First, I think it will be called the “iPad 3″ simply because the retina display it’s going to have will be too spectacular for anything less than a full version update (at this point the retina display is so much of a given that it doesn’t even count as a prediction).

Next, cellular. At first I was 100% positive that there would be no LTE models. LTE is only useful for a tiny fraction of people on the planet, and I didn’t think Apple would go out of their way to manufacture hardware just for that tiny fraction. Then I realized that Apple manufactured a CDMA model of the iPhone 4 just for Verizon customers, and suddenly I could envision carrier negotiations resulting in LTE iPads becoming a reality. I still think the likeliest outcome by far are models with either WiFi or WiFi+3G, but I also think that LTE might make an appearance as a third tier option (more on that below).

Before we go further with the iPad 3, let’s talk about the iPad 2: will it stay as a lower-cost option or go the way of the original iPad, never to be manufactured again? I think it’s very likely that we’ll be seeing iPad 2s in Apple stores for at least another year, but I think we will see some very slight modifications and a severe reduction in available options. I would be shocked if there were more than two iPad 2 models on the market after the iPad 3 release date:

• Black, WiFi, 16 GB
• Black, WiFi+3G, 16 GB

I thought about putting down 8 GB, but I really don’t think we’ll ever see an iPad with less than 16 GB of storage. As for prices, I think the WiFi model will hit $349, with the WiFi+3G model at $399-$429. Or, if they want to make really big news, make the $329 and $399, respectively.

Back to the iPad 3, I think we’ll have the following options to look forward to:

• White or Black
• WiFi or WiFi+3G
• 16 GB, 32 GB, or 64 GB

Looks familiar, doesn’t it? I also think the pricing will be equally as familiar with the WiFi-only, 16 GB iPad 3 costing $499 and increasing the same way the current iPad 2 lineup does. If LTE is available, I think it will be on a new high-end tier consisting of only two models: black or white, each with 64 GB of storage, retailing at $999.

As for technical details, I think the cellular technology will be unified across all the 3G models (including the iPad 2), supporting both GSM and CDMA on the same hardware, reducing the number of models Apple is required to produce. The processor for the iPad 3 will be called the A6, and there’s a 50-50 chance of it being a quad-core chip. Said processor will be paired with 1 GB of RAM, not that they’ll mention such a thing at the event (or ever). The back camera is likely to be in the iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S range. It wouldn’t surprise me if they used the same part as they do in the phones. I’d be very surprised if the front-facing camera wasn’t capable of 720p for FaceTime calls in HD. The physical dimensions will be identical, or nearly so, to the iPad 2, resulting in most or all existing cases/stands/holders/clips/arms/etc. being compatible, including the smart covers (which will have 2-4 new colors to choose from).

So, software: The iPad 3 will ship with iOS 5.1 (which will also be released and available shortly after the event for current devices that support iOS 5.0), and I think Siri’s a safe bet. We should see lots of game demos to show off the new processor and display. Apple will have one or two first-party apps to show off that will be on par with GarageBand and iMovie for sheer awesomeness. One of them will be Aperture for iPad, which will be capable of meeting the needs of pretty much anyone in the pro-sumer photography space. It will also be able to keep up with a surprising number of full on pro photographers as well. If there’s a second app from Apple, I think it will be something without a current from-Apple desktop equivalent in an area relatively new to them. They’ve been branching out here and there. Wild speculation: an animation studio app that lets you export to video files or HTML 5.

Finally, there’s been a lot of buzz surrounding the Apple TV lately, especially with inventory of the current model dwindling. I think my bias is going to color my predictions in this area, but what I think we might see on Wednesday is the announcement of Apple TV apps in the App Store and new hardware to go with them. The three new models will have the A6 chip, support 1080p, and let you choose from 8 GB, 16 GB, or 32 GB. Pricing will be $99, $199, and $299. The current-generation Apple TV will also run most of the apps after a software update, but will of course be limited in some areas by it’s A4 chip and 8 GB of memory.

Some big names will have beta versions of their Apple TV apps to demo on stage, of course, and developers will be told that they’ll be able to get their hands on development tools for the new platform that day. The Apple TV App Store will go live for consumers in three to six months, and the key to the whole thing will be the new bluetooth remote. It’ll come in the box with the new Apple TV models, or you can purchase one separately for your current-generation Apple TV (the current-generation Apple TV does indeed support bluetooth, as it shares the same combo WiFi/bluetooth chip as the original iPad, as noted in iFixit’s teardown). The remote will have the following features:

• Rechargeable
• Accelerometer
• Gyroscope
• Physical Buttons
• Touchpad

The physical buttons will be similar to the buttons on the current Apple Remote as far as the basic functions they perform, but I think the layout will be tweaked to better accommodate games. In fact, I think the remote will double as a controller for any iOS device, bringing de facto standard physical controls to the world of iOS games. The touchpad, as we’ve seen, is Apple’s answer to touch input on non-touchscreen devices (Macs), and I see no reason they wouldn’t use the same solution here (just look at Apple’s Remote app for iOS). The remote will have no screen of any kind, just a single white LED like the Apple wireless keyboards and mice to indicate status. You’ll be able to pre-order the new Apple TV models and the remote that day, and they’ll ship in one to two weeks.

That’s about it. Note that I have absolutely zero inside knowledge, and most of this stuff will probably be completely wrong.

See you on Wednesday!

Update: I forgot to mention the microphone on the new remote. It will allow for text input for the Apple TV, Siri functionality, and interaction with games.

The “split browser” notion is that Amazon will use its EC2 back end to pre-cache user web browsing, using its fat back-end pipes to grab all the web content at once so the lightweight Fire-based browser has to only download one simple stream from Amazon’s servers. But what this means is that Amazon will capture and control every Web transaction performed by Fire users. Every page they see, every link they follow, every click they make, every ad they see is going to be intermediated by one of the largest server farms on the planet.

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Good SEO is a by-product of not being a dick on the internet.

Matt Legend Gemmell nails it.

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Recoll can index an MS-Word document stored as an attachment to an e-mail message inside a Thunderbird folder archived in a Zip file and more…. It will also let you open a copy of the file without any fuss. There is little that will remain hidden on your disk.

Too nifty to not link to.

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At first, nothing happened. But after 10 days, hell broke loose in his hospital room. He began shaking with chills. His temperature shot up. His blood pressure shot down. He became so ill that doctors moved him into intensive care and warned that he might die. His family gathered at the hospital, fearing the worst.

A few weeks later, the fevers were gone. And so was the leukemia.

There was no trace of it anywhere — no leukemic cells in his blood or bone marrow, no more bulging lymph nodes on his CT scan. His doctors calculated that the treatment had killed off two pounds of cancer cells.

A year later, Mr. Ludwig is still in complete remission. Before, there were days when he could barely get out of bed; now, he plays golf and does yard work.

“I have my life back,” he said.

Fuck yeah science!

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