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It's happened every September for the past few years, and it appears it's on track again: Apple is planning a keynote event rumored to take place the second week of September, according to AllThingsD's Peter Kafka.

Almost time for a tuneup for the iPod Touch?

(Credit: CNET)

He says he has heard from "multiple music industry sources" that there will be an Apple event held sometime during the week of September 7. Now, this isn't a huge surprise since Apple has held an event announcing the latest upgrade to the iPod and iTunes around this same time every year. But this year there are some interesting variables in play.

It's essentially guaranteed that Apple will announce upgrades across the iPod line, including the iPod Touch and Nano, and perhaps even kill off some older models.The iPod Touch is rumored to be getting a camera, digital compass, and microphone. Other clues have pointed to the Nano also getting equipped with a camera.

Of more interest perhaps is whether Apple will use this event to debut the oft-discussed and long-rumored Apple tablet. Different sources have pointed to a 10-inch touch-screen device that's essentially a giant iPod Touch being available either this fall or in early 2010. It's rumored to have a music element to it, through a new album format supposedly called "Cocktail," making its introduction at a music-focused event seem plausible. The timing would also make sense if Apple wanted to establish some solid pre-holiday buzz before the annual winter shopping season.

And finally, many are wondering if Apple CEO Steve Jobs will use the September event--if it happens--to make his first public appearance since returning from medical leave earlier this year. Apple executive Phil Schiller has filled in for Jobs at these keynote-style events since January, but since Jobs has been officially back at the company's helm since the end of June, the September event would be the first opportunity for him to return to the spotlight.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

CNET News Apple reporter Tom Krazit and CNET Reviews editor Kent German are both at Apple's iPhone OS 3.0 event at company headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., right now. They're live-blogging the announcements as they happen, so head over here now. The event begins at 10 a.m. PDT.

And be sure to stick around here afterward where we'll have a full recap and analysis of what Apple's announcement means for iPhone developers and users.

(Credit: Capcom)

Are you a huge fan of the Street Fighter franchise? Well, if you are, Los Angeles is the place for you. When Capcom hosts the Street Fighter 4 launch event and 20 years of Street Fighter history. Straight from Capcom Unity here are the details:

The where: The Geffen Contemporary at the Museum of Contemporary Art
152 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012

The when: Thursday, February 12th, 2009, from 8 pm-12 midnight.

The who: You! Yes, you. And your squirrelly cousin. And his best friend. On February 12, any friend of Street Fighter is a friend of ours, and is welcome at the party.

The how: You sign up for the party by dropping an e-mail to sfevent@capcom.com and await your RSVP!

The what: So what's happening? If a roomful of SFIV isn't enough to keep you smiling, we've also got:

-Producer Yoshinori Ono on hand for autographs

-Live performance by The Knux

-Live performance by Supreme Soul from America's Best Dance Crew

-Live performance by DJ QBert

-Customized fitted caps by Estate LA (www.estatela.com)

-Customized etching by Coveroo (www.coveroo.com)

-Customized sketches by Udon artists

-Street Fighter Club Room: If you missed us in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York, here's your chance to relive the magic

-Screening of the new Street Fighter anime The Ties That Bind

-Old-school arcade cabinets redesigned and reinterpreted by artists and fashion labels

And last but not least, your chance to win a retail copy of Street Fighter IV a week before it hits stores!

Yes my friends, it's a good time to be a Street Fighter, so come one, come all, and join us for a very special night of face-punching goodness!

CNET will be live-blogging the event from Apple HQ in Cupertino, Calif.

(Credit: Apple)

It's that time again: Apple has invited reporters down to its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters for a special notebooks event, which means CNET News will be there to live-blog the whole thing.

The fun starts at 10 a.m. PDT Tuesday at this link.

Apple says the focus of the event will be on notebooks. A redesigned MacBook and MacBook Pro are all but assured, but there are likely to be some other surprises too. Will Apple opt for Nvidia chipsets? Will there finally be a Mac sold for less than $1,000?

Come back here Tuesday morning to find out. Plus, later in the day, we'll have some analysis on what Apple does announce, and CNET's laptop experts, Dan Ackerman and Michelle Thatcher, will have a First Look and hands-on video.

The D-Link DIR-855 comes with a base and can stand either vertically or horizontally. It can also be wall-mounted.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)

I reviewed the Linksys WRT610n recently and today I got my hands on the second true dual-band wireless router: the DIR-855 Xtreme N Duo Media Router from D-Link.

Like the WRT610n, the DIR-855 is equipped with two separate Draft N 2.0 access points: one works in the ever popular 2.4GHz frequency and the other uses the newfound 5GHz frequency. These two access points can operate at simultaneously, making the Draft-N Wi-Fi network available to both 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless clients at the same time.

The DIR-855 has the same design as the D-Link DGL-4500 router, but it is white instead of dark blue. It has three removable antennas attached to the back of the router, which is never a good thing as they crowd the network ports. The router ports (four LANs and one WAN) support Gigabit Ethernet. It also comes with an OLED Network Activity Display on top that can come in handy when you want to check on the status of the router or quickly change some basic settings.

The DIR-855 also has a USB port on the back for Windows Connect Now, a feature that allows for connecting wireless clients to the wireless network using a USB thumbdrive. This is rather disappointing as it would be much more useful if the USB port also supported print serving or external storage (as found in the WRT610n). The router also features Wi-Fi Protected Setup, another method for quickly adding wireless clients to the network without having to type in or even reveal the encryption key.

The DIR-855, like most D-Link wireless routers, comes with a very intuitive and responsive interface, where you can customize a lot of network features and settings such as: port forwarding, virtual server, network filter, application rules, and so on. The router supports all popular existing wireless encryption methods including WEP, WPA-Personal, and WPA-Enterprise.

You can get the DIR-855 now for about $280, which is rather expensive, but I suspect the price will go down soon as dual-band routers become more popular.

Where's interface for iPhone and iPod Touch.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)

If you don't know, Where is a location-based application full of widgets that deliver essential information about what's close by you such as restaurants, gas stations, or even your friends. Basically, whatever you're after, the day-to-day stuff that is, Where is designed to deliver. The application gathers information from other social Web sites including Eventful, Yelp, GasBuddy, Zipcar, ShopLocal, Starbucks, and Buddy Beacon, and makes it available to your mobile device.

And Where is not picky when it comes to mobile devices. It's available on virtually any major mobile platform and carrier: Alltel, AT&T, Boost, Helio, metroPCS, Sprint, you name it. And today uLocate Communications, the creator of Where, announced the Where application for the iPhone and the iPod Touch at Apple's new App Store for free.

iPhone and iPod Touch users now can leverage Where's library of location-enabled widgets to easily discover nearby places and things of interest. They will also be able to share their location and status with friends via Buddy Beacon. Each of Where's widgets delivers content based on the user's current location and provides the ability to show this content on a map, get directions, and easily share the location with friends.

All you have to do now is get an iPhone, but chances are you already know that, possibly even more than anything else.

Eventful For iPhone's interface.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET Networks)

Eventful Inc., an event-driven social Web site, announced today its release of Eventful For iPhone application. The software works on both iPhone and iPod Touch and makes it easy for users to find events and things to do in their local communities.

The application basically provides access to all of the Eventful Web site's key functions through an iPhone-friendly interface. It automatically tailors search results and recommendations based on the user's current location and integrates with the iPhone's built-in applications such as Calendar and Contacts so users can easily share the events with friends or sync those with their desktop Outlook or any other calendaring software.

Eventful for iPhone has five navigational sections that users can access at any time, including Profile, Track, Featured, Search, and Demand. All of these sections are self-explanatory. For example, Demand is a tab where you can demand your favorite performers to come to your city and see which performers are most in demand throughout the world and in your location. You can also view your current list of demands and see all of the demands that your friends have joined but you haven't.

The application is available now for free from Apple's App Store.

(Credit: Universal Detection Technology )

What happens in Vegas could be contagious; but don't worry, despite the recent ricin scare on the Strip, your chances of dying from exotic poison or a bio-engineered infection are pretty slim - even at the buffet.

Still, companies are betting their R&D budgets that the government will ante up to protect you from the toxin de jour. Their odds are good. Universal Detection Technology received a rush of orders for its ricin detection kit after a man was found in critical condition in a Las Vegas motel room with a case of suspected ricin poisoning.

"Although no direct links to terrorism has been yet drawn in this recent case in Las Vegas, it is important to note that hazardous materials in the hands of domestic terrorists can be a very serious threat," said UDT CEO Jacques Tizabi. His company stands "positioned to capitalize on opportunities related to Homeland Security."

Not long ago, super staph (AKA Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) replaced "flesh eating bacteria" in the public's imagination as the most gruesome of killer bugs. For that, UDT licensed and commercialized a technology designed to detect microbial buildup in closed-loop environments like the International Space Station. It's now marketed as the Microbial Event Monitor, a kind of smoke detector for airborne bacterias like super staph.

Let's get medieval. Salt Lake City based Idaho Technology (ITI) sells FDA approved kits that detect plague (Yersinia pestis) and Tularemia (rabbit fever). Both are classified by the CDC as Category A, bioterrorism national security risks. Relax, even the company admits it's highly unlikely you'll step in something and contract a naturally occurring dose of either. But ITI scored big when DOD selected its Joint Biological Agent Identification and Diagnostic System (JBAIDS) as "the" platform for I.D.ing pathogens associated with bioterrorism.

Next up ITI will seek FDA approval for a brucellosis detection kit. (It already has anthrax covered.)

Now for the big guns, Ebola and Marburg: Wonks from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases have developed virus-like particles (VLPs) that protect monkeys 100 percent against both Ebola and Marburg and they're scaling up production in hopes of beginning clinical trials in humans in a few years, according to Science Daily.

You are more likely to be eaten by a Nile crocodile than bleeding out your eyeballs from Ebola, but why take chances?

(Credit: CDC Public Health Image Library)

Youth-oriented mobile carrier Helio announced Wednesday that it has launched a bar and restaurant search site through a partnership with Buzzd, which also powers the mobile sites for local events and entertainment services like TimeOut New York, and Flavorpill.

Helio's new service, which is ad-supported, lets people in major U.S. cities search on the mobile Web site--linked from the home page of the carrier's browser--for bars, clubs, and restaurants. Most of the data will be pulled from Buzzd partners like Flavorpill, TimeOut, and the IAC-owned Citysearch. Added on, however, will be "event feeds" with specific pricing and night-specific details as well as short user reviews in real time.

So, theoretically, searching for the downtown New York hotspot Libation on a Saturday night could yield an update from another Buzzd user an hour earlier, saying "Ew, tonight's bouncer's mean and the line takes 30 minutes."

Perhaps more exciting is the fact that Helio is working to pull GPS into the mix. The carrier's current handsets come with the technology already, and a representative told me that the Buzzd service will eventually integrate GPS, so people won't have to say exactly where they are in order to find nearby parties and bars. (Right now they have to provide a location or street intersection.)

The catch is that Helio, which has struggled with growth and profitability, is a small carrier. Generating the critical mass for "real-time" reviews of a particular nightclub on a particular date will be tough, so the service may not turn out to be quite as teeming with up-to-the-minute information as Helio and Buzzd are hoping.

That said, location-based mobile services are revving up, and some will take off as soon as GPS-enabled handsets go into broader use or as soon as people whose devices are equipped with GPS realize that they have it. (I've noticed many people still don't know.)

Competitors in this space include Loopt, which has deals with mobile carriers Sprint and Boost, and Socialight. The latter is currently more like a user-generated version of Gridskipper city maps but has hinted at plans to move into the GPS sector when the technology becomes more widespread.