Outbreak: An app that aggregates disease outbreak information into either a list or a map overlay, giving you just enough information to be nervous, but not quite enough to really do anything about it. Most useful for hypochondriacs and/or residents of Sub-Saharan Africa. Free.

Watchmen 2.0: Back around when Watchmen came out in theaters, there was a little iPhone game called Watchmen: Justice is Coming . It was one of the first 3D MMOs for the iPhone, but felt a little underdeveloped. Version 2.0, coinciding with the DVD release, is free if you've already got the first one, and comes with eight new episodes, a pile of new characters, a 360-degree battle mode, and new rooftop settings.

Robocop, Fargo, and Rocky Soundboards: This doesn't even feel like part of an app roundup—it feels more like three beautiful gifts, from me to you. These are official soundboards, from eminently quotable movies, for free.

i.TV: A fantastic TV listings app now works as a TiVo remote, with support for more DVRs to come, and push notifications. Free.

NFL Mobile: Once this one fully activates (Sept 13th) you'll be able to watch Live NFL games on your iPhone. Awesome! Minor catch: you need to be a DirecTV subscriber with an expensive sports package to use it, even just for news updates and scores. App's free though!

This Week's App News on Giz:

• Loopt First iPhone App With Always-On Location, Even When It's Not Running

• Gizmodo's Essential iPhone Apps: Fall 2009

• I am T-Pain iPhone App Is Auto-Tuning Genius

• Top 10 Back to School iPhone Apps

• Apple Approves Line2, a Google Voice-esque Program For Toktumi

• Push Google Voice SMS and Twitter Messages to iPhone With Prowl, No Growl Required

• µTorrent iPhone App Rejected, Heads Over to Cydia

• Bustedhot iPhone Application Makes Me Lose Faith In America

• Why We Can't Have a Napster iPhone App (Or Android App, Or BlackBerry App...)

• Grand Theft Auto On the iPhone Will Be Wonderfully Old School

This list is in no way definitive. If you've spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here, and check out our Favorite iPhone Apps Directory. Have a swell Labor Day, everybody.

This means that TiVo HD and TiVO HD XL owners will be able to use i.TV as a full remote control, replacing those serviceable but ultimately kind of lame standalone apps that they'd been stuck with up until now. While the prospect of a true all-in-one remote app is pretty exciting—though it's firmly just a prospect, since i.TV is simply offering a framework, not developing remotes themselves—the app has a few other new features going for it, including push notifications to remind you when flagged programs are coming on, and iTunes integration, which lets you initiate iTunes purchases from within i.TV's schedule interface.

Prior versions were free, and this one should be too, as soon as Apple lets it through the gates, which is expected to happen within a few days, or, you know, not. For now, enjoy a teasey video: [i.TV via BGR]

The Skinny: If you don't already have some device hooked up to your TV that can access these sites, or you want to watch European news whenever you feel like it, you might want check this thing out. In addition to the video clip search and 90+ live feeds (200-300 planned for the future), the ITV 2000 can connect to cinema now, vu now, or photo services. You can also plug in a USB drive and watch or listen to your own media via USB.

The device connects over wi-fi or ethernet, and has composite, component and HDMI connections. The Netgear ITV2000 Internet TV Player will be available this summer for $200.

Internet TV Player (ITV2000)

NETGEAR’s Internet TV Player (ITV2000) is a compact, easy-to-use, “plug in and go” Internet set-top
device with a simple remote control that enables viewers to catch up on the world of Internet videos
including YouTube™, live Internet TV, popular Internet video websites, premium video-on-demand and
online video searches retrieving billions of Internet videos from a place it was previously unavailable —
the TV in their living rooms. Rather than watching videos on PC screens in separate rooms, families can
watch video from a variety of Internet sources on the TV together, in the comfort of their den or family
room.

The Internet TV Player unlocks the value of new HDTVs as well as old analog TVs. It is ideal for the
Internet families who enjoy online video, and for those who are geographically displaced from their
preferred television content, such as international sporting events and Bollywood productions. It streams
content from popular sites such as BBC.com, CNN.com, ESPN.com, EuroSport.com, NBC.com,
PGATour and TMZ.com, as well as video powerhouses YouTube, Google Videos™, Yahoo Videos™ and
MetaCafe™. NETGEAR’s Internet TV Player supports streaming of live TV broadcasts from Internet sites
around the world, and premium, paid movies on demand such as CinemaNow.com, in addition to
downloaded videos from sites such as BitTorrent®. Its superior VTap ™ video search capabilities enable
the intelligent search of Internet videos, including targeting video sites by country, topic of interest,
person or popular website. Consumers are also able to play video, music, and photos from a local USB
flash drive as well as from the NETGEAR ReadyNAS® family of storage solutions.

Slightly larger than a deck of cards, the compact Internet TV Player connects to the home network and the
Internet via Ethernet or wireless USB adapter. It does not require a PC to play Internet video, nor does it
require installing any PC software or setting up file sharing or firewall settings.

The NETGEAR Internet TV Player (ITV2000) is expected to be available in early Summer 2009 through
leading retailers, e-commerce sites, and value-added resellers, at an MSRP in the U.S. of $199. More
information can be found at
(http://www.netgear.com/Products/Entertainment/DigitalMediaPlayers/itv2000.aspx).

Some developers who've submitted their applications to the iTunes App Store in the past few days have received an email from Apple informing them that a massive approval queue means that the their app might not go live before Christmas, hosing them on the post-holiday rush, reports Infinite Loop. The culprit, besides the usual mysterious slowness of the process, appears to be a surge of apps trying to slide in to hit the app store in time for Christmas and shower in the glory of a million unwrapped iPod touches and iPhones.

Many developers, including one we've talked to, says that they're holding off on new apps or major updates to their apps until MacWorld, using the extended timeframe to add extra features or polish that will hopefully turn into more buzz amidst the gush of Apple coverage that week.

While the current backlog issue might the result of a flood of app submissions Apple didn't quite predict, it still serves to highlight the problems with the completely opaque app store approval process, since it forces developers to gamble on timing the release of their app, which can be just as critical to success as the development process itself. [Ars]

Bloom: Highlight of the week here at Gizmodo HQ is Bloom, Brian Eno and Peter Chilver's generative music app in action above (crank up the sound!). Touch the screen and create instant loops in a Music For Airports piano style which will degenerate and evolve in real time. You can also watch it do its own thing, creating a generative loop that's always different. Because why shouldn't a few spare minutes in line or on the can be enhanced by improvisational iPhone-assisted ambient sketches? Take the pain away...for $4.

RjDj: In a similar vein and just released today is RjDj. It records sounds from your environment via the iPhone's mic and then processes them into a playback loop, adding delay and shifting pitch according to preset "scenes." The effect is really, really cool, even just walking around the house. An ice cream truck rolled by my open window and I almost fell over, just now. There's a free version with one scene, and a $3 version adds another processing scheme. Check out the video above for some serious beatboxing with RjDj—neat stuff. Thanks, Gaby!

i.TV: Your weekend needs a well-structured plan for backlit entertainments. And thankfully the value quotient is very high with the free i.TV, which is a nicely designed TV schedule app that does a lot. Aside from giving you a nice schedule grid, it also pulls descriptions, reviews and images from each show, YouTube trailers for any movie on TV, and allows you to bookmark individual shows, channels or genres to keep track of them individually. Oh, and it also finds nearby movie theaters for showtimes and trailers for current theater runs, too. Free.

iNietzsche: Your sensory deprivation hovel also needs Nietzsche, obviously. iNietzsche provides a random quotation from our favorite nihilist at varying levels of translation precision. Free.

CameraBag: And for when it's time to go back into the world, CameraBag. It's not new this week but I want to right the wrong of missing it by mentioning it here anyway, because it's very cool. There are a lot of cheap-o photo effects apps in the store, but CameraBag is the first I've seen to add unique effects from actual classic cameras/film types to your iPhone's pics. You can add the distinctive vignetting of a Holga, a nice Kodachrome color effect, and a few others. Sure you could do all of this in Photoshop too, but CameraBag is a one-stop shop. $3

This week's app coverage on Giz:
•A sneak peak at the forthcoming South Park iPhone app shows downloadable show clips, wallpapers, contact icons and looks generally great. No streaming episodes though, yet.

•A nifty trick blocks ads in mobile Safari, for jailbreak only.

•Those greedy sonsabitches at MLB.com are already selling next season's version of the MLB at Bat baseball news and stats app, because you're forced to buy the same app again for each new season.

•TouchType adds a highly desired feature—the ability to use the landscape keyboard for emails for 99 cents.

•iPhone OS 2.1 is caught scrimping on the email downloads while in sleep mode.

•And a peak into the innards of the iPhone software 2.2 beta reveals Street View for Google Maps, the ability to turn off auto-correct while typing and Japanese emoji icons.

This list is in no way definitive. If you've spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here, and check out our original iPhone App Review Marathon. Have a good weekend everybody.

9:26: Steve's just announced that the real name for iTV is actually Apple TV!

9:27: USB2, Ethernet, WiFI, HDMI, Component, Stereo inputs.

9:28: 802.11b/g/n

9:29: You can store 50 hours of videos on its 40GB hard drive. AppleTV can stream up to five computers.

9:31: Streaming theatrical trailers from Apple.com. The quality's actually pretty good at 720p.

9:34: Apple's showing off some Zoolander and Heroes clips from the Apple store.

9:35: By the by, the AppleTV logo is an Apple logo next to "TV".

9:36: Demoing music, photos, slideshows (moving). Which actually seems to have facial recognition like the PS3 slideshow.

9:38: Phil Shiller's brought his MacBook over to stream up an episode of Heroes to the AppleTV.

9:39: $299 for AppleTV.

9:40: Taking orders today, shipping Feb.

9:40: He's talking about SOMETHING NEW! Coming up in a sec...

Macworld Keynote 2007 [Gizmodo]
Macworld Keynote 2007: Chronological order [Gizmodo]

•iPhone
Apple and Cingular Tag-Team for iPhone [Gizmodo]
Fresh iPhone details emerge as release grows closer [Think Secret]

•iTV
iTV (Apple) [Wikipedia]

•iPod
Three New iPod Models in 2007 [Mac Rumors]

•Mac Pro
8-Core Mac Pro's [Mac OS X Rumors]

•Display Updates
Next Generation Displays to Include HDMI [Mac OS X Rumors]– Ben Longo

What announcements will Jobs make this year...new iPods, "iPhones", Macbooks, or even mock turtlenecks? Hit the jump for our Frankenreview...errr...Frankenrumor: rumors from a plethora of Internet sources congealed together in an apple-flavored gelatin of knowledge hearsay quasi-intelligent rumors.

iPhone
"...we probably will see an iPhone."
"No Apple iPhone"
" Coming in January to all providers 2 batteries (1 MP3, 1 Phone) 2 capacities (4GB & 8GB) Prices will run $249 & $449 Flash memory (surprise) Slide out keyboard Touchscreen (on outside) "Cool" OS"
"small as shit."
"[Morgan Stanley analyst] Runkle says the phone will cost $599 for the 4GB model and a whopping $649 for the 8GB version...it'll be wider than an iPod Nano, but narrower than the 5G iPod. It'll have a nice 3.5-inch display and will come in multi-colored aluminum shells like the Nano..."

Video iPod
"If Apple's patents are to be believed, there is also a new crop of iPods on the horizon that will offer larger screens and possibly new navigation techniques."
"...little attention has been given to the rumored full Video iPod despite clear evidence that Apple has been considering such a form factor."
"The focus of the patent is the incorporation of a touch-sensitive bezel (edge of screen) that can adapt to the screen contents to provide an input method for the user...non-screen area would eliminate many of the "smudge" and "scratch" concerns for a full-screen touch iPod."
"...we're more likely to see a bump to 100GB capacity, courtesy of Toshiba's new 1.8-inch drive..."

iTV
"Apple now aims to begin shipping iTV (likely under a different product name) in late January or early February. They added that the additional time is necessary to fine-tune an embedded version of the Mac OS operating system that will reportedly run on the device..."
"Many people are speculating and/or hoping that Apple will ink a deal with TiVo or offer its own personal video recording capabilities...it seems a bit hard to believe the two companies are collaborating on a Mac product."
"There's an Apple patent application dated November 2, 2006 that outlines techniques for acquiring a season's worth of TV shows. However, it only mentions the word TiVo once in the entire document, and that's only in a generic sense, describing recorded digital video."
"I've been hoping for a video update to the AirPort Express, but it seems like the iTV more or less kills that idea..."
"Google integration (iTV + YouTube)"

Cinema Displays
"Look for Apple to announce a 17-inch Cinema display to complement their existing 20, 23 and 30-inch monitors."
"Apple hasn't made any major update to the Cinema Displays since their initial release in June 2004...the next generation of Apple Cinema Displays could feature a built-in iSight, HDMI connectivity as well as support for HDCP...23 inch model may be replaced by a 24 inch one while a larger model may broaden the line-up."
"...a 50" monitor may be planned for 'early 2007'."
"...a coordinated effort to intentionally spread false information to rumor sites...these rumors should be viewed with some skepticism."

iLife, iWork
"Apple's iApps usually get updated at Macworld Expo and this year should be no exception."
"iLife and iWork 07 are a sure thing."
"...introduction of a new spreadsheet application code named "Lasso"

Leopard
"Leopard could be released at Macworld Expo despite Steve Jobs' assertion that it would be released in 'Spring 2007'."
"It will certainly not be released at Macworld."
"the Mac OS[X] appears to be the key to Apple's ensuing consumer electronics strategy, beginning with iTV and iPhone and extending far beyond."
"...as much as I'd love to see PVR capabilities built into Mac OS X, I think Apple is much more likely to continue to focus on sales of TV content through the iTunes Store."

MacPro
"Apple's desktop Mac is due for a quad-core Intel Xeon Processor..."
"One more thing: 8-core Mac Pro."
"The new Mac Pro configuration will feature two of the recently announced Quad-core Intel (more likely Xeon) processors for a total of eight cores per configuration... development on the systems has been complete for some time..."

Macbook Pro
"...the miniaturized MacBook Pro should keep its built-in optical drive and sport a dual-core processor, providing unequalled size/performance ratio in the PC industry... Apple should use the 12 inch form factor... could be priced in the $1700~$1800 range."
"[odds: 50:1]"
"Unlikely rumors, which [PiperJaffray analyst] Munster calls "a stretch," include an ultra-portable 12-inch MacBook Pro..."

iTablet
"... a number of new Apple patent applications that relate to the long-rumored Apple Tablet based computer. The most recent patents appeared...February 2nd, 2006...with a filing date as recent as January 31st, 2005."
"...Methods and systems for processing touch inputs are disclosed. The invention in one respect includes reading data from a multipoint sensing device such as a multipoint touch screen..."
"Apple researchers have built a fully working prototype of tablet Mac and three companies in Taiwan are bidding for a potential launch in mid 2007."
"...it's not likely to happen..."

– Mark Wilson

Rumor Links...In No Particular Order
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22

Apple iTV Availability to Escape Macworld Expo [AppleInsider]

Doing particularly well are the movies offered in HD, not surprising since many Xbox 360 owners are already playing their console games in high definition. Industry wags say consumers are lukewarm about downloading movies on their PCs and Macs, because there's no convenient way to watch those movies in their living rooms or home theaters. Not so with the Xbox 360, which has already made its inroads into the TV room.

Competing download services such as Amazon Unbox have discovered that it's hard to get people interested in downloading movies for playback on PCs, as evidenced by slow sales of the company's downloads. Sources at movie studios say some titles on the Amazon service have barely even garnered 100 downloads each.

I've downloaded movies and video content on Xbox Live, and it's a seamless and cost-effective experience, where even HD movies cost just a dollar more than their standard-definition counterparts and download surprisingly quickly. The compression quality is quite good, too, although the content is offered in resolutions of 720p or 1080i, and not in the desirable highest-resolution 1080p. The only problem with the service thus far is that not enough content is offered in high definition.

Besides the Xbox 360, there's other help on the way. Apple's iTV device is set to be released soon, and that might help consumers bridge that chasm of convergence between their Macs and PCs and the home entertainment center. Making it easy to play movies where the TV set resides is the key to luring people into downloading content. – Charlie White

XBox up on downloads [Variety]

This remote is actually the Ruwido's VEXO and is supposedly "an echo of previous and current Apple products." It is also extremely large, ugly and doesn't even match the iTV. I guess the scroll wheel is kind of Apple-y, but I'm having my doubts. Hell, Jobs even said himself that the remote would be simple and easy to use, this obviously isn't. Jump for another picture.

– Travis Hudson

Ruwido's VEXO: The Apple iTV remote [FireceIPTV]

Then today, one more meager yet tantalizing tidbit popped into our inbox, supposedly from an Apple employee who said this Mac Media Capsule has gone through a slight design change since its iTV prototype was revealed in September, and now it will include a stand that gives users a choice of either vertical or horizontal orientation. Is this true? The thin evidence so far:

There's an Apple patent application dated November 2, 2006 that outlines techniques for acquiring a season's worth of TV shows. However, it only mentions the word TiVo once in the entire document, and that's only in a generic sense, describing recorded digital video.

Last summer, TiVo was hiring Mac programmers, but that probably had to do with TiVo's promise to deliver TiVoToGo software for the Mac, a crude alpha version of which we saw at CES last January but still isn't available. Why the delay when we saw a semi-working version nearly a year ago? But TiVo Desktop, the software that lets you program your TiVo from afar, has since become available for the Mac, so those programmers were doing something.

What's next? TivoToGo software on the upcoming iPhone? Then there's that widescreen video player we've heard rumblings about. Wouldn't that be a great device on which to watch your TiVo recordings? But then wouldn't that conflict with Apple's deal with the networks to sell TV shows? – Charlie White

Wild rumor: Apple & TiVo partner for iTV [PVRblog]

What do we think? Unlikely.

Apple's done well in their current markets of PC and digital music because they've been able to keep their ecosystem closed. iPod + iTunes and the fact that you can't build your own Mac are examples of control Apple has over their products. Apple doesn't need to rely so much on third party providers to sell their systems.

If they get into the gaming arena, they're going to be at the mercy of game development studios to produce killer titles for yet another console in an already crowded horse race.

However, Prudential analyst Jesse Tortora says Apple's been hiring video game designers and thinking about entering the video game market sometime in the next few years. Tortora says the decision to enter may be based on how well the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles do as media hubs for the living room, something Apple's also trying to do with their upcoming iTV. – Jason Chen

Apple rumored to be eyeing video game market [Apple Insider via Crunchgear]

Instead of stripping off DRM from iTunes movies and music, Jon's offering up the mechanism to add DRM onto un-DRMed tracks so companies can get their products to work with Apple devices. Third party studios could make their movies iTV compatible without having to go through Apple licensing, and save a few bucks along the way.

Johansen and Farantzos went down to Cupertino for an audience with King Jobs, but weren't terribly specific about their new company's plans (to be fair, at this point, they didn't quite know what their plans were). Jobs apparently warned that while Apple was not a litigious company, other tech firms might not take kindly to whatever DVD Jon might be up to. Ha!

– Jason Chen

DVD Jon Fairplays Apple [GigaOM via Digg]

In the back of the unit, there's component, S-Video, Digital Coax/SPDIF audio, and RCA to connect to your TV or home theater. It also has 802.11g support to access your network, or you can just go ahead and use the Netgear Powerline HD Ethernet Adapter Kit if you don't have a wireless router handy. Useful if you have lots of PC content you want to stream to your TV. – Jason Chen

Product Page [Netgear]

Press Release [Netgear via Digital Trends]

Apple iTV [internal]