Mac OS X Hacked to Run on Google's Cr-48, Reminds Us Of The Black MacBook

Mac OS X has just been hacked to run on Google's Chrome OS Cr-48, and it is awfully similar to Apple's old black MacBook, except for the fact that it is a little buggy and slow. Other than that almost everything works, the only things that don't work are QE/CI and sleep mode, plus the trackpad is a little "wonky." You can also switch back to Chrome OS if you would like. Check out the video above for more details.

Sprint ZTE Peel Rumored To Be Hitting Sprint On November 14

For those of you cleaving to your iPod Touches and looking for a device other than the Apple Peel 520 to satisfy your mobile phone needs, it seems like another option might be available soon. The Sprint ZTE Peel is basically a Mi-Fi (mobile WiFi) router built into an iPod Touch case. Sadly, there is no phone functionality, but you will be able to use any app you would like to for calling. There are rumors that the Sprint ZTE Peel will be available on a contract free 1 GB data plan for $29.99 a month, and the ZTE Peel itself is rumored to cost $80. The Sprint ZTE Peel doesn't seem to differ in any way from other mobile WiFi solutions, so you might as well get yourself a MiFi device from another carrier, put it in your pocket, and connect your iPod Touch to it, instead of having to attach a hefty case to the back of your iPod Touch. Another alternative that you might consider is the Apple Peel 520, which actually adds phone and SMS functionality to your iPod Touch, although it does not support data. Overall, the Sprint ZTE Peel doesn't seem like that good of a device when you look at the amount of small MiFi devices available at low prices. If, for some reason, you do want the Sprint ZTE Peel, it is rumored to be launching on November 14th for $80.

Apple Peel 520 Slowly Making Its Way to US Shores, Adds GSM Connectivity to Your iPod Touch

We actually first heard about the Apple Peel 520 a couple of months ago, but now it seems like the device is going prime time. If you don't know exactly what the Apple Peel is, it's actually pretty simple. The Apple Peel 520 is a case for your iPod touch that adds GSM connectivity to your iPod Touch. The Apple Peel effectively turns your iPod Touch into an iPhone, except for you're not tied down to AT&T, and it's also pretty cheap. The Apple Peel is a silicone case that includes the GSM radio, a 800 mAh battery that should increase your battery life quite a bit, a vibration motor, and, of course, a microphone. Go Solar USA, the company that is bringing the Apple Peel 520 to the USA, is saying the the battery should give you about 5 hours of talk time and 120 hours of standby time, but we are not sure if this is without the iPod Touch's primary battery or including it. The Apple Peel will give you the ability to make and receive calls and send text messages. Unfortunately it doesn't seem like data transfer will be supported, but we don't actually have all of the details yet so it could happen. To use the Apple Peel you will have to have a jailbroken device, in order to get the phone and messaging applications. Originally the Apple Peel 520 was released in China by the manufacturer Yosion, but now Go Solar USA is planning to bring it to the US. They are saying that it will be priced at around $60, which isn't really that high. Overall the Apple Peel 520 could be a great alternative for those who don't want to be attached to AT&T for two years, but also don't want to dish out a lump of cash for an unlocked iPhone.

Apple Makes Major Changes to Its iPods, Amazing New Features

Apple has recently made a few big, or should I say huge changes to their iPod lineup. On Wednesday Apple had an event announcing all of the new changes that they were implementing. Some of the bigger ones were changing the design and features of the iPod Touch, the iPod Nano, and the iPod Shuffle. The iPod Touch is the iPod that received the most new features, including dual cameras, Apple A4 chip, a microphone, Apple’s retina display, and FaceTime support. The new game center was also introduced. As for the cameras, there is both a front and a back camera. The back camera is capable of recording 720p HD video and taking stills, and the front camera can be used for FaceTime or just recording videos. The addition of FaceTime is probably one of the bigger additions to the iPod Touch, and we don’t know how it works yet, but it will probably be amazing. Of course, the addition of FaceTime means that there is now a microphone on the iPod Touch. The new Touch is also a mere 7.2 mm thin, which is even thinner than the last generation, but still more powerful. A feature that some tech blogs seem to have overlooked is that the new iPod Touch also has a gyroscope, which will make gaming even more precise. The new retina display also increases the resolution of the Touch dramatically. The battery life is also a little bit better than that on the third generation iPod Touch. Some of the other hardware has also been upgraded such as to the RAM, to 512 MB. Overall, the improvements to the iPod Touch are amazing, and upgrading is totally worth it. Your upgrade will come at a cost, though. The new 8 GB version will set you back $230, the 32 GB $300, and the 64 GB $400. You can pre-order the iPod Touch now and it will ship on September 8^th. Now, let’s talk about the iPod Nano. The Nano is probably the iPod that has been changed the most in terms of design. Apple has cut out the usual click-wheel and has made the entire iPod Nano a 1.5 inch capacitive touch screen display with multitouch support, though I don’t know how useful multitouch would be on such a small screen. The menu system has also been redesigned to make better use of the touchscreen. Some of the other new features are the increased battery life, which is now 24 hours of continuous music playback. Apple has also removed the camera from the Nano, which some people could find extremely offensive. The new iPod Nano looks much better than the old version and it probably performs better too. You can get the 8 GB version for $150 and the 16 GB version for $180. The iPod Nano ships on the same date as the Touch, September 8^th. Last but not least, Apple has also made some changes to the iPod Shuffle, even though there weren’t that many things that could be changed in the first place. One of the things that you will first notice has changes is that the buttons have returned to the iPod Shuffle. The shape of the Shuffle is also a little squarer. Other than that you won’t notice any design changes. Other than the design of the iPod Shuffle it doesn’t look like anything else has really changed. You can get the shuffle for $50 for a 2 GB version, also shipping on September 8^th. Apple has sure made a lot of changes to their devices, but most if not all of them are probably for the better.

Update

iFixit's tear down revealed the the new iPod Touch actually has just 256 MB of RAM, not 512 MB, which is a disappointment.

iOS 4 Causes Problems With Second Generation iPod Touches

Apple’s iOS 4 has added a lot of great features to iPhones and iPod touches, but it has also caused a lot of issues. Ever since iOS 4 has been installed on my second generation iPod Touch, I have been having a lot of issues with it. There have also been a lot of reports from Real Gadget Reviews’ readers that they have also been having a lot of issues. One of the biggest things is that it causes a lot of crashes. I believe that this is mainly because it uses more RAM than iPhone OS 3, and this causes applications to not have access to enough RAM. This is just my opinion. I have noticed that with iOS 4 a lot of my RAM heavy applications and a few very simple applications have been crashing for no reason at all. The web browser is also unstable. This could be because second generation iPod Touches just don’t have the hardware required to run iOS 4 smoothly, but if that's true, why was it released for them in the first place? If Apple knows that it will cause problems, which they should have known, they should have either found a way to resolve them, or just made second generation iPod Touches unsupported for the update. Another big issue is that battery life has been greatly decreased. Before the iOS 4 update I could use my iPod Touch for days without recharging, but now, if I leave it off the charger at night when it is fully charged, it's dead the next morning. I would have been okay with this if iOS 4 added a lot of features, but it didn’t, at least not for second generation iPod Touches. The biggest feature that we got is probably the ability to have all of your emails unified into one inbox. Other than that, I don’t really see any great improvements. If anyone at Apple is reading this, please take action to fix this, because not all of us have the cash to upgrade to the newest hardware every six months.

No Friends To Test FaceTime With? Just Call Apple

In case you have no friends, or just no friends with an iPhone 4, you can call Apple to test out the new FaceTime feature. All you have to do is call 1-888-FACETIME (188832238463) from your iPhone 4 and you will be connected with an Apple representative. They will then briefly explain the features of FacTtime to you and a few tips and tricks on using it. Don't try any of those late-night tricks though, the help line is only available from 8AM to 8PM CDT.

Macbook Pro Heats Up to 101 Degrees Celsius

You know those new Macbook Pros with the Intel Core i7 processor, and how the processor is the most powerful ever seen in a Macbook. Well guess what, it can also get hotter than any other Macbook. PC Authority recently ran a series of tests on the Macbook Pro 17 inch with the new Intel Core i7 processor. They ran a large number of tests but a few of them stood out. They tested the Macbook Pro with Maxon Cinebench, a 3D benchmarking program on both Mac OS and Windows running in Boot Camp. While running the tests the CPU core reached temperatures of up to 101 degrees celsius. They even had to prop the Macbook up sideways to cool it down a bit. Apparently the chassis was hot to the touch, which I am pretty sure is not supposed to happen. The Macbook Pro's metal casing is supposed to transfer heat all of the body so that it does not heat up as much, and that apparently did not work so well in this case. PC Authority also did the same test with the Fujitsu Lifebook SH 760. It uses the exact same processor as the Macbook Pro, but it only heated up to 81 degrees celsius. That is a full 20 degrees less than the Macbook. Obviously the people at Fujistu have a much better idea of what they are doing in terms of cooling than Apple does.