Tablet

Have you heard? Apple is coming out with something tomorrow

There is less than 24 hours before Apple announces what is sure to be a game-changing device. Whatever the tablet proves to be, we are in for a great ride. Here is one last speculative report on what we might see and what it could mean.… Read more

The 404 Podcast 505: Where we're selling our Apple Tablet on eBay

No, we don't have the new iPad/iSlate/iFail just yet, but we're crossing our fingers hoping for good news at tomorrow's Apple Event. CNET correspondent Natali Del Conte is already in San Francisco ready to cover the big announcement, and we're stoked that Jeff hosted Loaded today in her absence. Also, be sure to check out PRE-GAME, Jeff's newest video game show on CNETV starting next Tuesday, February 2.

Lost in the flurry of Apple rumors circling the Internet (will someone please tell Regis about the Internet??) is the distinct possibility that AT&T will lose iPhone exclusivity tomorrow. According to "industry insiders" (sounds legit to me) other carriers will begin to offer the popular smartphone starting tomorrow due to networking troubles clogging the AT&T pipes. AT&T will make up for the loss of sole ownership by offering a series of Windows Mobile, Android, and WebOS-based handsets as consolation prizes to wayward shoppers.

If you already own an iPhone but fear the prying eyes and fingers of your paranoid better half, we recommend checking out iTrust, a 99-cent app that fools would-be spies by displaying a dummy image of your iPhone home screen and recording any attempts to access private information.

Alternatives to shelling out a buck for this app: 1.) If you know your bf/gf is nuts enough to check your phone for naughty pictures and texts, you can always set a passcode and keep it private, or 2.) download The 404's forthcoming "girlfriend app" that immediately hides your cache with a simple dice-shaking motion. Hey, don't steal that idea, for real.

Finally, be sure to stick around in the second half to hear our explanation of THAT ^ in addition to a few more stories and a hilarious Calls From The Public segment! We'd love to hear from you as well, so just give us a call at 1-866-404-CNET and tell us what's on your mind! We're also still accepting Self-Addressed Stamped Envelopes (SASE) for sticker requests, so check out this fan-made tutorial and get it over to us ASAP!

EPISODE 505 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Apple event countdown brings new rumors

Apple just had its best quarter ever, but much of the public focus on the company is concentrated on something else: whatever it is Apple plans to announce at a press event Wednesday.

With almost $40 billion accumulated in cash, revenue topping $15 billion, and almost 9 million iPhones sold in the last three months of 2009, the much-discussed tablet is what both investors and tech fans seem most concerned about.

The company didn't shy away from providing even more fodder for hungry Apple fans related to Wednesday's event. In a press release about Monday's quarterly earnings, … Read more

Buzz Out Loud Podcast 1151: NASA, park the shuttle on blocks

Amid the news of China picking a fight with the U.S. over Google, and Jammie Thomas-Rasset getting her fine reduced, we've got a goldmine idea for NASA. Gene wrote in to explain that instead of selling off the shuttles, NASA can just leave them parked at the space station. And we took it further with some suggestions of how and where to park them and what to do with them afterward.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1151

China denies involvement in Google cyber attacks http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10440208-83.html… Read more

The 404 Podcast 504: Where we'd buy that for a dollar

Wilson is supposedly out sick this morning and can't be on the show, but it's obvious to Jeff and me that he wanted a head start on Wednesday's Apple Event. Either way, we're happy to have CNET's Smartphone Senior Editor Bonnie Cha here to replace him. We casually discuss our weekends in the first half of the show, which include some serious headphone shopping and a viewing of the documentary "Anvil." Bonnie also tells us about her weekend run-in with the new cast members of MTV's Jersey Shore.

With the January 27 Apple Event just around the corner, speculation about the Apple tablet is reaching critical mass, but an interesting Call From the Public raises new questions about the possibility of an Apple gaming console.

Judging from the amount of gaming press in attendance, there's a solid chance that the hardware will be gaming-friendly, but the chance of Apple unveiling a gaming-only console is slim. If anything, we're predicting a strong push toward gaming development on the new platform.

Thanks to everyone who sent in photos of their strategically placed 404 stickers and tattoos! Keep them coming, or be sure to listen to the promo in the break for how you can get your own merch.

EPISODE 504 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

CNET TV Apple Byte: Is it the Apple iPad?

The big question this week seems to be, "what will Apple call its tablet computer?" Brian Tong takes a look at that and many other tablet rumors in this week's Apple Byte. Also in the show, Apple consults Microsoft about replacing Google as the default search engine in the iPhone OS, a man survives the earthquake in Haiti with his iPhone, and Amazon copies Apple's iTunes revenue sharing for it's e-book business.

Be sure to check us out on Twitter and the CNET Mac forums. Do you have questions, issues, or stories you would like … Read more

Social media is finally about the media

What does the maelstrom of hype around the launch of Apple's tablet device have in common with Google's announcement that select Sundance Film Festival titles will be available for rent on YouTube, or Digg founder Kevin Rose's comments to the U.K.'s Telegraph newspaper that the social news site he founded has "drastic" changes ahead?

A lot, actually. They're all signs that for the first time since the social media craze started to explode a few years ago, the emphasis is finally on "media."

Thank goodness: we'd had enough time … Read more

Some non-tablet announcements we'd love to see from Apple

If Steve Jobs and company are paying attention, we've got a handful of requests for the upcoming Apple press event. I know we're all very excited about the mythical, but still unconfirmed, Apple tablet, but there are some other Mac products that could use a little attention as well.

The MacBook line of laptops is a big part of the company's product mix, and though we're not going off the reservation by saying we're generally very fond of the current generation of systems, there are still a few missing features that should be filled in. … Read more

Rivals will vie with Apple for tablet spotlight

Technology from Intel, Marvell, and Nvidia is powering some intriguing alternatives to the imminent Apple tablet.

News about the Apple tablet, when it emerges, will likely blanket the Internet for some time after the device is announced, obscuring tablet efforts from rivals. Nevertheless, there will be at least a few designs that should warrant some attention. Here are some potential high-profile alternatives:

Intel and OpenPeak The world's largest chipmaker (which, let's not forget, supplies millions of laptop and desktop processors to Apple every year) will, of course, not be a bystander in tablet competition. And one of its strongest contenders for this market is a future Atom chip codenamed "Moorestown."

In a recent interview at the Consumer Electronics Show, Pankaj Kedia, director of Intel's Global Ecosystems Program for Mobile Internet Devices and Smart Phones, said that the Moorestown "system-on-a-chip" processor will ship in the first half of this year. And during a CES keynote, Intel Chief Executive Paul Otellini brandished a tablet using Moorestown from a company called OpenPeak.

On Thursday, I posed some questions to Dan Gittleman, chief executive of OpenPeak, and Brian Woods, the company's chief marketing officer.

OpenPeak designs and develops products for companies like Verizon and Telefonica--two of its current customers. I asked Gittleman to describe how the tablet demonstrated at CES would be used. "We don't expect it to be a full PC replacement but rather a much more convenient platform for accessing a lot of services that you currently get on a PC: news, Facebook, weather, streaming music, casual games, etc.," he said in response to an e-mail query.

The tablet could also be "the ultimate control panel. A great security panel, baby/house monitor, home energy monitor," Gittleman said. Woods added that announcements of devices will happen "over the course of the next several months" and in the second half of the year.

Chip supplier Marvell Marvell recently showed me a few tablet/e-reader devices that are powered by its Armada processors and other Marvell silicon such as its Wi-Fi chips. Allen Leibovitch, senior marketing manager for Marvell's application processor business, demonstrated… Read more