Beta 4 or 5A258f - call it as the coder inside you would, but Apple's fourth build for the iPhone SDK Beta rolled out today. It's reportedly coming out with a plethora of tools, samples, frameworks - some that were present in the previous builds. But most importantly, SDK Beta 4 updates the simulator formerly known as Aspen with Open GL ES support. Find out more on this update at the full story.

 

If you haven't had enough iPhone news and details, then we've got some more for you. German Mac site, Macwelt, was able to squeeze in some more iPhone details from Apple. The details ranges from the technical aspects (such as, where would the OS be stored?) to the more shallow bits (could my iTunes songs be used as ringtones?). Well here are some of the bits we have found.

On the issue of where the OS is gonna be stored. The Macwelt article mentioned that the OS would be stored alongside your music, but fret not, because Apple says that it will just occupy one half of a gigabyte. So you still have 3.5 or 7.5 GB room for your pics and music.

Apple would also have the final word as to what software would be installed on the iPhone. Also, you will not be able to purchase some iTunes Store goodies directly from your iPhone. Probably, Apple and Cingular didn't see eye-to-eye about this issue.

Now, the mind bugging question still remains unanswered, "would I be able to use my iTunes song as a ringtone?" The answer my friend, is no. You cannot use them as you alarm clock tones as well. Aww...that's too bad. In the Macwelt interview, they also found out that Apple will not let users use VoIP on the iPhone.

The German site also squeezed this particular info about plugins. Apple says that there will be as many enabled plugins as possible and Flash and Java will be enabled.

Hmm, I don't know about you but I'm still pretty bummed about that iTunes-ringtone tidbit. To read the interview, click on the read-link below for a Google-translated version.

The iPod killer, the future-proof MP3 player, the cool-looking portable Hard Drive. The Zune's been called a lot of things (we'll omit what the iPod dudes have to say for now), and while we do like the functions that it's been churning out, and Bill Gate's exceeding expectations for his (other) little black box, we were beginning to wonder just how people took to it as compared to the iPod.

"I have never heard of the Zune," came the reply of one sales clerk when asked about the Zune, at least according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. Munster had conducted a survey on at 40 major retails stores, and found in his results that only 8% of the sales clerks ever recommended the Zune, with 75% recommending the iPod for customers.

"In fact, some MP3 player salespeople had not even heard of the Zune, despite the fact that they sold it in their store," Munster also writes in his report. Ouch. As of Tuesday, the Zune's on the #22 spot for Amazon's most sold MP3 player, the 30-gigabyte ipod taking the #1 spot, the 1-gig iPod shuffle at #3, and the pink 4-gig Nano at #5.

And what of marketing for the Zune? "our checks show that Zune ads are being placed more selectively than iPod ads," Munster said, adding that the Zune "is off to a slow start; from sales perspective as well as the marketing perspective." Given the season's just starting up, we're going to have to see what lies in store for the Zune.

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."

Sports buffs that take their 30-60GB iPod jogging should not worry about their own health but their iPods'. Justin Schero, a technology sales associate at the University of Florida Bookstore, said Apple doesn't sell the armband for the 30- and 60-gigabyte iPods because jogging with these models can damage them.

"It's not necessarily going to break it. It's going to wear it down real quick," Schero said.

John K. Schueller, UF mechanical and aerospace engineering professor recommends the iPod shuffle and Nano as better exercise companions. He explains that since the Shuffle and the Nano are basically USB flash drives, without any movable parts unlike the 30-60GB iPods that have hard drives for memory storage.

"The hard drive consists of a tiny head, which reads information on a spinning disc. Sharp movements can cause a skip while the song is playing. If it's shaken too much, the head may get too close or too far out of position, and that is when you have a skip." Schueller said.

Leading sports brand Nike further increases the Nano's appeal by introducing the Nike+iPod Sport Kit due out on may 23, 2006 for $29.00. You put a sensor inside your shoe and the receiver connects to your iPod Nano and stores data on running time, distance, pace and calories burned.

Following in the vein of "entrepreneurs" everywhere comes a tech-savvy wedding photographer who offers a unique way for a bride and groom to share their wedding photos.

Jefferson a.k.a. Hey There's a Quick Way to Make a Few Hundred Bucks Todd, a photographer, recently launched his iDo iPods Set, a service that provides two 30-gigabyte iPods loaded with about 50 wedding photos to newlyweds in Arizona. Jefferson, who charges $1,100 for the service, on top of his regular $2,900 wedding coverage fee, said many of his customers are enjoying the service, which also allows family members to access the photos through iTunes.

Apparently so, according to an article in the East Valley Tribune. One of those is Dustin Hanson,

a recent Arizona State University graduate whose engagement and marriage to his wife, Shannon, was recorded by Todd in November. Hanson said it has been a fun and an unusual way to show the pictures to friends. "It makes it really easy to go online and to download and check out the pictures, especially for family members who weren?t able to be there," he said. As for the price, he said it was worthwhile to be on the cutting edge of technology. "It?s brand new," he said. "I got lucky and caught (Todd) when he was just getting started."

$4,000 for wedding photos? No, thanks. Unless you're Annie Leibovitz, I'm not biting. Besides, my 10-year-old nephew said he'd be free that day. And I already know how to load up photos on my iPod ... sure as hell won't be paying some guy $400-plus to do it.

[Via, East Valley Tribune]

For all you daredevils out there, the weak need not apply, there is a tutorial floating on the net that shows you exactly how to beef up your Nano from a modest 4 gigabyte device to an impressive 8 gigabyte MP3 player.

First, a few things to clear up: no, this will not add more bulk to your Nano, it will stay exactly the same size and, yes, it will require a delicate hand, as soldering is absolutely essential. The mod is basically taking the memory from a non-working Nano that you can find on the cheap on Ebay and soldering it into a second slot already available on any 4 gig Nano. Pretty easy if you are a soldering master, can be dangerous if you're not.

I guess the spare circuitry also reveals Apple's previous and future plans of including even more memory options and a larger capacity to the Nano. Interesting, very interesting. That the author claims the Nano recognizes the extra storage space after being reset is strange but cool. Of course, if you lack the daring to fiddle around with your precious Nano, and can spare a few hundred bucks, the author is willing to do the mod for you.

Of course, iPod Updates takes no responsibility if you damage your Nano, as this has not been officially verified as working. Everyone else, please read this.

[Via, Multiarcade]

So you've got that nice display on your 30- or 60-gigabyte Video iPod and you don't quite feel like paying $2 a download for content? You don't want to mess with converting videos either, huh?

Well, you can try some of the free options available out there on the 'net. Though not always the most awe-inspiring clips, the websites that offer them promise hours of enjoyment. Canoe Money offers up a listing of websites with free content. Check out their listing here.

Careful though, with names like Suicidegirls, you might want to filter what you do or don't want to download. But, hey, there's old Popeye cartoons on one of the sites.

[Via, Canoe Money]