AT&T's 3G iPhone Is $199 This Summer

According to Fortune, AT&T's going to further subsidize the iPhone down as much as $200, making the final retail price a scant $199 with two-year-contract. The rumor is that the $200 bonus will only be available in AT&T stores, not in Apple stores, so people buying and exporting or using it with T-Mobile will be paying the higher price. Current first-gen iPhone users probably won't get this $200 subsidy when upgrading either, unless perhaps they renew for another 2 years.

More via Gizmodo »

New iMacs First to Use Intel Montevina Chipset?

On the surface, the new iMacs just look like a speed bump, there's actually something pretty interesting under the number splooge: It's the first system we know of to use Intel's Montevina chipset, which actually isn't due until June. Even though the release doesn't namedrop Montevina, the 1066MHz front-side bus with processor speed up to 3.06GHz tells us it's the case, since Santa Rosa's FSB only hits 800. Which means you should see a solid performance boost in these babies, not just better efficiency. Wonder how Apple swung getting their hands on the chips before anyone else.

Update: TGDaily says they're not quite Montevina-era, but unreleased chips no one else has, with the only difference from actual Montevina-oriented CPUs being these run 11 watts higher on thermal power design.

[New iMacs on Gizmodo]

Apple Store Retail Employees Getting New Shirts, Slogans, Impatient Attitude

IFO AppleStore has info on the new clothing design for Apple Retail employees, who will swap out their current job titles for slightly different ones that represent Apple's iPod and iPhone business more. The "Mac Genius" will become just "Genius," for example, and there will be six different slogans for each guy. We know it's old hat to mock Apple users and Apple Retail for being slightly smarmy and, well, kind of douchey, but these shirt slogans after the jump kind of reinforce the reason why.

Click for More via Gizmodo »

Razer Death Adder Gaming Mouse for Mac (Wha? Mac Gamers?)

Razer has a new gaming mouse for just for you. The Death Adder is an 1800dpi righty with a 1ms response time. Say what you want about gaming on Macs, you can't possibly defend using the Mighty Mouse in fragfests. Death Adder drops May 20 for $60. [Razer]

via Gizmodo

Hacked MacBook Air With Built-In 3G Wireless

This is what every MacBook Air needs: built-in 3G wireless. In order to get this goodness into the MBA, Jordan Bunnell busted up a Verizon USB727 Air Card and soldered it up with the MBA's unused USB controllers on the motherboard and used a little bit of voodoo to get power flowing to the card. There's a little bit more elbow grease to get the antenna ports situated and the card crammed in there nice and properly, but as you can see, it pays off. Check out the whole nerdy process in detail over at his site, though our heart's a little too faint to attempt the feat. [Get Listed Locally via engadget]

Video: iSwish puts the iPhone UI on any Windows Mobile phone

While you can argue that Windows Mobile is feature-for-feature and spec-for-spec superior to OS X on the iPhone, Apple's mobile UI is certainly more fun to use. So if you're running WinMo with a hankerin' for rubber band-like scrolling, jiggly icons, screen flicking, SummerBoard themes, and even simulated multi-touch pinching of photos then you're in luck. Flick Software Research is set to release its iSwish interface and iZoom pinch software in beta come "early May." Hey Flick, here's a hint: Dell Axim != sexy demo hardware... or maybe that's the point. See the action after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Video: iSwish puts the iPhone UI on any Windows Mobile phone

• Read
• via Engadget
  

Colorware's Matte Black iPhone Fools Friends, Bloggers

It's not the 3G iPhone, but Colorware's Stealth iPhone trades in the silver trim and brushed metal back for an entirely matte black motif. It's also extraordinarily expensive, weighing in at $675 and $775 to the stock model's $399 and $499. Colorware does throw in a matte black iPhone dock and pair of earbuds, but even that probably doesn't justify the increased cost. Then again, some people really love black.

[@Colorware]

Video: OQO hacked to run Leopard, now world's smallest Mac

While greeted with heaps of initial skepticism, forum jockeys over at OQO Talk now seem convinced that a junior member by the name of TRF has successfully hacked the OQO to run OS X Leopard. Adding a video filmed by Mr. Blurry Cam didn't hurt the cause. TRF's OQO is setup in a dual-boot Vista / OS X mode which boots Leopard in about 2 minutes and 30 seconds. WiFi, sound, power management and Bluetooth... it's all there with applications popping with serious snap. The only thing missing at the moment is WWAN access which TRF is now testing. While not yet a "plug and play" hack, it's "definitely doable," he says. Perhaps, but we'll need more details to say the least. Video excerpt posted after the break.

[Thanks Albert L. and lambda jones]

Read -- Forum post
Read -- Full Video

Engadget: Continue reading Video: OQO hacked to run Leopard, now world's smallest Mac

Gold-plated MacBook Air

We've already seen the MacBook Air bathed in gold and crystals, but it seems that people just can't leave well enough alone, with the folks at Computer Choppers (no strangers to gilded Macs) only the latest to spare no expense in taking the laptop to heights of tackiness that no one from Cupertino would ever dare dream of. That includes 24kt gold plating over the entire laptop and, in a final stake through El Jobso's heart, an Apple logo ensconced in multi-colored sapphires -- not to mention a polished gold SuperDrive to go along with it. If your eyes can take it, you can find a few more pics in the gallery below.

• read More
  
• via Engadget
  

Apple Macworld booth tour

by Ryan Block
It's kind of weird to think that Apple had a booth at Macworld just the same as HP or Toshiba had at CES -- well, ok, theirs was very Apple, and absolutely mobbed by throngs of Mac-faithful waiting to catch a glimpse of the iPhone (and to a lesser extent, the Apple TV). We know not everyone can be there, so peep the booth gallery.

• Read
• via Engadget
  

Apple TV review

In a day where everyone (including us) expects their gadgets to do everything, Apple again bucks the trend and releases a product that does a few things, but tries to do them very well. From day one the Apple TV wasn't expected to be the right for everyone -- especially not many of the gadgetrati that patronize our fine publication. It does have a specific target audience (namely, those happy to live in the iTunes ecosystem), but will it be the gateway device to bring digital video to the living room? What's more, will "the iTunes adapter" still pass muster with the ever-scrutinizing CE enthusiast crowd? Learn everything we think you'd want to know about this thing (except how to upgrade the drive) our full-on Apple TV review.

The hardware

Yes, the unit looks like a smushed Mac mini -- except it got wider. Unlike the mini and the new Airport Extreme (both of which are 6.5-inches square), it has a 7.7-inch footprint. It's almost the same thickness as the Airport Extreme, though, at 1.1-inches. While the Apple TV's design indubitably looks good in almost any home theater, we can't help but wish it was stackable with the rest of Apple's equipment. The fit and finish lives up to Apple's reputation for solid hardware, and nothing feels cheesy. It's got a bold metal bezel and a very strong, sturdy-feeling chassis. You won't find a power button -- just plug it in. Compared to a other media streamers and the Xbox 360, this thing is small and quiet. So quiet, in fact, we could hardly hear it when not directly next to it.

The frontal LED and IR pickup is similar to the mini, but it gave us some trouble since we used an IR distribution system (so we can stash our gear in the closet). The Apple TV just refused to work with it. To make sure it was the Apple TV, we put our MacBook Pro in the closet and the same IR blaster fine to control Front Row. Since these IR systems are not the norm, we did all of our testing with the Apple TV on top of our TV instead. Ah well. (We pinged Apple, and they said prior to launch they tested with a variety of IR blasters, extenders, etc., and haven't ever had any problems -- so maybe it was just our rig.)

Requirements - When purchasing the Apple TV, the Apple employees were very clear about the requirement for an HDTV. That and video cables -- the ATV doesn't come with any. Apple seems aware of how this is going over with the public and wants to set expectations before people leave the store, or they could just be trying to sell their own cables. Either way, it's kind of annoying, the same way it was annoying when the PS3 didn't come with an HDMI cable.Remote - The remote is very familiar to anyone with a new Mac or iPod dock, it is simple and works well. Still, a couple more buttons might make it a little easier to use for simple things like volume control (which the Apple TV can't do) or turning the unit off without having to hold the pause button down for a little while. One interesting bit about the remote is you have the option to pair it with your Apple TV. Each Apple Remote has a unique ID that it sends out in IR before its command (yes, this is learnable for smart remotes). If you have multiple Apple Remotes, you can make sure you don't accidentally wake your computer when using your ATV. Definitely a nice touch.

Setup

Setup was as easy as anyone can ask for. Power is internal, so you don't have to fuss with a power brick, which helps keep the clutter down behind your rig. Plug in your unit, plug in your video cables, and you're off; one can use component or HDMI, but the test TV we used (not pictured) was older so we also tried out an HDMI to DVI cable. Although it worked just as well as component on our TV, the DVI is obviously easier in setup, and the Apple TV was able to automatically configure the maximum supported HD resolution (something component connections can't do). Despite Apple's warnings, the Apple TV will work with any TV with component inputs and a widescreen mode. Should you plug in an HDMI cable, that connection takes priority; the component output is seamlessly disabled and switches on the fly.

More: Engadget