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Filed under: GPS

We’ve had our doubts about this Orange Gadgets outfit — the same folks promising that entirely-too-wondeful iControlPad — but it looks like the company is making good on its first promised product, the iGPS360. The little add-on module brings GPS to your jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch, and is now available for order. Only 1,000 will be available out of the gate, at $75 (plus shipping) a pop. Since we haven’t seen one in the wild, it’s hard to know how well these modules will work, but Orange Gadgets has a pretty open development model, so feel free to page through the blog and see this thing through from concept to execution. Now, about that iControlPad…

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Source: Paul Miller

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Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds, Portable Audio, Wireless

Fresh off an extensive corporate decaffeination downsizing and a scaling back of its foray into music sales, it’s a fair question to ask: just how ironclad is Starbucks’ commitment to rolling out iTunes WiFi Music Store integration across its entire chain? We just happened to notice that the Starbucks page on Apple’s site is now stone-cold gone, redirecting to the standard iTunes 8 stuff. You might say “no big deal, Apple’s just playing down an agreement that’s now been in place for a full year,” but there’s some other weirdness, too — the company’s iTunes WiFi Music Store at Starbucks FAQ, for example, still references the dead link. The partnership was kinda ill-conceived to begin with; getting access to the store meant hooking up to AT&T WiFi, which you wouldn’t normally have configured unless you actually had an AT&T WiFi account. We haven’t heard any official word here that the deal is in danger, but really, would anyone be welling up if it fell apart?

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Source: Chris Ziegler

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Apple_iPod_touch_2G_and_nano_4G_The_Engadget_Review’; It’s been just over a week since we ran a smash-and-grab at Apple’s unveiling of its newest entries to the iPod family, the nano 4G and touch 2G. The devices, both set along an evolutionary (rather than revolutionary) path have certainly been nipped, tucked, and updated — but we wanted to know if they’d been improved at all. For the nano, we’ve seen some iteration of the same device for years now, leaving questions as to how much further you can take a low-end music player, while the touch is another story completely; a handheld which treads that ever-thinning line between entertainment device and micro-computer. Do either of these products hit their marks, or has Apple overextended itself in its pursuit of market saturation? Keep reading to find out.Continue reading Apple iPod touch 2G and nano 4G: The Engadget Review

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Source: Joshua Topolsky

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/iPod_touch_2G_first_hands_on’; We just got some hands-on time with the new iPod touch, and we’re really feeling this one. Jury’s still out on the new nano, but the second-gen touch is a marked improvement over the first gen model. The WiFi antenna looks much better integrated, the speaker doesn’t sound like complete trash despite not even having any speaker holes, and the thing is crazy thin. Like, really, really thin.

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Source: Ryan Block

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Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/iPhone_2_1_software_update_announced’; Ah, bug fixes galore. Apple just announced firmware 2.1 for the iPhone and iPod touch. “No crashes,” says Steve. He’s calling it a big update with the promise of fewer dropped calls, big battery improvement, and faster backups. Is this a dream? We’ll find out when it’s released this Friday.

P.S. No mention of copy and paste.

Update: 2.1 will be available for iPod touch owners for $10. Come on, you didn’t really expect it to be free did you? There’s a “buy now” button at the end of that link but it only downloads v2.0 at the moment.

Update 2: Fine print says free to those who paid for iPod touch 2.0 update. Lucky you. [Thanks, Foad]

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Source: Thomas Ricker

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/iPod_touch_updated_same_screen_new_case_new_features’; As expected, Apple just updated the iPod touch with a new thinner stainless steel case — it’s still got the same display. There’s now hardware volume controls (hooray!) and a built-in speaker, and a Nike+ receiver is also built in, so you just need the shoe transmitter. On the software side, the UI has been tweaked and the new iTunes Genius features have been added, and the App Store is now included (obviously). Battery life is decent at 36 hours of music and 6 hours of video, and Apple’s doing the same “environmentally sound” design thing it did with the new nano. Three price points: 8GB for $229, 16GB for $299, and 32GB for $399. So much for that rumored price drop below the iPhone’s $199 price point, but we won’t complain too much about a $100 price drop.

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Source: Nilay Patel

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Filed under: Cellphones

The App Store is live, and we’re taking a peek around before it implodes from curious users trying to download dozens of apps for their iPhones and iPods touch (or is that iPod touches?).

Already users can start downloading their programs (which are downloaded to their /Users/[user]/Music/iTunes/Mobile Applications/ directory as .ipa files), but you can’t do anything with them until you get the 2.0 firmware (or an iPhone 3G).

So far everything is really smooth and easy to use, although it’s easy to tell that the enormous amount of applications that will be available in the coming months (and years) will become a difficult thing to trudge through. It’s a high-class problem for Apple, but hopefully it won’t be too overwhelming to find something good if you don’t know exactly what you’re looking for.

We’ll be keeping tally of some of the more noteworthy launch apps, although many we’ve already seen:

• AIM - duh
• Google Mobile - “a great place to start your search”
• Twitterrific - Finally, a legit, standalone Twitter client
• Bomberman Touch
• Epocrates Rx - An app to help identify “mystery pills” you might find. Very helpful.

We’ll be updating with more info as we go!

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Source: Ryan Block

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Jailbroken_iPod_Touches_shows_up_in_weekend_ads’; We’re not sure who nodded off in the art department, but we’re fairly certain they’re going to be wide awake come Monday morning. Apparently, Radio Shack is running circulars this week featuring the iPod touch… with the Installer and MobileChat icons. We’re sure Apple will be stoked to discover that a jailbroken iPod is hanging out in one of America’s most-viewed ads, and we’re equally sure that buyers will be pleased to learn they don’t really get an IM application with their purchase. Champagne for everyone!

Update: Take a look at a screen grab from the circular after the break.

[Thanks, Matt & Oscar M]

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Source: Joshua Topolsky

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