Mike was previously on the Newton team before he left to work on stuff like Nike’s Techlab, which produced products like the Nike+ iPod system that I actually used three hours ago.

Will Michael be back to head up the marketing efforts for the Apple Tablet? Or maybe some sort of exercise device similar to the Nike+? Is it annoying when I write sentences in the form of a question? [NYTimes]

The Mogo Talk is more or less the same MoGo Bluetooth wafer that’s been kicking around since 2007, except this time accompanied by purpose-built backplates for a sizable portion of the BlackBerry range. Burying the headset harness in the battery cover ostensibly helps keep a mounted headset from protruding too far, and enables a charging system to be built in without adding unnecessary bulk.

Looking at the suspiciously not-in-profile shots here, though, the deep integration and 5mm headset thickness still seem to leave a lump that would be at least noticeable, and at worst, irritating, especially in tighter pockets. Of course, something tells me that this might not matter too much, since the Bluetooth+BlackBerry combination means a fair number of these will end up living in belt harnesses, strapped around people named “Dad.” The MoGo Talk will ship within a few weeks for $US129.99. [MoGo]

Well, more accurately, buy: the Newton Virus—which, for those of you who still aren’t sure, is harmless—is $US5 as a screensaver, $US7 as a USB app, as seen in the video, and $US10 for the pair. Whether or not that’s worth it is up to you, but I think it’ll be popular: with Mac users, because the app is undeniably cool; with Windows fanboys, just because it puts the terms “Mac” and “virus” in the same sentence. [Troika via Geek and Hype—Thanks, Joffrey!]

This adds to past rumours of a mystery Apple device making use of Atom, though Schwaderer’s supposed semantic choice calling it a “version of the iPhone” seems odd, given that Atom is designed more for UMPCs than traditional mobile devices. Also, too much bigger and it’s not much of a phone-sized gadget anymore—more like a mini-tablet or as Jesus has called this particular phantasm, the Son of Newton. As always, we’ll believe it when see it. [ZDNet.de via MacRumors]

Xbox LIVE 1. Option to delay sign-in to Xbox LIVE upon booting console (to allow user to set Online Status). 2. Option to promote Child Account from Family Settings. 3. Disallow Child Accounts (over 18) to override Family Settings by launching Privacy Settings through a title. 4. Option in Family Settings for Child Accounts to enable child-oriented/non-mature advertisements. 5. Introduce a group chat (4) for Private Chat and conferences through Video Chat. 6. Support to indicate media being watched to gamercard status (video content from Marketplace only). 7. Extend height for Bio field in Personal Profile, easier navigation through text. 8. More fields present in Personal Profile – recent achievements, interests, games, movies, links, custom section. 9. Compact Personal Profile for new fields (navigating to field will open it up). 10. Mandatory option to delete duplicate titles from gamercard (excludes Games for Windows – LIVE). User disconnected from Xbox LIVE when booting any title until action complete. 11. Option to remove payment information from gamertag. 12. New payment methods for international users. 13. Download History on Account Management better organized – games, genre, type, download date, miscellaneous. 14. Long descriptions of items on Marketplace can be scrolled using right stick. 15. Better organisation of free content on Marketplace. 16. Option to ‘ping’ when testing connection. 17. Allow re-connection to Xbox LIVE if Ethernet cable is re-inserted whilst powered on. 18. New strip colours available to developers, staff gamercards. 19. New corner icon available to ambassadors. 20. Re-introduce Messages button for Inside Xbox updates only. 21. Option to store up to 10 messages permanently on server (excludes invites, status messages). 22. Increase character limit for text messages between friends only. 23. Option to disable invites from non-friends or all players. 24. Option to disable invites from titles not on gamercard (excludes demos). 25. Option to have smaller items moved up in Active Downloads. 26. Automatically re-connect to Xbox LIVE if disconnected unexpectedly (set intervals). 27. Option to download gamer picture (if available) from a gamercard being viewed. 28. Display random tips to replace static text on Xbox LIVE and Games blades. 29. New button on Marketplace for optional dashboard features – uses Storage Device memory. 30. Option to donate Microsoft Points to anybody with a Windows Live ID. 31. Option to purchase Membership for charities (includes benefits). 32. Integrate file-sharing for selected titles on Xbox LIVE and Games for Windows – LIVE. 33. Disable notifications to friends of user repeatedly signing into service (set period). 34. Option to see ’snippet’ of text message in notification. 35. Windows Live Mail integration – includes support for Xbox LIVE Vision. 36. Web feeds integration – text, images, audio. Includes support for specific item codes on Marketplace. 37. Option to display gamer picture or standard picture as display picture in Windows Live Messenger. 38. Support for headset, Xbox LIVE Vision in Windows Live Messenger. 39. Support for limited ‘winks’ that display on dashboard interface. Option to disable ‘winks’ and ‘nudges’ added. 40. Notifications separate from Windows Live Messenger to Xbox 360 notifications. 41. Disable multiple languages from being used in any Xbox LIVE editable fields.

Games
1. Option to delete titles from gamercard with 0 gamerscore and 0 achievements (excludes some titles that will be re-added to launch another title).
2. Organize My Games at the Games Library section better (includes disc-based titles) – sort by genre, platform (Games for Windows – LIVE), percentage completion.
3. Support to display friends leaderboards for disc-based titles.
4. Show dates of an achievement unlocked when comparing.
5. Preload Games Library upon dashboard bootup for faster access.
6. Game updates now shown as items in Memory, increased amount of updates on Storage Device.
7. Option to delete game updates, removed ‘cheat code’ as no longer needed.
8. Support for more titles to display banner when accessing guide in-game.
9. Option to re-introduce awarded gamer pictures from titles that do not have their own re-introduce feature (requires saved game).
10. Disable gamer pictures from being awarded from trials.
11. Support for titles to store installation data on Storage Device for faster loading.
12. Synchronisation to achievements offline/online that were deleted and then re-added from developers.

Media
1. Option to hold LT and RT for rewinding/fast-forwarding video content.
2. Option to delete individual music tracks from storage device.
3. Option to rip music CD at different quality.
4. Copy non-protected files (pictures, music, videos) from USB storage devices, CDs and computers to proprietary storage devices.
5. Support for menu, top-menu features on video content downloaded from Marketplace.
6. Section added for audio delivered through feeds (podcasts). Option to stream, download to Storage Device.
7. Support added for video titles/description to gamercard status.

Dashboard/Miscellaneous
1. Option to navigate quickly out of several menus back to respective blade home (applies to Games, Media, System).
2. New blade trim styles added.
3. Introduce expanded Inside Xbox as a portal to news, weather, entertainment, help and community features.
4. New sounds for various functions (notifications, blades, navigation).
5. Calibration options for display/sound.
6. Calibration options for motion sensor devices.
7. New effects for Xbox LIVE Vision and dashboard background.
8. Disable changing of Theme when on Memory to prevent ‘hanging’.
9. Preload recent, limited items upon dashboard bootup on Memory.
10. Faster loading of Themes section on guide.
11. Option to see what items will not work offline due to DRM licence changing from Memory.
12. Option to automatically associate new DRM to items downloaded for free.
13. Indicate ‘charging’ status on guide when Play & Charge kit is connected.
14. Option to change text colours on guide to better contrast some backgrounds.
16. Language improvements.
18. Word censor updated for fields.
19. Privacy Settings/Family Settings updated for new features.
20. Voice, picture messages can be read at Xbox.com (Gold accounts).

[Kotaku]

Jake also says that Microsoft has recently licensed patents from Gyration, maker of those gesture mice we all know and don’t really care about. Nintendo did the same back in 2001 in order to help develop their own Wiimote.

The 360mote will also receive signal from an LED sensor bar (like the Wii), but one-ups the Wiimote by having a microphone on board for Xbox Live chat. He doesn’t have many other solid points of data—there are guesses about it using the standard rechargeable battery pack and what colours it will have—but he does think the target date of late ‘08 looks very likely. [8bitjoystick]

While Taz is getting an iPhone, for some Newton diehards the Apple JesusPhone won’t be a replacement. Some will say that even if it has color and has a great design, it just doesn’t have the many things that made the Newton an amazing product.

It lacks the concept of “data soup” and it doesn’t have a public SDK, so no third-parties can extend it. Thanks to this, the lively Newton community has developed hacks that have pushed it into the Internet era (no Flash-video support yet, though), showing that the grandaddy of PDAs still can beat them all.

However, the fact is that the iPhone, while simpler than Newton, it’s an extremely powerful device. Much more than the Newton ever was. Its software is more accessible to normal users than the Newton’s; it runs an extremely fast operating system and, most importantly, it has a phone and built-in Wi-Fi, which is reason enough to make it a better communicator than the Newton. A product for the masses, rather than a niche wonder.

And looking at the waiting lines and the media frenzy, I’m going to get my hazy crystal ball out and say that there’s another thing in which the iPhone is better than the Newton: this one won’t flop.