Well friends, it’s that time of year again. Apple is holding a “Special Event” on Wednesday September 1st. Rumors are flying about what will be revealed at the event. Typically the fall event focuses on music, so we can expect iPod refreshes. Engadget has an overview of all the product rumors that have come out thus far.

Images of third party cases have been popping up that seem to confirm some of the rumors. The iPod Nano appears to be getting a 1.7 inch touch screen and the iPod Touch is getting a make over with a front facing camera.

We may also see an announcements regarding a iTV/Apple TV and possibly an iTunes move toward the cloud.

Now we’ve done our part to spread the rumors and generate more Apple buzz. The event will take place on Wednesday at 10:00 AM PST and there will be lots of organizations live blogging as it happens. And remember to keep an eye out for your obligatory Apple email after the event confirming how amazing their new products really are.

We are now one step closer to being optimal Mac users. Actually, 20 steps closer. This is the next installment of Mac tips from tech evangelist Chris Pirillo, counting down numbers 41 through 60 of 100. We will be posting the next 40 tips on Monday over the next two weeks, so stay tuned.

If you help us share these tips from Chris, you’ll be entered for a chance to win a copy of Parallels Desktop 5, with a free upgrade to the next version of the software when it launches.  Just retweet us or send us a tweet @ParallelsMac mentioning these tips, with #SwitchtoMac, and we will put your name in the hopper to win a brand spanking new copy of PD5.*

With all that happened this week, we wanted to provide you with a quick rundown of tech news to get you through the weekend.

Microsoft Co-founder Paul Allen Sues Everyone within earshot – including Apple, Google, Ebay and eight other companies for copyright infringement. A Google spokesperson’s take on the lawsuits? “It reflects an unfortunate trend of people trying to compete in the courtroom instead of the marketplace.” Read more on WSJ.com.

Google buys social media startup Angstro and hires its founder, Rohit Khare, to help build social networking service, Google Me. What does this mean? Google really, really wants to be in the social networking fight, and are trying to figure out how. More at LATimes.com

The iPod Touch 4G will be shaped more like the iPhone 4G, sans the shatter-prone glass on the back, a source familiar with the matter reports. The shape will be “similar the top of a MacBook Pro, only smaller,which is to say flat rather than curved at the center. Reported by iLounge.com.

Netflix Instant comes to the iPhone and iPod Touch. Netflix announced an app that allows Netflix users to stream Netflix Instant content on their iPhone or iPod Touch devices similar to their app for the iPad, but  re-jiggered for the smaller screens. It will be convenient for some, irrelevant for others. Check out our post here.

CollegeOnly launches as a social network only for college students. Kind of like Facebook 5 years ago. The site’s founder, Josh Weinstein, says that CollegeOnly and Facebook can happily coexist. This is likely true, as Facebook happily coexists with the thousands of other niche social networking sites with their minuscule  market shares. Reported in NYTimes.com.

Amazon launched a slimmer, quicker version of the Kindle. Verdict? It’s an eBook in an iPad world. But that’s what some of use need. Here’s Engadget’s review of the new device.

Microsoft will invest $500 million in the launch of Windows Phone 7 this Holiday season. Time will tell if that will work for them, although I won’t be betting money on it. At least not half a billion dollars. Crunchgear.com reports.

The folks over at BoingBoing interviewed a man about his underwater bubble room. He and his family thought it would be fun to build a “fort” at the bottom of an undisclosed Nevada lake.

This video got me thinking though. While it’s super cool to have you’re very own “bubble room” at the bottom of a lake, there must be a point when the novelty of being at the bottom of lake in a bubble room wears off. At that point, what do you do? I imagine a “bubble room” would be a peaceful place to read a book, but there would definitely be some difficulty associated with bringing that book along. Then I thought that I would just want my iPhone, so I could read, play Angry Birds or watch movies all from safety and security of my underwater lair.

I proceeded to fire up the Google machine and discovered many a gadget to help me accomplish my task of watching Netflix at the bottom of a lake. The most compelling solution (not the top search result, but very close to the top) was the Dry Case. I was a little put off by it’s first selling point, “Stays dry even under water”. I thought we’d clarified that point with the name, but fortunately the marketing material redeemed itself; waterproof to 100 feet, vacuum seal, stereo/microphone jack and buoyant armband! Now we’re talking. I was also reassured by the fact that this accessory as been “Garanteed tested underwater overnight”.

As a scrupulous consumer I could not base my purchasing decision solely on the word of the company. I headed directly to Amazon to see what a bunch people I don’t know had to say. As it turns out, the Dry Case has great reviews. Eight out of Nine reviewers gave it 4 stars or better. The only recurring complaint was the armband being to big or too small.

Now all I need to do is get my very own “bubble room”. I wonder when they’ll be available on Amazon.

Image courtesy of Dry Case

Today Netflix announced an app that allows Netflix users to stream Netflix Instant content on their iPhone or iPod Touch devices. A similar app was already available for the iPad, but has now been re-jiggered for the smaller screens. There has only been moderate excitement about this online, but I personally am ecstatic.

About a year ago, I cancelled both my cable and internet in my apartment. Although living without the internet at first seemed impossible, it has been remarkably simple. Most of the casual surfing that I did on my laptop I can do on my iPhone, and any heavy computing I can do on my work computer before going home for the night.

I started spending time on other leisurely pursuits such as riding my bike, reading, and talking to real people. That has been moderately amusing. I have learned to wait for my iPhone’s 3G to load, and to navigate away from sites that require flash. However, to me the biggest down side is a lack of much-needed mindless entertainment – the kind I need when I can’t sleep or when I am lonely on the weekends. I would be willing to watch it on my iPhone, but there really wasn’t any way that I could do that barring a Hulu Plus invite and subscription.

But today Netflix announced that Netflix Instant movies are available on the iPhone and iPod touch through 3G (iPhone, not iPod touch of course) and wifi. I think they are a match made in heaven. Since the Netflix Instant catalog is so limited, it is only for casual viewing. (Although I appreciate the extensive lineup of Magnum PI episodes available through Netflix Instant, I would hardly consider it truly competitive.) Since the iPhone’s screen is so small, it is for casual viewing as well. No one is going to watch 2 hours and 42 minutes of Avatar on a 4-inch screen.

So what the announcement brings is casual viewing content to a casual viewing device. Sounds perfect to me. What do you think – will you watch movies on your iPhone?

Image courtesy of CrunchGear