I just posted a quick video of my unboxing of the Flicker Classic Case for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. The case looks really promising, full review to come soon! Check out the unboxing below:

It never occured to me that Ashton Kutcher might play a good Steve Jobs look-alike, but after looking at the picture below I’m changing my tune!  According to Variety, Mr.Kutcher will be playing Steve Jobs in an upcoming independent film.

The King of Twitter is now the King of Apple, as “Two and a Half Men” star Ashton Kutcher is attached to play Steve Jobs in the indie pic “Jobs,” which Joshua Michael Stern (“Swing Vote”) will direct from a script by Matt Whiteley.

The film will chronicle Steve Jobs from wayward hippie to co-founder of Apple, where he became one of the most revered creative entrepreneurs of our time.

Image Source: Hollywood Reporter

Of course it remains to be seen just how well he can “act” Jobs, as Kutcher usually plays comedy related roles.

Word on the street is that Apple is gearing up for the next generation of Macbook Pros by ramping up production.  Digitimes reports that production will be sped up for the 15′ models in April, with the 13′ models following in June:

As Apple will start mass producing its 15-inch MacBook Pro in April, sources from the upstream supply chain have pointed out that the company’s orders for the 13.3-inch model are far higher than those of the 15-inch, indicating that Apple is more focused on the 13.3-inch notebook segment.

Our full review is now up!  Let us know what you think – in the future we have some new video equipment on order, expect some high production value review very soon!  Check out the video below:

Folks I have it in my hands – in fact I’m typing this update from it.  The new screen is everything as billed!  We have our video review coming within the next few hours, in the mean time enjoy our unboxing video below.

Micgadget has uploaded a video showing them putting together several of the new pieces of the soon to be released iPad 3 (sans the Retina screen!).  This seems to confirmed several of the rumors, namely the tapered, albeit larger design.  Also present is an enlarged hole for the new higher resolution camera.    In the video they confirm that the iPad 2 covers will still work with the new model, and also test out several 3rd party iPad 3 cases that they’ve picked up prior to the release here in the next few weeks.

Catching up on Apple news here – the App Store has now reached over 25 BILLION downloads!  Folks, that is a whole LOT of  ’bidness.  Of course one lucky soul who ended up making the 25 billionth download is taking home a $10,000 App Store gift card (and, as well, that’s a whole ‘lotta apps for one individual!)  Apple’s app ecosystem has reached full mass – and it’s only going to accelerate more once Wednesday hits and the iPad 3 is released in all of it’s glory.  Stay tuned…..

Macotakara is reporting that the iPhone 5 will launch in the September or October 2012.  This differs from previous rumors that speculated that the next iteration og the iPhone was to be released this summer @ Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference.  I tend to agree that this will the tre launch timeframe, given that launching a new iPhone in the summer would cut the iPhone 4S lifecycle short at only 8 months long.  Several other publications are corroborating the fall launch, so all signs point to a full life cycle before we se a new iPhone 5 with possibly (read:likely) 4G LTE and a bigger screen.

A new photo of an iPad 3 logic board with an “A5X” chip (or system on a chip) has surfaced in a forum post on a chinese website.  If this picture turns out to be valid, that would indicate that previously beliefs that the iPad 3 would feature a new Apple A6 processor would be invalid.  The original iPad had an Apple A5 chip and the iPad 2 features an A5 chip, so this led to wide speculation that the iPad 3 would continue this progression and feature Apple’s new A6 chip architecture.  There are other notable features on this board, such as a pair of 16gb flash memory chips onboard as well.

Apple is widely expected to release the new iPad 3 on March 7th, 2012.  Consumers are looking forward to an 4G LTE version, high-resolution Retina display, and of course a quicker processor.

Macrumors has obtained an OEM version of the new iPad 3 Retina display.  While they had no way to power the display, they were able to get a close-up shot and confirm the new pixel density thus confirming the iPad 3 is indeed upon us and will feature the crisp Retina display.

MacRumors has now been able to obtain one of these iPad 3 displays and examine it under a microscope in an effort to determine whether it is indeed an ultra-high resolution Retina display. Physically, the purported iPad 3 display is the same size as the current iPad 1 and iPad 2 display at 9.7″ in diagonal, and looks quite similar to the naked eye.

However, when comparing the iPad 3 display to one from an iPad 2 under a microscope, the difference in resolutions becomes readily apparent, with the iPad 3 display’s pixels appearing to be one-quarter the size of those on the iPad 2.

Looks like we will get to see the real deal in just a few weeks time – stay tuned!

The buzz is growing, and now it’s getting hard to ignore.  It looks like the Apple is indeed set to launch the iPad 3 early next month, March 7th to be exact.  iMore is the first to report this, along with the usual claims of the Hi-Res Retina Display (this is a given by now).  They are also claiming the new ‘Pad will sport a quad-core processor and 4G LTE:

Whether Apple would simply improve and optimize the current dual-core ARM Cortex A9 processor found in the Apple A5 SoC, or go quad-core has been a lingering question, with9to5Mac finding code references to quad-core but The Vergehearing otherwise. However, it sounds like they’re going quad-core.

Stay tuned for more as it develops!

Is Apple planning an event next month to announce the iPad 3? That’s what Japanese blog Macotakara is claiming. Specifically, they are reporting that Apple is planning the event to be held in the first few weeks of February. Furthermore, Macotakara states that the event will include the release of iOS 5.1, which is currently in developer testing.

According to asian supplier and a source in the United States, Apple seems to be prepared to hold Special Event in February

Because Chinese factory will be in holiday of New Year, then new product is considered to be released in February.

This would be a quick launch timeframe, but not unreasonable considering the iPad 2 was available merely days after it’s announcement. All signs are currently pointing towards a March release, it will be interesting to see if the rumor heats up in the coming days an weeks.

Thursday is the day folks, Apple is widely expected to announce one or more game changers for the education community.  Arstechnica is reporting that part of this suite is going to be a “garage band for e-books”:

At the same time, however, authoring standards-compliant e-books (despite some promises to the contrary) is not as simple as running a Word document of a manuscript through a filter. The current state of software tools continues to frustrate authors and publishers alike, with several authors telling Ars that they wish Apple or some other vendor would make a simple app that makes the process as easy as creating a song in GarageBand.

Other announcements are expected revolve around a distribution platform designed to take advantage of the fact that Apple is putting a lot of iPads and Apple-branded devices in the hands of young children at schools around the nation.  The idea is that, like iTunes, Apple is not the content creator but merely a facilitator using the hardware and software expertise to help publishers deliver new content in the digital paradigm.  Stay tuned, Thursday is going to be BIG for this industry!

So how many of you out there have been in quiet place and accidentally (or intentionally) brought up Siri and been startled by just how loud she is at the default setting?  Well your in luck because you can adjust her volume (even shut her up if need be)!  We just posted another video in our quick tip video series, check it out below – be sure to comment and let us know what you think!

Digitimes is at it again, stirring up the Apple News with their latest rumor regarding the iPad 3 and the, wait for it, iPad 4?! Now they are claiming that Apple with indeed release the iPad 3 in the February or March timeframe we are so used to hearing about – but that will only be an interim product and that the iPad 4 will be released in October 2012.

Of course when speaking to the iPad 3 they refer to the usual bout of features and enhancements, namely a Retina display and better battery life.

Apple will ship the so-called “iPad 3″ with a full HD display in March and then “iPad 4″ – named so by its component suppliers – with killer applications in October, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

The iPad 3 will come with a QXGA (1,536×2,048 pixels) display and longer battery life although its other hardware specifications may not be so amazing as expected, said the sources. But Apple will take the advantage of the iPad 3 launch to slash the price of its iPad 2 to US$399, the sources claimed.

The March launch of iPad 3 as well as the price cutting for iPad 2 will enable Apple to fend off competition from non-iPad vendors including Sony, Motorola Mobility and Samsung Electronics, who currently price their tablet PCs at US$359 or above, commented the sources.

However, the competition in the segment may continue to heat up in the second quarter of 2012 as Google reportedly may also launch an own-brand tablet PC in April, competing with Kindle Fire in the entry-level segment, noted the sources.

But a true battle for market share will arrive in the second half of the year when Apple ships its iPad 4 in October, about the time when Microsoft releases its Window 8 and Intel unveils its Clover Trail-W platform, the sources commented.

The 9.7-inch iPad 4 is expected to come with much upgraded hardware specifications and integrated applications so as to compete with an array of Android-, Wintel- or WoA (Windows on ARM)-based tablet PCs to be released in the fourth quarter, said the sources

Digitmes has a lackluster track record, and you have to believe that the next iPad generation will be a significant upgrade from the current generation iPad 2.  However, the iPad does dominate the tablet market so Apple may feel they have time to fine-tune a device that represents a bigger jump forward – time will tell on this one.