Today Apple began sending out invitations to an event to be held on September 9 in the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco.

Apple holding ‘rock and roll’ themed event, September 9th.

Update 9/1/09: Philip Elmer-DeWitt of Fortune Brainstorm Tech is reporting that Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster seems pretty certain that Steve Jobs will be introducing Apple’s new line of iPods next week.

On the other side of the argument Katie Marsal of AppleInsider is reporting that analyst Shaw Wu with Kaufman Bros. released a note to investors predicting that Steve Jobs will not be personally unveiling Apple’s new iPods.

Update 9/2/09: Apple TV Shipping Window Slips to 1-2 Weeks

Update 9/2/09: Greg Sandoval of CNET has heard from “music industry sources” that Apple has obtained the rights to sell ready-made ringtones for the iPhone.

Update 9/7/09: Brad Immanuel has snapped a shot of a banner going up for Apple’s event this Wednesday.

Update 9/7/09: AppleInsider and HardMac are both claiming that Apple is having technical issues with the upcoming iPod touch and this will likely delay its availability.

Update 9/8/09: John Gruber has published his predictions on Daring Fireball regarding tomorrow’s Apple event. As usual it is full of rumors and speculation that no one else has mentioned before. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s event, especially if John’s speculation regarding iTunes is correct.

Update 9/9/09: iPhone OS 3.1

Update 9/10/09: iTunes 9

Update 9/10/09: The New iPod Lineup

Update 9/13/09: Covino & Rich iPod touch was Real

Although the Apple event hasn’t been officially announced, it’s as close to being confirmed as it could ever be. The event is rumored to be on September 9 and there has been quite a bit of speculation as to what might be announced at the event.

I have already published my predictions but thought I would reorganize them based on how confident I am of their announcement.

Confident

• Refreshed iPod touch, nano, and classic all with cameras and microphones
• A new release of iTunes, most likely bringing it to version 9
• Project Cocktail

A Little Confident

• iMac refresh, possibly just upgraded internal hardware.
• Apple TV update, Take 3 (hopefully).

Not Going to Happen

• Tablet

No matter what happens at the event I’m sure most of you will be excited for it, especially if Steve Jobs makes his big return.

Update 8/31/09: Apple Makes September 9 Event Official

Update 9/2/09: Apple TV Shipping Window Slips to 1-2 Weeks

Update 9/12/09: The event happened and I didn’t do too bad. What I was confident about happened (except the cameras in the iPod touch and classic) while everything else I mentioned didn’t.

Update 9/13/09: Covino & Rich iPod touch was Real

Update 9/15/09: iTunes LP and Extras Destined for the Apple TV

Update 11/24/09: iPod touch Camera Rumors Resurface

Kasper Jade of AppleInsider is claiming that Apple’s MacBook is on the verge of a redesign.

People familiar with Cupertino-based company’s plans say the 13-inch portables are presently undergoing an industrial design overhaul that will see them reemerge in the coming months with a slimmer, lighter enclosure and restructured internal architecture to boot.

Ever since Apple repositioned its aluminum MacBooks as MacBook Pros I’ve thought the MacBook felt a little lonely. It’s only natural to assume that Apple would expand their MacBook offerings. Up until now this thought only came from idle speculation but now there is at least someone with a source indicating that it could be true.

Kasper Jade goes on to point out that, with the addition of the tablet and the expansion of the MacBook offerings, Apple will have a top-to-bottom line of products. In the second quarter of next year Apple will offer a device at every major price point and this will undeniably make the lives of PC manufacturers a little more difficult.

AppleInsider | Apple to retain, redesign plastic MacBook family.

Update 9/16/09: Wedge Partners Claims Apple is Redesigning the iMac and MacBook

Update 10/20/09: Mac mini with OS X Server and Multi-Touch Trackpad for Desktop Macs

Update 10/20/09: Apple Updates MacBook with LED-Backlight, Glass Trackpad, 7 Hour Battery

Earlier this week Sony announced their “Reader Daily Edition.” It is a 7-inch touchscreen e-book reader with AT&T 3G, 16 levels of gray, and a new library finder service.

This new library service will allow users to check out e-books and other digital content from their local library, for free. The library pays for a number of book licenses and then lends out the right for a user to view the content. For example, a library would pay for 5 licenses of “iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon” and then up to 5 people can have that book “checked out” at a time. After 14-29 days the book will automatically disappear from your device and “return” to the library.

The Sony Reader Daily Edition will join Sony’s Pocket and Touch editions in December and will be priced at $399. And by the way, it doesn’t have a built in web browser (translation: I have no interest in this device).

Sony Electronics News and Information.

Previously:
8/8/09: Sony Reader Pocket and Touch Editions

DigiTimes is quoting “market sources” saying:

OmniVision will be the sole supplier of 3.2-megapixel CIS products for new iPod nano, iPod classic and iPod Touch models which will be launched in September, the sources indicated.

DigiTimes reported back in April that Apple had ordered 3.2- and 5-megapixel CMOS sensors from OmniVision. The 3.2-megapixel sensors were used in the iPhone 3GS while the 5-megapixel sensors still haven’t found a home (assuming the rumor in April was true).

It’s has all but been confirmed that Apple will be releasing new iPods at a September media event, most likely to be held on September 9. The addition to the rumor mill with this latest report is that the iPod classic will also gain a camera in its next hardware revision. I had all but given up on the idea that Apple would put any effort into the iPod classic, but it seems they might not be letting it languish after all.

OmniVision becomes sole CIS supplier of new Apple iPod.

Previously:
7/24/09: Whole Slew of Next Generation iPod touch, nano Case Images
7/23/09: Wired Touting iPod touch Camera Rumor
4/5/09: Rumors Say Apple is Ordering 3.2MP and 5MP CMOS Image Sensors

Update 8/30/09: Jacqui Cheng of Ars Technica has been told that iPod stock is getting low and all current SKUs are being discontinued

Update 8/31/09: Apple Makes September 9 Event Official

Update 9/6/09: Engadget has a gallery of iPod nano and iPod touch cases from IFA. And, of course these cases are for the unannounced nano and touch which will feature cameras.

Update 9/10/09: The New iPod Lineup

Update 9/13/09: Covino & Rich iPod touch was Real

Real has announced their Rhapsody application for the iPhone. It will allow iPhone owners with a Rhapsody subscription to stream Rhapsody’s entire music library (over 8 million songs) to their iPhone or iPod touch over Wi-Fi or 3G.

This week Real submitted their Rhapsody application to the App Store and with Apple’s approval, will be available soon. As long as there are no technical problems with the application I have a feeling Apple will approve it.

Real says that current Rhapsody subscribers will simply need to log in to their account using the application while non-subscribers will have the opportunity to try the service during a free-trial period.

The application sounds great and I’m eager to try it out. But, I’m a little bugged by the fact that I can’t download tracks for listening offline.

Introducing Rhapsody on the iPhone.
Image credit to gdgt.com

Update 8/27/09: paidContent is reporting that Apple has approved Spotify for the iPhone. Spotify is a service very similar to Rhapsody and is a good indication of how Apple will treat Real with their application submission. Spotify has also published a demo of their application on YouTube.

Update 9/1/09: Here’s an interesting bit regarding music streaming apps that I found on All Things Digital:

Napster has created an iPhone application that allows subscribers to stream music on-demand to their iPhone—including personal playlists, albums and radio stations. You can imagine the company is also looking at streaming applications for several other mobile platforms as well (Blackberry, Android). However, due to the high licensing fees for streaming to a mobile phone, Napster has not yet submitted the iPhone app to Apple for approval or attempted to bring the application to market.

Update 9/10/09: Staci D. Kramer of paidContent reports that Real’s Rhapsody application has been approved for the App Store. I’m eager to test it out but I’ve searched the App Store and, as of right now, it is no where to be found.

Update 9/10/09: The Rhapsody application can be found in the App Store now. I’ve just downloaded it and will be trying it out first thing in the morning.

Update 9/12/09: I’ve spent a couple of days with Real’s Rhapsody application for the iPhone. I had a little bit of trouble getting it set up correctly (it seemed to have some trouble with my username and password) but after reinstalling it everything worked fine. The application does exactly what it says it does, streams music from the Rhapsody library to your iPhone. It works over both Wi-Fi and the cellular network and was very responsive using either.

I do enjoy the application but it’s not worth $14.99 per month, for me that is. If you spend over $15 per month on music then Rhapsody might be a good option, but I know I don’t spend that much.

Update 9/14/09: Updated the image above and added a gallery below.

Update 10/14/09: A user experience designer for Rhapsody for iPhone has announced in a forum posting that Real’s priorities for the Rhapsody app are “stability, audio quality and offline playback.”

I have quit using the Rhapsody application because of its $14.99/month charge but adding offline playback to the mix might convince me to jump back on board.

Snow Leopard will be available tomorrow and there are a few things you should do before upgrading.

It’s always a smart idea to clean up your Mac before doing an OS upgrade. I’d start by removing applications that you don’t need or want anymore. AppCleaner was developed to do just that. AppCleaner not only deletes the application itself but any Library folders associated with it as well. It can even help you remove any widgets, preference panes, or application plugins that you no longer need.

Once you’ve removed all the unnecessary applications you should update all of the remaining applications to the most recent version. AppFresh is an application designed specifically to keep all of your apps up to date. Simply open the app and let it scan for updates. You’re one click away from installing all available updates.

Let’s move on to cleaning up your boot process. In the “Accounts” system preference pane there is a “Login Items” tab, this will list the applications that open when you log in. Remove all the apps that you don’t need when you boot your Mac, not only will this make boot time faster but will also help the upgrade process go smoother.

After your Mac’s thorough cleaning, verify and repair disk permissions and the disk itself. You won’t need any extra software to do so, simply open up Disk Utility (found in the Utilities folder), select your hard drive, and choose Verify Disk/Disk Permissions or Repair Disk/Disk Permissions. This process can take some time but is well worth the time right before a major OS upgrade.

The last step before upgrading to Snow Leopard is to backup your hard drive. You might already be doing this with Time Machine but you should also have a bootable backup so you can get up and running quickly if anything goes wrong. Using a second hard drive SuperDuper! will make a bootable backup of your Mac, including all of your preferences and applications. Depending on your amount of disk usage this could take several hours.

You’re now ready to upgrade to Snow Leopard.

Previously:
8/24/09: Snow Leopard Officially Coming August 28
8/16/09: Snow Leopard Disc and Retail Packaging
8/2/09: Pre-Order Snow Leopard From Amazon

Update 8/27/09: In Walt Mossberg’s review of Snow Leopard he does confirm that the $29 upgrade disc can also upgrade machines running Tiger.

here’s a tip: Apple concedes that the $29 Snow Leopard upgrade will work properly on these Tiger-equipped Macs, so you can save the extra $140.

Upgrade 8/27/09: Along with Walt Mossberg’s review several other web sites have published their reviews of Snow Leopard. Here’s a list of the notable ones:

• Joshua Topolsky for Engadget
• Jason Snell for Macworld
• Jim Dalrymple for CNET
• David Pogue for The New York Times
• Andy Ihnatko for the Chicago Sun-Times

Update 8/31/09: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Compatibility List

Update 9/6/09: Snow Leopard

John Biggs of CrunchGear has published several images purported to be of the Apple tablet, which they are calling “the iPad.” Their source claims that they are very early screenshots of the tablet. I don’t think that these are real but we won’t know for sure until Apple has enough time to send (or not send) a cease and desist.

I’ve added all of the screenshots to a gallery below just in case they get taken down (which they probably won’t).

The iPad Revealed: Purported screenshots of the Apple tablet OS.

Previously:
8/24/09: Steve Jobs Has Been Focusing on the Tablet
8/13/09: Brian Lam Talks to Insider About Apple Tablet
7/25/09: Apple Tablet May Come in Early 2010

Update 8/26/09: I have several observations after looking through these images again.

• It’s odd that the keyboard would be labeled “Keyboard.”
• All of the fonts look a little off.
• The rounded edges on the boxes containing text doesn’t fit with Apple current design conventions seen on the Apple TV.
• With no video being displayed the playback controls indicate that it is about half way through a video.

This is obviously fake, and not a very good one at that.

Update 8/30/09: Brooke Crothers of CNET claims to have talked to an industry analyst who has seen the Apple tablet and says that “the MacBook Air has some of the aesthetic qualities of the tablet.”

Update 9/17/09: Another Report on the Apple Tablet

Update 10/7/09: Apple Tablet Coming in Q1 2010

Update 12/8/09: ‘TabletMac’ Trademark and Apple Tablet Pricing

Update 12/28/09: Apple Tablet May be Announced in January

Update 1/6/10: Apple May Ship Tablet in March

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that since Steve Jobs’ return to Apple he has been focusing much of his attention on the tablet.

Since his return in late June, the 54-year-old has been pouring almost all of his attention into a new touch-screen gadget that Apple is developing, said people familiar with the situation.

Also saying that some employees that had grown accustomed to “a level of freedom” while Jobs was on his leave of absence have found his intense scrutiny “jarring.”

In a response to the Wall Street Journal’s request for comment, Jobs said “much of your information is incorrect.”

The Yukari Iwatani Kane was one of the writers of the Wall Street Journal piece that broke the news about Steve Jobs’ liver transplant so clearly we are dealing with someone who has fantastic sources. I have no doubt in my mind that the tablet is coming in 2010.

Jobs, Back at Apple, Focuses on New Tablet – WSJ.com (Redirecting through Google to get around the WSJ’s pay wall.)

Previously:
8/13/09: Brian Lam Talks to Insider About Apple Tablet
7/25/09: Apple Tablet May Come in Early 2010

Update 8/26/09: Fake Apple Tablet Screenshots

Update 9/17/09: Another Report on the Apple Tablet

Update 10/7/09: Apple Tablet Coming in Q1 2010

Update 12/8/09: ‘TabletMac’ Trademark and Apple Tablet Pricing

Update 12/28/09: Apple Tablet May be Announced in January

Update 1/6/10: Apple May Ship Tablet in March

The rumors were true (and my prediction as well) Snow Leopard will be shipping on August 28. I’ve been running the betas for a few months on my MacBook and there isn’t a single change that I wouldn’t consider to be an improvement.

Apple has also revealed the box art for snow Leopard. The retail packaging that was leaked last week was real. So, when you unbox your copy of Snow Leopard expect a white box and a big cat to be staring back at you.

I have pre-ordered Snow Leopard on Amazon but the shipping status still hasn’t changed, currently there is no indication of when Amazon pre-orders will arrive to customers.

There is still some question as to what build number will be in the box. Monday is almost over so the “leaked” screenshots of 10A435 are obviously fake. It is more than likely 10A432 will be the build in the retail box.

Apple to Ship Mac OS X Snow Leopard on August 28.

Previously:
8/21/09: Snow Leopard Coming August 28
8/16/09: Snow Leopard Disc and Retail Packaging
8/2/09: Pre-Order Snow Leopard From Amazon
6/8/09: WWDC 2009 Predictions

Update 8/25/09: Just received an email from Amazon regarding the delivery status for my Mac OS X Snow Leopard Family Pack. The estimated arrival date is September 2-4.

Update 8/25/09: A Twitter and Tumblr user by the name of Pedro Ample has received a retail copy of Snow Leopard early and has confirmed that build 10A432 is what comes on the retail disc. He has posted images of the retail box on Tumblr while confirming the build number on Twitter.

Update 9/6/09: Snow Leopard