[Impress]

Passengers will be able to plug in and enjoy personal content on their own 15.4-inch television while their device charges. The first Apple-enabled aircraft is set to take off from Washington today, and there are plans to have these entertainment centers installed on all first and business class international flights within the next two years. [United via Crave via Electronic House]

In addition, half of this group was happy to share all of their music, though probably more often through BitTorrent than Times Online's "hundreds, or thousands, of songs at any one time" postulation. Another point that's not quite clear is whether or not CD backups were considered to be stolen tracks. If so, these numbers become extremely tough to interpret.

Still, 80% of the music pirates said that they'd pay about £10/month for a subscription service. Now if we could only find a subscription service that offered as many tracks as the entire dark alley of the internet, we'd really have something. [Times Online]

The Price: $79

The Verdict: It works pretty much as expected. We went through loads and loads of iPod Docks in our iPod Dock Battlemodo last year and like the iHome iH52 speaker dock, we found this iH12 to be fairly bass heavy. That's not really a huge deal if you're using this as an alarm clock to wake up to, but if you're just relaxing in bed, you'll have to make some EQ adjustments to find the right bass setting you're comfortable with.

The alarm features are fine, even if the controls are slightly less intuitive than we'd like. The remote is useful for fiddling with it from across the room, and the unit even has a battery backup in case your power goes out. For $79.99, it's a pretty great all-in-one iPod speaker and alarm clock combination that should work well in most bedrooms. If you want great sound quality in a set that you're going to use to listen to music more often, we'd recommend you get a separate unit to go with this. [iHome]

The Gadget: Case-mate's Clear Armor film for the iPhone, iPod touch, iPod classic (80GB and 160GB) or BlackBerry Curve protects against scratches using a military-grade Scotchgard film from 3M.

The Price: $19.99

The Verdict: Yes, yes, we know that the 3G iPhone is here, but if you are anything like me and on the fence about upgrading, Case-mate's Clear Armor will do a good job of protecting against scratches while preserving the natural beauty of your original iPhone, iPod or BlackBerry Curve. However, there is some major bullshit involved with their advertising campaign that put me off. First of all, Clear Armor is basically the same thing that Zagg has been selling for years under the name Invisible Shield. The difference is Zagg uses their own nano-memoryTM technology instead of 3M. However, Case-mate has tried to differentiate by relying on gimmicks like throwing a BlackBerry Curve 8300 wrapped in Clear Armor into a blender to demonstrate its durability. As Giz reader Shaun and others pointed out in the comments on the original Clear Armor post, it appears that the BlackBerry used in the demo is absolutely caked in this stuff.

The other issue I came across involved the application of Clear Armor. The video on the site makes it seem as though it is easy to pull the film off the backing before applying—but the reality is that nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, using my gigantic man-hands I managed to tear off the portion of the film that covers the top of the phone on both sets of rear films. All I can say is that it is a good thing that each set of front and back films comes in doubles, because you will probably need them both to get it right. In retrospect, I probably should have used a pair of tweezers or an X-Acto knife to ensure that I got the film off in one piece.

Again, the technology behind Clear Armor is great. I mustered up enough courage to scratch my keys along the back of my iPhone and it came away completely unscathed. However, if you were foolish enough to put your phone into a blender wrapped in a single layer of this stuff, I can guarantee that it would not survive the beating. That having been said, my advice is to stick with Invisible Shield. They offer a lifetime guarantee on their product, they protect a wider range of devices and they are already taking pre-orders for a 3G iPhone version. [case-mate]

In an otherwise surprise-free keynote today, one without booms or "one more thing"s, one bit of news stood out: White made a quiet return to the iPod family in the premium 16GB iPhone 3G. Sure, it never fully left Apple—remaining the default color for earbuds, plugs, power bricks, AirPort products and the cheapest MacBooks—but we were finally getting used to a world without white iPods. Does this mean after nine short months put out to the pastures, white is already retro-cool again?

This time around, white won't be for everybody. Once the staple color of the iPod revolution, white will be a statement for those bold enough to sport a phone that bright. It's incredible; when Jobs dropped a little black on the masses, we thought that was radical, but eventually accepted it as the norm. When most Apple products went brushed-aluminum, we were again stunned, but now we think nothing of it. Today white, the color that we accepted from the beginning, is back, this time on an iPhone, and it looks like the most far-out Apple product yet.

Will the return of white in the iPhone set a pattern for the iPod touch, classic, and others? Will white be the new, well, white, taking back the reins as the most popular color? Will the color make its way back to Apple's high-style MacBook Air? Can Jobs, Jonathan Ive and the Cupertino crew keep us on our toes forever by recycling the same three finishes? Most importantly, are you a person that's bold enough to rock this flamboyant new phone? I, for one, am not. [Apple]

While Sling plans to develop and distribute the software through the iTunes App Store, the demo build we were shown runs on a jailbroken iPhone because of current testing limitations with the iPhone SDK. And since this is in the early stages of development, the demo was limited in function, but from what I saw, it looks like a totally awesome alternative to mobile TV.

Once you connect to your Slingbox, you control channels with an on-screen remote whose buttons scroll horizontally at the bottom of the screen. There's also a scrollbar full of channel icons that provide shortcuts to specific stations. Video ran pretty smooth and looked good over a wi-fi connection. And it goes without saying, but Sling also has their fingers crossed for a 3G iPhone.

While the current proof-of-concept software is using a WMV codec to stream video, Sling is hoping Apple will make its video decoding assets available on the iPhone so they can use that instead. There's no word on an official release date for the application, but for those iPhone owners with Slingboxes, dreams of mobile TV just became an afterthought. [Sling on Giz]

Definitely watch the original iPod announcement, which is kind of surreal—no applause or cheering in a crappy beige auditorium, waiting 10 minutes before you see it—and then check out the iPhone one. Gods aren't born overnight, but they can be fashioned over the course of 6 years, apparently. [Cult of Mac]

Based on the renderings, you can display a rear view camera on the screen (technically impossible) or use the iPod like a Nike+ device to track your bike workout (might also be impossible). Still, very cool if you're using this on rides that aren't through traffic. [Cannondale Community via Cannondale via Trend Hunter]

The software was made by Mr. Kondo—a colleague of Ryo Shimizu, CEO of Ubiquitous Entertainment—in an hour. We don't know if it will make its way to the iTunes store as a commercial product, but I hope it inspires other developers to use this kind of competitive—or collaborative—gameplay. [Asiajin via [Technabob]

Case-mate's Clear Armor is available now for $19.99. It may not have been released in time for the iPhone case Battlemodo, but look for a review soon. [case-mate]

Motorola has already toyed with an idea involving infusing their LCDs with solar panels, and to be honest, most if not all of the major companies out there have at least investigated the possibilities. However, given the limitations of solar power, it seems unlikely that a major manufacturer would go this route in the near future. [Patent Filing Forbes and MacRumors via Inhabitat]

We had a chance to ask director/writer/editor Kobi Shely about his first movie. And he had some interesting things to say about Apple and the people who really, really love them.

Tell me about shooting the documentary.
MacHEADS was produced throughout 2007 and 2008; First day of shooting started with Macworld conference in January 2007 and ended in June with the first release of the iPhone. Brothers Ron and Kobi Shely, and Director of Photography Alon Grego flew from Israel to San Francisco and met up with a local production teams. The budget came independently we managed to come up with approx $200,000.

How many people did you chronicle?
We interviewed 50 people form the community and inside Apple, but naturally not all of them were included in the final cut.

Can you define "Machead" in one sentence?
(Obviously you take more time to do it in the film.)
MacHEADS starts with a definition from the Urban dictionary - a person who regularly uses and is somewhat obsessed with Apple computers; or Macs. I would add to this A person who had put the Mac (including: UI, OS, APPLE Inc. , Steve Jobs and peripheral Mac products) in the center of his day-to-day life.

Why did you pick Mac enthusiasts as the topic for a documentary?
I think Mac enthusiasts are the best topic for a documentary as an art form the investigate human phenomenon. In fact, before starting the project I was surprised to find out that this film was not done yet. Mac enthusiasts posses all the right ingredients and traits for a compelling documentary: lust,obsession, devotion, comradery and ... sex appeal

Did making this film provide any particular insights to why/how people are obsessed with the Apple brand?
We wanted to answer the core question : How is a community formed around a brand and how did this phenomenon begin? I wasn't satisfied with the usual answers about design and the "power of the brand". I knew there was something bigger. During the filmmaking process it became obvious that there is a community and there is Apple. Although they correlate, in many ways they are separated.

In the early days the only people who were using personal computers were hobbies and scientists. Apple was the first company to actually build a prepackaged product for the rest of us. This sparked a sense of techno- utopia, different people were getting together to change the world through technology by using a Mac. And as often in these world-changing situations these people were the underdog, the minority. They had to band together to survive, their survival mechanism was similar to those penguins who hold together and got to press tightly together and exclude all outsiders to share what ever body warmth they can manage.

This is why this community is so obsessed with Mac because it managed to tap into their survival mechanism. However there is an expanding base of Mac fans who simply follow Apple because it is cool and fashionable, these are not the die hard obsessed MacHEADS.

Is Mac obsession any different from obsession with any other hobby, person or company?
I'd have to say that there is no question that it is an obsession not like any other. In the 90s crisis Mac users went out of their ways volunteering to save the company from going down, how many brands can claim that? and it wasn't just a one time thing it was through a period of almost 3 years. This kind of loyalty in my opinion brands can only dream of. What is interesting to me is that Apple never figured out how to manage their die hard fans, in some way the Macintosh community scares Apple. And now that Apple has become an overwhelming success they want to move away as far as they can from their most loyal and create a clean image of a life style brand.

Walk me through the process of post production.
Post production took us almost 8 months to complete. We are a small production company and when I say small I really mean me and my brother and MacHEADS is our first documentary project. There are benefits of being fully independent but there are also downsides of not having a team of specializing people in the process of post. We had to rely on ourselves to figure out ways to research archives go through legal issues compose the story score the music, animate and color correct the footage...I edited at my apartment on Avid Xpress Pro (using of course a G5), the online was done on Symphony, music composed in L.A by our talented friend and composer Roy Zu Arets, and sound design was executed by Ohad Tzachar who worked in N.Y for a leading broadcast company. A lot of people we worked with were in some ways Apple fans because they come from creative fields and they were very kin to get on board and help.

What's the future for MacHEADS: The Movie?
During the filmmaking process we came to realize the promise of web 2.0 and community driven distribution. Although we are negotiating with some distributors about Television deals, we believe such a film could become a good proof for the digital independent distribution potential. MacHEADS is in general a film about the community and for the community and this is why it is best fit for web 2.0 distribution. Also we hope to be able to get onto iTunes which is also a natural platform for such a movie. Now that we are done with the post production we are planning a few special screenings in San Fransisco and NY. We will naturally be going on festival circuit tour all across the world.

So are you a Machead?
No, but like most creative we use and love Apple products. [MacHEADS]

To start, for people who supposedly have " years of tracking [Apple's] strategic product moves" they seem woefully unaware of products that Apple has out right now, much less where Apple is heading. For instance, they predict a whole new "home server" product/market to dish out your movies and music. Time Capsule could do that with a couple of firmware updates. And it's already out there.

The biggest thing is that they're seeing seven or eight major products at Apple's core where really there's just a few, at most. The illogic of Apple doing Geek Squad-style home installs or pumping out digital picture frames and media-streaming clock radios aside (yes Forrester really suggests all of those things), stuff is converging (or trying to), not multiplying and splintering. Macs, Apple TV and the iPhone cover most of what Forrester is proposing is the future of Apple and in a far less complicated way than they're imagining—what's missing is the content, but that's a wider problem, beyond and outside of Apple (and anyone else trying to make god boxes for the living room).

Here's our take on 2013: Fewer boxes and gadgets, more integration, more seamlessly. Can we get our six figures now? [Forrester]

We have a very clear focus that all the development teams at Apple share, a focus around trying to make really great products. That can sound ridiculously simplistic, almost naive, but it's very unique for the product to be what consumes you completely.

I'm not driven by making a cultural impact. That's just a consequence of taking a remarkably powerful technology and making it relevant. My goal is simply to try to make products that really are meaningful to people.

Napster Launches World's Largest MP3 Store Featuring 6 Million Tracks

Songs Purchased at Napster Now Compatible With iPod and iPhone
LOS ANGELES —(Business Wire)— May. 20, 2008 Napster (Nasdaq:NAPS), the pioneer of digital music, today announced the launch of the world's largest and most comprehensive MP3 store at http://www.napster.com/store.

Napster's download store is more than 50% larger than any other MP3 store and boasts not only the largest major label MP3 catalog in the industry, but also the largest library of independent music available anywhere. All Napster download sales in the U.S. will now be in the user-friendly, DRM-free MP3 format, which is compatible with virtually any MP3 player or music phone including the iPod and the iPhone. Napster is the first music subscription service featuring major label content to offer 100% of its catalog in the MP3 format for download sales.

"Music fans have spoken and it's clear they need the convenience, ease of use and broad interoperability of the DRM-free MP3 format, and they want to be able to find both major label artists and independent music all in one place. Napster is delighted to deliver all of this and more with the world's largest MP3 catalog," said Napster's Chairman and CEO Chris Gorog. "Our new MP3 store, together with our award-winning 'all you can eat' music subscription service, provides the most comprehensive and exciting music experience available. Virtually any portable device in the world can now be used to enjoy tracks purchased at Napster, which is an important breakthrough for our company."

Pricing for download sales will remain at 99 cents for single MP3 tracks and $9.95 for most MP3 albums, Napster confirmed. The vast majority of the MP3 catalog, including all major label content, is available at a high-quality 256kbps bitrate, and downloaded tracks include high-resolution album art. Consumers can visit and browse the download store with no obligation or commitment, and can also choose to subscribe to Napster's on-demand streaming service, which is web-based and can be accessed from any Internet-connected computer without downloading software.

"Our goal is to enrich your life with music, in ways that are personalized to you," said Chief Operating Officer Christopher Allen. "Napster now offers a truly complete and synergistic digital music destination, where music lovers can not only discover and listen to music, but also buy and own everything they want in MP3 format, which works on any music player. The combination offers consumers the best of both worlds."

Napster gives music fans the freedom of choice to discover, experience, and buy music on their own terms. With its web-based, open, innovative products and services, Napster gives consumers the ability to enjoy music across their desktop, living room, portable music player, and mobile phone.

"Developing online music services into true go-to consumer music destinations depends in large part on reducing hurdles to adoption," said Susan Kevorkian, IDC's Consumer Markets program director, "By offering millions of high quality, MP3-encoded DRM-free tracks from all of the major labels as well as independents, this service is well-positioned to appeal to the broad spectrum of music lovers, including iPod and iPhone owners."

The Spirit stores 1GB of tunes, including 15 preloaded patriotic tracks like Lee Greenwood's God Bless The USA. At just 2"x 1 3/8, it seems a little small for American Hummer-driving, Big-Gulp-drinking tastes. But who are we to ever question something that in some way almost resembles the American flag? Pre-order your Zvue Spirit today for $35.99. [Zvue via anythingbutipod]

But they were wrong.

According to The Register, while Apple does not plan to continue modifying/improving P.A. Semi's PowerPC-based processor architecture, Apple has employed a number of veteran P.A. Semi staff members just for the task of supplying the current chips for years to come.

To us, it seems pretty logical, as if Apple is simply honoring the existing contracts/promises of P.A. Semi. Then again, it's just such a strange move from such a painstakingly marketed company—Apple and the military certainly make for strange bedfellows. More on this point from The Register:

While the information is limited at this point, we believe the military interest in PA Semi's low-power chip may have forced Apple's hand here. Uncle Sam hates to design new missiles only to have the guts ripped out by some dude in a mock turtleneck.

[Cell Passion and iLounge via Engadget]

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