The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Tuesday night we're looking at the iPhone Intelligence Party, featuring some of the top iPhone game devs out there. Also on Tuesday there's a bash hosted by iPhoneAlley and MacRumors.

Wednesday night there's an SF Tweetup at House of Shields. There's also the 4th annual open Macworld party, hosted by Daily TechTalk. Finally, there's the 18th birthday party of the EFF, although we're not sure if we'll be attending.

Be sure to check our Macworld Twitter feed for the up-to-the-minute blogger locations.


*Certain restrictions apply. See full giveaway rules for details.

For those of you wanting shirts, hats, mugs or even a Flip Mino with TUAW on them, here's our CafePress store. Big thanks to Robert, who created the swirly logo version (shown above on the Mino), the "comment troll," "fan club" and "I already read about it" designs and the "command-escape" piece with Moses.

Who says Apple doesn't listen? More to the point, who says Steve Jobs isn't aware of the rumors? Earlier today Apple posted a letter from CEO Steve Jobs indicating precisely what has been causing his weight loss (a hormone imbalance, apparently treatable) and why he won't be at the keynote (he's spending time with his family). There's a corresponding statement from the Apple board of directors offering support for Steve and confidence in his continued leadership.

Steve's no dummy. I applaud him taking this time to be with his family, and I'm personally quite happy to hear his weight loss appears to stem from a rather strange but reversible affair. While the keynote will be odd without him, let's hope this puts a little water on the doomsayers out there. Steve's not going anywhere just yet -- so everyone relax this week and enjoy the spectacle at Macworld.

Next week the TUAW crew will descend upon San Francisco for Macworld Conference and Expo 2009. Of course, we plan to cover the booths, the personalities and the keynote (live and in-person). Sunday night we'll have a very special TUAW Talkcast featuring seven bloggers and a room full of solid rumormongering. But we're curious: whether you are going or not, what would you like to see us report on from Macworld? If the option isn't in the poll below, leave it in the comments. Here's a look at what we covered last year. Let us know if you want more galleries or more video, more hardware hands-on reviews, or more software demos.

If you are making the pilgrimage, be sure to check our Twitter feed for any meetups (at least one of which will feature a giveaway); tag your Macworld Flickr photos with "tuaw" so they appear in the photo pool; and above all, have a safe trip.

UPDATE: A clarification -- I'm asking for what stuff you want TUAW bloggers to cover at Macworld, not what you wish would happen. Sadly, we have no control over Steve so cannot affect his presence at the event. If he's there, however, we'll certainly post about it.

What a month, what a year! This December we reached in our holiday bags and pulled out quite the haul for the giving, and below you can see what we've given away so far:

Congrats to Erik, who won the Pulse Smartpen
Congrats to Jon, who won the LaCie Rugged and iPod nano from PowerMax
Congrats to David and Jake, lucky winners of the ElementCase iPhone cases
Congrats to all 10 "It's About Time" winners (notices just left our email bays).
Congrats to Eric, winner of 3 games from Freeverse.

The rest of you have until just before midnight (Eastern Time in the US, so if you're seeing the ball drop in New York you're too late). Enter to win one of five days of giveaways, all prizes courtesy Dr. Bott.

If you're going to Macworld, we've got a few giveaway opportunities going on in San Francisco as well. And if you've still got a hankering for TUAW gear, there's always our shiny new CafePress store.

Thanks for reading TUAW, and have a Happy New Year!

Don't forget our Sunday night Talkcast will include most of the TUAW crew getting their last-minute predictions in!

TUAW Macworld 2009 Keynote Predictions

Will "one more thing" be Steve? Are we getting an iPhone nano or iMac tablet? Check out the 2009 keynote predictions from the TUAW crew then tune in to our liveblog to see who was right.

Rumor watch: New Mac mini go for launch

Rumor watch: TechCrunch says large-format iPod touch in 200

Case manufacturer XSKN spilling the beans on iPhone nano?

Rumor: Quad-core iMacs

Apple to mini fans: "Be patient."

GeForce 9-Series motherboards maybe coming to the Mini

Full details TBD, but here's what we're planning:

• Tuesday morning the first person in line at Moscone who is waiting to get in to the keynote will get a TUAW shirt. Congrats to Nick, the now-famous first in line!
  
• Wednesday, close to the end of the Expo day, we're giving away a big bag of stuff!
• Thursday, we're planning a Tweetup somewhere in the city where, again, a big bag of fun will be awarded in random fashion.

If you're looking to start a podcast or blog (or both) in 2009, this will get you started. The Snowflake mic is an awesome and portable audio tool, and MacSpeech Dictate is the "gold standard" of Mac transcription apps. Win both in this giveaway courtesy our friends at Dr. Bott.

Don't forget the rest of our Holiday Giveaway-tacular posts and all the loot you can win there as well: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4. Everything ends at the end of December 31, so get to clickin' and good luck!

• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment telling us what would be the subject of your podcast, if you had one.
• The comment must be left before December 31, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: Snowball Microphone ($69.95), MacSpeech Dictate ($199)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Plenty of folks are probably getting iPhone gift cards this season, and for anyone who wants to make their iPhone the hit of the party (later, once you've actually purchased and activated the thing) here's a lineup for you: some speakers (which fit just about every iPod ever made plus the iPhone), a stylus to keep grubby fingers of your precious, and a case.

I tested the JBL speakers and the stylus. The JBL speakers provide an astonishing amount of sound in such a small package. We turned it up as far as felt safe, and the kids had their fingers in their ears. Plus, at either loud or soft volume the audio was always very clear, not muddled with bass or too tinny on the high end (this was from the iPhone with no EQ).

The Pogo stylus does what it says: provides a poking stick for the iPhone's surface that works. It's a stick, and it pokes -- that's about as good a recommendation as you'll get from a stylus. The thing was just a short piece of aluminum too, so there's no heft at all. If you're used to a Mont Blanc in your hand you may be disappointed, I guess.

Thanks to Dr. Bott for the JBL On Stage 200iD Speakers, iSkin Revo2 iPhone 3G case (in red and black) and a Pogo iPhone stylus.

• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment telling us what music you would play on some really loud speakers.
• The comment must be left before December 31, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: JBL On Stage 200iD Speakers ($149.95), iSkin Revo2 iPhone 3G case ($39.99), Pogo iPhone stylus ($19.95)
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Were you lucky enough to get one of Apple's new, greener portables? Today's prize bundle is geared for the mobile computer user and includes a Thermapak lap pad that helps to cool the machine, a lock to secure the machine in public and an iKlear polish kit for the screen.

I had a chance to use the lap cooling pad, and on my 1st-gen MacBook Pro running Flash and getting quite hot, the pad did a great job of cooling the machine down. There are crystals inside the pad, and as they get hot, they melt, which helps dissipate the heat. My lap no longer felt hot, and when I lifted up the computer the bottom didn't feel painful to the touch. The pad had gone from crunchy to gooey as well, which my kids thought was awesome.

Thanks to Dr. Bott for the prizes today, each of which are among their most popular items.

• Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• To enter leave a comment on this post.
• The comment must be left before December 31, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: Thermapak Laptop cooling pad ($30), MicroSaver notebook lock ($44.99), iKlear Apple Polish kit ($24.95),
  
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.