C|Net gets sneak peek at Windows 7 (includes photos)

C|Net got an exclusive sneak peak at the next version of Windows dubbed “Windows 7″.

To read the article and see photos, click here.

OWC will convert your old MacBook into a “ModBook”

If you’re a hard-core Apple fanboy but want the functionality of a tablet computer, there’s a solution: get your MacBook transformed into a ModBook.

The solution got more easily accessible on Friday as Other World Computer announced its Modservice in partnership with Axiotron.

Originally available only in Canada, the service converts an existing Intel Core 2 Duo-based MacBook into an Axiotron ModBook. So far, this is believed to be the world’s first and only Mac-based tablet computer that lets users draw and write directly on the screen.

Preordering is available immediately from OWC, with prices starting at $1,299.99. That includes a protective shipping box and FedEx air shipping to and from OWC.

You can also buy a new ModBook starting at $2,199 directly from OWC. As an Axiotron authorized system manufacturer, OWC is certified to convert existing MacBooks into full-featured ModBooks.
Together with the Modservice, OWC is also offering a full three-year warranty option that extends the Modservice conversion one-year warranty term. Priced at a hefty $349, the extended warranty covers the original MacBook components, any customer selected upgrades installed by OWC at the time of modification, and the tablet components.

Source: C|Net

Opera mini NOT rejected by Apple?

Web site MacRumors.com is reporting that last week’s New York Times article about Apple rejecting Opera’s Mini browser for the iPhone may not have been accurately reported, and also suggests that the company has not even submitted it to Apple yet.

In a profile this past week of Opera Software, the New York Times had indicated that Opera’s Mini Browser had been rejected from the App Store based on anti-competitive grounds. Apple has rejected other applications claiming the submitted application’s feature set mirrors one of Apple’s too closely; a practice which has drawn heavy criticism.

This particular case, however, may not be entirely accurate according to further research by John Gruber.
My understanding, based on information from informed sources who do not wish to be identified because they were not authorized by their employers, is that Opera has developed an iPhone version of Opera Mini — but they haven’t even submitted it to Apple, let alone had it be rejected.

Gruber had previously believed that the browser had been rejected due to a built-in JavaScript interpreter, however he clarifies that this was incorrect. In fact, Opera Mini does not contain such interpretive code. As explained by Gruber:
In a nut, it works like this: You request a URL in Opera Mini. Opera Mini makes the request to a proxy server run by Opera. Opera’s proxy server connects to the web server hosting the requested URL, and renders the page into an image. This image is then transmitted (in a proprietary format called OBML — Opera Binary Markup Language) to the Opera Mini client. Opera Mini displays the rendered image on screen. This may sound convoluted, but apparently the result is very effective — it’s faster to transmit, because only OBML (a compressed binary format) is transmitted to the mobile device over the phone network, and far faster to render on slow mobile processors.

However the current version of Opera’s Mini browser for other platforms is coded using Java which is not supported on the iPhone and is against the terms of the SDK. In order for Opera Mini to be made officially available, the program would have to be ported to C/Objective-C.