UPDATE: Stevie J – when you get the internet in your hands, you’re gonna want an iPad.

I want to give credit up front to gdgt for the pics.  Ryan and Peter(?) did a great job with their coverage.  The pics were/are awesome.

The prices are going to enable many more to get one than I originally thought, but I don’t know how attractive the pricing model is going to be to the MASSES over time.  I’m going to turn this over to the rest of the JAMM team now and let them chime in with their notes, thoughts and comments.

Go JAMM Team!!!

UPDATE:  Accessories!!  Keyboard dock! Charges and holds the device. Awesome!

Pic courtesy of live.gdgt.com

UPDATE:  Here comes the pricing…

Apple is announcing aggressive pricing.  Cost goals have been met.

iPad pricing starts at $499!  Huge BOMBSHELL!!

$829 – for 64GB with 3G

Pic courtesy of live.gdgt.com

iPads with Wi-Fi only will ship in 60 days.  3G models will ship in 90 days.

iPad syncs with iTunes via USB like the iPhone and iPod.  Now they are getting to wireless…

The iPad WILL have Cellular 3G!

iPad owners will have 2 choices for wireless plans

250MB for $14.99

Unlimited for $29.99

Pic courtesy of live.gdgt.com

AT&T is still providing wireless 3G. Deal includes Wi-Fi hot spots.  Activation can be done via the iPad and does NOT require a contract. Can go month to month, and you can cancel AT ANY TIME!

All iPads are unlocked and use GSM microSIMs.

Pages and Numbers… Pretty cool productivity apps… $10 bucks each?!?  Pretty cool.

Pic courtesy of live.gdgt.com

Pic courtesy of live.gdgt.com

UPDATE: Reworked iWork for the iPad. New UI, to allow you to create productivity docs on the iPad.  Interesting.  Reworked Keynote (PowerPoint equivalent) is completely touch enabled.  A physical keyboard and mouse are NOT needed to create presentations.  Tap and slide – tap and slide.  Not completely sold, but it could be very cool…

Full support for video and animations. Very cool…

UPDATE:  Steve is now showing the iPad’s eBook capabilities.  New app – iBook. Color, multi-pages, book shelf, adjustable fonts.  Completely awesome.

Pic courtesy of live.gdgt.com

UPDATE:  Apple is moving away from the specs and is switching to content. NYT is now taking the stage and will be talking about their plans for the iPad.

Price – TWiT is thinking that prices will run from $599 to $999.  Though the $1k price tag may be too expensive.

I agree. If Apple wants these in everyone’s hands, they need to make this thing uber-affordable.

The internet is really getting bogged down.  There are a lot of people trying to get in on the live audio/video streams.  Things are VERY choppy.

UPDATED: “We built the iPad to run virtually every one of these apps unmodified right out of the box. We can do that in two ways — do it with pixel for pixel accuracy in a black box, or we can pixel-double and run them in full-screen. This is really cool.”

UPDATED: Screen – 9.7" IPS screen (same as KindleDX), 1gHz processor, less than 1/2 thick, 64GB flash storage.  Wi-Fi 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, 10 hours of battery life.

IT DOES NOT SEEM TO HAVE CELLULAR BROADBAND.

UPDATED:  The iPad supports HD video – “Let me show you video, it looks wonderful.” Showing HD YouTube playback…

Pic courtesy of live.gdgt.com

Audio and video seem WONDERFUL from the device.  This is just a taste of what the iPad can do.  "Watching is nothing like getting one in your hands!"

UPDATED: (via gdgt) …iTunes store. The UI on this thing is pretty intense, so far. Everything is familiar, but it’s all totally different from iPhone and OS X — this is a big launch for Apple.

UPDATED:  “iPad is an awesome way to enjoy your music collection. And, of course, we have the iTunes store built right into the iPad.”

Pic courtesy of live.gdgt.com

UPDATE: The tablet is called the iPad.

"Email with a giant on-screen keyboard: “It’s a dream to type on.”

"Its so much more intimate…"

Pic courtesy of live.gdgt.com

UPDATE: They are reviewing past product introductions, indicating how awesome Apple as a mobile device/content company is.

Apple is building on these products, and the speaker is hinting at a 3rd category of device (laptop, vs. Smartphone, vs…)

"Netbooks aren’t better at anything."  Awesome quote.

"Netbooks are cheap laptops and aren’t good at anything."

UPDATE:

Jason Chen:

…is going to talk about some other updates. A few weeks ago, Apple sold their 250 millionth iPod.

Ended Q1 with $50B in revenue.  Revenue comes from Mac, iPod, and iPhone.

UPDATE:  The lights are going down, and the event is beginning…

If you have the time, or background bandwidth and your office doesn’t block streaming audio or video, you can check out the Apple Event LIVE on TWiT. They have Leo Leport live on the phone while they are yackin’ it up, buring time before the start of the event.  I’ll to be as "live" as possible with some of this stuff… Stay tuned to JAMM for the hot news!!

Live TWiTs!!

I’ve got tons of retail management experience.  I was managing computer retail stores between the ages of 16 – 18. I’ve been a gadget geek all my life.

One of the things that I usually advise people against when purchasing electronics, though is purchasing an extended warranty.  Unless you are going to be taking said electronics into a somewhat less than hospitable environment (like my family room, with my boys and most of their toys), the only thing that purchasing an extended warranty plan does is increase margin dollars for the store.  Most products, if they fail, usually fail during the warranty period, and the manufacturer’s warranty is usually sufficient to cover the loss or needed repairs.

Is AppleCare worth the price..?

Today’s the day!  "Our latest creation" is set to be unveiled later this morning/early this afternoon (depending on where you are).  I’ve got a cool little article on iTechGear.org on what to purchase immediately following the Apple Press Event today; and no, I’m not talking about the rumored tablet…at least not exactly.  If the graphic didn’t give it away (too obvious??), then just hang out for a sec and think about it.  AppleCare is NOT just about the extended warranty, kids. Its a lot more. A LOT more…

Why don’t you take a quick jaunt there, check it out and then COME BACK to JAMM, as a couple of us are going to be commenting on what happens and will have some cool commentary on the event this afternoon!

Stay tuned, kids, just we’re gonna JAMM this event!

Late last year, I ran into a lot of trouble with my MyBook World Edition 1TB NAS.  Installing Mionet 4.0 Beta seemed to kill the drive.  Shortly after the drive itself was updated, it began to run hot and eventually both drives in the RAID configuration died.  Luckily, I was able to get most of my data off (though it took me almost a month to do it); and Western Digital did a very good job of making good on the then 13 month old drive.

Recently, I got notified of the upcoming beta testing of Mionet 4.1, WD’s remote drive access application.  The beta actually begins today, and as I’ve applied for the beta, my drive should be automatically updated by this time tomorrow.

Mionet comes with WD MyBook World edition drives and allows you to

• Access your drive from anywhere on the internet
• Share files
• Share your desktop
• Remotely control another computer (also running Mionet)

The beta is supposed to officially include support for

• Windows 7 (both 32bit and 64bit) as well as Vista 64bit OS’. 
• Increased reliability
• Improved performance

Mionet 4.1 Beta

We’ll see how it goes. The auto upgrade process has already started on my Fuji tablet. I will see what happens with the work PC, and if it doesn’t upgrade itself by the time this posts, I’ll upgrade it manually.  Given all the work that Western Digital and I did with Mionet 4.0, I’m confident they worked out most if not all of my earlier concerns and issues (right John??)

The winds of change are blowing. Constantly.

Apple Press Event on 1/27/10

There’s a great deal of speculation about what is going to be revealed at Apple’s press event on Wednesday 27-Jan-10.  I saw an interesting article early this morning, and wasn’t quite sure how to take it.  I started poking around the internet a little and found other articles supporting it and still other articles mentioning it.  While that certainly doesn’t make the article either news or the truth, it certainly is reason to scratch your head.

Most everyone knows that AT&T’s time with the iPhone is nearing an end. Its been reported as early as last summer. In fact, its been widely reported that June 2010 was an end date for the exclusivity deal heard ’round the world.

I caught wind of an interesting article today indicating that the Apple Press Event scheduled for this Wednesday would do more than announce the rumored tablet PC.  It is also rumored that Apple will end their iPhone exclusivity with AT&T at that event as well.

Interesting…

BUT before you start getting excited and thinking that “there’s a map for that,” here are also some key (and very interesting facts) regarding 3G here in The States:

• The iPhone (and AT&T) supports 3G on 1900 and 2100mHz
• T-Mobile has 3G on 1700mHz
• Support for 1700mHz will require a new chipset and not just a radio ROM upgrade
• In order to support a CDMA radio and EV-DO, the iPhone would have to be completely redesigned (CDMA radios are bigger than GSM radios)
• CDMA technology is only used in the US and in some parts of Korea, Japan, and other small markets in Asia (and on a different frequency range, too; I think)
• On a whole, those world-wide CDMA users don’t even come close to being a quarter of the number of world-wide GSM users; and most importantly,
• Apple ending their exclusivity with AT&T on Wednesday is pure RUMOR at this point.

What do I think will happen?  Glad you asked.  Here are my iPhone related predictions for Wednesday 27-Jan-10

• Apple will announce iPhone OS 4
• Apple will announce the end of the AT&T exclusivity agreement, effective that day. (AT&T is busy gearing up for a number of Android releases; and is sick and tired of hearing how the iPhone is clogging and screwing up their network (look below the graphic).)
• Apple will announce the next generation iPhone, available in July 2010, carrier agreements still pending. It will support AT&T’s network, but NOT be exclusive to AT&T

Why haven’t I mentioned anything related to a tablet?  I’m not entirely certain WHAT Apple will introduce to us on Wednesday, and just don’t want to fan the rumor fires more than I already have in this article. However, I do think that Apple has EVERYONE’S attention, especially after their earnings call today.

What do YOU think will happen with the iPhone?  Will Apple call it quits with AT&T on Wednesday?  Will Apple and VzW sign an agreement?  Will they announce a new iPhone?  Why not join us in the discussion below, and let us know what YOU think?

When I was reviewing the Myine IRA Wireless Internet Radio, I was kinda stuck for speakers.  Yes, headphones would have worked, but who wants to do that every time you want to sit down at your computer and listen to music.  I didn’t.  Thankfully I had the DevoTec Solar Sound Wireless Speakers to help me out. How did they do? Let’s take a quick look and see..

DevoTec Solar Sound Wireless Speakers

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