This post is long over-due and by now, really outdated. But in my last technology post I said that I would share the information of Apple’s last press event here on my blog if it’s actually interesting and worth sharing. Truth is that it really was interesting and definitely worth sharing. But due to various issues (Being without a computer for nearly a month, going away, etc.) I was unable to fulfill my duty of keeping you guys updated. Even though Apple’s ‘new’ product lineup is old news already; I still want to publish it here and share my thoughts on the new lineup with you guys.

One month ago, on October 23, Apple introduced the iPad Mini, the new iPad 4th generation, the 13″ Macbook Pro with Retina Display and  an all-new iMac lineup. You can watch the full keynote presentation [here]. The event is about 72 minutes long, so unless you’re a hardcore Apple fan boy or tech junky like myself; you probably wouldn’t want to sit through the entire presentation.

I now present to you a (over-due/outdated, yet still relevant) breakdown of everything discussed during the presentation, including some of my thoughts on the subject(s). And just in case you’re wondering; no, this is not a sponsored post. I just really love Apple and I love sharing my thoughts on all things Apple here with you guys.

Apple iPhone 5:

• More than 5 million units sold in first weekend.
• Fastest-selling phone in history.

Apple iPod

• All new iPod Nano with 2.5″ multi-touch screen and built-in Bluetooth.
• Amazingly thin new iPod Touch with the same 4″ retina display as the iPhone 5.
• Already sold over 3 Million units of the iPod lineup.

Apple iOS 6

• Already over 200 million devices running iOS just one month after launch.
• Fastest upgrade rate of any software in history.

iOS 6 and Mountain Lion have been designed to make Mac’s and iOS devices work together simply and seamlessly. With Documents in the cloud (iCloud) you can create a new document on one device and pick up right where you left off on any of your other devices. Customers have already placed over 125 Million documents in the cloud just over the last year, making them available to all of their devices. With iMessage you can see all of your messages on all your devices. And you can start a conversation on one device and continue it on any of your other devices. Customers have already sent over 300 Billion iMessages to date.

Also featured in the presentation; Game Center and Shares Photo Stream, allowing Mac and iOS device owners to play games together and easily share photo’s to the people they want. This launched with iOS 6 and customers have already shared over 70 Million photo’s with their friends and family.

Apple App Store

• Over 700,000 iOS apps and growing.
• Over 275,000 iPad apps and growing.
• Over 35 Billion app downloads to date.
• Apple already paid out over 6.5 Billion dollars to app developers.
• Over 1.5 Million books available on iBooks Store.
• Over 400 Million books downloaded to date.

New version of iBooks released with continuous scrolling. The new version is also better integrated with iCloud. All of your purchased books show up on your bookshelf. And you can tap one and begin reading just where you left off on any of your devices. There’s also new ways to share. You can just tap on your favorite quote and share it with anyone on Facebook or Twitter. iBooks now supports over 40 languages. The new version of iBooks is available for free download from the App Store.

Apple Mac

• Mac outgrew the PC market by about 7 times.
• Mac has been outgrowing the PC industry for the last 6 years straight.
• Consistently named #1 in customer satisfaction and reliability.
• Number #1 desktop in the US and #1 laptop in the US.

Apple MacBook

• 15″ MacBook Pro with Retina Display. (I got one of these, read about it [here])
• “The new display is gorgeous, Absolutely gorgeous” – Engadget.
• “Best display ever for a laptop.” – The Verge.
• “Apple has undoubtedly created the best notebook display on the market.” – Wired.

The number one selling notebook is actually the 13″ MacBook Pro. In fact, it’s the number one selling Mac. In typical Apple fashion, they’ve taken their best product and introduced something so much better; The brand new 13″ MacBook Pro with Retina Display. Just 0.75 inches thin (20% thinner than the non-retina Macbook Pro). It weighs only 3.75 lbs (Almost a pound lighter than the previous generation). It is the lightest MacBook Pro ever. Featuring 13.3″ Retina Display with 2560×1600 pixels (4x the number of pixels of the previous generation). Almost 2 million more pixels than an HD TV. Check out the TV Ad below…

Click here to view the embedded video.

The new MacBook Pro 13″ with Retina DIsplay joins the 15″ MacBook Pro with Retina DIsplay as the only two notebooks in the industry with Retina Display quality. They’re powerful, super thin and light. And customers love them (I sure do!)

Apple Mac Mini

• The smallest, most affordable Mac.
• Refreshed with faster processor, improved graphics, etc.
• Various configurations available.
• The worlds most energy efficient desktop.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The iPad Mini is “Every inch an iPad” and comes with great accessories including redesigned smart covers. Available now from only $329, the iPad Mini is the lowest price yet for an iPad. The entire iPad lineup is available in various configurations to suit your individual needs. “There’s something for everyone.” Check out the TV Ad below…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Final Thoughts

As always, I only have positive feelings towards Apple’s new product lineup. Each year they keep getting better and better no matter what the haters have to say. Apple is on top for a reason; because they offer the best products available. And it’s taken them quite a long time to get to where they are today. But now that the world has started seeing the awesomeness that is Apple, there will be no turning back. Steve may be gone but Apple will live on and continue to innovate, setting new standards and creating new products in untapped markets like they’ve done since inception.

I am in love with every single product reviewed during the October 23 Keynote presentation. I already own the 15″ MacBook Pro with Retina Display and would like to add the iPhone 5 and 4th generation iPad to my digital arsenal. I plan on writing and publishing a full review of the MacBook Pro some time during the next few weeks so please subscribe and watch this space for further updates.

Visit Apple.com for full product information, technical specifications and availability.

Apple will reportedly be unveiling the “iPad Mini” at an upcoming press event. As usual there’s been very little proof as to what they will in fact be unveiling but various media outlets including Mashable, TheAppleBlog and TAUW all speculate that the press event will be the launch of the widely rumored “iPad Mini.”

I’m still on the fence about the rumor. I can’t see why Apple would make a device that’s supposed to fall somewhere between the iPhone and the iPad. I mean, is it really necessary? Even though I don’t currently own either the iPhone nor the iPad, I don’t understand why anyone would want a smaller iPad or a larger iPhone. If you want mobility with a pocket sized device, use the iPhone. If you want to be able to do more without having to carry a laptop around; slip the iPad into your briefcase and whip it out when you need it. Do you really need something else in-between?

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe a smaller iPad would be awesome. I don’t know. Or maybe Apple will unveil something else that’s really cool so that everyone can put these silly “iPad Mini” rumors to rest. We’ll have to wait and see.

The event is scheduled to take place at 10 AM PT, Oct. 23 in San Jose and I’ll be sure to share the outcome with you here on my blog if it’s actually interesting and worth sharing. So, please subscribe and “stay tuned.”

Apple has officially unveiled the iPhone 5 at a launch event yesterday. The new iPhone is thinner, has a 4-inch retina display, ultrafast wireless, A6 chip offering better performance and longer battery life, improved camera, new lightning connector, and many other awesome things to look forward to.

The iPhone 5 is now available for online pre-order (US), and will be available in stores September 21.

Learn more about iPhone 5 >

This is probably old news by now, but I really wanted to share my excitement about NASA successfully landing Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars. The twitter-sphere was abuzz with live tweets covering the final minutes of touch-down and we even got to see some snapshots of the landing. Landing on Mars was no easy feat; NASA used a rocket-powered sky-crane to lower the 2000 pound rover onto the surface after going through the planet’s atmosphere.

“Tonight, on the planet Mars, the United States of America made history,” President Obama said in a statement. “The successful landing of Curiosity – the most sophisticated roving laboratory ever to land on another planet – marks an unprecedented feat of technology that will stand as a point of national pride far into the future. It proves that even the longest of odds are no match for our unique blend of ingenuity and determination.”

I bet you’re all wondering: “Is there life on Mars?” – I’m really curious to see what will be discovered during this mission “to search areas of Mars for past or present conditions favorable for life, and conditions capable of preserving a record of life.”

You can follow the mission with frequent updates directly on NASA’s official website HERE.

On Saturday July 28, I’ve finally gotten around to upgrading my Apple iMac to Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion. The upgrade process was quick, easy and error free, as always. I am absolutely in love with OS X Mountain Lion, especially the social network sharing integration, notification center, notes, reminders, and dictation. Check out the feature video…

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s really cool to be able to just dictate to my computer instead of me having to actually type everything myself. In fact, this entire blog post was done using the dictation feature.

Upgrading to a new operating system is always really exciting; it’s almost just as exciting as getting a brand new computer. I don’t own any other Apple devices (yet), so I cannot take full advantage of the awesome iCloud, AirDrop, and AirPlay features but I’m really glad that I’ve upgraded to Mac OS X Mountain Lion!

Created by: MBAOnline.com

Ever wondered how the Apple iPad is made? Marketplace Shanghai Bureau Chief Rob Schmitz is only the second reporter ever to gain access to visit the factory floor at Apple’s Chinese producer Foxconn.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Source Credit – American Public Media’s ‘Marketplace’.
Reporter Credit – Rob Schmitz, Shanghai Bureau Chief

I’ve been tweeting about re-designing my website for quite some time. Even though I really love the current layout, some topic-specific readers do not. With the current layout everything is mashed together into a single string of posts. For those of you only interested in fashion related content are currently also bombarded with entertainment, and personal posts right on the home page. Sure you can just click through to the “Fashion Blog” category from the link in the side-bar, but there are better ways to handle this…

The main RSS feed has also been featuring content from all categories – Those not interested in certain topics are currently forced to consume all content if they have subscribed to my blog via Feedburner. – This is really cool if we share the same interests, but if you’re like the the majority of my readers who only come here for a specific topic, such as fashion, then I’m sure you’d prefer a more tailored subscription feed showcasing only your categories of interest.

The new DAVIDVENTER.NET – Coming soon, will feature a complete re-design. The home page will showcase snippets from the latest articles of each category allowing you to quickly spot and navigate directly to the content of your interest instead of scrolling through various unrelated articles.  I will be launching a collection of new category/topic specific RSS feeds which will enable you to subscribe only to the articles of your choice, bypassing other topics which you may not find interest in. In addition to these exciting changes, I will also be adding new Home & Garden Blog and Online Gaming Blog categories; something which I’ve wanted to do for a very long time but thought it would be inappropriate to dump World of Warcraft articles or pool cleaning tips in-between fashion shows. With the restructuring of DAVIDVENTER.NET I will be able to share more content from more categories with you guys, without making it appear like an un-related mess/mash in a single thread.

Watch this space for the awesome and exciting changes coming soon!

Introducing the new iPad, with the stunning Retina display. It makes the things you care about look more brilliant than ever before.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to watch the full Apple Keynote introducing the new iPad.

My Yahoo account has recently been compromised after I logged into the HTC Friend Stream App on my Android device to view my Flickr stream. Today it has been reported that many people on my contact list have received unsolicited “work at home” scam emails from my yahoo account. I advise you all to ignore these emails as they did not come from me. I will never send out any unsolicited email via my yahoo account.

As it turns out, when looking at my Yahoo login history, there were two mobile logins from Brazil and Morocco around the same time that the unsolicited emails started going out. I also had many of the same emails in the Yahoo drafts. – Upon discovering this, I immediately revoked access to all apps, changed my account password and removed my contact list from Yahoo.

Clearly the HTC apps aren’t secure, and backing up my contacts to Yahoo wasn’t a good idea. – I sincerely apologize to all who have received such unsolicited email and ask that you please ignore/delete any mail from the davidventer87 Yahoo account. I repeat: I will never personally send out anything from my Yahoo email account, ever. I only use the davidventer.net domain.

I also urge HTC Android users to avoid using the Friend Stream app for logging into Twitter, Facebook and Flickr – It is not secure; your entire contact list will be compromised.

Many thanks to those who questioned and approached me about the emails because I NEVER checked my Yahoo account for any activity other than the occasional Flickr login.

PLEASE IGNORE ALL EMAIL COMING FROM
MY DAVIDVENTER87 YAHOO ACCOUNT!

Fashion meets Technology once again with the third edition of the LG Prada smartphone, announced yesterday. Prada first partnered with LG back in 2006, predating the iPhone, when they announced the LG KE850. LG has even claimed that the iPhone’s design was copied from the first LG Prada (which is not the case.)

The “Prada Phone by LG 3.0″ brings a unique look with a custom monochrome interface put on top of the Android operating system.

I don’t know about you, but my personal opinion is that the chosen interface is horrific. There definitely are better ways to create a minimal monochrome interface. I for one would rather own the latest iPhone with a designer case than one of these branded LG smartphones. What do you think?

We all know that Siri is the best voice recognition / virtual assistant, but Microsoft now claims that their “TellMe” service on Windows Phone 7 is similar to Siri on the iPhone 4S. I think not…

Here is a video comparison between Microsoftt’s Tellme and Apple’s Siri. The results speak for themselves.

Click here to view the embedded video.

[ Source: Tech AU ]

You’re already on Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIN, Twitter, and what else… So why join yet another social network, especially one from a company who’s had a previous failed attempt (buzz)?

Well the answer is quite “simple.”

Yes, simple, as in simplicity in the way we share certain things. Google+ is a great way to share the right things with the right people. Although other social networking sites already offer similar functionality  with the ability to place friends into different groups or sets, it’s just not as simple and easy to use and share as with Google+. This is sharing, but like real life…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Join now at http://google.com/+  and add me to your circles.

Some of the wittiest most insightful content comes from bloggers doing it because they want to, not because of money and fame. That is all the more reason to give something back.

Click here to view the embedded video.

On November 29, pay a blogger!

“Bloggers give up an awful lot of their spare time to make their readers smarter, happier or simply more efficient in killing time. What if ALL of us gave something back to them, even for just one day. Buy their T-shirt, the book with affiliate links or make a donation. They’ve sure deserved it.”

“Pay a Blogger Day is an initiative by Flattr who makes it very easy to support blogs and other things you care about.”

Want to learn more? Visit: www.payablogger.org

Discussing the past, present and future of connectivity with a mix of people including David Rowan, chief editor of Wired UK; Caterina Fake, founder of Flickr; and Eric Wahlforss, the co-founder of Soundcloud. Each of the interviewees discusses the emerging opportunities being enabled by technology as we enter the Networked Society. Concepts such as borderless opportunities and creativity, new open business models, and today’s ‘dumb society’ are brought up and discussed.

Click here to view the embedded video.

All seems to be back to normal here in the third world now that all the BlackBerry wielding queens are once again able to spam all their contacts with “Broadcast this or you’ll choke on your dead grandfathers dick in your sleep” etc. – Being without BlackBerry service for the past three days have actually been rather pleasant (no annoying broadcasts) apart from the fact that I couldn’t tweet, read my emails, or do anything else that required a BIS connection. At least the founder and CEO of Research in Motion made a sweet little YouTube video to apologize for their lack of service…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Thanks for that, Mike. We still love you, just don’t do it again ok?

I don’t just want any Apple Macbook. I want THIS Apple Macbook…

24-carat gold unibody Macbook Pro from Computer Choppers – Yes please!

They’re even available in pretty patterns with diamond Apple logo’s…

Or how about this polished Rose Gold & Diamond iPad?

WANT WANT WANT!!!

I don’t usually blog about cars but for this one I’ll make an exception: Introducing the new Concept A-Class…

Click here to view the embedded video.

“The vision for the future: connectivity. Using the Mercedes-Benz Concept A-CLASS as an example, we show you the future of multimedia online systems.”

Now I know what I want for my next birthday! Although; I probably first need to get a drivers license unless they’re going make these in sexy sedan or limousine shape for us folks who don’t drive ourselves.

I’ve recently discovered a “game” far better than anything else I’ve ever played on Facebook; one that doesn’t take up too much time either. Enter: Empire Avenue, a “Social Stock Market, where you can Grow your Social Capital online.”

“Here’s how it works, you get to discover valuable, interesting, cool, fun people online and then based scores or share price, invest virtual currency in their profiles by buying shares in our Social Stock Market. It’s boatloads of fun, and that simple act of buying shares in someone you think is worth your currency, you will create new connections and as people invest in you, grow your own social capital and get more value in and out of your networks!”

Click here to Join me on Empire Avenue.

Discover Amble, the first ever Louis Vuitton iPhone application.

CLICK HERE to download the application directly from the AppStore.