The iPod Nation

The main difference between the iPod touch and the iPhone, other then the fact the iPhone is a mobile phone, is the lack of a camera. While a camera with a MP3 player is not that big of a deal, apparently Apple thinks it is a good idea to have one. Rumor is that the next generation of iPods will have a digital camera, sources have revealed a third-party iPhone case that had a slot opening for a possible camera. TechCrunch is also reporting that Apple is purchasing large quantities of the same type of camera sensor used in the iPhone 3GS at about $10 a pop, what could this excess inventory of digital cameras be used for? More than likely the iPod. And from the looks of the leaked iPod case it won’t just be for the iPod Touch but for the iPod Nano as well, and possibly other iPod models. If this is true this will be a pretty big feature to add to the list of already awesome features of the iPod. Hopefully it doesn’t bring the price points of the various iPod models much higher, because the whole reason to buy an iPod is price.

-Ray

Apple may have been harsh to outside iPhone Application developers, but they are trying their hardest to be open to 3rd part Apps. Apple has just announced their iPhone Developer University Program that will allow higher education institutions to offer classes on iPhone and iPod Touch application development and programming. With this program, iPhone developers would be able to take a class on iPhone programming and at the same time work within the constraint of Apple’s iPhone SDK non-disclosure agreement. Apple released the following statement:

The University Program provides a wealth of development resources, sophisticated tools for testing and debugging, and the ability to share applications within the same development team. Institutions can also submit applications for distribution in the App Store.

In addition to Apple’s iPhone Developer University Program, Stanford University is also jumping into the mix. Stanford has also announced that they are working on a project that makes several of their web-based services as iPhone applications. Stanford released the following statement regarding the project:

A suite of five software applications developed by students is now being tested on campus. Two of them, for managing course registration and bills, are intended for students. The other three will allow access to Stanford’s searchable campus map, get team scores and schedules, and check listings in the university’s online directory, StanfordWho.

Here are some screenshots of Stanford’s iPhone applications:

- Geoff

[Source: MacRumors]

The rumors never cease to stop when it comes to Apple. With the release of Mac OS X 10.5.5 earlier this week, it can be safely assumed that Apple is now working on Mac OS X 10.5.6. There are rumors already spreading concerning OS X 10.5.6. According to rumors, blu-ray support is the next step for Macs. Apparently, Apple will be building Macs to support blu-ray and hopefully in the future, Macs will incorporate blu-ray drives. Although just rumors, it seems reasonable for Apple to step into the blu-ray phase for their products. Apple has always part of the Blu-ray consortium, but yet has to fully implement blu-ray into their products. Stay tuned for more information as they come our way.

- Geoff

[Source: MacRumos]

The Steve Jobs conspiracy theorist will all be disappointed. There’s no special reason for the barcode on the back of Jobs license-plateless Mercedes. It’s merely the cars VIN number, my car came with one didn’t yours?

The controversy and questions surrounded the supposed UPC barcode pictured on Jobs’ Mercedes SL55 AMG in lieu of of an official California license plate. We discovered wild rumors have dated back several years spawning constant speculation over Jobs’ barcode license plate. The most absurd rumor alleges that Jobs paid California DMV a lot of money for a special exemption that allows him to have a UPC barcode instead of a real license plate. A lame idea invented by the village idiot.

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At Apple’s “Let’s Rock” event, Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. basically refreshed their whole iPod lineup. They introduced the new iPod Nano and the new iPod Touch with the new iPhone/iPod Touch 2.1 firmware. Additionally, Apple unleashed iTunes 8 to the world. But there were many consumers who were awaiting the update on Apple notebooks. Well it has been reported by DaringFireball that Apple will be revealing new notebooks on October 14 according to source “familiar with Apple’s hardware plans”. The timing of this seems reasonable even though the Macbook and the Macbook Pro are way overdue on their updates and revisions. It is also rumored that the Macbook Air will also be getting some new revisions and updates as well. There are rumors that the Macbook Air will be receiving a 120GB HDD, which is an upgrade to the maximum 80GB hard drive of the original Macbook Air. Only time can tell if these rumors will materialize.

- Geoff

[Source: DaringFireball]

This just in! A few days ago, we reported on a rumor that iTunes 8 will be making its debut at Apple Inc.’s September 9 event entitled “Let’s Rock”. It has been reported by Ars Technica, that the rumors regarding the unveiling of iTunes 8 were a little premature. According to the techno blog, unveiling the new software would be too soon as there is much to upgrade and fix on the iTunes before it can be released to the public. Again this is all just speculation. The best indicator of what will happen is to just wait things out and hope Apple will give an announcement soon. Check back as more information comes our way.

- Geoff

[Source: Ars Technica]

If you’re already familiar with the “.com” function included with Safari in the iPhone 2.0 software then maybe the following feature may be of interest as well. Not only can you change the top-level domain to any of the common ones used here in the U.S. such as .org, .edu and .net, but you can change them to international ones as well.

Originally posted on macworld

Go into Settings: Keyboards: International and enable whichever other languages you’d like. Then pop into Safari and tap in the URL field. You can switch keyboards by hitting the globe button to the left of the spacebar, which itself will be replaced for a moment by a label for the keyboard you’ve selected.

Now tap and hold down the .com button and you’ll usually get the country TLD as an option, along with potentially some others (note that in some keyboard layouts, the .com key doesn’t appear in the same place; you may have to tap the 123 key first). Here’s a full list of what shortcuts are available with the various keyboards, in addition to .com:

Danish: .org, .nu, .dk
Chinese Simplified (Pinyin): .org, .sg, .cn
Chinese Traditional (Pinyin): .org, .hk, .tw
Dutch: .edu, .org, .nl
English (U.K.): .edu, .org, .co.uk
Finnish: .edu, .org, .fi
French: .edu, .org, .fr
French (Canada): .edu, .org, .ca
German: .edu, .org, .de
Italian: .edu, .org, .it
Japanese (QWERTY/Kana): none
Korean: .ac.kr, .or.kr, .kr
Norwegian: .edu, .org, .no
Polish: .edu, .org, .pl
Portuguese (Brazil): .edu, .org, .br
Portuguese (Portugal): .edu, .org, .pt
Russian: .edu, .org, .ru
Spanish: .edu, .org, .es
Sweden: .org, .nu, .se

-Ray

[Source: macworld ]

It seems people are speculating who Steve Job’s successor will be. Personally, I don’t want Jobs to go. I think they should clone him, and insert his personality into the clone’s body to preserve him for another 80 years. That would be awesome. Fantasies aside, there are several candidates for the trading of power after his eventual retirement.

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Apple recently filed a patent for a new type of touchscreen technology which uses a technology called PET (polyethylene terephthalate) to replace Apple’s already existing glass and plastic multi-touch screens. The patent images show the technology being used on iPhone/iPod Touch and iPod Classic like devices. This new patent could allow touch screens to be produced at a much cheaper cost than the previous screens.

This could signal future development in touch screen technology from Apple. I hope that this branches out to a development in touch screen capabilities for laptop, desktop, and tablet computers.

-Jameson

[Source: iLounge]

Back when the original iPhone came out, there was much buzz surrounding the possibility of it being released in Canada. Unfortunately the only carrier that uses GSM phones is Rogers Wireless, and due to their outrageous data plans, it was unlikely that it would ever be introduced to the north. However, with the impending release of the iPhone 3G, will Rogers be updating their ridiculous data prices?

Rogers Wireless president Madir Mohamed announced recently that they are, in fact rolling out new data plans to accommodate more frequent data usage. He notes that the average Rogers customer pays roughly $63 each month for voice, data and messaging service. They expect that the average iPhone subscriber will end up paying more like $90, with most of the additional expense being attributed to data usage.

This gives Canadian users an idea of what they can expect to pay per month for their iPhone. Unfortunately it will still be a couple of weeks before the actual plan prices are revealed.

[via Electronista]