Solar Powered iPhones?

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been a goldmine for green-minded Apple fans recently. Last week, the technology giant filed a patent for an "intelligent power monitoring" system, and now Apple has revealed a design for a solar powered portable device (i.e. an iPod or iPhone) in an advancement of a patent originally filed in 2008.

According to the patent, such a device would include built-in solar cells on its front and back for an increased surface area to collect power. Since solar cells can be made with rigid materials, Apple imagines that the entire front and back of the device could potentially be covered in solar cells. It would also have circuitry to monitor the battery's state and determine whether to recharge using external solar power or store solar energy for later use.

It's already possible to juice up an iPhone with solar power--Novothink's solar charger case for iPods and iPhones is certified by Apple--but this is the first time Apple has expressed interest in making solar power an integral part of its portable devices.

No word on when we might see a solar-powered iPhone in stores, but Apple's move to update its 2 year-old patent makes us think that the company still has solar on the brain.

The Nike ID iPhone App

Only a matter of time until fresh sneakers came out o the iPhone....

Sportswear giant Nike has a nifty application in the App Store that allows you to create custom sneakers and order them straight away, with just a couple of taps. The app is in fact a mobile extension of NIKEiD, a program that allows customer to order personalized Nike shoes straight from the manufacturer. And an excellent extension it is.

The free app (iTunes link) has been available on the App Store since the beginning of this month, but surprisingly there hasn’t been a lot of coverage about it. Even despite this excellent video about it (embedded below).

The software program allows you to select flashy looking sneakers that were custom designed by others and purchase them straight away, but there’s a lot more to it than that. For instance, you can dive into your photo library and select any image, after which the NIKEiD iPhone app will automatically detect which colors are in them and let you choose two for your own custom shoe. Or you can just use the Color Picker to select two colors you like.

Evidently, you can filter the results even more based on your specific needs (e.g. only shoes for men, unisex basketball clothing, etc.). Using the My Locker feature you can also save your favorite designs and access those you’ve customized on the NIKEiD website. Once you’ve selected a custom design you like, you can shake your iPhone to shuffle the colors, but you also get some options to genuinely personalize sneakers with your name, a custom logo or whatever you like.

Did I mention you can buy designs straight from the app?

Apple's Invite Only Product Release Session In San Francisco

Apple held an invite only event today, which was surprisingly hosted by CEO Steve Jobs. This was Jobs' first appearance since October 2008 as he has been recovering from a liver transplant. Some interesting iPod and iTunes updates to look out for in the near future.

Apple introduced an updated version of the iPod Nano that sports a built-in video camera and microphone located on the lower left-hand side. It also features a slightly larger 2.2-inch display, up from 2 inches. There is still no Wi-Fi, or built-in Web browser, so users will first have to sync the videos to their computers to access and edit the files. The upgraded device also has an FM tuner, which lets users listen to radio tracks. This is a feature iPod users have been pining for, for a very long time.

Apple announced the release Wednesday of OS 3.1, which will be a free update to iPhone users and $4.95 to iPod Touch owners.
With 3.1, users on both platforms can now get Genius recommendations for applications they've purchased. These show up in the App Store app, as well as in iTunes, and function in a similar fashion to how Genius for music works. It takes your purchase information and sends it to Apple, which will analyze it for similar purchases, and offer up recommendations. This may end up being a more precise system since there are fewer apps than music tracks.
3.1 also adds a new security feature for iPhone owners--the capability to lock down the device over the air using MobileMe. Previously, if your phone was lost or stolen, this feature would only be enabled if the user had set it that way.
iTunes 9
Apple introduced a new version of iTunes, which offers iPhone and iPod Touch users a way to better organize applications they have added to the device. Users can now drag and drop apps to multiple home screens at once, instead of doing so on the device itself.

Read the rest of the story here, provided by cNET.

Hulu iPhone App Coming Soon

Safe to say this will be the greatest iPhone app in the history of the app store...

Silicon Alley Insider is reporting that a dedicated Hulu application is indeed on its way to the iPhone and should be here in just a few months. SAI says the application will work over Wi-Fi and AT&T's 3G network, meaning that users will be able to view programming anywhere with a fast data connection.

Rumors suggesting that an iPhone-friendly version of Hulu swirled around this time last year, however, they predated the launch of the App Store, and Hulu flat-out denied that one was being worked on.

This time around, though, it's far more plausible, with the upcoming iPhone OS 3.0 software update, which lets developers bake streaming media into their applications. For Hulu, this means that the advertising could be stuck into the mobile stream and that users would be able to watch videos without leaving the application.

One of the things that keep this rumor from holding water is that Hulu is in direct competition with Apple's iTunes business. Users of Hulu can watch ad-supported, full-length television shows and movies on their personal computers for free, instead of paying Apple to download a copy for offline viewing.

If such an app were available on the iPhone, it would also offer portable TV and movie watching, something not yet offered in Apple's own mobile iTunes app, which is limited to video podcasts. In past instances of this, the company has simply denied applications such as Podcaster from making it through the app approval process, only to launch it as a first party feature later on.

On the other hand, some of Hulu's competitors have already gotten a foot in the door, including Joost and CBS-owned TV.com, which has its own iPhone application that streams in content in chunks. In addition, Google's YouTube, whose application comes preinstalled on the iPhone, has recently reached an agreement with major studios, including Sony Pictures, Lions Gate Entertainment, and CBS (publisher of CNET News), to offer visitors full-length TV shows and feature films.

If Hulu can't manage to pull off getting advertisements in the stream, using this system, it would be fairly simple to force users to sit through advertisements between clips.

iTunes 8.1 coming soon

Following the release of the new iPod shuffle, it appears iTunes 8.1 is on its way. It’s not going to be a big release, but as with the new desktop line, there will be a few small changes to enhance the application further.

iTunes 8.1 will respond quicker when syncing your iPod/iPhone, loading large libraries and when you’re browsing the iTunes Store. I personally hope this lives up to expectations, because syncing the iPhone can be quite painful with a lot of applications. It’s slowly been getting better, but a speed boost would certainly be great.

If you’re a fan of Genius, you’ll be glad to hear it’s coming to your movies and TV shows, too! I’ve only used it once or twice to create a few playlists, but I have been introduced to some great tracks through it, too. This is the part I’ll be looking forward to especially for TV shows.

If that isn’t enough for you, any music you import from CD will be a higher quality. 256-Kbps iTunes Plus (AAC) files to be precise. You will be able to change from the default, if you preferred MP3 files, but the 256Kbps AAC is the same encoding used for the iTunes Store, and is a brilliant quality for your music.

Kids by MGMT played on iPhones and iPod Touches

Who says iPod killed the radio star?

The Simpson's Get An Apple, I Mean Mapple Store

iPhone As A Legit Gaming Interface

That title is absolutely up for debate.  Just because there are gaming options on a device, does that mean it classifies as a powerful gaming interface?  The answer is obviously no, but this piece of equipment is supercool no matter what.

Marware has developed a Game Grip for iPhone 3G and the iPod touch.  I have an iPhone and I play the Audi driving game.  Would I ever spend $50 on this device.  Probably not, but who the hell am I?  I'm sure this is reasonable and important to someone.  Bottom line, it looks cool and I think could lead to the development of even more iPhone apps and games.

Apple’s Mysterious Media Day Snowballing Into Reality

A traditionally secretive company, Apple is holding an event tomorrow, but only released media invites at the end of last week for the Cupertino event. While much of the pess anticipated that this event could be much ado about nothing based on the release of invites, it seems the notebook focused meeting may have some serious weight behind it.


The image below is a capture of the invite that was sent out to the media:



Some of the more serious rumors going around now:

New models and price points, from 8 to 12 base configurations ranging from $800-$3100
New manufacturing process and facility to produce notebook casings from a single block of solid aluminum
Wider touchpads, slimmer casing, and keyboards matching that found in the MacBook Air
Nvidia integrated GPUs in MacBook line
Possibility of in-built screens in touchpads
Possibility of tablet-type Mac introduction (sadly seems unlikely)

The Apple notebook line is in need of a serious refresher, as there haven’t been too many changes in the last couple years.

Apple notoriously has built mystique over the years by alerting media very late about upcoming releases and announcements, sometimes giving the media only days to prepare for a coming release.

Historical Apple events and invite lead times:

Sept 7, 2005 (Invite: 9 days before)1000 songs in your pocket: first-gen iPod nano

Oct 12, 2005 (Invite: 8 days before)One more thing: first video iPod, iMac with iSight, iTunes 6

Oct 19, 2005 (Invite: 5 days before)Apple’s latest pro innovations: Aperture, PowerBooks with higher-res displays, Power Mac G5 Quad & Power Mac G5 Dual

Feb 28, 2006 (Invite: 7 days before)Fun new products from Apple: iPod Hi-Fi, Mac mini Core Duo, leather iPod cases

March 20, 2007 (Invite: 26 days before)Lights, Camera, Apple: Final Cut Studio 2, Final Cut Server

Sept 12, 2006 (Invite: 7 days before)It's Showtime: Apple TV, second-gen iPod nano, updated video iPods, second-gen iPod shuffle, iTunes 7

Aug 7, 2007 (Invite: 7 days before)Mac announcements: Aluminum iMacs, iLife '08, iWork '08, .Mac upgrade

Sept 5, 2007 (Invite: 8 days before)The beat goes on: iPod touch, WiFi iTunes Store, iPod nano fatboy (3G), iPod classic, iTunes 7.4

March 6, 2008 (Invite: 7 days before)iPhone software roadmap: iPhone SDK, iPhone 2.0 and App Store

Sept 9, 2008 (Invite: 7 days before)Let's Rock: fourth-gen iPod nano, second-gen iPod touch, iTunes 8, HD TV shows