Even hardcore Apple fans aren't too thrilled with the iTV. And that's for a bunch of good reasons. The set-top-box is supposed to allow users to download movies (for a fee, of course) and watch them in "near-DVD quality". It's not really a revolutionary device, but Apple thinks that enabling content to be streamed from any Mac OS- or Microsoft Windows-run computer to a television is something worth spending US$ 300 for. Even if Steve Jobs hypes it up, the iTV isn't really going to get the same reception the iPod's gotten.

But what if Apple licenses TiVo's technology and uses it with the new iTV? Now, THAT would be something that just might interest us all!

But before you get all giddy, we'd have to remind you that this is a wild rumor posted at PVRblog. There's no firm evidence whatsoever, not just yet. But if you think about it, it's not an impossibility. In addition to the supposed Apple-TiVo partnership, iTV supposed to "officially" be called the Mac Media Capsule. With such a craptacular name, that Tivo deal should materialize and soon!

Apple will enlighten us when Macworld kicks off on January 9, 2007.

Universal Music Group is hoping to strike a deal with Apple wherein the music company will seek a royalty fee for every iPod sold. That's yesterday's news alright, so the question is would Apple jump at the prospect of giving Universal a piece of the iPod  financial windfall?

ITWire's Stan Beer's opinion: Not likely. We know full well that iPod is the MP3 market leader and Zune is, well, let's just say a new fish who got lost in the iPod sea. Having said that, it's highly unlikely that Apple would see the benefit of sharing the company wealth to Universal.

Universal got Microsoft to sign the deal because it seriously thinks that in doing so, it would succeed in driving "a wedge between the music industry and Apple".  We're not discounting the possibility that it will work, but Microsoft has to successfully get a significant market share in the legal music download department. The way things are, it's going to be an uphill climb for Microsoft and Zune.

We tend to agree with Beer when he said this: "The clear message for Doug Morris and Universal is that their best bet of getting a piece of the action on iPod sales is to buy some Apple shares."

Vivendi-owned Universal Music Group is at again. After striking a deal with Microsoft where Universal gets a fee for every Zune sold, Chief Executive Doug Morris is on a mission to make a similar agreement with Apple and its iPod.

Morris said, "It would be a nice idea. We have a negotiation coming up not too far. I don't see why we wouldn't do that...but maybe not in the same way."

Though no figures were disclosed, the Microsoft deal must have given Universal's revenues a boost, prompting the company to push for a royalty deal with Apple. If the agreement pushes through, it wouldn't be surprising if other music companies follow suit. It's very possible as music companies are finding ways to increase revenues while competing with the insanely popular pastime: music downloading.

Before the iMacs and the iPods, there were tons of Apple prototypes that never got to see the light of day. Websites such as The Apple Museum and The Apple Collection have posted some of the concept designs and prototypes for Apple faithfuls to visit. It's a massive line-up. Since our work eats up most of our time, we're quite thankful that Michael of Apple Gazette has compiled five of the god-knows-how-many Apple devices that never made it to the production line.

It's an interesting list, to say the least. It somehow shows how most of Apple's designs are ahead of their time. All of the prototypes were introduced in the 90s, so it's really interesting to know that even though some of them are more than 10 years old, the features they have are the very same ones we see  today in other products. Why they got shelved, only Apple knows.

Take for instance the Apple PowerBop; it was said to be the first Powerbook with wireless Internet access. Were we even thinking of wireless Internet back in 1993?

It seems back in the 90s, Apple was quite obsessed with multi-function devices. It's as if they were out to create the Swiss Army knife of the digital scene. One that's most likely to be close to that idea is the Apple Paladin, which is actually a computer, a fax machine, a scanner, and a phone rolled into one. We understand why Apple would abandon this idea, because there are not many all-in-one devices that really sell.

The Apple PenLite is a combination of a PowerBook Duo and a Tablet PC. It could've have worked, but Apple thought at that time that the onslaught of PC Tablets in the market would hurt the PenLite's chances. But what really showed promise then was the Apple Videophone PDA - a mobile Videophone with PDA functionality. We can't say the same thing about the Wizzy Active Lifestyle Telephone (W.A.L.T.) though. The device was actually a portable phone with touch-screen functions (ala Nintendo DS) and PDA features. Apple never explained why they abandoned the idea. It must be the name.

Kids whose parents are certified Mac-aholics would be pleased with this bit of info. Disney Online finally made the kid-friendly PC-based MMO Disney's Toontown Online available to Macintosh computers. Disney must have realized that everyone should get in on the fun and welcome Mac players into the wacky world of Toontown.

Mac users will now join the 15 million Toon characters created in the game. What's more, Disney is adding new "gags to keep players on their toon-toes". It's a little something for Mac players who got left behind for a good three years.

The gag bag includes the Wedding Cake throw gag, an Ocean liner drop gag, an Opera Voice sound gag, and more gags waiting to be unlocked once you reach the highest level on each of their gag tracks. These gags are fun to use especially when you go battling the Cogs. If you're not up to some Cog-nuking, you can always plant these gags using the recently added Estate Gardening feature.

Toontown Online for Mac and PC is available via digital download for US$ 9.95 per month. Extended membership packages are also available at special rates, so the the whole family can create their own characters.

Just when we thought we've gotten the first confirmation that "iPhone" is in the works, here comes news that would put the phone back in the "mystery files" folder.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (a.k.a Foxconn International) has won a contract that will have the company manufacture Macbooks and, to quote Forbes.com, "12 million mobile handsets that also function as music players".

We did warn about a possible mistranslation from the original source, and that the mobile handsets could probably be just MP3 players. We didn't put much thought about it until Hon Hai declined to comment on the announcement, saying that it doesn't respond to "market rumors". So, there goes our supposed confirmation.

And to keep the iPod phone shrouded in mystery,a Foxconn spokesman said that the company provides mobile phone manufacturing services to Motorola and Nokia Ojy. He added that Apple is not one of Foxconn's existing customers (in the mobile phone business, that is).

Now, we're back to where we started from. The best thing to do? What we usually do. Wait.

Digital Multimedia Broadcast (DMB) is big in Korea, but that doesn't mean other countries should be left out in the cold when it comes to direct-to-home multimedia transmissions. Thanks to Elgato Systems' EyeTV Diversity DVB-T Stick, Mac users can join in the fun and with Dual Tuner to boot!

Sure, there's really nothing new with watching digital terrestrial television (DTT) on a Mac, but with EyeTV Diversity you get uninterrupted coverage even when you're stuck in areas with weak reception. And that's not the only thing that gets going for this product. It allows you to actually watch two channels simultaneously. Or if you're just not up for a TV marathon, you can watch one and record another directly to your Mac's hard drive. You can also have your own "director's cut" version of the show with the edit features. Sweet!

It's just quite unfortunate that this amazing USB 2.0 stick is only available in select countries where DTT or DVB-T is broadcast. No U.S. the last time we checked.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak may not be as visible as Steve Jobs, but when the "other Steve" talks, he sure gets our attention.

The Times Online got Wozniak talking about money, taxes, and why he carries US$ 20,000 cash in his pocket (no typo there, the zeroes are in the right places). While that's one brow-raising statement, we can't blame him for carrying so much moolah because he needs to get his gadget fix. Yes, folks, the 56-year old multi-millionaire is still gadget-crazy, with a certain fixation to Segway scooters, environment-friendly hybrid cars, and plasma televisions. With such high-end toy addiction, it becomes understandable why Woz carries around that much money. That's on top of the credit cards that he use "quite a lot now". It's not hard to tell that Woz is a huge spender, eh?

The Times tried to dig up some financial info from Woz, but unfortunately, he's not quite certain about the status of his investments or how much he earns. He leaves it up to his accountant and broker. But he did say, "IÂ?m an engineer, not a money person, but I do remember using some of the proceeds from selling my Apple stock to buy a house in Scots Valley, California."

It's quite interesting to know that a person of his stature really doesn't keep track of his investments. Perhaps that makes his proposed change in US tax system seem a little bit strange and would make economists cringe: "I would like to see all assets taxed instead, although I think it would save everyone a lot of time and energy if the government just deflated the economy by 1 per cent a year by printing more money. That will never happen, though."

But it's easy to lose track of investments and all "unimportant" tax and government issues when you're just happy with your life, right? That seems to be the case for Woz.

Here's an old concept with a new twist. Remember VH1's Pop-Up Videos, where a "bubble" containing trivia and witty remarks pop up throughout the music videos? Well, that's what SpotDJ reminds me of. Of course, this time, it doesn't involve music videos.

SpotDJ brings together people with the same tastes in music by enabling them to record and share interesting info and juicy gossips about their favorite artists and songs. This would probably be a hit to music trivia junkies who siphon off as much information about music artists as possible.  

SpotDJ works with iTunes and plays short audio commentaries or tidbits (also called spots) about a particular song or artist while the music is being played. All the spots are user-generated and they get shared with other people tuning in to the same song, provided the listeners click on a button.

We're not quite sure how the free service would fare with music lovers who want uninterrupted listening sessions. But, more than the music and artist tidbits, SpotDJ will surely create a market where "would-be" DJs and trivia junkies can get their music fix.

When the new generation of video iPods was rolled out, older fifth-generation (5G) iPods got some lovin' when software updates brought some new functionality to the aging version of the handheld music device. Of course, the update didn't include the new Google search feature, but 5G iPod owners are still thankful for the new software features, which include higher-resolution video support as well as the ability to play iPod games.

But the best thing that came out of the software update is the much improved battery life. It turns out, longer battery life is achieved through optimizations in software.

Jason Snell of Playlist Mag puts the "updated" iPod to the test. His pre-update iPod gave up after four hours and fifteen minutes of "Desperate Housewives" and Who Wants to be a Superhero". After the update, his iPod was able to play for four hours and 53 minutes (at maximum brightness to boot). That's 39 minutes more of viewing time. Not bad at all. That's already one episode more than the pre-update iPod. But wonders never ceased. The iPod kept running until late at night. It ran out of gas after nine hours and 10 minutes of video playback.

That goes to show that the iPod software update not only brought nifty features to older 5G iPods, but it also gave battery life a big big boost.