Just like most Apple products out there, Apple TV sprang out of nowhere and awed fans with its amazing features. It was introduced at this year's Macworld Expo in San Fran and Steve Jobs himself was the one who introduced it to the public. However, some say that a Mac Mini, an ordinary TV set, and a sprinkle of wits could also perform the same exact magic of Apple TV without the rather steep price.

Anyway, some of you might still not be familiar with Apple TV, so we hosted this interface walkthrough video from Engadget. The video is quite informative and educational, so to speak, going through Apple's wireless media streamer that includes playing back movies, trailers, and music, and watching photos. There are also some lessons on how to tweak the setup and options menu.

Apple TV began shipping a couple of days ago, March 20 to be exact, with a price tag of US$ 299.

 

There are some who believe that the Mac OS X Leopard will be released some time around May. How do they come up with this predicted release date? These are some hints:

• At WWDC 2006 (August 2006) Steve Jobs announced a "Spring 2007" Leopard release
• Apple executives continue to highlight a "Spring 2007" release
• The latest Leopard Build (9A377a) was released to Apple Developer Connection members on March 4, 2007 - buzz in the Apple community is that the release is far from stable and not ready for release
• Steve Jobs's WWDC speech indicated Leopard had several "Top Secret Features" that could not be announced until a later date
• Macworld 2007 (January 2007) didn't disclose any "Top Secret Features"
• No details of any top secret features have emerged since then
• Mac OS X 10.4.9 Tiger has been released

Aside from these, some other factors that say that Leopard will be released in May: Spring begins March 21, and Summer begins June 21. In short, Leopard will be released between these two dates, given the "Spring release". The release dates of Leopard books also happen around May and June.

And lastly, iPhone will be released at the WWDC 2007. The darling of Apple products deserves a strategic release date, and many think that the release of Leopard will not coincide with the release of the iPhone.

SnoopTunes Noestring Attached has been around for some time but is only catching on now. In case you are not so familiar with this gadget, it is an addon device for the iPod which gives the unit wireless sharing capabilities. We're not so keen on adding this bit but, yeah, it's pretty much like the Zune's own wireless music sharing feature.

The gadget was designed by a brilliant 16-year old kid named Kristyn Heath. We wonder now what does Steve jobs, or the rest of the Apple company for that matter, thinks about Heath and her creation.

Anyway, the gadget itself weighs around 10g and it measures 79 mm X 25 mm X 25 mm. There are five available channels as of now and a total number of two channel memories. It is powered by an AAA battery.
If you want to know more about the product, there's a video capture below of SnoopTunes Noestring Attached as recently featured by NBC. The gadget can be purchased over at eBay for US$ 59.99.

Here's another new chapter to add to the Steve Jobs/DRM saga. According to the E-Commerce Times, a branch of the Free Software Foundation known as DefectiveByDesign launched an online petition last week urging Apple CEO Steve Jobs to set an example by removing DRM protection from iTunes.

The petition was filed in response to Jobs' February open letter on the abolition of DRM and reads, "You can set the ethical example and be the first 'major' to drop DRM. You can set the example in the region of video and movies. You have the direct power to do this." It reached its original goal of one thousand signatures about five hours after going live.

DefectiveByDesign plans to keep the petition open until April 1. It will then be sent to Jobs along with a jester hat.

The iPhone has been generating so much hype over the past few months. Six months before its release, it was announced along with its features. Now this led to some people criticizing this move as a bit rash. They have also been questioning the features, or lack thereof of the iPhone. In the Sys-Security Group, an article stated certain problems that would be inherent to the phone.

"The lack of voice dialing, 3G Internet access, Word or Excel support, the fact it canÂ?t be used as a laptop modem, no support for removable memory, no 3rd party applications, and mostly that its calendar, task, and e-mail will not sync with Microsoft outlook."

Lack of Voice Dialing. Some have questioned the lack of voice dialling in the new iPhone.  Voice Dialing adds a great deal of simplicity to frequently called numbers. To use it, just simply say the name of the person you want to call and the phone will dial it automatically for you.

Lack of 3G Internet Access. 3G, or third generation technology, is often associated with the ability to transfer voice data and non-voice data simultaneously. 3G service allows telephone calls with streaming video (video telephony) and the ability to download files such as music.

No Word or Excel support. This basically means you will not be able to open files with the extensions .doc (Microsoft Word Documents or .xls (Microsoft Excel).

iPhone cannot be used as a laptop modem. Certain smartphones allow you to use it as a modem to connect to the internet. This is an additional service that the user will have to pay for. The advantage though is that the user will never have to look for a hotspot, since you will be able to connect to the internet.

No support for removable memory. Smartphones often have memory slots where memory cards or memory sticks can be inserted to further increase the storage of the phone.

No 3rd party applications. This means that the phone will not support software developed by other companies to increase the functions of the phone.

Calendar, task, and e-mail will not sync with Microsoft outlook. This problem has been addressed by Steve Jobs in his Keynote speech in MacWorld.

If the iPhone comes out, we're sure it will find a niche to fill, although the businessmen and women along with those who have a need for customization might think they're better off with other mobile phones or PDAs that have the mentioned features that the iPhone lacks.

When the biggest names in the tech world showed off their latest gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Steve Jobs decided to grab a share of the attention by showing off the iPhone in San Francisco. He did get his share all right, a free publicity share worth US$ 400 million. Says a business expert, "No other company has ever received that kind of attention for a product launch."

How does the "best marketing CEO in the business" do it anyway? Here are the notes that we found on Apple's marketing manual. Everyone should take on Apple's cue and make big bucks like the computer giant does.

1. Make innovative products. It may be simple, but it brings Apple to the spotlight.
2. Keep it simple. Having too many options confuse people.
3. Create truly memorable ads. No need for extensive advertising.
4. Find an enemy. This will keep you improving.
5. Work the taste makers. Be very PR-centric.
6. Offer surprises. It's all about mystery keeping the love alive.
7. Put on a show. Publicity is the rule of the thumb.

Check out some memorable Apple moments below.

More images await after the jump!

Since the software update of Quicktime and the accompanying Apple media suite, iTunes received AppleTV support for Internet streamed television. It came with fixes to security issues, too, plus new upgrades to features that makes navigating through music, shows and movies a piece of cake.

But what struck many iTunes users odd was that particular AppleTV ratings preference that included Australia and New Zealand. So does that mean that Kiwi and Ozzy TV shows could be legally downloaded off the Net? Given Steve Jobs' reputation and antics, it's difficult to predict what Apple has planned for iTunes this time.

But a big question looms over which channel they're going to get the shows from. Word around the Net is that ABC's Channel 9 is a big bet. We think it's highly unlikely, as some forums claimed that a particular TV service from nineMSN (Channel 9), Catch-up TV, is closing down and will be replaced by something else. While this should be supportive of the rumor, let's get real for a moment: Microsoft is willing to have their service replaced by one from Apple? Riiiighhht.

Apple is known for revolutionizing our lives. The iPod alone has deeply rooted itself into cultures internationally. The more recent iPhone has also generated a lot of attention as well. Now, here comes Apple's latest product: a product-unveiling product, the iLaunch.

Now how is this revolutionary? As The Onion (*hint-hint*) reports, Steve Jobs introduced the iLaunch at a media event in San Francisco, and as the device was revealed to the audience, Jobs said:

Get ready for the future of product introduction. The iLaunch will be able to make announcements from this, or any other stage, making human participation in generating consumer awareness almost entirely unnecessary... CEOs have devoted their valuable time to strutting around on stage and breathlessly describing the features of their new products... Apple's goal within the next 12 months is to make me totally obsolete.

Powerful statements, yeah? The device, powered by Intel dual-core processors, runs Keynote-formatted presentations in high-definition through a projector, and, at the same time, displaying a rotating 3D image of the product. The iLaunch can also recite speeches via voice-recognition software built into the device. An AI is even incorporated into the system so much so that, when a glitch occurs during the presentation, it will generate humorous remarks to egg on the audience.

What's surprising: the whole presentation of Steve Jobs was produced by the iLaunch.

What isn't surprising: Microsoft just announced a similar product, the Launch-O, scheduled for 2009.

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Update: Apparently this bit of "news" has caused quite a stir at Digg (from 10 to 1000 Diggs in just a few hours). Do know that this story came from The Onion, and from that alone, most of you internet-savvy folks would know how... how shall we say it... satirical they are. So, just to make things clear, consider this as a pre-April Fool's piece. It's been fun while it lasted. To the guys up at The Onion, a warm round of applause for spread yet another great meme.

The iPhone had already been announced and revealed during Steve Jobs' MacWorld keynote. To put it mildly, things have been picking up for Apple since then. But what more of it? ActionCorp has posted an interesting video that compiles four features that we may have missed during that keynote address.

As mentioned in the clip, these aren't anything groundbreaking, but they're still interesting to take note of. The simple fact that Jobs merely mentioned these in passing might pique your interests and make you hopeful that there probably really is something more to this:

• Calendar application - viewable by year, day, and month + buttons for notes and adding events
  
• Google maps - no interface for traffic and directions shown, but there are buttons that could possibly show this
  
• Letter scrolling - on top of finger flicking/scrolling, you can also simply click on said letter to jump on
  
• Ringtones - default ringtone heard + ringtones sold on iTunes

The video pretty much explains everything and gives sound basis for their speculations and expectations of the final specs for the iPhone. Check out the vid below:

Although Apple and Cisco temporarily settled their dispute over the name "iPhone", industry analysts warned that this does not mean Apple will suddenly open up its more profitable technologies, in particular, iTunes.

Instead, the more likely scenario is that Cisco and Apple could partner in the near-term or lower profile projects that could include integrating Cisco's Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP technology into Apple's iPhones.

Market researcher IDC senior analyst Danielle Levitas said she doesn't expect Apple to open up iTunes any time soon. Associated Press quotes her saying that Apple partnering with Cisco is more about Apple preparing to tackle the "connected-home" market where digital entertainment is delivered through a variety of devices.

Eventually, Levitas said that Apple would open up, and Cisco would be the first to benefit, but this would not happen in the next 12-18 months.

It must be remembered that earlier this month, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs urged the world's major music companies to abolish DRM that were preventing Apple from selling music that would play on any device. One analyst said that Cisco could use  the iPhone name as a negotiating tool to have Apple open up to the idea of cooperation with other companies.