Bites from the Apple: Rock'n'Roll Dreams
Summer's over. You can tell by the passing of Labor Day on the calendar and the grim return to the workplace with the knowledge that we won't have another reprieve until Thanksgiving (unless, of course, you get the luxury of such governmental holidays as Columbus Day). And with the metaphorical passing of the season (since it won't become official until September 21), we also get another sign: the annual special event to announce refreshed iPods (which, of course, portends the coming of the holiday season). Bloomberg is reporting (and the gadgetosphere is regurgitating) that Apple will be hosting an event titled "Let's Rock!" at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Fransico next Tuesday (September 9) at 10 am.
Most likely, we'll be seeing a return of the slim iPod nano--which got fat last year as it added video playback to its feature set--in its fourth-generation (4G) incarnation. The evidence for this comes from leaked 4G case designs posted over at Mac Rumors and Engadget and even a sighting of a new case in the wild (pic at right comparing new iPod nano case to an iPhone via Engadget). Aside from the return to the iPod nano Classic looks, we might also see a price drop of the iPod touch to keep it competitive with the iPhone. We could also see new functionality coming to the iPod touch/iPhone with the first interactive album application that can run on the iPhone 2.0 software (which is also compatible with the iPod touch). Music Week is reporting that the band Snow Patrol will be the first to release such a product with its new album slated to come out in late October, and Gizmodo notes that it will deliver lyrics, artwork, behind-the-music photos and other bonus content. I'm guessing that since Apple likes to roll things out thematically, we'll have to wait a little longer till we see anything new for the MacBook line.
Now onto documenting some of the Apple-y goodness since last we met...
- Gizmodo has reprinted a letter from Steve Jobs to an iPhone user that pushes the rumor that iPhone tethering is being discussed between Apple and AT&T? If you're not familiar with the term, "tethering" refers to the capability of tying your laptop to your cell phone's 3G connection--via Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or old-school USB--for access to email, Internet, etc. Recently, the NetShare tethering application made its way to the App Store but was pulled by Apple (most likely at the behest of AT&T, which is dealing with enough 3G problems without the added bandwidth used by tetherers).
- Until tethering is possible, AT&T has introduced the USBConnect Mercury USB dongle, which enables you to connect your laptop to AT&T's HSDPA 3G network--with downlink speeds of between 700 kilobits per second (Kbps) and 1.7 megabits per second (Mbps). Macworld reports that the device is essentially free after signing up for a two-year DataConnect plan of $60 or more.
No, that's not an iPod added to the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. That's an iPod-equipped refrigerator that's being tested by appliance maker Gorenje. In addition to the docking station and integrated speakers, Slippery Brick reports that the iGorenj app (for iPhone/iPod touch) enables you to control other Gorenje appliances in your home (like the washing machine) via Wi-Fi.
- App Watch: Twittelator Pro is now available for $4.99 at the App Store (link requires iTunes). Compared to the bare bones simplicity of the free Twitteriffic (my choice for tweeting), Twittelator Pro beefs up your Twitter communications with the ability to add multiple Twitter accounts and limited copy/paste functions (via iPodNN).
- BBEdit, the best text editor for the Mac (and the tool that I use the most), has just been updated to version 9, and Adam Engst at TidBITS has an extensive look at the update. I'm thinking the newly enhanced Find Differences feature--which "not only shows the changed lines, and the changed characters within each line, (but) also lets you see and replace individual spans of differing characters within each changed line"--might make this a very worthwhile upgrade for me (as I use BBEdit primarily for writing text, not coding).
- TUAW is getting into the back-to-school swing with tips on iPhone/iPod touch apps to help with school work as well as an overview of writing tool alternatives to Microsoft Word .
- The Make Use Of website rounds up five apps to add to your iPhone/iPod touch to transmogrify it into a power tool (including compass, flashlight, and level apps)
--Agen G.N. Schmitz
Jeff on September 03, 2008 at 04:40 AM
At what point is the Nano too big and not "nano-sized" anymore. I like the current gen size because it is VERY pocketable.