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Britney Spears Promotes Citizen Paparazzism

Ok, so maybe ‘paparazzism’ is not a word, but then again, who cares. Britney Spears, a once beloved hottie turned white trash mom, is taking another stab at sarcasm, giving away a signed iPod and 15 minutes of fame to the fan that submits the best paparazziesque photo. According to Brit,

“Share what happens to you when the clock strikes 12… Where are you? Who is with you? Savour every last detail and when you think you have it down, recreate that perfect moment and capture it as best you can in a digital photograph.”

Ah, okay Brit, maybe instead of giving away a signed iPod, you could give away some of whatever it is your are smoking - I am sure your fans would have more fun with that anyways…

Amosu Introduces the 24K Gold iPod

Most of us are more than happy with our plain old iPods. But for those of you who aren’t, check out the 24K Gold iPod from Amosu. The 24K gold iPod is described as, “Sleek and beautiful 24ct unique hardened mirror gold.” There is nothing new under the hood of this pimped iPod, in fact the only thing that different is the 24K gold backplate - sure to excite the rich and famous, and sadly all the collar-poppers around the world.

With prices ranging from $599.99 USD for a 8GB Nano, all the way up to $799.99 for a 80GB iPod video - twice the list price of the device. I don’t know about you, but I think I will leave the gold for my grill.

Wi-Fi iPod Would Give the iPod the One Feature it is Missing

According to DigiTimes, Apple is planning to release a Wi-Fi enabled iPod this year. The news, which is based on statements made by Universal Scientific Industrial (USI), who will produce the Wi-Fi modules, and Foxcomm, who will perform as the OEM system assembler, comes at an ideal time for Apple and iPod lovers, as the threat of the Wi-Fi enabled Microsoft Zune grows larger.

Do People Want Wi-Fi Music Transfers

YES. The popularity of digital music has been the ease at which you can send and share songs with friends, relatives, and complete strangers. If music sharing was not popular, there would be no peer-to-peer file sharing networks. With the increase in frequency and availability of Wi-Fi networks, and the pending launches of numerous municipal wi-fi networks, the ability for all portable electronics devices to be able to share, leveraging the wi-fi network gains in importance.

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That’s 20 Million iPod’s Per Year…

…and over 54,000 iPod sales per day. Not bad. According to Steve Jobs,

“iPod has helped millions of people around the world rekindle their passion for music, and we’re thrilled to be a part of that.”

I am not so sure if it has rekindled people’s passion for music, but more likely, was an enabler of the trend toward digital media distribution. In any event, analysts predict that there are least 400 milion more iPods left to be sold before sales of the line will begin to fall-off. I think Howie will get one of them….

It is also interesting that they noted the size of the iPod family of accessories. According to Apple, there are 4,000-plus dedicated iPod accessories, that is an insane amount, and goes to prove just how far one can customize their iPod and their iPod experience.

GizMac Accessories Has Sent Out Hundreds of Free Cases

GizMac, the makers of the Titan Clear free iPod case, has recently sent out hundreds of free iPod cases. According to Jessica Urbanovit, Sales Administrator for GizMac Accessories,

“GizMac Accessories did not want to tell our customers that the free iPod cases were being sent. The GizMac management wanted to give free Titan Clear iPod cases as a nice surprise and thank you to our loyal customers.”

Titan Clear iPod Case is Solid

The Titan Clear is a tough, clear polycarbonate iPod case for the second generation Nano. With the Titan Clear, not only will the iPod Nano body be protected, but the screen and click wheel will also be protected. The Titan Clear case itself will protect the screen of the Nano with tough, clear polycarbonate. For the click wheel, a thin film material included with the Titan Clear will protect it from possible damage.

The Titan Clear positions the Nano along the bottom of the case. Not only does having the Nano line up with the lower part of the Titan Clear case add to the appearance, it also allows for easy access to the bottom of the Nano. With the Titan Clear case, charging and oversize earphone plugs are not an issue as with other cases on the market.

The Titan Clear iPod case for the 2nd generation Nano has a US retail of $24.99 and is available at GizMac.

Advances in Thin Film Research To Make This Possible

According to research done by the University of Manitoba, new advances in thin film research could theoretically make a hard drive capable of about 155 gigabytes (GB) per square centimeter, far beyond the capacity of the iPod in your pocket today. According to Johan van Lierop, “The largest current disk capacity on MP3 players is about 80 GB, representing around 20,000 songs worth of storage. Our work may help companies like Fujitsu develop components for an iPod that could hold 125,000 songs or around 500 GB of data.” Not that many of us have that many song titles, but advances like this would make the iPod as much of a portable storage device as a multimedia player.

Besides the fact that not many would need that much storage capacity on an iPod, imagine what that would cost. With an 80 gig iPod going for for $349, a 155 GB iPod would probably retail for at least $699. That’s just crazy!

Could Apple and Microsoft Be in Court Soon?

Peter Ha has an interesting post over at CrunchGear about an Apple iPod Shuffle patent that looks (and sounds) an awful lot like a Microsoft Zune. According to Peter,

“This is somewhat strange, but you can’t deny the facts. Apple was granted a patent that would allow “A two shot injection process for forming an enclosure for an electronic device”. Sounds a lot like the Zune doesn’t it? Keep in mind the patent was filed August 16, 2005 and was meant for the first-generation Shuffle, but we know that it was shipped as a single layer shell. Does Apple plan on using this for future iPods or is it dead in the water? Did Microsoft ‘borrow’ this particular design and just tweak it a bit? Maybe it’s just coincidence, but don’t you love rumors?”

I’d have to agree that the patent looks like and describes a Microsoft Zune. What is more interesting though, is why has this form factor not been used? The first generation iPod shuffles look nothing like this. Could we quite possibly see a new iPod Shuffle form factor for the third time?

Here is what the patent picture looks like:

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I Had the Biggest Crush on Ms. Pac-Man Growing Up!

Everyone’s favorite video game hottie is now available on your iPod. Accoridng to Digital Spy, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Ms. Pac-Man, Namco Networks has announced that the game is now available for download to your iPod via iTunes.

Available or play on the fifth generation iPod, Ms. Pac-Man for iPod ncluding the four unique maze designs, 256 maze levels and the “coffee break” animated intervals from the original game. The iPod version also features retro art from the original arcade cabinet and a tutorial level, which allows players to perfect their ghost avoidance skills. This version also allows players to listen to the original retro game sounds or music from their fifth generation iPod library while playing. It’s like reliving my childhood all over again!

Crazy Kids and Their iPods

60 year old Frank Burd, a Germantown High School math teacher had his neck broken by a pair of students over a confiscated iPod. According to the police report, Mr. Burd, a popular Germantown teacher, had confiscated the iPod from the 11th grade student. After class two students, one 17, the other 15, bum-rushed Mr. Burd knocking him to the ground. Mr. Burd was rushed to the hospital, with two broken bones in his neck and cuts to his face, which seems to imply that the students may have stomped on Mr., Burd after knocking him down.

What Is Wrong With Kids These Days?

We all know how passionate some iPod owners are, but beating up a 60 year old teacher? C’mon, that is inexcuseable. The students knew that the iPod was a prohibited device and that if caught with it, it would be taken away. What is wrong with kids these days?

iPod Shuffle Wins 2007 Design Week Consumer Product Design Award

Not that this is a huge surprise as the iPod line gained its tremendous following due to its design, user inteface, ease of use, and style, it is always nice to make it “offical”. The second generation iPod shuffle has been a tremendous success and has gotten excellent reviews from it users. According to Sebastian Conran of Conran and Partners,

“We were in a quandary with Consumer Product Design. Though there was a wide variety of interesting products, there was also a raft of entries from Apple’s design team, of which, though all were excellent, only the Shuffle was truly ‘new.’ It feels a bit unfair to all the other entries, which were mainly very good indeed, that Apple—with its relentless commitment to innovative and evolutionary design, and its attention to detail—should again win pole position. The Shuffle is a simple, beautifully executed concept with minimal, re-useable packaging that is fantastic value for money.”

I couldn’t agree with him more!