The 45-nanometer-process , dual-core powerhouse has all the bells and whistles needed to mount an aggressive push into this very competitive market. There’s 1080p high-definition video playback at 30 frames per second, a GPS baseband processor to support location-based services, and an onboard triple display controller. That’s right. Triple displays are possible. Think of two displays on a clamshell device like the still-born Microsoft Courier design? And then, at the SAME time, add video to an external display or HDTV!

“Consumers are demanding the full Web experience without compromise while on the go. Given this trend, mobile device designers need an application processor platform that delivers superb multimedia performance, fast CPU processing speed, and abundant memory bandwidth.”
said Dojun Rhee, Samsung Electronics System LSI Division VP. Orion will be available to select customers in late 2010 and will go into mass production during the first half of 2011.

Another tasty titbit to chew on. Since we know that the Apple A4 chip is based on the ARM Cortex A8 reference design, AND we know that Apple and Samsung dance closely, because Samsung makes the A4 (Apple owns the design company, but no foundry), AND we know that the A4 has leaned heavily on Samsung know-how for it’s success, then the question asks itself. Is there an Apple A5 processor, based on the Orion design, about to leap forth and turbocharge the next iPad?

But. Samsung appears to be taking the feedback to heart, and in a planned event on 2nd September, one day after Apple’s event, and a day before the IFA trade show in Berlin, Germany, will demonstrate it’s Galaxy Tab, a 7-inch tablet computer, powered by an in-house Samsung-developed processor, and fueled by Google’s Android 2.2 operating system.

We know that NetBook sales in Europe have taken a big drop, and it seems like Samsung is heading down the tablet PC trail to try to pick up the slack. Sources claim the company is expected to ship 100,000 tablet PCs per month initially.

The current dimensions of the rumor are: An iPhone 4 hardware-based (A4 CPU, 16GB of flash storage) device, running an incarnation of Apple’s iOS software, with applications in the iPhone/iPad metaphor, and (in the time-honoured Apple tradition) tied into an iTunes-type service, so that users can stream/rent/buy movies and other content. Named? The iTV.

Sounds good? Yes, except… The ugly downside of rumors, is that they’re just that. Rumors, and as such, all kinds of unkind folks are free to add their speculation to the pile. And that’s whats happening with this one. APPARENTLY the A4 processor can’t quite handle 1080p or 1080i playback. And so, the iTV will be limited to 720p HD output. Really? Not sure whether to take this part of the rumor seriously, though. After all, even the iPhone 3GS can play back full HD video, no?

And, what’s with that name? We’ve been round this bush once before. When the Apple TV was originally announced, it was called iTV. It didn’t take long for that tiny little British TV network to cough politely and say, “I say, old chap…”, and I can’t belive they’d just turn a blind eye this time. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see…

Backed up by HP’s filing for the “PalmPad” trademark in July, there seems to be flesh on the speculation bones. Truth be told, we’re pretty much drooling in anticipation. The prospect of a three-way tussle between iOS4, Android and WebOS (four, if you’re generous, and allow Windows 7 to play with), for the attention of those whipped into a new-paradigm frenzy by the iPad, is keeping us awake at night!

Somebody please! Ship something already!

So, what’s the new stuff? Is there a hint of the direction that Amazon wants/intends the e-reader market to go? We think the key feature may not be hardware at all, but price. The new devices are considerably cheaper, at $139 for the Wi-Fi-only model, and $189 for the 3G model. Speaking in a related interview, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said:
“We developed this device for serious readers. At these price points, it may be much broader than that. People will buy them for their kids. People won’t share Kindles any more.”
Just a guess Jeff, but that may appear to be steering away from the higher-end iPad territory, into safer waters?

Hardware-wise, what do you get in the new package? From the press release:

“Kindle’s revolutionary wireless delivery and massive selection of content-now in a 21 percent smaller and 15 percent lighter design, with 50 percent better contrast, 20 percent faster page turns, up to one month of battery life, double the storage…”

And, there are even more interesting, “hidden” features. There’s a second English dictionary, a PDF contrast adjustment and… a microphone. Now the User Guide DOES say, “The microphone is not currently enabled, but is provided for future use.” I’m guessing it’ll take the hacker community, all of about , oh say, 10 sec? to be all over that. Skype over free 3G, anyone?

I’ve never really WANTED an e-reader, but this smaller device? Hmmmm…

From the Apple website: Magic Trackpad is just like the trackpad on the MacBook Pro, but bigger. It’s made with the same advanced touch-friendly and wear-resistant glass surface. But with nearly 80 percent more area, it’s the largest Multi-Touch trackpad made by Apple. So there’s even more room for you to scroll, swipe, pinch, and rotate to your fingers’ content. And since the entire surface is a button that clicks, you can use it in place of a mouse. Hmmm…And then, snipes like this started to emerge:

It’s happening.
Apple is, in the way that Apple does, changing yet another aspect of how we experience computers and computing. My prediction: A year from now, with the majority of our desktop computer interaction happening through touch gestures, we’ll look back and see this, as the moment when we changed course. The combination of the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad will see to that, I’m certain.

MG Siegler (@parislemon), over at Techcrunch, agrees: “The mouse may be destined to become a precision tool that professions such as designers use. History may prove that this Magic Trackpad was the final mouse trap that signaled this end.”

Indeed.

Processors. The iMac line has been standardised around Intel’s 32-nanometer process technology. Starting at the i3, models run up to the quad-core i5 and i7 CPU’s in the 27-inch iMac. The processors feature an integrated memory controller to access the system memory directly, allowing the new iMac to take full advantage of its faster 1333 MHz memory.

Graphics. The choices of nVidia or ATI GPU’s seem to have vanished, in their wake? Discrete (meaning the graphics processor is separate from the CPU) ATI Radeon HD processors. The 21-5-inch models get a choice of either the 4670 with 256MB of dedicated memory or the 5670 with 512MB of memory. If you’re getting a 27-incher, you can also choose the 5670 with 512MB of memory, or the 5750 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory. That’s a lot of GPU horse-power.

Hard Drives. Drive space is up to the 500GB-2TB range on the smaller iMac, and 1TB-2TB on the larger. Customers buying the 27-inch iMac also have the option to order a 256GB solid state drive (SSD) as a primary or secondary drive. The iMac SSD supports up to 215 MB/s data transfer rates for faster startup and application launch times.

“We took the world’s best all-in-one and made it even better,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With the latest processors, high-performance graphics and signature aluminum and glass design, customers are going to love the latest iMac.”

The UMPC space has had more than it’s fair share of forgettables, but this is a very, very cool device, make no mistake. The dual 7-inch capacitive touch-screens have 1024 x 600 resolution, and a full, haptic-feedback enabled keyboard is available on the lower screen. Being software, keyboard layouts are customisable, and Toshiba has taken advantage of this to provide SIX keyboard layouts, including a split option which the SMS thumb-warriors will just LOVE. The machine runs on a 1.2GHz Intel Pentium U5400 ULV processor, 2GB of RAM, a 64GB SSD and Windows 7 Home Premium. Communications-wise, there’s a USB port, an SD card reader, an audio-out socket, Bluetooth 5 and 802.11n Wi-Fi.

So, it’s as cool as chugging a Castle under the Oaks at Newlands, while the Proteas dish out pain to the Poms, but what’s the Libretto good for? Well, the Windows 7 operating system means that the full version of Microsoft Office can be used, which will please executives, and the dual screens mean that you can browse the web in one, and check mail in the other! Multi-tasking, satisfied.

Inside the unibody aluminium bodywork, there’s a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo CPU, 2GB of RAM (user-expandable to 8GB, thanks to a removable panel at the bottom of the enclosure), and a 320GB hard drive. HDMI-out (yay!) as well as an SD card reader, n-spec wi-fi, a Mini DisplayPort jack, and an NVIDIA GeForce 320M chipset display processor. Apple says:
With 48 processing cores, the NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor delivers up to twice the graphics performance of its predecessor, making Mac mini ideal for graphics intensive applications or visually rich games.
Amazingly, there’s even space in the case, for all the power circuitry, so there’s no power brick required, and as usual there’s a slot-load 8X SuperDrive, handling the DVD and CD tasks.

Hmm… Apart from being a great little desktop computer, the Mini now firmly stomps all over the Apple TV’s turf, and with Google TV announced, but not yet here (great timing btw, Apple), this may be the best home-entertainment center option for many folks.

The Canon Pixma MX870 all-in-one Printer (try say saying that 10 times quickly) is one such printer. When it says all-in-one printer, Canon really isn’t kidding. Perfect for home of business environment it supports Duplex printing which used to be a very expensive function on printers.

It also boasts Single Ink technology which makes for great photo’s for your grandmother and awesome graphs for your next presentation. It also scans at an insane resolution (I’m not going to bore you with the details) makes copied like a photocopier, Send faxes like a, um fax machine comes with a built in card reader, and can scan documents directly to a USB flash disk.

But the real kicker is that it has built in Wi-Fi. So other than the power cable, you don’t need to hook it up to a network cable, USB cable to your laptop or any of that other stuff. There is no print sharing in Windows (we all know how frustrating that can be). You can put it anywhere in your home or office, and print to it from anywhere with your laptop or even mobile phone, including the iPhone.

So if you’re in the market for a new printer, and want something that covers all the bases, is easy to use, yet delivers outstanding performance and quality, the MX870 is worth considering. You can even get the cartridges for the price of dinner at Nandos.