Appletell

In an odd move for Apple, they today released the new Airport Express, with 802.11n networking. Usually, Apple releases products on a Tuesday, and it seems that they may have decided to release the product early due to Saturday’s leak.

The new Airport Express units are no different from previous iterations other than the new 802.11n wireless networking capabilities. It also remains with one 10/100 ethernet port, which is slower and older technology compared to the gigabit ethernet offered on all Macs and all other Airport products.

The Airport Express is priced at $99.

See the Airport Express product page at [Apple.com]

• Glad this one’s not guys against girls
• Playstation 3 firmware ver. 2.52 snuck out while you were voting
• Apple Releases Apple TV 2.3, couple nice new features

The Airport Express page on the Swiss Apple Store Online has been preemptively updated to show that the Airport Express has been updated with 802.11n wireless capabilities. As of now, all products in the Mac and Airport lines except for the Airport Express are wireless N compatible.

The 802.11n wireless networking protocol allows for more stable, secure and faster internet. 802.11n provides a greater range and speed of up to more than four times faster than 802.11g, it’s predecessor. It is currently available in Airport Extreme and Time Capsule, and has taken it’s good old time in getting to the Airport Express. Most likely, we will see this update on Tuesday.

Via [MacRumors]

• Glad this one’s not guys against girls
• Playstation 3 firmware ver. 2.52 snuck out while you were voting
• Apple Releases Apple TV 2.3, couple nice new features

Engadget reports that this weeks’ Circuit City circular shows a purple iPod Nano. The photo above is confirmed by the online screenshot linked at the bottom, and I can confirm that this appeared in my Sunday newspaper as well. The purple appears in place of the pink, but it is highly unlikely that Apple would discontinue the pink so soon, unless it was designed as a special edition Valentines Day version.

This update would bring the number of Nano models up to 8 (4GB silver, 8GB silver, black, green, blue, red, pink, purple). It is worth it to note that the color as a whole looks a little off in the iPod Nano photo, but not enough to have turned the pink iPod purple. Circuit City’s website photo for the Nano shows pink, and no sign of purple.

If this is a true update, it would be reasonable to expect it this Tuesday, for yet another update week in Apple’s calendar.

Read [Engadget] See [Ad Page]

• Circuit City’s Black Friday 2008 video game deals revealed
• Black Friday 2008 video game deals roundup
• Some GPS deals to consider on Black Friday

It seems when that magic day rolls around for us apple fans, we get a slight sense of joy, hoping and praying for the next release or update from Apple. Well, this Tuesday is no different with much speculation arising over new MacBook Pros. Recent reports were stating that we would have to wait until WWDC (June 11th) to receive an update to the MBP line, but we may see updates as early as this Tuesday (June 5th).

Mac4ever.com (French) posts the following from a reseller:

There’s some news. We’ve just ordered the new MBP ! Launch expected for next tuesday… But Apple didnt’t say anything about the specifications. We have to order blind-eyed… If i’ve got some other news, i’ll keep you informed.

This information itself is not necessarily convincing, as resellers are usually not in the know on new product releases, and our guess is as good as theirs on product updates. Many are curious as to if the new update would be the LED / Santa Rosa update we’ve all been waiting for. Better battery life and faster MBPs are always welcome in my books. We’ll just have to wait and see what Tuesday brings, or doesn’t.

via [Mac Rumors]

• Contest: can you be Yahoo’s next CEO?
• Apple Releases Apple TV 2.3, couple nice new features
• Apple rated #1 in customer satisfaction in recent survey