The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

The rumor mill is heating up this weekend in advance of Tuesday's press event, and one left-field rumor is coming from a familiar, yet unlikely source: Weblogs Inc./Mahalo founder and TUAW godfather Jason Calacanis, who dropped a mild bombshell in an interview with a CNET.uk blogger on Friday (yo, JC, where's the love?): Apple is developing HDTVs that will support streamed content from iTunes, says Calacanis, integrating the Apple TV functionality along with the display and tuner.

I would file this one under "signs unclear, ask again later" -- while Apple clearly has both the display and playback engineering already done (Cleve @ 9to5Mac suggests that "[t]echnologically speaking, Apple could probably put together [this] product in a three day weekend") it's not clear that a single-box product is that much more compelling than an Apple TV with a cheap HDTV. Then again, the magic of Apple integration could make the whole a stronger sell than the sum of its parts.

Word from London, meanwhile, reported via Edible Apple: star rumormonger and Digg founder Kevin Rose announced his expectation that the next round of MacBook laptops will feature Blu-ray drives onboard. This one rates a "probable" and certainly would be a great value differentiator for the new machines.

Lastly, as the NVIDIA-related reports continue, AppleInsider and PC Perspective are stating with high confidence that the new MacBooks will be the first to move away from the Intel integrated graphics chipset and onto the Nvidia MCP79 'system on a chip' platform. Intel processors will still be at the core of the laptops, but the NVIDIA chip will handle graphics, memory access and more. Interestingly, one of the purported features of the NVIDIA hardware is full Blu-ray functionality... ties in nicely with the Rose rumor above. Call it "more than likely."

[via Techmeme]

Letting a bunch of kids loose in a candy store might be a sticky mess, but letting them loose in an Apple Store should be a delightful, brushed metal and glass wonderland of fun. Right? That's the idea behind Apple's new Field Trip program for elementary, middle and high school students and their teachers.

Apple is inviting groups of up to 25 students for the hour-long programs, which can feature a big-screen presentation of work that the students have already done in class (Keynote/PowerPoint, movies & more) or hands-on creation sessions that allow the kids to make new projects in the store. Parents and friends are welcome to come watch the fun.

Session reservations are available through November 21; the 'school champion' organizing the event gets email templates to send to attendees, the option of printed invitations, and a complimentary subscription to One-to-One training for a year. Not too shabby.

[via Apple Hot News]

Making the leap from online-only to print format, MacTribe has announced that it will begin publishing a magazine version. The site, and now the dead-tree edition, will continue to feature a mix of reviews and news along with "cultural and aesthetic" items sure to appeal to the sophisticated taste of Apple fans everywhere.

We wish the MacTribe team the best of luck with their launch and look forward to seeing the results of their efforts on newsstands this month.

[via MacTech]

One of the most frequent questions we hear from readers on our Ask TUAW posts (and for our doting Aunt TUAW) is a simple one, with no simple answer: "How can I replace the synchronization features of MobileMe with a free service or a software package that doesn't cost me $99 a year?" We feel your pain.

For anyone looking to cut their cash outlay and maintain multi-Mac data sync, there are options for calendaring (BusySync, Google's CalDAV support) and some for address books (address-o-sync, or the free Google & Yahoo sync in Leopard's Address Book), and some products that handle both calendars and contacts (SpanningSync, Plaxo) -- but if you're in the mood for a free all-in-one approach, you may want to check out a promising beta service from a team of European developers: fruux.

Starting with address book sync in earlier versions, fruux has now progressed to include calendar, task and bookmark sync via Apple's built-in apps (Address Book, iCal & Safari) and a cloud service that stores the synchronized data. The system pref pane interface is no-frills and the product is definitely still a work in progress (there are prominent warnings to back up your data beforehand and frequently thereafter), so it may not suit your needs just yet -- but it's definitely one to watch. Future roadmap plans include an iPhone client and a web interface to your PIM data.

Thanks Dominik, Hagen & everyone who sent this in.

There are a lot of App Store submissions and works-in-progress that trigger anticipatory drooling here at TUAW (Sling Mobile! Sling Mobile!), among them the program guide and movie finder i. TV; we first saw it a few weeks ago and I've been checking every day to see if it's shipped. Now you can download this free tool from the App Store and see for yourself what's so exciting. (The promo video on the i.tv site borrows heavily from Apple's 1984 ad and the Apple TV intro, so clearly there's an effort to brand this app as 'revolutionary.')

The heart of i. TV (App Store link) is a TV listings browser, which connects to the free data feed from the i.tv site (registration is required), including synopses and cast info. You can select your zip code and programming provider (the app currently supports US and Canadian TV listings only) and the current schedules are there at your fingertips; you can rate, review, filter or flag shows as favorites and optionally share your feedback with other i.TV users.

Along with the TV content, the movies section of the app lets you browse by title or by nearby theaters, and watch streamed trailers of your selected films. Trailers and previews of TV shows are also included. The UI is clean and the app is easy to navigate; I was able to find show listings quickly for several series.

As cool as the initial version of i.TV appears to be, the development directions are exponentially cooler. Future versions of the app are planned that will include remote DVR programming (ooh!), IR blaster integration (yes!), DVD rentals (ahh!), movie ticket purchases and even the ability to watch full TV shows streamed from the programming source (hmm.).

Note that there is another app with a similar name, ITV, which provides French television listings and goes for $2.99 US.

Two weeks ago, the talkcast featured me, Robert & Dave tackling caller questions in a freewheeling "Ask TUAW" hour of fun. We didn't answer them all but we certainly tried our best. Subscribe in iTunes, or use a different feed reader. (Note: We were informed that the 'itpc://'-style link to the show was causing a spontaneous iTunes launch for users on Vista with Firefox 3, so we're using a Phobos-style link now. If you've seen unexpected iTunesage when browsing pages with itpc links on them, let us know.)

After a week's break due to Talkshoe tech difficulties, we're back. Join us later tonight, Sunday October 5 at 10 pm ET for this week's show. Got dish, rumors or wishlists? Swing by and chime in.

You can join the conversation on TalkShoe by using the shiny browser-only client; you can also use the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client that we all know and love. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm tonight. You can also listen in on the Talkshoe page or call in on regular phone or VOIP lines: dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077. For those calling in without Talkshoe IDs, you can "request to talk" by dialing *8.

If this is what Russian artists Aristarkh Chernyshev & Alexei Shulgin see when they look at their iPods every day, I would suggest a medication adjustment at the earliest opportunity. The sculpture version of a giant, warped iPod is fully functional, although you'd have to be relatively immune to eyestrain and vertigo if you wanted to use it on a regular basis.

Do you have a favorite iPod or Mac-themed work of art? Drop a link in the comments or add the 'tuaw' tag to a Flickr photo and we'll check it out.

Thanks Aaron!

[via MAKEblog]

In the ongoing saga of The Brick, the site that first speculated on the blocky code name for a rumored new Apple product now says it knows the meaning of the phrase. Seth Weintraub at 9to5mac has posted that 'The Brick' refers to a new manufacturing process that will carve MacBooks out of solid blocks of aluminum, creating laptops that are structurally superior to current products. While a laser-and-waterjet manufacturing line may seem more suited to aircraft parts or sportscars, there are some advantages in a milling/CNC approach to making the laptops.

Using a solid block for the shell could avoid seams and screws, and the elimination of human hands in the assembly process would reduce cost and defects. A light, rugged MacBook would certainly be appealing... and might be the perfect laptop to appear in the Iron Man sequel. Apple's industrial designers could pull it off, and certainly the legacy of the all-magnesium NeXT Cube (see Fortune's story about the Cube's manufacturing) hasn't been forgotten by Apple's management team.

Equally interesting is the discussion of where these cored Apples would actually be made. In a Computerworld post also written by Weintraub, he speculates on a MacObserver suggestion that Apple should be investing in a domestic manufacturing plant to use this new process, which would be both a highly controversial move in an economic downturn, and an interesting use of some of the company's $20 billion cash hoard.

If the next MacBook is an all-aluminum model, is that a selling point for you? Let us know in the comments.

There are plenty of Mac tools for video compression in the marketplace, ranging from Windows Media-oriented tools (Flip4Mac) to professional workflow builders (Sorenson Squeeze) to hardware-assisted H.264 crunchers (Elgato turbo.264). Few of these products, however, have hit the sweet spot of wide-ranging capability, quality output and extremely affordable pricing like VisualHub from Techspansion. For less than $25, you got Flash and WMV output that rivaled products 3x the price, plus easy conversion to iPod and iPhone-friendly formats. Along with sister apps audio compressor AudialHub and iPod-only video converter iSquint, VisualHub was a prime example of a well-built, "Mac way" media app.

Sadly, the past tense above is no accident. Techspansion's website has been shuttered and the products have been discontinued. Tyler Loch (Techspansion's founder) let us know that the difficult decision to close down Techspansion is a personal one, and he's readjusting his priorities to focus on other needs. His choice is understandable, but we will definitely miss VisualHub (not to mention the laugh-out-loud funniest release notes in software history). Best of luck to Tyler in his future efforts.

Update: For those who are inquiring, there are no current plans to move VisualHub to open source. The underlying engine for much of the compression magic, ffmpeg, is already open-source and present in other Mac tools such as Handbrake.

Thanks Brandon

We're officially a nonpartisan bunch here at TUAW (actually, quite partisan, but only for the Mac) but the announcement of an official iPhone application from the Obama campaign is still worthy of mention. Several high-profile iPhone devs & designers were involved in the project, including formerly-of-Tapulous Mike Lee, Louie Mantia and Tristan O'Tierney. Raven Zachary led the team that included Jonathan Wight and more, all volunteering to rush the app to completion.

In addition to the obvious-but-cool features of the app (download news from the campaign, watch YouTube videos of speeches and endorsements), there is quite a bit of iPhone special sauce. Location awareness means you can see local events or find your nearest campaign office; a 'Call Friends' tool sorts your address book by priority, putting your contacts living in battleground states at the top of the list and letting you reach out to them with a single tap. Very sleek!

Even though there isn't an official McCain campaign application for the iPhone, the App Store has plenty of election-themed apps for voters of either the red or blue persuasion. However you plan to make your voice heard this year, let us give you a gentle reminder that if you're an American citizen over 18, you need to make certain that you're registered to vote.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.