The Modern Materialist : Apple

Apple Announces New Shuffle

Alex Zalben — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:24:00 GMT

So, how long until the first, "My kid swallowed my iPod Shuffle!" hits? The new version ships in 3-5 days, so I'm going to go out on a limb and say... 3-5 days.

Anyway, beyond size, there's an annoying new feature:

VoiceOver, which will announce the names of your songs, or playlist. I say annoying because I don't need that junk. But actually pretty awesome for anyone who is annoyed you don't know what's coming up in their shuffle, and, you know, those without sight.

It's also up to 4GB of storage, which is pretty rad. For $79, you can't do much better.

[$79, Apple]

10 Unreleased Apple Products You've Never Seen Before

Diana Vilibert — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:49:00 GMT

This is the Wizzy Active Lifestyle Telephone, the first known predecessor to the iPhone--and it's one of ten Apple products you've never seen before. More, after the jump:

PenLite, a lightweight, full-fledged, Mac OS-capable PowerBook Duo with a stylus instead of a mouse and a touch screen instead of a keyboard.

Dubbed VideoPad and presumably developed alongside Apple’s VideoPhone app, the flip-style device merged a cell phone, PDA and videophone that somehow communicated with a giant base that had two screens of its own, along with a CD-ROM drive and a handset.

See the rest of the list at MacWorld!

Apple Introduces The iCondom

Alex Zalben — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:25:00 GMT

OMG you guys... Steve Jobs totally went on stage at the new Mac event, whipped out his wang, and demoed the new iCondom!!! Check it out:

I think this should be the last "iProduct" joke anyone ever makes, don't you?

[Via Gizmodo]

Black Friday Sales: MacMall

Diana Vilibert — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:57:00 GMT

Excuse me while I stop drooling.

Ok. Thanks. Anyway, from now through 11:59PM on Friday, MacMall is having its Thanksgiving sale, meaning you can indulge your Apple lust for less. Some of the great discounts on Apple products you'll find, including MacBooks and iPods, after the jump:

Apple iPod Touch 8GB, $197.99

Apple 13.3" MacBook Air, $1,149.99

Apple 20" iMac, $1,179.99

[MacMall]

Double Your iPhone's Battery Life

Diana Vilibert — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:27:00 GMT

Now I don't have an iPhone, but I hear from people that can afford one that they're not great when it comes to battery power. Well, that's about to change with the November 28 release of the Powerslider, a case for the iPhone 3G that also doubles as a power source.

It has a built in custom engineered lithium-ion polymer battery that is the first point of contact as far as power is concerned, and once that source is gone, it then begins to draw power from the iPhone’s battery and operates off of that.

[Incase] [Via SlamxHype]

Related: One-Upping the iPhone

Would You Pay: A PC That Looks As Good As A Mac

Shaun Seneviratne — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:01:00 GMT

My first computer was a Compaq Presario from 1998. And I thought it was the coolest thing ever until Apple came out with the bulbous, multi-colored iMacs. Ever since, PCs never quite looked the same. Sure, it's not too difficult to make a custom PC with a case of your choosing, but most people don't have time for that.

Here is a nice looking PC that you can start using right out of the box:

Plush Department's PURE* dept. Design Computers are made with a ceramic casing and come in a variety of colors. And the specs aren't bad either.

However, some argue that you can purchase a PC that has the same specs as a Mac for half the price. At 4,500 €, this PC is more than double the price of an Apple Mac Pro.

Do you think approximately $5,700 is worth it for a PC with specs that you can achieve for under $1,000?

[4,500 €, PLUSHDEPARTMENT]

[Via sub-studio design blog]

New! Turn Your MacBook into a Tablet Mac

Diana Vilibert — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:02:00 GMT

Draw and write directly on the screen of your MacBook without buying a new laptop--Axiotron now lets you convert your existing MacBook into an Axiotron Modbook, and is about half the price of a new Modbook. Just a word of warning: if your laptop hasn't already fused to your hands, this is probably what'll do it for good.

[$1,299 and up, Axiotron]

Can You Guess Where to Stik It?

Alex Zalben — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:01:00 GMT

Hey, what's this picture an ad for? Is it:

- An iPod?

- Bikinis?

- A camera that only captures pictures of girl's butts?

Or is it...

The iStik, a two part magnetic case for your iPod, so you can clip it anywhere. Even on your bikini.

[$27, GoiStik]

[Via Geekologie]

Liveblog: Apple Notebook Event!

Alex Zalben — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:03:00 GMT

Today sees a new Apple event, focusing, we believe, entirely on updated MacBooks. While these sorts of announcements aren't as far reaching as, say, the WWDC Keynote, there's still usually some fun stuff that comes out of them.

Current rumors have a cheaply priced notebook (doubtful), a new, iPhone like trackpad (possible), and upgraded specs (definitely). The event starts at 1pm EST (10AM PST), and as it happens, I'll "live-blog" the info on this post. So be sure to bookmark, and refresh!

For clarities sake, I'll be posting the most recent updates at the bottom, so scroll down for the latest info:

12:03pm - Want to know what one of these looks like? Check out the last live-blog, while you're waiting.

12:16pm - Checking out a couple more rumors... Personally, I'd buy a large, HDTV display with built in Apple TV in a second, if the price was right. The other rumor is this possible mock-up of the new MacBook:

We'll certainly know how close that comes in about an hour...

12:39pm - Only twenty minutes to go! Apple Store is down, and so, curiously, is the Best Buy store. Hmmm...

12:58pm - We're about to start...

1:00pm - Steve is alive and well! The reports of his death have been greatly iXaggerated.

1:02pm - "Today is all about notebooks, which are teh awesome." I'm paraphrasing.

1:05pm - "Vista is teh haXX0r." I may be paraphrasing again.

1:07pm - Point is, they're spending a good amount of time talking about how awesome Macs are, and how much PCs suck. I assume this is leading into something like, "That's why we're in perfect position to take over the notebook market with..."

1:10pm - Macs are now 17.6% of the market, when a few years ago, they were 3-4%. Which is A) impressive, and B) Attributed to Leopard (positive) and Vista (negative). Anyone else think they're ignoring the rather more obvious, "People like iPods?"

1:12pm - Tim Cook, done with presenting these awesome facts, drops the mic and backs off the stage. Anyway, Steve Jobs is back, and talking about ways of reinventing Notebooks. Bring it.

1:14pm - ...Or not. Jony Ive will talk about how they currently make MacBooks, and then point out what they've learned. Currently, they're made out of chewing gum by goats. Now, they will be made out of magic.

1:17pm - Ive is talking about machine stamping and anodizing aluminum. I think I actually fell asleep and died for a second, not sure.

1:20pm - Shock surprise twist: they'll be using the method they were just describing, which makes the MacBook Air so light, on some more notebooks. Jobs is back and talking about graphics cards. The chip he's introducing is 5x faster than a similar Intel chip.

1:22pm - Hmm... This chip is 55% faster on 3-D graphics. This is clearly addressing the "games for Mac" problem, which is "games don't come out for the Mac," in case you don't know.

1:23pm - Here we go: new trackpad, as expected, is one big glass button with multi-touch. Essentially, imagine instead of a mousepad, you have an iPod Touch sitting in your notebook. Pretty rad, up until I smash it with my heavy metal fingers.

1:25pm - Want to know what the new MacBooks look like? Look above... The mock-up is 100% spot-on.

1:27pm - More specifically, it's the new MacBook Pro, with, "precision aluminum unibody enclosure, LED backlit display, next-gen graphics, multitouch glass trackpad, mini display port connector (putting on all new macs), and environmentally responsible."

1:30pm - They're talking about the two graphics cards in the MacBook Pros, which allow "Turbo" mode. Yup, this is a gaming notebook.

1:31pm - 5 hours of battery on the non-Turbo setting; 4 hours otherwise. Plus, the battery indicator is on the side of the machine, instead of the bottom, which is pretty rad.

1:32pm - Full access to the drive, which is new, right? I mean, that way, you can actually upgrade your laptop's drive, like you can with the Mac Pro?

1:34pm - Two models: Both 15.4", both 250GB hard drives; superdrives; $1999 for 2.4Gh, $2499 for 2.53GHz. In stores tomorrow, available for order today!

1:36pm - MacBook Air gets an upgrade, too, with 50% more storage space standard (120GB), plus the same basic graphics chip as the Pro.

1:37pm - $1799 for the basic MacBook Air; $2499 for a slightly faster model, both available in November.

1:38pm - New $899 Cinema Display, 24", also available in November.

1:39pm - ONE MORE THING!!

1:40pm - Updating the whole MacBook line, as well. Reducing the price to $999 to start and spec-wise, it's just like the Pro, but smaller.

1:42pm - This is just my untrained opinion, but right now, doesn't seem to be much difference between the MacBook Air, the MacBook, and the MacBook Pro, other than a few different chips, and general speediness.

1:44pm - Oops, correction: the current, White MacBooks, with updated specs will sell for $999. There'll be new, metal MacBooks selling starting at $1299 for the 13"; $1599 for the 15". Both are available tomorrow.

1:49pm - Okay, they're showing a video about how awesome Macs are. Anyway, for those of you who like reiteration: all MacBooks will be made from the MacBook Air process (except for dinky white MacBooks), meaning much lighter bodies. They'll also have massively updated graphics, hard drives, etc. Basically, MacBook Airs are upgraded to MacBook specs; MacBooks are upgraded to MacBook Pro specs; and MacBook Pros are basically sentient A.I. monsters that will eventually take over the world.

1:53pm - Ha. They're taking questions from the audience, but Steve pre-empts the obvious: "110/70, that's my blood pressure, and that's all we're talking about my health today."

2:03pm - In case you're wondering about the lack of updates, it's because there's nothing super interesting going on. The end!

2:05pm - ...and they're up at the Store. So what did you think? Excited? Bored?

Mac OS XXX

Alex Zalben — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:04:00 GMT

I know a lot of us like to spank it to Apple products, but this is taking things a little too far:

You'll have to make it yourself, but trust on this: it works way better than the paddle I made that runs Vista.

[Via Instructables]

Are You Buying an iPhone 3G?

Alex Zalben — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 22:00:00 GMT

As we all (probably) know, the new, improved iPhone launches tomorrow, nationwide, at Apple and AT&T Stores at 8am. People over in New Zealand already snagged theres, and the general hands-on feeling about the new iPhone is that it's... Good. Not a godsend (that was iPhone 1.0), but good enough, the improvements are nice, and it gets the job done.

So I'm curious how many of you are going to pick one up, or not, and to find out, I've put together a handy little poll:

Apple Keynote LiveBlog

Alex Zalben — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:00:00 GMT

You know what time it is, Materialistas? It's Apple Time! Time for Steve Jobs' World-Wide Developer Conference Keynote, that is. Though I'm not in San Fran for the announcment, I will be updating this very post in a semi-live-blog, as the announcements of amazing, god-like devices roll out. So bookmark this page, and keep refreshin', because the updating should begin shortly (say, around 1pm EST).

Oh, and for clarities sake, I'll be posting the most recent updates at the bottom, so scroll down for the latest info.

12:00pm - Nuthin' yet. There's been a lot of rumors swirling about what, exactly, they'll be announcing today. My guess is that the iPhone 2 (whatever the specs) is a lock. I also wouldn't be surprised to find out the Touch has replaced a few more iPods (Touch Nano, maybe?). Finally, my fingers are crossed... I'm hoping... I'm praying... That John Mayer plays a song at the end. That would be so awesome.

Oh, and cause I'm a shameless self-promoter:

12:41pm - Apple Stores worldwide are DOWN. There's been some rumors that iPhone 2 wouldn't go on sale until next month. Those may be true, but at the very least, something is getting add to the Apple Store. My guess? iPuppies.

12:48pm - Okay, here's what I love about Apple Announcement Day... A picture of people going up an escalator!!!OMG! I kid, I actually did get excited about this.

12:53pm - I've updated the top picture with a pic of the hall, courtesy of Engadget, who's actually in San Fran. Perhaps I should start a live-blog about live-blogging this live-blog? Just a few more minutes until real info hits, and I can stop making stuff up to talk about...

12:56pm - Okay, MacRumors wins for craziest amount of over-information:

1:00pm - It's go time. Let's do this, Jobs.

1:03pm - Al Gore is in the crowd! Insert your own "inventing the internet" joke here. Although I suppose he'll insert his own joke in a little bit.

1:06pm - I think the above statement came out wrong... I meant I'm sure he'll make some sort of self-effacing joke about it, not "Al Gore is going to have sex on stage, and I'm referring to his penis as a joke." On second thought, I'm sure none of you thought that, and now I'm all embarassed. Anyway, they're still seating people.

1:08pm - Lights have dimmed. Steve is on stage. The crowd goes nuts. Only in San Francisco, people. Only in San Francisco.

1:09pm - 52,000 people at World Wide Developers Conference, massively successful, blah, blah, blah... Okay, "this morning we're talking about iPhone." Here we go.

1:10pm - New Mac OSX - named Snow Leopard, to be debuted after lunch. Snow Leopard, huh? I assume the next update will be code-named Happy Kitty, or something?

1:13pm - Finally, iPhone 2 talk... Though it's boring stuff about Enterprising features. This will be followed by SDK, and then we'll get to end-user features. Meaning, another few minutes until the stuff YOU care about. Also, me.

1:17pm - Okay! On to SDK. Still boring.

1:19pm - They're still talking about the Software Developer Kit (SDK). What is this, a developers conference?

1:23pm - Since this is really boring; possibly even more boring than you can imagine if you're not following the discussion in real-time (they're talking about how to build a User Interface), I'm going to take a moment and plug SketchFest NYC, a national sketch comedy festival happening this weekend in NYC. Three days of stuff that's fun. No discussion of User Interfaces. Okay, plug over!

1:27pm - Still displaying the Interface Builder. I'm going to take another moment, more on topic this time, to pose the following question/statement, that I've been thinking about the past few days: Apple is the technology leader, right? Using the example of the iPhone, before it was released, touch-screen tech was used for museum displays, and that's about it. Now, every phone maker is scrambling to make a touch screen phone. Look back further to the mouse, CD drives, iPods, and basically any innovation Appple has made. The other part of this is, because Apple is the leader, other companies scramble to copy them, but bend over backwards to make something that is, essentially, different. Which defeats the purpose of copying them. Anyway, looks like they're finishing the developer talk, so we're back on.

1:30pm - Sega is demoing Super Monkey Ball for the iPhone, featuring tilt-controls. I realize this sentence makes it sound like I'm insane if you don't know what I'm talking about.

1:33pm - Aha! Here we go...Super Monkey Ball, and other games, will be available at the launch of the iPhone App Store for $9.99. Not bad, for a game with 110 levels and motion controls. Picture below is from Gizmodo, if you couldn't figure that out:

1:35pm - eBay has created an iPhone app called Auctions that let's you do exactly what you think it does. It's a simplified version of eBay that let's you view and bid on auctions in real-time from the iPhone, without having to access the Safari browser. Honestly? I think this is going to be f-ing huge. Why would you use eBay on your computer, when you could just use it on the go?

1:37pm - Next up is Loopt, a social network app that lets you see, on a map, where your friends are. I expect this will shortly be used in a horror movie. "Oh my god, the killer... He's following us on Loopt!" Scary.

1:41pm - Other apps: TypePad, a free piece of software for blogging or sending photos; and Associated Press, for, you know, AP News?

1:43pm - Oh, you know what? The AP thing is actually a pretty forward thinking application: you can send first hand reports on news, with pictures, directly to the AP. This is either awesome, or terrible, depending on how you feel about mass production of the news. I recommend reading this for more info on the subject. That's an actual recommendation, btw, not a snarky "check" "this" "out."

1:47pm - More games, including a physics based game called Enigmo, and a caveman racing game called Cro-Mag Rally, which uses the iPhone as a steering wheel. Because when you're driving a car, the windshield is 3.5" wide. And also, you're a caveman.

1:51pm - More Apps, including Band, a virtual music creator and player; and At Bat, for checking baseball stats and scores in real time. Hey, do you think Apple is launching an App Store or something?

1:56pm - In case you're wondering, they're now demoing two medical apps. Which is nice, except I'm starting to get bored. This better get awesome, quickly.

2:00pm - So... What's everybody up to right now? Doing anything fun?

2:05pm - Okay, Steve is back. I swear to god, if he doesn't announce something good soon, I'm going to... Keep watching this. Sigh.

2:07pm - New features on iPhone 2.0: Full iWork and Office integration; ability to save images you get e-mailed; parental controls; language support.

2:10pm - iPhone 2.0 software in early July. Free for iPhone owners, $9.99 for iPod Touch owners. Yeah, but what about iPhone 2? You know, the phone, and not just the software?

2:13pm - And now, something entirely new.

2:15pm - MobileMe! The rumors were true... .Mac is turning into MobileMe, or as they're calling it, "Exchange for the rest of us." Oh snap.

2:17pm - Mobile Me works for Macs, PCs, and the iPhone. If you update a contact, a calendar item, or a mail message, it'll update on any device you have connected to MobileMe. Macs, it works with iCal, Address Book, and Mail. With PCs, Microsoft Outlook.

2:18pm - It'll be at Me.com, which isn't quite live yet.

2:23pm - Nice! You can also use the iDisk app native in MobileMe to wirelessly send files... Not that shocking, but considering I've had insane problems sending files from phone to phone before, this is pretty helpful.

2:27pm - Side thought, since I'm now going to be very late for a meeting: is this keynote really going to be two hours long?

2:28pm - 60 Day free trial available with iPhone 2.0 software, starting in July. $99 for a yearly subscription. Now, Steve's back again.

2:30pm - Steve sez: "The iPhone is very popular." $10 says this ends in, "so we're remaking it from the ground up," and everybody goes nuts.

2:32pm - Next challenges: 3G, 3rd party app support, more affordable. Here it comes...

2:33pm - Introducing iPhone 3G.

2:35pm - Thinner, black plastic back, solid metal buttons, same display, camera, flush headphone jack, and improved audio.

2:36pm - Also, 3G (duh). Faster than Nokia and Treo. Oh snap, again! Almost as fast as wi-fi (17 second download for wi-fi, versus 21 for iPhone 3G).

2:38pm - Battery life is 300 hours standby, 2G talk-time is 10 hours (double the previous version). 3G talk-time is 5 hours. Also: GPS now integrated in the iPhone. Wow, those rumors are right on the money so far.

2:43pm - More countries for iPhone service. Okay.

2:44pm - Wow, I am going to be super late for that meeting.

2:45pm - Pricing: $199 for an 8GB!

2:46pm - $299 for the 16GB, with a white version available for this size. Wow. These things are going to sell like... Well, like iPhones.

2:47pm - That's the maximum price, world-wide, by the way. They're showing an ad now. You can't see it.

2:50pm - Well, that's it! Steve's gone. iPhone available on July 11th, no other announcements, no One More Thing. Ummm... Hope that was worth it for you guys, and thanks for playing along! And post your impressions in the comments below.

First Picture of iPhone 2

Alex Zalben — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:30:00 GMT

For those of you who live under a rock, you probably don’t know that Monday is Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference. More specifically, Monday is the day that Steve Jobs will announce the new iPhone, which is guaranteed to cure world hunger.

Well, Australia’s MacTalk has the first official picture of the iPhone 2, and I’ve reposted it below:

Yup, it’s a cardboard box, which can’t be opened until Tuesday (Monday, our time), and may or may not contain the iPhone 2.

So this post isn’t a total bust, post what you’re looking forward to (or not looking forward to) for the iPhone 2 in the comments section below. And come Monday, you better believe I’ll be live-blogging that mother.

Hands On: The New iMac

Alex Zalben — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Very, very rarely do I buy myself a nice big present, but coincidence at fate brought me to this point, and so I embraced it. Some background: I’ve had the same laptop since 2004 or so, which replaced the same version of laptop, which I had previously lost in the back of a cab (long, awful story). It was/is a PowerBook G4, and I’ve loved it for as long as I’ve known it. So much so, that it’s in my bio blurb, over to your right.

I’ve known for a while that I was over-taxing the little guy… I usually have a ton of files and programs open, I use Final Cut Pro all the time, and in particular working with HD footage and motion effects is inappropriate for a 1.67 GHz PowerPC with 1GB of RAM.

On the very same day the new iMacs were announced, the day I’ve long feared came to pass: my PowerBook had started to fail. Specifically, the whole thing was running super slowly, and I didn’t know why until I checked the RAM: it read 512K, which is incorrect. I currently have two chips stored in there, so I knew one was either knocked loose, or failing.

I made a split second decision, and decided to get the new iMac.

There were a number of things that went into this very difficult decision, which felt mildly like I was conspiring to murder my own child*:

1) Do I want a new laptop, or a new desktop?
On this particular topic, I decided that A) I’m working from home full time, so why not spring for a desktop, and B) my laptop still works, albeit in a much reduced fashion. So I can still go mobile, but would be doing a major boost on my home computing.

2) Do I want an iMac, or a Power Mac?
Previously, this wouldn’t have even been a question (Power Mac would have been the answer), but the new iMacs have bumped their drive rotation speed up to 7200rpms, which is the minimum ideal speed for video editing. The other new specs were also pretty sweet, including basic RAM, hard drive space, and bumped up graphics capabilities.

3) Do I want the mega, most maxed out model?
Though it was tempting, and yes, I do want the most maxed out model, the truth of the matter is, I don’t need it. I’ve been working just fine on my PowerBook, and though, as mentioned, I was starting to push the limits of what I can do with the little buddy, I don’t need the top of the line, and won’t for a good long while now (at least, lets say, another four years).

4) Do I want it shipped overnight, or use free shipping.
Umm, I want it now, please.

By the way, in case it isn’t clear, at no point did the question, “Should I get something else than a Mac?” pass through my mind.

After several anxious days of waiting, and a morning full of checking the tracking page, and running to the window to see if ~~Santa~~ the Fed Ex truck was outside, I finally have my grubby mitts on a brand spanking new iMac.

So how does it measure up?

First, the (customized) specs:

- 20 Inch Screen
- 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- 4GB 800 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
- 750GB Serial ATA Drive
- Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
- Applecare, natch

That out of the way, here are my initial impressions… And please realize that, in general, these impressions are unfair as:

- I’m not comparing it head to head with an older iMac.
- I am comparing it to my Powerbook G4, which is much older and slower.

That being said, the speed bump is immense. I’m currently running seven different programs, and exporting a video file in the background from Final Cut Pro. Normally, I’d be able to export the Final Cut file, and go do something else for several hours. Not so with this iMac. In fact, the file, which in a previous iteration took me three hours to export, took, literally, ten minutes.

The new graphics card is beautiful. Working in Final Cut and Photoshop, it’s particular clear how crisp and clear the blacks and whites are. The colors also feel richer and more vibrant. And just for fun, I watched a movie trailer is 1080p. It ran smoothly, and looked gorgeous.

So far, so good, and I’m also enjoying working in Leopard (another new experience for me). For those of you late adopters like me, the new menu search function in Spotlight is a particularly welcome feature With it, you can search for menu items in your toolbar, and they’re quickly and cleanly opened and highlighted for you. No more fumbling around looking for a specific filter in Photoshop is a time saver indeed.

One last little note: the new iMac is almost completely silent. It may be my bad hearing, but as far as I can tell, the unit is running silently; no motor; no fan, just good clean, fun... I couldn't figure out how to end this sentence. Sorry.

You can get your own iMac over at Apple.com, but then, you already knew that. The price below is for my customized version, including tax and shipping.

[$2090, Apple]

*And when I say mildly, I mean “completely.”

Geek Out: New iMacs

Alex Zalben — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 13:30:00 GMT

Yesterday I was walking down the street, and there was an Apple G3 desktop sitting in the trash with the note, “Works! No hard drive,” on it. I almost took it home, which shows how much I love Apple stuff, cause I really don’t need a slow computer with no hard drive, plug, or software. Or, you know, a monitor. But I could definitely use one of these:

An updated iMac. Apple has just updated their iMacs, and while it’s not a total upgrade, the whole thing is much, much faster than it was yesterday. The low end model seems to be relatively the same, but bump up one rung, and you’re suddenly rockin’ 2GB of memory, standard. And, the top of the line starts at 3.06 GHz of speed. That’s fast, fyi.

If, by the way, you bought an iMac in the past 14 days, rather than murdering yourself, you can exchange the lame-o model you just bought for a brand spanking new one, for no extra charge.

[$1199, Apple]

Apple Announces iPhone Car

Alex Zalben — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:00:00 GMT

Tuesdays have traditionally seen Apple Store updatings, and this Tuesday is no different. Usually, there's a bump in MacBook drive size, or a new color of iPod Nano. This Tuesday? It’s a big one… New iPhones, made so you can actually use them in your car.

Yes, let it sink in.

Previously, the handy little gadget was only available for the home, but with the iPhone Car (a temp name), you can now be touch-screening away as you drive! The phone runs off of the car's battery, so there’s no need for recharging. And, it will work wherever AT&T carries a wireless signal.

More details, natch, as I get ‘em. For now, here's the first print ad:

[$899, Apprile.com]

Apple Sound System

Wendy Atterberry — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 22:30:00 GMT

First, a disclaimer: I do not own an iPhone, nor do I really care to have one anytime soon. Frankly, I spend way too much time online as it is, I hate phones and generally go a couple of days without even using the one I already have, and I only use my iPod when I exercise, which is as infrequently as I can get away with and still be in relatively decent shape. Also, if I had an extra $400 to spend, I'd rather get some cute dresses and shoes. And maybe a pair of earrings. And a manicure.

That said, I'd never turn down a free iPhone, and as long as I had a free iPhone, I'd totally be all about this awesome iPhone audio system, which automatically pauses the music when the phone rings, not that I really care about hearing the phone ring, since I'll probably just ignore the call anyway, but it's a cool feature just the same. I mean, if you're into that kind of stuff.

[$199.95, Apple]

via Productdose

Tuesday Apple Store Update: New Shuffles and Laptops

Alex Zalben — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 15:30:00 GMT

[Apple Store, Prices Below]

If it’s Tuesday, it must be time for an Apple Store update. Since the beginning of the year, every week we’ve been getting trickles of new products with little or no fanfare*. This Tuesday is no different, with at least three new-ish products gracing the virtual shelves:

2GB iPod Shuffle: As mentioned but not released last week, the 2GB iPod Shuffle is now available for $69. My guess is that the 1GB is not long for this world, so snap ‘em up quick.

MacBook: The MacBook has seen a speed bump, starting at 2.1GHz for the $1099 model, up to 2.4GHz now standard for models starting at $1299. You’ve also got a larger basic hard drive, starting at 120GB, expandable to 250GB. And the higher priced models come with 2GB of RAM standard. Umm… That’s more powerful than the PowerBook I’m currently typing this on. Yipes.

$1099. Macbook 13" 2.1GHz / 1GB / 120GB / Combo / White
$1299. Macbook 13" 2.4GHz / 2GB / 160GB / Super / White
$1499. Macbook 13" 2.4GHz / 2GB / 250GB / Super / Black

MacBook Pro: Perhaps even more exciting* is that the Pros now come with the MacBook Air’s multi-touch in every system. It’s not on your screen yet, but now you can pinch, swipe, and use your large clumsy thumbs to spell things wrong on your laptop, just like you do on your iPhone. You’ve also got a speed bump on the higher priced models, now starting at 2.4GHz, more graphic memory, and I think that’s it.

$1999. Macbook Pro 15" 2.4GHz / 2GB / 200GB 5400RPM / 256MB Vram
$2499. Macbook Pro 15" 2.5GHz / 2GB / 250GB 5400RPM / 512MB Vram
$2799. Macbook Pro 17" 2.5GHz / 2GB / 250GB 5400RPM / 512MB Vram

So what do you think, Materialistas? You going to run out and buy a new laptop this morning?

*Unless you count a million Mac Nerds squealing in unison a fanfare.

*Again, only if you’re a Super Mac Nerd. Though, if you weren’t you probably aren’t reading this note, so welcome Super Mac Nerds.

iPod Nano: The Largening

Alex Zalben — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:30:00 GMT

All you need to make to watch larger video on your iPod Nano is re-code the video so it plays upside down, copy it to your Nano, take an old slide viewer, cut it up, insert speakers, and you're ready to go. Or, you know, don't buy an iPod Nano:

At Least Your Guitar CASE Can Play Music

Alex Zalben — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:30:00 GMT

I believe this product might have been made by a company who has no idea who plays guitars, and who listens to iPods, and that those people sometimes hate each other. In fact, I would put the ven diagram of those two subsections far remote from the people who would actually use the Gator Lightweight Electric Guitar/iPod Case. Here, you know what? I made you guys a diagram:

Hope that makes things clearer. I would also like to point out that, awesome looking diagrams aside, I think this is a pretty cool little gizmo. I don’t play guitar, I do have an iPod, and if I somehow accidentally ended up touring with a band, I would definitely take this with me.

According to Amazon:

This rockin’ Gator Lightweight Electric Guitar Case from the I-series gives you the ability to play your tunes from your iPod right from your case! Two battery-powered speakers are built in, and a pocket with a viewable window keeps your iPod or portable MP3 player safe. The perfect cross between a hard shell case and gig bag, the exterior is covered with a 600-denier ballistic material, and the interior features dense EPS foam covered with soft plush. A foam support cradles the neck of your electric guitar. The case also comes complete with two accessory pockets, parachute nylon web carrying handle, and #10 zippers.

So gather round ye old guitar case, and listen to some awesome tunes. [$90, Amazon]

[Via Crave]

Product Porn: New iPhone Ad

Alex Zalben — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:00:00 GMT

To make this ad work properly, say in your snottiest, most sarcastic voice, "What's so great about having the internet in your pocket, anyway?" Add an empty, hollow laugh, then press play:

To be honest, iPhone ads are kind of like the Playboy of Product Porn at this point, aren't they? Meaning, you'll look at 'em if they're there, remember when they used to get you all hot and bothered, and then move on to something far dirtier.

Apple Update: iPod Shuffle Price Drop

Alex Zalben — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 17:30:00 GMT

If it’s Tuesday, that must mean there’s an update to the Apple Store*. This Tuesday’s price drop/product add is a particularly good one for those of you holding out on picking up an iPod Shuffle… The price has dropped to $49.

This is for the 1GB version, of course, not the 2GB version. That’s right, a 2GB version of everybody’s favorite matchbook sized mp3 player is hitting stores soon, giving further credence to the rumored Big Apple Announcement™ next week. When the 2GB model hits, it’ll cost $69, which is still less than the 1GB version was as of yesterday.

So what’s up, Apple fans? Is this the sort of price drop/storage bump that will make you pick up the little randomized music player that could? [$49, Apple]

*Okay, not entirely accurate, but OFTEN accurate.

Great Moments In Product-story: 1984

Alex Zalben — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:00:00 GMT

There's been a lot of talk, with Apple's domination of the mp3 player market, that the House That Jobs Built is now the very thing it said it wasn't, back in 1984. I'm going to go out on a limb and say, "that's ridiculous," with a side of "if Big Brother gives us awesome shiny toys, then sign me up for the faceless technocracy."

That debate aside, the 1984 commercial is a classic bit of marketing. Though Apple's approx. 6% share of the PC market over the past eighteen years may speak to how effectively they've taken down Big Brother, the impact of the advertisment is still very real, and very strong. I wonder whatever happened to the director?

If you've got a suggestion for a great video you want us to post, let us know!

Great Moments In Product-story: The Great iPhone Robbery

Alex Zalben — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Continuing our look back at the great moments in product video history of yester-year (literally; most of these are from last year), remember that time the iPhone came out? And a Fox News reporter was interviewing an analyst who had the iPhone in advance of it's launch? And some guy tried to grab the iPhone? But instead he grabbed the news reporter's microphone? Good times:

If you've got a suggestion for a great video you want us to post, let us know!