There’s no denying that Apple let the entire world (yes, even the native Easter Islanders) down by not shoving a camera of some sort into its iPod touch, but if a delicate teardown completed by the screwdriver-wielding fiends over at iFixit is any indication, a seasoned modder could certainly add one. A 6- x 6- x 3-millimeter space was spotted between a Broadcom chip and the wireless antenna, which is reportedly not enough room for an iPhone-esque sensor, but just enough space for the video camera module found in the 5G iPod nano. In potentially more interesting news, the aforesaid Broadcom BCM4329 chip actually supports 802.11n. For the nerds in attendance, you’ll recognize that even the iPhone 3GS can’t handle those high-speed airwaves. Furthermore, the chip supports FM transmission, so at least theoretically, the device could stream tunes to your old school stereo through an open FM station. Eager for more? Tap that read link, buster.

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Dying to know what that tiny VGA video sensor in the new iPod nano looks like? As usual, the folks at iFixit have it covered — hit the read link to follow along with all the gory action as it proceeds. (Seriously, they’re posting the teardown pictures live as they do it.)

Update: It’s all over, and the findings are interesting, if not too shocking: the 8GB of flash is from Toshiba, the processor is an Apple-branded ARM unit manufactured by Samsung, and the camera’s VGA resolution is probably explained by its 3mm thickness — the iPhone 3G’s camera is 6mm, and the nano is only 6.2mm thick at its fattest.

Nilay Patel

Update: Yes, managing apps from iTunes is every bit as magical as we expected. The update is free to iPhone users and iPod touch users who’ve already shelled out the big bucks for OS 3. If you own a touch and you’ve held off, however, your patience has paid off — the upgrade now only costs you $4.95. Huzzah!

Apple sure took long enough to get to this, but just as rumored, the iPod nano is seeing a hotly-anticipated refresh today. The big addition? A camera that just so happens to shoot live video (but not stills, apparently). On the lower left of the new fifth-generation nano, you’ll find the camera as well as a speaker and microphone, but unfortunately you’ll have to sync it with your computer before you upload clips to YouTube. The camera-laden nanos will be available starting today in a rainbow’s worth of hues (nine, if we’re being precise), with the 8GB model pegged at $149 and the 16GB edition at $179 — though, we should mention that yellow and red are Apple Store exclusives. Oh, and oddly / tragically enough, the iPod nano is officially the only dedicated iPod with a camera, leaving the iPod touch — and every human on the planet — scratching their head in befuddlement. Meanwhile, iPhone 3G users are equally bewildered by the fact that a mid-range iPod can shoot video while a fully-capable smartphone cannot.

As for other specs, you’ll find a built-in FM tuner with Live Pause (!) and iTunes Tagging, a pedometer (you know, for that fancy Nike+ integration), VoiceOver, support for voice memos and a larger 2.2-inch display (up from 2.0-inches) with a 376 x 240 resolution. As for the camera, we’re told that the video capture mode snags footage in VGA quality (640 x 480) H.264, with up to 30fps and AAC audio. If you’re feeling fancy, there’s also 15 real-time special effects including Sepia, Black and White, X-Ray, Film Grain, Thermal, Security Cam, Cyborg, Bulge, Kaleido and Motion Blur (among others). As for dimensions, the 5G nano remains identical to the 4G nano at 3.6- x 1.5- x 0.24-inches, though it somehow shaves a whopping 0.02 ounces as it climbs down from 1.3 to 1.28 ounces. Curious about battery life? Apple claims that the new nano can last up to 24 hours when playing back audio (same as 4G nano), while video playback should zap the rechargeable battery in just five hours (which is up an hour over its predecessor).

By : Darren Murph

P.S.- Make sure to hit the read link for the full interview — it’s short, but it’s full of Steve saying things like “You notice Amazon never says how [many Kindles] they sell; usually if they sell a lot of something, you want to tell everybody.”

by : Nilay Patel

We always suspected the iPhone 3GS was capable of 1080p HD video playback, and now we’ve got proof. Although Apple lists the iPhone 3Gs’s max video playback res at just 640×480, iLounge linked to Chinese forum post claiming that the 3GS could do 30Mbps 1080p playback earlier today — and when we saw that the only thing we needed to do to test it out was download the free FileAid app, well, you know how we’ve just spent the last 20 minutes. We tested out a bunch of HD trailers from Apple’s QuickTime trailer site, some videos we shot with a Lumix DMC-GH1 and some other random videos with general success, but there were some major hiccups: high bitrate 720p video off the GH1 stuttered during playback, and loading the Avatar trailer consistently crashed the phone’s audio driver until we restarted. We tried the same thing on an iPhone 3G and just got error messages at almost every resolution, so it seems like it’s a combination of the 3GS’s extra horsepower and different built-in software at work here — software that’s clearly not ready for prime-time, as evidenced by the bugs. We’re hoping Apple is polishing that up and getting ready to unlock this functionality, since it’d be sweet to just plug into an HDTV and play video — anyone listening out there in Cupertino? Video after the break.

Not to knock cellophane tape as a method for in-car iPhone navigation, but if you want to use the new TomTom app in a more proper setting, you’ll want the official TomTom car kit. In addition to enhancing the GPS signal and charging your iPhone, it’s also got hands-free dialing and a speaker that’s (presumably) better than the phone solo for giving directions. At a rumored price of just under $200 with software, it’s not a bad deal if you were planning to shell out $100 for the US maps, anyway. We’re still on the fence, but the hypnotic soundtrack of the promotion video is admittedly alluring. See for yourself after the break.

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They have shifted its controls to earbud cord, which pave the way for making this small digital piece more smaller. The controls can be easily accessed and operated while on go since it has been positioned in convenient location near the earbud cord. You can actively involve in your activity without an eye on the controls in the iPod shuffle. Activate you voice over feature, navigate your music files by press of a button placed near the right earbud cord. There is plenty of room available for multiple playlist and hear music you like the most with out any hassle in selecting those files.

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Its voice over function would automatically tells you the name of the title and artist by press of a button. It tells you when the battery need charging. You can set multiple playlist suitable for your mood like when you are relaxing or doing workouts in gym.

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Voiceover tells you the name of the playlist, so you can select them without seeing it. It speaks 20 different languages and tells artist name and song name. This iPod shuffles comes with three controls such as flip it to right, middle or left. When you flip it to right it turns off and it plays the song in order when you flip it to middle and it shuffles the song when you flip it to the left.

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It delivers 10 hrs of battery backup when fully charged and supports Window Vista and XP home edition. It has iPod shuffle USB cable and weighs nearly 10.7 grams with provision for input and output. Check ipodreviews.org.uk for complete review on iPod Shuffle 4GB. You can find Cheap iPod Prices in this website.

What you are about to read is from an actual court filing. Gregory McKenna has filed suit against Apple, which he alleges is conspiring with the mob in an effort to coerce him to return to a New York-based modeling agency he quit in 2000. As explained in the 124-page complaint, an iPod shuffle he bought on eBay in 2005 and an iPod mini he bought new from an Apple store in 2006 — possibly a nano, as minis were discontinued a year prior — both contain receivers that have allowed the Mafia to send audio death threats that play in tandem with his music. The suit seeks $14.3 million total and lists ten defendants in all, including a local mechanic, a private investigator, the St. Louis Police Department, the FBI, and the US Department of Justice. While our initial reaction is to laugh at the ridiculousness of it all, it’s hard not to feel sad for McKenna and his state of mind — of course, if by some stroke of fate he manages to prove it was all one big conspiracy perpetrated by the Mafia, well, guess we’ll be ending up with egg on our faces.

By : Ross Miller