Mac notebook and other portable computing is covered
in The 'Book Review, and general Mac
news is in Mac News Review.
All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.
iPhone News, Reviews, & Opinion
iPod News, Reviews, & Opinion
For iPods and iPhones
For the iPhone
For iPods
iPod and iPhone Deals
iPhone News, Reviews, & Opinion
BlackBerry Unveils Bold Challenge to iPhone
The Times'
Amanda Andrews reports:
"Workaholics in the City are likely to celebrate news that their
favourite gadget, the BlackBerry, is set to become slicker, faster and
more powerful.
"Research in Motion (RIM), the creator of the BlackBerry, yesterday
announced the launch of an updated version - the BlackBerry Bold - in
an apparent attempt to compete with Apple, which is tipped to launch a
third generation (3G) version of its iPhone next month....
"In what appears a direct move on Apple's potential customer base,
RIM said music is now more easily downloaded and a new application
provides 'a simple way to sync iTunes digital music collections with
the smartphone'."
Link:
BlackBerry Unveils Bold Challenge to iPhone
iPhone vs. BlackBerry: Which Do Consumers Love
Most?
SeekingAlpha's Paul Carton says:
"ChangeWave's recent Smart Phone Wars report showed a rapidly
evolving two-horse race between the Apple iPhone and Research in Motion
BlackBerry - with second tier players like Palm and a host of others
being shoved to the sidelines.
"To follow-up, we took a close-up look at the features users love
and hate about their iPhones and BlackBerrys as part of our March 2008
survey of 864 smart phone owners."
Link:
iPhone vs. BlackBerry: Which Do Consumers Love Most?
AT&T: No Vacations During 3G iPhone Launch
Window
Register Hardware's
Tony Smith reports:
"AT&T staffers have once again been told they can't take any
time off work next month because of an anticipated 'heavy selling
period' resulting from 'an exciting Summer Promotional Launch', a
leaked memo reveals.
"No prizes for guessing that the carrier is referring to the 3G
iPhone and to its plan to offer the handset with a $200 discount, as
forecast last month.
"The memo was leaked to website Boy Genius Report, which last year
posted a similar missive forbidding holiday time between 15 June 2007
and 15 July 2007 in order to capitalise upon an 'exciting product
launch'."
Link:
AT&T Halts Holidays During 3G iPhone Launch Window
Today's Sign that the 3G iPhone Is Nigh
News.com's Tom
Krazit says:
"Widespread iPhone shortages, combined with an explosion in carrier
deals, point to the launch of the next-generation iPhone as right
around the corner, according to Piper Jaffray.
"I know, I know: this isn't the first time you've heard that theory.
But you have to admit that signs are piling up that a 3G iPhone is in
Apple's short-term plans. Let's recap the evidence so far."
Link: Today's Sign that
the 3G iPhone Is Nigh
Getting on the iPhone
Forbes' Brian
Caulfield says:
"It sucks to be in the print business right now.
"If it wasn't bad enough that newspapers are dying as cheap
Web-based rivals thrive, now media companies will have to get by
notoriously fickle Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs if they hope to
secure a prime spot on the screen of the gizmo that could give them the
best shot at digital relevance.
"The Associated Press, however, is giving it a shot. On Apple's
iPhone, 'there was a button for stocks, there was a button for weather,
but there was no button for news,' says Jeffrey Litvack, director of
global product development with the AP.
"The AP wants to be that button on the iPhone."
Link:
Getting on the iPhone
Brand New Google Reader for iPhone
The Apple Core's Jason D.
O'Grady reports:
"Google has released a new beta version of their Reader RSS client
for iPhone. You can use it by visiting http://www.google.com/reader/i/
from Mobile Safari.
"Google first introduced an XHTML version of Reader back in 2006 and
released the new 2008 version with many of the same features that are
available in their desktop app."
Link: Brand New
Google Reader for iPhone
iPhone: Troubleshooting USB Connections
A new Apple Knowledge Base
article says:
"When attempting to sync, update, or restore the iPhone, you may
receive one or more of the following symptoms:
- An alert message indicates an unknown error occurred
- The iPhone unexpectedly disconnects during a sync or restore
- Photos downloaded from the iPhone appear garbled or not all photos
transfer
- An alert message indicates the USB device cannot operate because it
needs more power than is available
- An alert message indicates 'this device can perform faster' if you
plug the device into a higher speed USB port"
Link: iPhone:
Troubleshooting USB Connections
iPod News, Reviews, & Opinion
Zune Reaches 2M Sales - Flat vs. iPod
Electronista
reports:
"As part of its recent Zune update, Microsoft has revealed that it
has sold two million of the music players since their launch in
November 2006, revealing relatively flat growth for the device lineup.
Although the company originally promised and slightly exceeded a target
for its first million sales between the original launch date and June
2007, the company has largely remained silent on its data for its
players in nearly a year....
"The results nonetheless leave Microsoft with just a fraction of
Apple's US share and with comparatively slow development....
"Apple in its latest quarter sold 10.6 million iPods, or more than
five times Microsoft's cumulative sales to date."
Editor's note: 2 million Zunes. 18 months = 6 quarters. That's an
average of 666,667 Zune's per quarter, so Apple sells 16 iPods for
every Zune Microsoft unloads. Some "iPod killer". dk
Link: Zune
Reaches 2M Sales; Flat versus iPod
Climate Researchers Dream Up iPod-based
Supercomputer
VNUNet.com's
Robert Jaques reports:
"Scientists looking to build a supercomputer to model cloud
conditions and help them better understand climates have looked upon
the humble processors found in iPods and other small devices for a
solution. A conventional supercomputer that could do what the
researchers want could cost up to $1 billion; using millions of smaller
processors could cost only about $75 million and save power.
"Researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory have suggested building a supercomputer based on
low-power embedded microprocessors to improve global climate change
predictions.
"Using the embedded microprocessor technology used in mobile phones,
iPods and other consumer electronic devices, the boffins propose a
cost-effective machine for running complex computational models."
"They conclude that a supercomputer using about 20 million embedded
microprocessors would deliver the results and cost $75 million to
construct."
Editor's note: I've heard Microsoft wants to sell a lot of Zunes.
With built-in WiFi and a 533 MHz CPU, Microsoft could eclipse iPod
sales for a single quarter by landing this one. :-)
dk
Link: Climate Researchers
Dream Up iPod-based Supercomputer
Apple Offers $45 Credit for Canadian Owners of
Older iPods
The Montreal
Gazette's Irwin Block reports:
"Following two class-action lawsuits, Apple Canada Inc. is offering
$45 credits to Canadian residents who own a new first-, second- or
third-generation iPod purchased before June 24, 2004.
"The proposed settlement, including payment of legal fees, is the
result of two iPod owners suing because rechargeable batteries in the
second year of use conked out after just three hours, contrary to the
advertised claim of eight hours between recharges."
Information on how to obtain or file a claim is available at
trudeljohnston.com,
legaladvocates.ca, or
appleipodsettlement.com
Link:
Apple Offers $45 Credit for Canadian Owners of Older iPods
Apple to Issue Refunds for Short iPod
Battery Life
Register Hardware's
Austin Modine reports:
"Apple has agreed to give US and Canadian customers two separate
settlement offers to make charges of faulty and misrepresented products
go away.
"Canadian owners of older iPods can get a CDN $45 (credit) rebate
over claims the battery life in its devices were much shorter than
advertised.
"Americans who purchased replacement power adapters for PowerBook
and iBook notebooks will get cash refunds between USD $25 and $79 over
accusations the device did a fine impersonation of a Morning Glory
sparkler on Independence Day.
"Assuming they kept the receipts...."
Link: Apple
to Issue Refunds for Sparky, Prematurely Dying Products
For iPods and iPhones
iGet Mobile 2.0 Improves Remote Mac Access
from iPhone, iPod, and PCs
PR: Nakahara Informatics, Inc. has announced the release of
iGet Mobile 2.0, the next generation of the company's remote Mac access
software for iPhone, iPod touch and other web-capable devices. iGet
Mobile gives Mac users a personal web interface to access their
documents remotely, with a special emphasis on making various types of
data more accessible on small-form-factor devices.
Nakahara Informatics, Inc. has announced the release of iGet Mobile
2.0, the next generation of the company's remote Mac access software
for iPhone, iPod touch and other web-capable devices. iGet Mobile gives
Mac users a personal web interface to access their documents remotely,
with a special emphasis on making various types of data more accessible
on small-form-factor devices.
Version 2.0
sports new iPhone-specific features in the web interface, an improved
web server component, a completely redesigned user interface for the
Mac application, and many other enhancements. Automatic network
configuration is also improved, making it easy for most Mac users to
make their personal servers accessible from the Internet without
requiring networking expertise.
"It's just cool," said one user who participated in the beta test.
"Instead of 8 GB, it's like having a 500 GB iPhone, because
everything on my iMac at home is basically always in my pocket."
"We're tremendously excited about this release," said CEO
Christopher Martin. "The iPhone is certainly the most interesting new
platform in a decade, and it's been a catalyst for innovation. Last
year, we released iGet Mobile 1.0 in record time, due to insistent
demand from customers who wanted a solution for accessing the Mac from
the iPhone as soon as we could possibly deliver it. Now, with this
second major release, we've not only been able to add new features, but
have also added a lot more polish in terms of how the application looks
and behaves. So we're very pleased to make this release available as a
free upgrade for all our customers."
iGet Mobile not only allows users to browse their Macs remotely, but
can also perform on-the-fly document conversions that make many common
Mac file types more compatible with mobile devices. This means that a
50 MB high-resolution Photoshop image file can be reduced in size and
converted to a standard image format, or that a rich-text RTFD document
can be instantly converted to PDF format, before being viewed on an
iPhone.
While designed with the iPhone specifically in mind, iGet Mobile
allows users to access their Macs from "any decently web-capable
device", Martin added.
iGet Mobile 2.0 is available immediately from the company's web
site. The software will run in full-featured demo mode, allowing users
to try out all of its features before purchasing a license.
iGet Mobile was designed from the ground up using the latest Apple
technologies, and it requires Mac OS X 10.5 or later. It will run on
any Mac that supports this version of the OS.
iGet Mobile 2.0 is available immediately from the company's web
site. Regularly priced at $39, the software is currently available for
the special promotional price of only $29 USD, for a limited time. For
more information, please visit the company's Website, or call (888)
550-0505.
Link: iGet
Mobile
Proporta Launches Facebook Site
PR: Proporta are well known for wanting to stay in touch with
their customers and are pleased to have launched a page on the popular
Social Networking site, facebook.com.
Friends of the Proporta Facebook page (they believe you can never
have enough) can enjoy access to a special promotions area, the latest
product reviews and sneak announcements of products not yet launched.
Those joining the Proporta Facebook page will also be able to
communicate with each other and Proporta directly.
To celebrate the launch of the page, Proporta are offering all their
friends a 10% discount off all Proporta branded hardware. Simply enter
the promotion code FRIENDSFOREVER at the cart page. :o)
Link: Proporta
Facebook Site
For the iPhone
Simiotica Releases aMaze! iPhone Game
PR: Awaiting AppStore launch, international game developer
Simiotica announces immediate availability of the iPhone and iPod touch
game aMaze! via Installer.App. aMaze! is very realistic transition of
the classic wooden balance game Labyrinth, where players guide steel
ball through a maze avoiding holes, to the iPhone.
Simiotica, the international game developer, announces immediate
availability of the iPhone and iPod touch game aMaze! via
Installer.App. aMaze! is very realistic transition of the classic
wooden balance game Labyrinth, where players guide steel ball through a
maze avoiding holes, to the iPhone.
aMaze! is unique for playing
exactly like its real world prototype by tilting device to control the
labyrinth attitude thus moving the ball. This is the most intuitive
game control because anyone who has ever played original Labyrinth game
knows how to play the game.
Moving a ball to the exit is just one of the possible gameplays.
Within this plain scenario, there are levels requiring bonus collection
to complete them successfully, which results in longer and more
attractive gameplay. More than 70 nicely designed game boards will
enable broad audience of players to test their balance sense. Some
levels are easy, many have normal difficulty and several are extremely
hard to pass.
"Large multitouch screen, OpenGL ES and OpenAL support, built-in
accelerometers make iPhone most powerful mobile gaming device on the
market. We have developed aMaze to meet expectation of the iPhone
owners for games with innovative gameplay not yet possible with other
devices. While awaiting the launch of the official AppStore, we make it
available through the Istaller.App to let iPhone enthusiasts enjoy it
as early as possible", explains Alex Dubov, Simiotica CMO.
aMaze! is available for installation through Installer.App v3.0 with
community sources installed. The 10 levels demo version is free, while
other 70 levels could be unlocked for $9 USD fee. More information
about the aMaze! could be found at their website.
Link: aMaze!
USB Fever iPhone Hard Crystal Cases: Pretty
Woman, Butterfly, Flowers
PR: Features:
- Unique ergonomic design
- Fully Protected from bumps and scratches
- Light weight
- Perfectly fit
- Anti-dust
- Easy access to all ports, buttons and sockets
iPhone Hard Crystal Cases - Pretty Woman
- Printed with "pretty woman" theme
iPhone Hard Crystal Case - Butterfly
- Printed with Butterfly theme
iPhone Hard Crystal Case - Flowers
- Printed with Beautiful flowers theme
- Link: Pretty
Woman
- Link: Butterfly
- Link: Flowers
GizMac's New Titan Clear iPhone Case
Colors
PR: GizMac Accessories, designer and manufacturer of
innovative products for the Apple iPod and iPhone, announce new color
choices for their Titan Clear iPhone case with holster.
GizMac Accessories Titan Clear iPhone case has been available
for a few months, but GizMac is announcing new colors to be available
soon. These new iPhone case colors will join the currently shipping
clear, pink and smoke colored versions. The addition of the two new
colors of Titan iPhone cases brings the total selection to five color
choices.
"Smoke, pink and clear colors having been selling really well and
people have been commenting on how great they look," explained Ken
Vitto, Marketing Director for GizMac Accessories, "But the incredible
colors we have come up with now might become the most popular colors
yet."
The Titan Clear case protects the iPhone with its tough
polycarbonate shell, but still allows some of Apple iPhone's striking
appearance to show through. The translucent colors of the case change
with the thickness and produce subtle color variations that give the
Titan Clear iPhone case its unique look.
New colors for the Titan Clear iPhone case are blue and green. Blue
is a cobalt blue, yet can exhibit an aqua shade on the front and back
in bright light. Green is emerald green, while traces of forest green
appear on the curves in low light.
The Titan Clear iPhone case in blue and green colors will retail for
$34.99 including the holster and will be available mid May.
Link:
Titan Clear iPhone Cases
For iPods
iPod Movie Converter for Mac Free This
Month
PR: Convert video to iPod video and iPod audio on Mac OS X
with powerful functions, iSkysoft iPod Movie Converter for Mac is a
powerful Mac iPod video converter which enables you converting all
popular audio and video files such as MPEG1, MPEG2, MP4, 3GP, 3G2, AVI,
Mpeg TS/TP (for HD Video) to iPod video supported by iPod/iPhone
including M4V, M4A(AAC), MP3, AAC, etc.
You can convert videos to iPod nano, iPod classic and iPod touch on
Mac (include Leopard) with high output quality and various features
such as setting video brightness, contrast, saturation, video file
trim, video crop, and joining multiple files into one file. The Mac
iPod video converter is easy to handle with just a few button-presses
to complete the conversion.
For your convenience, batch conversion function is offered by
iSkysoft iPod Movie Converter for Mac. You should select the files that
you want to convert, then set up the formats and specify parameters for
the target files, push Encode button and start the conversion.
You can get iSkysoft iPod Movie Converter for Mac for free this
month. Please enter your email address to receive the download
link.
$29
0$ Now
Version: 1.2.0.0
Intel Size: 8.46 MB
PowerPC Size: 8.39 MB
Supported OS: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
iPod Movie Converter for Mac Features
- Designed just for Mac OS X: A professional free iPod video
converter developed only for Mac OS X users.
- Convert video to iPod: You can convert all sorts of video files to
iPod on Mac OS X with this free iPod movie converter.
- Customize video effects: Set movie video brightness, contrast,
saturation, and choose to apply special video effects to your video
files.
- Various video and audio settings: Set video output settings
including resolution, frame rate, encoder, and bit rate, and set audio
output settings including sample rate, channel, encoder and bit
rate.
- Crop video: This free iPod movie converter lets you crop video to
remove back video sides.
- Trim video: You can trim your video files to capture and convert
your favorite video clips.
- Merge file: Merge all added files and output one file.
- Capture pictures (bmp,jpg) from video: You can capture pictures by
clicking the snapshot button while previewing the movie.
- Preview: Preview your video files before conversion to adjust the
output quality.
- Easy to use: With this powerful free iPod Converter for Mac, you
can convert video to iPod with absolutely hassle free.
New in iPod Movie Converter for Mac version 1.2.0.0:
- support importing flv format.
- Enhanced the ability to convert audio.
- Added the encoding formats (rgb565,adpcm) for Creative Zen.
- Support asf output format and more input formats.
- Highly optimized the encoding speed of h264.
System Requirements:
- MAC OS X (include Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard) or above operating
system.
- At least 512M physical RAM.
- At least one DVD-ROM.
- 1G Hz Intel or PowerPC processor,or above.
- 1024*768 resolution display or higher.
Link: iPod Movie
Converter for Mac
Use iPod Hard Drives with Any
Computer/Convert Your iPod to Compact Flash
PR: Addonics Technologies have announced a pair of
accessories that allows users to easily convert their Apple iPod into a
Compact Flash-based player as well as use the Toshiba 1.8" iPod hard
drive with any computer.
The Addonics Toshiba 1.8" ZIF to
2.5" IDE hard drive connector converter allows iPod owners to connect
their iPod hard drive as a regular 2.5" hard drive to other computers.
With the choice of a ZIF or original iPod connector, a user who has a
defective iPod can also export data off the drive. It can also be
connected to the standard 40 pin IDE cable common found on any desktop
computer, server, and most industrial PCs by adding the Addonics 2.5"
to 3.5" converter kit.
With the new Addonics converter any Toshiba 1.8" hard drive can also
become a read only drive by using the standard IDE Write blocker, which
makes it an appropriate solution for forensics applications.
List price of the Toshiba 1.8" ZIF to 2.5" IDE hard drive connector
converter (AAT18ZIF25) is $17.99 for ZIF iPod hard drives and $14.99
for original hard iPod drives (AAT18IDE25). Addonics iPod accessories
are compatible with any operating system that supports IDE storage.
The Perfect iPod Mod - Convert your Hard Drive to Compact
Flash
With the
Addonics 1.8" ZIF - CF Adapter users can make their iPod more shock
resistant and achieve fast throughput by replacing the ZIF hard drive
inside their Apple iPod with the fast, reliable, and high speed Compact
Flash media.
The adapter (ADZIFCF) supports several types of Compact Flash media
including PIO, DMA, UDMA4 for up to a 40MB/s transfer rate. In addition
to iPods, the adapter supports any laptop computer or portable device
that uses a 1.8" ZIF connector. It has a MSRP of $23.99.
Addonics products are available through the company online store,
major catalog companies, resellers, VARs and distributors, including
Amazon.com,
PC
Connection, CDW,
Buy.com, Provantage.com, Insight, and Ingram Micro.
USB Fever iPod touch Anti Glare Screen
Protector
PR: These Screen protectors are made of 0.16mm PET material
with Japanese patented silicon coating to hold them to your screen.
Highlights:
- These Screen protectors are made of 0.16mm PET material with
Japanese patented silicon coating to hold them to your screen.
- Application is easy and they will have no bubbles, self-adhesive
and fix firmly on your screen. No actual adhesive used.
- Therefore it is washable and re-useable.
Features:
- Anti Glare
- Anti finger print
- Oil resistant
- dirt-repellent coating added to the surface
- Anti bacterial surface
- No glue or adhesive is required for placement
- Washable and reusable
- Bubble free
- Dust Free
- Anti-Scrach
- Customised to protect iPod touch, no need for any cuttings and
resizings.
- Ultra-thin and highly durable
- UV Protection
- Resistance to erosion and fingerprint
$8.99
Link: USB
Fever iPod touch Anti Glare Screen Protector
USB Fever iPod nano 3rd
Replacement LCD Display
PR: As perfect as original iPod nano 3rd Gen's LCD
Display
Features:
- As perfect as original iPod nano 3rd Gen's LCD Display
- Brand New
$24.99
Link: USB
Fever iPod nano 3rd Replacement LCD Display
