Steve Jobs Makes Apple Fanboys Wet Themselves... Again!

(picture from Engadget)

Sorry for the unoriginal title, but it's true. Steve Jobs gave a press conference today at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, and gave a very impressive line up as well. If your crazy for Apple hand-held devices, you have a much larger selection this time then an overpriced phone.

First and foremost, probably the biggest buzz is the release of the same iPhone, but without the phone, for a few hundred dollars less. This product is now called the iPod Touch, which gives the same sleek design (this time a bit thinner) of the iPhone but now with a strictly media focus. It also includes Wi-fi capabilities (802.11 b/g) to download from iTunes when away from a computer (you listening Zune?), and to surf the web. Otherwise, your still getting the great touch-screen, and cover flow, with either 8 or 16 GBs of space for $299 and $399 respectively.

Also, for those that still want the iPhone, it would seem the price has now dropped to $399 for the 8 GB model (previously $599) since they will soon discontinue the 4GB line.

For the more traditional iPod users, Apple also announced the next generation of iPod's (now called iPod Classic) and iPod nano's. The iPod Classic looks the same, but now is a bit more rounded, and comes in the basic colors of silver and black, since its after Labor day and white is out of style. It even comes with the popular cover flow, in either 80 or 160 GB models, for $249 and $349 respectively.

The iPod nano is now a bit shorter and fatter, finally using up all the empty space with a bigger screen. Otherwise, it still supports your music, pictures, and video, with cover flow, and comes in 4 and 8 GB models, for $149 and $199 respectively. Keep in mind that you can only get the large color selection for the 8 GB model, the 4 GB one only comes in silver.

So there you go, lots of Apple news for you to digest. Check out the new Apple site with more information HERE.

Update: NBC Hooks Up with Amazon

Shortly after hearing the news that NBC and Apple parted ways in the video distribution market, now we have news of NBC's new partner: Amazon.com! They are supposedly going to use the Amazon Unbox service, their paid service to rent or buy downloaded video content, to distribute the NBC shows we know and love online.

But why Amazon? Rumors has it that while no official pricing was announced, Amazon is willing to accept the price increase demanded by NBC, as well as putting strict control on the content, both of which Apple had an objection to. Some good news for the end-users is that there may be a discount for those that buy multiple episodes, or the entire season of a show.

Stay tuned to Devicing for more details.

(Source)

GoogPhone?

After the success of the Apple's iPhone, there have been speculations that other big companies will be sticking their ideas in the blender and seeing what concoction pops out.

The gossip is that Google is going at it and will create the David that will defeat the Goliath iPhone which is covering the market of overhyped superphones.......probably because it's nearly the only "superphone" people know about after advertising Apple did.

The guys at Engadget have speculated the rumors to be true and are backing it up with rumors that seem to be getting more and more specific. These rumors include a kickass mobile user interface based upon some Linux OS as well as everything being based in Java.

You Are Winner!


If Google releases this phone, many a google-lover and techie will want one, probably because it does more than the iPhone and does everything the iPhone does better, but with the possibility of a flight simulator in every application (if you haven't heard).

So like, Apple broke up with NBC, like OMG!

For all of those users that use iTunes to download and watch some of their favorite NBC shows, like The Office, you might be in for quite a surprise this month. Apple intends to pull down all of the network’s shows from its library due to what seems to be some contractual disagreements.

There are several stories on why this is happening. Apple is reporting that NBC requested an increase of prices of their individual episodes from $1.99 to as high as $4.99. Also, there have been previous reports of NBC looking to disallow the playing of their content on iPods and such, which is a major reason why most people download the episodes in the first place, just to crack down on piracy. For these reasons, Apple is taking down this content when they are obligated to distribute NBC’s content until their contract ends in December. NBC however is rejecting the statements made by Apple, saying that they only requested a "flexibility in wholesale pricing."

Whatever the main truth behind the story is, both sides seem to be still trying to negotiate the current situation. Niether side is really reliant on the other, but it is advantageous to both for a deal to be made, since both can benefit as online distributed video is getting more popular. Devicing will keep an eye on the story as it progresses.

(Source)

Unlocking the iPhone

The news has been full of stories of people unlocking the iPhone, that sexy little cell phone that people just can not shut up about. Now once again, all eyes are on a 17 year old named George Hotz who put his $500 phone under the knife and can now make calls using T-Mobile's network, and not AT&T who is the exclusive carrier for 5 years. He has even posted a blog containing step-by-step instructions on his process, that can be viewed here.

However, this is not the only hack out there. Many others are claiming of software only hacks that can be done to have the same effect without the use of soldering... which as we all know can do more harm then good for some people. One such site, iphonesimfree.com, claims that by just sending them your iPhone's, and probably for a small fee, they can unlock the phone to work with any service provider. They currently are opening it up for publications for free to show off that it works.

So for all those that want an iPhone but want your own provider, definitely keep an out out on these, and even more developments, in the future.