Apple has released larger capacity versions of the iPhone and iPod Touch. Both units run $499.00, keep in mind the iPhone requires an additional 2 year AT&T service contract on top of the phone price. Still no 3G version of the iPhone.
According to iPodNN, a patent application that has been submitted to the US PTO suggest that the control wheels for future iPods may have touch based illumination. The article also states that the same function could be applied to touchpads on MacBooks.
While I think this would be cool to see, I’d like to see the control (specifically on an iPod) pulse (multiple colors?) to the music playing. Pressure based LCD or OLEDs? Hmm…
Earlier today Steve Jobs game his keynote address at MacWorld. There was some cool things announced, including a new MacBook called MacBook Air. While the new MacBook Air is pretty cool, there was another product that I was more interested in. The Time Capsule. This sucker is about the size of the Apple TV and is a wireless NAS system. You use it with Leopard’s Time Machine feature to create point in time backups of all your files. It’s wireless (802.11n) and comes in 500 GB and 1 TB sizes. What really amazed me though was Apple has it listed for only $299 and $499, which is reasonable compared to similar wired devices.
Remember the bit about the Time Capsule having 802.11n built in? It is it’s own access point. You can connect it up to your broadband modem and use it to share your network, or use it to extend an Apple Air-Port based network. So, you’ve got a wireless router and a NAS system all in one. Pretty dang nice.
Of course there was more that came out of MacWorld. Continue reading »
Apparently a new service was announced at CES today called FlyTunes. The service will be released on January 21, 2008 and will bring internet radio the the iPhone and iPod Touch. I wonder how well internet radio will work over AT&T’s edge network.
The service will be free, but ad-supported. And apparently you’ll have to download the app from FlyTunes.fm. Hmm. Hacked iPhones then? Or will the next update allow 3rd party apps?
Source: TechCrunch
Apple has released a software update for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This update is mainly to fix an issue where “viewing a maliciously crafted TIFF image may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution”. Of course, many of you probably know what that really means.
According to TUAW this version also adds back the ability to use custom ring tones. Though they do question this “feature” and say it may be a possible mistake on Apple’s part. I hope not, the ability to use our own [legit of course] music/mp3’s as a ring tone would be nice.
Hopefully the announcement from Steve Jobs today will shut some people up. By February 2008, Apple plans to have an SDK available for developers that will allow them to create REAL applications to run on the iPhone and iPod Touch.
No idea how long it’ll actually take the developers to turn around and release an iPhone app, even in beta mode. I’m guessing it’ll be at least three months after the SDK is released.
Apple came out today and slammed the market with a number of big news items. I’m sure the arch-enemies in Redmond, WA are pretty pissed right now. Here is Apple’s hot news… Continue reading »
You’ve probably heard by now that Google announced it would be opening an online “Video Store”. This bit of news came out of the CES expo in Las Vegas.
Well, the latest post on the Google Blog let’s us know that the Google Video Store is now open. You can buy episodes of Survivor, MacGyver, CSI, The Twilight Zone, Star Trek DS9, Voyager, and others. You’ll also be able to purchase NBA games 24-hours after the game.
Downloads aren’t limited to just desktop environments. Google will allow you to download videos to your Apple iPod (video of course) or Sony PSP.
Well, now that the RP-PvP servers are available, I’ve been spending more time in game again…. but, since the server I’m on is currently down, how about some WoW related news?
Blizzard is running a new contest. For this contest, Blizzard want you to create a wanted poster. Grand prize is a 2Gb iPod Nano.
Blizzard’s site has been updated to include a Realm Type information page. Finally there is a place to point everyone to who does not understand the difference between PvE and PvP. 
Lastly, Blizzard has updated the underdevelopment page. This page gives players an idea of what will be coming in the next patch. Rumor has it that they will be adding auction houses to every capitol city in the 1.8 patch.
I don’t have an “Apple Computers” category, and don’t feel like making one, so I’m throwing this under “Hardware”. It’s close enough. 
The big news is that Apple has come out with a new iPod, this one dubbed the iPod Nano. It is available in 2GB or 4GB versions, and apparently has a memory stick in it rather than a hard drive.
Next up in the Apple world is the announcement of an iTunes Mobile Phone. The phone is exclusively available from Cingular right now and has a price tag of about $250.
Apple has also released iTunes 5.0 for those of you who use it. Personally, I think there are better services out there if you want digital music, but hey, if you’re part of the group that loves the iPod, don’t guess you have much of a choice, do ya?
And do not let my wife know about it, but Apple has also released a Harry Potter version of the iPod. If that wasn’t bad enough, you can download the Harry Potter audio books from iTunes. Woohoo.
Ok, ok…. I’m kidding. The Harry Potter stuff isn’t that bad.
