BTW, if you hate the gallery format as much as the Grinch hated Christmas, click here.

Leica M7: DSLR schmeeSLR. Digital photography still can't match the old-school beauty of film, and Leica's M7 35mm camera is one of the best and most gorgeous out there. It's the kind of gift you'd hand down to your grandkids, partly because it'll last forever and partly because it costs enough that you need several lifetimes to get your money's worth. The M7 also has an even-more-decadent Hermes edition which clocks in at $14,000, but the normal M7 is available now and would send any prosumer DSLR-owner into fits of jealousy. $5,500 [Link; Amazon]

Retro-Gen: Modern videogames are so complicated, so expensive, so...3D. A true retrophile isn't interested in Modern Warfare 2, but could be persuaded to play a little Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Streets of Rage 2 or Toejam and Earl 2: Panic on Funkotron. The Retro-Gen, a little sorta-legal handheld emulator, will play either original Genesis cartridges or ROMs that you've loaded onto an included SD card. Plus, the entire system costs less than some modern DSi or PSP games. $38 [Link; Video Game Central Store]

French Press: Here's one where an irrational fear of the new is totally justified. Your typical fancy, electronic drip coffee-maker spits out watery, bitter brown liquid only technically identifiable as coffee, while the French press (basically a glass jug with a mesh screen plunger) produces rich, delicious coffee, retaining the essential oils that give a true depth of flavor. Not only is it older, simpler, and cheaper, it's flat-out better. $20 [Bodum French Press]

Set of 11 Kenny Loggins Albums on Vinyl: You know what, this is a great gift for anyone, retrophile or not. Even if you don't have a turntable, 11 of these albums would make excellent wall art. Matter of fact, I might just buy these myself. Go find your own Kenny Loggins vinyl collection! $10 [eBay]

iPod Classic: Multitouch? OLED? Wi-Fi? Widescreen video? What about the good old days, when convergence was a crazy futuristic concept and PMPs were called MP3 players, because, well, that's all they did. The iPod Classic is just about the only traditional hard-drive-based PMP left on the market, and while it's better than ever (thin, long battery life, spacious 160GB hard drive), it's still a relic of the past. I mean, seriously, a click wheel? What is this, 2007? $250 [Link; Apple Store]

Classic Prints From The Onion: The comedy gods over at The Onion have their very own gifts for retro-minded buyers, creating "classic" Onion front pages from times in the publication's fictional history (what, you didn't know it was founded in the mid-18th century as "The Mercantile Onion" by Friedrich Siegfried Zweibel?). The all-time classic is "Holy Shit: Man Walks on Fucking Moon," but "Whites Invent 'Rock and Roll'" and "Mr. T Releases 'Pity List '86'" are both pretty amazing things to hang on your wall, too. Guaranteed to stop passersby and give them the giggles. $33 each, framed and matted [Onion Store]

Trip to the Computer History Museum: You can be a retrophile and still love tech, and the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California is the best place in the country to revel in the fascinating history of technological advancement. Right now, they're celebrating the 50th anniversary of the integrated circuit, examining the history of computer chess and visible storage, and remembering Charles Babbage, inventor of the first automatic computing engine. Among those constantly rotating exhibits are jewels like the Cray 1 supercomputer, the world's first ethernet cable and a Tandy TRS-80. Free admission [Link; CHM Site]

DON'T BUY A Modern Smartphone: Anybody who yearns for the old days is going to find the idea of a powerful, always-connected pocket computer pretty threatening. Today's smartphones are as powerful as the best desktop computers from ten years ago, and are only getting better. An iPhone, Droid or Palm Pre might well explode a retrophile's mind all over his face. But if he's submitted to peer pressure and allowed a thoroughly modern iPhone into his classic-rock life, we do have one recommendation: The iRetroPhone iPhone app, which simulates an old rotary phone. $1 [iTunes]

Don't forget to recommend your own favorite retro-centric gift in comments-include pics and pricing if possible.

All Giz Wants is our annual round-up of favorite gift ideas, including amazing attainable objects and a few far-out fantasies. We'll be popping guides catered to different interests several times per day for the next week, so keep checking back.

The Special Edition version comes only in 4GB, and it being polished stainless steel, weights a bit more. Phil Schiller, in an interview with Brian, said that the process for doing the special edition in stainless steel was different than the aluminum models. It costs $20 more. The heft of the special edition makes it feel more special, said Brian. But I'm not sure if it's $20 more special.

Apple's iPod shuffle Now Starts at Just $59

World's Smallest Music Player Now in Five Great Colors

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple® today announced that iPod shuffle®, the world's smallest music player and the first music player to talk to you, is now available starting at just $59 in five great colors. iPod shuffle's intuitive controls are conveniently located on the headphone cord, letting you navigate and enjoy music without even looking. With the press of a button, you can play, pause, adjust volume and switch playlists, plus the VoiceOver feature lets iPod shuffle speak song titles, artists and playlist names. The iPod shuffle is available worldwide today in a new 2GB model for just $59 and a 4GB model for $79, and both models come in silver, black, pink, blue and green.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090909/SF72800)

"iPod shuffle is the world's smallest music player and now comes in five great colors starting at just $59," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "iPod shuffle is so small that you almost forget it's there, yet remarkably, it holds up to 1,000 songs and talks to you."

iPod shuffle is based on Apple's incredibly popular shuffle feature, which randomly selects songs from your music library. iPod shuffle features a sleek and ultra-wearable design with a built-in stainless steel clip. iPod shuffle users can easily clip it to almost anything and take it everywhere.

In addition to the Apple Earphones and Apple In-Ear Headphones with Remote, third party manufacturers including Sony, V-MODA, Klipsch and Scosche are supporting built-in headphone controls and Belkin and Scosche offer built-in headphone adapters allowing users to enjoy iPod shuffle with their own headphones.

iPod® is the world's most popular family of digital music players with over 220 million sold. Apple's new holiday lineup includes iPod shuffle in five great colors starting at just $59; iPod classic® in a new 160GB model holding up to 40,000 songs for $249; the incredible new iPod nano® with a video camera available in nine brilliant polished aluminum colors starting at $149; and the revolutionary iPod touch® starting at the breakthrough price of just $199.

Pricing & Availability

The third generation iPod shuffle is available immediately for a suggested price of $59 (US) for the 2GB model and $79 (US) for the 4GB model in silver, black, pink, blue and green through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. A 4GB special edition polished stainless steel model is available in a 4GB model for $99 (US) through the Apple Store (www.apple.com) and Apple's retail stores. iPod shuffle comes with the Apple Earphones with Remote and the iPod shuffle USB cable. iPod shuffle requires a Mac® with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS® X v10.4.11 or later and iTunes® 9 or later; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows Vista, Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 3) or later.

What do you think we're gonna see next Wednesday at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts? iPods with cameras? MMS for iPhone in the US? A time machine that'll take us back to 2005, like this dancer? (Maybe they'll be dragging Mick Jagger and Keith Richards through it, judging by the caption. Does that mean no Beatles? Hmm.)

One thing it looks like we won't see, if the photo is any indication, is a coffin for the iPod classic. Update: Okay, since the headphone jack is on the bottom, indicating it's an iPod touch, maybe the classic will die after all.

Drop your predictions—and desires—right here.

The dock uses only one USB cable, and it has been certified by Apple to work natively with iTunes. [Parasync]

I have a 160GB Classic, as I thought I needed it. But with a 32GB iPhone, I end up leaving my iPod at home, even when traveling. I once had a fantasy that I'd sync a ton of video to it, to serve up. That fantasy was never realized, though, because these days it easy to just plug your laptop into a TV. I like having an iPod Touch in the house, however, because when my kid wants to watch videos, I'd rather give her that than my own phone. Besides, some apps like Sonos' controller and Apple's Remote are better suited to a device that lives in the living room. An iPod Touch with a camera makes sense, getting a step closer to the iPhone; it's an equally intuitive device for people who want to keep clear of AT&T.

Put a camera in the Nano, and the opposite occurs: It becomes a mystery object, something unlike all other products in the universe, and not in a good way. It would be something to learn, with even more buried mystery functions than it has right now.

Let's be honest, the Nano is built to play music. Video playback on that tiny screen is a joke, accelerometer or not, and I have never met a soul who actually stores calendars and contacts, or uses any other mini-app or game. Putting still more tech into the Nano is a mistake that companies other than Apple would make—sure, it will be "neat," but it's impractical and a waste of development.

The Classic is a different story, one of diminishing demand. Hard drive players are almost nowhere to be found, and there's discussion of late that the 1.8" hard drive is headed for extinction, because flash memory is finally cheap. I think Apple will still sell a Classic, at least until they can pop out 64GB flash iPod Touches for under $400, but I don't think they'll do anything to modify the current Classic in any meaningful way, and they certainly aren't going to go all the way to 240GB, even though it's possible.

If the Classic is justifiable for music library owners like me, but mostly a non-starter, the Nano's raison d'etre is being a "value" option. It's cheaper than the iPod Touch, which hovers at the $230 only to distance itself from the 16GB Nano, at $200. If Apple dipped that iTouch to $199, they'd sell fewer Nanos than they are selling now.

Screw the camera—what Apple should do is lower the Nano price even more. Samsung and SanDisk sell 8GB players for less than $100 now, and you can even find a few 16GB players in the $130 range. That's $50 to $70 lower than what Apple charges, and nowadays, most of those devices will play anything you buy from iTunes—little or no manipulation required. Meanwhile, almost all PMP development from other companies is geared to building a cheap iTouch replacement, not a Nano clone.

As Apple itself declared during their earnings call, "We expect traditional MP3 players to decline over time as we cannibalize ourselves" with iPhone and iPod Touch. They readily admit that iPod Touches sell like hotcakes while demand for clickwheel iPods has slackened. It's just a puzzle that when these devices should be on life-support, Apple seems to be want to push them further. [iPod/iTunes]

Frozen in the "bottom layer" of ice (Christ, how many layers do you think there are?) since, he estimates, early winter, the iPod was frozen solid and not in the best of shape. But after a few minutes of charging, the iPod booted right up and even displayed the correct date, proving once and for all that the iPod classic is to date the only Yukon-approved PMP on the market. [Robulack via TUAW]

Now I can't speak for everyone here, but frankly, I'm a little sick of Apple's incremental iPod updates. Luckily for me, there's still a bit of crazy, no-holds-barred ingenuity in the world—and that ingenuity can be found in the labs of Norwegian ice cream maker Henning Olsen.

Not only is their take on the iPod Classic made of chocolate and ice cream—I'm sorry, that should read "CHOCOLATE AND ICE CREAM!!!"—but each bar will come with a free song from a Norwegian artist.

Now Apple, I'm not sure that these little icePods of heaven are formally licensed. But mark my words, if you take down a poor, defenseless icePod manufacturer who wants to do nothing more than use your IP for delicious commercial gain, you'd better come out with an icePod Chocolate of your own. And I'm not talking about just painting a nano brown, buddy. [Dagbladet via TUAW]

The accessory is also compatible with the 120GB iPod classic (claims its product page), and should be a decent way to conduct interviews or surreptitiously record your coworkers in the adjacent stall. What kind of person takes a dump while on the phone with the credit card company? [USB Fever via Get USB]

The Apple Store US has published the same worldwide discounts on the 20-inch iMac, the 13-inch Macbook, the 8GB iPod nano, the iPod classic, the iPod touch, Time Capsule, Apple TV, and other Apple gear. The best deals, however, are some steeply discounted third-party products, like Microsoft Office 2008 Special Media Edition with $250.00 off its price tag. Update: Find the best handpicked deals after the jump.

Here are some of their best discounts:

• Sanyo Xacti VPC-E2 waterproof camcorder: $198 ($201.95 off)

• Microsoft Office 2008 Special Media Edition: $249.95 ($250 off)

• Canon Rebel XS Kit: $498 ($101.95 off)

• Altec Lansing T612 Digital Speaker System for iPhone: $148 ($51.95 off)

• Monster Beats by Dr. Dre Headphones: $298 ($51.95 off)

• M-Audio KeyStudio 49 keyboard: $68 ($31.95 off)

United Kingdom

Spain

Sweden

Australia

Germany

[Apple Store Black Friday]

More Advice for the Black Friday Fray:
• The aforementioned Ultimate Survival Guide.
• 5 Gadgets You Can't Skimp On (And How to Save Money Buying Them)
• Best of Black Friday Deals Complete Roundup">All the best deals in one place
• Plus these late breaking ones from Cupertino: Apple Black Friday Deals Include Some Decent Third-Party Discounts
• Warnings: 7 Crappy Black Friday "Deals" That Aren't Really
• How To Choose an HDTV on Black Friday (or Any Day)
• How to set up that new HDTV you just got.

Photochop Contest:
• Brutally Honest Black Friday Ads Showcase Retailers on the Brink

Why You Might Want to Avoid Shopping on Black Friday, altogether:
• 10 Reasons We're Doomed: Black Friday Edition
• WalMart Worker Trampled to Death by Deal-Crazed Black Friday Shoppers

[Complete Black Friday Gadget Coverage at Giz]

Cases
A case will usually be the first thing people buy for their pods, and the first thing they'll lose. Luckily, they're just about the easiest thing to replace yourself. The most obvious solution is a custom-tailored sock, chosen to suit your taste in color and aroma and fitted to suit your choice in iPod. For a more refined look, sewing together some inner tube and suede will make for a stylish pouch, while utilitarians can opt for the quick, versatile rubber-only approach. If you're just too quirky for a regular case, the venerable Altoid Nano case might get the attention you crave, while the legitimately natty cut-up record sleeve case will do the job just as well, if not better.

Speakers
If you're handy with a soldering iron and have some old audio equipment lying around, there's no reason to dump dollars on a full-fledged iPod speaker dock when you can just build one yourself. Construction homemade unamplified speakers — which sound surprisingly good — is much less of an ordeal. Disposable cups and sheets of printer paper make great little megaphones for your earbuds, and lend themselves well to mounting as a part of a kid-friendly makeshift home stereo.

Docks and Stands
Apple gives iPod/iPhone buyers just about everything they need to throw together a huge variety of charging and sync docks — even the commercial ones are pretty much just the sync wire with some plastic trim. This hack starts small: fantastic iPhone and iPod Touch docks can be made with nothing but a binder clip. The possibilities for LEGO docks are limitless, but generally end up looking like an iThrone. This paperclip box dock provides a good template for chopping an iPod cable into just about anything of a similar shape. The paper clips themselves can be twisted into a 20-second stand, just as a business card can be origamically (?) reshaped into the same.

Other
In the commercial world, this space is inhabited by the shrouded likes of Brando. But who doesn't love that stuff? If you're looking for a jury-rigged AA iPod charging solutions, there's no reason to surrender your credit card number to an iffy Chinese e-commerce site. The same goes for the iPhone 3D image viewing apparatus, though I'm not even sure there's buyable analog for that, Chinese or not. iPhone macro lenses are cool, but almost certainly not worth paying for. Last, and probably least, even though you can't put a price on security, you can reduce the cost of paranoia.

Hat tip to Lifehacker, MAKE and Instructables.

Dealzmodo Hacks are intended to help you sustain your crippling gadget addiction through tighter times. If you come across any on your own that are particularly useful, send it to our tips line (Subject: Dealzmodo Hack). Check back every Thursday for free DIY tricks to breathe new life into hardware that you already own.

Oxnard, CA – October 16, 2008 – Scosche Industries (www.scosche.com), an award-winning innovator of mobile electronics and iPod accessories, announces the availability of its new passPORT iPod/iPhone car integration system. The passPORT utilizes a female pass-through connector to attach to any in-car iPod integration system to charge all iPhone and iPod models, including the iPhone 3G and the recently introduced nano 4G and touch 2G. With over 28 years of advanced mobile electronics and aftermarket accessory experience and knowledge, Scosche worked closely with Apple to develop the passPORT to ensure its compatibility and function for both OEM and aftermarket automotive products.

“The passPORT provides a seamless solution for anyone that wants to listen to their new iPhone or iPod in their car through their integrated audio system,” said Kas Alves, vice president, sales and marketing, Scosche Industries. “Scosche engineers developed a highly sophisticated product that maintains all functionality including audio, video and data of the iPhone 3G and new iPod models.”

With its superior knowledge in both the automotive aftermarket and home accessory categories, Scosche continues to develop and bring to market products for iPhone and iPod models. Scosche is currently developing a similar product for home use that will also allow consumers to use their home accessories including speakers, alarms and docking stations with the iPhone 3G and new iPod models.

The passPORT is priced at $29.99 MSRP.

Shaking the player activates Shuffle Mode and tilting allows scanning of Cover Flow when the nano is held in landscape. The nano's storage will jump to 8GB and 16GB.

Not a lot of information on the iPod classic and iPod shuffle. The classic is said to come in two colors (probably white silver and black) with the shuffle available in five colors.

The iPod touch will have no color choices and retain the same storage options of 8, 16 and 32GB.

Oh, and the last juicy tidbit from the rumors: The new iPods are supposed to be available at Apple stores today. [AppleInsider]