In a hectic day for Apple news, Apples third big time announcement to its home computer range is that brand new update to its iMac home pc line-up including an overhaul of is processors and its graphics accelerators.

Basically there are four newiMacs in total but as with most computer systems each one is customisable to your own requirements/budgets so its a bit of a mixed bag for all of the setups, the main point of excitement comes with the is new fastest ever with dual-core processor speeds up to 3.6 GHz.

These speeds are courtesy of the new Intel Core i3, i5 and i7 chips that are now onboard the new iMacs and the addition of a ATI Radeon HD 5750 graphics card, and Apple are keen to team up the new iMacs with its brand new 27 inch screens but you can see more on them here>>

The 21inch and the 27 inch Screens

So to sum things up a little Apple’s new line of computers come in the following packages with customisations available all over the place:

The new 21.5-inch 3.06 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,199 (US), includes:

• 21.5-inch 1920 x 1080 LED-backlit display;
• 3.06 GHz Intel Core i3 processor with 4MB shared L3 cache;
• 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM expandable to 16GB;
• ATI Radeon HD 4670 discrete graphics with 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM;
• 500GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• slot-load 8x SuperDrive® with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• Mini DisplayPort for audio and video output (adapters sold separately);
• AirPort Extreme® 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• iSight® video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet;
• four USB 2.0 ports;
• one SDXC SD card slot;
• one FireWire® 800 port;
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• Wireless Apple Keyboard, Magic Mouse.

Configure-to-order options include up to 8GB of RAM.

The new 21.5-inch 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,499 (US), includes:

• 21.5-inch 1920 x 1080 LED-backlit display;
• 3.20 GHz Intel Core i3 processor with 4MB shared L3 cache;
• 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM expandable to 16GB;
• ATI Radeon HD 5670 discrete graphics with 512MB GDDR3;
• 1TB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• Mini DisplayPort for audio and video output (adapters sold separately);
• AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• iSight video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet;
• four USB 2.0 ports;
• one FireWire 800 port;
• one SDXC SD card slot;
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• Wireless Apple Keyboard, Magic Mouse.

Configure-to-order options include a faster 3.6 GHz Core i5 processor, 2TB hard drive and up to 8GB of RAM.

The New iMac

The new 27-inch 3.2 GHz Intel Core i3 iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,699 (US), includes:

• 27-inch 2560 x 1440 LED-backlit display;
• 3.20 GHz Intel Core i3 processor with 4MB shared L3 cache;
• 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM expandable to 16GB;
• ATI Radeon HD 5670 discrete graphics with 512MB GDDR3;
• 1TB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• Mini DisplayPort for audio and video input and output (adapters sold separately);
• AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• iSight video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet;
• four USB 2.0 ports;
• one FireWire 800 port;
• one SDXC SD card slot;
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• Wireless Apple Keyboard, Magic Mouse.

Configure-to-order options include a 3.6 GHz Core i5 processor, 2TB hard drive, 256GB solid state drive (SSD) and up to 16GB of RAM.

The new 27-inch 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 iMac, for a suggested retail price of $1,999 (US), includes:

• 27-inch 2560 x 1440 LED-backlit display;
• 2.8 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5 processor with 8MB shared L3 cache;
• 4GB 1333 MHz DDR3 SDRAM expandable to 16GB;
• ATI Radeon HD 5750 discrete graphics with 1GB GDDR5;
• 1TB Serial ATA hard drive running at 7200 rpm;
• slot-load 8x SuperDrive with double-layer support (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW);
• Mini DisplayPort for audio and video input and output (adapters sold separately);
• AirPort Extreme 802.11n wireless networking & Bluetooth 2.1+EDR;
• iSight video camera;
• Gigabit Ethernet;
• four USB 2.0 ports;
• one FireWire 800 port;
• one SDXC SD card slot;
• built-in stereo speakers and microphone; and
• Wireless Apple Keyboard, Magic Mouse.

Configure-to-order options include a 2.93 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7 processor, a 2TB hard drive, 256GB solid state drive (SSD) and up to 16GB of RAM.

Additional accessories include: Magic Trackpad, Apple Battery Charger, wired Apple Mouse, wired Apple Keyboard, wired Apple Keyboard with numeric keypad, Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter, Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter (for 30-inch DVI display), Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Apple Remote, the AppleCare® Protection Plan; and pre-installed copies of iWork®, Logic® Express 9, Final Cut® Express 4 and Aperture® 3.

The new 27″ LED Display is certainly an awesome display for both the pro and consumers alike, It incorporates a magsafe power adapter to enable you to charge your Macbook Pro without the need for a power adapter, with an iSight camera, and microphone to boot it’s a great new update to any self respecting Mac owner.

The 27inch LED Apple Cinema Display screen

And to top it all off the screen is also energy efficient by earning itself a EPEAT Gold status with its ambient light sensors, which automatically adjusts the display brightness based on external lighting conditions and mercury-free LED technology, arsenic-free glass and highly recyclable materials, make the new screen a very green update.

There’s also three rear-facing USB ports and a Mini Display Port connector, plus a nice set of stereo speakers to bang out all of your recent iTunes purchases and all of this for only an extra $100 more than it’s baby brother the 24 inch, but that’s still not cheap as this brings the total price to $999 (or £650 roughly) and users will have to wait until September until they receive one!

So if you have a few hundred pounds to spend then get on over to the Mac store and update your resolution!

First out of the blocks is Apple’s new Trackpad accessory, with Apple stating: “Why should notebooks have all the fun?”…

The Apple Magic Trackpad is a new Mac accessory that offers Mac users a full Multi Touch Trackpad, similar to a Mac Book Pro or other laptops, the Trackpad is designed to support gesture controls and other features of a normal Trackpad.

The Magic Trackpad will allow users to take advantage of Apple’s patented multi-touch technology through a smooth glass and aluminium design, enabling users to scroll smoothly up and down a page with inertial scrolling, pinch to zoom in and out, rotate an image with fingertips and swipe three fingers to flip through a collection of Web pages or photos.

Aesthetically the Magic Trackpad is designed to fit in smoothly with your current Mac setup by sharing the same sculpted aluminium design as the Apple Wireless Keyboard so all those design conscious Mac lovers need not worry.

The Apple Magic Touchpad

The Magic Trackpad is made entirely of wear-resistant glass and is the largest Trackpad on offer, offering a new way to navigate and use a Mac computer, and to top it all off the Trackpad is also one giant button… so it can also eradicate the mouse entirely.

The Magic Trackpad supports full gesture control

The Magic Trackpad is works using Bluetooth technology so there is no need for messy wires and reportedly can be used up to 33 feet away (although we have no idea why you would want to do this!) and to help with the wireless nature of the Trackpad, Apple have also released an Apple battery charger for the device.

System Requirements wise the Magic Trackpad requires a Mac OS X Snow Leopard v10.6.4 running machine with Bluetooth Mac and will come with 2 AA batteries included in the pack. The Magic Trackpad is on sale via the US Apple store for $69.99 (roughly £45) and is currently listed on the UK store but there are no official details for the UK release.

They'll be back!

Well moments after we post about rumours to the Apple store having a vast new lineup and update does the US Apple store go live with its latest Computer offerings!

Yes Apple have quietly launched a huge amount of updates to its computing range with updates to both the iMac and Mac Book Pro range plus the releases of a whopping 27-inch LED Cinema Display and the brand new Apple Touchpad.

Now there is allot of information going on here so we are doing our best to get full updates on all of the products as soon as possible but in the meantime check out the following press releases from Apple regarding its bumper pack of updates and new products.

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/07/27display.html

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/07/27macpro.html

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/07/27imac.html

Check back in a while for our full breakdowns and thought son the updates.

Keen eyed Apple customers have noticed the now synonymous “We’ll be back soon” post it note up on the Apple online stores and a recent stock shortage in Apple retails stores suggests that Apple are readying their shelves for some new stock and some big updates.

Non Apple stores have also reported recent issues with getting hold of stock so Apple may be holding back to encourage people to buy the newer souped up Macs, new no official statement has been made but word is that a new iMac unit would have USB 3.0 as well as the forever rumoured a touchscreen iMac version of the computer.

They'll be back!

Rumours for an update to the Macs have als0 been filtering through with suggestions that the new Macs will sport a dual-core Intel Core i5 processor.

Word is that Apple are also holding a special meeting for press and industry insiders tomorrow so we may see the announcement tomorrow afternoon!

Stay tuned to find out if any of the rumours are true.

• MOAR: Bungie Reach teasers and console.
• FREE: a co-op game from the makers of Left4Dead.
• FUN: Modding Fallout 3 to make our minigun fire rockets.
• PLZ: Better weather, the rain is making me bored of gaming.

Moar free fun plz? No, it’s not a hidden message, since the item under FREE has been keeping us so busy that we really haven’t had time to bother using a more clever concealment technique… but more on that later.

Anyway, summer is still going strong for American audiences, with a hundred-degree heat wave ravaging the land of hope and glory… while over here it’s still raining. I would never have guessed. Anyway, enough climate-bitching, let the show begin.

Reach Remote

New Xbox +Reach = FTW!

The new Xbox is a large shiny black box, sitting in a warehouse somewhere, waiting patiently for a new owner to cover its smooth and shiny surface with horrible fingerprint marks.

But there is another way…

What if you could own an Xbox that could both show your allegiance to Bungie’s Halo franchise, and not have to worry about pesky fingerprint marks on yo’ Xbox? Well now there’s a way, as the new Xbox 360 redesign is also available in a smooth silver-white colour scheme, complete with a tantalizing Halo Reach decal finish, in the style of the green Halo 3 360 which came out a few years back and also lives on my shelf.

Halo Reach exclusive new Xbox 360 console

The look also comes with the neato decal’d Reach controllers and wireless headset too, which completes the kit. When the Halo 3 console came out, some retailers offered the limited edition of the game as a freebie, such as Gamestation in the UK, probably because of the limited edition’s bigger price tag.

As for pricing on the Reach version, in the US it’s been announced at $399, which exchanges to around £260, which was the price of the Halo 3 model back when it was released.

In other Reachy news, the new forge world editor looks great, and appears to be a highly functional upgraded version of the previous forge, offering players even more editing opportunities for their custom levels.

Valve = Free

FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

This title is either badass or annoying, but in no way as badass as the new game released by Valve, creators of Left4Dead, Alien Swarm.

Generic title aside, Alien Swarm encompasses everything that’s good about a Valve co-op shooter. The characters are amusing, the weapons whacky at best, the setting imaginative and the action addictive.

The game’s first campaign released follows three Interstellar Armed Forces Space Marines (I think Games Workshop’s going to sue somebody… and not just Blizzard.) on their task to clean up an icebound colony on a far-off planet. The subjects of the cleanup are the insidious Swarm, alien monsters who consume and destroy planets in their wake.

The game’s third-person top down view makes the environment really interesting to play in, but even more interesting once said Swarm arrive. The player controls their guns and kit with the mouse and their movement and some special items with the keyboard. Also, the game’s co-operative style allows up to four players to join a game at a time, and competent players can work together at the beginning of the game to co-ordinate their load out and classes to encourage coherency.

A level of Alien Swarm plays fairly straightforwardly. Players start at one end of the map, and have to reach the other end after completing certain objectives. On the way, as well as being harassed by aliens, the team may have to hack locked doors, extinguish fires blocking their path, or even wipe the deck clean of swarm breeding grounds.

With a four player setup, it’s quite easy for players to wander their separate ways, but this is not advised, as one of the most memorable, but annoying, enemies in the game, the Parasite (AKA facehugger, headhumper or sometimes just bastard.), preys on the lone player, infecting and eventually killing them if medical attention is not found quickly enough.

Unfortunately, it’s quite difficult to heal more than one infected squad member, as the parasites relentlessly infect and wipe out all four squad mates, and what’s more, they multiply every time they take a life. Just one will jump you, but usually about three or four will leave your ravaged corpse. In many situations, whole teams will get rushed and destroyed by these pests.

But never fear. There are a few ways of tackling the Parasites easily without (many) people getting hurt.

• Be aware: Make notes of popular breeding grounds in a level, use caution on approach.
• Use superior range: When you arrive close to a breeding ground, stay as far away as possible while moving the mouse to the far edge of the screen to increase view distance, then pick off any pests.
• Leave medics behind: The medic should hang back while players deal with the Parasites. Immediately on infection, players should withdraw from the combat and link up with the medic for healing. The Medic’s healing gun is the best way of handling Parasites.
• Spam the flamethrower/shotgun: Upon entering a Parasite nest, send some fire ahead of you to clear out any sneaky bugs.
• Work for the greater good: If the medic is down and you are infected with no way of escaping the infection, run away from your teammates and die alone in order to keep the fresh Parasites out of infection range but safely in gun range.
• Always use protection: Using the V45 Electric Charged Armour upgrade, players can be shielded by arcing lightning bolts. Activating this in a parasite nest literally makes you an effective weapon against them, as the pests will jump straight into your shocking shield to their deaths. The Tesla Cannon can also be shot at infected players to reduce the infection rate by fully half.

So apart from a genuinely frustrating enemy and some moderate lag issues (Although these can be smoothed over by reducing the anti-aliasing, shader, and texture filter levels.), Alien Swarm is a great game, and what’s more Valve released it totally free, so what could go wrong? Alien Swarm is available on Steam now, for literally nothing.

Video Break:

Best Halo Machinima ever, Season 4 is coming back with the original writer, producer and director due to bad reception of the spin-off, Arby ‘n’ The Chief in LA.

Watch from the beginning, and take it SO SUPER SERIOUSLY.

May your RoflCopter fly for many to come, Mastur Cheef. Soi soi soi. Lolololololoolololol.

http://www.youtube.com/show?p=H4Z8Vj7XZOc&s=1 (Episode guide.)

Kill or Save?

I’m an Xbox Live user. I can decide who lives and who dies!

Gears of War is a franchise for track records. Huge steroidal COGS, crazy-ass underground monsters, and of course, a nice guy named Carmine dying in a horrible fashion.

The original Carmine, Anthony, was sniped by a locust in what was probably the first real level of the game. Think Star Trek’s redshirts. A running gag was that he would’ve been able to avoid being shot if he hadn’t been wearing his helmet, as it muffled the sound of the rifle firing. This is referenced many times by banter between Dom and his younger brother Benjamin Carmine, who believes that his brother died a heroic death, before dying a similarily awful one himself.

The next instalment of the franchise, Gears of War 3, is due next year, and of course we’re due for some more Carmine, the new one is named Cray. But there’s a problem. Epic doesn’t know whether to kill off this recent addition to a cursed slot in the cast, or leave him to fight another day, since this Carmine is actually kind of a badass in comparison to the others, one of the few screenshots of him shows that he can easily Punch a locust drone to death in a single blow TO THE FACE. Marcus and Dom would approve.

So, Epic has decided to let you handle it, using your consumer powers. You can purchase a SAVE CARMINE or a CARMINE MUST DIE t-shirt for your avatar from the avatar marketplace, with the profits going to a gaming charity called Child’s Play, which donates toys, games and consoles to children’s hospitals.

The fate of Carmine will be decided by the number of shirts sold, and the game will feature the outcome when it is released. Let’s hope the community shows mercy, I’d like to see this Carmine stay around for a while, especially in the Gears 3 time of turmoil.

It’s designed to fit into the market for people looking to use a computer for education as well as work in the developing world.

The tablet uses a very small amount of power, so in other words it’s not for gaming.  It uses 2 watts of power, although you can add solar cells to it a swell. It also contains a 2GB solid state disk drive, but also ahs a 32gb expansion system. It also proudly sports a seven inch touch screen.

£23 = Happy Customers!

The tablet uses the free Linux OS to reduce costs, and also because it has support for many apps already. It includes an up-to-date web browser, word processing and spreadsheet capabilities and an app library too, LinuxLibrary.

The researchers have used cheap components and economies of scale to reduce the price to just 1600 Rupees – just under £23. The Indian Government has invited global private industries to help reduce the cost even further. If this is done, it could be an amazing step to bring education and income to the developing world.

“This is real and tangible and we will take it forward,” said HRD minister Kapil Sib.

This seems amazing, we’ll keep you posted on whether we can get one when it arrives.

The news has come via Stuff.tv, who have been told by an anonymous source that Apple may charge users for the highly anticipated update when it is released in the next few months.  Now, given the source is anonymous and only a rumour it hardly means it is a certainty – but Stuff.tv are quite high up the credibility ladder, so it might hold some water.

However, this is not the first time that Apple users have been charging for software upgrade – Snow Leopard & iPod Touch users have been hit with charge for what are essentially periodic updates.

So if you’ve bought one of Apple’s shiny new tablets recently, and have been excited about the prospect of getting multitasking and folders in the autumn tablet upgrade, you might just need to hold that thought as the only thing you’ll be feeling is the sting of Apple’s cash-hungry tactics.

We would say think very carefully Apple.  What do you think?  Do you think Apple are justified in charging iPad users with an iOS4 upgrade? Leave us your thoughts below…

Asus are currently testing prototypes of the unit with the current Froyo version of Google Android, but we’re hoping they will be releasing the tablet with 3.0 onboard. There’s currently no word on why Asus have dumped Windows Embedded Compact 7, perhaps the current success and popularity of the Android operating system has swung the decision in Google’s favour, who knows.

We at the Gadget Helpline are excited to get our hands on this product even more so now that it’s going to be running Android, the OS is a firm favourite within the team. Which would you prefer, Windows Embedded Compact 7 or an Android OS? Let us know by leaving a reply.

The program helps to provide up and coming business with around the clock tech support and specialised hardware so that they can stop worrying about technology and have the confidence to aim big.

Businesses have already benefited from HP. Local Motors for example, develops automobile solutions. They were being slowed down by their PCs and turned to HP who provided the Z600 Workstation allowing them to develop a vehicle cost-effectively from scratch without issues.

Guidance Solutions, who design and maintain eCommerce websites used HP to help them go green. The HP Compaq dc7800 Convertible Minitower PCs is now used by all the company employees which offers speed and reliability with ENERGY STAR® certification.

It’s nice to see tech giants aiming at smaller companies rather than aiming for high profit contracts from big organisations who need hundreds of PCs in one go.

Check out the video below from HP on how to ‘make it big’…

This is a sponsored post