iPod Goes into the Space Again

You can see interesting thing looking at hi-res photo of the shuttle Endeavour. One of the International Space Station's cameras caught shuttle's viewport with iPod visible through it.

TUAW.com, that noted this fact, decided to reveal all iPod's space adventures, that's what they say:

• When the unmanned Jules Verne spacecraft launched earlier this month for its historic docking with the ISS, it took along several commemorative items, including an iPod containing a special list of songs chosen by the winner of a 2007 contest.
• STS crew member Leland Melvin went to the ISS last month aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis, and he took along an iPod pre-loaded with his favorite Christina McBride album and a few songs he'd composed on the piano.
• For Charlie Hobaugh's flight last year, he let his kids load his iPod for him. (Wow, that's trusting -- he could have spent the 13-day mission listening to Alvin & the Chipmunks).

By the way, astronauts can't bring iPod on the International Space Station board because it hasn't special certificate.

Technorati Tags: Space,Shuttle,iPod,Apple,Endeavour

iLink dock brings digital output to iPod, with a catch

There's no doubt that the audio industry loves audiophiles: a group of people searching for high fidelity who happen to pick up a whole lot of expensive kit on the way (that's where the love comes in). A company called MSB Technology is attempting to tap into this lucrative and exclusive demographic with its iLink Docking System for the iPod. On its own the iLink isn't particularly special, but when it's coupled with an MSB-upgraded iPod it can output true digital audio, something the analog-only iPod has never been capable of doing. You can either opt to send your own 5.5G iPod to MSB -- where they'll upgrade it for you for $199 and provide their own warranty -- or you can go for the full $1995 iLink system -- which includes an iPod upgrade, and an iLink dock that taps into a digital audio enabled iPod's dock connector. Although we don't claim to be audiophiles ourselves, we see a couple of potential problems here, not least the issue of the iPod being an inherently flawed device to market to audiophiles (compressed music = bad). The other little niggle is the two grand price tag, which isn't too far removed from the asking prices of the high-end CD players it's designed to replace.

(c) www.engadget.com

iPhone launches today ... ?!

Yes, it's the moment we've all been waiting for - not. Linksys launched a product called the "iPhone" today, a family of voice-over-internet (VOIP) handsets (not cell phones.) One of them does sound pretty cool - the Wireless-G Phone for Skype connects directly to Skype through Wi-Fi hotspots, with no PC required. Linksys' amusing product naming raises two questions in the overheated Apple phone debate. First of all, if Apple can't call it the iPhone, what will they call it? Secondly, how the heck did Linksys get the trademark on that name?

[Thanks goes to www.gearlog.com for this article]

iPod2Car - embed your iPod into your car stereo system

The PXDP2 iPod2Car Gen 2 System lets you plumb your iPod into your car stereo system, so you get full control via the factory radio and steering wheel controls. You can even browse tracks via the radio screen. Needless to say it only works with a few makes of vehicle, but the list is growing all the time and Ford and Toyota are covered, so that’s a good sized population right there. Apparently the audio quality is excellent. Priced at around $120.00.

Full control of iPod using factory radio and steering wheel controls # Text on factory radio displays iPods browsing menus, song, artist, and elapsed time # Browse by artist, playlist, genre, and album # Controls include track forward, track back, fast forward, rewind, shuffle and repeat # Audio feed directly into the factory radio to retain digital sound quality # Charges iPods internal battery # Works with Nano, Photo, Mini, Gen3, Gen4, and Gen5 iPods

[original post: www.redferret.net]

LG UP3Flat hits back at Shuffle

Could Apple's low capacity iPods finally face a competitor that is worthy enough to cannibalize its sales? Although Apple does have a more than healthy lead in the portable MP3 player market, its position on the lower tier of products could be threatened with the LG UP3Flat MP3 player that looks like the love child between an LG Chocolate cellphone and the 1G iPod Shuffle. Each UP3Flat comes with a retractable USB connector that makes it all the more desirable. Different capacities will be available, ranging from 512MB up to 2GB while battery life is rated at approximately 10 hours. There is still no word on pricing and availability of this fingerprint magnet.

[original post: www.ubergizmo.com]