On June 8, Apple introduced the iPhone 3GS at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2009.

Apple highlights this version of the iPhone to be the fastest and the most powerful iPhone to date. The iPhone 3GS has a new processor built-in, which makes it two times faster than the previous generation.

It also has new three megapixels camera, that supports auto focus, auto exposure, and auto white balance, special macro and low light modes which makes iPhone photography ideal at anytime and anyplace.

iPhone 3G S will be able to record video at 30 frames per second with on-device editing capability. Other features include the iPhone 3G S now water and oil-resistant, has integrated magnetic compass, and voice control.

One of the most important new improvements with iPhone 3G S is the increased battery life. Users will now enjoy up to 12 hours of talk time on 2G and 5 hours on 3G, with up to 300 hours standby time.

The new iPhone 3GS will hit shelves on June 19 with a price of $199 for the 16GB version and $299 for the 32GB version. Ineligible upgraders will need to shell out at least $399 to get the new iPhone 3GS version.
Apple has lowered the price of iPhone 3G to $99.

The company also announced the release of iPhone 3.0 OS on June 17. With the new OS iPhone users
will enjoy new services such as Find My iPhone which tracks down your phone if it gets lost,
the ability to rent or purchase movies and audiobooks, new version of Safari browser,
tethering and many more.

NEW MACBOOK BRO: CHEAPER AND FASTER
Reported by Richard Crake

Hello this is Richard, Tech Correspondent, from Cumbria, in the UK. I’m here to talk to you about the new Macbook that Apple released and the WWDC conference this year. They bumped up the white Macbook. They entirely refreshed the entire Macbook line. The white Macbook is now the only Macbook as the 13 inch aluminum Macbook it is now newly dubbed the Macbook Pro, as they’ve now added a Firewire 800 port, an SD Card reader and the name "Pro."

The 15-inch Macbook Pro also got an SD card reader. The 17-inch Macbook Pro still remains with the Express 34 slot. And all the Macbook Pros had a few if not major updates to its specs.

MacBook Air has had a huge price drop as solid state drives fall at affordable price.

Go check them out at Apple.com or Apple UK, depending on where you are in the world.
This is Ric, we’re the Tech Conclave, and thank you.

SNOW LEOPARD TO BE RELEASED IN SEPTEMBER
Reported by John Raul Joven II

Apple has announced at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) that Snow Leopard, Apple’s next major operating system update, will be released in September this year.

It will cost only $29 dollars for current Leopard users and $49 dollars for a family pack.

Snow Leopard’s general system requirements include:

• a Mac computer with an Intel processor,
• 1 GB of memory
• 5 GB of free disk space
• DVD drive for installation and
• Internet connection for some features.

For those of you who want to upgrade to Snow Leopard, the benefits are:

• support for Microsoft Exchange 2007
• smaller hard drive and RAM footprint which means faster installation
• support for up to 16 Terabytes of RAM
• Grand Central Dispatch
• QuickTime X
• Open Computer Language (Open CL)
• various user interface improvements and many more

HIGHLIGHTS OF E3 2009
Reported by Demitri Aleksejev

The disappointment of the E3 Expo last year left fans and fellow gamers doubting the event this year, but the "buzz" around the event and the leaked information brought hope back into peoples hearts that this year E3 is going to be a success and much more going for it.

The speculation and the rumors that surrounded this event didn’t disappoint, game developers announced a large selection of games coming out closer to December as well as some new gadgets for the consoles themselves, which are hopefully going to enhance the games and the gaming experience furthermore.

Starting with Nintendo’s news, who announced a couple of exclusive games for themselves leaving fans excited as Super Mario Bros was announced, the classic Mario game, but with a 3D aspect to it, leaving the characters looking better then they have ever done before. Also announcing a second installment of Super Mario Galaxy, giving players’ new missions, tasks and goals as well as a promise of some fan favorites and power-ups as well as a first time ever chance to play as Yoshi within the game.

Nintendo also leading on from announcing Motion Plus not so long ago to Wii Fit Plus, giving the player much more controller over the objects and characters within the game, furthermore increasing the excitement of physical gaming which the Wii has started with Motion Controllers and Wii Fit.

Microsoft also made fairly thrilling announcements, with not only announcing the franchise returns of their best selling games such as Halo, coming out with an announcement for Halo ODST and a new Halo game called Halo Reach and Metroid fans will not be disappointed with the new Metroid, Metroid Other M announcement, bringing back what Metroid was so well know for. An announcement that some PlayStation fanboys didn’t take to heart was that Metal Gear Solid Rising was announced for the Xbox 360, as well as Crackdown 2.

But the most exciting announcement by Microsoft was the new controller system that they hope to release in the near future code named Project Natal, basically allowing the person playing the game to be the controller, without wearing any suit or hold controllers, simply standing in front of a camera and their movement being detected by a special camera, adding the cherry to the cake, it recognizes multiple people as individuals allowing multiplier gaming.

Sony, being the final keynote of the event came out with some great exclusives in the game market, announcing Gran Turismo 5 (not the prologue) continuing the much appreciated racing simulator franchise exclusive to the PlayStation. Also announcing a new game from Team Ico’s, who are responsible for such gaming marvels as Ico and Shadow of Colossus, came out with The Last Guardian, a similar style game as the previous two. Sony also gave a first public look of God of War 3 predicted to be out March 2010.
Sony also announced the much awaited PSP 2, or otherwise known as the PSP Go, which is not going to be a new range of consoles, but in fact be a redesign and improvement over the current PSP’s and will not contain a UMB drive, but will be based around downloadable content, leaving the question off, what to do with the already bought games?

Sony also following the crowd announced a new controller for the PlayStation 3, being based around the principle of Nintendo’s Motion Plus, using the PlayStation’s EyeToy to detect the players movements, who will also be holding a ???wand??? controller, giving the player pin point accurate controllers over the objects in the game, and was demonstrated in real time during the keynote.

Of course not over seeing some of the other games that were announced during the event, like Assassins Creed 2 from Ubisoft, the sequel of the much loved first game, being based on the same concept of an assassin, but changing the scenery and time period.

Alan Wake was also announced a new game to the market made by Remedy Entertainment, the people that brought us Max Payne, which will brought to Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. 

Overall the event left people excited to say the least, about the upcoming developments in the gaming world, and personally, I can’t wait to try out some of the new control systems and games.

It was slightly disappointing that none of the manufacturers announced a price cut in the consoles and Sony didn’t say anything about the speculated PlayStation 3 Slimline.

GEEK OF THE WEEK: MICHAEL BOWIE
Reported by Gerardo Velasco

  Our geek of the week for episode 7 is Michael Bowie from Brisbane, Australia.

Gerardo: Who is Michael Bowie offline and online?
Michael: Ok, offline, uh, I work as an IT consultant, and I also do some part time work as like a pizza delivery boy. It lets me listen to my music and just relax. And online, I am also known as the roundup I do a lot of YouTube videos, and kinda review local bands and music. I’m getting into music, I’m actually, uh, first studying the band now and set up a MySpace for them, they’re called Blister Beetle. If you go to MySpace.com/BlisterBeetleBand, you can find us. We’re also on Facebook.

Gerardo: What do you think of Tech Conclave tech news show and what do you want to say to our viewers?
Michael: I just wanted to say to everyone. Uh, it’s been really cool talking to you on the forum so people that watched this show definitely signup and there’s a lot of activity and actual different kind of subjects that I haven’t normally seen on most other tech forums. So check it out, and I hope that I see you on there I’m known as theroundup. You can follow me on Twitter. You can also follow our band on Twitter as well it is blister_beetle.

Gerardo: Thanks, Michael.

To all Tech Conclave viewers, I’d like to inform you that I will try to make Tech Conclave a weekly show and that will start next episode, episode 8, which is expected to be released next week.

And just in case you haven’t figured it out, we have new microphone sponsored by Brad of TechWebcast.info. He is from Melbourne, Australia. And here, the microphone is Behringer C-1U. At least now I’m not wearing my headphone around my neck anymore.

If you have questions, suggestions or comments about this episode, email me at techconclave (at) gmail (dot) com.or chat with me live  through our live chat page in our website at www.techconclave.com

Thank you very much for watching this episode. Please subscribe and support Tech Conclave. And always remember, it’s good to be a geek.

YouTube Honors:

Within 24 hours after this episode becomes viewable at YouTube, it gained the following honors:

#45 – Most Discussed (Today) – Science & Technology
#43 – Most Viewed (Today) – Science & Technology – Australia
#36 – Most Viewed (Today) – Science & Technology – Ireland
#36 – Top Favorited (Today) – Science & Technology

No related posts.

In Episode 3 we reported that Microsoft released three ads dubbed as "Laptop Hunters" advocating PC laptops over Apple’s Mac. Just a week after that Microsoft released another ad featuring a woman named Shiela who finds her perfect laptop for moviemaking. She got a widescreen HP HDX 16t from her $2000 budget.

Realizing the power to persuade of those Microsoft ads, Apple counterattacked by releasing their own ads on Apple website called "Get a Mac." The Get a Mac ads mocked all the ads from Microsoft. Here’s one of the most interesting ads from Apple with the title "Elimination."

On related note, Apple released an update to Mac OSX 10.5.7. The update brought a handful of improvements and security fixes as well as criticisms from Mac community after a significant number of Mac users had problems before and after installing the update.

AMAZON’S KINDLE DX TO REKINDLE PRINT MEDIA
Reported by Gerardo Velasco

Amazon’s upcoming Kindle DX already have some users pre-ordering for the new version.

Compared to its predecessor, the new Kindle DX boasts increased storage to hold approximately 3,500 books digitally. It also features a wider 9.7 inch screen compared to the 6 inch screen of Kindle 2, and 3G wireless network. Most importantly, Kindle DX now fully supports PDF format which should resolve the problem the earlier Kindle version that users need to convert the file before you could use read the PDF.

According to Jess Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, PDF documents will definitely look beautiful on Kindle DX and users will never have to pan, to zoom, or to scroll when they read the documents. If users want to go to widescreen mode, they just rotate the device.

While Kindle DX is a very impressive product and has had many upgrades since the last version, Kindle 2, many users are upset with the fact that Amazon would not exchange their product for the new improved version of Kindle. Some who have been lucky and ordered it within the 30-day return policy from Amazon, have been returning the old version, Kindle 2, and pre-ordering for the new enhanced version, Kindle DX, while others who have bought the Kindle 2 months ago, have had no luck but to stay with their Kindle 2 system.

Kindle DX will in fact, change the way we work and learn, since its main focus is in the education section. Newspaper companies are also hopeful that the Kindle DX will "rekindle" and save the dying world of print media, save paper and also help out the environment.

Kindle DX is priced at $489 and will be available this summer.

MICROSOFT CONFIRMS RELEASE OF WINDOWS 7, VISTA SP2 IN 2009
Reported by John Raul Joven II

After the successful release of Windows 7 Release Candidate version, Microsoft finally confirmed that Windows 7 is scheduled to be available on the shelves later this year.

Microsoft confirmed that during the TechEd North America 2009. However, the tech community is rather bit worried about this announcement as Microsoft have consistently said that Windows 7 would be a 2010 product and that a release this year could be a premature move.

However, despite rumblings, Microsoft said that it’s confident that the Windows 7 ecosystem is already good to go. It also promised over 10,000 Windows-friendly products making the new operating system free from glitches that were experienced in Vista.

Meanwhile, Windows Vista Service Pack 2 has recently gone gold and it is expected to be released within the next few weeks.

The key benefits of Windows Vista SP2 include:

• Windows Search 4.0 for faster and improved search results
• Bluetooth 2.1 Feature Pack
• Native support of Blu-ray media in Windows Vista
• Windows Connect Now to simplify Wi-Fi configuration and
• an update for exFAT file system to support UTC timestamps

REDISCOVER MINORU: WORLD’S FIRST 3D CAMERA
Reported by Tom Maxwell

Hi, everyone. Tom Maxwell here from Tech Conclave. And today, I’m gonna tell you about the Minoru 3D webcam.

What the Minoru webcam is a normal webcam is that there are with two cameras, instead of the one, and they are separated as about the same distance as the human eye to enable 3D effect. What this enables you to do is to have fun, 3D chats with your friends. And in theory, you’ll be coming out from the computer screen.

There are few downsides with the MInoru 3D webcam. One of which is this rather dorky 3D glasses. It is unfortunate you have to wear to see the other person in 3D.

Reports also said it does take a long time to correctly calibrate the two cameras to work well in the 3D effect. And to be honest, I think the look is just a bit childish with this thought that it’s a serious consumer product.

But on the other side, the Minoru 3D webcam is much cheaper than professional 3D cameras out there. So if you just want to have a slightly more realistic webcam experience, I’d recommend you get it.

TECH CONCLAVE FIRST CONTEST: HIGH FIVE AT EPISODE 5
Reported by John Raul Joven II

I’m pleased to announce to you that Tech Conclave will run our very first contest called "HIGH FIVE AT EPISODE 5." The contest is co-organized by the nice folks at Top Hosting Center who gave us a chance to select five lucky winners to enjoy their Speedy hosting plan for 12 months as well as a free domain name for 12 months.

So let’s inspect the prizes:

THC’s Speedy hosting plan is a professional shared web hosting plan that features:1000 mbps connection speed, 250 GB disk space storage, an unlimited monthly bandwidth, lets you host unlimited number of domain names, and  comes with lots of lots of professional features.

Here are the few things what you need to do to get a chance to win:

1. Register at Tech Conclave Community Forum.
2. Make a post about yourself at Introduce Yourself section in the forum.
3. Follow Tech Conclave’s official Twitter account: @techconclave

You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/techconclave

If you plan to start a website or a blog or anything web-related, you’ve got a better chance on winning this one. Plus, we at Tech Conclave will help you setup your site like if you want to install WordPress or anything.

On May 25th I will pick using a random number generator five winners of the  contest and the chosen winners will have 5 days to validate their winnings after I contact them. I will be announcing the winners next episode.

If you have questions, suggestions or comments let me know by sending an email to techconclave (at) gmail (dot) com.

Do you like Tech Conclave?

Well if you do, support Tech Conclave by visiting our website at www.techconclave.com. You can donate at least $1 if you want to support this show and there are many other options to help Tech Conclave. Just visit the Support page in our website.

Thank you for watching this episode, signup as a Tech Conclave member and get a chance to win
a web hosting plan with domain name, and always remember, it’s good to be a geek.

No related posts.