Mimicry may be the greatest form of flattery for some, but we doubt that Apple is flattered with this iPod styled mobile phone.  Engadget reports about this iPhone knock off that is currently being sold for roughly £75 (around $150). It looks nothing like the iPhone and to the misinformed consumer, this will look like a really sweet deal.

The iPhone knock-off comes with an iPod like white finish and a Mac OS X wallpaper. A quick visit to the mobile's media player will treat you to a strange Quicktime skin. Also take a good, hard look at the "Apple" logo of iPhone wannabe - yup it has an extra leaf. Buyer beware.

Lots of Apple products have been ripped off and sold for a cheaper price. There was this iPod Nano knock off found in China and there was also this cheap iPod Shuffle wannabe that surfaced months ago. Mimicry may be the greatest form of flattery, too bad it's illegal most of the time.

Okay, maybe not the cancer cure thing, but it certainly seems that Apple is once again setting out to kick some innovation into the USB storage device/media player market. According to AppleInsider, the Cupertino-based company has filed for a patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office titled "Hot unpluggable media storage device."

Presently, iPod users as well as those who use portable media storage devices or other PMPs must first prepare their players to be disconnected from their computers by performing some preparatory unmounting actions through software. The patent, which was filed for in October and published for the first time on Thursday, centers on advanced techniques that would let users skip the unmounting and unplug their peripherals without any data loss or corruption.

"One advantage of the invention is that peripheral devices, e.g., media devices, are able to be 'hot' unpluggable without data loss or corruption," Apple wrote. "Another advantage of the invention is that peripheral devices can have 'plug-and-play' as well as 'remove-and-go' characteristics which better satisfies user needs and usage."

AppleInsider also notes that according to Apple, the invention can be implemented in software, hardware or a combination of the two. It could also be embodied as computer readable code on a computer readable medium such as read-only memory, random-access memory, CD-ROMs, magnetic tape, optical data storage devices, and carrier waves.

There's nothing quite like free stuff, and thanks to Al Gore and his tube-powered brainchild, getting freebies has never been easier. Take today for example. Right now we're focusing the QJ spotlight on Freeware OS X's freeware picks for the month of January.

Freeware, folks. Free. For an unlimited time. Not only that, these applications run the gamut from video and media players to programming apps, making the collection a must-have for all of you Mac lovers out there. Read on for a list of the applications.

• Video: VLC Media Player
• Audio Editor: Audacity
• Chat: Adium
• Graphics: Blender
• Portable Applications: Audacity Portable
• Programming: Smultron
• Torrent: Transmission
• Screensavers: LotsaWater
• Utilities: Yep
• Word Processing: TextWrangler

You can get all of the apps above by giving the "via" link below a little click.

If you're a Mac-user that knows the ins and outs of getting to play video files, surely, you'd know about media player">VLC. It's only the most widely-used, most-reliable, universal media player for your codec'd vids. And if you've called VLC your best friend since god knows when, there's no doubt about it: the VLC orange cone icon is just about as familiar to you as the Adium duck icon.

Are you willing to give your media player a make-over? Here's a nifty little download to get you guys going. After all, while some of us have already grown attached to the orange cone, there's still some room for customization. This neat little make-over kit from Mac Rabbit supplies you with sleek document icons to soup up your application.

Download the .dmg file below and follow these installation instructions:

• Find your copy of VLC in the Finder
• Right or control-click it and select "Show Package Contents"
• Navigate to Contents > Resources
• Drag all the icons from the downloaded disk image to the Resources folder. Confirm that you want to replace the existing files.
• Party! (after restarting the Finder to make the new app icon active)

Download: [VLC Make-Over kit]

This post is for those who want to know how Microsoft's Zune - often tagged as THE iPod killer - stacks up against Apple's ubiquitous media player, in this case the 80GB model. Judging from the pictures, the Zune is just a bit longer than the iPod, and while the iPod is a bit thinner, the Zune is surprisingly lighter according to the reviewer (no exact figures on the weights though). In terms of screen size, the Zune has the edge with a bigger 3-inch screen. Check out the images below for a sneak peek.

 
 

There's been much talk about Apple's big media event on September 12. And yes, there have been rumors, lots of rumors, about what they're going to reveal next week. What will it be, really? A new product in the whole iThis, iThat, iFranchise? American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu has an idea.

Their research has shown that an Apple smartphone has moved from concept stage, to prototype, to testing, and to what could now be nearing completion as a production unit. An Apple smartphone? Yes, it seems as if its already been under development for twelve months now, with Apple trying to produce the right blend of cell phone and media player. And Wu has provided us with a rather detailed account of what we could expect:

"The design will be an iPod nano-like candy bar form factor and come in three colors (we are not certain of the exact colors but we suspect black, white, and platinum, similar to Apple's current color scheme of iPods and iMacs)."

Errr... "Candy bar form?" Well, it definitely sounds intriguing, and all we can do is sit and wait patiently for Steve Jobs to finally spill the beans by next week. Still, an iPod-phone will definitely revolutionize the mobile-media-device arena, and we're definitely keeping our fingers crossed for this.

The delay of the video iPod is raising a lot of buzz on what the next incarnation of Apple's ever popular digital player will be. Here are some of those rumors and why Think Secret thinks they will remain likely as rumors:

Rumor: The next-gen iPod will surface as a "talking" iPod  - with voice-activated controls.
The Rumor Buster: According to Think Secret sources say yes, the talking technology is there. But no as Apple has yet to figure out how to implement it. Plus the company doesn't think a talking iPod would be a big seller.

Rumor: Apple's next iPods will be lit by organic light-emitting diode displays (OLED)
Rumor Buster: Again Think Secret sources say Apple ruled out the display technology due to the limited life-span of OLED displays. Plus OLEDs don't shine out in direct sunlight. Apple will continue to use LCD displays.

Rumor: iPod will go wireless because the MS iPod Killer (a possible rumor itself) due out by Christmas will feature Wi-Fi functionality. The rumors were so convincing the Daily Mail ran a headline announcing Apple and Microsoft's "race to launch wireless iPod".
Rumor Buster: iPods will not go Wi-Fi because it doesn't fit Apple's media player plans explained the sources. Wi-Fi will compromise battery life which is one of Apple's top priorities for its portable devices. Plus going wireless means slower transfer speeds and Apple has no plans for a music store interface that enables users to purchase and download songs on the go.

Rumor: Apple has put its iPod phone (or iPhone) development plan in deep freeze but will thaw and release it next year.
Rumor Buster: Several analyst reports have suggested that the possibility of a 2006 release for the iPhone is as cold as as ice.

And I thought the rumor about Microsoft creating an iPod rival was long gone. Apparently, it isn't...and that rumor's back, providing us with some believable info on Microsoft's plans for this Apple iPod rival. "Sources" close to this matter are saying that the company does have a plan to start the sale of digital music and video players by Christmas.

Since it's aiming to compete with the iPod - which inevitably means also competing with the iTunes Music Store - Microsoft plans to have a wireless feature which will enable the downloading of videos and music over-the-air.

Aside from this, the company has also been reported to be talking with several record companies these past weeks and has been said to be developing a media software application similar to the integrated ecosystem of iTunes for this rumored media player. If Microsoft is going to push through with its plans to go head-to-head with Apple's iPod, it really needs to build an "integrated seamless ecosystem for digital media" like the iTunes.

We'll see soon enough if this rumor turns out to be true.

iTunes, Apple's digital media player application, has been updated to v6.0.5. This latest version includes the following features:

• Allows previewing, buying, and downloading music videos, short films, and hit TV programs on the iTunes Music Store, and sync music and purchased videos with iPod to enjoy on the go.
• Allows synching  Nike + iPod workout data to nikeplus.com for progress tracking, setting training goals, challenging others, and much more. Visit the Nike Sport Music area on the iTunes Music Store to download workout mixes, Athlete Inspiration playlists, Nike podcasts, and more.

iTunes v6.0.5 requires

• Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later
• Mac OS X version 10.4.2 or later is recommended
• Windows 2000 or XP

Download: [iTunes v6.0.5 for Windows]
Download: [iTunes v6.0.5 for Mac]

QuickTime is a multimedia technology developed by Apple that is capable of handling various formats of digital video, sound, text, animation, music and immersive panoramic images. And recently, the Mac user's media player of choice has gotten even better, with the release of QuickTime 7.1.2. This new version addresses an issue with Apple's DVD creation software application called iDVD. It requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later and is recommended for all QuickTime 7 users.

Download: [QuickTime 7.1.2]