Probably the coolest thing about iPhone is its touch-screen feature. Being among the first mobile phones in the market to have navigation totally dependent on touch-screen technology is definitely one of the main reasons why Apple's currently hitting pay dirt. It's no wonder Apple has decided to implement the same technology on their latest creation, iPod Touch.

Boasting of the same user interface and Cover Flow browsing feature as iPhone's, it should be expected that iPod Touch's screen is as good as its big sister, right? Well, apparently no. According to a screen test comparing Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch being run by Gizmodo, the former's screen is considerably better than the latter. Their findings were explained best here:

The iPod touch's screen turns black areas somewhat grayish, washed out shadow detail, with absolute blacks appearing shimmery. ...I just got an email from a reader complaining his touch's screen "Looks like a negative" in the dark areas. ...Symptoms occur on the touch regardless of brightness level. Here is a case of varying screen qualities, despite them being spec'd the same. ...I think our verdict is that the screen on the touch is not as nice.

To better get the picture (pun intended), we borrow one of the images used by the folks over at Gizmodo and put it up in this post. For more images, follow our read link below.

  

The Apple Summer Mac product conference is already rolling hot with Steve Jobs manning the show. As expected, his keynote address is filled with surprising unveiling of new Apple projects and the "everybody saw this coming" types. Tab this one under the second category - as predicted and whispered around various boards the past few weeks, Apple is giving us brand new iMacs.

Sporting a retroish look, the sleek new iMacs are made of aluminum and glass. It comes in 20- and 24-inched versions, each equipped with the usual but impressive specs such as up to  2.4GHz Core 2 Extreme processor, up to 4GB of memory, ATI Radeon HD graphics card, up to 1TB of hard drive storage. 802.11n and Bluetooth 2.0 built-in. There's also the usual compliment of ports like USB 2.0, Firewire 400/800, a slot loading SuperDrive, iSight camera etc.

What's also worth noting is that the oft-rumored new keyboard for the iMacs turns out to be true, with Steve Jobs himself confirming it. Boasting of large spacing and flat keys, Apple seems to be aiming to give the iMac users the laptop feel while typing. iMac purists seem to be a bit skeptic with the move, but let's all wait and see what happens. The 20-inch iMac goes for US$ 1,199 each (add three hundred bucks more for a processor and graphics enhancements), while the 24-inch monster demands US$ 1,799 per unit.

Not very good news for Steve Jobs and his crew. A crew of researchers from the Independent Security Evaluators has revealed an alarming security flaw with Apple's iPhone. The said security vulnerability (completed by going through a WiFi connection or by tricking users into going to a website that contains malicious code) traces its roots from Apple's Safari web browser.

While demonstrating the exploit via malicious websites, the said hack-for-profit firm was able to infiltrate the iPhone's administrative access thereby allowing them to manipulate SMS logs, go over address book, check call history, listen in on room audio, and even see email passwords. And if the Independent Security Evaluators is to be believed, that's just the tip of the iceberg.

The only available measure against it right now is to closely monitor the sites users visit via their iPhone - something that's way easier said than done. Apple perhaps acknowledging that this security problem could have dire implications to the overall marketing of their product line, is already reviewing the report of the researchers along with their proposed fix.

Independent Security Evaluators is a company that tests its clients' computer security by hacking it themselves. They're planning to hold a a full disclosure of the hack at the upcoming (August 2) Black Hat conference. You can watch their video below:

I've read a recent survey seeking to determine which things most people can't leave their house without. The top three were their purse (money), cellphones, and iPods. I don't know about this guy, but I think he's just leaving up to that age-old saying, "You always hurt the ones you love".

Now I'm not one of those die-hard gadgeteers, and I actually initially thought the video was awesome, especially with that music, until I realize one very uncool thing - they're burning plastic. Hey, I don't care about masochists and what they do to themselves and their belongings, but it does bother me when the thing they do pollute the air I breathe. So let me say "Tomicles, this is not cool!"

Anyway, he dubbed this video "Black iPod Mod". I don't think you can really call it a mod (unless you're Tom Cruise and believe that jumping up and down a couch on national TV feels great), I can't recognize if it's an iPod anymore, well at least it's black; one out of three ain't bad I guess.

We've recently made reports about the earlier version of Connect 360, now we're giving you first dibs on the latest upgrade. Remember the last 0.91 version wherein you can use the Xbox 360 dashboard to browse and play your media, organized in the same way that it is on your Mac? Well the pimped 2.2 version still have those plus streaming of live Internet radio broadcasts (by simply adding your preferred station to a playlist) and access to your iPhoto library. The last one really intrigues me since most Xbox 360s are paired with HD sets, now imagine viewing all those files in life-like high-definition!



The system requirements you need are: Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later; an Xbox 360 with a network connection; iTunes for iTunes sharing; iPhoto for iPhoto sharing; and of course the Connect360 software. The said software automatically acknowledges the Xbox 360 system and detect your Mac running it. Also now, the same version can easily configure your built-in Mac OS X firewall with a single command. Supported formats are MP3, AAC, WAV, AIFF and Apple Lossless for Music; and JPEG, RAW, GIF, PNG, BMP and TIFF formats for Photos.

Click read link below for a free trial, and free upgrade for registered users. You'll need to cough up $15 to own this for good. Hey, if you can spare around $60 for a game, this one sure is'nt going to cause a huge dent in your pocket.

We earlier reported an ad about 5gb and 10gb iPods being spotted in India, now here's a 'Munster' blowing gas to the already flaming rumor. Piper Jaffrey analyst Gene Munster, speculates that Apple will make a move to salvage the market before it completely loses interest in the product. Disappointments were aplenty last April 1 after fans highly anticipating a launching of a touchscreen-equipped iPod in lieu with the company's 30th anniversary, received another delay of Vista proportions.

Munster considers this "letdown" as the primary mover for a possible launching of 8GB and 10GB iPod Nanos in the summer. According to him, since the touchscreen iPod is not set to appear this year, Apple must do something to captivate the buying public in time for Christmas, and an iPod Nano with a larger capacity is currently the most catchy and easiest to develop given the short amount of time. With Apple already announcing their plans to cut their current iPods' prices, the speculation about the looming introduction of new product line dramatically increases. Still, we'll list this one under the rumor's section, we'll keep you posted.

With the heightened danger of living nowadays, everyone needs protection (no, not that kind of 'protection'). It's quite natural to see politicians wearing bullet-proof vests even when they go fishing; teenstars crashing their cars to avoid paparazzi (duih?!); and hard disk drives getting wrapped with specially designed silicon jacket bumper to protect it from unwanted crashes. No, I'm not joking.

Plextor Corp., manufacturer of high-performance digital media equipment, has come up with a portable and shock-proof external hard disk drives for users that are constantly on the go (and troubled by a destructive personality). The product line, dubbed as PX-SP, weighs a mere 8 ounces enabling the computer user with Logan-like tendencies to carry his data without worrying about it getting destroyed whenever he makes a berzerker barrage. It comes in two capacities, 80 GB (PX-SP08U) and 120 GB (PX-SP12U), both compatible with Microsoft(R) Windows(R) and Apple(R) Macintosh(R) personal computers; it also packs a Hi-Speed USB 2.0 port interface paving the way for maximum data transmission speed of 480 Mbps.

Aside for having a penchant for violence, the PX-SP twins also require a personal computer running Windows 2000/XP(TM) or Mac OS 9.1 - 9.2.2 / Mac OS X 10.1 - 10.4.4, with minimum Celeron 466-MHz processor and 64 MB RAM. Set to be available in North and South America in May 2006, anger management dropouts should expect to shell out $169 for PX-SP08U (80 GB capacity) or $260 for PX-SP12U (120 GB capacity). All orders are guaranteed labor warranty and unlimited toll-free technical support (poor customer care agents, expect a lot of cussing coming your way).

Picture this, you're walking around listening to your iPod (or any other MP3 player), and your phone starts vibrating. Naturally, your two God-given (or evolution-made) hands are too occupied with other portables so you go looking for your cellphone's headset. After finding it, you had to remove your iPod's headset and insert the other one to answer the call - then the vibrating stopped. Later on you found out your boss was calling to ask you about a particular assignment, as you were about to explain yourself, he immediately says you're fired.

Everything nowadays is portable, from music players to mobile phones, every household appliance that used to accompany stay-at-home moms have taken a lot of innovations to suit the busy, outgoing lifestyle of today's generation. So it's actually quite a hassle to go rummaging through every single gadget you have with you every time one of them needs attending. Fortunately, Skullcandy has come up with a dual Cellphone/iPod headset (don't worry, unlike other infamous partnerships, this one surely won't crash) that can give you a breathing space with your gadget management.

The two-in-one headset takes away the trouble of switching earphones with its integrated feature enabling the modern-day gadgeteer to switch between two devices via a simple push of a button. A built in microphone ensures your calls sound crystal clear, and you get the bonus of better quality audio on your end. You can even continue to listen to your music privately while you chat on the phone. Whoever said that one cannot go boating on two rivers at the same time definitely needs to take a look at this eyecandy. Priced at a dollar below 30, it sure is quite practical - especially if it can save your job.

My Mom used to say that Â?an apple a day keeps the doctor awayÂ?, well it seems the owner of bank in Japan has a serious fear of doctors as it is about to purchase more than 2,000 Apples Â? AppleÂ?s Macintosh computers that is.

Japan's Aozora Bank Ltd. Is about to switch almost all of its desktop personal computers to Apple Computer IncÂ?s Macintosh computers Â? all 2,300 of them. Considered a taboo especially in the business world since most companies use Microsoft Windows operating system, Aozora is set to start a new trend by replacing its outdated Microsoft computers with Macs.

In a few months, the Japanese bank foresees that about 90% of its machines will be switched to Macs. As of now, around 30-35% of the companyÂ?s computers were already swapped, with some enjoying the smooth iMac computers that allows employees to interact a la videoconference thru a camera perched atop the unit.

Mac OS X, AppleÂ?s latest operating system set to make machines more functional and stable, has made the decision to change computers easy for Aozora according to its chief technology officer, Bill Chute. Â?Before OS X, it would have been impossible, because Macs didn't have the reliability and the functions that Aozora needsÂ?, he explained.

Although even Apple knows it still has a long a way to go for them to be considered at par with MicrosoftÂ?s market dominance, it still has its fair share of success, particularly on small and mid-sized businesses. However, with more and more companies like Aozora embracing the latest Macs because of its less susceptibility to crashes, itÂ?s only a matter of time before Apple's computers get the nod of bigger companies. When that happens, Bill Gates may start looking around for the doctors Apple has driven away.

Have you ever been in to those days when it seems the whole world has turned it's back on you?  Like every little thing you do sucks, and the only words you can tell yourself are "things can't possibly get any worse", then it does. Apparently, Apple is having, not one, but a lot of those days.

After being sued for causing deafness, being coerced to open their DRM, and being sued for being named Apple, the company that brought consumers the iPod is now on the verge of being forced to make the songs sold at Apple's iTunes Music Store playable on other formats.

This month, French lawmakers have passed a bill calling for major changes in Apple's digital music offerings. The French bill calls for Apple and other companies to offer digital music in formats that play on all digital music devices, including those by main competition Sony and Samsung.
By May, the Senate will get hold of the said bill. There are strong speculations that the law will pass the scrutiny. Paul Rechter, a spokesman for the French Minister of Culture and Communications said that "the probabilities are very strong".

Apparently, France has blazed a trail as other European Unions are now considering to apply the same legislation.  Even the Danish Minister of Culture, Brian Mikkelsen, just recenlty announced that he plans to introduce similar law by next year to require digital music providers to offer what the industry calls "interoperable" music. According to Toby Lewis, an analyst at consultant MusicAlly in London, "there's a sense that if one country passes a law, the others pay attention. If the French bill passes, it will be entertained in the United Kingdom."

Apple has earlier turned down pleadings from other competitors to let them sell devices that could play copy-protected songs. It prides itself on controlling everything from hardware to software. In a statement, Apple names the bill as a "state-sponsored piracy" warning that if the French bill passes,"legal music sales will plummet just when legitimate alternatives to piracy are winning over customers."
Maybe now things can't get any worse for them, but then again, maybe it will.