Apple Leaks! 3MP Cams in iPhone and New Tablets

Image via CrunchBase

Finally we get to read some Apple leaks again! And it's not just about the iPhone mind you, we'll be talking about the iPod and another possible Apple gadget that may take the tech world again by storm. Will this mean that the next year is going to be Apple's year again?

3MP Cams in iPhone 4 Gen and Future iPods?

If Digitimes wrote it right, they just inadvertently spilled the beans that the iPhone 4Gen and the next sets of iPods will be having 3.2 Megapixels over the old 2 Megapixels they have today:

"The sources said OmniVision has secured 5-megapixel CIS orders for the next-generation iPhone model, which will hit shelves sometime during the second half of 2010. OmniVision snatched 3.2-megapixel CIS orders for Apple's iPhone 3GS, beating out Aptina Imaging which supplies the 2-megapixel CIS solution for the iPhone 3G."

Hopefully this means better camera shots and videos coming out of the iPhone 4Gen and iPods in the next year.

Apple Tablets are coming!

According to Boy Genius, they're certain that a 7 inch Apple Tablet is in the works and will be announced next month.

"Our connect said there is 100% a 7″ Apple tablet, to be announced in January, and whether this is in addition to a 10″ model, they don’t know. Would we bet the farm on this? No, but they’ve been amazingly accurate for us in the past..."

So we're actually waiting on TWO tablets? Wow! How will this affect current Netbooks? Will the tablets be better than the Mac? Are Apple shooting themselves in the foot?

Source of New 3MP Cams
Source of Apple Tablets

iPhone Worm is Rick Astley's Face

Rick Astley used to be a big star in the 80's but now, thanks to some people in YouTube, have become some sort of a joke because of the Rick Roll'd phenomenon. It seems to have died a natural death around late 2008, but it seems to have made a comeback, in a somewhat sinister way: he's become a worm for jailbroken iPhones.

"Apple iPhone owners in Australia have reported that their smartphones have been infected by a worm that has changed their wallpaper to an image of 1980s pop crooner Rick Astley.

The worm, which could have spread to other countries although we have no confirmed reports outside Australia, is capable of breaking into jailbroken iPhones if their owners have not changed the default password after installing SSH. Once in place, the worm appears to attempt to find other iPhones on the mobile phone network that are similarly vulnerable, and installs itself again."

What a way to have the iPod Touch/iPhone's first worm: an image of an 80's star.

If your iPod Touch/iPhone has it, fret not as all it does is install Astley's wallpaper. To remove it, you need to change your root user password and delete "LOCKBACKGROUND.JPG" from (VAR/MOBILE/LIBRARY).

What's interesting here is that the creator has a message for those who got the worm.

Is this for the users who have brazenly jailbroken their iPod Touch/iPhones or for Apple? Nevertheless, this is proof that the iPhone 3G's security is really bad.

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Apple has Met its Rival

The new Walkman X-series isn’t just another iPod killer but rather it’s a Walkman saviour. İt was way back in the 1970’s that Sony dominated for two decades music portability until the iPod tag along. When the Apple iPod was invented and launch, Sony didn’t even give a support about the MP3 and let the Apple iPod dominated and gained its crown.

This time around the new Sony Walkman X-series is turning the tide of the battle. Sony has a huge advantage when it comes to audio. Almost all Walkman players boast superio audio quality unmatch by any media player available in the market. It is equipped with noise cancelling technology and it is integrated with an advanced digital sound processor.

The X-Series supports MP3, WMA and AAC formats and downloading from an Apple iTunes Store music is a breeze. The X-Series has a smaller screen than that of the iPod Touch. It is 3-inches than the 3.5 inch screen from the iPod. Well, the size doesn’t have to be that bad since the screen size is compensated with crystal clear and vibrant images Sony has in store. With just the OLED in place it wipes out the iPod with its LED display, putting a better performance with vibrant video and pictures. Strikingly the Walkman X-Series can recieve digital TV broadcasts which looks stunning as ever.

The Walkman X-series sports a touchscreen compared to the iPod Touch’s unresponsive accelerometer. When it comes to looks, the X-Series is a bit like a block compared to Apple’s more sexier and curvier iPod Touch. Although the X- Series is smaller, putting it in your pocket would be an ease.

All in all this X-Series is a superb all in one media player. Maybe its hight time that the Apple has made its contender.

Spotify has been approved!

When we wrote about Spotify a few weeks ago, we were concerned that Apple might not approve this application for the iPhone 3GS because it will be going up against the iTunes Store. Well, lo and behold! It was approved!

Apple’s Cupertino spokesperson tells us it has approved the iPhone app from Spotify, the music service that many people believe represents a threat to iTunes: “The current status as of right now is it’s been approved and we hope to add the app to the more than 65,000 apps on the app store very soon. We’ve been in constant communication working with the developer and have already notified Spotify that the app will be in the app store very soon.”

However, this will only be available in the following countries: United Kingdom, Finland, Spain, and France. So if you live in the United States and other parts of the world, you may have to wait awhile. Besides, just because Apple approved it for Europe doesn't mean that it's a shoe in here as well.

So how has Spotify affected Apple so far?

Universal Music in Sweden is already reported as saying it’s earning more now from Spotify than from iTunes. Some cynics had even wondered whether Apple was delaying Spotify approval to unveil its an unlimited music service of its own in its upcoming September 9 event.

Wow! Hopefully Apple will be able to survive Spotify's reign by creating a superior product. If they ever do, we'll be covering it!

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Apple Airport Express

Now with blazing 802.11n, the affordable Apple Airport Express is powerful enough to run a home Wi-Fi network, yet small enough to take on the road. Share your wireless network with up to 10 users, print documents, photos, and more from any room in the house to one central printer, play iTunes music through your stereo or powered speakers using AirTunes, and more.

AirTunes takes the music from the iTunes library on your computer and sends it wirelessly to any stereo or speakers in your home. All you have to do is plug an AirPort Express into an electrical outlet near those speakers, then connect them with an audio cable. In iTunes, you can choose which speakers you want your music to play on--in your den, living room, or bedroom.

If you have more than one AirPort Express connected to speakers, you can play the same music on all your speakers at the same time to create a whole-house musical experience. Plus, if you already have a wireless network in place, you can use AirPort Express to add music to its capabilities.

(Source) Amazon

iHome Studio Series iP1

It is always refreshing to see what iHome is up to. Last time, we covered the small iHM77RC Portable Multimedia Speakers, but iHome has really upped its game as far as iPod/iPhone docks are concerned.

The iP1 Studio Series Model has “museum quality” speakers, which apparently means they are made up of smoked acrylic. It is nice to know that someone has finally made an iPod dock that looks like a boom box. After all, iPod and iPhone docks are a dime a dozen, but the iP1 looks like an iPod dock on crack.

According to the specs, these speakers are “100 watt class D biamplified architecture with Bongiovi sound processing through twin 4-inch woofers and matched 1-inch dome tweeters”. If you aren’t familiar with Bongiovi, he is a music producer, and the second cousin of Jon Bon Jovi. Yes, Tony Bongiovi invented the Acoustics Digital Power Station, “an active digital signal processor that the company says makes the MP3s sound better”.

This Digital Power Station is on the iP1. Other features include GSM shielding for the iPhone, and a video out port in case you want to watch video from the iPod or iPhone.

The iHome Studio Series iP1 will be available in July, for a projected retail price of about $300.

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iTies conceal a secret pocket underneath

Guys are stuck wearing ties and frankly they’re a pointless accessory. They just look uncomfortable and they just sort of hang there. Chicks all the time have the perk of hiding small amounts of cash in their bra, but guys are stuck using boring pockets designated for that sort of thing. Well now you can have an extra hidden pocket behind your tie. It’s specifically made for small MP3 players like the iPod Nano, but it could be used for plenty more than that. Hopefully an iPod wouldn’t put too much weight on your neck though.

Besides a Nano this could be used for various MP3 players, business cards, credit cards, money and smaller sized cellphones. If you’re using it for an iPod or other MP3 player, the earphone cord could be hidden through your button up shirt and pop up at the collar of your shirt. Making it far less visible and making it easier for you to get away with not paying attention to what’s going on around you. There are several things a tie like this could be used for, it’s entirely up to you what you store within it. A six pack of the pockets will cost you $34.95 and would have to be sewn onto your regular tie. The ties will cost you anywhere from $35 on up to about $60.

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Yummy iPod Shuffle treat

At first glance I figured this was some chocolate themed MP3 player, but as it turns out it’s not. It’s actually merely a disguise to make your brand new iPod Shuffle look like a cheap MP3 player. Thankfully, cheap MP3 players aren’t quite as desirable to steal as iPods tend to be. It also has no need to leave space for controls, so there are absolutely no outside markings for others to figure out that an iPod is concealed underneath.

It leaves space so that you can still clip your iPod to your shirt, or wherever else you prefer to clip it. It also has an opening to make sure that you can plug in your earbuds as well as charge your iPod without having to take off the case. This chocolate case comes in three different flavors, white chocolate, milk chocolate and I’m guessing a strawberry chocolate. Either way though, there’s a pink chocolate option. The case won’t cost you much, which is nice since you’re just covering an extremely tiny gadget. You can purchase a case for $8.99 from SwitchEasy.

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Apple’s App Store: 1 Billion Served

Well, it finally happened. Apple just delivered its 1 Billionth application download from the App Store, which currently features over 25,000 apps (35,000 by one estimate) built by thousands of developers. The significance of the milestone (besides just the 1 billion mark) is that it’s taken only nine months from when the App Store launched on iTunes to hit 1 billion paid and unpaid downloads.

Last summer, Apple sold one million 3G iPhones worldwide across 21 countries in the first 3 days on sale. During that same time, iPhone users made 10 million app downloads from the then newly launched iTunes App Store.

The count was at 300 million in early December, and the App Store hit 500 million downloads by January 16th. It took Apple six months to reach the first 500 million downloads. It would take Apple only three months to get another 500 billion downloads. By March, 2009, it was at 800 million. We started keeping track via Apple’s billion-app countdown at around 928,077,779. Apple also offered us a fleeting glimpse of the most popular apps ever, something the company only did once before.

Apple apparently already had a hunch of when the billion mark was going to be passed, because the billionth app celebration page was already ready to go.

Apple predicted the time when the billionth app would be downloaded: 1:24:06 AM PST on April 23. That didn’t happen.

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iPhone Cleaning gadget

I’d treat my iPhone once every morning with it that stick. So it’s nice and clean. Like a shower for your mobile.

clean your iphoneTouch screen gizmos are all very impressive but you have to touch them. Lots. And because your fingers are greasy, mucky and coated in a layer of unidentifiable gunk, beloved screens soon resemble windows dipped in chip fat and sprinkled with dust, dandruff and gawd knows what else. So thank goodness for the Procare Mobile Touch Screen Cleaning Kit.

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Bose Digital Audio System for your iPod

The SoundDock Series II digital music system inherits all the award-winning traits of its predecessor, with sleek new styling and additional features. If you want a proven performer for at-home iPod listening, this system now has even more to offer.

Just slip your iPod or iPhone into the dock and bring your favorite songs to life. Hear subtleties you may never have noticed--from tunes you thought you knew by heart. Bose proprietary acoustic design delivers performance greater than you'd expect from a system this small.

Enjoy added versatility
Our updated SoundDock system comes with more built-in benefits. The improved infrared remote operates system power and volume, and now lets you navigate among your iPod playlists. There's also an auxiliary jack for enjoying Bose sound from your DVD/CD player, MP3 players or other portable devices. The universal docking station fits the iPhone and most iPod models, and charges them while docked.

Slimmer profile
The system's classic, sophisticated look hasn't gone away. It’s just softened with smoother lines and a sleeker profile. It fits in beautifully in your kitchen, bedroom, living room--just about anywhere in your home.

What's in the box
- SoundDock® Series II digital music system
- Power cord
- Power supply
- Remote control

Price: $299.00

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Black Apple iPod 120GB

Now you can take it with you. All of it. Available in a 120 GB model that holds up to 30,000 songs, 150 hours of video, 25,000 photos, or any combination, the new iPod classic fills your pocket with sight and sound. Available in quintessential silver or striking new black, iPod classic catches your eye with its sleek, all-metal enclosure composed of anodized aluminum and polished stainless steel.

The new Genius Playlist feature creates an on-the-fly playlist of tracks in your library that go great with the song you're listening to. And Cover Flow lets you flip through your music by album artwork. Discovering new music, movies, TV shows, games, audiobooks, and podcasts is easy on the iTunes Store. Even rent a movie from iTunes and watch it on the go. To get everything into your pocket, just connect iPod classic to your Mac or PC, and iTunes transfers your music and more in one seamless sync.

Price:$224.95

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