Dinero suficiente como para enterrarte en billetes.

Algo así describiría con bastante acierto la cantidad de dinero en cash de que dispone Apple. No hablamos de valor bursátil, opciones de acciones ni valoración por parte de alguna agencia de rating de esas que hunden economías nacionales.

Pasta, guita, viruta, trapos, presidentes muertos, lechugas, parné… billetes, en definitiva. la casa de la manzanica mordía tiene unas reservas de casi 100.000 millones de dólares en papel moneda. Si hubiese suficientes billetes de 1 dólar y se pudiese hacer una torre colocándolos uno sobre otro alcanzarían más de 10.000 kilómetros de altura, dejando la ISS a la altura del betún. (más…)

General Motors junto con la Escuela Bezalel de Arte y Diseño de Israel están trabajando en ventanas interactivas que sean utilizadas por los pasajeros de los asientos traseros de un automóvil.

A diferencia del BMW con pantalla interactiva frontal que apareció en la película de ciencia-ficción Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, este proyecto real bautizado como Windows of Opportunity (Ventanas de Oportunidad) conceptualiza nuevas formas de ayudar a los pasajeros del asiento trasero – especialmente los niños – para tener una experiencia diferente, justo como ya lo proponía Toyota con su concepto “Window to the World“.

Windows of Opportunity se basó en estudios psicológicos que indican que los pasajeros de automóviles a menudo se sienten desconectados de su entorno, por eso GM pidió a los estudiantes Bezalel convertir las ventanas del automóvil en pantallas interactivas capaces de fomentar la curiosidad y una mayor conexión con el mundo fuera del vehículo.

GM no tiene planes inmediatos de poner ventanas interactivas en sus vehículos, pero ha dado rienda suelta a su desarrollo. Los estudiantes de Bezalel han creado un prototipo  que utiliza  la tecnología de movimiento y sensor óptico desarrollada  por EyeClick para convertir el cristal de una ventana común en una superficie multitáctil. Además han desarrollado aplicaciones de interacción como los que se muestran en el siguiente video.

Dentro de poco su familia o mascota no serán los únicos capaces de reconocerle al atravesar la puerta de su hogar, y a diferencia de estos, este nuevo ente siempre le obedecerá con un simple gesto de la mano.

Hablamos, por ejemplo, de la nueva generación de televisores que se ha convertido en uno de los principales focos de atención de la feria de tecnología CES, que arrancó este martes en las Vegas, Estados Unidos

Joe Clayton, CEO of Dish, takes the stage with a live kangaroo. We’ve introduced a lot of firsts, now we have another one, Clayton says. The first company to feature a live mascot at a CES press conference. He also introduces new corporate mascots, Hopper and Joey.

Hopper is the new Dish DVR. It aso includes the Joey, the side kick DVRs that can be used in other rooms. The system can record in four different rooms and up to 6 HD programs at one time. It support both satellite and IPTV. It’s MoCA (Multimedia over Coax), Bluetooth (for headphones) and ZigBee compatible.

Music: Music has been neglected in most pay-TV systems, Clayton says. The Hopper includes 73 channels from Sirius XM including new 9 Latino channels.

Hard Drive: The Hopper includes 2 TB of memory, 2,000 hours of content, more than competitors, Clayton says.

Blockbuster @Home: Dish is expanding its Blockbuster service now includes 6,000 family and kids shows. Wall Street believes Blockbuster is tarnished but to Main Street, Blockbuster means family and movies, Clayton says. For $10 per month, people get more than 100,000 DVD movies, TV shows and games by mail and streaming of more than 10,000 movies and TV shows, including more than 3,000 kids shows.

Latino Content: The fastest growing demographic group in America. Dish is adding more than 3,000 episodes of telenovellas and other Latino content to Blockbuster @Home.

Dish Unplugged: A new service: People who don’t have Internet access can get movies delivered via this service via satellite.

Marketing: In the past our message was focused on having the best price, Clayton says. Not any more. “Variety innovation and value” is the new motto.

User Interface: Personalizes your TV with your favoriate shows. If you connect it to broadband you can get instant access to on-demand shows and movies. With a Sling adapter you can watch live channels on PC, tablet or mobile. Apps included are Facebook, Twitter, Pandora and others.

Prime Time Anytime: A new features. You can record all four networks in HD and two other channels at the same time. (Now you can have enough entertainment to never have to leave your house ever ever ever again.)

AMD FX 5120 Silenx air tower cooled
Gigabyte 970A UD3
8GB 2000 DDR3 RAM (4x2gb) 2x water cooled
2x 500GB Western Digital 7200RPM 32MB
PNY 8400 1gb DDR5 water cooled
Roswill PSU 80 plus Bronze 630W total/730W peak
Samsung DVD writer 22X burn +-
Roswill 2.5″ 47 card reader
1x Fire Wire PCI-E 1x adapter
1x WIFI wireless G adapter Netgear
1x 5.1/2″ dual bay water recervoir xspc
2x Radiators 3 120mm, 1 80mm
4x UV cold cathod lamps
1x Water pump Termal Take 12v .9A
1x Logisys UV blue transparent case 3x 80mm multy color fans w/ fan controller
1x fan controller FC3
1x cpu water block
3x 120 fans
2x 80 uv fans

New details have emerged regarding Apple’s huge contract with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to put an Apple Store in New York City’s Grand Central Station.

The New York Post reports that Apple will not have a revenue-sharing model in place with MTA – something that makes the deal with Apple especially sweet (for Apple) given that the tech giant is projected to take in $100 million annually at this high-profile location.

The Post reports that Apple’s $60-a-square-foot lease is “well below what many other tenants are paying” — including a future Shake Shackburger establishment, which will pay more than $200 a square foot.

As MMi previously noted, the store will cover a massive 23,000 square-foot range – roughly 3,000 square feet more than Apple’s current biggest stores. That’s a whole lot of space to accommodate the huge flow of traffic that passes through Grand Central Station – particularly during the holidays.

Apple’s biggest – and possibly most profitable – store will (finally) open in Grand Central Station next weekend.

The first project is geared toward iPad users and more of a keyboard accessory. TouchFire is placed over your iPad’s onscreen keyboard and will allow you to feel where each key is.

The gadget is very lightweight and is attached to the inside of your iPad’s cover. TouchFire folds with the cover so it is never in the way and is transparent so you can se the keys underneath easily.

Although TouchFire attaches itself using magnets built into the iPad 2, it works just as well with the original model by using a standard case.

The designers behind the project describe their invention:

TouchFire puts the “touch” back into typing on an iPad. You can now feel where the keys are and rest your fingers on the home row, so you can type as fast and accurately as you can on a laptop. You can even type without looking at the screen. TouchFire cushions your fingers as you type, something both touch-typists and two-finger typists really appreciate.

The project’s goal of $10,000 has surpassed expectations, raising a whopping $87,436 and climbing. There is still time to pledge and support the invention for as little as $1, although by pledging more ($45), you are essentially pre-ordering the device when released.

The second Kickstarter project is a type of glass keyboard and mouse combo that screams “Apple”. The group behind the invention is asking for $50,000 worth of pledges. They aren’t too far along, raising over $43,000 so far, with a little over a month to go.

The Kickstarter page describes the futuristic device:

These elegant well made devices are composed of quality tempered glass, a solid metal base, and the finest components. They are designed using simple existing technology and have no moving parts. They have rechargeable Lithium Polymer batteries and are completely wireless. The tactile sounds and lighting can be turned on or off per the users’ preference plus they are coffee and doughnut resistant!

The multi-touch keyboard and mouse combo do not have a name yet, but by donating $10, you are able to suggest one. If your name is chosen for the device, your award will be the invention itself.

Since the technology behind the combo is more advanced than standard keyboards out there, it is no surprise a higher pledge will be required to pre-order the device. In this case, a pledge of $250 will ensure you receive the wireless mutli-touch keyboard or by pledging $100 more, you’ll get the mouse as well.

Both inventions have been thought out and are well on their way to becoming popular accessories. Visit their Kickstarter pages to learn more or to submit a pledge.

That’s even more true when those flames begin to engulf an iPhone that is plugged into an electrical source.

Unfortunately, it appears that our recent report of an iPhone catching fire on an internal Australian flight may not be an isolated incident, with news that a similar iPhone 4 also set itself alight when on charge overnight at a Brazilian residence.

The iPhone in question was on charge just a foot from its owner’s face when it apparently began to smoulder, a sure sign that something isn’t right if you ask us!

This isn’t the first time an iPhone has found itself a little warmer than Apple intended. Earlier this week we told you about an iPhone 4 reportedly emitting black smoke during a flight in Australia. With the plane safely on the ground safety officers are now trying to work out what the catalyst could be for an expensive, premium smartphone spontaneously self-combusting.

Apple has not yet commented either the incident in Australia, or the one in Brazil which happened when the handset was on charge. With millions of iPhones being left plugged into the wall overnight, let’s hope that charging is not a catalyst for the overheating that apparently caused these two fires.

At the moment all possibilities are merely speculative, but the finger is being squarely pointed at the batteries used in Apple’s iPhones. If you own an iPhone and charge it regularly, chances are you’ve noticed yourself how toasty your handset can get. The iPhone 4S even gets quite warm during seemingly trivial tasks, and we’re blaming iOS 5. Whether the two troublesome handsets to be set alight were running iOS 5, we’re not sure, but an increase in heat would match the decrease inbattery life that many are experiencing.

Although there are is no strong evidence yet to support the claim of an Apple branded TV, but that didn’t stop one concept artist from doing his thing and give life to the rumor in a beautifully created concept.

The renders which we have embedded below comes from an artist named Guilherme M. Schasiepen, and we have to admit it wholeheartedly; he has nailed it!

From the renders you can see that the artist has put some serious thought into it and dead-on we want this Apple TV – or the Apple ‘iTV’ as the artist calls it.

The feature set of the iTV is nothing short of amazing; the design of the iTV resemble Apple’s external Thunderbolt Display offering which you can bag currently from Apple at a very steepprice tag of $999, hence keeping that in mind, expect the iTV to carry a price tag way more than that.

The concept was made just in line with a currently published report of Apple launching a Siri-powered Apple TV some time in 2013, which would allow users to control the iTV with the power of their voice. Currently, Siri is exclusive to the iPhone 4S with very little hope from Apple unleashing it on older iOS devices such as the iPhone 4, iPod touch 4G or the iPad 2 in the form of a software update.

Apart from the regular bells and whistles which you might expect from iTV, it would include support for AirPlay, iCloud and also something which we all want here at Geotek ; FaceTime. Just imagine having a FaceTime conversation on a big screen TV from the convenience of your couch, sounds pretty nifty right?

There is no support for apps currently on the Apple TV box unless you jailbreak it, but the artist has taken a leap and penned down ‘iTV Apps’ as a highlighting feature of the iTV which in turn would allow us to download and enjoy our apps on a bigger screen.

Last but not the least, the two features which really got our attention is the support forglasses-free 3D and ‘Multi Touch Screen’ support. Although we don’t quite agree with the fact that Apple would implement the two aforementioned features any time soon but it would be a huge treat for us movie and TV show fanatics.

In my opinion, Apple releasing an iTV would be a really smart move, as it will cut down the clutter and offer people something which would integrate perfectly with their iOS devices, and if we’re lucky enough, with our Macs as well.

(via 9to5Mac, Flickr)