Apple today introduced the all-new iPod shuffle. The world's smallest music player, the 3rd-generation iPod shuffle is nearly half the size of the previous model. To control it, you use the new earphone cord. Best of all, it talks to you. Thanks to the new VoiceOver feature, iPod shuffle speaks your song titles, artists, and playlist names. The player comes only with 4 GB internal flash drive, no other capacities are available, but four gigabytes are enough to hold up to 1000 songs. Available today in silver or black, the Apple iPod shuffle 3rd gen costs just $79. Find more info here.

According to the Financial Times, Apple is currently in discussions with music companies regarding the possibility of providing users with unlimited access to music downloads. The plan would most likely involve customers having to pay a premium for iPods/iPhones and then being able to download as much music as they want - essentially embedding the cost of music into the price of the player itself. However, the discussions are apparently stalling a bit at present as the companies negotiate over pricing. Apple is reportedly offering only $20 per device, which is much lower than companies like Nokia, which is paying almost $80 per handset for a similar plan. Another possibility is that users may pay a subscription fee each month to have unlimited downloads, with the capability of keeping 40 to 50 tracks each year even if the subscription is cancelled.

Apple today announced that its iPod shuffle, the world's most wearable music player, is now even more affordably priced at $49 and that it is introducing a new 2GB model of the iPod shuffle for $69. The popular iPod shuffle is just half a cubic inch in volume, weighs just half an ounce, features an aluminum design with a built-in clip and comes in five colors-silver, blue, green, purple and a (PRODUCT) RED special edition.

When a new hit technology comes out, a lot of people tend to buy it. When a lot of different people buy the same thing, there's bound to be a few quirks and problems. There are allegations that iPods can interfere with such critical life-support systems as pacemakers. Neither Apple or the Food and Drug Administration of America took this sitting down, and promptly ran independent studies. Using a fancy scientific procedure that can be found in the source link, the FDA determined that iPods really do not have much, if any, effect on pacemaker operation. However, as big as the scientists from the FDA may be, it's awfully hard to refute the evidence against these findings. Cardiologists were listening to an iPod while performing a routine examination, and noticed a definite effect on the pacemaker. A seventeen year old requiring a pacemaker noticed that he could not hold an iPod within two inches of his chest without causing problems. It should be noted that the FDA only studied four types of iPod, and only used one type of Pacemaker.

Apple today announced that it is adding a gorgeous new pink iPod nano to the lineup of the world's most popular music player. The much-requested pink iPod nano is available immediately in an 8GB model for $199. iPod nano features a two-inch display which lets users watch the brand new iTunes Movie Rentals, or TV shows and music videos purchased from the iTunes Store. iPod nano delivers up to 24 hours of audio playback or five hours of video playback on a single charge and is encased in a beautiful all-metal design made with anodized aluminum and polished stainless steel, which is also available in silver, black, blue, green and a (PRODUCT) RED special edition.

An American airport worker was minding his own business and doing his job when all the sudden, he felt what he describes as a "burning sensation" coming from his pocket. He looked down, and saw a huge jet of flames streaming out of his pants. He was promptly "freaked out" when said jet of flames started licking the rest of his pants. Fortunately he was able to put out the fire before the fire did serious harm, but the point remains. Are iPod Nanos the next exploding laptop? The actual cause of the fire remains an utter mystery, and Apple already shipped a replacement unit for the unfortunate airport worker, who had this to say about the whole experience.

So I look down and I see flames coming up to my chest. If (the US Transportation Security Administration) had come by and seen me smoking, they could have thought I was a terrorist.

If anyone in the UK would like to save a little bit of money on a new MP3 player, Tesco could have the deal for you. The supermarket giant is offering all new subscribers to their DVD rentals service a free 1GB silver iPod Shuffle provided that they subscribe for at least three months. With the cheapest option costing £4.47 a month for two DVDs (with free postage), that works out at just £13.41 for a new iPod, plus you get to watch a few extra DVDs! The standard retail price of the iPod Shuffle is £49, so if you sign up for this you could potentially save yourself over £35. The only real catch is that you will have to wait for three months before you receive your iPod because Tesco won't send you it until you've given them the third payment, but this is definitely a bargain, and could even make a nice little Christmas present for someone. If you want to get a free Shuffle you'll have to be quick, because this offer only lasts until 10 o'clock in the morning on Sunday. Take a look here if you're interested.

After releasing an entirely new lineup of iPods, Apple has also launched an iTunes Wi-Fi music store for the new iPod touch along with a new version of iTunes for customers to purchase ringtones for their iPhone. Customers must first pay $0.99 for a song from iTunes, then another $0.99 for the privilege of using that song as a ringtone. The new version of iTunes will include a utility to create ringtones based on any 30-second segment from a song complete with fade-in and fade-out. iPod touch owners will be able to use their Wi-Fi connection to logon to iTunes from any wireless hotspot to download individual songs or complete albums.

For more information, please visit Apple's Wi-Fi Music Store page.

Building upon the success of its touch screen iPhone, Apple decided to implement the popular feature on the new iPod which was revealed today. The ability to surf the web wirelessly is also an addition to the updated gadget. The entire lineup is expanding for the holiday season with a new iPod Shuffle and a smaller iPod Nano, which can play video. The company also updated its video player, renaming the device iPod Classic. It will cost $249 or $349, depending on the amount of storage.

Apple is expected to unveil its next-generation iPod lineup, including an iPod video with a touch-control interface, at a press conference on September 5th, according to DigiTimes. The new iPod video will come with a wide-screen panel, high storage capacity and Wi-Fi connectivity. In addition, the new iPod video is expected to be powered by NAND flash, instead of a hard disk drive (HDD). Apple's new products will also include a new iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle.

You may think twice before listening to you iPod during a thunderstorm after reading this story. A number of cases in the US suggest that listening to an iPod (or presumably any other device that uses headphones) can increase the severity of injuries suffered if you are struck by lightning. Obviously there aren't too many cases of people being struck by lightning in general, so the evidence is a little patchy, but the latest issue of the New England Journal of Medicine claims that while lightning will normally flash over a victim's skin (admittedly that is harmful enough by itself), the iPod's headphones can act as a conductor and direct a bolt of electricity straight into a listener's ear, potentially rupturing eardrums. One case is of a 37 year old man who was struck by lightning when jogging passed a tree listening to music. "Although the use of a device such as an iPod may not increase the chances of being struck by lightning, in this case, the combination of sweat and metal earphones directed the current to, and through, the patient's head," the doctors wrote - as a result the man lost over 50% of his hearing. So although it is relatively rare, you may want to keep this in mind if you want to get the safest experience whilst being struck by lightning.

Students have recently been busted for a brand new form of cheating: loading test answers on their iPod's and MP3 players. This new form of cheating extends all the way from simply putting information in a lyric file to "podcasts" of test answers. Two students have already been caught red handed, and so a school in Meridian, Idaho has banned MP3 players of any form being on a student during a test. These incidents have even triggered talk of a national ban. This is vastly in contrast to the move Duke University made in 2004 when they bought 1,650 iPod's so that their students could keep up with studies.

Apple Inc has seen its profits surge an impressive 88% for the second quarter of the fiscal year compared to earnings this time last year. In the second quarter of last year (the second quarter of the fiscal year ends on 31st March) Apple managed a turnover of $4.36 billion giving it a profit of $410 million. However, this year it managed a revenue of $5.26 billion and profits of $770 million, which equates to $0.87 per diluted share. During the quarter Apple shipped 1,517,000 Macs and 10,549,000 iPods - a growth of 36% and 24% respectively compared to a year ago. Read on for Apple's press release.

The crew from Gear Live slipped through the doors of AMD's performance testing labs and recorded their latest show of The Bleeding Edge over there. Mark Welker, who is the chief of the Client Analysis Performance Management department, explained in-depth what he and his team are doing. They showcase a Quad FX system running several applications and games at the same time, explain what you need a dual or multi core CPU for, how to properly benchmark a system and what will change if you switch from a single to a multi core CPU. Welker further adds details about the purpose of such a department, thorough testing of current hardware, the latest applications and games and as a conclusion the monthly summaries he has to deliver which you can find over here for example: AMD Processor Performance Evaluation Guide.
During such an investigating on Supreme Commander, one of the first few games that is stated to use four cores, they found out that it is not utilizing more than two cores at the moment in their labs. It remains to be seen if it's the fault of the AMD guys or a software glitch which has to be fixed by Gas Powered Games.
While you might think I am joking to bother you with a 40 minute video I can guarantee you it's worth every single one of it. The best thing is that you can download it in several formats in order to get a compatible file for your mobile video player:iPod-formatted H.264 (M4V) | Apple Quicktime TV High Resolution (MOV) | DivX (AVI) | MPEG-4 (MP4)

SINGAPORE - April 11, 2007 - Creative (NASDAQ: CREAF), a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products, today announced a new lineup of state-of-the-art docking speakers for iPod players with the Creative X-Fi Sound System i600, Creative PlayDock i500 and Creative TravelSound i docking speakers. Combining elegant designs with exhilarating acoustic performance, these audio solutions allow users to get seriously creative about entertainment and unleash the fullest potential of their iPod players.

Incorporating the critically-acclaimed X-Fi Xtreme Fidelity technology that restores all the vitality, definition and bass of MP3 music to the X-Fi standard, the Creative X-Fi Sound System i600 features a powerful 2.1 docking speaker system and uncompromising X-Fi audio quality that is sure to impress any music enthusiasts. The multi-purpose Creative PlayDock i500 and Creative TravelSound i docking speakers will instantly transform iPod players into vibrant entertainment hubs in homes or outdoor environments.

CUPERTINO, California-April 9, 2007-Apple today announced that the 100 millionth iPod has been sold, making the iPod the fastest selling music player in history. The first iPod was sold five and a half years ago, in November 2001, and since then Apple has introduced more than 10 new iPod models, including five generations of iPod, two generations of iPod mini, two generations of iPod nano and two generations of iPod shuffle. Along with iTunes and the iTunes online music store, the iPod has transformed how tens of millions of music lovers acquire, manage and listen to their music.

Kaspersky Labs announced Thursday that it had discovered the first iPod specific virus. When executed the virus searches the hard disk for any .elf files. After infection if a user attempts to run a .elf file the virus displays a message which says, "'You are infected with Oslo the first iPodLinux Virus."

Fortunately for most iPod users you actually have to put the virus on your iPod-and your iPod needs to have Linux installed on it. Kaspersky labs stresses that the virus is not malicious and only a proof of concept.

The first series of Walkman MP3 players from Sony were rather disappointing after the company had originally hoped to draw the market share away from Apple, but Sony is having another bash releasing its first video Walkman. The NW-A800 series as it is known, will feature a 2" display with a resolution of 240 x 320, and will have 2GB, 4GB and 8GB flash-based models. The NW-A800 natively plays music compressed using Sony's ATRAC format and comes with software which allows users to convert WMA, MP3 and WAV files into ATRAC - it is capable of playing MP3 files directly but Sony warns that this will reduce battery life. The 53 gram Walkman will only be released in Europe to begin with, at a price of €300 for the 8GB model (the 30GB iPod Video can be found for €289 in Germany). The video Walkman is going to have its work cut out to make a noticeable impression on the iPod Video, which already has an 18 month head start and is arguably better value.

It seems like sometimes you simply cannot get between a teenager and their iPod. Frank Burd, A 60 year old teacher in Germantown, Pennsylvania, confiscated one of his 14-year-old student's iPod's. The student, infuriated, came back with one of his 11th-grade friends, and proceeded to break Mr.Burd's neck in two places. Fortunately, Mr.Burd's condition is stable and improving. The two delinquents will be charged as adults in court.

Edit:
Some details have come to light that detail exactly why Mr. Burd took away the iPod. The ignorant freshman had decided to blast his music at maximum volume, for the sake of disrupting class. After several warnings, Mr.Burd took away the iPod with the intent to give it back to him after class. Upon the ending of class, Mr.Burd was assaulted by the freshman and his 11th-grade friend before he had the chance to give back the iPod. The rest of the story is as posted above...Mr.Burd's neck is broken in two places, the two delinquents will be charged as adults, and Mr.Burd's condition continues to improve.

Two recent deaths in New York City had a very interesting cause. A pedestrian was "listening to his iPod", and hence was not paying attention to important things that happen in the city, such as oncoming traffic. And so, senator Carl Kruger is proposing a ban of iPods and cell phones on the streets of New York. Of course, if the police of New York have a hard time enforcing J-walking laws, how will they enforce this law, if passed?

Apple has decided to expand its successful iPod range just a little but further today with the launch of four new colors for the iPod shuffle. The 1GB player, costing $79, only used to come in a silver version. However, Apple has released pink, green, orange and light-blue versions which are all available for purchase immediately. The new range of colors are very similar to those of the iPod Nano, however there is no black version of the shuffle with orange being used instead.

Creative, today introduced the Creative Xdock Wireless, which docks an iPod and plays music in Xtreme Fidelity - music beyond CD quality - via Creative X-Fi Wireless Receivers in any room in the home. The Creative Xdock Wireless also connects directly to a powered speaker system or home theater system to play video, photos and music in DTS surround-sound. The Creative Xdock Wireless is designed to work seamlessly with the iPod and has been certified by Apple under the Made for iPod programme.

On Christmas day, there were a lot of gifts of iTunes store gift cards, and Apple iPods of various flavors. Unfortunately, there were too many new Apple products for the iTunes server to handle. The iTunes server crashed when faced with over four times the regular volume of traffic. And so, anyone trying to get into the iTunes store will have download slowdowns of up to 20 minutes, and quite possibly an error message preventing them from even entering the store. Apple was not available for comment on the situation.

The Queen of England, Queen Elizabeth II, will be releasing her annual Christmas Speech on Podcast this year, possibly in an attempt to attract a wider (maybe younger?) audience. It isn't clear if this is a video Podcast or not, but don't be too surprised if it doesn't shoot to the top of the download list, although it might do better than could be expected. If you do want to pre-order it (presumable they will email it to you), visit this site.

Well, as the iPod continues in its attempt to take over the world, the latest 3rd party hardware to enhance your iPod experience has been released. You can find something that will do almost anything you want with your iPod, and now Ion Audio has revealed that it intends to release a new projector with a built in iPod dock. With the creative name 'iProjector' (didn't see that coming did you?), it will allow you to display pictures and watch your movies on a larger screen without the stress of plugging in one more cable. Full specs are not yet available, but hopefully January will yield prices and information for anybody interested.