Carrying around a prototype is a CEO's prerogative.
(Credit: Gizmodo)We didn't think we'd miss much by skipping All Things D, the conference hosted by grandfatherly tech journalist Walt Mossberg, but we were clearly wrong.
Head Gizmodo guy Brian Lam ran into Dell founder Michael Dell at the show and caught a glimpse of what appears to be a not-so-top-secret prototype laptop. With a bright red shell and a body that reminds us of the Asus Eee PC and the HP 2133 Mini-Note, this mystery laptop is very intriguing.
Does it have an Intel Atom CPU? Is it a surprise back-to-school model, or is it just a prototype that may never be released? Will it hit the sub-$700 price tag of other Netbooks? All excellent questions...
The Wall Street Journal's Walt Mossberg would like you to know that he has no clue when the 3G iPhone is coming, and no, he can't get you one.
Walt Mossberg, personal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal.
(Credit: AllThingsD)So the gadget guru told Silicon Alley Insider today, after comments he made at a conference last week surfaced over the weekend. During a talk about broadband penetration and online video, Mossberg casually mentioned of the iPhone, "it will be 3G in 60 days."
Those comments were widely interpreted to mean that the iPhone will be 3G in 60 days. Mossberg tends not to speculate as widely about upcoming Apple announcements as does, say, the entire technology world. So given his access to Apple's products and strategies, when he speaks about an upcoming product, people tend to listen.
But Mossberg wants the world to know that he doesn't actually know whether or not a 3G iPhone is coming in 60 days, a declaration which may or may not have been prompted by a stern phone call from Cupertino.
"If I knew when this date was, why would I announce it in the middle of a sentence at the Finnish embassy, rather than report it in The Wall Street Journal?" Mossberg said to SAI. Well, perhaps because you're under NDA, and you weren't supposed to say it, and it just slipped out? However, Daring Fireball's John Gruber notes that Mossberg's July 2007 prediction that the iPhone would soon have Flash hasn't exactly worked out, so he's not infallible.
A 3G iPhone will arrive this year. Unless it doesn't. In which case it will arrive next year. Maybe.
Uncle Walt says the iPhone will be able to download Web pages even faster in 60 days.
(Credit: CNET Networks)
Uncle Walt thinks a 3G iPhone will arrive within the next 60 days.
Walt Mossberg, the legendary technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal, made the prediction during an executive summit held by Beet.tv last week. For some reason, Mossberg's comments were not noticed until over the weekend, perhaps because the title of the post referencing his talk was "FTC Should Stop Verizon from Calling DSL 'Broadband,' Walt Mossberg."
Most of his talk is about how broadband networks in the U.S. are somewhat lacking compared to the rest of the world, and how that's a big problem for video-over-the-Internet businesses. But at about 6:30 into the clip, he starts talking about wireless broadband, and the iPhone. Mossberg notes that the iPhone already offers a pretty good video experience with its iPod capabilities, and then dismisses concern over the lack of a 3G iPhone with this gem: "It will be 3G in 60 days."
Mossberg is in the select group that gets early access to important Apple products, he was one of the first to review the initial iPhone last June. So, he's probably in a good position to know when his next iPhone review might be coming around.
Apple's Worldwide Developers' Conference is a little over 60 days from now, but that's close enough put that rumor back on the front burner (as if it ever really left). Apple will have to be careful about how it introduces the 3G iPhone as not to hurt demand for the model currently on sale, if there's a gap between the announcement of a new model and its availability.
Apple pulled off a nifty reinvention of the iPod with the iPod Touch, but it better work on improving its battery life in future models, according to gadget guru Walt Mossberg.
The iPod Touch carries over many of the design attributes that Mossberg and others loved about the iPhone, but the personal technology columnist for The Wall Street Journal found a few flaws he felt compelled to point out. Overall, the newest iPod is "elegant and capable," but Mossberg was puzzled by poor battery life.
The new iPod Touch captivated gadget guru Walt Mossberg, but its battery life didn't.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)"For all its beauty and functionality, the Touch has some quirks and downsides. It's the first iPod model I've ever tested that fell significantly short, in my tests, of Apple's battery-life claims," Mossberg wrote. Usually, his tests show that Apple applies conservative ratings to the battery life for its iPods, but that wasn't the case this time around.
Mossberg also noted that Apple has confirmed that a small number of iPod Touches were shipped with defective screens, and the company is working to fix the issue. Mossberg's unit worked fine, as did the one reviewed by CNET's Donald Bell a few days before Mossberg's came online, but some early iPod Touch customers have noted problems with displaying dark images, and it appears Apple is accepting returns.
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