The iPod Nation

In the end, the iPod will always be better than the Zune. Even while saving a life, people can’t leave home without their Apple iPod. A teenager from across the pond in the United Kingdom was given the rare opportunity to listen to his iPod while he was undergoing brain surgery. Gavin Brooke, who is 18 years of age, required surgery so that a brain tumor could be removed. But the doctors wanted Brooke to be awake during the surgery just so they knew it wasn’t damaging his brain. So in order for him to stay awake, the allowed him to bring his iPod and connect it to the surgery room’s sound system. The first track Brooke chose to listen to was “Apologize” by Timbaland featuring One Republic. The funny thing about this is that this was his second time undergoing the surgery. During the first brain surgery, the doctor were unable to fully remove the tumor. According to the head surgeon,

“The tumor was in a very difficult place that controls the movement of the body,” Andrew McElroy, the head neurosurgeon told The Sun newspaper. “And we had to ensure we didn’t damage the surrounding area. A few millimeters too far could have paralyzed him, so I let him listen to his iPod. We talked to him all the way through, and he was happy with his music on.”

Well apparently, the iPod saved Gavin Brooke’s life. I’m not quite sure if I would of chosen Timbaland and One Republic as the artists I would want to listen to. Given the fact that I have several surgeons with sharp knives working on my brain, I wouldn’t want to distract them with that kind of garbage music. But oh well. It did the job. Congratulations Gavin Brooke. And kudos to Apple for their beloved iPod.

- Geoff

[Source: CNET]

Parrot, makers or speakers and home theater accessories, announced that will release their Zikmu series of wireless speakers for the iPod and the iPhone. Developed along with designer Philippe Starck these 2.5 feet high columns has a dock that works with the iPod, iPhone and the iPhone 3G . It plays music through the dock as well as charges the device attached to it. The main speaker tower sends music to the other speaker via Bluetooth. It can also use Bluetooth to play music from other music players and cell phones. It also features Wi-Fi so you can connect to nearby computers. The speakers are available in black and go for $1500 sometime this spring.

-Ray

[Source: ipodnn]

I have the Pac-Man game app on my iPhone, it was free and it is one of my favorite games of all time. Many other people have the game too, but Khantipol Kasemsant of Bangkok took his obsession with Pac-Man one step further. He built a small enclosure to hold his iPod touch and recreated the retro arcade game cabinet. Made out of paper the retro game cabinet was printed from a template he discovered online and cut it out of heavy grade stock to hold his iPod touch in place. If I wasn’t so lazy I would probably try something like this, but I’m pretty damn lazy and just want to get my Pac-Man on.

-Ray

[Source: electronista]

If you are tired of those simple iPod dock devices such as iPod Dock Clock Radios and what not, then iLuv has something that might interest you. It is called the i9500 iPod/CD Sound System from iLuv. The iLuv sound system supports 4 CDs at a time as well as a dock for any Apple iPod. In addition, the sound system can support microSD flash memory cards as well as USB flash drives. It also comes with the usual FM/AM tuner and a alarm clock. The system looks great. Not really sure what size that subwoofer is, but it looks like it packs a mean punch. There is no official word to what the retail price would be, but it is expected to make its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 9, 2009.

- Geoff

[Source: Engadget]

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]