My iPhone 3.0 preview summary & speculation
by Justin Horn on Mar 16th, 2009 @ 8:44 pmWasn’t sure what else to write about today so thought I might as well take a stab at some iPhone 3.0 guesses. I think the best rumors about this upcoming release have come from John Gruber of Daring Fireball and Kevin Rose of Diggnation and will be referencing their predictions below.
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iPhone, Software, Speculation
Unknown chip in new Shuffle, let’s all get our pitchforks!
by Justin Horn on Mar 16th, 2009 @ 5:49 pmThat’s basically the feeling I got from people when these rumors emerged after a reports by iLounge and Boing Boing Gadgets. I don’t blame iLounge for pointing out what was found, but I think they should have taken a more wait and see approach which is what I was suggesting. Turns out it was exactly (see update) as I presumed.
From Macrumors:
Macworld, however, contacted an Apple spokesman about the matter. While the spokesman confirmed the existence of the chip, its intended purpose is said to be related to the “Made for iPod” program alone. Boing Boing Gadgets was also able to speak with Apple and received what is so far the clearest explanation regarding whether the chip contains DRM:
- Just spoke with Apple. There is no encryption or authentication on the chip, so clones could conceivably be made, just not with “Made for iPod” official certification. And now we know!
UPDATE Macrumors have updated the article with the following:
Apple offers a “Made for iPod” licensing certification for accessories that work with their iPods. With the introduction of this chip, Apple seems to have extended “Made for iPod” certification to headphones/remotes that work with the iPod shuffle. Previously, these accessories were not required to be “Made for iPod” certified. So while there is no DRM in the chips, themselves, it is unlikely that a 3rd party manufacturer would be carried in an Apple Store unless they are “Made for iPod”. The implication is that Apple has further extended their control over 3rd party accessories for the iPod.
This puts me back into a more wait and see mode, but I still feel like this is going to turn out to be no big deal.
UPDATE Macworld says:
An Apple spokesman confirmed the presence of the chip to Macworld. “As part of the Made for iPod program, we make sure that third party headphones work properly with the third generation iPod shuffle,” the spokesman said.
However, there is no DRM in this new control chip, according to Monster Cable’s Kevin Lee, who added, “In fact, it’s not even authentication. It just gives us a way to control the iPod.”
So looks like I was right after all 
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iPod, Speculation
PC gets booed off Late Night
by Justin Horn on Mar 12th, 2009 @ 3:07 pmYes, I’m writing another post on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, but I thought it was funny enough. Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht from Diggnation appeared on Wednesday night’s episode. The fun started when they did mock diggnation on Late Night and eveyone, but Alex has a MacBook. When the audience was asked how they like Macs there was a roar, but when asked about the PC it was pretty quiet until the boos started flying.
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iPhone 3.0, so that’s what the March event is for
by Justin Horn on Mar 12th, 2009 @ 12:27 pm
AppleInsider is reporting that the rumored March 24th event is real…well it’s actually March 17th, but the rumors were close enough for me:
Apple on Thursday announced plans to hold a special media event for journalists on its Cupertino-based campus that will offer a sneak preview of the next-generation iPhone operating system dubbed iPhone 3.0.
So this kills my hopes for a Snow Leopard annoucment, but I’m actually more excited about this so no harm done. So now the question is, will they announce a release date for the 3.0 software or just discuss it? Will they discuss the next gen iPhone release?
Here are some related polls you should check out:
when will iPhone 2.3 firmware (or next version) be released?
when will 3rd generation iPhone be released?
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Small Talk, Apple releases a new 4GB talking Shuffle
by Justin Horn on Mar 11th, 2009 @ 9:02 am
Apple has finally updated the Shuffle which hasn’t been updated in a while except for some color and price changes. The new shuffle can:
Introducing VoiceOver,2 the feature that gives iPod shuffle a voice. With the press of a button, it tells you what song is playing and who’s performing it. It can even tell you the names of your playlists, giving you a new way to navigate your music.
They have bumped the storage to 4GB and also removed all buttons from the device and moved the controls to the headphone wire. This thing looks really small and coming in at $79 it’s a pretty good deal.
I’d also like to point out that John Gruber from Daring Fireball just predicted this a couple weeks ago (Lost in the Shuffle / Talking to Your iPod). I don’t know how he does it, but he’s right a lot more times than wrong. Although it is ironic that he dismissed the rumors of the original Shuffle itself before it was first introduced.
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