Apple recently took down Fingerworks.com after letting it stay up after acquiring the company and hiring its founders five years ago. The move is more evidence of the tablet announcement coming on January 27.

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Of all the hype generated by the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, few products generated more headlines and heat than tablet PCs.

Technology-industry executives showed off their newest table wares to varying degrees of excitement.

Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer got a ho-hum reaction as he showed off a new H-P Slate tablet, while executives from Dell Inc. gave a look at what they called a tablet-concept device that features a 5-inch screen.

Graphics chipmaker Nvidia Corp. boasted of the 500 engineers it took to design that company’s new Tegra microchip, which Nvidia claims will revolutionize the capabilities of tablet devices.

Then there was Apple Inc. — or rather, there wasn’t Apple, which didn’t attend CES but is expected to introduce a tablet Mac of its own, as soon as the end of the month.

Indeed, Apple’s shadow led some analysts to assert that no one would even be talking about tablets were it not for the anticipation over what the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has planned. Read the rest of this entry »

Zinio Launches iPhone App as Key Element of ‘Unity’ Reading Platform
Zinio, the world’s leader in digital publishing, technology, distribution and services, today announced the launch of its iPhone app as the cornerstone of its ubiquitous “Unity” reading platform.  Currently offering its digital content to be read on PC, Mac, netbook, touch-screen and tablet devices, Zinio now adds another reading access point to its multi-platform-enabled portfolio.

Read more on PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance

On Friday we had Jason Schwartz, an options strategist long on Apple (AAPL), explaining in Seeking Alpha Why Apple’s iTouch Tablet Will Become Its Flagship Product.

On Monday we heard from Michael Scalisi, an IT manager writing in PC World, that the Rumored Apple Tablet Is a Train Wreck.

If the first hurdle of a successful Apple product is to capture the imagination of the chattering classes, this one is half-way there.

Of course, we don’t really know what the product is, what it looks like or when, if ever, it will be released. But that hasn’t stopped the trade press from weighing in – and quickly taking sides.

In this context, the most useful thing I’ve read lately is Harry McCracken’s PAQ – for Possibly Answered Questions, a kind of pre-emptive FAQ – in Monday’s Technologizer.

McCracken sorts through the myriad details that have been bruited about in nearly two years of press speculation (and, reportedly, four years of product development under Steve Jobs’ watchful eye) and draws a plausible picture of the rumored device and what it might be good for.

Among the tablet’s salient features, as McCracken sees it: Read the rest of this entry »

Suppliers for the Apple Tablet have begun shipping touchscreen panels and will start delivering aluminum casings next month, according to Reuters sources, implying a second-quarter product launch.

AVY Precision Technology Inc, a Taiwanese manufacturer of covers for electronic products, will begin production of the cases in February, two sources familiar with the situation said on Friday.

TPK Solutions, an unlisted touch screen panel maker also based in Taiwan will also supply panels for the product, a third source said, on top of those already being manufactured by another Taiwan company, Wintek Corp.

“Production of the cases will begin in February, so everything points to a second-quarter launch right now,” said one of the sources. “It doesn’t take that long for the company to assemble the PC together, but a second-quarter shipment date is what we’re looking at now.”

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Creative firm FORM has released, “Abandoned”, a niche community-driven virtual tourism app for iPhone and iPod touch that lets users explore, discover, and share abandoned locations across the United States. Currently in Apple’s Top 20 Paid Travel apps list, and recently featured in Apple’s “What’s Hot list”, Abandoned allows users to become armchair explorers of modern-day ruins, from empty asylums to shipwrecks under the Great Lakes.

GPS technology pinpoints abandoned places nearby and across the U.S., and each location contains background information, current and historical photos, maps and satellite imagery. Locations vary from submerged towns and dead amusement parks, to crumbling prisons and forgotten hotels.

The app is crowd-sourced and encourages community involvement by inviting users to post their own locations, photos, and stories, or comment and contribute photos to existing locations. As the app’s user base grows, so does its content, as photographers, preservationists and explorers add their own work to the mix.

“I think everyone has an innate curiosity about the ‘creepy old building on the hill’ – Abandoned grants access to those places,” said Teresa Kahooilihala, FORM partner and one of the app’s creators. “There’s something compelling about a once-grand church filled with snow drifts, or a piano untouched under decades of dust, or a massive asylum falling into ruin – All irresistible glimpses into our past, and future.” Abandoned marks FORM’s 10th iPhone app release and is the first in a series of niche adventure travel apps scheduled for release in 2010.

Features:
* GPS mapping automatically locates and displays abandoned places nearby
* Immersive photos put you right at the scene
* Read and share comments, reviews and experiences about each location
* Upload your own abandoned locations with descriptions and photos
* Contribute to other’s locations with your own photos and comments
* Save your favorite places and keep a log of your own private locations
* View in state-by-state list format, or dynamic map
* Automatic updates when new locations are added
* 1 to 5 star ratings for each location
* Explore for fun or use for scouting film locations and photo shoots

Pricing and Availability:
Abandoned 1.11 is $2.99 (USD) and available worldwide exclusively through the App Store in the Travel category.

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AT&T has announced that they will launch MMS for the iPhone on September 25th.

We know many of our iPhone customers are eager for an update on our rollout schedule for Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS). We’ve been working for the past several months to prepare our systems and network to ensure the best possible experience with MMS when it launches – and that launch date is: September 25 for iPhone 3G and 3GS customers. MMS will be enabled through a software update on that day.

We know that iPhone users will embrace MMS. The unique capabilities and high usage of the iPhone’s multimedia capabilities required us to work on our network MMS architecture to carry the expected record volumes of MMS traffic and ensure an excellent experience from Day One. We appreciate your patience as we work toward that end.

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Bains Software has announced the release of their first iPhone app: instaplaylist. instaplaylist is the universal remote for music. It allows users to quickly create a playlist of YouTube music videos from their iPhone or iPod touch and enjoy them on any computer on the same WiFi network.

The videos play on the user’s computer while they control playback from their iPhone. Videos continue to play even if the user exits instaplaylist or turns off their iPhone.

With a tap of their finger, the user can:
* Play/pause
* Jump to the previous/next video
* Add and remove videos
* Reorder their playlist
* Adjust the volume
* And more Read the rest of this entry »

Toughturtle has announced the release of a new and enhanced version of StockWatch, their popular financial iPhone and iPod Touch App. The newest version of the App features full-screen (landscape orientation) technical analysis charts with a variety of customizable overlays and indicators, as well as, the addition of line, bar, and candlestick graphing styles. Additional new features in StockWatch 4.04 include security code locking, overall portfolio summaries, and manual quote refresh.

“The new additions to the App have been very well received and we think they make the it even more full-featured and attractive to all types of investors.”, said Todd Barnes, Lead Developer, Toughturtle. “There are other portfolio and investment tracking Apps on the AppStore, all with their own strengths and weaknesses, but StockWatch definitely gives you the best bang-for-the-buck.”

StockWatch is the perfect App for investors to keep an eye on their favorite stocks, track their portfolios and holdings, and much more. With an easy-to-use and traditional iPhone/iPod Touch user interface, you will have all your investments and research tools just a few taps away. Read the rest of this entry »

Bare Bones Software today announced the release and immediate availability of Yojimbo 2.0, a significant upgrade to the popular, easy-to-use information organizer. Yojimbo 2.0 makes it easier than ever to add and categorize, plus search for and retrieve information items.

“Yojimbo 2.0 makes it even easier to capture information items, which is hard to imagine, but true,” said Rich Siegel, founder and CEO of Bare Bones Software. “The Tag Explorer provides a major new interface for working with tags, which are the primary organizational mechanism for many people. The new Quick Input Panel represents a remarkable advance forward. Every addition in Yojimbo 2.0 contributes to the quest for a digital junk drawer that is powerful yet effortless to use.” Read the rest of this entry »