This week in gagagadget: August 28 – September 3

This week in gagagadget:

Apple held its annual keynote event this Wednesday, at which it announced a number of new products, services, and features. A few of our predictions even came true! This year, the long-time rumors about the new Apple TV model were confirmed. The redesigned set-top box will allow users to rent TV shows and movies, watch web videos, and share and watch media wirelessly, all for under $100. The entire iPod family was also remodeled, the most dramatic in the form of the iPod Nano, which had dropped the infamous click wheel, and now features an iPhone-esque touch screen interface. The Touch’s update added a front-facing camera, as well as retina display, and the Shuffle finally got back its buttons. Strangely, there was little mention of the iPhone, the white model, on Verizon, or otherwise.

Also new from Apple is Ping, a social networking tool that runs entirely through iTunes. The new social network allows users to follow artists and other users, “like” albums via the iTunes store, and even check out artists’ updates and favorite music. Although the network is fairly slow and small, especially considering the high number of iTunes users, Ping definitely has some room to grow.

In direct response to Apple’s announcement of the redesigned Apple TV, the creators of Boxee Box, a competing set-top box device, gave their opinions on Apple’s product. In a blog post on Wednesday, the Boxee team said that, although they were excited to see Apple release the device, they claim the Boxee Box, at twice the price of Apple TV, will give users more freedom of what to watch. Boxee Box launches in November at around $200.

In a press release on Thursday, Samsung officially announced the Galaxy Tab. The new Android tablet has a number of impressive features, including front and back cameras, HD video, and a wide range of playback support, and joins Apple’s iPad and Dell’s Streak as a highly-anticipated tablet device. The Galaxy Tab will be available later this month in Europe, and in the US and areas in Asia in the upcoming months.

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Tagged as: Apple, AppleTV, Boxee, GALAXY Tab, iPod, Ping, Samsung, TWiG