Apple announced at their World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2008, that Apple will be realeasing iPhone version 2.  The new iPhone will support AT&T’s higher speed network called 3G.  There are many phones that take advantage of this faster speed, and the iPhone will now do the same.  The faster speeds will aid in the development of many 3rd party applications that will be available when the iPhone 2.0 software update comes out.  The 3G iPhone also will have built in GPS.

The 3G iPhone will be less expensive up front than iPhone 1.0.  The 8GB version will cost $199 and the 16GB will be $299.  However, AT&T will require that iPhone users pay an additional $10 for the faster high speed 3G network, even if they don’t live in an area that has 3G coverage.

The 3G iPhone will be released on July 11th.

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Microsoft release Windows XP in October of 2001.  It wasn’t until September of the next year that Microsoft release Windows XP SP1.  This was a minor update compared to the release of Windows XP SP2 in 2004.  Service Pack 2 came with many new improvements, especially in the area of security and wireless internet.  Windows XP has laid dormant, besides bug fixes and patches for the past 3+ years, mainly because of the new operating system, Windows Vista, that came out in January of 2007.    Windows XP Service Pack 3 will not feature any big feature updates like in Service Pack 2, but will contain a roll up of all those many patches that Microsoft has released for Windows XP.  No more of going to Windows Update and seeing 100’s of updates and restarting multiple times. Pre-versions of SP3 have been out for a few months now, but the release of SP3 to the general public is coming in just a few weeks.  It will come first as a download from the Microsoft website, then will become part of Windows Update sometime in June 2008.  The download will be released by Microsoft to the general public next Tuesday, April 29, 2008.   Be sure to check out Microsoft’s Download Center in the next coming week for the download. 

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Many users of Microsoft’s new Operating System, Microsoft Vista, have long been waiting for Service Pack 1 to arrive.  Some people who have not made the jump to Microsoft Vista have been waiting for Service Pack 1 to be released.  As in the past, many users, especially businesses, will wait until the first service pack for an operating system is released.  Vista SP1 has been in beta for a few months now and was officially released on March 18th to the general population.  The update is not yet a part of the Windows Update package, but is available for stand alone download via Microsoft’s website. 

Microsoft Vista SP1 download

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One of the newst pieces of software I have tired is a classroom management package called iTALC.  It has most of the features of Synchroneyes, but the catcher is that iTALC is free, while most other comprable packages cost an arm and a leg.  iTALC allows teachers to manage classrooms with computer easily and is great in a computer lab setting.

 You can lock, logon, logoff, control, view, and demo on all computers or a selected number of computers.  In Demo Mode, the students can see the teacher’s computer screen.  In Demo/Window Mode, the students can see their screen as well as the teachers screen by putting one of the screens into a small window on their computer.  You can also execute commands and scripts remotely. 

 iTALC is a great alternative for classroom management software.  For more information visit their website… http://italc.sourceforge.net/

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On Monday, Februrary 11 2007, Apple released their second update to their newest operating system Leopard.  This update coming on a Monday was quite a surprise to all, seeing that most updates by Apple tend to come out on Tuesdays.  The update is very large at over 300 MB in size.  It updates many of Apple’s software packages with Leopard including…

• Airport - improves reliability
• Dock - adds new list option that was previously in Tiger
• Safari
• Time Machine
• Many other small fixes

A full list of fixes and details can be found on Apple’s website by clicking here.

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Many years ago Apple Inc. began their 1 to 1 Learning Initiative. 1 to 1 Learning is the idea of having every child in a school with a laptop of their own, or a laptop that can be easily accessed at anytime. Teachers and students alike have shown great interest in this program. Several schools around the nation have invested much time and money into this program. Heritage Academy, a Mississippi Private School Association school, in Mississippi has become the latest institution to move to Apple’s 1 to 1 Learning program.Find out more about 1 to 1 Learning by clicking here.Find out more about Heritage Academy, the MPSA, and Heritage’s 1 to 1 program by clicking here.

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On February 17, 2009, all TV stations are required to stop sending out analog signals. This means that using “rabbit ears” to pick up local stations will no longer work. However, the government is allowing those that still have analog TV’s to still get these channels using a Digital-to-Analog convert box that you will have to buy. The government is currently offering discounts (coupons) on these converter boxes.

The negative part to this whole conversion to digital is that many people believe that they will have to by additional service from their cable or satellite provider. This is simply not true. If you currently have cable or satellite service at your home, you can simply ignore this mandatory conversion process. This only applies to those that get their stations from those “rabbit ears”.

For more information visit the Federal Communications Commission website.

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