Nano
”Dealzmodo: $130 8GB iPod nanos
We know, in light of a $200 8GB iPhone, a $130 8GB iPod nano (refurbished) seems remarkably less impressive. But as of right now, it's still a good deal as well as a great little music player. Plus, keep in mind that just yesterday a flight attendant saw my nano on my tray table and exclaimed, "I didn't know they came so small!" And I'm like 90% sure she was talking about the iPod. [sellout.woot]Giz Explains: Under the Hood of the Newest Laptops and Mobile Gear
If your head's spinning from the buckets of chip splooge that's shot out over the past couple days, we don't blame you. There's been a new mobile chip launched or announced by every major player in the biz (Intel, AMD, Nvidia and Via), so no wonder it's all sticky and running together. Don't worry, here's a quick guide to what matters, who makes it, and what kind of stuff you'll see it in.
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Via Launches Crysis-Capable Nano Processors
Via's next-gen Isaiah processors that they're hoping will break them into the mainstream market just got all official, going by the more consumer-friendly Nano moniker. When we talked with Via about them last week, they said that Isaiah-based processors will deliver 4x the performance of their current C7 chips (which power the OQO and Cloudbook) at the same power envelope. The press release touts the chips' ability to playback Blu-ray and run Crysis—that might be true, but we have the feeling you won't exactly want to in the latter case. Available to manufacturers now, you should start seeing Nano-powered wares in the fall. The low-power-but-decent-performance chip space is definitely getting a mite crowded. More »Are Nanotubes the New Asbestos?
A new study has found that carbon nanotubes—if inhaled—could be as dangerous as asbestos. This is not only problematic for a future of semiconductors that would like to exploit the technology, but the goods already on the market now that use nanotubes in composite mixtures, like baseball bats and tennis rackets. More »Canadian iPod Owners Get $44 Each For Crappy Battery Life (Thanks, Budday!)
I love when life imitates art. A few weeks after a South Park episode where indignant Canadians go on strike and are rewarded with Bennigan's coupons, indignant Canadian iPod owners go to court and win roughly the equivalent of a meal at Bennigan's: $44. Why? Because the 1G, 2G and 3G iPods that were supposed to have battery life of up to 8 hours instead delivered a paltry 3 hours, according to two separate rulings in Canadian court. Still up for settlement: the lawsuit by the Canadian gentleman who discovered that his 8GB nano only has 7.45GB of storage. He wants $220, but he'll take $92. [InformationWeek]Group Sues EPA For Not Regulating Nano-Silver Pollution
Those nano-silver socks you've been using to soak up the rank of your athlete's foot—not only are they leaching poisons into fish habitats every time you wash them, their effects on your own blood stream could be just as bad; but the EPA's not doing anything about it. Fed up by government inaction, a consumer safety group is now suing the EPA for failing to regulate nanomaterials. More »Question of the Day: How Many iPods Have You Owned?
Yesterday's question involved how much digital music you currently own—if you took part you may have noticed that the distribution was fairly even, but there are plenty of people out there with seriously large collections. That got me thinking about where all this music is being stored—iPods in particular. As my own feeble collection has grown, and my desire for better hardware has increased, I have upgraded my iPod a grand total of 3 times. My guess is that figure is probably pretty average (or even low) when compared to a serious music fanatic. So, my question to you is: how many iPods have you owned?
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Your Smelly Ass Feet Are Killing the Planet
Your feet? They smell like a baboon's butthole. Especially at the gym. So, the brilliant dudes at places like Nike and Adidas have started lining their socks with nano-bits of silver to fight microbials and the intense funk radiating from your tootsies. It works (woohoo), but every time you wash them, some of the particles inevitably come loose from the sock and flush down the drain, ultimately winding up in local waterways. Where they poison fishies. To death. Not cool. In conclusion, have less stinky feet, thanks. [American Chemical Society via io9]Factron Quattro iPod nano Case is the Real Full Metal Jacket
Mizumori Ado's exclusive iPod nano case, called the Factron Quattro, sure as hell has the street cools about it, but unfortunately, it looks like its going to be a limited run in Japan only. The designer, Mizumori Ado, used a full aluminum construction to match the iPod nano's housing, and we have to say, the Factron Quattro is the only way to protect your fat PMP. After all, the hefty clunker sure does have a tough time getting in and out of pockets and bags without scratching itself. Available in green, red, silver or gold and with the option of various scrawled patterns adorning the rear face plate, the case does look quite unique. Check out the gallery for some more shots and know that no pricing details are available, but we'd guess you'll be paying a pretty penny if you are able to get Mr. Importer on the case. [Akihabara News]
Samsung YP-S3 Caught On Video
Our female alter egos at Tech Digest just scored a video hands-on with Samsung's new YP-S3 MP3 player. The iPod nano rival should be out this June and is quite similar to its Cupertino competition, with a screen only 0.2-inches smaller and comparable music, photo and video playback abilities. The Samsung adds a built-in FM radio and a 2GB option to accompany the usual 4GB and 8GB models. [Tech Digest]
nanotechnology
Nanobots Get Brains, Scarecrows So Freakin' Jealous
We love this quote from Dr. Anirban Bandyopadhyay of Japan's National Institute for Materials Science:...this is the first time we have created a nano-brain.Is anyone else a little flushed after reading that? Here's the story: More »
Sansa Fuze Turns Up at Amazon
The Sansa Fuze, which we heard word of earlier, has just turned up at Amazon. The listing confirms the PMP will have a 1.9" screen, voice recording function (that works via the built-in microphone), microSD/microSDHC slot and will offer support for MP3, WMA and MPEG-4 encoded content. Retailing at $99 for a 4GB edition, the internal battery will squeeze out 24 hours of audio playback and 5 hours of video on a single charge. Checkout some more shots of the PMP below.
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iTunes Store Private Page Shows Unidentified iThingy
iTunes will offer private developer pages, which will host app stores for a select audience only; e.g. specialized for universities, etc. Some of the pages have already been opened to those select individuals with audio and video content on offer. One such example is the Education First Educational Tours site the above picture was taken from. The site hosts an interesting, teeny-weeny image showing an iPod/iPhone hybrid type device, which seems to have a home button built in to the dock connector. What is it? We cannot say, but with all the fuss it is generating on the tubes, we thought we'd let you take a peek. Jump for a shot of the original page.
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fire starter
Exploding iPod Nano Starts Non-Nano Sized Blaze
A user at Niketalk forums posted up these images of an iPod nano that went up in smoke this morning. The forum user, MJair was awoken at 2 a.m. by the fire alarm going off. On a quick panicked inspection of the room, an "orange glow" near his PS3 was seen. That orange glow was nothing less than a fire, approximately a foot wide in length, which was said to be rapidly spreading. Check out more images of the nano wreckage below. More »
leaks
SanDisk Prepping Sansa Fuze?
SanDisk may have a new PMP on the way. An accessory bundle for something called a Sansa Fuze was spotted on maker HandStands' website earlier—currently the address redirects to generic Sansa accessories. The player pictured in the ad looks like competition for a 3G iPod nano, and will likely include 8-16GB of memory as well as video and radio playback. When we know for sure, you will too. [anythingbutipod]
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