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Apple TV

Today Steve Jobs announced a lineup of new products for consumers to drool over. First Apple announced the updated iPods, followed by the much rumored new Apple TV.

The new and improved Apple TV has been rumored for a couple months now. Features include a much smaller design than the previous version with a black finish, 802.11n Wireless connection, Ethernet connection,  as well as 720p HDMI and Digital Audio output.

The new Apple TV boasts Netflix streaming, $0.99 TV show and $4.99 DVD rental through iTunes. It also houses the ability to wirelessly stream music, pictures, and videos from any computer in your home.

iPod Nano

The new iPod Nano is 100% touch screen and about the same size as the 2nd generation iPod Shuffle. It’s available in 8GB ($149) and 16GB ($179) and it has a clip built onto the back.

iPod Shuffle

The new iPod Shuffle has grown in size from the previous generation and has been retrofitted with the 2nd generation buttons located on the iPod rather than the headphones. The Shuffle is available with a capacity of 2GB for $49.

iPod Touch

The iPod Touch received built in rear facing camera allowing you to record 720p video. It also has a front facing camera with retina display and utilizes FaceTime video calling. It is available in 8GB ($229), 32Gb ($299) and 64GB ($399).

iPhone 4 Unlock

The iPhone Dev-Team has released a tool called Ultrasn0w which allows iPhone 4 owners to use their phone on other carriers such as T-Mobile. In order to unlock the iPhone 4 you must first jailbreak your phone. A step by step guide to jailbreaking and unlocking your iPhone 4 can be found Here.

iMac

Months ago, the Macbook Pro received an upgrade to Intel’s i3, i5, and i7 processors. Today, the iMac line was finally given an upgrade to the i3 and i5 processors as well as receiving improved graphics cards.

The new iMacs also support dual internal hard drives. Which means you can now have an SSD as your boot drive with a secondary drive of up to 2TB for storage.

iMac

The Mac Pro also received an upgrade to an Intel Xeon 2.66GHz processor available in a Quad-Core ($2,499), 8-Core ($3,299), and a 12-Core ($4,999).

Mac Pro

If you own a mac, the below software can be extremely useful.

1) smcFanControl (Free)

- This freeware allows you to increase the internal fan speeds on your mac. Increasing your fan speed from the standard 2,000rpm to 3,500rpm can decrease your computer’s internal temperature by over 30 degrees Celsius. I’ve used this software on all three of my previous Macbook/Macbook Pro’s and recommend it to everyone I know.

2) Dropbox (Free | $10/month | $20/month)

- Say goodbye to carrying flash drives and/or having to VPN into your work computer to access important files remotely. Dropbox is an excellent web based hosting service that allows you to store your files online so you can view, download, and upload them from any Windows, OSX or Linux based computer. There are apps available for the iPhone and Android phones that allow you to use this service on your phone as well. You can utilize Dropbox to store up to 2GB of your files for free. You also have the option of purchasing 50GB of storage for $10/month or 100GB for $20/month.

3) Little Snitch ($29)

- Network monitoring software that runs in the background and allows you to monitor, track, screen, and block unwanted information from getting in and out of your computer. This can be useful if you dislike websites or software trying to collect your information and sending out behind your back. After you start running Little Snitch you’ll be amazed at how many hidden connections are made without you knowing. It’s especially useful for those who may not necessarily pay for all of their software, if you catch my drift.

4) Phone Disk (Free until Sep. 1st 2010)

- This software is pretty simple, yet much needed. The downside to having an iPod or iPhone is the inability to plug it into your computer and explore it’s contents like an external drive. Phone Disk allows you to plug any iPhone/iPod into your mac and drag pictures, movies, and music from it and drop them directly to your computer’s harddrive without the use of iTunes. Thanks to Phone Disk, It’s now possible to copy all your friends’ music from their iPhone/iPod just by plugging it into your mac.