The guys at Gizmodo were able to get their mitts on Apple’s upcoming iPhone in this report in an interview with Eddie Cue, Apple’s Vice President of Applications and Phil Schiller, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing.

The interview revealed the following new details that were left out of Steve Jobs’ keynote speech:
-The iPhone isn’t white given that the screen’s colors are more pronounced against a black background.
-The operating system isn’t identical to the desktop version of Mac OS X, but is a closed variant of OS X similar to the one found on the iPod that can’t be developed for. This will be its own version of Mac OS X with a distinct user interface layer.
-Access to the iTunes Music Store has yet to be planned for an implemented in the iPhone.
-The screen is made of the same polycarbonate as the iPod with a touch-screen element wrapped over it.
More after the jump…

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Cisco Systems, Inc. announced late Wednesday afternoon that it has filed a lawsuit within the United States District Court against Apple Inc. according to a report on financial analysis site MarketWatch.com.

The suit seeks to prevent Apple from using the “iPhone” trademark, which Cisco claims it obtained in 2000 after acquiring Infogear. Cisco has also mentioned that Infogear initially filed for the trademark on March 20th, 1996, a date which preceded any interest Apple may have had in the name.
“There is no doubt that Apple’s new phone is very exciting, but they should not be using our trademark without our permission,” said Mark Chandler, Cisco’s senior vice president and general counsel, in a statement.
More information on this as soon as it becomes available.

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San Francisco — Wander through the show floor of Macworld Expo and sometimes something strange or cool will catch your eye. The iPod submerged in water yet still playing qualified as this.

H2O Audio manufactures a line of iPod cases and headphones that allow the MP3 player to be used underwater at various depths. The cases are designed around various activities, some simply protecting the units against rough and tumble activities while others allow for full scuba diving depths.
H2O Audio’s products are currently being sold online as well as through Apple’s retail channel.
For the full product line, take a look here.

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San Francisco — On Monday, Belkin announced its new Flip DVI-D, a KVM switch that allows the user to share multiple monitors between a single Mac.

The unit, which is the only one on the market designed around the Apple Cinema Display (albeit still compatible with other types of monitors), supports resolutions up to 1600 x 1200 on a single link and 2560 x 1600 on dual link video modes.
The Flip DVI-D will ship in February and is currently priced at $149.95

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San Francisco — Mark/Space, makers of the Missing Sync series of products, has announced two new applications at this year’s Macworld Expo.

SyncTogether allows the users selectively sync individual Address Books and iCal calendars to other users’ Macs via a local network. The software allows for certain groups to be selected and shared without moving an entire list across. Specific iCal calendars (including custom calendars) can be shared with other users, who can modify events and information as a shared calendar.
SyncTogether will be available in the first quarter of this year and retail for $49.95. The program requires a PowerPC G4, G5 or Intel processor, Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later, an Internet connection for product registration and a network connection for shared synching.
Missing Sync will also receive a significant addition to its family of products. Missing Sync for BlackBerry will allow Mac users to synch with BlackBerry handhelds and be available in the first quarter of this year for an asking price of $39.95.
The program requires a PowerPC G4, G5 or Intel processor and Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later to run and supports the following BlackBerry models:
-7100 series
-7290 (Cingular/T-Mobile)
-7250 (Verizon)
-7520 (Nextel)
-7130 series
-8700 series
-8707 series
-8703 series (Sprint)
-8705
-8100 series, aka “Pearl”
More information on this as it becomes available.

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San Francisco — Bare Bones Software, makers of web developer shareware favorite BBEdit, have updated three of their products as of Tuesday, January 9th.

BBEdit reached version 8.6 with hefty improvements in its language support as well as new features. The new version also adds maintainence fixes and is available as a 14 megabyte download. BBEdit is priced at $125 for new users and is available at a $30 to $40 upgrade price from older versions.
Yojimbo, the company’s information organizer, reached version 1.4 and now features support for inter-application AppleScript automation. Users can now create automated workflows as needed. The version is a 10 megabyte download and retails for $39.
Finally, TextWrangler has been updated to version 2.2. The new version claims to sport more than 100 new features and fixes while the core interface has received a significant overhaul to improve efficiency. The program is available for free and is a 9.9 megabyte download
Please let us know how the new features are working out for you.

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San Francisco — Fetch Softworks has updated Fetch, the perennial popular file-transfer program, to version 5.2 as of Monday. The new version, a 14.4 megabyte download, sports the following fixes and new features:

-Added WebView: Easily view files in your web browser and copy web addresses while in Fetch.
-Added support for FTP with TLS/SSL (FTPS) connections (requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later).
-Added droplet shortcuts: Drag files to a droplet shortcut’s icon to upload them to your server
-Overhauled FTP networking for improved compatibility and performance
-Moved Refresh button from an optional toolbar button to a permanent button on transfer window info bar
-Added Get As command that prompts you to choose a folder in which to save downloads
Fetch requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later to run and is a Universal Binary program that can run natively on both PowerPC and Intel-based hardware. The program is available for a $25 shareware registration fee.
If you have any comments about the new version, please let us know.

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Digg.com has a cool link, albeit somewhat disconcerting.
Visit iphonecountdown.com for a live counter to June and Apple’s iPhone release date.

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San Francisco — An online gallery, courtesy of flickr, has been posted covering the second day of Macworld Expo San Francisco.

For access to the full gallery, click here. The gallery also includes close up shots of Apple’s new AirPort Extreme Base Station, which was quietly released along with the iPhone and Apple TV yesterday.
If you have any comments or feedback, let us know.

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Amidst all the hubbub with yesterday’s Apple TV and iPhone announcements, Apple also released an updated AirPort Extreme Base Station. The new unit, which runs on the 802.11n networking standard, is cited as up to five times faster boast twice the range of it predecessors.
Breaking from the classic “flying saucer” design that these units have been associated with for years, the new AirPort Extreme Base Station sports a smooth, square form factor similar to the Apple TV and Mac Min, measuring 6.5″ square and 1.3″ in height.
Although the new model is based on the 802.11n networking standard, the device is compatible with both the older 802.11b and 802.11g standards and devices. The 802.11n protocol uses a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology to both communicate with older products as well as run at faster speeds while offering a longer communications range. The 802.11n standard can support up to 50 simultaneous wireless connections at once, perhaps replacing environments with multiple older AirPort Base Stations currently in place.
The new units will ship in February and be priced at $179.
Pictures of the unit will be available with today’s photo gallery.
If you have any comments or feedback, let us know.

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