Top 12 reasons we love Apple

 We’re all Apple fans. But why? Deep thoughts like that—and 12 reasons—call for a countdown! But don’t worry, we balanced our enthusiasm with a hard-hitting look at the dark side of Apple...


12-THE BEST BUNDLES


When you boot up a brand-new PC, you’re greeted with umpteen offers to buy this security software and that media browser. And oh yeah….Internet Explorer. In contrast, a new Mac greets you with Safari, iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, and a fistful of super-useful utilities for tasks ranging from networking to migrating between machines. Thanks, Apple.















11-NO VIRUSES
          
Before your Windows-loving friends start talking about Trojan horses and market share, think about this:
OS X is on version 6, right? In that time, how many viruses have taken over your Mac? Uh-huh. But will Macs be virus-free forever? Probably not, but for now, we’re sitting pretty.
















10- PODCASTS


Long before iTunes podcast subscriptions were a twinkle in Steve Jobs eye, podcasts were known as webcasts. But then came iPods, which became the perfect way to lug around these
frequently lengthy listens. A journalist dubbed them podcasts, and the moniker stuck. And though Apple didn’t invent them, it did more to push them as everyday downloadables than any other mainstream company. In June 2005, Apple released iTunes 4.9, which let users subscribe to podcasts quickly and freely. We’ve been listening ever since.


9-THE iMAC G4


The iMac G4 might seem like the ugly duckling of
the iMac line dubbed by Mac users everywhere as the lamp one  but looks aren’t everything. The Lamp One brought a decreased footprint, a swivel-able screen, and a paradigm-setting whiter-than-snow color scheme to the iMac line.
















8- design sense

Back in the day, computers were often limited to the stale outfitting of a beige chassis, and as their innards got faster, their bodies stayed bloated. But Apple changed all this in 1998 with the introduction of the iMac G3. The candy-coloredplastic shell helped distinguish Apple’s focus on design something other
computer companies hadn’t yet considered.

Apple followed suit with the iBook in 1999 and eventually the PowerBook G4 in 2001, a refreshed notebook with a longer battery life and a speedy processor inside a sleek aluminum body. Since then, the hits just keep coming who can forget the small, sleek lines of the Mac mini, the iPhone, the iPod, and even the new Apple TV? All these luscious devices prove that Apple has mastered the art of designing gear that perfectly marries simple yet sexy form with powerful function.















7- Product-announcement events


Everytime Apple holds one of its now-legendary product announcements, the tech world stands still Jobs & Co. know how to tug at our nerdy heartstrings,pacing their words and selective unveilings until the excitement becomes palpable. Don’t even get us started on those "one more things."
















6- THE iPOD

In 2001, Apple made what would turn out to be a huge leap from computers to consumer electronics.
The first iPods were Mac-only and held a mere 1,000 songs, but we can’t imagine listening to anything else. Besides, without the iPod, there’d be no iPhone. Rock on!

















5-MAC OS X

By taking the raw power of NeXTStep and BSD and rolling it into a user-friendly OS, Apple created a Unix-
based system that’s usable for novices yet still gives super-geeks a powerful base. When released, it was a new robust OS for a new robust company. Today, we’re stoked to see what Lion has in store for us next.OS X, a next.















4-RUTHLESS FUTURISM

 Apple is not only ceaseless in its innovation it’s ruthless in its pursuit of it. Apple has helped to usher in
technologies like USB, Wi-Fi, and solid-state memory while inventing its own tech, as seen, for example, in the Magic Mouse and unibody laptops.

But the flip side of the coin exists as well the Cupertino crew eliminates support the instant they deem something outdated. Flash, Macintosh TV, the Mighty Mouse,
floppy drives, FireWire, and even optical drives have all fallen to this sword, often before users were ready to part with them. Ultimately Apple’s single-minded devotion to improvement makes the industry more competitive…and leaves other companies always trying to keep up.
















 3-THE APP STORE














As much as the iPhone changed the game, the App Store which came a year later in 2008 changed the iPhone from, well, a fancy phone to a handheld computer that can do practically anything, from pointing out constellations in the night sky to making fart sounds.

2-The iPad

Come see our latest creation read Apple’s humble invitation to the iPad unveiling. Since then, the iPad has taken the world and our hearts by storm, becoming one of the fastest-selling gadgets of all time while
changing the way we read books and play music, movies, and games.


















1- THE iPHONE

The iPhone has been blowing our minds since its dramatic introduction on January 9, 2007.
Touchscreen interface, amazing web browsing, and effortless multimedia capabilities who knew
a nearly buttonless device could do so much, even before the App Store. It’s the king of the
smartphones, and we’re just its faithful subjects.

New iMac and MacBook Pro coming in 2011

It's awful, but some guys think that Apple might actually introduce some new home and mobile computers next year. Digi-Times is reporting that MacBook Pro and iMac refreshes are coming, the latter specifically getting "a new panel size and a price point for the mainstream market." That certainly screams "smaller" and "cheaper" to us, but don't let us rain on your desktop-crushing, 55-inch all-in-one dreams. Regarding the MacBook Pro rumor, there are said to be four or more revised models arriving with "a slight change in chassis design" and Mac OS X 10.7 Lion onboard. Both sets of revisions are said to be due sometime in the first half of next year, which won't be "next" for very long at all.

Saingi iWork, Google Luncurkan Google Document Untuk iPad

Apple dan Google

iWork, aplikasi produktivitas umum di iPad, akan mendapat saingan dari perusahaan raksasa yaitu google.Google mengumumkan bahwa Google Documents untuk Android dan iPad dengan fasilitas mobile editing akan tersedia dalam beberapa pekan ke depan.

Pengumuman yang dilakukan oleh Dave Girouard, Google Enterprise President pada blog resminya itu menandai sejumlah tonggak penting pada Google Aps. Sebagai informasi, per Senin lalu, sebanyak 30 juta pengguna dari 3 juta institusi bisnis telah beralih ke platform Google Apps.

Kemampuan editing Google Docs pada perangkat Android dan juga iPad pertamakali dipamerkan pada ajang cloud computing Google Atmosphere, di Paris, Senin lalu.

“Dalam beberapa pekan ke depan, pekerja dari seluruh dunia bisa melakukan edit file secara simultan dari lebih banyak perangkat dibanding sebelumnya,” tulis Girouard, seperti dikutip dari Apple Insider, 22 September 2010.“Dalam beberapa pekan ke depan, pekerja dari seluruh dunia bisa melakukan edit file secara simultan dari lebih banyak perangkat dibanding sebelumnya,” tulis Girouard, seperti dikutip dari Apple Insider, 22 September 2010.Update yang memungkinkan Google Docs bisa diedit di iPad menghadirkan kompetisi berat bagi iWork, aplikasi produktivitas yang umum digunakan di iPad. Sebagai informasi, Pages, Keynote, dan Numbers untuk iPad masuk ke daftar ‘Top Paid Apps’ sejak peluncurannya, April lalu.

Di Inggris, iPad Cuma Dibanderol Rp2,7 Juta

iPad 3G Wi-Fi 16 GB

Ini dia yang bikin orang indonesia ngiler di inggris iPad cuma dihargai Rp2,7 Juta.Dua operator raksasa di Inggris, yakni Orange dan T-Mobile, mengumumkan tarif baru untuk produk bundel iPad sebagai upaya mereka untuk menarik pelanggan dengan memangkas biaya di muka.

Baik Orange maupun T-Mobile menawarkan Apple iPad 3G Wi-Fi 16GB dengan banderol harga 199 poundsterling, atau setara Rp2,7 juta, per unit pada pelanggan lamanya.

Harga ini memang terdengar cukup murah. Tapi, sebetulnya pelanggan juga akan dipungut 25 poundsterling, setara Rp350 ribu, per bulan selama dua tahun ke depan. Jadi, pada bulan ke 24, pelanggan merogoh kocek total sebesar 799 poundsterling atau sekitar Rp11,1 juta. Ini tidak terlalu mahal karena setiap bulan pelanggan berhak menikmati layanan Internet unlimited sebesar 1GB.

Khusus pelanggan Orange akan mendapatkan akses Wi-Fi tak terbatas via BT Openzone, tetapi tetap ada fair use policy (FUP) di mana kuotanya dibatasi sampai 3GB saja.

Bagaimana dengan pelanggan baru?
Mereka tetap bisa membeli dengan paket bundling. Tetapi, bagi pelanggan baru akan ditetapkan harga yang berbeda, yaitu 199 poundsterling di depan dan 27 pounds (Rp380 ribu) per bulan sepanjang dua tahun.

Bahkan, pelanggan Orange juga ditawari iPad versi 32GB dengan harga 249 poundsterling dan 349 poundsterling untuk versi 64GB.

Kompetisi antar operator untuk menarik pelanggan ini secara otomatis membuat posisi iPad semakin mantap di Inggris dan makin membuat kompetitornya seperti Samsung Galaxy Tab dan ViewSonic ViewPad 7 ketar-ketir.

iPAD APPLE WIFI n 3G (16GB, 32GB & 64GB)

16GB WIFI => 5.900.000
32GB WIFI => 6.800.000
64GB WIFI => 7.800.000
16GB WIFI 3G => 7.100.000
32GB WIFI 3G => 8.000.000
64GB WIFI 3G => 9.000.000

Harga Bisa Nego, BURUAN...!!

GARANSI APPLE INTERNASIONAL

Why Android will smash Apple’s iOS

Despite an outrageously successful start, Apple’s strangling grip on iOS will eventually doom it to the same sliver of market share held by OS X.

The tides are turning.

After nearly reinventing the smartphone space with the now-ubiquitous iPhone, Apple has finally seen its stampede of buyers surpassed by an even bigger horde: Those chasing Android-powered devices.



Nielsen reported on Tuesday that over the last sixth months – which includes the launch of the iPhone 4 – Android devices outsold iOS devices for the first time ever. And it’s only going to get worse. Here’s why Apple’s early grip on the mobile phone world can only weaken over time.

Closed ecosystem, closed possibilities



In many ways, the tight integration between iOS, the iPhone hardware and even AT&T vaulted the Apple’s wonder phone to success more any other single factor. The same rigid inflexibility will end up dragging Apple down as the race carries on.

The iPhone is Apple’s Model T: It revolutionized the smartphone market by making people who didn’t even know what a smartphone was want a smartphone. It broke the rules, rewrote new ones, and is well on its way to making an entire category of product indispensible for the average American. But like Ford’s “any color you like, as long as it’s black” mantra with the Model T, the iPhone doesn’t offer much choice.



While Google has licensed Android to companies that build big phones and small phones, cheap phones and expensive phones, phones with QWERTY keyboards and phones without, phones across all four major U.S. networks, Apple sells… the iPhone. One phone, one manufacturer, one operating system, one network. At least for now. Sure, rumors are swirling about the iPhone coming to Verizon, but will that really give them the push forward they need?



Without a doubt, it’s arguably the greatest one-size-fits-all product conceived, another fitting parallel to the Model T, but even Ford eventually realized he needed coupes, sedans, trucks, convertibles and vans to meet the needs of discerning consumers. Apple needs to do the same, but it won’t.



Even if Apple does manage to expand the iPhone line internally, (you could call the iPad a variant of it, if you really wanted to), the company’s refusal to license iOS to any outside manufacturer will never allow the same breadth of products to come to market as Android can muster. The iPhone can outsell every one of them 10 to one, which it nearly has, but the sheer volume of them in aggregate will still cause Apple to fall behind in market share.



Essentially, it’s the 1980’s all over again, except instead of seeing its operating system surpassed by Microsoft, Apple will see it surpassed by Google this time.

The upcoming developer exodus



So who cares about market share, anyway?

Anyone with a smartphone should.

Mom might have always said that popularity doesn’t matter, but when you’re peddling an operating system, it does. A lot. The explosive popularity of iOS gave Apple an early edge by luring all the leading mobile developers over to it. Right now, if you want the same refined, mainstream apps your friends are talking about, you buy an iPhone. It’s where the action is, just like Windows on desktop computers. But as its market share becomes smaller and smaller beneath Android, that will change.



Developers simply want to put their products into as many hands as possible to make the most money. Right now, that means developing for iOS, which holds 28 percent of the smartphone market, compared to just 19 percent from Android. (BlackBerry technically holds the most at 31 percent, but still suffers from a late start after BlackBerry App World launched nearly a year after Apple’s App Store.)



But Apple already shows signs of weakening – just look at Nielsen’s figures. Apple’s iOS has hovered around 27 to 29 percent marketshare for all of 2010, seemingly plateaued. With only one phone to sell and one carrier, which covers only a quarter of total wireless users in this country, that should come as little surprise; Apple just doesn’t have that many more people to sell phones to. Android, by contrast, has clawed from just 8 percent to 19 percent, and continues to climb. A swell of new devices from dozens of manufacturers ensures that it will continue.

The cycle is a vicious one – for Apple anyway. As Android swallows more market share, developers will pay more attention to it, making it more and more attractive to buyers, in turn making it more and more attractive to developers. Rinse and repeat. Eventually it will be Android, not iOS, that has a reputation for offering the widest array of the best software. Google’s aggressive licensing and partnerships have predestined Android to become the Windows of the mobile phone space – open and spread across hundreds of different devices and across the world, while Apple will once shrink back to the same niche it holds in the personal computing market, shunting software growth along the way.



As if a larger user base weren’t enough reason for code monkeys to invest their time in Android, Apple has also developed a reputation for denying apps for silly reasons, inconsistently censoring them, and purging existing apps based on new rules, not to mention laying so many restrictions on how apps can interact with the iPhone hardware that many useful, perfectly legitimate apps cannot exist on iOS.

End of an era?Apple’s iOS is here to stay. We won’t see it sink beneath the waves, but with one arm tied behind its back, it seems unlikely that it can hang beside competitors swimming full speed ahead with both arms cranking and flippers.

From a Ford-like start in smartphones, Apple seems to be veering towards a Mini future – enthusiastically embraced by a cult following, but less and less significant in the market as a whole. Mac fans have no reason to fear this – it’s the reality they live with every day – but don’t expect the current bounty of iOS software to continue. The days of iDominance may be coming to a close.

APPLE iPad 16GB / BLUETOOTH / WIFI

GARANSI RESMI APPLE 1 TAHUN

Motorola Sues Apple over Eighteen patents

Motorola claims the Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, and even some Macintosh-computers breaks a total of Eighteen Motorola patents.

Technology giant Motorola has filed suit against Apple, claiming the company’s iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, and particular Macintosh computers breaks a total of 18 Motorola patents. The complaints center on technology related to GPRS and Wi-Fi technology, along with WCDMA (3G) wireless communication and wireless antenna design; other alleged infringements concern Apple’s MobileMe cloud-based subscription service and Apple’s App Store.

“Motorola has innovated and patented throughout every cycle of the telecommunications industry evolution, from Motorola’s invention of the cell phone to its development of premier smartphone products, said Motorola Mobility corporate VP Kirk Dailey, in a statement. “After Apple’s late entry into the telecommunications market, we engaged in lengthy negotiations, but Apple has refused to take a license. We had no choice but to file these complaints to halt Apple’s continued infringement.”

The complaints relate to what Motorola characterizes as “early state innovations” that it claims Apple uses in several of its products, including technology related to wireless email, proximity sensing, device synchronization, software application management, and location-based services.

In addition to patent infringement claims, Motorola has also filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission. Motorola is seeking unspecified damages and wants a ban on Apple importing or selling the allegedly-infringing products in the U.S. market. The ITC complaint and portions of the patent infringement complaints was filed by Motorola Mobility—Motorola’s phone-making unit—before a District Court in Chicago. The remaining patent infringement complaints were filed in Chicago and Miami.

Motorola’s suit comes just after the company found itself the target of a patent infringement suit from Microsoft over its Android-based smartphones.

Redesigned iPhone 4 Due out September 30?

A Mexican exec has claimed that a new iPhone without the antennae issues is due out on September 30, the same day the free bumper initiative ends.

It has been a few weeks since the Apple’s antennae-gate issues were last discussed, so we were due. A new rumor based on a somewhat unconfirmed report on a Mexican website is reporting that the iPhone 4 will no longer face the antennae problems as of September 30.

Marco Quatorze, Director of Value Added Services Telcel said that as of September 30 Telcel will be available in new devices that do not have the malfunction of the reception, and explained that the company will have several options to make changes from one phone to another.

Below is a translation courtesy of Google. It is somewhat imprecise in the wording, but the important part is in bold:

“If the previous plan is over, you will need to hire a new change for iPhone 4. If, for example, already has one and take three months for payment, change the cell with a re-employment and takes into account the previous time, so instead of paying 24 months, only done in 21.”

Business Insider is also covering the story, but still, take the quote with a grain of salt. There could be more to his meaning, or the quote could be incorrect, but it does coincide with the end of the Apple plan to send out free bumpers to iPhone owners. When the bumper plan was announced, Steve Jobs gave an end date of September 30. It makes sense that since Apple first announced the bumper plan on July 16, the Apple designers would have had time to fix the issue. After all, despite Apple’s initial stubborn refusal to acknowledge the issue, it is highly unlikely that Apple would knowingly choose not to correct an issue that has already been exposed, especially one that has a fix as simple as insulating the casing.

The real issue is how will current iPhone 4 users respond, and will Apple offer them any potential exchanges? It seems unlikely following the bumpers. Will iPhone 4 owners even care? What say you? Are you an iPhone 4 owner, and do you care that a slightly redesigned iPhone 4 is on the way?

Apple TV Rumors Point to Netflix Support, $99 Price Tag

Rumors suggest the next version of iteration will chop price to just $99 and add Netflix support, but details on supported resolutions and hardware remain hazy.

Of all the rumors we’ve heard about tomorrow’s alleged Apple TV unveil, the latest seems by far the least ambitious. And perhaps because of that, the most believable. According to Bloomberg, the revamped Apple TV will sport – drumroll please – Netflix streaming.

Bloomberg cites two anonymous sources “with knowledge of the plans,” who also confirmed earlier rumors that it would sell for $99. While that may represent a massive price drop from the $230 Apple TV units currently stocking Apple shelves, it would still butt the Apple TV up against the likes of many other inexpensive Netflix streamers, like the $99.99 Roku HD-XR, and even the Xbox 360 Arcade, which many stores now stock for $150.

Earlier rumors have also indicated a name change from Apple TV to iTV, hardware derived from the same A4 chip in the iPad and iPhone 4, and perhaps most surprisingly, a lack of support for 1080p video playback. The same sources suggested the iTV would run apps – a development that dovetails nicely with the Netflix rumors, considering Netflix released its first iPhone app less than a week ago.

Stay tuned to Digital Trends tomorrow for up-to-the-minute coverage of Apple’s music event, which begins at 10 a.m. PST.

Apple iMac 27-inch (Core i5) Review

We review the latest addition to Apple's iMac line, which features a 27-inch display, Intel Core i5 processor and pixel-pushing ATI Radeon HD 5750.

Introduction

Few brands can hope to even come close to the iconic iMac in brand recognition. The ubiquitous glass-and-aluminum slab has become a fixture in dorm rooms, offices and living rooms, and with its 2010 refresh, Apple manages to keep the same familiar face, but inject even more power into the tiny chassis by adopting Intel’s Core series processors and full-power desktop graphics cards from AMD. While it may not qualify as a “must upgrade” for existing iMac owners, gamers and other users should be pleasantly surprised by the very real performance boost the new hardware delivers.

Features and Design

Don’t pore over the chassis on the 2010 iMac too carefully looking for a little extra love from designer Jon Ive; Apple has left well enough alone and changed absolutely nothing on the outside this year. When you already own the design, other companies scramble to emulate, it’s a luxury you have. And we’re not complaining. The edge-to-edge glass, black-rimmed bezel, uninterrupted aluminum shell and single white cable trailing out the back look as magnificent this year as they did last year, and we would hate to see Apple can a winning design for a new flavor of the week.

Speaking of which, Apple’s included mouse and keyboard remain as abysmal and overdesigned as ever, looking chic and minimal on an uncluttered desk, but driving function off a cliff to get there. The mouse fits the hand about as comfortably as a stepped-on tuna can, and the limp Chiclet keyboard has been shortened so drastically (it lacks a number pad, which Apple advertises as a feature) that it looks downright comical in front of the towering 27-inch display.

Our iMac came configured from the factory with an Intel Core i5 processor running at 2.8GHz, 4GB of DDR3 memory, an ATI Radeon HD 5750 GPU with 1GB of DDR5 memory, and a 256GB SSD. As equipped, it runs for $2,599 through Apple’s configure-to-order program.

Although our model didn’t come equipped with both an SSD and conventional drive, this year is actually the first that Apple will put both in the same computer. While it’s no feat of engineering, it does offer customers the chance to take advantage of both the speed of an SSD and the raw storage capacity of a magnetic drive.

Display

The 27-inch LCD on the iMac will drop jaws, and not just because it’s utterly massive. Unlike most displays in this size class, which offer 1080p resolution, Apple proceeds past the bounds of high-def content to a full 2560 x 1440. While that means 1080p content will need to be scaled to fit it, the increased pixel density also makes text and graphics on the desktop look significantly smoother, translating to a more refined desktop experience. LED backlighting improves efficiency, eliminates the dim warmup period of CCFL tubes, and looks extraordinarily bright. Although the primitive cast-metal stand won’t telescope up and down the way a pro monitor mount will, it does easily pivot up and down to get the best viewing angle. Not that you’ll need to play with it much – the IPS LCD screen Apple has selected has just about the best viewing angle in the biz – you can look at it from pretty much any angle without much distortion.

Ports and Connections

Per the usual Apple formula, the iMac doesn’t come loaded with ports to spare, but you won’t find many missing, either. Around back, you get four USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 800 port, an Ethernet jack, and a mini DisplayPort, which can be used to output VGA, HDMI or DVI video with the appropriate adapter ($29) from Apple. While it cleans up the look of back a bit, we would prefer if Apple skipped the obvious cash grab on the cables and just gave us the standard VGA and DVI outputs right on the box. Along the same lines, Apple provides both analog and optical digital inputs and outputs in stereo, but audio buffs hoping to tie the iMac into a more powerful home theater system might feel left out by the lack of 5.1-channel analog outputs — pretty much a standard feature on PCs. The missing Blu-ray option also stands out as a downright waste, when coupled with a display with as much cinematic potential as this one.

On the right, you’ll find a slot-loading DVD drive and an SDXC expansion port. While SDXC cards only come in capacities up to 64GB at the moment, eventually, the iMac will support capacities all the way up to 2TB, potentially making it as much a storage expansion slot as a media loading slot, if you have the cash.

Speakers

Like laptops, all-in-one computer’s aren’t typically known for sound quality. With just a tiny amount of space to share with motherboards, power inverters and harddrives, speakers typically don’t get much priority.

Fortunately, the iMac’s slim strip of downfiring speakers deliver sound out of proportion with their size, matching what you might get from an inexpensive iPod dock. The humble iMac won’t rock you out the room, but it delivers more than enough volume for video and music, and quality that casual music listeners won’t find much to complain about – as long as bass isn’t a priority.

Testing and Performance

Why drop $750 to add a 256GB solid state drive into an iMac on top of the 1TB drive that comes standard? The same reason hotrodders spend thousands of dollars and countless hours tuning their machines: Speeding away from the light just that much faster. By loading the operating system and applications onto a super-fast SSD, boot times and around-the-desktop performance reach levels a spinning magnetic platter just can’t deliver.

But we’re not talking about thousandths of second here, like on a drag strip. On a cold boot, our iMac reached the desktop in just 19 seconds, obliterating any Windows 7 machine we’ve ever tried, by a significant degree. For instance, the beastly Maingear eX-L 17, which costs nearly $5,000 and leverages dual SSDs in a RAID array, still boots in 38 seconds. As for the iMac, don’t even bother timing its wake up from sleep mode; by the time you can pull out your chair and sit down, it’s ready to roll.

The speed benefits of the SSD also manifest themselves around the desktop, where applications from iTunes to Safari snap open near instantly, creating a desktop that essentially works as fast as you can think.

Though the limited selection of OS X titles limited our typical gaming tests to some degree, performance here shocked us as well… though that might have more to do with the ATI Radeon HD 5750 graphics processor with 1GB of GDDR5 memory than the SSD. Half Life 2: Episode 2 played at full native resolution with every setting except setting to maximum — even 8x anti-aliasing, without breaking so much as a stutter. And by that we mean average framerates over 100 fps, dipping down only as low as 70 fps during intense combat and graphic effects like water. Sure, it’s a game from 2007 riding on the same engine as a game from 2004, but the sheer level of performance remains jaw-dropping, and one more reason we hope Steam continues to make gaming inroads on OS X.

As equipped, the iMac delivers an Xbench score of 310 and Geekbench score of 6501 — both impressive scores that represent a quantifiable leap forward from last year’s offerings. (The best Core 2 Duo iMacs from 2009, for instance, typically scraped at scores just north of 4600 in Geekbench).

For all the exercise we put the iMac through, it refused to break a sweat. Unlike the Gateway One ZX Series, another all-in-one with gaming credentials, the iMac never became noisy after extended gaming sessions, and it remained cool to the touch.

Conclusion

Apple hasn’t pulled out any magic wands for this year’s release of the iMac — apparently all the fairydust went into the iPad this year — but a fresh batch of silicon still has its rewards. A new line of Intel processors, ATI Radeon graphics cards and more versatile SSD options make the iMac brutally fast on the desktop, and even more shockingly spry in the gaming arena. Wrap it all up in the same well-mannered box that has become a template for industrial designers everywhere, and you have a winning desktop set to continue Apple’s domination in the all-in-one arena.

Highs:

• Drool-worthy 27-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD display


• Top-notch industrial design and build quality


• Ultra-fast bootup with SSD option


• Killer gaming performance with Radeon HD 5750


• Surprisingly ample sound


• Cool and quiet, even during gaming

Lows:

• Abysmal keyboard and mouse


• No analog 5.1-channel outputs, Blu-ray option


• Pricy relative to similarly equipped PCs

iPad Vs Kindle

In our Kindle Vs. iPad battle, we pit the best features of each gadget against each other to determine a clear winner. Who are you placing your bets on?

Amazon.com, which has dominated the young but fast-growing electronic book market for the past few years with the Kindle, could get its biggest threat Saturday, when Apple releases its iPad multimedia tablet.

The Kindle starts at $259 and is designed mainly for reading text on a gray-and-black screen. The iPad starts at $499, but with the higher price comes more functions: a color touch screen for downloading books from Apple’s new iBookstore, surfing the Web, playing videos and games and more.

It will take time to determine whether the iPad causes a tremor in the e-reader market, a high-magnitude quake or something in between. But in the meantime people who read electronic books or are considering buying a reading device will find their choices getting more complicated.

If the Kindle e-reader falls out of favor with people drawn to Apple’s offering, there could be a very thick silver lining for Amazon: It sells e-books that can be read on many kinds of devices, including the iPad and other Apple gadgets. That means the Kindle could fade and Amazon could still occupy a profitable perch in e-books.

However, Apple could find ways to tilt the field in its favor. At least for now, both the Apple iBookstore and the Kindle service will be accessible in much the same way on the iPad — as “application” icons that users can click. Eventually Apple could give its own bookstore and reading program more attention on the iPad.

Apple also could try to curry favor with publishers in a way that matters to consumers, perhaps by securing exclusive titles.

Publishers’ relationships with Amazon have been strained by Amazon’s insistence on charging $9.99 for some popular e-books. Publishers have complained that it is an attempt to get consumers used to unsustainably low prices. Amazon takes a loss on some books at that price, and the publishers fear that if the $9.99 tag sticks, Amazon will force publishers to lower their wholesale prices, cutting into their profits.

The Apple iPad gives publishers an opportunity for a new pricing model. Some e-books will cost up to $14.99 initially, and Apple is insisting that publishers can’t sell books at a lower price through a competitor. The iBookstore is launching with titles from major publishers such as Penguin, Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, Hachette Book Group and Macmillan. One big publisher, Random House, has not yet struck a deal with Apple.

Amazon declined to comment on the iPad’s release.

Although Amazon has tried to snag as much of the e-book market as possible since launching the Kindle in 2007, the company has never revealed how many Kindles it has sold. Analysts estimate it has sold 3 million. (Analysts believe Apple could sell that many iPads in the product’s first year). Amazon has offered only sketches of the Kindle’s effect on its business, such as by saying that when books are sold in both hard copy and the Kindle format, it sells 48 Kindle books for every 100 hard copies.

Compared to the Kindle, the iPad would seem to have some disadvantages. The entry-level model is nearly twice the price of the Kindle, yet it can’t download books everywhere. It can do that only where it is connected to the Internet over Wi-Fi. At 1½ pounds, it is more than twice as heavy as a Kindle. And its battery lasts for just 10 hours, compared with up to a week on a Kindle when it has its wireless access on.

However, among the elements in the iPad’s favor is a touch screen that is 9.7 inches diagonally, compared with 6 inches on the Kindle. Ron Skinner, 70, who lives in Las Vegas and bought a Kindle last February, says he has ordered Apple’s product because he thinks it will offer a better reading experience.

Skinner, an Apple investor who reads about three books a week, says the contrast between the text and the background is too low on the Kindle’s “e-ink” screen, and reading on it bothers his eyes. The difference between the Kindle screen and the iPad screen “is like daylight and dark,” Skinner says.

Tim Bajarin, an analyst with Creative Strategies Inc., says the iPad signals the start of a larger shift away from static digital versions of books and magazines. Eventually e-books will be expected to have multimedia dimensions, with video and interactive elements, he says, which calls for something more like Apple’s tablet device than something that is largely dedicated to reading.

The main question then would be whether Amazon wants to try to soup up the Kindle to be more like a tablet, or whether it will remain content to offer something more specialized. Consider that the Kindle also can surf the Web, but it’s not a feature that’s highlighted or encouraged much.

Amazon stock has risen about 11 percent since Apple unveiled the iPad in January, while Apple shares have climbed 13 percent. But it’s possible that investors haven’t seen many risks yet for Amazon because it’s not yet clear how people will see the iPad.

People might not want it as an alternative to the Kindle and a laptop, says James McQuivey, a Forrester analyst. Instead, he says, they might see the iPad mainly as a big iPod, leaving room for other kinds of devices. And the hype surrounding the iPad may help Kindle sales with consumers who want a less expensive digital reading experience.

“The iPad will bring all kinds of consumer benefits that the Kindle can’t even pretend to attempt,” McQuivey says, “but at the same time the Kindle solves a very focused consumer need in a way the iPad can’t do well.”

Here is the breakdown:

Kindle:

— Lower price. ($259)

— Light weight. (10.2 ounces. The iPad is 1.5 pounds.)

— Can wirelessly download books any time, anywhere from Amazon’s Kindle Store without a monthly fee. The $499, entry-level iPad goes online only in Wi-Fi hot spots. Wireless connectivity anywhere requires an iPad that is $629 and up, plus a monthly service fee.

— Gray-scale “e-ink” screen that can be read in direct sunlight.

— Battery lasts up to a week with wireless connection on, or two weeks with it off.

iPad:

— LCD color touch screen is 9.7 inches diagonally, compared with 6 inches on the Kindle. That can give a more complete Web-surfing experience.

— It also functions as an iPod and video player.

— It can download music and videos from Apple’s iTunes Store and games and applications from its App Store — including e-reading apps from Apple and other companies, such as Amazon.

Want the best of both worlds? Then download the Amazon Kindle app for the Apple iPad. Yup, you can have your cake and eat it too! So where is the Barnes & Noble Nook in all of this? Well, we pitted the Amazon Kindle against the Nook, and well, the Nook just didn’t fair too well – so it’s out of the equation. After we finish our Apple iPad review, we will come back and update this article with more detailed testing results.