Yup, I work off two machines. That’s not bragging, it’s just that I commute with a netbook and here at Republic Republishing we all use MacBook Pros for the day job! Now, I’ve been using Macs for years as a reviewer but this is the first one I’ve owned and used every day. I’m still in two minds as to whether I’d buy one with my own money.

This has a knock-on effect that I’ve been humming and erring about the upcoming Apple kit. One that I know I’d never buy is the Apple Tablet. I am sure the analysts predicting it’ll sell in its millions are on safe ground, it’s just that I’m not a big fan of tablets in general, so the news that Apple may get involved during 2010 leaves me feeling a little cold.

So, what am I looking forward to in my Mac? Well, it seems that iTunes 9 will be offering Blu-ray movies for download. A MacBook Pro with Blu-ray makes a good deal of sense. That in itself isn’t as big a shock as people would expect but it does have the knock-on effect that Apple will need to update their laptops to handle true HD definitions and even sport Blu-ray drives.

In its most basic essence it means we’re likely to see MacBook Pros move to 17.3-inch and 15.6-inch to deliver true 16:9 aspect ratios. While Steve Jobs previously voiced concerns about loading his machines up with HD and the effects it may have on performance, it seems even Mr Jobs can’t hold back technology creep forever.

It also means that if we are to see an Apple Netbook any time soon, then it’ll no doubt sport a 11.6-inch screen to keep in line with this across the board move. Then again, the latest rumours point to an even smaller 9.7-inch device, which no doubt will be seen more as a super-iPhone Touch rather than a netbook. If they can get the battery life, and more importantly the price, right, then I could well see myself moving solely to an Apple desk and wave the Windows behind… we’ll see!

The New York Times published an interesting piece on the effort that Apple goes to keep the cult of secrecy going at Cupertino, with staff limiting contact with the press and senior execs even feeding lies to employees to see where leaks appear. It’s an eye-opening piece, and well worth a read.

The general tone of the article implies that Apple still deals with the media as companies did in the 1980s, rather than in the web 2.0 era, where multinational companies like Dell embrace social media, actively blogging, tweeting and churning out photos for all to see and use on a Flickr photostream. It’s a fair point, and an approach fewer companies, tech ones especially, are using still.

And yet, that still plays in Apple’s favour. Two of the world’s most popular and valuable blogs, MacRumors and AppleInsider, are dedicated to the pursuit of digging up whatever titbits of Apple future tech they can find. Any new Apple launch immediately trends on Twitter, and while Apple can take its online store down for hours at a time to update it with shiny new products, it more than makes up for it with boosted business in the hours afterwards, as anticipation is cranked up no end.

But Apple is the exception that proves the rule here. The public couldn’t give a cow’s udder about any other company that tries to enforce quite the same regime of secrecy. If Apple’s relationship with its customers is still one way, many others are using social media to open up the conversation (Take O2 and its excellent use of Twitter, as I highlighted the other week), bringing in John and Jane Smith and making a giant corporation feel that bit less impersonal. It’s something that we recognise here at Republic across our portfolio, particularly with sites like Nokia Conversations and NokNok.

Of course, I could be wrong and my bosses have been working on some super secret project that goes completely against what I just said. I’m off to landgrab RepublicPublishingInsider.com…

All jokes aside, it’s hard to miss a big new product from Apple, even if you’re not in the slightest bit interested with technology. That’s certainly the case on Twitter, where Apple, iPhone and WWDC (The conference it was unveiled at) were all trending topics before Apple executive Phil Schiller even took to the stage.

What you may or may not have seen was another trending topic on Twitter today that emerged once Apple fans had swept the broken shards of jaw off the floor and duck taped them back together to read through the fine print: #o2fail.

O2 is the network with exclusive rights in the UK to the iPhone 3G S, as the new model is called, and in the hours after the iPhone unveiling, it put up the pricing plans for the different tariffs, along with a little smallprint. Unlike last year, when original iPhone owners were able to get out of their contract and pay a set amount to jump to the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3G owners will have to pay extra to get out of their current contracts. Almost everyone I follow seemed to have a gripe about O2 today, and some Twitterers even started petitions for “reasonable” iPhone pricing.

Now, some of O2′s pricing is fair enough (The iPhone 3G is subsidised by O2 on monthly contracts, so it needs you to cough up for the entire contract to stay in the black), and some of it is Scrooge-like (Despite a price cut in the US, the iPhone 3G is still the same price in the UK it was a year ago). But it’s fascinating to now see Twitter as the – realtime – forum to air all these woes. Even the petitions doing the rounds are built with the Twitter API.

O2 has actually been answering questions on Twitter via @o2 for some time now, and while it didn’t address general 140 character grumbles, it was responding to any individual tweet about the new iPhone pricing throughout last night and today. And despite the hostile messaging, it was staying positive and helpful throughout (“We’ll be in touch when you are eligible to upgrade”).

The upshot? You’ve got to give credit to O2′s marketing department, if not the beancounters elsewhere in the company. It’s recognised Twitter is an important, and crucially public, communication platform. It expected questions to come flooding in on Twitter, and it was on hand to answer them when they did. If only all companies tried to be this accessible.

Microsoft just showed off Vine, its new Facebook and Twitter-beater in one. It’s a dashboard widget for Windows PCs designed to show groups of friends who’s in the vicinity and what they’re up to. But there’s a more serious side than simply organising impromptu pub crawls.

Microsoft’s trialing its system with emergency services in tow, with its ultimate aim to help track where people are if there’s ever a natural disaster.

Its development was inspired by the confusion following Hurricane Katrina, and lets officials update local users in the event of an emergency. Of course, at the same time they can use it to organise weekly football matches. Or pub crawls. With updates on schedule changes automatically filtering to all involved.

Is it handy? Almost certainly. But Microsoft’s not alone in ploughing the location-awareness furrow. Twitter has the capacity to tag tweets with a geographic location, and new micro-blogging platforms such as AudioBoo integrate location data as a matter of course.

Even Apple is hopping aboard. The next version of its OS X operating system will include location awareness.

But Google could be about to squash the lot of them. Its Latitude technology will share your location with friends through a web browser on any computer, and it’s built into all new Android mobile phones too, as well as being prepped for the iPhone.

So where’s it all heading? My hunch is there’s a ton of money to be made from location-aware ads. Forget country-specific ad campaigns, with this technology advertisers could get down to street level. Searching for a restaurant on your phone? The nearest Cafe Rouge, Harvester or Bernie Inn could grab the space next to your search results, and pay mightily for the privilege.

Of course, sharing your location will never be compulsory, but with so many tech firms weaving it into their products it’ll soon become standard practice, and if you’re not visible on the map, people will start to wonder: what exactly are you up to? Big Brother isn’t just watching, he’s talking behind your back and selling you to the highest bidder.

Laptops have changed that notion, as battery life, portability and usability carry far more weight in the buying decision than just pure ‘grunt power’.

This idea of usability has been added to by price, no more so than here in the UK where we seem obsessed with the idea of a bargain. I should know, I own four of the damn things – two running Windows and two running Linux – and use them all (well, to be honest I’ve retired my Eee PC 701)  – none of which replace the powerhouse desktop replacement I use for work and the serious ‘grunt work’.

I understand the market’s need for netbooks, if you don’t have one then you’re missing out on a 25 million-a-year gold mine, so if you don’t have one then you’re market share will drop. Then there is the money argument, as it’s a great way of getting a sub-£400 machine into stores without actually having to think too hard about it.

However, most of them will end up being used as deal makers by the Telcos looking to expand their Mobile Broadband offerings. Which is why the news that Steve Jobs is working on a netbook for Apple isn’t that much of a shock. I’m just curious as to the type of person, apart from the fan-boys, this type of device will appeal to? I can’t see Apple wanting to get into the cheap-n-cheerful market by bringing out a sub-£350 netbook, can you?

This means that any potential Apple netbook will be high-end, think Sony VAIO P Series, so closer to £800, which is where Apple’s fully-featured and faster laptops start. Then if it’s to appeal to the Telcos to bundle with Mobile Broadband packages, well surely that’s the job of the iPhone?

I’m keen to see what Apple decides is the right size, shape and price for it’s netbook and I’m sure I’ll wiling find a place for it in my collection, I just can’t help getting images of the G4 Cube popping into my head every time I think of the Apple netbook, though – another Apple device that was a great idea that no one, sadly, wanted to buy.