Touch Podium

Apple Has Another Upcoming Rock and Roll Event, Later This Morning

Wednesday, September 9, 2009 at 12:48am

We do not know anything about the Apple Event that is scheduled to go down later this morning, September 9th, at 10 a.m., but I know as much as you do that it is something we Apple fanatics are pumped to see.

I’m sure that a ton of you that have heard the rumor about an upcoming Apple Tablet are pretty pumped to hear if this rumor turns out to be true or not, too. I know I am. An iPod the size of my computer screen would be just awesome… Okay, maybe not the full size of my monittomoror, but a good 12 - 15 inch screen would suffice. (My monitor is 22 inches, and I would despise carrying around a 22 inch tablet.)

Although there is no full-proof information to roll on, there are always rumors that have been rolling around Silicon Valley that make us bunch of hopefuls happy. Of course, it’s never a good thing to hear a rumor three or four months prior to an Apple event, only to find out that the superior rumor turns out to fall on false pretenses. Never a good thing.

With that said, here are the rumors that we’ve got to roll on until later on this morning.

An Apple Tablet / iPad - This has been rumored for about a year now, if not more. It is said that Apple may be in the works on a touch-screen 10 inch tablet, which in other words is basically an iPod Touch, brought up to scale, literally. It would be best used to play games from the App Store, watching movies on the go, and surfing the Internet. Guesses on the price tag for this rumored-to-be-upcoming product are ranging between $500 and $700. To poor a little gasoline on the fire, it has been confirmed by several overseas parts manufacturers in places like Taiwan.

3rd Gen iPod Touch with Camera - I’ve been hearing a lot about this one, and have actually seen some fuzzy pictures of what seemed to be realistic enough to be true, but heck, you never know these days as to what is true and what isn’t. It is apparent that Apple has put in a large order for camera modules. These cameras are rumored to be making their way into the latest version of the iPod touch and oddly enough, the latest iPod nano as well. Making this rumor sound even more true than any other, manufacturers of iPod cases have confirmed this by leaking some of their camera-friendly iPod cases. Keep in mind however, that it is being said there are some bad parts that may cause a delay in the release of these products, which may in turn bring Apple to the thought of not mentioning these upcoming products at this morning’s event.

iTunes 9 - A ninth version of Apple’s popular iTunes software is said to be hitting Internet waves later today, or at least being announced anyway. It is being said that there will be Blu-ray support, and intergration with a number of popular services including Twitter, Facebook, and Last.fm. We’ll just have to wait and see if these inclusions have turned out to be true, but I do suspect that iTunes 9 will be mentioned at the event later this morning.

Ringtone Downloads via iTunes - This would be smart on Apple’s part, seeing as there are an incredible load of people using iPhones in today’s day and age. Millions upon millions of potention ringtone downloaders and downloadees. Although it is quite simple to create your own ringtone on the iPhone itself, it is still a great possibility that Apple has attempted to make it easier for those whom are not in the know-how, or don’t want to even try making their own ringtones. I expect ringtones will be available on the cheap, if they are even incorporated into the latest version of iTunes at all.

Adios iPod Classic - It would be common sense for Apple to remove the iPod Classic line from store shelves now that we’ve got the iPhone and iPod Touch available to us for a fair price. Although the iPod Touch still doesn’t hold nearly as much as the iPod Classic is capable of, I’m sure this number will rise soon enough, jumping to 64GB’s and 128GB’s within the next year or so. It would be best if the iPod Classic was brought to its grave, with a great price drop on all items still left on store shelves to this day.

An iPod Nano with a Touchscreen - Apple is enjoying their use of touchscreen hardware. It is being rumored that it may be announced later this morning that an iPod Nano with a touchscreen may become available to the mass public. Although I doubt this is a true rumor, you really never know.

Cocktail - This is the first I hear of this format, but apparently there are rumors going around that Apple may be working on a new music format, Cocktail, which it developed to combat against CMX, a new format being introduced by Sony, Warner, Universal, and EMI. Both formats will incorporate artwork, linear notes, lyrics, and videos. One thing that makes downloading music via iTunes better than downloading illegally via BitTorrent, is the fact that you are almost always guaranteed the correct song titles and album covers, where as when downloading via BitTorrent, or otherwise, your chances of downloading a song with this correct information is highly unlikely.

iPhone OS 3.1 - It is more than likely that Apple will introduce this new operating system for download to your iPhone, or at least mention something of it to say the least. iPhone OS 3.1 is currently in beta, which features new video APIs, speed improvements, and MMS enabled by default. Phenomenal news for a lot of you.

The Return of Steve - It is more than likely that Mr. Jobs will be showing his face at this morning’s event. Steve hasn’t appeared on stage at any prior Apple events since this time last year. It is known however, that Steve Jobs has been spotted at the Apple Cupertino headquarters more than once since his announcement of a temporary leave.

It won’t be long now before we find out which of these hopeful rumors are indeed true, and which one’s we’ll have to either wait another year for, or just lose hope for entirely.

via Gear Log

[Reuters] BOSTON, Sept. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — A new iPhone application, created by researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston in collaboration with the MIT Media Lab, enables users to track and report outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as H1N1 (swine flu), on the ground in real time. The application, “Outbreaks Near Me,” builds upon the mission and proven capability of HealthMap, an online resource that collects, filters, maps and disseminates information about emerging infectious diseases, and provides a new, contextualized view of a user’s specific location - pinpointing outbreaks that have been reported in the vicinity of the user and offering the opportunity to search for additional outbreak information by location or disease.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090901/DC68935)

Additional functionality of Outbreaks Near Me is the ability to set alerts that will notify a user on their device or by e-mail when new outbreaks are reported in their proximity, or if a user enters a new area of activity.

“We hope individuals will find the new app to be a useful source of outbreak information - locally, nationally, and globally,” says HealthMap co-founder John Brownstein, PhD, assistant professor in the Children’s Hospital Informatics Program (CHIP). “As people are equipped with more knowledge and awareness of infectious disease, the hope is that they will become more involved and proactive about public health.”

The new application also features an option for users to submit an outbreak report. This will enable individuals in cities and countries around the world to interact with the HealthMap team and participate in the public health surveillance process. Users may take photos - of situations and scenarios of, and/or leading to, disease - with their iPhone and submit them to the HealthMap system for review and eventual posting as an alert on the worldwide map.

“This is grassroots, participatory epidemiology,” says HealthMap co-founder Clark Freifeld, a PhD student at the MIT Media Lab and research software developer at CHIP. “In releasing this app we aim to empower citizens in the cause of public health, not only by providing ready access to real-time information, but also by encouraging them to contribute their own knowledge, expertise, and observations. In enabling participation in surveillance, we also expect to increase global coverage and identify outbreaks earlier.”

HealthMap was founded in 2006 and mines the Internet - searching disparate data sources such as news reports, curated personal accounts, official alerts, blogs and chat rooms - to track and map infectious disease outbreaks. While the data have been shown to provide early information on new outbreaks, users are encouraged to interpret the data appropriately as it is drawn from both official and unofficial sources.

The HealthMap Web site (www.healthmap.org) averages 10,000 unique visits a day, including regular users from the World Health Organization, the CDC, and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. During the peak of H1N1 swine flu this spring, visits to the site rose substantially, with as many as 150,000 visitors coming to the Web site to search for information.

Outbreaks Near Me was developed with support from Google.org and is available at no cost for download in the iTunes App Store. For more information on Outbreaks Near Me, visit: http://healthmap.org/iphone.php.

Children’s Hospital Boston is home to the world’s largest research enterprise based at a pediatric medical center, where its discoveries have benefited both children and adults since 1869. More than 500 scientists, including eight members of the National Academy of Sciences, 11 members of the Institute of Medicine and 12 members of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute comprise Children’s research community. Founded as a 20-bed hospital for children, Children’s Hospital Boston today is a 396-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care grounded in the values of excellence in patient care and sensitivity to the complex needs and diversity of children and families. Children’s also is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. For more information about the hospital and its research visit: www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom.