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Either there’s trouble at the Apple TV factory, or Apple’s “hobby” is selling so fast that it just got upgraded to a full-time job.

The new video-streaming set-top-box was all set to ship in September, and Apple had already started charging credit-cards of those who has pre-ordered. Now, if you head over the the Apple Store page for the Apple TV, you’ll see it will ship in 2-3 weeks. Apple is notorious for pushing right up to the last minute of its own deadlines, but 2-3 weeks is as far away as the middle of October.

Another sign that all is not well come in the form of an email forwarded to Apple Insider, sent to a customer informing him of a refund:

Our records indicate that when you placed your order you paid for upgraded shipping. Due to a delay, we may have not been able to meet our delivery commitment.

So, if you want an Apple TV, you’re going to have to wait, that’s certain. What’s not so sure is why they will be so late. Could it really be that, like the iPhone 4 and the iPad, Apple has simply been surprised by a huge demand? The Apple TV hasn’t seen the hype of those iDevices, so who would be buying them?

For the answer, take a look at the Airport Express. It’s a Wi-Fi-enabled receiver that lets you send music from iTunes to a remote stereo. It costs $99, the same as the Apple TV, which does this and lots more. If you want the fancy network-extending and router abilities of the Airport Express, the Apple TV isn’t for you. But if anyone was thinking of buying it just for AirPlay, then the Apple TV is an obvious upgrade.

Apple issuing refunds for Apple TV rush orders, citing delay [AppleInsider]

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Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Apple is preparing to announce a major revamp for the Apple TV and upgrades for the popular iPod Touch in an event scheduled for early September, according to a report.

Citing two anonymous sources, Bloomberg claims that Apple will hold a special press event on Sept. 7 in San Francisco to introduce the new products along with a new iTunes rental service for TV programs, as Wired.com’s Epicenter reported Tuesday.

Repeating previous rumors about Apple TV, Bloomberg said a new version of the device would cost $100 and include a smaller hard drive, as it will be designed primarily for streaming content from iTunes. Other reports have claimed Apple would rebrand the device iTV and ship it with its mobile operating system iOS, which could potentially mean the television device will have an app store to enhance its functionality.

Bloomberg’s report also claims Apple will announce an upgraded iPod Touch, sporting a high-resolution display like the iPhone 4. Previous rumors add that like the iPhone 4, the next iPod Touch will include dual cameras.

For several years, Apple has held an annual September event devoted to iTunes and iPods. It would make sense for Apple to unveil a new Apple TV at this year’s event, because a TV-streaming media service would likely be accompanied by a new version of iTunes capable of online storage.

It’s also likely that Apple will release a software update for iPad customers, iOS 4, which will bring multitasking capability, among other features, to the popular tablet.

Photo of Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone 4 at WWDC 2010: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews

Apple appears to be internally testing the next-gen iPod Touch and iPad, along with an unknown mystery device, according to configuration files buried deep inside the latest iOS beta.

Apple blog AppleInsider received purported configuration files of the next iOS beta, iOS 4.1., due to ship in “the coming weeks,” showing strings of code referencing “iPod 4,1″ an identifier that denotes a fourth-generation device. (A revision of the current third-gen iPod model would be labeled “iPod 3,2.”)

The configuration files also reveal an identifier for “iProd 2,1″ most likely the second-generation iPad, since the records showed the current iPad was registered as “iPod 1,1.” Most interesting is an identifier for “unknownHardware.” Perhaps this could be the rumored Apple TV upgrade based on the iOS-operating system, as New York Times reported previously.

Apple is expected to hold its annual iPod event in the coming weeks, where we’d likely see the next-generation iPod Touch, which is rumored to sport the same specifications of the iPhone 4 (minus the phone, of course): two cameras, a high-resolution display, an A4 processor and so on. Stay tuned this September.

Photo: JoeBaynham/Flickr

Source:wired.com

Posted under Gadget Reviews