time on stage, giving more limelight to key members of Apple’s executive team.

According to our Deep Throat’s report, the fact seems to be that whether or not Apple had other reasons to pull out of Macworld, they weren’t the only ones, and they certainly weren’t the same ones used for not putting Steve Jobs through the ordeal of a two-hour presentation.

Apple did not comment on this story after being contacted.

Adding to a small stack of rumors about a supposed iPhone nano, case-maker Vaja today quietly added the category to its website (pictured after the break). Frankly, we’re not sure what to think. There are a number of ways in which Apple could produce a cheaper phone or alter its subsidy deals, so the idea of an iPhone that’s simply smaller makes very little sense. Yet, here we are showing off the site of a reputable accessory manufacturer with a brand new phone listed — ostensibly just a teensy version of the iPhone 3G. Of course, this is probably just rumor, speculation, lies, corruption, signs of an unquenchable thirst for power, and a glimpse at the machinations behind one of the greatest conspiracies mankind has ever known. So, we’re posing the question to the biggest brains of all: the Engadget reader. Is Apple working on an iPhone nano?

View Poll

Continue reading What is the deal with the iPhone nano?

Filed under: Cellphones

What is the deal with the iPhone nano? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Dec 2008 20:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple’s said it’s taking a break from adding flashy features to OS X to focus on the foundations and stability of the system with Snow Leopard, and this latest leaked screenshot might indicate that those foundations are moving to 64 bits — it shows System Preferences saying it needs to restart in 32-bit mode to open the Network panel. That’s certainly interesting, given the rumors that Apple’s dropping support for non-Intel machines and maybe even 32-bit Intel processors with this release, but it could also just mean that whoever took this screenshot doesn’t have a 64-bit-friendly version of that preference pane installed. (We’re guessing the latter, since there are a lot of 32-bit only Core Duo Intel Macs out there.) Restarting apps to change modes seems pretty clunky, though — shades of System 7 and the 32-bit Enabler, for the olds — so we’re hoping Apple’s got a more elegant solution in the works. Macworld’s just around the corner, we’re sure we’ll hear more from Steve Phil soon.

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

Leaked Snow Leopard image potentially indicates a 32 / 64-bit divide originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Dec 2008 14:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sony isn’t being too coy with the VAIO P, is it? In addition to that teaser image, oh-so-beautiful FCC shot, and mistakenly-posted specs page, CNET’s uncovered this pic of the rectangular netbook with its lid open. We can’t really tell if the machine pictured has that crazy 8-inch 1600 x 768 display we’d heard about, but there’s a lot of the VAIO TT in those lines — so much so we’re wondering if it’s a ‘shop, albeit a super-hot one. Of course, there’s no word on pricing, but we’re hoping it’s somewhere close to reasonable — we’ll find out in just a couple weeks at CES.

Update: We knew it looked a little too much like the TT — it’s a ‘shop. Oh well, at least we can dream.

Filed under: Laptops

Is this the VAIO P? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apparently, after a long update hiatus the successor to the current Mac mini could finally appear at MacWorld 2009. At least, that’s what Gadget Lab says:

Apple will launch an upgrade to its low-end desktop, the Mac Mini, at January’s Macworld Expo in San Francisco, according to an Apple corporate employee who contacted Wired.com.

The source, who wished to remain anonymous (to keep his job), could not disclose details about the Mac Mini other than its upcoming announcement at Macworld Expo, which begins Jan. 5.

Wired seems confident about the leak, but doesn’t offer any other solid information. They speculate on the specs based on the current product line, like an aluminum brick design (not sure why this would be useful in a desktop computer), DisplayPort, and 4GB of RAM maximum, with 2.0-GHz Core 2 Duo and a 2.3-GHz Core 2 Duo. [Wired]