BindApple

Can you believe that the history of the iPod may be near its end? I know, we didn't talk much about what happened so far, but one of these days I'll take a look back and tell you all there is to know about the history of the iPod, but now, we have to talk about its end, as seen by one of those who founded Apple, namely Steve Wozniak. So...what did the "Wonderful Wizard of Woz" say?

In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Steve Wozniak said "The iPod has sort of lived a long life at number one. Things like that, if you look back to transistor radios and Walkmans, they kind of die out after a while," and I fully agree with him, especially since the iPhone/iPod Touch are completely shadowing the other iPods, in my opinion.

He continued by stating the obvious a lot of companies don't want to see, including Apple - virtually everyone has 1-2-3 media players, and they also got extremely cheap, and sales are not as good as in the early days of the iPod.

Regarding the iPhone, he said that the limitations imposed on developers are keeping innovation pinned down - "Consumers aren't getting all they want when companies are very proprietary and lock their products down. I would like to write some more powerful apps than what you're allowed."

Now, let's get back to the iPod, with a few final questions. Do you have an iPod? What's still missing from these players, and what can do Apple with a next generation to really crush the competition? And the last one - how many portable media players do you own? A few words about your experience with each one of them won't hurt at all, so feel free to share your experience in the gadget world with the rest of us!

We all know that Apple still has a bunch of iPhone 3G problems left to deal with, even after the latest iPhone software update. One of the smartest moves Apple decided to make was the release of the software market companion for the iPhone, namely the App Store. Disregarding what seems to be a little bit of dictatorship, when it comes to programs admission and removal, the App Store is a great way of pushing forward to consumers the iPod Touch, the iPhone, and - most of all - those countless applications for them. So far, so good, but have you ever thought that the BlackBerry won't have its revenge? Cute, but WRONG!

The time for BlackBerry applications to have their own marketplace has come, at the same time with the release of the BlackBerry Storm, also known as the 9500. Revealed by Vodafone UK, this is a new kick in the back of Apple's iPhone, featuring a bunch of improvements to the capabilities present in the iPhone, such as push email, a 3.2MP camera with autofocus and flash, a screen with "click" feedback to simulate button touches, and removables that include a battery(removable battery, yes, removable battery!) as well as support for memory cards up to 16GB!

When talking about BlackBerry applications, it all starts with the OS, now having an option to copy and paste text(hey, Apple, see that?), while the full HTML browser shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. Having a marketplace for BlackBerry applications, although not something out of this world, was "a must," after seeing Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market coming to life.

The interesting part about the BlackBerry Application Center is that carriers will filter the apps visible in the portal for their customers, and not the producer of the handset, as it happens with the App Store, for example.

The Application Center is expected to become operational next month and, with its help, we'll have a more competitive mobile applications market. Anyway, all in all, I would still choose a Google Android-phone over the iPhone or the BlackBerry...

If it doesn't have a replaceable battery, don't buy it, that's what I always say, but what if the thing we're talking about is the almighty iPhone? Well, I basically could say the same thing, but who would do as I say, simply because of this? Oh, wait, there are a lot of other iPhone 3G problems to make you change your mind...or not. After all, these problems won't take away the "cool factor" of the "more than just a phone" from Apple, but hearing about replaceable iPhone batteries is something everyone was waiting for, but none would have ever imagined to see it coming true!

Wait, wait, wait! You won't be able to just walk to the store next corner and ask for some replaceable iPhone batteries, because this dream is going to be turned into reality by the European Union, currently preparing new directives that are going to include the "New Batteries Directive," proposing that batteries in all electronic appliances selling in the EU to be "readily removed" for displacement or disposal.

This will be a new step, after the RoHS(Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive) made things a lot tougher for electronics manufacturers, with the new limits imposed for lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, and flame retardants known as PBB and PBDE.

According to an article published by Gary Nevison in New Electronics, "the requirement is clearly intended to ensure that users can remove batteries by opening a cover by hand or after removal of one or two screws. The producer will also have to provide the user with details on how to remove the battery safely."

Since Apple's iPod and iPhone are the most notorious products with built in batteries that require special tools or professional assistance to remove them, let's all hope the EU won't change the new directives until they are finalized so that the Cupertino-based company continues to deliver them as they do now. After all, I am sure US-based consumers would also love Apple for doing the right thing and making the replaceable iPhone batteries a dream that came true...

Back in 1997, when I got my first computer, although I've been working with computers since late 1980s from time to time, image processing and fractals were some of the first passions I dedicated my computer time to, apart from gaming and Pascal programming. Oh, my, how I miss those days!

Back then, mobile phones were only appearing here and there, and working with image files on them was still a dream. Even working with large images (back in those days, more than 800X600 was "large" for most computer users) on my computer often turned to be a gruesome task, so seeing where we got today is a dream coming true, and - even more - iPhone image manipulation is a dream turned into reality for iPhone users, with the help of Intellicore's ImageTouch!

This software has the following features to help you turn iPhone image manipulation into pure joy and relaxation:

- add pictures from your iPhone or iPodTouch photo library
- resize, move, rotate one picture or more at a time
- switch pictures with a double tap
- add a frame or a shadow to any picture with a long tap on the picture (tap the picture and don't release, and a drawer appears after a short moment). Same operation to delete a picture
- change background color with a long tap on the background
- beautify your composition and add decorations within a set of 16 stamps
- export in Hi-Rez in the iPhone or iPodTouch photo library; you can then email your composition
- add and filter with tags, dates and locations to easily find your compositions
- locate your composition on Google Map
- special tab ('More') provides with Infos, Tutorial, and latest news about ImageTouch
- contextual advises help you discover all features (you can turn it on and off in the Settings)

Obviously, all operations support one or more fingers, so you can turn this iPhone image manipulation activity into "family sessions," and what can be more fun than playing with your holiday photos all at once? I know the results could be a bit strange in most cases, but we're talking about the fun of iPhone image manipulation now, and not the results, since it's obvious Adobe Photoshop or another specialized application will always beat its mobile so-called "competitors,"(now I say that no mobile application can compete with Photoshop, but one day I may swallow my words...) or at least in the close future, if not "always..."

All in all, if you have an iPhone around, you can give this free application a try. Like it or not, you'll surely have at least some fun with it. Don't blame me if you will end up saying this is not powerful enough - after all, it's an iPhone image manipulation app, not Adobe Photoshop!

I sometimes sit back and wonder about various "What If" scenarios from different fields, usually about history. Past history, of course, but the most funny and interesting thing to imagine is what would happen if Steve Ballmer would suddenly vanish from Microsoft's helm. I may sound a bit wicked here, but I think the Redmond giant's stock would slowly start climbing, no matter who would take over to replace him. Sure, that won't happen in a real life scenario, especially since uncertain future is a sure bet for sending down stock prices, and even rumors about the death of a CEO can do that, as it happened with Steve Jobs' "heart attack..."

Steve Jobs - heart attack? Why would one launch such a rumor? Well, it seems stock manipulation is a good answer, but nothing is certain yet. Currently, this matter is being investigated, but let's see how did this all happen, shall we?

Friday night(well chosen timing), some individual (anonymous so far - his identity is irrelevant, anyway) decided to start spreading fake rumors that Steve Jobs had a heart attack.

First, he(or she, doesn't really matter, as I said) decided to use CNN's iReport citizen journalism site to publish the "news," and the reason becomes obvious when you look at the headline of the site - "Unedited. Unfiltered. News." One day in the past, someone could try this with Steve Ballmer, just as an experiment, to see what happens with Microsoft's stock...or better NOT!

Next natural step was to use Digg to boost the visits of the page with this not-so-inspired rumor. With a bit of luck, the Digg story got to 4chan, where it got promoted as a prank - but promoted, that's what really matters. The outcome?

Apple's stock has been sent into the abyss, reaching a 52-week low before the Cupertino-based company denial reached media channels, so concerns were raised that someone may be trying to lower the value of Apple stock as much as possible to make some quick cash. Finally, CNN was contacted by the SEC and, according to Associated Press, has promised "to provide information about the posting."

In the end, I guess someone had to win from all this, and he's going to win big time. Probably we won't ever find out who was behind this story, but I won't even think about it. Steve Jobs' heart attack was, fortunately, nothing more but a hoax this time, so move along people - let the Apple grow!