Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster is having a busy week. First, he predicted that the iPhone will go non-exclusive in the US by next year, and today he's suggesting that Steve Jobs will appear at Apple's September 9th press event.

We fully expect new iPods and iTunes next Wednesday, but Steve would be a surprise. We know that he's returned to work, but this would be his first public appearance as Apple's head since he took medical leave back in January. Depending on how he looks, a visit from Steve could nudge the stock up a notch or two.

It sure would be fun to see Steve, but we hope he's happy and healthy more than anything. In any case, we've got just over a week to wait. Keep your fingers crossed.

[Via AppleInsider]

In what must surely come as a huge relief to both people with pacemakers and iPods everywhere, the Food and Drug Administration recently released a report confirming that iPods do not, in fact, interfere with the function of pacemakers. According to an article over at Ars Technica, the report was issued following a study by the FDA which concluded that "no interference effects can occur" when an iPod is in proximity to a pacemaker.

The FDA decided to conduct this new investigation and release the subsequent report after a student, 17-year old Jay Thaker, conducted his own study of 100 pacemaker-using patients as part of a school science project and concluded that iPods did interfere with pacemakers. In his report, Thaker stated that iPods "can cause cardiac implantable pacemakers to malfunction by interfering with the electromagnetic equipment monitoring the heart."

Fortunately, at least according to the newly released FDA report, Thaker's conclusions appear to be unfounded. So, for those keeping score at home, that's a large, well-funded federal agency with lots of highly-trained and experienced medical personnel, one, 17-year old student with no experience or medical training of any kind, zero. I know, try to contain your surprise. You may now go back to blissfully enjoying your iPods.

Kate Milon posted about another possible iPod in Space on her personal weblog. According to an email she received from a NASA engineer, astronauts may take small personal items with them on shuttle flights. Pilot Lee Archambault has chosen his 0.55 ounce iPod shuffle, says the letter, and it may require a high-altitude modified case for the player to work. This wouldn't be the first SpacePod that we have covered here (here, and here). And if you are more interested in Space on your iPod than iPods in Space, check out these NASA podcasts.

[via Digg]

You may think it's strange that I own eight iPods, but this MSNBC story tells me I'm not alone in thinking that there's no such thing as "too many iPods."

As the story points out, different iPods are better suited for different purposes - much like shoes.

My iPod (video) is more useful to me as a portable, digital photo album and video device, as well as for backup of my whole iTunes library, but less useful for every day music listening since it's bulkier than my iPod nano. While my iPod shuffle is better suited for the gym and my iPod photo is best for road trips since most of my car accessories work with it. What do I do with the rest of my iPods? I received my Crystalmini as a gift, and it only leaves the house for special occasions. My original 5GB iPod has a 20hr battery in it, but the scrollwheel is a bit wonky so it doesn't get much use. My 20GB 3rd Gen iPod never brought me much joy and it now used mostly as a portable hard drive. My other iPod shuffle is now on permanent loan to hubby. And honestly, other iPods come and go all the time. When a new iPod comes out, I buy it and try it out and yes - even take it apart. I have to. It's my job to know what's inside so I can better support them when my clients buy them.

But enough about my own iPod menagerie... as iPods become more and more ubiquitous, I bet many of you have more than one and probably have even more of them in your future. So tell me, how many iPods do you currently have, and what are you using them for?

Before reading this article, I kind of knew that there were services out there that bought back broken iPods. I was aware that there were people out there interested in using them for parts or refurbing them to sell on eBay but I might not have thought of all these possible outlets. iPod ResQ is probably the best known of the bunch, and there's always eBay, but would you have known about iPodMods or NextWorth? Pop by and read the whole article, the author gives his insights into the reliability of the services and whether you'll want to do business with them.

Playlist magazine reports that about half of all new 2007 automobiles support iPod integration. Telematics Research Group calls it "the most sought after feature" for customers. This number is way up from the 12% iPod support in 2006 model year cars. You can only imagine how our Internet-addicted lifestyle (aka our "crackberry-style living") will continue to grow and develop over the next few model years. I fully expect standard in-seat video integration and wireless Internet consoles to join iPod support as standard options.

ColorwarePC offers a distinct way to create a personalized iPod. They'll color it for you. For $74, they'll tint your iPod from their palette of 28 colors. Pick one color for the click wheel, one for the front housing, one for the back. Some of their colors are flat. Others have embedded metallic flakes that shimmer under bright lights.

Don't have an iPod? They'll sell you a nano or a video model with custom coloring from their in-house stock of new iPods.

Unfortunately, it's already too late to order one of these by Christmas. If you placed an order today, it would arrive early-to-mid January, meaning that you'd have to stick an IOU into someone's stocking.

The coloring service, where you supply the iPod, is US-only. However, new purchases can be made from around the world. Contact the company to see whether they ship to your area.

Dyslexic police officers in Liverpool, England will soon be given iPods as training aids. Student police in training classes will use the iPods to view images of road signs and listen to 900+ hours of material from the police force's official training manual.

900+ hours!!??

According to my calculations, this should take the dyslexic police cadets 22 weeks or more to listen to. This assumes they do nothing else during their 8-hour shifts although I suppose you could continue listening to lectures during potty breaks.

A police spokesman described the training-with-iPod scheme as "really worthwhile as it accommodates the needs of those officers with hidden disabilities such as dyslexia who would find it difficult to digest such a vast amount of information in written format."

I may be way off base here, but I can't imagine listening to, let alone digesting, 900+ hours worth of training material, dyslexia or no.

Special spell check thanks to Jon Grimshaw

Remember a few weeks ago we wrote about National Semiconductor raking in the dough and handing out iPods to all their employees? Well, it looks like those iPods weren't a reward after all, but rather company equipment. National Semiconductor laid off 35 factory workers, which is odd given their huge profits but welcome to the 21st Century I suppose. Anyway, not only did these people lose their jobs but on the way out National Semiconductor said, 'Ah, yes and we'll be needing those iPods back, thanks!'

That's right, the iPods, according to the company, weren't gifts but rather company hardware. Sadly, many employees didn't know that and gave the iPods away, or sold them. Worry not laid off folks, you can just pay National Semiconductor $300 and they'll call it even.

Thanks, Anne.

It's that time again! We've put together our eighth podcast, and in this edition Jan Kabili, Damien Barrett and Dave Caolo bring you some of our best posts from last week, in-depth details on Apple Computer vs. Apple Corps, a couple April fools jokes, new Apple stores and some interesting iPod accessories. It's all hosted by me, David Chartier, and is available in a variety of formats and channels:

• enhanced AAC
  
• MP3
• our iTMS podcast and vidcast link
  
• our own RSS feed of podcasts

Please let us know what you think of the new format in the comments.

Enjoy!

Got a broken iPod and don't know what to do with it? You could sell it on eBay and hope for the best, or pay to have it repaired. Or you could sell it to Brokenpod.com, a clearinghouse that'll buy your broken iPod in almost any condition. Dead HD? Smashed screen? Click wheel that won't turn? No problem. Did your iPod attempt suicide by jumping into your toilet? No problem.

I imagine what Brokenpod.com does is strip the broken iPods for parts and then reassembles broken iPods into working iPods. Even if you get only a little bit of money for your broken iPod, it's better than filling the landfill.

We've not tried Brokenpod.com as a service and would be interested in any feedback from readers. I believe this is a new company/service and a quick search turns up very little about the company. As always, caveat emptor.

Update: Their website seems to have gone dark. No idea why. Perhaps they also receieved a letter from Apple Legal about the use of "Pod" in their name.

People are very clever, and iPod Subway Maps is yet another example of this cleverness. At the moment maps are available for NYC, Boston, and Hong Kong, with the promise of more coming soon.

To think that at one point the iPod was just a music player.