Oh! Gizmo

By Evan Ackerman

If your iPod Nano is too small for you, you should ask yourself why on Earth you bought an iPod Nano. You do know what “nano” means, right? It means “tiny,” except about a million times smaller. The iPod Nano Converter TV won’t solve your problem, but it will help mitigate it by enlarging the Nano’s screen up to 2.8 inches (after you shove it up inside) and playing audio through built in stereo speakers. As retro sexy as the TV/VCR combo styling is, its bulkiness does have the side effect of de-nanoing your Nano, and without any obvious Apple branding on the outside, you’ll probably start to ask yourself why you’re bothering to use this thing at all. It’s about $23, with free shipping.

[ iPod Nano Converter TV ] VIA [ RFJ ]

By Chris Scott Barr

I love the power of press. If something gets enough coverage (positive or negative) then something usually comes out of it. Remember that Nine Inch Nails iPhone app that was denied earlier this week by Apple? Well we weren’t the only place to cover the story; in fact, it spread like wildfire throughout the internet. It was a perfect example of everything that’s wrong with the App Store approval process. Well it’s only been a few days, and change has come.

Apparently all of the negative press lead to Apple taking a second look at the app. For whatever reason, this time they decided that everything was peachy and gave it their stamp of approval. It’s just sad that it takes this much bad publicity for Apple to approve an app that had nothing wrong with it in the first place.

[ Twitter ] VIA [ Engadget ]

By Chris Scott Barr

There’s nothing quite like running out of juice on your laptop when you’re in the middle of something very important and far from an outlet. Many road warriors will pack a spare battery for just such times. However, what if you don’t want to remove your battery (making you shut down your laptop or plug it in) or want more than just two batteries worth of use? If you’re using a MacBook of any kind, you turn to the HyperMac.

The HyperMac line of external batteries are a useful tool for any frequent traveler with a MacBook. While they might be a little larger in size than your spare battery, it does much more than just give you double the running time. First, they come in varying sizes, allowing you to run your laptop for up to 6x as long as it would with a single battery charge. Each one also comes with a USB port that can be used to charge any USB device (including your iPhone) while simultaneously powering your laptop. The HyperMac comes in four different sizes ranging from $200-$500 each.

[ HyperMac ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Chris Scott Barr

If you haven’t seen the new Mac vs PC ads yet, I recommend checking them out. I use both Macs and PCs, so I try not to take sides in the fanboy battles, but I do enjoy the ads from Apple. Well one of the recent ads had a lot of legal mumbo-jumbo on the screen whenever PC would make a statement. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go watch it and come back, this will make more sense. Anyway, have you wondered just what all of that tiny text said? Well wonder no longer, as a few people have squinted at their screens long enough to transcribe the whole thing. Read on for the dirty details.

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By Chris Scott Barr

Not long ago I warned you that Apple might finally be caving in to the record labels by hiking the prices of some of their new tunes. Unfortunately it appears that I was correct, if you hit up some new tracks in iTunes, you’ll find the new $1.29 price tag staring back at you. But it isn’t actually all bad news.

Before the changes, there were two types of music available. You had your regular stuff, and iTunes Plus. The ‘Plus’ tracks used 256 kbps AAC encoding and were DRM-free. You paid an extra thirty cents for these bonus features, which added up to $1.29. Now all of your music, even the $0.99 stuff, is higher-quality and DRM-free. As for your old tunes that you previously purchased, you can go ahead and convert those to the better versions for free.

As we stated before, the price of your track is determined by how popular it is. There are three tiers; $0.69, $0.99 and $1.29. The more popular the track, the higher price bracket. To be honest, I’m really a lot less upset about this change than I thought I would be. People have been turning to Amazon because they offer 256 kbps DRM-free tracks at $0.99, but now Apple has leveled the playing field. And for those wondering, Apple isn’t the only one raising prices on new tracks. A quick look around the Amazon site showed some new tracks with a $1.29 price as well.

Update: Looks like you’re still going to have to pay that $0.30 charge to upgrade your old music to iTunes Plus.

VIA [ Apple ]

By Shane McGlaun

Apple fanatics around the world get all tingly inside when the Apple Store is offline, which it was this morning. They know that means new products are being added. Many were probably hoping for a new netbook or updated iPhone; those are more likely to be announced at the WWDC later this spring.

What Apple did unveil was a newly updated Xserve server. The updated machine uses the Intel quad-core Nehalem processor that allows a performance boost of up to two times. At the same time the machine also gets a greener and more efficient design.

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By Chris Scott Barr

We’ve mentioned MonoPrice before, and their wonderfully cheap Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter. Of course when we mentioned it, it was in the future tense. Last we heard they were going to be available sometime around the middle of March. Well in case you didn’t notice all of those pranks going around the other day, it’s April. Yes, it seems that the mid-March estimate was off just a bit. Not to worry though, they’re finally up for sale.

Apple still hasn’t managed to make a comparable adapter, and if they did it would probably cost a bit more than $14.25. Heck, their Mini DisplayPort to DVI and to VGA sell for $29, while you can get them from MonoPrice for just $15.20 and $18.85 apiece.

[ MonoPrice ] VIA [ Crave ]

By Chris Scott Barr

It’s hard to disagree with anyone that says iTunes forever changed the way we buy music. Their simple $.99 per song pricing made it cheaper than ever to buy just the songs you like. It didn’t matter if the song was brand new or three decades old, $.99 was the price. Unfortunately starting next month that will no longer be the case. If you’re looking for a current chart-topper, expect to pay a premium.

According to sources, Apple has begun telling record labels that on April 7 they will introduce the new $1.29 premium price for popular tracks. This has been discussed off and on for some time, but this is the first we’ve heard of a date for the new pricing.

I won’t pretend to know all of the inner-workings of the record industry, but I’m pretty sure their business model is to bend potential customers over a table and attempt to extract cash rectally. I mean, it’s not like we’re going through a recession or anything. Oh well, looks like we’re just going to have to listen to music the old-fashioned way. Speaking of which, I believe we can look forward to a ruling on the big RIAA vs ThePirateBay case just 10 days after this new pricing scheme goes public.

VIA [ GearFuse ]

By Chris Scott Barr

Back when Apple announced the iPhone 3G last year, it was said that we would be able to purchase the phone without having to sign a 2-year contract. What was not mentioned is just when we would be allowed to do so. Rumors started swirling around in the last couple of days that claimed next week AT&T would be offering the phones sans contract.

In this particular instance, the rumors were true. AT&T confirmed that starting next Thursday anyone can walk into one of their stores and purchase an iPhone without inking a 2-year deal. Of course there is that one little catch. The phone will set you back $599 or $699 depending on which model you select, and you’re going to still be tied down to the AT&T network. Honestly, I figured that I’d be using mine for 2 years anyway, so renewing my contract wasn’t that big of a deal.

VIA [ CrunchGear ]