Definitive Designs

Today Apple has demonstrated the upcoming iPhone 3.0 operating system. Coming this summer, the next version of the iPhone OS will have many new features which customers feel should have been available at the time of the phone’s release. Some of these new features will include the following:

-In-App Purchasing: Allows the sales of additional content from developers.
-Peer-To-Peer: Sharing of data.
-Third-Party Accessory Applications: Applications to interact with other hardware.
-Push Notification: Push badge, text, and audio alerts from servers instead of using background process.
-Cut, Copy and Paste: One of the most anticipated updates, this feature will allow users to cut, copy and paste text across entire platform.
-Landscape Keyboard: For easier typing, the users will be able to use the keyboard in a landscape mode.
-MMS: Picture messaging – another long-awaited feature for the iPhone.
-Voice Memos: Record voice, etc.
-Spotlight Search: System wide search available across the platform.
-A2DP Bluetooth: Support for stereo Bluetooth headsets.

The beta is available as of now for developers, and will be available some time in the summer to general public. The iPod Touch upgrade will cost $9.95, while the rest will be free of charge. The first generation iPhone will most likely not be able to take advantage of some features such as MMS and stereo Bluetooth due to architectural limitations. For more information visit the website that Apple has launched for the iPhone 3.0 OS.

Several new additions can been spotted over at the Apple Store. The speeds of the mid-range MacBook Pro 15″ notebooks have been increased from 2.53GHz to 2.66GHz, and from 2.8GHz to 2.93GHz. Additionally, you can optionally purchase a 256GB SSD hard drive for the 13″ MacBook and 15″ MacBook Pro.

Another noticable update at the store is the new keyboard. It comes without the num pad, and can be purchased for $49. Great for space saver.

It looks like the people who were speculating on wether Apple would update or axe the Mac Mini don’t have to speculate anymore. Today Apple has released new and updated systems for everyone, starting with Mac Mini, iMac, and Mac Pro. Some of the configurations are for everyday computer users who don’t need much power, while others offer business production level of performance. Below is the list of some of the options that these systems have to offer.

The Mac Mini gets new Intel Core 2 Duo processors, more storage space, the NVidia 9400M graphics chipset, and up to four gigabytes of RAM. It is followed by iMac which gets storage boost from 320GB all the way up to 1TB. RAM is upgradable to 8GB, while video card chipsets range from NVidia 9400M, nVidia GeForce GT120, nVidia GeForce GT130, and ATI Radeon HD 4850. According to Notebookcheck, the GT130 card is like 9650M GT clocked at faster speeds, while GT120 is like 9650M GT, but clocked lower, and with lower power consumption. The screens remain 20 inch and 24 inch.

On the business-oriented side of things, the Mac Pro now has the Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Nihalem” processors. The system either comes with just one CPU (2.26GHz or 2.93GHz), or two (2×2.6GHz, 2×2.66GHz, or 2×2.93GHz). RAM (1066MHz DDR3 ECC SDRAM) can be expanded from 3GB (on the single CPU system) to 8GB, and 6GB (on the dual CPU system) to 32GB. The two hard drive sizes offered are 640GB and 1TB. Graphic cards include nVidia GeForce GT120 as a standard, and can be upgraded to ATI Radeon HD 4870.

Visit Apple’s website for more information on the newly released systems, and their pricing.