While Cult of Mac’s–Wired’s Mac centric blog–source says “it’s a done deal” citing “friends who work at Apple”, this doesn’t match Apple’s previous statement regarding trade shows:

Apple is reaching more people in more ways than ever before, so like many companies, trade shows have become a very minor part of how Apple reaches its customers. The increasing popularity of Apple’s Retail Stores, which more than 3.5 million people visit every week, and the Apple.com website enable Apple to directly reach more than a hundred million customers around the world in innovative new ways.

Apple has been steadily scaling back on trade shows in recent years, including NAB, Macworld New York, Macworld Tokyo and Apple Expo in Paris.

If Apple is shifting from Macworld and tradeshows to do their own low cost show-n-tells whenever they want, it doesn’t make much sense to believe they are “going large” at that big mammoth-graveyardish wasteland of electronics and press releases that some people like to call CES. Or does it? Whatever it is, something smells here, and it’s not all that bacon. [Cult of Mac]

With all functionality now integrated into the ball, users can control all the many interface functions that support navigation, media control adjustments, document and photo browsing with the rotation of the ball. And the low profile stationary design with its ruby red ball sitting atop a sleek gunmetal grey base is visually striking, takes up minimal desk space, and enables a relaxed and comfortable user experience, without the need of a wrist pad.

Is the trackball poised for a comeback in an era of touchscreens? I can see how a trackball could make handling digital content easier than a standard mouse, but there is a $US130 barrier to entry when the device is released at the end of January.

Kensington Announces New SlimBlade(TM) TrackBall – Now “The Ball Does It All”
To Turn Savvy Digital Lifestyle Users Into “Smooth Operators”
smart made simple(TM) Breakthrough Design Provides One-Touch User Interface for Navigation, Media Controls and Document, Photos Browsing

Redwood Shores, Calif. – January 6, 2009 – Kensington Computer Products Group, a worldwide leader in delivering smart made simple computing accessories for the mobile consumer, today announced its SlimBlade Trackball for the Mac and PC that brings a whole new level of control, comfort and ease to today’s digital savvy users. Kensington’s breakthrough design combines hardware and software into one integrated interface for smooth operation allowing users, for the first time ever, to navigate and manipulate digital content through the ball itself. With all functionality now integrated into the ball, users can control all the many interface functions that support navigation, media control adjustments, document and photo browsing with the rotation of the ball. And the low profile stationary design with its ruby red ball sitting atop a sleek gunmetal grey base is visually striking, takes up minimal desk space, and enables a relaxed and comfortable user experience, without the need of a wrist pad.

The SlimBlade Trackball is the latest offering in Kensington’s award-winning SlimBlade collection of smart and sleek computer accessories. The unique heads up display user interface shows users – right on the computer screen itself – which mode or function is enabled. This first-ever melding of hardware and software means that a user’s hand never needs to leave the ball and their eyes never need to leave the computer screen. This revolutionary design allows users to focus on enjoying their digital content – not on the interface – and is especially valuable for providing instant feedback for immersive experiences. Navigation mode controls the cursor and scrolling; Media mode controls volume, play/pause, stop and next, while View mode zooms in/out and pans for accurate and efficient photo editing.

Recent CEA research shows that over 70% of the applications used in the home are centered on entertainment, music and media. Trackballs have long been used in the workplace, but as digitally-savvy families are taking advantage of the broad range of Internet-based sharing and entertainment capabilities and increasing the quantity of home computing activities, early Kensington research shows that the trackball is about to become the device of choice for personal use.

“Our Kensington SlimBlade Trackball is a true standout that should become a ‘must have’ for today’s digital lifestyle-savvy consumers,” said Juan Rodriguez, Senior Global Product Manager, Kensington. “We have been known for our trackball leadership for 25 years, so it is only natural that we would be the ones to accomplish this breakthrough user interface, where ‘now, the ball does it all’. And it fits perfectly into our award-winning smart made simple SlimBlade Collection. This product is going to set a new standard for the computer/user relationship from the moment it comes to market.”

The Kensington SlimBlade Trackball

SlimBlade Trackball (SKU K72327US) – Your computing experience just got smoother. With the Kensington SlimBlade Trackball, you’ll surf web pages faster, flow through your MP3 library more easily, and zoom in and out of your photographs efficiently with complete and seamless control at your fingertips. Suggested Retail Price: $129.99

Key Features Include:

• Expand your digital media experience – The multi-function ball lets you easily navigate through your music, pictures, and documents with Media or View mode while the heads-up display allows you to keep your eyes on the screen by showing which function is being performed
• Do it all without taking your hand off the ball- Gain fingertip access to image and media controls as well as control the cursor and scrolling; volume, play/pause, stop, and next; zoom in/out, and pan, all with the ball
• Comfortable for hours – The low-profile shape and sleek stationary design keeps users comfortable while eliminating the need for a wrist pad and saving desktop space
• Mac & PC compatible – Including Mac OS® 10.5X, Windows Vista® and Windows® XP

Designed for Use With:

• Web Browsers – Microsoft® Internet Explorer®, Mozilla® Firefox®, Apple® Safari®
• Graphics – Adobe® Photoshop®, Photoshop® Elements, Lightroom®, Apple® iPhoto®, Apple® Aperture(TM)
• Viewers – Adobe® Reader®, Apple® Preview
• Productivity – Microsoft® Excel®, Word®, Numbers, Pages

Product Availability
The Kensington SlimBlade Trackball is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com and Kensington.com and will be available at major retailers at the end of the month. For additional information on the new and existing line of Kensington products, please visit www.kensington.com.

The new version of the Modbook is made of machined aluminium, finished in black. While its design is clearly not Jon Ive’s, the 2.4cm Modbook Pro is thinner than the Macbook it is based on, and more elegant and straightforward than their previous model.

The new guts include a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and Nvidia GeForce® 9600M GT graphics, but the most important thing in a tablet computer is the surface itself. At 15.4-inch WXGA display, it is larger than the 12-inch Cintiq Wacom I reviewed and it has something that the Wacom or the original Modbook don’t have: Its touch sensing.

The Modbook Pro uses a technology called Synergy Touch, which combines the pressure-pen Wacom system with direct and simultaneous touch input. They don’t say if it supports multitouch gestures in Mac OS X or Windows, but the multiple input is great news.

The only bad thing is its price. At $US4,999 for the model based on the 2.4GHz MacBook Pro, this thing is prohibitively expensive as far as tablet PCs go. It’s not surprising, since they are done by hand–there’s a Modservice Pro that will reconvert your MacBook Pro into a Modbook Pro for $US3,049–but still hard to justify looking at the alternatives from other PC manufacturers.

Hopefully, Apple will eventually supersize the iPod touch. When they do, I hope they go the other way around and add pressure-sensitive pen input to it. [Axiotron]

Yes, now instead of a store in the mall to buy your stepdad a spatula mixed with a thermometer, The Sharper Image is going to be a line of iPod docks sold at places like department stores and Bed, Bath & Beyond.

What I saw were some decent-looking but uninspiring iPod docks. One model rotates your iPod touch automagically into landscape mode for watching movies. Another has a pair of detachable, wireless speakers.

The goal is to sell iPod docks that are cheaper than what’s out there, but with most of the prices hovering well over $US100, they really only seem like they’ll be cheap when compared to something like Bose. In any case, these things won’t be hitting stores your mum shops at until November of this year, so we have a good long while to get excited about piano-black iPod docks again.

Skype Access, as it’s called, scans for available Boingo wireless networks and presents a pop-up dialog box with the price per minute for using the network. The price is a global flat rate of about 26 cents per minute, which even when coupled with the cost of Skype-out charges, is still a lot cheaper than calling home from your mobile while overseas. Plus, there’s the added convenience of not having to worry about giving your credit card details to a Wi-Fi hotspot provider.The beta version also includes screen sharing abilities, which lets other Skype users see what you’re working on on your screen via a secure connection. At the moment because it’s only in the beta for Mac users, you won’t be able to see the screen of a Windows or Linux Skype user, but they can see yours, at least until the software is officially rolled out later this year.

Other features included in the beta are:

*Improved chat management: you can sort chats in the drawer and set priorities to chats
*Quick Add: it’s now much easier to add people to chats
*Mood message chat: see mood message updates from your friends as chat messages
*Large profile pictures: just like Skype 4.0 Beta 2 for Windows, you can now use images of up to 256 x 256 pixels
*Hidden avatars in incoming contact requests: a small minority of Skype users have profile pictures which others may find unpleasant, and so they’re now hidden by default in contact requests
*Add notes to contacts: you can add notes to a contact in their profile window – handy for keeping track of who’s who.

[Skype OS X beta]

It’ll also write DVDs (at 8x)–no BD writing though. Crunch says it requires an external power brick, which kind of nullifies the “portable” aspect. Still, can’t beat that price. No word on official availability, but we would imagine it’s on the way soon. [Crunchgear]

Many people are bashing the Philnote because it was a bore and there were no new new NEW toys. In reality, the keynote wasn’t very different from many other that Steve Jobs did in the past. I remember some who were mostly the same: Endless software demonstrations plus a hardware update here or there. In fact, I think there were even worse keynotes, like that time when an endless parade of third-party software directors came on stage to show their support to Mac OS X. It took me several Guinness pints to get over that one.

So given what he had to present today–and I’ve to say that I love the new iPhoto and iMovie–El Schillerino did quite a good job. But even while he was good, apparently he’s not Steve Jobs and people weren’t as enthusiastic as when El Esteban is on stage. I don’t know what’s going to happen when Jobs finally retires from Apple, but maybe the key for success goes through free beer for everyone at the door. [Image based on the original beer goggles from Urban Spectacles via Dark Roasted Blend]

I’m a sucker for any Apple keynote, whether I’m in the stands with the press or F5′ing away at my browser like most of you. There’s a certain hypnotic timing to them, a clean presentation and a controlled, meticulous unveiling process that makes even the less exciting products seem monumental in scope.

During today’s last Apple Macworld keynote, not having been there, I actually forgot at times that Steve Jobs wasn’t presenting with Phil Schiller taking his place instead. Indeed, from the text/content alone, I wouldn’t have even noticed. The presentation style was intact—from the clean slides to the dramatic structure, it was an Apple keynote, even if it wasn’t Steve’s Apple keynote. But I want to know, do you feel the same way?