The iPhone 4G has Been Leaked

These previously leaked images of the iPhone 4G have turned out to be more than just Chinese counterfeits. They are the real deal. That's right, this is the new iPhone 4G.

The new additions to the phone include:

1. A Front-facing video chat camera.
2. Improved regular camera as well as flash.
3. Micro-SIM 
4. Improved display.
5. Split buttons for volume.
6. Metallic power, mute, and volume buttons. 

The new iPhone now boasts a square design but I doubt that that will stick after the official release of the phone. Apple is all about aesthetics meeting innovation. This design is neither aesthetically pleasing nor innovative. This design actually takes a step back. Although it makes the phone thinner it makes it harder to fit the hand and it doesn't match the design of all of their other gadgets. 

The iMac has a rounded back, the Mac Mini is rounded, the whole MacBook line is rounded, and all the iPods besides the oldest --the classic-- have curved backs. Why would Apple ostracize it's highest profit gainer with a whole new design?

I choose to stay optimistic. I believe that Apple has way more up their sleeves then we can possibly imagine... Don't they always?

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Some Reliable Sources

The internet is buzzing with Apple news. In a matter of a week they released a groundbreaking device and an amazing update to their iPhone Operating System. The problem is that you could only say it in so many different ways so rather than reiterate what the rest of the world is saying I thought I should just point you in the direction of a writer that has covered it all: Eli of Teen Tech Blog.

If you don't want to read, this video covers just about everything the new update has to offer:


But if you want to see it straight from the source you can click HERE.

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My New Pet Peeve

I've had my MacBook Pro for a little over four months now and I love almost everything about it. Everything I ask it to do, it does... plus some. Apple has done a lot of work and paid a lot of money to make this a quality machine and it definitely lives up to it's cost. The only problem is that Apple has taken a cheap turn on one of the most used parts of the computer... the keyboard.

I'm not a heavy user of my laptop. I'm on it when I get home and that's about it. Even though that's not much use the keys have already developed a dull shininess that can't be wiped off. The worst part is that the more I use the keyboard, the shinier it gets!

I have no problem buying a keyboard protector. I just feel that I payed a substantial amount of money to buy a nicely built machine; not just quality software but quality build too.

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"Come See Our Latest Creation"

The Apple Tablet aka the iPad is here. It feels like a dream. Just a few days ago noone thought that it was going to happen. All of the far fetched rumors made it impossible to believe but in actuality most of the rumors came true. The tech specs are as follows:

• 1GHZ processor courtesy of Apple's very own A4 chip
• 9.7 inch oleophobic IPS screen
• 1/2 inch thin build
• Aluminum backing and full glass screen with black bezel
• 10 hour battery life; 1 month standby time
• e-Book store called iBooks
• modified iWork suite to work with the capacitive touch screen
• AT&T 3G coverage (on select models)
• Built in speakers, microphone and 3.5 mm headphone jack

Although the iPad and the iPhone don't look alike on the outside they have very similar software. Besides the fact that the iPad's backdrop is customizable both the iPhone and this tablet feature the same home screen. The come with the same standard apps. They also have the same format. You could only have four apps in each row and 4 apps in the dock. It is a bit spacious but I have a feeling that this will be fixed in a soon-to-come software update.

The Capable

Even though this device is "truly magical and revolutionary" and a whole new segment to the tech world Apple has enabled the Tablet to access and use all the apps from the iPhone and iPod Touch appstore. You don't have to do any hacking, "it all just works".

The Free

The iPad allows you to connect to AT&T's 3G network; not only at a cheap price ($14.99 for 250 mb and $30.00 for unlimited data) but also as a pay-as-you-go plan. You are under no contract and you can cancel at any time without having to pay an extra fee. That means all us Teens On Da Rise can have internet wherever we have cellphone coverage; and our parents have no reason to say no because they don't have to sign a pesky contract.

To say that this gadget is a beauty inside and out is an understatement.

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Pushing All the Right Buttons!

As much as I love Apple and their products their competitors' advertisements are getting better and better.

As much as I laugh seeing Justin Long and John Hodgeman argue over which company is the best, I laughed way harder when I saw a cute little girl give a rave review of Windows 7.

Apple's "There's an App for That" commercials are catchy but this Verizon commercial with actual people, and a colorful background made it stick in my mind just that much more. (If you look close the AT&T guy was holding a white iPhone).

iDon't have anything to say about this commercial. It's self explanatory. Verizon is using Apple's well known "i before the product name" against them.

There are plenty other commercials bashing Apple but I thought that these were among the best.

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The Forgotten...

Many know that Apple released the new generation of the Mac Mini, MacBook, and Mighty Mouse (now called the Magic Mouse). But, many don't know about the few other products that Apple released, so I decided to search their website for all of those forgotten products.

1. The newly designed Apple Remote now has an aluminum body and can control any Mac made since 2005 with an infrared port. It also controls iPods and the iPhone but only when they are docked on the Universal Dock.

2. The Airport Extreme is said to now be 50% faster and have a greater range by 25% beacause of a new antenna design

3. The Time Capsule now offers 60% faster Time Machine backups.

4. If you look really hard on the MacBook page you can also see that there is a new Magsafe Power Adapter. It has a new revised plug that looks much like the new gray iPod shuffle.

What do you guys think about all of the new products from Apple?

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Commentary: Apple owns up to a Snow Leopard bug

Having watched Microsoft (MSFT) go through a weekend from hell for wiping out the personal data of thousands of T-Mobile (DT) customers, Apple (AAPL) finally acknowledged a data-swallowing bug that Snow Leopard users have been complaining about since September.

"We are aware of the issue, which occurs only in extremely rare cases, and we are working on a fix," an Apple spokesperson told CNET's Erica Ogg on Monday.

According to several hundred messages on Apple's discussion boards, the Snow Leopard problem is triggered when users log in and out of an old Leopard guest account and then try to log back in to their regular account. One victim described the effect as follows:

"Not only did Snow Leopard wipe out ALL of my documents, my email accounts, my address book, it broke the dynamic spell checker in yahoo messenger, caused random problems with Safari, InDesign, and others, caused lockups, spinning beach balls, loud fans… and it was just getting worse. I am restoring Leopard (sans snow) as I write this."

(via BrainStormTech)

Commentary: I came across this article and I wasn't surprised. It was something that many people have talked about: their problems with Snow Leopard. I have heard it from bloggers, I've heard it from Youtubers, I've even heard it from non-techies... Apple seriously did something wrong with Snow Leopard. From the minor glitches to the major ones like the one above Apple definitely didn't come out with the most innovative operating system this time. Yes, the upgrade came with a few features that made me smile for a few moments but when you really look into it they're not good enough to cover up the bad that Snow Leopard causes.

Although I am mad with the lack of innovation and abundance of problems with this product I am really happy with Apple as a company. It may have taken them a long time but they actually owned up to their mistakes. They didn't hide them like some companies... AHEM AHEM Microsoft... It shows that they listen to their customers and are trying to amend the problems that they are having. It shows that they actually care.

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2 Billion Downloads Celebration!!

Today Apple has achieved yet another amazing feat. Their App Store- the world's largest and most revolutionary- has just reached 2 billion downloads in less than a year.

I thought that this achievement was so amazing that I should celebrate with you, my readers, and giveaway the latest edition of Mac|Life's very own iPhone Handbook that not only includes hands-on how-tos but also reviews of 44 APPS, external battery packs, speakers, cases, headphones and more.

So, if you have an iPhone or are just interested in getting a brand new iPhone magazine here's how to join:

MANDATORY ENTRY- You must do this before you recieve any extra entries:

Subscribe via e-mail or feed. Subscription options can be found on the right-hand side. If you’re already a subscriber, let me know! If you subscribe by e-mail, you must validate your e-mail address. You can do so via the e-mail sent by Feedburner. If you do not validate your e-mail address the entry will be disqualified.

EXTRA ENTRIES:

1. Leave a comment on any other blog post.

2. Follow me on Twitter (@TeenOnDaRise) and tweet about the giveaway. Your tweet must include my name, @TeenOnDaRise and RT. One tweet a day until the giveaway ends, so tweet it up!

3. Fave me on Technorati or Digg for 2 extra entries (you must leave 2 separate comments with your username if you enter this way).

**********

GIVEAWAY ENDS OCTOBER 5, 2009 11:59 P.M. EST

Open to US and Canada residents only

**********

I will be using Random.org to choose the winner so in order to qualify for the giveaway you must leave a separate comment for each entry that is completed. You will not be counted otherwise.

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There's Still Room For More...

I've been hearing the same question over and over again: "Why did Apple give the Nano a video camera and not the Touch?" I think the answer's simple. It's to make sure that the world's best selling mp3 player stays around for just a bit longer. If you really look at it Apple has crammed everything that they can into the little guy. A pedometer, FM radio with live pause, a mic and speaker, accelerometer, voice over and a video camera. At this point, what more could they add?

The iPod Touch is a different story, there's still room for more. Everybody just has to remember that Apple is a company and they want to make this touch screen phenomena stay successful for as long as possible and adding a camera in this generation would have just made it that much harder to top themselves. But, pictures have already been released so we definitely don't have long to wait for the next refresh.

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In Case You Missed It!

For all of you who like me were stuck at school (or work) and missed out on the apple keynote event and don't know the latest on what's going on with their products I have compiled a list of all of the refreshes that they have made.

• The iPod Classic received a capacity bump from 120GB to 160GB but is still being kept at the same price ($249).
• The iPod Touch received a price drop, a cut and a hardware upgrade. The 8GB is now $199.00 (down from $229), the 16GB is now nonexistent, the 32GB is down to the price that the 16GB once was ($299) and there is now a 64GB model priced at $399. Both the 32GB and 64GB are also supposed to be 50% faster than previous generations and will run OpenGL ES 2.0. A 3.1 firmware is also now available free of charge, for those that already run 3.0, and is only $4.95 for those that don't.
• The iPod Shuffle is now being sold in pink, green, blue and limited edition stainless steel (only sold on the Apple online store and Apple Stores) along with the original black and silver. A new 2GB edition also joins the mix at $59. Apple is also working with third parties to make headphones compatible with the Shuffle's features.
• The iPod Nano received the best (in my opinion) price drop and hardware upgrade. It now comes standard with a video camera, speaker, FM radio, the new Genius Mix, Voice Over, a built in pedometer and a larger 2.2 inch screen. The 8GB version stayed at the same price of $149 but the 16GB version has dropped from $199 to $179, which makes me wonder who would buy the 8GB when they can get the 16 for just $30 more?

If you still want to see the whole Keynote you can click HERE.

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Grand Theft Apple

It still boggles my mind how these 5 goons were able to take off with 23 MacBook Pros, 14 iPhones, and 9 iPod Touches (equivalent to $32,470) in just 31 seconds!

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Back To School: Top 5 Best Apps

School is just around the corner, if not already started for some people, so I thought that it would be appropriate to have the top 5 best Mac apps for school that don't already come pre-installed with your mac. My list doesn't have an order, so you can ignore the numbers.

1. Task List is essential for those that take their laptops to school but is still great for those that don't. It allows you to track your assignments, grades (and converts them into your GPA), notes, and goals. The newest version 5.2 allows you to keep everything handy on your dashboard with a widget, can be locked with a password, has graphs, statistics, 5 levels of priority for each assignment and a school overview for at-a-glance information.

2. Quicksilver is a program for all of those people that don't like taking their hands off of their keyboards. You can launch and do almost anything with this app with just a few keystrokes.

3. Google doc isn't an app but should be made into one. This website is for all of the people that don't want to dish out money for a word processing suite. This site allows you to type up anything you want, and save it as almost any type of file. You just need to make a Google account.

4. iClip is an amazing app that automatically records everything (that includes pictures, regular text, and even apps) that you copy and/or cut into it's little 'hub'. It's great for people like me who are always losing their much needed notes because there is no such thing as 'Copy 2' or 'Paste 2'.

5. Desktop Curtain does exactly what it's named. It makes a curtain fall over everything on your desktop to give you privacy, whether it be while presenting a Keynote presentation in front of your teachers or just to hide whatever clutter you usually have on it. You could also format the app to cover just certain apps and leave others unhidden.

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Upgrading From Tiger is illegal!

From the EULA (Joe Kissel)

"If you have purchased an upgrade for Mac OS X Leopard license, then subject to the terms and conditions of this license, you are granted a limited non-exclusive license to install, use and run one (1) copy of the Apple software on a single Apple- branded computer as long as that computer has a properly licensed copy of Mac OS X Leopard already installed on it."

Don't worry Apple is still giving all of their Tigers a chance to upgrade with the all in one deal, the Mac Box Set, for $169.00 It includes:

• Mac OS X 10.6
• iPhoto '09
• Garageband '09
• iMovie '09
• iWeb '09
• iDVD
• Numbers '09
• Keynote '09
• Pages '09

Although it is illegal you could still walk into the store and buy the upgrade, so use your own judgement, and make the right decision!

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Premature Birth: Snow Leopard

Yesterday one lucky Japanese man received a Snow Leopard start up disk with the purchase of his Mac Mini. Although the story is believable, this slip up has added even more confusion to the release date that Apple has set for it's new Operating System. Just a few weeks ago, it was said to be August 28th but now it's more than a week away. Many say that the delayed release date is for the sole purpose of competing with Windows 7. Nobody, but Apple employees are positive of that but whatever it's for, we now (assuming that Apple doesn't change their release date yet again) don't have too long to wait!

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Apple Wireless Keyboard Review

Price: 79.00-On Apple

Holding the Apple Keyboard you feel a sense of weightlessness and balance. In size, shape, their new über thin design, low to the base keys and nice aluminum color, as well as material the new Apple Keyboard makes the previous generation look disgustingly cramped and inelegant. Though I know many accountants, programmers and pro tool users will be upset with the lack of number keypad and editing keys, I personally, am happy with the change. Nowaday, people want compact and Apple wants their customers to be happy. As a customer that change definitely made me happy!

The keyboard uses Bluetooth so you don't have to block one of your USB ports with a receiver. That's also a great thing for me too seeing that i only have two ports. It's extremely easy to setup on any computer, Mac or PC. Although PCs can't use the default shortcut keys at the top you can always reassign them.

It's an awesome keyboard, but there are a few problems. It gets dirty REALLY fast. The keys are white and even the natural oil on our fingers turns it a slight grey. I believe that the best solution to this problem is Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser. It lasts longer and works better than soap and won't scratch off your letters like a regular sponge would, but an even more cost effective way to clean this keyboard is to buy a bottle of rubbing alcohol at your local 99 cents store and dab it on a paper towel and wipe it across the keys. Either of those methods should keep it looking good as new.

The final problem with this keyboard is that it runs on 'AA' batteries, so if you are a heavy computer user make sure to have a few extra packs just in case they die. The keyboard does automatically turn off when you stop using it for a while, or when your computer goes to sleep but keep those batteries stashed just in case!

★★★★

All in all I give this keyboard 4 stars out of a possible 5

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Airport Extreme-ly Incompatible?

While I was researching what MacBook Pro I wanted I saw the Airport Extreme and all of the neat feaures that come with it. It has the latest "N" technology, you could connect a wired printer or hard drive (both if you buy a USB hub) that become wireless, it allows you to make a guest network so your guests dont need to know the primary password for the router, it has dual-band support so it's faster on handheld devices (ex: iPod Touch, iPhone, Nintedo DSi etc.) and has a greater range, it has an automatic firewall that doesnt need to be set up so your conected hard drive wont be attacked, it has parental controls, allows up to 50 users without slowing the router down and finally is compatible with both a Mac and PC... Or so they say.

I only checked out the Apple site before I brought it and saw all of the rave reviews for the product. I was so excited about getting a new Apple product that I didn't do as much research as I should have. I only looked at the Apple site, and of course I thought that that was good enough but it wasn't. I failed to remember the fact that I would be connecting it to a PC so I should be looking at forums and how well it connected to a PC. So eventually, I remembered that small fact and did more research, after I had brought the product, and boy was I surprised. Everything on Google that popped up was how bad the Airport Extreme is on PCs especially those that run Vista. I'm a little scared now that I have a product that i spent so much on that may not be compatible with my computer. I'm going to take a leap of faith with Apple and keep the product and when i eventually connect the Airport Extreme hopefully it will work like a charm. We don't know yet, but soon enough we will! So, keep an eye out for an update on my blog.

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