A 30-pound Plexiglas display case containing 42 iPod nanos walked out of an Apple Store in Boulder, Colorado, courtesy of either very sneaky shoplifters, snoozing store clerks, or some devious combination of the two. You’d think someone walking out of an Apple Store carrying a big glass box filled with $8705 worth of nanos would be rather conspicuous, but apparently in Boulder people do it all the time, since no one noticed anything suspicious and police have no suspects. So if you see a set of 42 nanos in a “handsome display case” up for sale on eBay this weekend, bid with caution. – Matt Buchanan
P.S. Cobbling together the information given to us and utilizing our crack Law and Order skills, we came up with a rendering of the suspect, which you can see on the right, so be on the lookout.
Analyst firm iSuppli,which runs an interesting Teardown Analysis of new IT toys and gadgets, has put together a preliminary analysis of the Apple iPhone, speculating that each one of the shiny little things will generate nearly 50% gross margin.
By any standards, that’s a lot of cash but then Apple is used to pulling down a healthy 45% on the iMacs and iPods. iSuppli has created a functional Bill of Materials (BoM) estimate for both versions.
“iSuppli estimates the 4Gbyte version of the Apple iPhone will carry a $229.85 hardware BoM and manufacturing cost and a $245.83 total expense, yielding a 50.7 percent margin on each unit sold at the $499 retail price,†said Andrew Rassweiler, teardown services manager and senior analyst for iSuppli. “Meanwhile, the 8GByte Apple iPhone will sport a $264.85 hardware cost and a $280.83 total expense, amounting to a 53.1 percent margin at the $599 retail price.â€
Check out the BoM here. Oh, and if you’re in the market for a music phone but can’t decide, things are only going to get more confusing with 835 music phones – yes 835 - due for launch in 07.-Martin Lynch
This is a bit of a head-scratcher, but Belkin has gone to the trouble of building a mixing board that records music onto Gen 5 iPods (those that support video). The TuneStudio is the first four-channel mixer for iPods, claims Belkin (and we’re inclined to believe it, since the idea never even occurred to us). It supports 16-bit, 44-kHz audio, and each channel has a three-band equalizer.
Why you’d want to record your next indie music hit onto an easily losable, low-fi handheld with a fragile hard drive instead of onto a nice Mac or PC computer is a mystery. And if you do, make sure your iTunes is set for manual synching, or else it will erase your precious creations whenever you dock the iPod.
Anyway, it’s a swank-looking device, judging by Belkin’s artist rendering. The TuneStudio goes on sale this summer, for $180. – Sean Captain
We hear a lot these days about the evils of music torrent downloads and how it impacts revenues for honest hard working bands. Gee, my heart breaks when I picture cash-strapped Metallica on tour being unable to afford the ‘services’ of another professional groupie on the tour bus.
It seems though that there are still lots of honest folk out there, with iTunes sales rocketing for the break. According to Hitwise, visits to the iTunes Web site were up a stonking 413% on Christmas Day 2006 versus Christmas Day 2005. Visits to Apple stores were also up 110% [impact of more stores, perchance?]. Unsurprisingly, Zune.net downloads were also up a silly amount at over 1,000% but then sales are a teenie tiny fraction of the iPods.
“For the third holiday season in a row, the iPod has been the must-have Christmas gift,†said Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise. “Competitive offerings have not yet succeeded in capturing the attention of music listeners, and the surge in visits to the Apple Store shows that iPod owners are also engaged in filling and accessorizing their new devices.â€
Maybe next year, Zune. Or the year after. Or maybe even…zzzzz-Martin Lynch
Toshiba announced it will ship a 100GB 1.8-inch hard disk next month, the largest yet of this size. The little drive spins at 4200rpm and happens to be exactly the right size to fit into an Apple iPod.
Although Toshiba was careful not to mention anything about its relationship with Apple and how its 1.8-inch disks occupy the interiors of Apple’s 80GB iPods, this is some pretty solid evidence that we’ll be seeing a 100GB iPod soon, perhaps around the same time we see the new iPhone. – Charlie White
Next-gen has become now-gen, and despite massive shortages, at least the media can enjoy the latest gaming systems you can’t play. And when the reviews of three consoles collide, they smash into little pieces, mix in radioactive lava and form a Frankenreview. What did CNET, PCMag, TIME, Wired, and Rocky Mountain News think about the PS3 and Wii? And how did they stack up to the Xbox 360?
Hit the jump for the complete story and a dazzling 3D graph. Not to be a tease, but results surprised us a little…
Design
[The PS3 is] a console of sweeping curves and chrome accents…”
“Most impressively, there’s no external power supply for the PS3; you just plug the included power cable…”
“…the PS3 has a front-slot-loading, Blu-ray optical-disc drive, which contributes to the unit’s slicker appearance. Discs slide in and eject smoothly…the odds of snapping off or damaging the Xbox 360’s disc tray aren’t exactly negligible…”
“What’s impressive about this PS3, in fact, is that with all this power under the hood, the system runs as quietly as it does….”
“The Wii itself is a marvel of miniaturization.”
“The only wrinkle was setting up the thin, low-profile sensor bar… A long wire snakes down to the base unit and enables the controllers to work…”
“The [Wii] sensor bar is extremely unobtrusive, and we forgot it was even there minutes after setting up the system…” Winner: Tie PS3 and Wii. Xbox 360 is both large and has a massive powerbrick.
Graphics
“It’s very hard to tell the difference between titles that are already available on the 360 and their PS3 counterparts…”
“…the Wii’s graphics look terrible compared with the competition.”
“The Wii also lacks advanced surround sound…”
Winner: Tie PS3 and Xbox 360. Maybe one day reviewers will say differently, but that day ain’t here yet. And intended or not, Nintendont deliver for the home theater enthusiast.
Interface “…the overall design [of PS3 Interface] is slick enough to be called Mac-like, and–at least from an aesthetic standpoint–is more appealing than the Xbox 360’s Dashboard and Nintendo Wii’s Channels interfaces…”
“For a device powered by a 3.2-GHz Cell processor capable of 208 billion floating-point operations per second, this interface seems…Spartan.”
“Sony forgot a few basics, like the ability to use a photo as a backdrop to that simple menu, or listen to music while you are playing games.”
“The [Wii] console’s features are arranged around a series of Channels listed in side-by-side squares on your television that you access with the remote/controller.”
“While perusing the Wii channels, I came across the dubiously named My Accomplishments screen, which details exactly what your console did all day.”
“The Mii channel lets you set up cartoony avatars, which are used both as players in Wii Games–including Wii Sports…”
“…beware of false friends who make your nose two sizes too big…”
Winner: PS3 by slight edge. Let’s face it, everyone got it right in their own way. But if the reviewers must choose, they’re going with PS3, probably because the PSP interface and the PS3 match/integrate so well. And the Wii looks nice out of the box, but a lot of content will lead to jumbles of random buttons.
Multimedia “The PS3’s media features are extensive–enough so that the console could be a worthwhile purchase even for people who never deign to even fire up a game…”
“The PS3 can extract and play an impressive selection of music, photo and movie formats from an equally impressive selection of memory cards and storage devices.”
“…we applaud Sony for not subjecting us to a Memory Stick-only environment…”
“…the Xbox 360 lacks both an internal media reader and the impressive photo album viewer…”
“[The PS3] cannot play back music from attached iPods, nor can it stream from other music players that incorporate copy-protected music formats. Here, the 360 has a leg-up.”
“You can stream video from your PS3 to your PSP using the PS3’s Remote Play feature…”
“PS3 is the first A/V device to hit the market to utilize the HDMI 1.3 specification…”
“…the multimedia functions of the [Wii] are light on bells and whistles…”
“The [Wii] Photo Channel…includes a basic image editor, though it’s clearly built more for fun than serious editing…the editor feels a lot like the old Super Nintendo classic Mario Paint.”
“It’s not as advanced as the PlayStation 3’s stunning visuals, nor can you store many photos inside the Wii…”
Winner: PS3. Sure, the 360 supports MP3 sharing a little better, but the PS3 photo system is incredibly advanced, as is the PSP connectivity (even if you might not use it). HDMI 1.3 is forward-thinking, too. Controls / controllers “The PS2’s Dual Shock controller had 8-bit sensitivity, while the PS3’s controller has 10-bit motion detection….”
“[SIXAXIS] isn’t as dramatic as the Wii’s wand-waving, but is it a welcome addition.”
“Playstation 3 controllers don’t rumble? Whose genius idea was that? Without rumble, it just ain’t a jungle.”
“The Wii controllers are also more sophisticated [than PS3], including the ability to measure actual motion (spatial movement) and acceleration, rather than just tilting–but unlike the Wii, the PS3 doesn’t require a motion-sensor bar in front of the TV.” “I found that the sensitivity of the [Wii] controller - whether it was being used to steer a truck or swing a sword - was both intuitive and precise.”
“…after about a half hour, we were clicking, swinging, pointing, and playing with ease. By mid-day, we were hooked.”
“…the pointer gets occasionally jerky or twitchy, and the tilt controls require a light and subtle touch…”
“The split controller will also appeal to left-handed gamers for more complex games, since you can manipulate either controller with either hand.”
“…extra controllers a pretty pricey: $40 for additional Wiimotes, plus another $20 for the nunchuk.
“The Wii doesn’t come with any sort of charger, so you’ll almost certainly want to pick up a set of at least four rechargeable AA batteries and a battery charger.”
Winner: Wii (big surprise, but Nintendo needs to release some recharge packs ASAP). Surprisingly, the SIXAXIS is pretty decent, but it only ties the Xbox 360’s rumble and perfect weight/ergonomics. Online play No reviewers could test the Wii or PS3 functionality because it was disabled at the time. So…
Winner: Xbox 360 (by forfeit). But c’mon, is anyone ready to take on Live?
Play Play
i_10327.jpg”…it’s very hard to tell the difference between titles that are already available on the 360 and their PS3 counterparts…”
“The big question, of course, is whether the PS3 is $100 to $200 better than the Xbox 360. From a pure gaming perspective, the short answer is: no, not today.”
“Looking on, my wife couldn’t remember the last time she saw something as silly as two dudes jumping around, waving their arms and strutting…”
“I fear that some people might get real tennis elbow from Wii’s virtual Tennis, or even tear a rotator cuff when pitching in Wii’s Baseball.”
Winner: Orthapedic surgeons and the Wii - no one can argue that the system is flat out fun to play. For the nights we crave adult content, we choose the Xbox 360 because of a better gaming library and nothing in the reviews convinced us Sony was better. So that means PS3 outright loses for now. Last place. With the fat kids.
If You Were Too Lazy To Read Everything Above
“…the two versions of the PS3 are well worth their respective $500 and $600 price tags…”
“…[with the PS3] you can be sure you’ll feel that you got your money’s worth–from a gaming and a multimedia perspective.”
“…the Wii will probably leave many hard-core gamers wanting more.”
“…it would be easy to dismiss the Wii as more toy than technology…But the best innovations are often the simplest…”
“[Sony] naming a computer chip is like naming your genitals: you’re compensating for something…”
Winner: The Wii. By averages, the Wii just edges out the Xbox 360…but given that my TIME magazine was an extrapolation, an argument could be made for a tie. And while the PS3 came in 3rd, it did score high in more than one review. So readers, what do you think about the numbers?– Mark Wilson
Pressure Drop just rolled out JukeDock, a $100 system that lets you plug your iPod into your TV, stereo and computer, giving you some snazzy blinking lights at the same time.
Compatible with most iPods, its LED lights have three brightness levels that can bounce along with the music, cycle among various colors, give you a steady color or can even go into a psychedelic rainbow mode for those nights you feel like pulling out that Pink Floyd album.
This looks like a fun little device to which you can attach your iPod, give yourself some retro-deco lighting, and easily control with your existing stereo’s remote. Jump for more pics. – Charlie White
Pressure Drop just rolled out JukeDock, a $100 system that lets you plug your iPod into your TV, stereo and computer, giving you some snazzy blinking lights at the same time.
Compatible with most iPods, its LED lights have three brightness levels that can bounce along with the music, cycle among various colors, give you a steady color or can even go into a psychedelic rainbow mode for those nights you feel like pulling out that Pink Floyd album.
This looks like a fun little device to which you can attach your iPod, give yourself some retro-deco lighting, and easily control with your existing stereo’s remote. Jump for more pics. – Charlie White
Pressure Drop just rolled out JukeDock, a $100 system that lets you plug your iPod into your TV, stereo and computer, giving you some snazzy blinking lights at the same time.
Compatible with most iPods, its LED lights have three brightness levels that can bounce along with the music, cycle among various colors, give you a steady color or can even go into a psychedelic rainbow mode for those nights you feel like pulling out that Pink Floyd album.
This looks like a fun little device to which you can attach your iPod, give yourself some retro-deco lighting, and easily control with your existing stereo’s remote. Jump for more pics. – Charlie White
A 30-pound Plexiglas display case containing 42 iPod nanos walked out of an Apple Store in Boulder, Colorado, courtesy of either very sneaky shoplifters, snoozing store clerks, or some devious combination of the two. You’d think someone walking out of an Apple Store carrying a big glass box filled with $8705 worth of nanos would be rather conspicuous, but apparently in Boulder people do it all the time, since no one noticed anything suspicious and police have no suspects. So if you see a set of 42 nanos in a “handsome display case” up for sale on eBay this weekend, bid with caution. – Matt Buchanan
We hear a lot these days about the evils of music torrent downloads and how it impacts revenues for honest hard working bands. Gee, my heart breaks when I picture cash-strapped Metallica on tour being unable to afford the ‘services’ of another professional groupie on the tour bus. 
