Hasta La Gadget!

Leave it to Microsoft to make netbooks complicated.

It appears likely the tech giant will offer three different versions of Windows 7 for netbooks. HP officials told Computer World about its plans to offer three different configurations of Windows 7 for netbooks, which suggests Microsoft will roll out this structure for other companies’ netbooks as well.

According to HP, the following three Windows 7 options will be available: Windows 7 Starter Edition, which will only be able to run three apps at a time; Windows 7 Home Premium for consumers; and Windows 7 Professional edition, aimed at business users. That could lead to three
pricing options for Windows 7 netbooks, depending on the version you choose — in addition to pricing variations when netbooks ship with Linux instead.

HP says its netbooks will likely run three versions of Windows 7 [ComputerWorld]

Photo: Tailer Hikari/Flickr

An international report might have given away Apple’s plans to launch the next iPhone in June.

Etisalat, a mobile carrier in the Middle East and Africa, announced in a local newspaper that the iPhone 3G will soon be supported in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

The report adds that "the next version of the device, which is due out in June, will be launched in the UAE at the same time."

The report doesn’t cite a source, but AppleInsider speculates the information came from Mark Davis, program director for iPhone at Etisalat, who previously confirmed the 3G’s Etisalat launch date to be Feb. 15.

A June launch date for the next iPhone isn’t very exciting news, as it’s kind of a no-brainer: The first and second iPhones launched in June 2007 and July 2008, respectively.

Little is known about Apple’s next iPhone, but some developers and analysts believe the new device will have a strong focus on gaming.

Photo: new-york-city/Flickr

It’s a rumor, but it’s a good one. According to Russian website Photogenius, Olympus has a couple of chunky compact digicams lined up for launch, most probably at the PMA tradeshow in Las Vegas this coming March. Both will be based on the Micro Four Thirds standard, the Panasonic/Olympus double-team which promises tiny SLR cameras.

The "leaked" specs say that there will be the M-1, with a 3.2" LCD, a 12-45 ƒ2.4-3.5 lens that can shoot hi-def video up to 1080p, joined by the M-100 with a 14-70 ƒ3.5-5.6 lens. Interestingly, the M-100 is supposed to look just like the concept camera which Olympus showed at Photokina last September, the hot looking number pictured above.

From what we can tell, the cameras will have, despite their compact camera looks, interchangeable lenses, and there may be another lens announced soon after the cams —  a 45-150 ƒ2.8-4 with the reassuringly accurate weight of 550 grams (19 Oz). As usual, we’ll have to wait and see, but if this thing works as good as it looks, Olympus could have a hit.

Camera format specifications Micro 4 / 3 from Olympus [Photogenius via Engadget]

See Also:

• Olympus Readying Hot New ‘Micro Four Thirds’ Camera
• Olympus, Panasonic Plan Assault on Fortress of Pretentious …
• Panasonic Launches First ‘Micro Four Thirds’ Camera

People monitoring Steve Jobs’ illness say the sick CEO is considering a liver transplant, Bloomberg reports.

Bloomberg had no additional details regarding Jobs’ condition.

"Why don’t you guys leave me alone — why is this
important?" said Jobs, in a phone interview with Bloomberg.    

In a letter to Apple staff on Wednesday, the CEO announced his five-month medical leave.

In an open letter that Jobs published just last week, the CEO cited hormone imbalance as the cause for his noticeable weight loss. However, in Wednesday’s letter to staff Jobs said he "learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally
thought."

See Also:

• Steve Jobs Probably Won’t Come Back to Apple
• Meet Tim Cook: The Man in Charge of Apple
• Apple CEO Steve Jobs Goes on Medical Leave
• Steve Jobs is Not — Repeat, Not — Dead
• Steve Jobs Cites Treatable Hormone Imbalance For Weight Loss …
• Steve Jobs Is Still Not Dead, Take II

Photo: James Merithew/Wired.com

An upcoming Apple system will be based on a new low-powered platform from Nvidia, according to tech blog Tom’s Hardware.

The blog reported receiving a tip from an Nvidia partner claiming Apple received prototypes of Nvidia’s Ion platform.

The Ion platform consists of a 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor (similar to the CPU used to power netbooks) and the same graphics processing unit (Nvidia 9400M) used in Apple’s latest aluminum MacBooks.

Tom’s Hardware predicted that Ion must be the platform being used in the next Mac Mini, Apple’s portable desktop system, which is long overdue for an upgrade.

The source also told Tom’s Hardware that Apple will launch a new Mac Mini in March.

However, we find it very unlikely that the next Mac Mini will be based on Ion. That would be a downgrade from the current Mac Minis, which are powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo chip — much faster than Atom.

Incorporating Ion into a Mac Mini would equate to a significantly smaller computer, but we doubt Apple would make such a compromise in performance for the sake of extreme miniaturization.

So the question remains: If the Ion rumor is true, what could Apple be using the platform for? A smaller Apple TV perhaps? Is Apple finally working on a netbook? It’s certainly a head scratcher, and we don’t have any solid ideas. What do you think?

Photo: Apple