First of all, I have to warn you about one little thing - I am not crazy about any of the iPods or Zune players currently available on the market. In fact, I could go as far as saying that I hate them both. It's not because what they have, it's more about what they haven't, and some competitors have - and even for a better price, but I won't tell you more than that. The reason is obvious - today, it's a whole new iPod vs Zune day!

Yeah, can you believe Microsoft is still selling that so-called "premium wireless digital player," after being humiliated by the iPod for so long? I know what I just said before, but I am not talking about my personal opinion now, but sale numbers, because that's what really matters, after all. Speaking for myself, I must say that, while I am not happy with the array of features offered by the iPod or Microsoft Zune, when it comes to the design part, the Zune really sucks. That's it for me, so let's get to those sale numbers now...

According to the latest 10-Q filling by Microsoft, "Zune platform revenue decreased $100 million or 54% reflecting a decrease in device sales," and that's not such a big loss in terms of sheer numbers, since the Zune never had a serious market share of its own, anyway.

On the other side, Apple's iPod business just hit a new quarterly unit record, selling no less than 22.7 million units, 3% higher than the company's sales in the year ago quarter. Some may say this is because a demand of innovative products in these rough times, but I say this is only thanks to Apple's extremely strong brand, and the "snowball effect." After all, how many wouldn't feel a bit strange to be the only one in a room having another player than the iPod, or to have his friends mock him on a daily basis because his player lacks some feature their iPods have?

In the end, it's not about the reasons, and it's not about who's the best. This is all about the money, and Microsoft just got the wrong turn once again. Well, they should focus on Windows 7 now, and drop all the other irrelevant products. That doesn't include Flight Simulator but, unfortunately, it's too late to save it...

iPod scratches can really be a problem to those who love their music players(who doesn't?), but this is usually avoided with some iPod case. As cheap as possible, that's my suggestion, or some custom made one, if you have a skilled granny! Anyway, iPod cases usually go below $20, so what if I told you that some iPod Nano scratches are worth $22.5 million?

In a class action suit recently finished, it was claimed that Apple knew how easy the glossy front surface of the iPod Nano scratched, but misled customers by "forgetting" to make that public. Now, a settlement has been reached, with Apple having to pay $22.5 million, but without admitting any wrongdoing. Hehe, so why pay, then, I must ask?

This legal battle took over 3 years and a half to reach this conclusion, so now US customers who got the first generation iPod Nano without any included case will get $25, as long as they can submit a claim form, while those who got it with a free slip case, later introduced by Apple, will also get $15.

To get your money back, just go and fill in this form. Unfortunately, only those with iPod scratches located on first generation Nanos can apply, while the others will probably have to wait a few more years, if they notice similar problems with their newer iPods.

I know most people using Apple's smartphone must be looking for some free iPhone radio, and that's no surprise, after all. Where Apple "forgets" to add some feature, there are always plenty of software and hardware companies to jump in and lend a hand. Usually, they don't do it for free, but I am pleased to see that American Public Radio's Public Radio Tuner is free to download and use!

A new release of this program has just arrived, bringing its version number up to 1.1. Compared to the previous version, this one is faster, when using the slower EDGE connection works better than before, and searching your favorite stations is possible by using call letters, city, region, format, or frequency.

As you can see in the screenshot here, Public Radio Tuner looks well, and using it should be a piece of cake. I know I only mentioned the iPhone earlier but, as you probably imagined already, this program works great with the iPod Touch, too.

Currently, free iPhone radio freaks will be able to enjoy no less than 200 stations from around the US, and if you worry about those little things missing, like clickable Web links or the ability to group stations by category, you should get ready for the May update, expected to include program guide information, as well as on-demand content.

These being said, I leave you to the pleasure of enjoying those stations who were kind enough to stream their broadcasts online and agree to be included in this great app. Just remember to keep the volume low enough so you can hear what's happening around you, especially when you're walking down the street! ;)

Don't worry, you're still where you're supposed to be - BindApple didn't turn into an adult site, only that "deep inside Apple" seems to be the ultimate fantasy of any Apple fan. Of course I am talking about seeing up close and personal where and how the iPods, iPhones and MacBooks are being designed and manufactured. Obviously, these two aren't happening in the same place, but better find out more about at least one of them, don't you think?

The picture above shows Apple's design chief Jonathan Ive inside the design studio of the Cupertino-based company, and was taken by Gary Hustwit, the filmmaker who made a documentary about graphic design and typography, "Helvetica," premiered back in 2007. The picture doesn't come from that documentary, of course, since it was recently taken, and here's how it happened...

According to the website of the upcoming documentary called Objectified, Mr. Hustwit had the rare opportunity of visiting Apple's "Chocolate Factory." If you're not crazy about clicking links(I'm not), here's the interesting part:

"We did a follow-up interview with Jony Ive at Apple in California last week, and enjoyed the opportunity of filming inside Apple’s design facilities. I felt like Charlie in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, except everything was made of shiny aluminum instead of candy. And there were no oompa loompas."

The interview mentioned on the website of this new documentary can be viewed in the movie. Damn, "will be available in the movie," because the movie is not out yet. I am jealous, anyway. Gary, you really are a lucky guy. "I love this job sometimes," he concluded his short report about this picture taken deep inside Apple...

I love Google, but I simply can't use all their online apps on a regular basis. It's not the fact they are not good enough, it's simply because I discovered other things before them and now I got stuck with those. For example, let's take Netvibes and iGoogle. When talking about iPhone support, the first one has Mobile Netvibes for iPhone up & running, while Google's similar service for iGoogle has just been pushed aside...

There's no need to point out how many iGoogle users were using it on the iPhone, because that impressive amount of angry posts on Google's official forum should say it all. In fact, I never heard of any iGoogle usage statistics, and that's not the point, anyway. The idea is that Google did something to upset a lot of users, and that's all!

Of course that we're not finished yet, don't worry. I would like to tell you more things about this, but just read the comment below:

"This is incredible! GOOGLE HAS TURNED EVIL!Intentionally removing an excellent service for iPhone, at first I assumed this must be a mistake, but Paul's reply in this thread indicates this is an active evil decision made by Google. Nobody in their right mind would prefer the feature crippled standard mobile version of iGoogle to the iPhone version!

'Most or all of your existing content should translate over to the standard mobile version. The only exception would be any gadgets that aren't compatible with most mobile browsers.' This is an absolute joke! of course it doesn't translate, it loses all the features that made me use iGoogle in the first place! Why did Google make an iPhone version, because they knew they could make a much better version than the standard mobile one which is pathetic, splitting content for users of phones never designed for the internet.

Intentionally removing an excellent service for iPhone, at first I assumed this must be a mistake, but Paul's reply in this thread indicates this is an active evil decision made by Google. Nobody in their right mind would prefer the feature crippled standard mobile version of iGoogle to the iPhone version!

'Most or all of your existing content should translate over to the standard mobile version. The only exception would be any gadgets that aren't compatible with most mobile browsers.' This is an absolute joke! of course it doesn't translate, it loses all the features that made me use iGoogle in the first place! Why did Google make an iPhone version, because they knew they could make a much better version than the standard mobile one which is pathetic, splitting content for users of phones never designed for the internet.

Will the G Phone be using the 'standard mobile' version of iGoogle???? of course not! I'm so angry I can barely type, if this isn't changed back I'll never use a Google product again."

For more angry user comments, you can visit this page. I rest my case.