Appletell

There has been tons of rumors lately about what the new iPhone is going to look like and and what features it will have.  Sure, the iPhone is bound to be updated (or announced to be updated) in June at WWDC, but what about that little thing we call the iPod?  Can’t we give them a little loving?  What is the next iPod going to be like?  Unfortunately, it seems like this device has gotten lost in all the iPhone shuffle.  Well, let’s bring it back into the limelight, even if only for a little bit!  Keep in mind, I have no idea when they will be updated, but it’s always interesting to speculate on what they may look like and contain.

So, what do you think?  Is that old scroll wheel out of fashion?  Will they eventually all have wifi and Safari?  Are they all going to contain some sort of touch screen?  These are all good questions to ask, and with the way Apple keeps its secrets, any of those could be just as possible as the next.  I strongly believe they will all have some sort of advanced touch system, whether it be the actual screen or just adding multi-touch to the scroll wheel.  Apple has learned a lot from both the iPhone and iPod Touch about multi-touch displays, and the consumers seem to love them.  Furthermore, I think they will all be capable of wireless connectivity.  Even if it’s not Safari, Apple could possibly even add a more simplified iTunes Store to normal iPods.  This would be a great way for Apple to sell more songs and users to find even more music.

Now let’s talk more hardware.  With flash memory get cheaper everyday, will the new iPods move to flash?  I hope not.  Well, at least not now.  The Classic and its 160GB are great for people who have a ton of music as well as some movies, and I don’t believe hard drives are dead just yet.  Going along with my multi-touch theory, I also believe the new iPods will get larger screens to make them more able to support that feature.

What are your thoughts? Let them fly in the comments!

Graphic via [Gadget Reviews]

Since its introduction by Apple on January 9th, 2001, iTunes has become one of the most popular music library organization apps ever.  It started off simple and eventually became what it is today, a place not only to organize files, but to shop, learn, and watch.  With so much growth, large deals, and new features in the past few years, it makes me wonder where iTune’s place will be in the future.  When digital sales take over physical media, will it be because of iTunes?  Will iTunes one day start a revolution in how we purchase and handle all of our DVDs, music, and TV shows?  Or will iTunes eventually slip away into the past and be replaced by a whole new app or movement?

With the direction iTunes is headed now, it seems like it very well could be the driving force behind moving totally to digital sales for some.  It has one of the biggest music selections available anywhere, allows you to rent movies, releases new DVD titles the same day as hard copies, and contains all sort of other media, such as podcasts and TV shows.  With only a couple more deals and updates, iTunes could soon be the place to go for all of your media.  This would almost completely eliminate the need for physical media.  Don’t get me wrong though, I don’t think this will happen anytime very soon, but it is possible.  But what would seal the deal for moving completely to digital media?

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Apple is at again with a new iPod commercial.  This time around the ad features the same same colorful theme with figures of dancers in black as well as a hip song.  You can find the ad on Apple’s iTunes page and the song “Shut Up and Let Me Go” by The Ting Tings in the iTunes Store. Like most of the songs featured on Apple’s new commercials, this one will probably sell like hot cakes, making for a very happy artist.

Apple does a great job on all of their ads, they are very catchy and yet manage to get the point across about the product.  They make you remember them, which is the one of the major points when it comes to advertising.  They are the type of ads that make you stop fast forwarding your DVR and watch them, which is pretty hard to do.  Heck, I will probably end up buying this song now, how about you?

After the recent news of Apple acquiring PA Semi, there was a frenzy of thoughts that Apple may ditch Intel, and maybe their new mobile platform chip, Atom, and use a PA Semi chip in the next iPods and iPhones.  According to Jobs, this is not the case.  He goes on to add that the reason for the purchase was mainly for the company’s intelligence, not for their current products.  With this added expertise, Apple, who has been known to get involved in custom designing their iPod chips, could improve development of those devices.

As for Intel, Jobs says, “We have a great partnership with Intel.  We expect that to continue forever.” He continued by adding that there are no plans to introduce another PowerPC Mac and that, “I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over that.” So there you have it everyone, the real reason behind the purchase of PA Semi according to the man himself.  Now I can finally go get some sleep.

Late Tuesday night, in an interview with Forbes.com, an Apple spokesman shed some light on their recent acquisition of PA Semi, a small PowerPC computer chip manufacturer.  This buy out is a very interesting one indeed, as Apple ditched PA Semi’s PWRficient processors for Intel’s x86 design back in 2005.  Steve Jobs’ reasoning behind the move was although PWRficient was, you guessed it, very energy efficient, it had no where near the processing power Apple was looking for.  This purchase is also a huge blow to Intel, as Apple was one of their biggest customers.  With the recent acquisition, Intel’s recently released Atom chip, which was targeted at the iPhone, may take a back seat to the versatile PWRficient chips.  The adapted PWRficient chips could be used in every from a MacBook Pro to an iPod Nano, and Apple prefers to get everything from the inside- no third parties are best.

The decision to center the iPhone design around a chip that Apple could own marks a significant strategic choice by Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs, and is aimed at ensuring Apple can continue to differentiate its flagship phone as a raft of competitors flood the market. According to a source affiliated with the chip company, Jobs and Senior Vice President Tony Fadell led the tiny group of executives who spearheaded the acquisition, which included negotiations that took place in Jobs’ home.

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For those of you who are unsatisfied with the current MacBook Air (or the iPhone, iMac, MacBook Pro or iPod Classic, and who value looks and style over functionality (or in some cases a lack thereof), this mod is for you.  Computer Choppers, an Oregon-based company, will take one of the previously mentioned Apple products and really pimp it out.  You have the choice of five precious metals and four semi-precious metals to cover your computer in, and other add-ons such as multi-colored sapphire Apple Logos on your computer. 

The main feature of their line if a 24 karat gold MacBook Air.  For $5,000, you can get a base-line MBA sheathed in the shiny stuff, and for another $3,000, you can get the Apple logo on the top cover replaced by multi-colored sapphires (of course using the original Apple Logo color scheme).  Other specialties include a Platinum iMac, a Rose Gold iPhone, and a Black Nickel iPod Classic. 

Via [9 to 5 Mac\

How can you really show your mom that you love her this Mother’s Day?  With an Apple product, of course!  So if you’re wondering what you can get for the rapidly approaching May 11th, look no more, you can find it all here!

1) Mom’s love photos and memories, so get her an Apple photo book! You know how the saying goes, “A picture is worth 1,000 words.” Gather up all those old memories from this year and put them together in a nice, high quality book that your mother can cherish forever.  Plus, Apple is making it even easier with 20% of photo books just by using the promo code “LoveMom.” Just make sure you order in time so the books makes it for Mother’s Day.

2) Introduce them to the tech world with an iPod Shuffle! Only $49 and coming in five separate colors, an iPod Shuffle is the perfect way to show your mom you love her.  You can load it with all of her favorites songs before you give it to her and really make her smile, too!  Not only that, but they are extremely portable, light weight, and make for good fashion statements.

3) Keep in touch with a new Mac!:  If money isn’t a factor, go ahead and get her a new computer.  With the iSight camera and Leopard, it is easier than ever to have a great time video chatting.  She will thinks it’s awesome and you’ll have fun doing it, what more could you ask for on Mother’s Day?

4) If home made is more your style, use iLife! All Macs come with great pre-installed editing software.  If you want to give your mom something truly from the heart, make her a movie or slideshow with her favorites pictures and clips.  They love to see that you took the time to create something wonderful for them.

5) If your mom already has all the above, give her the gift of Apple with a gift card!:  Whether it be for iTunes or the store, everyone loves have the freedom to spend their money one what they want.  Get your mother a gift card and allow her to choose something for herself.  You can always find something at the Apple Store to spend some money on.

One of the best educational activities for handheld media players, Brain Quest, is now available for purchase in select Apple stores as well as online at Raybook.com.  This software costs $29.95 and matches all grades from one to seven.  It has received numerous awards, one from Money magazine naming it one of the best 50 values in the USA as well as one from Sesame Street magazine putting it in the top 9 products for kids.

“Brain Quest for iPod gives kids a similar experience to the paper-based flash cards, but with added portability and interactivity,” says Mark Williams, the company’s CEO and founder. “It delivers fun educational content on a device that is already part of their everyday enjoyment, providing opportunities for young learners to practice basic facts on the go. This keeps them in the learning zone.” With podcasts and educational TV stations already available on the iPod, will this one day be the classroom of the future?

Via [prMac]

We’ve heard numerous rumours about a 3G iPhone, not just here at Appletell, but all over the blogosphere. Turns out none of those rumours are true, or we haven’t seen an outcome yet. But does 3G really matter? Is it the turning point between you buying one or not? Sandy Gomo, Director of Product Management for Pantech Wireless, seems to have a simple explanation for it. Basically, can give you download speeds faster which would be must needed for the iPhone Apps. A 3G iPhone would run about 600-1400 kbps, while a EDGE iPhone would run about five to six times slower. So for things like streaming video, surfing the web and downloading music would be much faster.

“With 3G networks, the potential for advanced mobile phone functionality is enormous. At its core, 3G is full of possibilities.” - Sandy Gomo, Director of Product Management for Pantech Wireless tells Erik Price

So why hasn’t Apple used 3G on the iPhone yet? Must be coming soon… why not, would only bring up sales.

Are you waiting for a 3G iPhone?

Via [Mac Life]

“We have been able to assemble a functional nanocluster that incorporates two electron donating groups, and position them precisely 0.32nm apart so they can form a totally new type of molecular switching device,” says Professor Lee Cronin.  Uhh, what does that mean?  Well, according to two researchers at Glasglow University, they have developed a extremely small switch that could allow up to 500,000GB to be housed on one square inch of substrate.  Apple’s largest iPod on the market today is a measly 160GB, or 40,000 songs.  With this new switch you could house millions upon millions of songs, all in your pocket!  It doesn’t stop there, though.  Imagine the possibilities when it comes to computers, or anything that has hard drive storage!

Don’t get too excited yet.  Even with this amazing feat, there is still an extremely long way to go before something like this would appear in a consumer device.  There are currently some fabrication problems in its production, but the professors remain optimistic.  Mr. Cronin believes, “What we have done is find a way to potentially increase the data storage capabilities in a radical way.” I don’t know about you, but I’m excited to see where this goes.

Via [iPodObserver]