According to this story from Apple Insider, the US Military is experimenting with iPods as a form of a translator. The iPod provides translation for soldiers and Iraqi citizens.

The iPod is less threatening and because it’s so universal already, some Iraqis are also familiar with it already. It has bridged the cultural divide.

The software running the translation is Vcommunicator Mobile from Vcom 3D.

The iPod remains almost stock with just some adjustments to make it more dust proof. Other than that and the loaded software, it’s pretty much stock.

This is one use of the iPod that’s truly astounding.

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According to Kevin Rose of Digg fame, new iPods are set to come out soon. Quoting from his blog, here some of the things to come.

Latest rumors:

- Revamp of entire iPod line.
- Small cosmetic changes to Touch, Nano to see significant redesign (see pic below).
- iPods to see fairly large price drops to distance itself from the $199 iPhone.
- iPod touch 2.1 software, iPhone to get update very soon after.
- iTunes 8.0 (”it’s a big update w/new features”).
- All of this coming in the next 2-3 weeks.

I’m not so convinced this is entirely true. Kevin got the iPhone rumors wrong, at least some of it.

I don’t see the iPod prices going down too much. The $199 iPhone only looks cheap but it’s not. When you factor in the lock-in period then the costs start to pile up. As opposed to the “what you see is what you get” price of iPods. There’s no hidden costs.

I think the iPods are priced ok, they might see a price drop but not by much. At least nothing drastic.

As for the other things, it’s bound to happen. iTunes 8 will come and new iPod software also.

Check out Kevin’s post here. The video is also below.

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Sometimes technology can be put to really great use. Sometimes it can just be used to spy on us.

Researchers Nitesh Dhanjani and Akshay Aggarwal are developing a tool which grants them to create a real time picture of how an World wide web user is feeling, based on their profile on a series of social networking sites.

“It will tell you what’s going on in your brain,” says Dhanjani.

I know super-geeks can be a bit clueless about emotional stuff, so I’m going to spell this one out: I already know how I’m feeling. (I know a lot more about myself than Facebook does).

So if you want to know how I’m feeling, ask me. And if I want you to know the answer, I’ll tell you. Otherwise, stop the stalking. Sorry, I mean ‘profiling’…

Via CNET news.

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If your phone is on this list, then the answer to that question would be “no.” And your question would probably be, “What the heck does SIMable mean anyway?”

SIMable is a thin chip that can be attached to your SIM card to fool your mobile phone into thinking that it has been unlocked. The price you pay? Apparently around $37, plus a hole that you have to cut out in your SIM card for aligning the SIMable chip. The company even puts to rest your doubts on how to accomplish that by “including a free cutting tool with every purchase.”

In the market since April of this year, the company now boasts success with the cracking of even the latest iPhone 3G. Watch the video demonstration here.

Via Jason Langridge’s WebLog.

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I thought it might be interesting to share a recent blog post by my friend Brian Layman, whom I work with at b5media. He has shared recently on his blog some correspondence between him and Yahoo concerning what appears to be a desired upgrade to one of their services.

Have you had this kind of service from Yahoo!? I’d love to hear your own stories, but let’s get this issue exposed and blown wide-open to as many people as possible.

b5media, Brian Layman, customer service, flickr, The Code Cave, Yahoo

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It’s always pleasing to see the frivolous designs for something as practical as a USB thumb drive. These “fashionable” jewels from USB Brando are designed to wear around your neck (necklace included) or on your cell phone strap.

A tiny too drag queen for me, they scream “Steal me”! Each to her own, however. Supports Window 2000/XP/Vista or MAC OS; 81 x 24 x 10mm (approx.); Weight: 20g.

$39.00 for the 4G.

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When we first saw the Zeppelin iPod speaker system from Bowers & Wilkins at CES, we weren’t sure if it was a piece of art or functional technology. We were happy to report it sounds as good as it looks, as you’d anticipate from the British company which started out by making studio-quality speakers. (Abbey Road still features their 800 series speakers.)

There’s a sound reason (pun intended) for the shape - one of the reasons the tweeters are so small is that they disperse the little high-frequency waves over a wider area than more massive drivers, so the size of the enclosure housing the tweeter also affects this dispersion, and that’s why Zeppelin’s body narrows as the drivers get smaller.

While still out of most people’s price range ($599), you can now purchase the Zep at Apple stores worldwide.

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With the choices available just not what I’m looking for exactly in Barack Obama or John McCain, sometimes to get things done right you’ve just got to do it yourself!
If you don’t like the choices either, have a little bit of fun yourself.
Tags: 2008 Elections, Barack Obama, Democratic National Convention, […]

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Remember the Robosapien? That impressive (male) robot which could do all manner of cool things, from marching about in a dominant manner to throwing things and um… burping.

Well, it was about time manufacturers WowWee brought out a female version with similarly gender stereotypical specifications. The Femisapien can dance with you, blow kisses and pose in an impressive manner. So basically, she’s a beauty queen in robotic form.

Pointless and regressive technology, much?

Via Shiny Shiny.

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Whether you’re on an iPhone or an iPod Touch these tips and tricks from PhilMUG member dubeditions is certainly a must read. It’s really an iPhone centered tips and tricks list but soem of them will also work with the iPod Touch. I tried it on my iPod Touch.

Some of them are just great. My favorites are the screenshot and saving images from Safari. Here are the first 5 tips you can read the rest on the thread he started.

1. Double-down with scrolling. Many Web pages contain separate text boxes with their own scroll bars. If you’re trying to move around in one, try this: Zoom in, and then scroll with two fingers instead of one. That’ll let you scroll just inside the box and not affect the position of the entire page.

2. Maximize battery life, part 1. iPhone and iPhone 3G models have more sensors than just the accelerometer. For example, they have a separate sensor, situated right above the earpiece, that detects ambient light. The iPhone uses this sensor only once per session, though, just as you unlock the handset. But if you cover the sensor as you unlock the phone, you will trick the handset into thinking it’s in a dark room, and it will power down the screen brightness as a result.

3. Maximize battery life, part 2. The iPhone’s newfound e-mail synchronization capabilities are useful, but they also drain the battery more quickly. If that’s a concern, under Fetch New Data, set e-mail fetch time to Hourly, and turn Push off.

4. Keep Safari’s address bar handy. Ever scroll pretty far down a Web page, only to find that the address bar has disappeared? No need to scroll back up—instead, tap the top part of the screen. The address bar will reappear, regardless of where you are on the actual Web page.

5. Enter punctuation swiftly. To enter a period while using the on-screen keyboard, hold down the Punctuation key and slide your finger over to the Period button. Then release it.

Read complete list here.

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