Apple iPad specs:
9.7″ display screen
16Gb to 64GB Flash Drive
1GHz Apple A4 Chip
Bluetooth 2.1
WiFi 802.11n
3G optional (uses new micro-SIM)
10 hours battery life
30 days standby

iPad WiFi 16GB: $499
iPad WiFi 32GB: $599
iPad WiFi 64GB: $699

iPad WiFi+3G 16GB: $629
iPad WiFi+3G 16GB: $729
iPad WiFi+3G 16GB: $829

Shipments start in 60 days for the WiFi and 90 days for the 3G version.

iPod Shuffle 2GB: Php3,290
iPod Shuffle 4GB: Php4,390

iPod Nano 8GB: Php8,790
iPod Nano 16GB: Php10,490

iPod Classic 120GB: Php14,490

iPod Touch 8GB: Php11,490
iPod Touch 16GB: n/a
iPod Touch 32GB: Php17,490
iPod Touch 64GB: Php23,490

The iPod Touch Supreme is coated with 149 grams of 22 carat gold while the Apple logo is encrusted with 53 diamonds. The edges is lined with 300 additional diamonds while the Home button is covered with 12 diamonds and centered with a 2.1 carat pink diamond.

All that for just $233,000 or just over Php10 Million a pop.

Created by Goldstriker’s Stuart Hughes, the iPhone 3GS Supreme has a stunning 7.1 carat home button and covered will a 22k solid gold all over (271 grams). On top of that, it’s lined with 136 smaller diamonds around the edges including the Apple logo at the back (all weighed at 68 carats).

So if you have Php148 Million pesos to spare, you can commission one yourself.

The Magic Mouse is a wireless pointing device with a multi-touch surface. It comes standard along with the wireless keyboard on all new iMacs.

Mac Mini
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz
4GB RAM
320GB HDD
8x SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
₱ 44,990

Apple Macbook 13 White
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26GHz
2GB DDR3 RAM
250GB HDD
8x SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
Built-in 7-hour battery
₱ 54,990

21.5-inch iMac
1920 x 1080 resolution
Intel Core 2 Duo 3.06GHz
4GB RAM
500GB HDD
8x SuperDrive
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
₱ 65,990

27-inch iMac
2560 x 1440 resolution
Intel Core i5 2.66GHz Quad Core
4GB RAM
500GB HDD
8x SuperDrive
ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics with 512MB
₱ 108,990

Apple sent me a review unit last week and here are some of my observations about the new iPod Nano.

The exterior design has not changed since the previous one (see review of iPod Nano 4G), except for the addition of a VGA video camera and pinhole mic at the back. That, and the 2.2″ screen size.

Here are several sample videos recorded with the iPod Nano:

The videos are a little washed out and even playback on the Nano gives an impression it’s in greyscale and not color (even if it is). I think it’s decent and the frame rate is good enough considering it’s just VGA (0.3MP). The recorded videos can be accessed via File Manager when Disk Mode is enabled on the device. File format is MP4 and encoding is MPEG-4, 640×480 resolution at 29fps. Audio is stereo at 44kHz with a 128 bitrate.

The placement of the camera and mic at the back still puzzles me. Putting them at the bottom left end of the backside is counter-intuitive — I always end up covering the lens whenever I shoot. The pinhole mic picks up sound pretty well but there’s a significant amount of static noise that goes along with it.

The FM radio tuner works as expected and fixing on a channel/station is easy with the scroll wheel. However, you will need the earphones plugged in for it to work as it serves as a radio antenna.

The built-in speakers are hidden somewhere but from inspection, it seems the volume is strongest at the bottom end (cable port). It’s usable but not very loud nor has any semblance of bass either (better than no speakers at all). Speakers won’t work with radio as well since the earphones must be plugged in.

As for the other new features like the pedometer may only be useful when you’re a big fitness buff. Of course, there’s also the Nike + iPod Sports Kit package for runners. The VoiceOver, implemented earlier with the Shuffle, tells you the title and artist of the songs you listen to.

As for the sound performance of the player, there aren’t any improvements in that department (compared to the 3rd and 4th generation). Same with the earphones. I guess Apple focused more on adding those new features instead of impressing the audiophiles.

Nonetheless, if I said that the 4th generation wasn’t a worthy upgrade before, this 5th generation sure does offer a plethora of value-added features to make it a worthy buy. At the Apple Philippines Online Store, the 8GB iPod Nano is priced at Php8,790 and the 16GB at Php10,490.

• Snow Leopard comes as 32-bit and 64-bit out of the box and system applications such as Finder, Mail, iCal and Safari are also on 64-bit.
• Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) provides new ways for to create applications that’s optimized for multiple core processors.
• Introduction of the OpenCL (somewhat derived from OpenGL) to maximize the power of the GPU.

Apple is finally ditching the PowerPC so Snow Leopard can only be installed on an Intel-based Mac system. Almost half of the Apple presentation was dedicated to bashing Windows 7.

Existing Leopard users will only need to pay a Php1,690 license fee to upgrade to Snow Leopard. A Family Pack costs Php2,790 (up to 5 users) and a Mac Box Set that includes iLife and iWork will have a suggested retail price of Php9,490.

Reservations will be accepted starting July 15. Customers can reserve by calling the Globe hotline at 7301000, through www.iphone3g.globe.com.ph, or by going to any Globe Business Center.

Newer improvements include HSDPA up to 7.2Mbps, 3 megapixel camera (with autofocus and 30fps video recording), longer battery life (up to 5 hours 3G talk time, 9 hours of WiFi, and 10 hours on video playback), built-in Digital Compass and Voice Control.

The iPhone 3G S will also be available in 16GB and 32GB and will be available at $199 from AT&T.