iPod touch case roundup: Two grips and a shade

In this week's iPod case roundup, Roman Loyola looks at three iPod touch cases: Griffin's FlexGrip, ShadesCases Shades, and Speck's ArmorSkin.

Apple deals: refurb peripherals, iMacs, iPod touch

Apple's online store is currently offering some great deals on its refurbished models. Apple TV in 40GB ($199) and 160GB ($279) configurations are available along with HD displays in 20-in. (1680 x 1050 resolution) for $499, and 23-in. (1920 x 1200 resolution) for $749. Also included are the wireless Mighty Mouse for $59, wireless keyboard for $69 and AirPort Express Base station for $79....

So Hot Right Now: Top 10 Appletell posts for the week of August 24, 2008

Section: Haven’t caught all of the Appletell news this week? Here’s your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles! Reasons why Verizon thinks they are better than the iPhone“Gizmodo has posted an interesting list supposedly from Verizon about their talking points regarding the iPhone 3G.  Some of the more noteworthy points on this list include:  The new 3G iPhone will be twice as fast only where…” MORE »Appletell review - Spore Origins for iPod“ Genre: RPG, Strategy Format: iPod Game Developer: Maxis Mac Port: Electronic Arts System Requirements: 3G iPod nano, 5G iPod classic, 28.7MB free space Price: $4.99 …” MORE »Leaked MacBook Pro ad not from Apple, but still probably spot-on“ The “leaked” MacBook Pro ad that’s been circulating the internet is a fake, it’s been confirmed. A MacRumors forum member with the handle mciarlo posted the mockup to the forums on Friday, in the thread “Macbook Pro…” MORE »Up close and personal with the $853 iPhone 3G from Globe Telecoms“ After announcing its price range for the iPhone 3G a couple of weeks ago at around $1000 for the prepaid units, Globe Telecoms decided to bring down the price…” MORE »Apple Special Event planned for September 9th? [Update]“MacRumors is collecting some rumors in one article about a possible date for Apple’s next new product announcement. All sources seem to converge on September 9th.  Originally, MacRumors had listed this event as an unverified rumor and…” MORE »3G iPhones Already Outnumber 2.5G units?“When Steve Jobs set some lofty iPhone 3G sales goals, some said it couldn’t be done. Well, to the naysayers dismay, it looks as though Apple is well on its way to its goals, and…” MORE »iPhone 3G antennas are fine says GP“Western Sweden’s largest newspaper, Göteborgs-Posten (or The Gothenburg Post for us American’s who have no idea how to pronounce words with dots above them), says there is nothing wrong with the antenna inside of the iPhone 3G. They were…” MORE »Lockdown: anti-theft system for Mac“To secure our valuable belongings is always important. It doesn’t really come to just price; what makes an object valuable to his owner varies from one person to another.  There’s a wide range of solutions to secure everything we have, and…” MORE »Goodbye, Tris, we miss you already [Update]“ You may remember my favorite Tetris clone, Tris, that was released in the App Store in the second week of August. In my opinion, it is the best Tetris clone available, and quite possibly…” MORE »More evidence for the Kevin Rose iPod nano rumors“Last week, we reported on some rumors via Digg’s Kevin Rose about a possible iPod Nano redesign. MacRumors is providing some more evidence for that rumor with some pics and details from a semi-reliable Chinese…” MORE » Full Story » | Written by NEWS for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

My favorite iPod touch apps: Mike R.'s picks

In contributing my share to our ongoing series of favorites for Mac and iPhone apps, I think I'm the first of our crew to focus on the iPhone's sleeker sibling. The iPod touch may not have the communications and GPS capabilities of the motherphone, but what it lacks in circuitry it makes up for in panache. I've found apps that are kid-pleasers, apps that leverage the touch's native WiFi location capability, and apps that challenge the brain. (All links are directly to the App Store.)Comic Touch from Plasq. Although the iPhone's camera is absent, the ability to edit, annotate and humorize synchronized photos on the touch is a delight. Comic Touch may not be the only app in this space but it's proven its worth to me during evenings out or when traveling, as my daughters derive endless fun from captioning family snapshots with thought balloons.Pandora Radio. Making the portable device into a full-featured internet streaming tool is a work in progress, but a WiFi-connected iPod touch with Pandora is an astonishingly fun and surprising music source, a glass-front Airport Express. I love the Pandora web app, so I was prepared to like the miniaturized version -- what I didn't expect was how connecting it to a stereo and letting it play would lead to "Wow, who's this?" moments. Lacking a microphone, I can't run Midori or Shazam on my touch -- but I can make iPhone users want to use those apps to find out what Pandora is playing through my speakers.Scrabble. Yes, I know that Facebook users have dartboards covered with pictures of Hasbro's legal team -- I still enjoy the EA version immensely. It's colorful, easy to play and has the feel of the tabletop game and the tactile letter-dragging fun you expect. Shaking the device to shuffle the rack aside (it feels gimmicky and I never do it), all I really want to add is a copy of the Scrabble dictionary for training and reference.Location-aware touch. Even without the GPS of the iPhone, I've been pleased that so many location-aware apps work just fine on the touch. Where To?, Twitterrific, Urbanspoon and Now Playing -- assuming there's a WiFi network around -- behave just as they would on the iPhone, and whether it's due to the solid location frameworks or thoughtful work by developers, I'm appreciative.Honorable Mention: Simplify Media, Dot Game, City Transit NYC, and Facebook.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Apple files another patent for… gasp… a multitouch interface!

Section: Apple News, Rumors, Updates, Mac + Computers, Laptops, MacBook Air, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Operating Systems, OS-X Apple has shoveled a bunch more coal onto the fire that is the mythical Apple tablet by filing for another patent published for “Gestures for Touch Sensitive Input Devices.” The patent is clearly for a device with a screen larger than that of the iPhone or the iPod Touch, but small enough to be portable. That’s a long way of saying the MacBook Touch, or at least that’s what I’m going to call it. Electronista has a great article about how the patent helps Touch-based input be more functional on user interfaces that weren’t originally designed for touch-based input. Some things just don’t work that well with your finger. As an example of overcoming common size restrictions, the close/minimize/maximize buttons in the title bar would deliberately expand when the user reaches to touch one of them, permitting Apple to use its standard Mac OS X interface without compromising the controls for touch-only users. The patent also covers things such as on-screen keyboards and pop-up iPod scrollwheel-like controls for music. The interface is made for multitouch. So an on screen keyboard would easily be able to do shortcuts like ‘Command + C,’ and all of the multitouch trackpad shortcuts that MacBook Air and new MacBook Pro users have available to them, such as pinch and rotate. It should be noted that Apple isn’t required to use any of this, but I can’t help think they’d be crazy not too. I personally believe the long rumored MacBook Touch is an inevitability, but only Steve really knows if or when it will be available. I’m hoping soon. Really soon. Patent [Apple] Via [Electronista] Full Story » | Written by Jake Gaecke for Appletell. | Comment on this Article »

iPhone 3G supplies reach equilibrium across US

Apple's constant iPhone shortages have finally eased after six weeks of supply problems, according to Lehman Brothers analyst Ben Reitzes. First reported by Apple Insider, Reitzes reveals that Apple has 16GB iPhone 3G (black and white) models available in all US retail Apple stores, a first since the launch on July 11. And 8GB models have reached 99 percent availability as well. Supply is finally ...