If you’ve ever had a Genius Bar appointment at the Apple Store, than you’ve surely noticed that an employee has checked you in using an iPod touch. If you’ve also ever bought something like an iPhone you’ve noticed they use Windows CE-based handhelds to complete your transaction. Not for much longer.
Soon enough all Apple Store Employees will be able to deal with all purchases, returns, iPhone activations, through debit/credit cards and cash while using an iPod touch.
A new case and proprietary software is on its way that fits the Touch and is capable of being a magnetic stripe reader, barcode scanner, and can accept signatures using a stylus. All sounding pretty cool, will it have a positive effect on the customer service experience?
Announced today, iLuv is going to release two new USB chargers to help power all your devices in a small and compact design. Officially named the iLuv iAD177 Triple USB Port Power Adapter and the iAD116 Mini USB Power Adapter they are respectively priced at $20 and $15. Each unit has an LED indicator and fold down prongs for easier storage. Both of these power ports will be available in September and will join the ranks of the many other USB chargers we’ve seen in the past several months.
It’s long been known that Apple would add cameras to their line of iPods. After all, it is the next evolutionary step for the portable media player, and we got wind of these rumors (here and here) sometime ago. Now, dozens of new iPod Nano and iPod Touch cases have emerged from the manufacturing plants in China lending more than enough credence to the long standing rumor to pretty much make them fact. Although some will be shocked by this news, I’m more in aw of the fact that Apple would let such new slip beyond their veil of secrecy.
H2Audio has been making some heavy duty underwater iPod cases for some years now and the iDive300 is their first foray into deeper waters. Designed to hit depths of up to 300 feet deep, the iDive300 is priced at $350 and is an extremely niche product that only seriously bored divers would need. Sporting watertight controls and over the ear speakers I can’t imagine a large production batch for this item. Beyond that, the iDive300 has a warranty for your iStuff in case something goes awry once submerged. What do we think? Cool or worthless?
Tucked away in the dark corners of E3, and apparently my mind since I’m posting this the following week, was a little strategy game called “R.U.S.E” from Ubisoft. What makes it of particular interest is that it is played on Microsoft’s Surface and as you can see in the below video, creates a unique level of interaction and engagement thanks to the Surface’s touchscreen multigesture interface. I’ve long been a skeptic of the Surface, largely due to cost, but games like this surely are fitting and make for a compelling argument in favor of the hardware.
February 16th, 2009 11:03 PM | by Christen da Costa
HTC didn’t stop with the refresh of the Touch Pro. Nope, they updated the Touch Diamond today, reaching new heights in naming convention with the Touch Diamond2! So what’ve they done to improve the Touch Diamond? For starters, they’ve added a larger screen, now 3.2-inch with a WVGA resolution and thrown in the same Zoom bar found on the Touch Pro2. Battery life has been improved by a whopping 50% (Apple are you listening) and tossed in a 5 megapixel camera with light sensors, which is complimented by a second, front facing VGA camera. Of course you’ll also get the usual and expected features such as WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, media player, FM radio, microSD card slot and more.
The Touch Diamond 2 will hit ‘major’ EU markets and Asia sometime in Q2 of 2009. No word on price, carrier or US release info.
Update: The Touch Diamond 2 will be available for a Windows Mobile 6.5 update when it launches.
Technology and warfare go hand in hand these days, but I would’ve never expected the beloved iPod Touch to be responsible for calculated sniper attacks. What you’re looking at is a M110 semi-automatic sniper system with a Knights Armaments mounting system. The Touch is strapped into an Otterbox case and is running BulletFlight, which is available in the app store for $12. Just dial in the weather, wind speed and distance, and it will spit out the necessary scope adjustments for you to acquire your target.
September 10th, 2008 2:51 PM | by Christen da Costa
Sprint got all official on release date and pricing for the HTC Pro and Touch, today. The HTC Touch will hit Sprint stores sometime this September (some are saying 9/14) and cost $250 after a 100 mail-in-rebate and 2 year contract. The HTC Pro, essentially the same phone as the Touch with the addition of a slide out QWERTY keyboard, will be available for purchase October 19th and cost $300 after a $100 mail-in-rebate and 2 year contract.
I’m interested to see how well the HTC Pro’s ‘biz card’ software works to add contact info to the address book via the 3.2MP camera. Healthy dose of skepticism, anyone?
September 9th, 2008 11:29 AM | by Christen da Costa
Did you miss the event? If so, here’s a quick recap scrapped from sources around the Net.
HD TV shows
iTunes ‘Genius’ function – it can make smart playlists that are tailored to your taste plus recommend music from iTunes
New iPod Nano (as leaked here) that’s curved, more environmentally friendly and includes an accelerometer. It’s got the Touch/iPhone cover flow UI, voice notes (you need to add a mic), 24 hour battery life for music and 4 for video, and a butt load of shiny colors. The 8GB 3G ipod Nano is $149 and the 16GB is $199. The 8GB will start shipping this week (maybe) and the 16GB in the next few weeks.
New Apple ear buds that are $80 (moot).
New Nike+ interface (as rumored here) and the receiver is now built into the iPod Touch.
A thinner iPod Touch. 8GB, 16GB and 32GB which is $229, $299, and $399 respectively
Looks like they added new Shuffle colors too
The Apple Store is up and running with the new products!
Announced today, iLuv is going to release two new USB chargers to help power all your devices in a small and compact design. Officially named the iLuv iAD177 Triple USB Port Power Adapter and the iAD116 Mini USB Power Adapter they are respectively priced at $20 and $15. Each unit has an LED indicator and fold down prongs for easier storage. Both of these power ports will be available in September and will join the ranks of the many other USB chargers we’ve seen in the past several months.
