Welcome to another morning edition of the US Update. I’ll be your host, Nick Marshall, as we take a journey through the wonderful world of tech news this fine Wednesday. We start things off with reports of a new iOS Maps application, jump on over to the first 2011 iMac benchmarks and close the show with a list of carriers confirmed to launch the new Bold 9900 in the UK. Let’s begin, shall we?
A new iOS Maps engineer job posting went live this morning. Duties include working on “innovative features” and “sophisticated user interfaces”. Could this be a sign Apple is ready to challenge the Google Maps experience on Android with its own rendition? The entry-level 2011 iMac has been benchmarked, scoring an impressive mark of 7367 in Geekbench 2.1.13 (32-bit). This beats the Mid 2010 iMac running the Intel Core i3 550 3.2 GHz two core processor by nearly 26 percent!
Industry insider DigiTimes is reporting Quanta Computer has recently received OEM orders from Amazon for a purported tablet. Word on the street is monthly orders are expected to reach 700,000 to 800,000 units with shipments beginning in the second half of 2011. Today, Microsoft released the iPhone/iOS to Windows Phone 7 API mapping tools to help developers make the seamless transition when porting their iPhone apps to WP7. If you are a current iOS developer looking to port your app(s) to Windows Phone 7, today is your lucky day.
Last up this morning, two UK operators have stepped up to the plate, confirming they’ll land their own BlackBerry Bold 9900s. Both Vodafone and Three are signed up for RIM’s latest flagship, but don’t be surprised if Orange and T-mobile also join in the fun.
