If you have just bought an iPod, then you are in for a bit of bad news as Apple have announced updates to their ubiquitous iPod line of MP3 players, mainly regarding the iPod Nano and iPod Touch. As we warned before, it was highly expected that Apple would use the event today to announce new products, and it seems many of the rumours around the new iPod Nano turned out to be true.

I managed to keep up with the event via Gizmodo’s liveblog, which provided photos and text updates through the hour. So what did Apple show us today?

iTunes 8

iTunes has been hanging on to version 7 for a while now, and one of the biggest rumours leading up to today was a new version of iTunes being released, version 8. What’s new? Apart from a new visualizer (can I have it as a screen saver, Apple?), a new feature called Genius is meant to help you find music that “go great together”. For people with huge libraries, this could be a lot of help of getting some stuff organized for once. As for me, I am someone who doesn’t use playlists that much, or in fact at all, so I can’t really see this making much of a difference to me in any way. Also updated is a new view which presents your album covers like iPhoto or iMovie skimming, where you swipe the mouse over the Artist or Genre to see album covers inside. There is something about this view which for now makes it feel as though it doesn’t really fit in iTunes, but it may just need some getting used to.

iPod Nano

As Kevin Rose had predicted (or received in a leak) the iPod Nano has reverted from its old, fatter design back to the taller one we knew before, coming in a variety of colours, and with a new, curved design (much like what is going on with the back of the iPhone, or the tapering of the MacBook Air). Also, we have seen new features such as an accelerometer so that when you turn the Nano, it will also turn what is on screen, useful for Cover Flow mode and more importantly watching videos and movies, as the screen is now taller. Also included is an update to the iPod OS with Genius, the feature seen in iTunes which recommends music to you, rather like a Pandora or Last.fm of your iTunes Library. Another feature, although maybe viewed as more of a gimmick by many, is the ability to shake the device, which uses the accelerometer to turn shuffle mode on. In my eyes, that isn’t really a selling point, but I am sure in some way to some people that will be handy.

Another change comes in the capacity of the Nano: You can now get 8GB and 16GB versions of the device, coming in at £109 and £149 respectively. This is a welcome addition to the line of iPods.

iPod Touch

The smaller brother of the iPhone, the iPod Touch has also received some updates, although not as massive as seen on the Nano. The second generation of the device is now even smaller and lighter than it’s predecessor, and includes a speaker, hardware volume control buttons (much wanted by existing Touch owners) and intergration of Genius from iTunes into software 2.1. Also included into the new Touch is Nike + iPod support, a technology which helps you with your workouts, which helps you track your progress during exercise. Oh, and the prices have been dropped slightly on the Touch, now coming in 8, 16 and 32 GB sizes at £169, £219, and £289.

What else?

Well, Apple decided that the iPod classic needed some love and upgraded the 80GB model to 120GB, but in doing so also dropped the 160GB model. Not too sure what to make of that move. And to (presumably) avoid a mass server flood, the iPhone 2.1 software, which has been described as having a multitude of fixes for bugs in iPhone OS X, and helping battery life, poor call quality, crashes and other random annoyances that have plauged the iPhone 2.0 OS since it’s release.

To those of us with older MacBooks (Mid-2007 and older I believe) you will not be able to play recent game Spore on your laptop, due to the built-in Intel GMA 950 graphics chip, according to CrunchGear. Newer MacBook’s from November last year forward will be able to play the games, as their graphics chips are the newer GMA X3100 which can handle Spore. However, if you have a Windows installation on your MacBook, you can apparently play the game in Windows just fine (case of bad drivers in OS X, then?). Take a look at the full specifications by reading the rest of this article.

Read the rest of this entry »

Now that the September 9th event has been confirmed, we are just waiting too see whether the rumoured new iPod designs and iTunes 8 will be released. As a result, you may want to wait before the 9th if you plan on buying a new iPod with the Back to School promotion, which ends on the 15th September. No one quites knows what to expect, but if it’s any bet, the iPod Touch and iPod Nano will probably be updated, as well as a new version of iTunes to be expected. So wait until after the 9th to avoid any possible dissapointment.

Google have shown off another part of the Android OS, by revealing the Android Market, their answer to the iPhone App Store. The Android Market will be free for anyone to add apps to, as it requires no approval process to have your stuff put up in the listings (although how would you control so many apps without some kind of monitoring?). This has a big advantage over the Apple App Store, which currently requires apps to be approved before they have a chance of making the store itself. Other than that, the Market is very similar to the iPhone App Store in the sense that it is one place where all the Apps are, as well as providing easy updating.

The only thing I can really see as a problem here is that Android is a free, open OS that will be available to all phone companies to use. The inherent problem with this is that there will be many different types of phones, some with big screens, some with small screens, some with certain features (maybe GPS etc), some without. How will developers make their apps so that they work across this vast selection of phones? This works on the iPhone and iPod Touch, as they have the same screen size, and mostly the same features. Obviously, the iPod Touch lacks GPS and a cell connection, but Location Services still work on the Touch if you are connected to a mapped Wi-Fi hotspot.The main issue here is how developers will Develop apps so that they work across the wide selection of Android we can expect.

Still, the “Market” is a great idea to make Android phones even more easy to use and desirable as a phone OS. It will certainly be a change from scouring the web for Apps you want like you still do with Nokia phone or BlackBerry devices. It’s good to see that the Android OS doesn’t look too shabby either, and whilst many would argue that the design doesn’t matter, in all honesty it does. People want something that looks great these days (which in some cases is the sole reason why people buy phones, especially the iPhone).

Let’s just hope that Android will be released without all the problems that the iPhone has (and still is) plagued with.

Read more about the Android OS over at the Official Blog.

The iPhone has proved a successful platform for gaming, but the lack of tactile feedback and buttons for play have meant that developers have really need to find more ways to use the accelerometer in game play. However, one developer has gone out of their way to bring us the iControlPad, an add-on for the iPhone which gives the device a feel more reminiscent of the PSP.

The picture at the top of this post shows how the iControlPad should look when it is finished, although the second one shows a prototype that has been made (which seems to be fully working, at least according to the site)

I am not sure how this goes down with Apple at all, as developers do not have access to the dock connector (although jailbreak applications can obviously get around this, as they are not bound by the SDK’s limits). It does appear this solution works with iPhone Quake (which is available if you jailbreak your phone), so that is a good thing.

It looks like they are trying to get this thing out on the market for under $30, but if we are required to jailbreak, and we will most probably have a limited selection of games, I don’t see where the market is for this.

Interestingly, TouchArcade said that it looks like this isn’t the only iPhone gaming cradle solution in the works, so this might not be our only choice.

Banding around the internet is a revival of the long standing rumour that Apple will be releasing a subscription based music service for its iTunes Store. The specific iteration rumoured this time would be called ‘iTunes Unlimited’, this comes from several Apple rumour sites, including TUAW, who were tipped by anonymous email recently.

The insider suggests that for $129.99 (or $99 with a current MobileMe subscription) customers would ”buy unlimited music access for one year”, allowing you to play it on your computer or iPod/iPhone. But, does this allow you to keep the music you’ve purchased with the subscription service (bearing in mind you’ve already put it in your iPod)? Apparently not, but this isn’t too clear. Apparently the option to “buy and keep” would “replace the subscription version of a song with a downloaded version” and both the subscription and full download version of the song would be encoded with at least 256 Kbps- this starts to sound slightly like iTunes movie rentals. So, surely, if Apple did it with movies… they’d do it with music, right? Probably wrong.

Whenever I see rumours like this, I instantly remember the infamous video of the MacWorld 2003 launch of the iTunes Store. Steve Jobs absolutely slated subscription music services saying

“These services treat you like a thief….. we think subscriptions are the wrong path…. people have bought their music for as long as we can remember…. people want to buy their music on the internet by buying downloads just like they bought LPs, just like they bought cassettes and just like they bought CDs.”

And indeed, almost every profitable online music service today favours a buy and keep system rather than a subscription system. However, times have changed, especially in the world of online music. Despite it only being released 5 years ago, the iTunes Store has catapulted from its inception to worldwide dominance. The question is: has Steve Jobs changed?

This month, we have seen many people come up with ideas for suspected releases of new Apple equipment again. Some great (and some pointless) ideas have been spreading through the net as to what could potentially be launched.

I thought I would give you a low-down of the latest breaking rumours circulating the inter-web 2.0 nowadays.

1. iPod touch re-design [Article] - Yes the first rumour is that Apple are going to redesign the iPod touch to match the iPhone by placing a plastic rear cover to the touch. I hope this doesn’t come true as I myself have just purchased an iPod touch. The pros of this would be a reduction in price and less visible scratches but considering one of the reasons for the new iPhone rear was to improve the 3G reception there is no real advantage. Maybe this is the signs to an addition of GPS to the touch.
2. New MacBook [Article] - Now this is one of those rumours that is repeated at every launch date so the question is will the MacBook finally face a re-design?. Well from the suspicious leaked pictures it seems the rumoured MacBook might incorporate a touch screen element and flip into a tablet PC (Mac), for me this would be a wonderful addition. But if this does become reality then Axiotron, the company producing the Modbook, will pretty much be out of business and the MacBook will most probably increase in price. Bad times 
3. iPhone Nano [Article] - Well it seems very unlikely to me but the Daily Mail have reported possibilities of a Pay-as-you-go iPhone nano launched in time for Christmas. One question, what’s the point?.
4. 4GB iPod Shuffle [Article] - I think this is pointless. What would be the reason behind having that much memory for tracks that you would be limited in selecting (no screen). You either have the option of selecting shuffle or skipping through your vast quantity of 4GB. It’s going to take you long time. Well if your a Shuffle fan then I suppose this is maybe for you. Tell me your views.
5. Zune inspired Nano [Article] - A nano shaped Zune, well it could be a possibility. Actually I think it would be a good addition, certainly for watching videos on the nano. But is bigger, better, but will Apple actually steal a design from one of its rival company? Good, but seems very unlikely to me considering the potential slander by the media this could potentially cause.
6. Glass trackpad MacBook [Article] - Sounds cool, but is it practical? Think of the smudges! Anyway this article says the MacBook will incorporate a glass trackpad. It shall be supporting gestures (it better had) and the ideas of a new MacBook with tapered edges from the design of the new MacBook Air and iPhone 3G.