The iPod Nation

This neat little speaker device works with your iPod, iPhone or any other MP3 player with a 3.5mm audio jack. It unsprings and opens up for better sound, it can even be used as additional speakers for your laptop. The Spring Speaker is charged via a USB and will provice about two and a half hours of play time on a full charge. They’re available online here .

-Ray

[Source: gadgettastic]

We have known for some time that the second generation iPod Touch is the fastest iPod that is perfect for gaming. Well Konami wants to take advantage of that gaming platform. Konami announced their next project to be Metal Gear Solid Touch for the Apple iPhone or iPod Touch. The game is scheduled for release in March 2009 and it will continue where it left off from Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The original release will include eight levels with additional levels to be released at a later time. Gamers can unlock wallpapers and images when they gather enough points. In addition to MGST, Konami also plans to release Dance Dance Revolution, Silent Hill The Escape, and Frogger later this month. With this announcement, it shows that video game developers are considering making games for the iPod Touch and iPhone. It shows the power that the iPod Touch and the iPhone has in regards to the video game market. I am pretty sure gamers are happy to hear this news.

- Geoff

[Source: EdgeOnline]

With so many new Apple news today, the one that caught our eyes were the Apple Netbook rumors. Ezra Gottheil of Technology Business Research said in an interview that Apple would most likely introduce two new Apple netbooks at MacWorld 2009. Gottheil believes this because of several different factors. According to him, because of the slow economy, the rise in sales for inexpensive netbooks, and Steve Job’s comments back in October, Apple has no choice but to release an inexpensive netbook. According to Gottheil, Read the rest of this entry »

The U.S army used an iPod during an operation in the Sadr City portion of Baghdad. Staff Sgt. Kent Crandall combined an iPod and the speaker seen above to turn it into a platform to broadcast the pro-coalition messages to the people during a Halal food handout. Sadr City has seen some of the heaviest fighting in Iraq but the area has cooled down some after the cleric Muqtada Al Sadr called a ceasefire and told his men (the Madhi Militia) to lay down their arms. The iPod was loaded with Iraqi pop music which definitely made for a more interesting broadcast than straight spoken messages and numbers for anonymous tips.

-Derek

[Source: Wired]

Best Buy is currently offering customers who purchase an 8GB iPod Touch from them with a $50 gift card. And if you were to use the $50 gift card with the purchase of that 8GB Apple iPod Touch, you would pay around $179 for that iPod Touch. Now the deal is only for the 8GB iPod Touch models. There is no word on whether Best Buy would extend the offer to the 16GB and the 32GB iPod Touch models. This is probably the best deal out there for a iPod Touch. So get yours today while iPod supplies last.

- Geoff

[Source: Gizmodo]

A new internet advertisement for the Apple iPod Touch has been discovered by our good friends at Macenstein. We think the whole point of the commercial is that you have to tilt the iPod Touch to do stuff. A pretty cool ad if you ask me. Check it out and let us know what you think.

- Geoff

[Source: Macenstein]

There are plenty of chess applications out there for the Apple iPod Touch/iPhone. But nothing is as intriguing as this version of the chess game. It is called Samurai Chess. Instead of using the English style of chess, Conit Co. Ltd., who developed the application, created their own version of the chess game by bringing it back to Japan’s civil war era. Now many of you may think this is just another chess application, but this app has new features not found in other chess game applications. The first obvious difference is the reference to Samurais. The application also has a network match mode in which you could play with other users from around the world. Additionally, the application features fierce Samurai battle scenes to showcase the action. The game is available at the Apple App Store for $1 (limited time).

- Geoff

[Source: MarketWatch]

Christmas is hurtling towards us and this year’s black friday did not really produce a lot of great deals. WIth that said, we here at iPodnation are sure there are still some of you ripping out your hair trying to think of that perfect Christmas present. The perfect Christmas present in this economy not only means that the recipient will like it, but the giver’s wallet should like it too! Introducing the Inspiretech Portable Fold-Up Speaker. It might not make your significant other happy she married a cheapskate like you but at $20, you actually get quite a lot. We recommend the Inpsiretech Portable Fold Up Speaker as the perfect present for an office secret santa or for the casual aquaintance of whom you are attending his/her Christmas party.

-Derek

The latest trend in the digital world are digital books and comics. One platform that is notoriously known for this is the Apple iPod Touch/iPhone. Well Star Trek is hoping to take advantage of this trend. Comics publisher and Star Trek licensee IDW has announced that they are starting a digital publishing cycle at the Apple iTunes store. The first digital issue of the Star Trek comics is “Star Trek Archives: The Best of Peter David No. 1″. This is just a digital DC comics reprint. More issues will follow at the Apple iTunes store. There are also other comics that are ready for download at the iTunes store. Although most of the comics at the online store are available for free for the first issue, they will charge you 99 cents for following issues. So go check them out and let us know what you think.

- Geoff

[Source: Wired]

Scandyna Speakers have just introduced their new retro-inspired speakers for the Apple iPod, called the iPod Pink Dock Pack. The iPod Pink Dock Pack will sell for $300 and it features 2 x 15-watt Class T amplifiers, stereo line output, a pair of Micropod SE speakers, dock insert for all dock-connecting iPods, a Kevlar bass/midrange driver, a soft dome tweeter, a remote, and pink paint. Unfortunately, there is no word on whether it will come in different colors. Customers can find the speakers at Sak Fifth Avenue and 800 different audio/video stores in 30 different countries. So if you are looking for some good retro-inspired iPod dock speakers, this is what you have been looking for.

- Geoff

[Source: Engadget]