Windows

Ever wished you could run your favorite iOS app on your Mac? What about your Windows machine or Android device? If creators of new Kickstarter project iEmu reach their funding goals, it may be possible sooner than you think.

iEmu is a new project based on the open-source QEMU emulator, currently accepting donations through Kickstarter, that aims to emulate the S5L8930 chipset used in iPhone 4 and first-gen iPads. It will support a number of platforms including “Linux, Windows, Mac, mobile platforms such as Android, and even on iOS itself”.

The goals of iEmu? Well the end goal is an emulator capable of running “most iPad/iPhone apps” that even supports  peripherals like the compass, accelerometer, and GPS. It would also “be extended with plugins for custom iOS exploration” and able to be reflashed in iTunes.

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We’ve been pretty envious of the Logitech Solar Wireless Keyboard that has been selling for months now for Windows PCs (though it does work on Macs with key mapping).   Amazon reviewers give it overwhelmingly positive feedback on the PC, it is thin and goes for three months without light.

Today, Logitech announced that a Mac version is on the way.  As a bonus, it is available in 5 colors including black, white and 3 different admittedly ugly pastels.  Interestingly, Logitech is selling it for $20 less than the list price of the $79.99 PC version at $59.99.  So much for the Mac Tax?

Besides the pastels, this product looks like a winner.  Sign us up.

Additionally, Logitech launched a $50 back mounted iPad speaker earlier this week.  It has batteries which last about as long as an iPad and also charges via USB.  I’m not immediately sure if I like this idea or more importantly, the implementation but, there it is:

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Details below:
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufdXy_NZjXc]

Apple packages an elegant little USB key with its MacBook Airs that allows you to restore Snow Leopard if your machine goes south.  But with many people upgrading to Lion, few will want to go through the process of downgrading to Snow Leopard and again to Lion if the machine goes bad.

Here is a way to upgrade your USB Key to Lion as well as your MacBook Air.

MacBenTosh has posted (thanks, Danny!) a video guide showing how to format the restore key into a drive that works like a normal 8GB rewritable Flash drive. To follow along with the instructions in the video you’ll need an instance of Windows running in a virtual machine, Boot Camp or a separate PC.  After restoring, the key will be shown as a 8GB drive.

From that point, Egg Freckles has posted a guide on how to create a Lion disc. Of course Lion will only be available from the App Store (or Dev site), but it’s nice to have a local, external installer.

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More trouble in Microsoft land as Bloomberg reports that Microsoft device manufacturers are complaining about the software giant’s meddling in their affairs:

Microsoft Corp.  is putting “troublesome” restrictions on makers of processors used to run the coming Windows tablet-computer operating system, Acer Inc.  Chairman and Chief Executive Officer J.T. Wang said.

“They’re really controlling the whole thing, the whole process,” Wang said at the Computex trade show in Taipei without identifying the restrictions. Chip suppliers and PC makers “all feel it’s very troublesome,” he said.

Can you even imagine a PC manufacturer standing up to Microsoft publicly in a pre-iPad world?  While Acer is moving to Google for many of their tablet products, and even ChromeOS for one of their notebooks, Acer is still one of the three biggest Windows PC manufacturers on the planet and of course is expected to make Windows 8 slates…
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