Mr. Bean's iPod

Real Working Exploded Ipod (in Resin)

Cool, more pics.

Apple Announces iPhone and Apple TV, for real now

Steve Jobs just dropped a bombshell on the audience attending his Macworld Keynote Address. Jobs at first announced the product as three separate products; a widescreen video iPod, a phone, and a mobile internet communicator...

The iPhone will use a revolutionary interface called MultiTouch, first seen in Apple patent filings over a year ago. The iPhone will run OS X, and be capable of running desktop-class applications:

• Single front button.
• 3.5 inch widescreen display featuring the highest pixel density ever shipped in a portable device.
• 2 megapixel camera.
• Proximity sensor which switches between modes and screen orientation based on how a user holds it.
• 11.6 mm thick.
• Syncs with iTunes
• GSM/EDGE
• Wifi
• Bluetooth
• Cingular only.
• Visual voicemail - shows a list of your voicemails like you see a list of emails.
• Error correcting on-screen keyboard.
• Gestural interface
• Mail.
• Safari.
• Google Maps.
• Widgets.
• Switches seamlessly between EDGE and WiFi.
• Free Yahoo! IMAP email to all iPhone customers.
• GPS
• 5 hour video battery life.
• 16 hour audio battery life.

The 4GB costs $499 and the 8GB $599 (includes a 2 year contract). It is shipping in June.

Also the Apple TV, very cool as well:

Apple has just officially announced the Apple TV, formerly the iTV:

• wireless transfer to Apple TV
• HDMI output
• support for 720p
• includes 40gb drive
• includes 802.11 a/b/g/n (yes, n)
• stream from up to 5 machines
• can sync iTunes library

AppleTV ships next month and goes for $299. That $299 includes the Apple TV, an Apple Remote, Power Cord, and a Quick Start Guide. The dimensions are 7.7 by 7.7 inches (Steve loves squares), height 1.1 inches, and weighs only 2.4 pounds.

What formats does it support, straight from the specs: Video formats supported:

• H.264 and protected H.264 (from iTunes Store): 640 by 480, 30 fps, LC version of Baseline Profile
• 320 by 240, 30 fps, Baseline profile up to Level 1.3
• 1280 by 720, 24 fps, Progressive Main Profile.
  
• MPEG-4: 640 by 480, 30 fps, Simple Profile

Audio

• AAC (16 to 320 Kbps)
• protected AAC (from iTunes Store)
• MP3 (16 to 320 Kbps)
• MP3 VBR
• Apple Lossless
• AIFF
• WAV

More from TUAW and Apple itself. Very exciting announcements, I like them both a lot.

Big Apple News Tomorrow?

iSight, iPhone, iTV, a trademark on the letter "i", Steve Jobs retiring? We shall see...

This is a blind item, but a very trusted (and extremely anonymous) source of mine in Silicon Valley told me recently that he has it on good faith that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has invited all of his best friends to his MacWorld SF Keynote on Tuesday. In Silicon Valley buzz code, that means he's got something really special to show. Can you say iMobile? I knew you could.

More.

iChat Portable - the Real iPhone? Nope...

TecheBlog may have revealed the real thing - an Apple branded mobile phone named the iChat Portable.

From first glance, the mobile seems to be a PDA-phone of sorts, full touchscreen encased in Apple's signature iPod-white casing. Of course, the iPod would be one of the key functions for the phone. Judging by the name, the phone functionality will be based on Apple's iChat software, inline with the rumours that the phone would run off a modified version of OSX.

OF course, MacWorld begins next Monday, January 8th, with Steve Jobs' keynote scheduled for Tuesday January 9th, so this is when the iChat Portable will be officially announced. Until then, even a cell phone photo of the poster and the real product in its packaging will not convince some, but at least its enough to tide a few days. I'll post full details here when they are revealed.

UPDATE 2: The source of the pictures, TechEBlog, has now confirmed the pictures to be a fake, an unfortunate turn-of-events given that the announcement is only a few days out.

More.

iTunes Store Crashes From Too Much Sales

Swarms of online shoppers armed with new iPods and iTunes gift cards apparently overwhelmed Apple's iTunes music store over the holiday, prompting error messages and slowdowns of 20 minutes or more for downloads of a single song.

Frazzled users began posting urgent help messages Monday and Tuesday on Apple's technical forum for iTunes, complaining they were either not allowed into the store or were told the system couldn't process their request to download songs and videos.

It was not immediately clear how many people were affected by the slowdowns, and Apple Computer Inc. would not immediately comment Wednesday on what caused the slowdown and whether it had been fixed.

Analysts said the problems likely were the result of too many people with holiday iPods and iTunes gift cards trying to access the site at once.

More.

More iPhone News

The iPhone will likely ship in two capacities, other sources say, packing 4GB or 8GB of NAND flash in the most likely scenario, identical to Apple's mid-range and high-end iPod nano. Pricing for the iPhone will accordingly be higher than the similar iPod nano, although sources have not heard specific prices mentioned. Citing his own sources, Kevin Rose of Digg.com recently said on an episode of the Diggnation podcast that the iPhone will ship in a 4GB version for $249 and an 8GB version for $449, representing a $50 and $200 premium, respectively, over the iPod nano.

More info at ThinkSecret.

P.S. The image is of the Etymotics Ety 8 for the iPod ($300), some of the worst design I've ever seen, IMHO. Who would wear that?

iPod May Have Triplets

As it stands, Apple Computer hopes to introduce three new iPod models during the 2007 calendar year, AppleInsider has learned.

First and foremost is said to be a video-centric model that will either replace or supplement the aging fifth-generation iPod, though details of the two other models are unclear at this point.

Still, it could be some time before this much rumored "true video iPod" makes its debut, if at all.

People familiar with the matter tell AppleInsider that Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has so far been unwilling to commit the marketing and other resources necessary to bring the device to market.

More.

Microsoft Pays for Zune

"The New York Times reports that Microsoft has a new deal with Universal to share profits from Zune player sales. David Geffen, the media omniboss, is quoted: 'Each of these devices is used to store unpaid-for material...' The new business rationale is that stolen music should be paid for by profit sharing of newly sold Zune music players.
Does that mean if you are not stealing music, you should get a discount on the players? Universal expects a similar deal from Apple when their current contract expires."
Reader Gallenod adds, "Microsoft appears willing to spend millions and defer any potential profitability of the Zune simply to weaken Apple's bargaining power with recording companies and set a precedent for hardware manufacturers paying music companies."

From Slashdot.

New Full Screen iPod

Mac Rumors has an interesting analysis of one of Apple's patents. The widely "rumored about" new full screen, virtual clickwheel video iPod could make use of an active, touch-sensitive border bezels that would allow one to control the ipod without smudging the whole screen like it would inevitably do with a virtual clickwheel on it.

At the same time that I find that idea feasible, apple's clickwheel model has some really great advantages; namely that you can scroll "forever" without stopping, unlike what horizontal or vertical bars would offer... maybe it would sense a back and forth movement as one continuous movement, the same as going round and round with a clickwheel?