The BBC just recently launched its iPlayer video service on the iPhone and iPod Touch. The service will now streams its on demand programmes on the devices. Now if only Comedy Central would do the same. More details in the full article.

There are good programs and great programs, and then there are the landmark programs. This new program from hacker core might very well to be one of those. Core has developed a working native Peer-to-Peer client for the iPhone. It's still in its preliminary stages, but the point is, it works. More details lie in the full article.

Download: transmissionExtras.tgz
Download: transmissioncli.gz

A GPS program called the Navizon Virtual GPS has been developed for the iPhone and is now available for download through Installer.app. Users of the application report that the program works fine (it's known to crash one device though) and accurate within a few hundred yards.

The application isn't strictly to be called a GPS program though, as it does not get its data from satellites but through Wi-Fi. The system utilizes a database that collects data from users who do have GPS devices (the satellite kind). They contribute the data to Cell towers and Wi-Fi Access Points. The iPhone picks up the info and triangulates its position using the data.

This new kind of mapping by Navizon is called Peer to Peer Positioning, as it is dependent on the data collected by others to work. And because it's dependent on data from other people, the program isn't free. You're free to try it for the first 15 days but after that it'll cost US$ 24.99.

 

MacNN reports that QuickerTek's Quicky USB Transceiver can now be used with USB-enabled Macs. The Quicky is essentially a network boosting device that, according to QuickerTek, can deliver "up to 10 times more RF wireless power than a stock PowerMac desktop." The extended wireless operating distances can make more networks available to the desktop system, so you can connect to it even while you're in your neighbor's bathroom.

To use it, just clip the Quicky to the top of your Apple LCD screen. It also combines a networking transceiver with an external antenna. Setup requires no special computer skills, and no extra steps are required to utilize the Quicky transceiver.

The Quicky USB Transceiver works with Apple's latest PowerMacs as well as all 802.11 b, g, and n Wi-Fi equipment. This includes Apple's new AirPort and AirPort Extreme wireless devices. Double wireless range at full speed comes with a price though: the Quicky carries a pretty steep US$ 225 price tag.

Even though the iPhone made quite a bang at the recent MacWorld, it's still quite interesting how some other items have almost slipped quietly past everyone's attention. So, while you're all ogling at some iPhone images, let us divert your attention to the AirPort Extreme.

Shipping this February for US$ 179, the AirPort Extreme Base Station is a wireless router that provides a secure network for you and 50 other peers. It's five times faster and covers twice the range/distance of the previous 802.11g standard. The device is clocked at 802.11n wireless technology, but all the same, it's still compatible with other devices using the previous Wi-Fi standards.

Built with the same Mac philosophy as Apple's other products, the AirPort Extreme is easy enough to set up and find a place to tuck it into. In fact, this would go well with that new Apple TV that you might be planning to get.

For more info, tech specs, and/or to place your orders, click the "Read" link below.

Looking for an IP-PBX solution for your needs but can't find something that both works and appeals to your sense of aesthetics? Well, maybe this time we've got the answer for you in the form of Berlin-based 4S newcom GmbH's iBlue.

iBlue is an IP-PBX system based on the company's own software-based 4S IP PBX software. The whole thing uses SIP for VoIP and runs on a Mac Mini. In order to use the Mac Mini as an IP PBX, the iBlue boots off of an iPod Shuffle, which has been engineered to host the complete system, from OS to IP PBX. 4s's complete system is so small that even the 512MB Shuffles still leaves room for almost 4 hours of music, so once the iBlue has been booted up you can unplug the iPod Shuffle and enjoy the tunes you put in there.

Slick, eh? It's pretty-looking too, what with the simple design and the eye-grabbing iPod Shuffle sticking out of it. The iBlue is also pretty small, and even though it's not the smallest IP-PBX system out there, it's certainly small enough not to get in your way.

Takers can grab this baby (the package includes both the Mac Mini and the iPod shuffle) for Â? 2,999 (US$ 3,766) when online sales commence on November 6th. If that price tag sounds a bit too steep for you, keep in mind that 4S is also throwing in five snom300 VoIP phones, with the software licensed for up to 250 users and 30 parallel calls.

While promoting their new Bluetooth-based DEH car sound system, Pioneer spokesman Michael Broadhurst touched upon the subject of using iPods with their new sound system. After pointing out that people will need an adapter to run an iPod on the Pioneer DEH system, Broadhurst said that Apple will bring out a Bluetooth adapter that will allow iPod to make a wireless connection, then play directly through the DEH's audio system.

Rumors about Apple and Bluetooth and iPods have been running rampant throughout the internet for years, but if such a thing is true, then this may turn out to be Apple's  first step in combatting the Wi-Fi-enabled Zune.

Specializing products and accessories to match the products is common in the world of business. The idea is to make your product so unique that it cannot be found elsewhere, and that no other product can be used as a substitute for its function. Apple is one such smart company that has pulled off, rather amazingly, this seeming monopoly on their products and their corresponding accessories and technology.

But we have learned that in spite of Apple's ingenious business maneuvers, there still are ways to go around the system that they have made. This trick that we came across is about connecting your iPod to your TV without buying the Apple connector. What Apple did to make the technology exclusive to them, thereby making consumers fully dependent on their connector, is to rewire their cable so that the red AV plug is the video and the yellow and white are the audio, instead of just having yellow for video.

What you can do is use a normal AV cable that usually comes with camcorders, which is a cable that plugs into the top headphone jack but extends and doubles as the video out. So, using the rewired system of Apple's connector on the normal AV cable, you can now bypass the need for the Apple connector in order to connect your iPod to your TV.

Of course, we're not saying that there is anything wrong with the Apple connector. But what this signifies is that there are actually alternatives existing for those locked technologies, in order for you to enjoy your gadgets without spending as much. Surely, people are open to these kinds of alternative resources, especially those who are under budget constraints.

In a recent filing by Tony Fadell (iPod Division senior VP), Stanley Ng (iPod product line director), and Jeff Robbin (iTunes software chief), they illustrate the possibility of having built-in wireless capabilities in iPods which allow users to sync and manage their music players even if there's no computer present.

Unlike before where you need to connect your iPod to a computer to update songs, pictures, and videos via USB, this wireless technology will let you sync your iPod with any device that supports wireless transfer, so long as you are within a docking station that allows for wireless communication.

A wireless router can create a network wherein your iPods can be updated and synchronized with any media player (allowing you to copy songs, videos, and images). We should keep in mind however, that even though it's a wireless network, it's still limited because the systems that run in such networks are localized.

According to Apple, they would first have to make sure that this wireless technology for iPods would not interfere with their Digital Rights Management scheme. Meaning, your iPod would still not be able to connect or sync with a computer and access the media library if it's not authorized to do so.

As a user and supporter of EV-DO, I have watched with great anticipation as the technology has moved slowly towards maturity over the past few years.

With Verizon and Sprint signed on as EV-DO supporters and both companies well on their way to completing nationwide EV-DO networks of their own, the question is no longer if EV-DO will be the most widespread wireless broadband technology in the US, but if there will be any other technologies coming to compete with, complement or replace EV-DO any time soon?

The most recent sign that EV-DO has come of age is the USB modem released by Franklin that will bring Internet connectivity to a while new class of devices.

Tablet PCs, lightweight laptops, some PDAs, and many of the recently released UPMCs and other ultra tiny portables that run XP, but yet are too small to sport PCMCIA slots or other wireless equipment, are being given the unexpected opportunity to get online using their USB ports.

Known as the CDU 550 USB modem, this tiny device will only be available for use on the Sprint wireless network. The package comes complete with the modem itself, a carrying case, Y-shaped USB cable, an owners manual, and a Windows setup CD. Once you get your CDU 550 in hand, you'll need to do an ESN swap to move your active Sprint wireless account from your EV-DO wireless card to the new modem. The new USB modem works with all Macs (with a few caveats), but it cannot be used to create a network using the Kyocera KR1 EV-DO router under its current firmware.

Then all you have to do is use the Sprint connection manager (included on the setup CD) to activate your account and tweak your settings. The average speeds for an EV-DO network are from 500Kbps to 800Kbps when downloading and 80Kbps to 180Kbps in the other direction. I would imagine that the lack of an external antenna port on the tiny modem could potentially limit its speed a bit, but since it is the only available EV-DO option for Sprint customers with machines that have express slots alone, I guess they won't mind.