TechnologyIQ

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Apple has always been somewhat on the forefront of new input/output interfaces on the Mac, going all the way back to SCSI on the Mac Plus, through FIrewire and USB. With the new Macbook Pro introduced today, they are continuing that trend with "Thunderbolt", a new high-speed input/output interface that allows you to link not just hard drives, but also displays and other peripherals. It appears that Thunderbolt is Apple's competitor to USB 3.0, although they will probably support that on their computers, as well. It can move data at 10 Gbps, which is welcome news for anyone who deals with video and other large data applications. You can read more about Thunderbolt at the Introducing Thunderbolt page at Apple.com .

As writer Arthur C. Clarke once said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Google Translate on the iPhone approaches magic in the way it allows you to speak into your iPhone, see your words translated into a different language and even hear the language spoken aloud. You wouldn't want to use Google Translate as your sole source of language support, but it could certainly make your traveling life easier. Check out the free app by downloading it from the Apple App Store. From the Official Google Blog ... Speak to translate -- The new app accepts voice input for 15 languages, and—just like the web app—you can translate a word or phrase into one of more than 50 languages. For voice input, just press the microphone icon next to the text box and say what you want to translate. Read more about Google Translate iPhone App

Click for larger images After seeing some example of photos enhanced with the Toonpaint iPhone app , I knew I wanted to try it out for myself. These are my first two photos. You Toonpaints don't need to be black and white. You can use the built-in tools to add comics-like color washes to the pictures, too. Toonpaint photos can be saved to the film roll on the iPhone and also shared to Twitter and Facebook.