Recently, several of you tipped us on this video of US Senator Barak Obama quickly checking something on his iPhone (it happens around the 1:00 mark). It got us thinking of our favorite celebrity Apple product sightings.
Back in July of 2006, it was reported that Pope Benedict XVI had received an iPod nano from employees of Vatican Radio. The phrase "To His Holiness, Benedict XVI" was engraved on the back.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II purchased an iPod mini back in July of '05.
U.S. Presidential adviser Karl Rove was seen using his iPhone in August of last year.
Actress, singer and all-around role model Lindsay Lohan whipped out her iPhone shortly after they were first released in the U.S.
So welcome to the club, Senator! You're in good company. We think.
Canadian owners of first-, second- or third-generation iPods may want to keep an eye on their email boxes (provided that they purchased said iPod(s) before June 24th, 2004). The Montreal Gazette is reporting that up to 80,000 Canadians (including 11,310 Québécois) could be eligible for a $45 credit from Apple as the result of two class action lawsuits. The suit involved the iPod battery's dramatic decrease in capacity after two years of use.
Though the deal is still tentative, it is expected to be finalized by a Montreal court on May 26th.
There are few things worse than reaching for your iPod only to find that the screen is cracked, the hard drive has died, or that the darned thing just won't play music anymore. At that point you have to ask yourself, like someone did of the New York Times, do I fix this iPod or just replace it?
The answer is easy if your iPod is still under warranty, but if it isn't things get a little trickier. If your iPod is a few models behind what Apple is currently offering it probably makes sense to put the money you would have spent on replacement parts towards a new iPod. However, if you have an iPod that Apple doesn't make anymore (I'm thinking of the iPod mini) then you just might want to fix up your piece of consumer electronics history.
What say you, insightful TUAW reader? Would you just get a new iPod, or be more eco-friendly and get your old iPod fixed?
One of our tipsters, Kenneth, pointed us to a Chinese web page (Google translation) showing what appears to be an iPhone running some sort of handwriting recognition geared especially for Chinese characters. According to the post, this is how Apple will integrate Chinese (Simplified and Traditional) input into the iPhone. As you write the character, you are presented with a list of the possible characters on the right side of the input pane.
According to MacRumors, Apple recently started hiring "Handwriting Recognition Engineers," could this mean the iPhone is coming to China soon? Only time will tell, but this should definitely give people something to hope for.
Not only does being shown in an iPod commercial lead to fame and fortune for many artists, but Canadian singer Leslie Feist apparently got something else out of the deal: she got American citizenship. We have no idea how that works, but she says as much in this clip of her appearing on Stephen Colbert's show. When he mentions that she's from the Great White North, she says that she's actually a dual citizen now. Colbert asks if Steve Jobs really stepped up to make her an American and she says yes, that's pretty much how it worked: "They offered me citizenship, that was part of it."
Is she joking? Or has Jobsy actually got the ear of the government now and is giving out citizenships as part of Apple contracts? Either way, we know this: Leslie Feist rocks. We'll have her as a citizen any day, via a backroom Apple deal or otherwise.
You're one of those crazy people who enjoys working out ... and reads tech blogs. It could happen. You've got the Nike+ sport kit and lots of great Nike Sport Music [iTunes link]. What else could you need?
Once you've downloaded* the videos, either double-click the files or just drop them into iTunes. Now you're ready to get pumped!
*A free registration is required or, as LH mentions, just click your browser's stop button before the page loads completely and you'll see all the download links. You're welcome.
This is fun. iPod Building Block speakers from Perpetual Kid snap into your iPod's connector port and resemble a certain brand of construction blocks that we all know.
Available in five colors, the tiny speakers pull power from your iPod (they won't work with iPhones, unfortunately) and look cool doing it. Our only complaint is that there isn't a model designed to sit flush on an old-school iPod nano. Don't expect theatre-quality sound, of course, but they should spark some conversation. They're $24.95US each and shipping now.
They're certainly unique, but they don't quite crack our list of top five weird iPod accessories
It's been a long time since we've seen new iPod ads featuring the old silhouettes. Well, after taking a break from them, Apple has decided to release a new silhouette ad. It was shown on TV in the US today and can be seen by going to the Apple iTunes page and clicking "Watch the new ad" underneath the "Featured on iTunes" section. The music is apparently "Shut Up and Let Me Go" by UK band the Ting Tings.
Apple and Nike have sold millions of those tiny little transmitters that fit inside running shoes, as well as the receivers that attach to iPod nanos. Casual runners and former couch potatoes enjoyed them (yours truly included), but more serious runners lamented the lack of certain features, most notably a heart monitor.
According to iPodNN, a patent has been filed which hints at a slew of additional Nike+ functionality, like EKG, heartrate, body temperature and even hydration, through new equipment mounted "on or in" articles of clothing.
It definitely sounds cool, and could help convince more serious athletes to join the Apple cult buy these cool products.
Artists, photographers, writers, musicians and other creative types use Apple products every day as tools and inspiration to help them fulfill their creative desires and aspirations. So it should come as no surprise when some of those creative aspirations turn out to actually feature one of the tools that helps enable theircreativity.
Case in point: Over at LAist, editor Zach Behrens has posted a piece on artist Nick Rodrigues' mixed-media installation known as the "Porta Party." What exactly is the "Porta-Party" you may wonder? Well, its a giant-sized iPod-like box where you go inside, bring your own iPod or iPhone, and groove to your favorite music.
Or, as the man who created it sums up in his artist's statement about the "Porta-Party": "If you walk around with a party going on inside your head and your just too shy to bust a move in public. Or if you like partying but hate people. Your prayers have been answered."
It's great when Apple can help empower artists and users to reach their full potential -- especially when that full potential involves dancing. And yes, in case you were wondering, the "Porta-Party" is available for your next event.
Apparently this iPod-enabled dance performance has been around for quite a while (here's an NYT piece on it from 2006), but it's the first we've heard of it, and it's pretty amazing. The 87-year-old choreographer, Merce Cunningham, who has collaborated with John Cage and Andy Warhol among others, has created a dance performance piece called eyeSpace.
Apparently, the music, which can be downloaded preperformance and is written by composer Mikel Rouse (no relation at all to TUAW's own Mike Rose) plays in the audience's iPods while the dancers dance (and other atmospheric sounds are added during the performance as well). Very interesting. The NYT piece seems to hint that the tracks are meant to be played in random order on each iPod, which would mean that the timing wasn't too important, but it's a cool idea (even more cool that it's done by an artist of Cunningham's age, but what else do you expect from a Mac fan?).
Definitely reminds me, too, of the MP3 Experiments done by Improv Everywhere in New York. Just goes to show you that we're still in the middle of the digital music revolution -- when we can listen to almost anything anywhere at any time, who knows what other creative folks will come up with?
I always pay my iPhone bill with the phone itself. It's simple -- touch settings, then phone then AT&T services. In just a few seconds, I can wave about $70US goodbye. What a world!
There are other options on that screen, like "View my minutes," which I usually check when I pay my bill. As of right now, I'm looking at 1300 roll over minutes. This can only mean one thing:
I rarely use my iPhone as a phone.
I'm not alone. According to a report on International Business Times, 46.5 percent of iPhone owners spend the time they use their iPhones engaged in voice calls (that number is 71.7 percent for BlackBerry owners).
Also, iPhone owners in the US claim to spend 12.1 percent of their iPhone time on the net (compare that to 2.4 percent for all other mobile phones on average), and nearly 12 percent of their time listening to audio (compared to 2.5 percent for others).
In observing my own behavior with the iPhone, I use it most often as an iPod, and then to check email and use the net (Twitter mostly). For me, the iPhone is a computer that just happens to make phone calls, not a phone with some cool features. It appears I'm not the only one with this opinion.
David Beckham recently received a snazzy gilded iPod touch from his teammates. That's nice and all, but this guy is a superstar. He needs some seriously togged out Apple goodies. With that in mind, we're offering the following shopping list:
The golden MacBook Pro. This sucker features gold-plated casing, a keyboard painted to match and "...your logo in diamonds." Try opening one of these at Starbucks.
The $39,750 MacBook Air. Twelve thousand hand-applied Swarovski crystals decorate its 24k gold casing. For forty grand, you would think you get a solid state hard drive.
The golden iPhone. You knew this one was coming. Unfortunately, the pricing is still "to be announced."
Golden "classic" iPods. Why stop at the touch? You can just as easily get your 160GB or 80GB classic dipped in gold, as well as the nano.
Here's hoping someone special in David's life reads our list and makes a purchase. While you're at it, a buffing cloth would be good, too.
Last week, we mentionedMisu, a nifty little application that allows you to share music between iPods. Basically, you connect two iPods (in disk mode) to a Mac running Leopard and let Misu do its thing, blending their contents across both iPods.
At the time it was in private beta (though we had an "in" for TUAW readers). Many of you downloaded Misu and provided feedback to the developers. So much so, in fact, that they were able to issue the 1.0 release in less than a week. Cool!
Head on over and grab your copy. Misu requires Leopard and a single license will cost you $19US.
Last year, we pointed out this cool campaign for iPods with video in South Africa. Tiny boxes of movie popcorn, posters and even a miniature "trailer" announced the idea of "Movies in your pocket."
Today, Creative Bits describes another iPod campaign from South Africa. It features a set of earbuds that lead not to an iPod, but a pocket full of music, if you will. In one ad, a rock band does its thing in a woman's purse. In another, a boy band croons on a desk and a hip-hop act features a microphone wire that leads to the wearer's earbuds.
The images are great, and quite different from the silhouette ads we see in the US. Have you seen an interesting campaign or ad in your neck of the woods?
Recently, several of you tipped us on this video of US Senator Barak Obama quickly checking something on his iPhone (it happens around the 1:00 mark). It got us thinking of our favorite celebrity Apple product sightings.
Canadian owners of first-, second- or third-generation iPods may want to keep an eye on their email boxes (provided that they purchased said iPod(s) before June 24th, 2004). 
There are few things worse than reaching for your iPod only to find that the 
One of our tipsters, Kenneth, pointed us to a 
You're one of those crazy people who enjoys working out ... and reads tech blogs. It could happen. You've got the 
This is fun. 
Apple and Nike have sold millions of those 
Artists, photographers, writers, musicians and other creative types use Apple products every day as tools and inspiration to help them fulfill their creative desires and aspirations. So it should come as no surprise when some of those creative aspirations turn out to actually feature one of the tools that helps enable their creativity. 
Apparently 
I always pay my 
David Beckham 
Last week, we 
Last year, we pointed out 
