Ipod touch
by Doug Aamoth on October 29, 2009

Bad news, you guys. If you were thinking of dropping $120 on TomTom’s iPhone car kit and then another $100 on TomTom’s navigation app for use with your first-generation iPhone or second-generation iPod touch, it now looks like you’d to run into some compatibility issues.

AppleInsider is reporting “that although the Car Kit dock is compatible with all iPhone models, the TomTom application will only work with the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G – even with the dock connected to a first-generation iPhone or iPod touch.”

by Nicholas Deleon on October 26, 2009

Last week, Volkswagen “launched” the new 2010 GTI via an iPhone App. This week, famous rock band Alice in Chains launches its new album via an iPhone App. It comes out tomorrow, and includes the album itself, along with photos, news, videos, etc. Think of it as a bonus DVD, back in the early days of when the record labels were trying to figure out how to get people to buy CDs.

by Nicholas Deleon on October 22, 2009

To call us a “car blog” would sorta be stretching the truth. Occasionally one of the guys—aka Matt Burns—will do a car story, yeah, but that’s primarily because he thinks he’s James May. I have no such illusions of grandeur; I’m just sitting at a desk typing things, and writing student loan checks… Before this gets any further off track, the news: Volkswagen has teamed up with the guys behind Real Racing, Firemint,

by Jeremy Kessel on October 20, 2009

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Short Version:

What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate iFrogz’s Timbre headphones w/mic and their iPod touch 2G & 3G Luxe case. In a nutshell, the Timbre headphones (which work with both the iPhone and iPod touch) provide decent audio playback, a reasonably comfortable fit (thanks to the three different ear bud choices), and the convenience of a built-in microphone for voice memos, Skype, etc albeit for the slightly higher than desirable price of $49.99. As for the Luxe, it is mediocre at best with a suspect design and very little going for it, especially considering it runs $29.99.

by Nicholas Deleon on October 7, 2009

Do you have an iPhone? Would you like to play Myst for free? You can, sorta! What used to be the Myst demo is now called Myst FREE. You can explore Myst Island, but that’s about it.

by Nicholas Deleon on October 7, 2009

You probably know by now that at least some of us here at pretty high on the Zune HD—look at the lengths I went to get it up and running!—but I recognize that not every Mac owner is going to jump through hoops just to be able to use the device. But maybe, just maybe, Microsoft is finally ready to do what so many people have asked it to do: make a Mac version of the Zune software, thereby enabling all the Mac owners out there to use the portable media player a little more easily.

by Matt Burns on September 18, 2009

I haven’t heard one major complaint about the Zune HD. Have you? Everyone seems to love it. My only iPod – the original iPod Mini – needs to be retired. I’m debating between the iPod touch and the Zune HD right now. The rebellious side in me wants to get the Microsoft Zune HD, which is kind of ironic if you think about it. However, the sensible side says that the iPod touch is the smart buy primarily because of the vast range of accessories available.

Last Christmas I got my 14-year old sister-in-law a Zune 80 over an iPod touch or classic. She got the Zune because it offered more storage than the flash-based touch, but had a bigger screen than the iPod classic. Plus I’ve never had a Zune act funky or die on me, which is something I can’t say that about an iPod. But then her birthday rolled around and we wanted to get her a speaker dock. Yeah, there are five speaker docks on the market and either they sound like poo, or they are made by Kicker and therefore out of our price range. She ended up getting a 2.1 computer speaker set with a y-cable.

The issue I have is that I like all the extras you can do with these devices. I have an Onkyo iPod dock along with a Belkin RF car dock that I used to use all the time with the iPod Mini. I expect to have the same capabilities with my new purchase, but I don’t think I can get that with the Zune HD.

Video: Hitler is disappointed about the 3G iPod touch too
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by Matt Burns on September 15, 2009


Yeah, we know that this meme is played out. Honestly we still think that our own Nicholas Delaeon’s Twitter adaptation is the best. But somehow we can see Steve Jobs going off in a similar rant if that rumor about technical issues delaying the camera for the iPod touch are true. [via 9 to 5 Mac]

by John Biggs on September 12, 2009

This doesn’t make a lot of sense. Apple launched all kinds of crazy stuff at their event last week yet they didn’t mention most of them. FM radio? Wasn’t really talked up. The secret slurp folder in iTunes? Ditto.

by Matt Burns on September 11, 2009

When iFixit tore apart the new iPod nano, there was nothing surpising. But that’s not the case with the new iPod touch. It seems that the Broadcom BCM4329 chip found at the heart of the portable supports 802.11n WiFi and FM transmitting. But they also found something a bit more interesting related to the rumored camera.

Hands-on with the 64GB iPod touch and iPod Shuffle “Special Edition”
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by Greg Kumparak on September 9, 2009

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There’s not much for us to say about either of these models. While it’s absolutely incredible that they crammed 64 GB into this razor thin iPod Touch, there’s nothing beyond that for us to touch on that can’t be said for past models. The other significant changes (50% speed boost and the addition of OpenGL ES) aren’t things we could test on the spot; while it certainly felt faster, we didn’t throw down with a stopwatch.

The “Special Edition” iPod Shuffle is quite stunning in person. That stainless steel is ..well, it’s a mirror. It gleens, it glistens. Unfortunately, the only thing it catches more than the light is fingerprints. Really – the demonstrator had to wipe it down with his shirt 4 times in the period of about a minute.

Photo Gallery by Picturesurf

iPod touch gets speed and space increase, sweet new games, price drop
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by Devin Coldewey on September 9, 2009

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There are some sweet upgrades just announced for the iPod touch, but… no camera. I guess Apple felt that would make it too good. What we have seen is a serious upgrade to the hardware. We’re also seeing a lot of new games coming out, some top-tier titles like Assassin’s Creed: Discovery, as Apple takes a shot at biting a bigger piece of the mobile gaming pie.

And of course there’s the expected price drop: 8GB for $199, 16GB for $229, 32GB for $299, and the brand new 64GB for $399. Plus, the 64GB is “50% faster” — although we know what that means when Apple says it. It does now support OpenGL|ES, which should improve game performance even further. Now, if only it had a D-pad…
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iPod touch 3G and Nano 5G cases are on BestBuy.com! Look! Look!
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by Matt Burns on September 8, 2009

best-buy-ipodsApparently Best Buy didn’t get the memo that the new iPods might be delayed because if you look right now, you should see product listings for the unannounced iPods. However, these listings don’t reveal anything new or different than other leaks. It’s just all of us are antsy to see what our glorious master will bestow upon us tomorrow.

by Peter Ha on August 18, 2009

Short Version: If you’ve never purchased a charging dock for your iPhone or iPod Touch and you’re without an alarm clock then the Kensington Nightstand is a perfect alternative for you, friend. Being able to check on the weather first thing in the morning is an added bonus. The $40 price tag might give some of you sticker shock considering the Rise & Shine app is free from the App Store, but a quick look around to other iPhone/iPod accessory vendors quickly reveals that the Nightstand is actually a good deal. If you’re looking to buy a charging dock that is.

by Devin Coldewey on August 14, 2009

I considered it a sure thing when we first wrote about it back in July, but in the Apple reporting spirit (that is, writing about things we have known for a long time), here are some pictures and video showing what appears to be an iPod Touch with a camera on the back. Shock!!

by Nicholas Deleon on August 3, 2009

Another day, another story that makes Apple look bad. Today’s is a charming tale in which Apple is alleged to have placed a gag order on a Liverpool man after his iPod touch exploded. The man complained to Apple, and Apple offered the man “compensation” in the form of so many pounds (the man merely asked for his £162 back), but only on the condition that he never tell anyone about said compensation.

by John Biggs on July 6, 2009


So it looks like this whole “iPod Touch with Camera” thing is coming to fruition. While the first case we saw was a little wonky, this makes more sense. Take a look at the back of your iPod touch – there’s a Wi-Fi antenna on the left side so the only place they could stuff a camera would be in the center, next to the antenna. I’m not sure what else is up in that spot, but the camera can’t take that much space.

UPDATE – Now there’s a freaking Nano case with a hole in it!

by Michael Arrington on July 6, 2009

Like most people who’ve had an iPhone 3GS in their hands, we’ve been extremely impressed with the video capabilities of this little device. Not only Does it take near-HD video, it has excellent basic editing software and video can be uploaded to YouTube over Wifi or the cell networks. Among other things, it is the most useful video camera in the world today. No wonder the video camera market is shaking in its collective boots.

Thank God those iPhones are so expensive, and Apple will only sell 20 million or so of them in 2009. If Apple added cameras to its line of iPods, there would be another 3+million of them hitting the market per month, and the low end of the digital video camera market could be crushed.

Uh oh.

That’s exactly what we’re hearing is going to happen. One of our sources in Asia say that Apple has placed an order for a massive number of camera modules of the type that they include in the iPhone. These are inexpensive cameras, in the $10 range. And the size of the order, our source says, means they can only be used for one thing – the iPods.

iPod Touch 3G case? Nah
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by John Biggs on July 3, 2009

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Reader “Jenny” sent us a link to a silicone case from Asiajunk manufacturer UXSight. It purports to show an iPod Touch 3G – third generation, not third generation wireless – with two holes -one for a camera and one for the antenna. Or maybe the little one is for a little pencil that comes out and draws the subject on a piece of paper?

Remember: Apple never releases designs to vendors until the absolute last minute. If we were to see anything it would happen in August at the earliest. Go back to your hot dogs.
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Need to upgrade your iPod Touch? Don’t have $10?
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by John Biggs on June 22, 2009

caged-cat-and-canaryI’m not going to send you to this site but if you need previous versions of the iPod firmware, it’s all right there for free. There might even be current versions. Just saying.
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