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Kicking off tomorrow is the second Fantastic Friday event, where we giveaway many different App Store applications. The last giveaway was held on Friday the 13th (back in February, there’s been two already in 2009!) and was very successful. We’ve got over 200 promo codes to giveaway, over double the amount of last time.
It’s simple to enter: leave a post on the official contest thread on iPod touch Fans, and you’re entered!
It’s hard to believe that we’re approaching 1 year since WWDC 08. It was an event that introduced us to the 3G iPhone, Firmware 2.0, App Store, and many other cool things. And here we are already, marking our calendars for the 2009 conference. Scheduled for June 8th to 12th, it’ll likely be another sold-out event – so get your tickets now. In fact, purchasing your tickets before April 24th saves you $300 off the normal $1595 ticket price.
WWDC 09 promises to be another exciting conference, but the big question is: will Steve Jobs be there? He’s missed the last two Apple events on a medical leave of absence. And another exciting thing to look forward to: will be see any new gadgets or other products to look forward to? Keep reading for our answers to those questions.
It’s a fact: The gadget obsessed nerds (all of us) need protection in our lives to keep our gizmos in pristine condition, whether they’re your pride and joy, or you’re looking to sell them on in the future. iPods have cases. Hundreds upon hundreds of protective cases in leather, plastic, lint-free cloth – Even wood and metal (if you’re into that kind of stuff.)
I myself have loads of cases for both my Touches, in order to find the perfect case for your device to match your needs. But in this review, we’re going to break the boundaries of “iPod Touch” and move into the world of laptops. Because laptops need lovin’ too! I have an aluminum Macbook, and if it chips, scratches or scars in anyway – What a waste of money…
So I’ve been thinking – What do laptops have? Cases… yeah, but they’re for transporting and traveling places. What about when I’m using it? So for you frequent laptop users, I’ve got a few good products coming up this week – And here’s the first of them.
The “Haptique” is made of ABS plastic hardshell, and is finished with a “soft-touch coating.” It’s made by a company called Uniea, who are a tech-savvy company whose warehouse is based in Hong Kong, but their design team is in the USA. (Uniea stands for Universal Electronic Accessories, and that’s exactly what they deliver!)
Read the review of my Haptique case across the break.
According to Boy Genius Report, a new iPhone could be unveiled come mid-June. The report states that “someone high up the AT&T food chain” let the ball loose with the following details:
- New iPhone announcement around mid-June (duh)
- New iPhone will be faster and have a more seamless experience unmatched by any device (could be just talking about 3.0, but we think it’s also a new iPhone)
- U-Verse iPhone application; will allow control of your home DVR (play, pause, rewind, etc.)
- The annual iPhone launch is “becoming a tradition.”
- Nothing official is being confirmed, but they said that people should prep for an exciting time this summer.
- AT&T is said to be working with Apple to create a unified product with an unparalleled experience across all their products and services.
- Apple’s 3.0 software should tell us where the iPhone platform is going… uh, k?
- They said customers shouldn’t need to choose from AT&T’s high-end devices because of features, they should choose based on preferences. The gap in capability should be filled with the new iPhone. Ok, bets on slide out QWERTY, autofocus camera, video sharing, blah blah?
- Seems like the higher speed HSDPA (7.2Mbps) is being hinted at too which should confirm the earlier rumors of the new Infineon chipset.
- The $99 3G netbook will start selling this summer, and the first one won’t be a Windows OS.
Boy Genius Report has even gone ahead to clarify that the information above is 100% confirmed. Time will only tell, but it would line up with Apple’s trend of releasing a device annually. Just take a look at the chart below.
| Generation | iPod touch | iPhone | iPod nano |
| 1st | Sept. 2007 | June 2007 | Sept 2005 |
| 2nd | Sept. 2008 | July 2008 | Sept 2006 |
| 3rd | June 2009? | Sept 2007 | |
| 4th | Sept 2008 |
The rumor mill is churning once again. Boy Genius Report says that it’s 100% confirmed, but do you think the same? Is this rumor true or is it as fake as faux fur? Whatever you think, voice your opinion.
Last week’s weekly wrap-up was a busy one, with iPhone 3.0 on the horizon along with a new 3rd-generation iPod shuffle. A week later, we’ve learned much more about iPhone 3.0 and it’s new features the public will get their hands on come June. This week was another exciting one in Apple dimensions – so let’s dig in:
iPhone 3.0 preview
On March 17th, Apple demonstrated a live preview of what to expect when Firmware 3.0 is released to the public next June. Among all the features mentioned, copy-and-paste was the one update that stood out from the rest. It’s a feature that shoud have been around since the beginning, but at least it’s finally here. Up until now, jailbroken utilities such as Clippy have sufficed.
Many updates and changes were made to the YouTube application including the ability to sign in with your YouTube account. After doing so, you can now comment on, rate or report videos. You can also watch videos from other YouTube users that you are subscribed to.
Firmware 3.0 will be released June 2009 – free for iPhone, $9.95 for iPod touch. It’s compatible with both generations of the iPhone and iPod touch, but the original iPod touch seems to be left in the dust as many features require a speaker or other hardware that the device lacks.
The YouTube application has seen a makeover with the release of Firmware 3.0. You can now sign into the application using your YouTube account. Once signed in, you can view your subscribed videos and rate, report or comment on videos. Another key update is the ability to see the full details about every video instead of occasionally being cut off with “…” at the end of the description.
Up until now, many users have had to use the mobile YouTube website through Safari to suffice, but come June 2009 you will no longer have to do so. All the regular mobile YouTube features will be found right in the YouTube application.
The word “podium” was first used in the year 1743. Apparently, Apple thinks it belongs to them. Apple issued a cease and desist letter to Pivotal, mainly because of the use of the word “pod” in their iPhone stand, named Podium. Continue reading for an excerpt of the cease-and-desist letter and what Pivotal had to say in return.
Kicking off at 12:45pm ET, Hack the iPod touch along with iPod touch Fans will be providing live coverage of the iPhone OS 3.0 preview. Apple will be providing an “advanced preview” of iPhone OS 3.0 in Cupertino, California beginning at 1pm ET (10am PT).
According to Kevin Rose, co-founder of Digg, copy-and-paste is coming to Firmware 3.0. Kevin’s last rumor was accurate, when he posted the first images of what would become the new 4th-generation iPod nano. Rose claims that the copy-and-paste feature will be similar to the magnifying glass that appears when you tap text. He claims that, using two fingers, you will be able to copy or cut text.
Apple will be demonstrating a live “advanced preview” of iPhone 3.0 tomorrow, March 17th, at 1pm ET. While you wait, you can watch Kevin Rose as he announced this rumor. There is some offensive language used in this video, so be advised.
