While it's good news that Intel and Micron introduced the fastest NAND flash memory chip to date, there's more good news on the horizon. A substantial decline in the price of NAND flash memory has gadget companies in a race to bring forward tech with larger storage capacities and lower pricetags. Details in the full article.

Researchers from investment firm Goldman Sachs have revealed that they believe Apple will be rolling out revisions for both the Apple iPhone and the Apple TV come next year. These include a second-generation iPhone as well as an Apple TV sporting a new LCD display. More at the full article.

Sources have confirmed that Apple will soon unveil a touch screen iPod with a 3.5 inch display on the media event scheduled on September 5, or tomorrow. Sporting almost the same physical attributes as Apple's wildly-popular iPhone, the reported touch screen iPod will have a hard drive instead of Flash memory, allegedly.

There are also other rumors that circulate around Apple's hit devices, one being that the new line of iPods will have digital radio function. Some other rumors also mention of a Beatles catalog to be announced on the media event tomorrow

However, rumors aside, we can be assured that it will work more or less the same as the current 5.5G iPod that also has video playback and a high resolution display, with improvements of course.

Check this space often for more updates!

iPod addicts who are worried about the lack of iPod connectivity in a long road trip can now breathe easy as Griffin introduces the iTrip Pocket, which is essentially a very small FM tuner that connects to the iPod and is tiny enough to be snug in a key ring.

Like other Griffin products from before, this one will allow easy tuning with the SmartDisplay user interface that shows the selected frequency. You can preset your favorite station frequencies for easy access. You can even jump from mono and stereo modes effortlessly.

Even with the huge space in your iPod flash memory, there's bound to be a time when you want a degree of unpredictability that is beyond just shuffling tracks. For those days, the Pocket will be more than willing to serve.

Don't look now, but the always-innovative Apple corporation may shake the playing field and change the way we look at laptops and at the same time force hard disk manufacturers to lower their prices.

Shaw Wu, an analyst at American Technology Research says that Apple will soon sell blazing-fast laptops which use flash memory as the main storage device instead of the traditional hard disk. The idea is patterned after the popular iPod mp3 players of the company which use precisely that kind of storage medium.

Flash memory is much faster than the hard drives of today. This means that if the project materializes, long start-up times and file transfers may be a thing of the past. This, Wu says, will put pressure on hard drive makers to improve their wares and at the same time lower their prices to compete with the flash memory market.

Further, flash memory comes in a smaller package, is lighter and more energy-efficient than a bulky hard disk. It also doesn't have spinning parts, which makes it less prone to wear and tear. That means a much sleeker notebook is possible, all the while extending battery life.

The storage capacity of the new notebook's flash memory is yet to be determined, but knowing Apple, experts say that it should be pretty good. The machine will be running on a miniature OS X especially configured for the hardware.

Seeing the initiative from Apple, Wu challenged the flash memory industry, saying "Apple, from what we understand, is pretty much ready. The ball is in the flash vendors' court."

HDD-based storage or solid-state flash? According to the Apple Insider, Apple may just end up choosing the latter over the former by the end of the year.

An article on Apple Insider states that according to an "IT Hardware" report from Prudential Equity Group analyst Jesse Tortora, the move would pave the way for smaller form factor players, a more diverse model mix, and improvements to both battery life and durability.

"We believe that the video iPod transition from 1.8-inch hard disk drives to NAND flash memory may occur as soon as late 2007," Tortora wrote in the report. "Our checks indicate that Apple is considering canceling its next generation HDD-based iPod design, with the form factor refresh involving a move to NAND flash memory."

While flash memory can be more expensive on a $/GB basis, HDD-based storage can be quite susceptible to warping and other problems - problems that can happen more often due to the average iPod user's mobile lifestyle. Tortora also noted that the Nano's transition to flash in late 2005 "provides a guide as to the point at which the previously mentioned non-cost advantages of flash memory outweigh the cost premium."

The only remaining question that Tortora sees is whether or not 32GB contains sufficient capacity to store video content. "Apple currently offers 30GB and 80GB HDD-based models, and will have the option to increase storage capacity up to 120GB this year based on new perpendicular recording technology," he wrote. "While the higher capacities would allow for more video storage, we view battery life as the key consideration for a move to flash."

Tortora explained that replacing the hard drive with flash memory would allow for an increase of about 60 percent in battery life, extending a 30GB iPod's battery life to about 5.5 hour. An HDD-based 30GB iPod is sufficient for around 40 hours of video content, but only has about 3.5 hours of battery life.

The iPod Nano has recently been the subject of PC Watch Japan's scrutiny, as they decided to  open one up to see the technology running behind it. The result of the inquest? Just as people have surmised, the Nano's flash memory of choice is manufactured by Samsung and its 4GB version actually has two 2GB drives installed in them, while the 2GB version only has one. A cost-saving measure perhaps? Afterall, would it be cheaper to just install two 2GB drives as compared to using single 4GB units?

However, as the source was in Japanese, it can't really be determined at this time if you can use the Nano's memory cards with other products, or if is even hackable. So, here's a picture of the dissected iPod Nano instead for the perusal of those who maybe able to unlock the secrets of this electronic guinea pig.

If you ask Seagate, news of the impending death of hard drives (caused by the impending domination of NAND-type flash memory chips) is grossly exaggerated. Otherwise, the company wouldn't have announced its big plan for 2007, which includes 60 to 120GB drives for handheld video devices such as Apple's iPod video.

In an interview with Business Week, Seagate expressed faith in hard drives despite prediction that HD technology will give way to high-capacity flash memory. The company cited that the big three NAND flash memory makers in the world (Samsung, SanDisk, and Toshiba) are investing big money on their respective disk-drive business with no plans of shelving them .

Seagate believes HD will be around for a long time because they are cheaper. Seagate CEO William Watkins said, "It will be a price-per-gigabyte battle...if they can make a 4-GB for $5, then it's $20 for 32 GB, and $40 for 64 GB. On the other hand... when we do a single-platter, 100-GB notebook drive, well it doesn't cost me very much to go to 200 GB. All I have to do is add another platter. It's very cheap for me to go up."

It seems that as the demand for the iPod is growing, so does the market for flash memory. Even if shares of Apple Computer dipped to its 8-month low, there's no denying the fact that the iPod is still the most talked about and the most sought after mp3 player as of now.

The demand for mp3 players in general is what's keeping sales of NAND flash memories afloat. NAND flash-based players accounted for 80 percent of the market in 2005. On the other hand, hard disk drive (HDD)-based portable music players make up the remaining 20 percent of the market.

The conclusion that the high demand for mp3 players will equate to a high demand for flash memory was cemented by the study from research consultancy Gartner. According to Jon Erensen, Gartner research analyst:

"We expect Apple to introduce a new, high-end NAND flash-based iPod by the fourth quarter of 2006, and this player will most likely have 10GB to 12GB of storage capacity... The impact of an iPod with this storage capacity will have significant implications for the NAND flash market."

And since more demand means more profit in a lesser price, it isn't surprising to note that prices for NAND Flash-based players also went down which is a good thing for consumers everywhere. Erensen further speculates that a 16GB memory chip will be available in the third quarter for about $30, down from its current price of about $35. Apple's procurement power and investment totals are substation, so it is conceivable that it could get pricing for a device at $25 or even $20.

On one hand, Gartner predicts a 5.8 percent shortage of NAND flash supply in the fourth quarter of 2006 that will persist into the first quarter of 2007 with a 2.6 percent shortage. But amidst that, the research firm also wants to note that the dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) market has been a direct beneficiary of the strength in the NAND flash market as massive capacity was converted from DRAM to NAND flash in 2005.

The 2GB iPod nano displayed amazing resilience to abuse during a stress test by Ars Technica: after throwing the device from a speeding vehicle at up to 50 Mph and running it over twice failed to stop the music from playing (despite its malfunctioning screen), according to the report. Ars finally manages to stop the music by throwing the Nano straight up into the air, roughly 40 feet, and letting it smash onto the concrete.

The autopsy reveals "amazing engineering" and the usage of Toshiba flash memory chips rather than Samsung memory. Apple has also apparently moved away from Synaptics for click wheel manufacturing: the click wheel inside the 2GB Nano dissected appears to be designed from scratch, according to the report.