Written on September 9, 2008 at 3:58 pm, by Eric
Yesterday I posted about how Apple should release a Bluetooth-capable iPod Touch, and though I was technically wrong about the Bluetooth, they did the next best thing. As far as I can tell, the new 2nd Generation iPod Touch supports a wired microphone!
Coupled with the new built-in speaker, the in-line Mic addition makes the iPod Touch a perfect platform for a great Wi-Fi VoIP application (such as this one). The app could be distributed through Apple’s official App Store and would work on the iPhone too!
Apple Store – $79 Premium Headphones w/ Mic and Remote
Apple Store – $29 Headphones w/ Mic and Remote
Written on September 8, 2008 at 11:18 pm, by Eric
Almost exactly a year ago to this day, rumors were spreading that the then-upcoming Apple iPod Touch would include Bluetooth. Such rumors were quickly debunked, but in doing so, blogger Joel Johnson even speculated about how the feature may have given VoIP applications a boost.
Tomorrow is an Apple Event, and the company is expected to launch a redesigned iPod Nano and possibly new iTunes software as well. What would really be the smart (and probably pretty easy) thing to do would be to add Bluetooth to the iPod Touch. It would give the Touch a new relevance in an iPhone dominated market, by opening up the device to VoIP applications.
It would also benefit consumers by giving them a more ubiquitious home Wi-Fi VoIP device than the current sporadic offerings, and obviously benefit Apple through greater iPod Touch sales. The only group not thrilled by a Bluetooth-equipped iPod Touch would be the phone and cable companies, who love bundling in overpriced VoIP services with their internet and/or TV offerings.
Written on August 29, 2008 at 3:01 pm, by Eric
Since I’ve been offline, a lot has happened in the tech world! Here’s a sampling.
The Nikon D90 is the first digital SLR with HD movie recording (link) and many compact digital cameras already contain the feature, confirming my prediction that the feature would be the “next big thing” among digital cameras. Now if only they’d add a line-in so I could use an external microphone, I’d be in camera heaven!
More publications are picking up on the fact that the iPhone is probably the next major gaming platform. Now if Apple would just get it’s act together and help instead of hinder developers, we could soon see it surpass a major portable gaming platform. To be honest, I could be just hyping up the iPhone as a gaming platform because I want to use it to play Advance Wars…
On a more ominous note, Comcast is the latest major ISP to begin capping data plans (link). As my friend Matt Buchanan explains here, this will basically kill a number of enterprising new internet-based services. If the rest of US ISP’s follow the trend, you’ll soon have to choose between HD movie rentals, Steam or Xbox Live gaming, and Bittorrent usage (oh, and still remember to leave some bandwidth left over to check your mail too!). Meanwhile, countries who have a more competitive field of ISP’s get options like 1.2gbps satellite internet and may have to “suffer” under a bandwidth cap of 30GB – per day. It is well past time to bring the United States’ internet options into the 21st century, or else this country will be left in the dust.