While there was some speculation that Apple might include its Apple TV in the music-related rollout event from last week which brought us a video camera-equipped iPod nano, it was a no-show. But then this week, Apple quietly discontinued the small capacity 40 GB model and reduced the price of the 160 GB model by $100 to $229 (the price of the old 40 GBer). No additional tweaks to the hardware or functionality added to the software for the device–just a price drop on Apple’s lil’ hobby.

The Apple TV hasn’t been a barnburner for the company, but then again we don’t really know since Apple has never released sales figures for the device (a tactic, as Wired’s Gadget Lab notes, Steve Jobs has previously called a sign of weakness when referring to other companies who won’t divulge sales numbers of their premier products). However, it’s been estimated that several million people own Apple TVs–including me (purchased in conjunction with a book project I worked on)–and it’s getting to a point where we Apple TV owners would really like to know whether there’s a future for this device.

Yes, it does its advertised job as being a conduit to video purchased from the iTunes store (which is the only TV that my family watches since we cut the cable), and it’s a handy way to stream music from one part of my home to another where we have our entertainment center. But it would be far more useful if it had some of the access to additional streaming content such as Hulu or Netflix instead of just YouTube (which certainly entertains my toddler with a variety of LOL cat videos, but the resolution is crappy on the HDTV). At some point this Fall, I’m going to get around to doing some hacking with either the set of software pieces from ATV Flash and/or Boxee. I’ll let you know how it goes.

• Rumor revue: the iTablet makes a comeback this week, with a Taiwanese newspaper saying a 9.6-inch tablet will be released in February priced between $800 and $1,000 (via The Apple Blog). And possibly coming to AT&T?
• Now Google says that Apple did indeed reject the Google Voice app for the iPhone. Au contraire, says Apple.
• TUAW reports that HP this week released the latest version of its MediaSmart servers (the 1 TB EX490 and 1.5 TB EX495–both of which include three empty hard drive bays for further terabytes of expansion), and that they’ve gotten even more Mac-friendly. The MediaSmart server can now be controlled by a Mac (previously you had to do it from a Windows machine) and it now offers full recovery of a Mac via Time Machine. For more, check out this review of the new Mac-centric features at MediaSmarthome.com.
• The gang over at TidBITS finds even more hidden “refinements” in the recently released Snow Leopard OS X 10.6, including added functionality in iChat, screen sharing, and option-clicking tricks (I even make a cameo appearance). Speaking of Snow Leopard, it looks like Apple’s decision to release it at under $30 is paying off quite well, as 9to5Mac reports that it’s outsold both Leopard and Tiger in just two weeks.
• If you’re worried about possible radiation side effects from using your iPhone, check out the Pong iPhone 3G/3GS case, which combines a silicone exterior with an interior that is “scientifically proven” to reduce radiation (via Gearlog).
• NewTeeVee has a side-by-side comparison of video shot by the new iPod nano and video from a standard definition Flip camcorder, determining that the Flip offers the better picture quality.
• AppleInsider reports that some lucky iPhone users have been getting treated to an early rollout of the MMS picture messaging service, which is scheduled to go live on September 25. If you’re not sure what MMS is (or tethering, the other long-promised feature from AT&T), check out this handy break-down from iLounge.
• CNet’s iPhone Atlas blog features some bug workarounds and tips galore for the new in-iTunes app management function for iPhones and iPod touches.
• iLounge gives the new Madden NFL 10 iPhone app from Electronic Arts a B+, but I’m waiting for some real football gaming action with EA’s FIFA 10 soccer game, which will be released in late October. Check out a preview over at Pocket Gamer.
• I was having some trouble finding the new pre-made ringtones that Apple announced last week, but Ars Technica reminded me that they’re only available from the iPhone’s iTunes app (not the desktop)… which is a little frustrating. However, you can still make custom ringtones from some of your previously purchased iTunes songs via the desktop application. And there’s third-party software such as Ambrosia’s iToner to help you out.
• Lifehacker lists its top 5 features it wishes the new iTunes 9 included.
• And finally… the recent Apple music event in the form of adjectives only:

–Agen G.N. Schmitz

The big news from Apple’s iPod event on Wednesday was the release of camera-enabled, fifth-generation iPod nanos as well as new revs of the iPod shuffle, iPod classic and iPod touch (sans camera). You can check out the full lineup here–all currently available for pre-order. Additionally, Steve Jobs and company (yes, the Thin Man was back at the center of the ring) introduced the new iTunes 9 software with some new design elements and features like Home Sharing, iTunes LP and Genius Mixes and an update to the iPhone OS (to version 3.1). But for many, the event was a bit of a let-down (which was evident with a lack of applause during the introduction of the 5G iPod nano; check out the video podcast of the event from iTunes) with the glaring omission of the camera on the iPod touch.

Jobs tried to add some cover by reiterating that the iPod touch was more oriented to be a gaming device (a meme that Apple certainly pushed during the event with a cavalcade of game developers trotted out). But Ars Technica points out that a good majority of responders to its polling were disappointed by the lack of camera and would not purchase an iPod touch because of that fact. And Gizmodo’s Jesus Diaz offers some explanations (excuses) why Apple wasn’t able to deliver on the rumored camera. However, AppleInsider has some inside scoopage that explains the camera-less 3G iPod touch debut and offers some hope that we’ll be seeing one at some point down the line.

• Check out some hands-on looks at the new iPod nano from TUAW, Wired’s Gadget Lab, Engadget, iLounge and CNet’s Crave (which shot the photo at the right).
• iLounge adds 15 things you didn’t know about the new crop of iPods, including a brighter screen for the iPod nano and voice control capabilities for the iPod touch.
• Many in the gadgetosphere have been wondering why the new 5G iPod nano just does video and not still photos. Steve Jobs explains to David Pogue in the NYTimes (via Pocket-lint) about the lack of still photo capabilities:
  

  That reason, he said, is technical: the sensors you need to record video are extremely thin these days—thin enough to fit into the wafer-thin Nano. But the ones with enough resolution for stills, especially with autofocus (like the sensor in the iPhone), are much too thick to cram into a player that’s only 0.2 inches thick.

• I’m digging the new Home Sharing feature of iTunes 9, which lets you drag and drop media from one computer to another authorized computer on your home network. But Dave Zatz of the Zatz Not Funny! blog noticed the same glaring limitation that I discovered fairly quickly. It only works if the computers are signed in using the same iTunes account. I’ve got machines that use two different accounts (done for tracking separate music and video purchases), and when I first tried Home Sharing I ended up getting the basic shared directory (which doesn’t allow drag and drop). So now I’ve got both machines on the same account and it’s working swimmingly. But I agree with Dave that I’d love to see the next version of Home Sharing be able to have some kind of “family unit” functionality that links multiple accounts together, since my wife is now starting to buy media from iTunes with another account associated with her new iPhone.
• The new iPod nano also includes an integrated FM radio, a feature that Apple has been loathe to include in the past. Wired’s Gadget Lab thinks it knows why Apple acquiesced:
  

  In addition to live pausing of the radio stream (and rewinding up to 15 minutes through the buffer) you can tag tracks by hitting the center button. If a radio station supports it, the song info is saved and later you can see a list in iTunes alongside, you guessed it, the option to buy the song. Of course, the fact that the new Zune HD has an HD radio inside may also have influenced Apple’s decision.

• One of the big features touted in the 32 GB and 64 GB models of the iPod touch was the new faster processor (which was also placed in the iPhone 3GS); the 8 GB model didn’t get the processor boost. iLounge shot a couple of videos comparing the speeds of the older generation with the new 3G iPod touch, and the speed increase is quite visible.
• Perhaps Apple is getting tired of its so-called hobby called the Apple TV. Engadget HD reports that this week’s announcement of DVD-like extras added to some movies will only work when played through iTunes–and not on the Apple TV. As an Apple TV owner who uses the device as his primary vehicle for video playback (no cable, no live TV), this is very disappointing.
• There was some other non-iPod/iTunes/iPhone-related Apple news from the week, including the release of the first update to the Snow Leopard operating system (10.6.1). The TidBITS staff takes a look at some of the bug fixes that comes with this release–including the infamous black screen that occurred when using the Screen Sharing feature and the security problems with Adobe Flash. And developers are continuing to release updates to software that are compatible with Snow Leopard. TUAW has a brief rundown and point to the Does it work on Snow Leopard? site, where you can search to see if applications have been updated.
• And finally… some pretty cool vinyl sticker decorations for you MacBook found on Etsy via BuzzFeed.

  

–Agen G.N. Schmitz

For a company that is so focused on conveying just the right messaging in its marketing and public events, today’s music-focused press event to roll out the 2009/10 iPod lineup and changes to iTunes didn’t quite gel with the “It’s only rock and roll, but we like it” pre-event billing as Norah Jones played it out (as seen at right). But maybe the audience needed some of her soothing tunes after the disappointment of not getting what most considered a shoo-in–an integrated camera for the 3rd generation iPod touch.

It seems that the rumors of “technical problems (bad parts)” with the new camera-enabled iPod touch (as reported by AppleInsider) might have been true. Now, a 3rd-gen iPod touch did get announced, but it essentially is just a speeds-and-feed release–which would explain why Phil Schiller spent so much time touting its gaming cred. The 32 GB and new 64 GB models have been given the same faster processing power as found in the iPhone 3GS, and the entry-level 8 GB model gets a price drop to $199.

However, making a bigger splash was the iPod nano, which did get the rumored camera treatment with video capture capabilities (but not HD–it shoots a 640 x 480-pixel resolution). Other new features include a larger 2.2-inch display, an FM radio with DVR-like live pausing capabilities, and a built-in pedometer that can track steps taken and calories burned. The 8 GB models are $149 while the 16 GB models are just $179.

The rest of the iPod lineup got some minimal refreshment as well, with the iPod classic getting a bump in storage to 160 GB and the iPod shuffle getting more colors and a price drop to $59 for the 2 GB model and $79 for the 4 GB model.

In other news, Steve Jobs was back and looking thin… but not too thin. And the latest update to the iPhone OS (3.1) and iTunes (number 9) have been released and are downloadable. We’ll have more on these in our regular Friday column.

All the new iPods are available for pre-order, and you can browse through them here.

–Agen G.N. Schmitz

As per tradition, the online Apple Store is shuttered, foretelling of the goodies to come from today’s press event where a variety of music-related announcements will be made. Most certain to be announced will be a completely refreshed lineup of iPods (most likely with cameras, though the actual release is rumored to be delayed) as well as a new digital album format code-named Cocktail (supposedly more multimedia-oriented than just a PDF download of the CD booklet), and an upgrade to iTunes version 9 (which could get some social networking fizz added). A new possibility making the rounds this morning has high-definition video playback coming to the new iPods.

However, it’s looking likely that the White Whale of Apple rumors–the Beatles coming to iTunes–looks to not be in the cards for today. At least that’s what an EMI Records spokesperson said: “(W)e look forward to the day when we can make the music available digitally. But it’s not tomorrow.”

The event will be starting shortly at 10am PDT, and we’ll update this post with some of the big announcements and then have another post later in the day that wraps up all the details.

[9:58am] Looks like one cat’s out of the bag — Codename Cocktail looks to be iTunes LP (as noted in the promotional page for the new iTunes 9 via this link, which opens in iTunes).

[10:06am] Steve Jobs is back, and looking thin–but not gaunt. And the first goodie got get unveiled is iPhone OS 3.1 with new Genius functionality and ringtones (30K from the major labels).

[11 am] The highlights:

• New iPod nano gets a camera with video recording, FM radio and pedometer
• The current version of the iPod touch gets a price drop but no new version with a camera (possibly confirming the rumors that the new version of the iPod touch has been delayed by production/technical issues) and a new higher capacity 64 GB model
• iPod classic with upgraded capacity to 160 GB
• iPod shuffle gets more colors
• iTunes 9 with improved sharing between multiple home computers, app management, and the iTunes LP with exclusive artist content (lyrics, liner notes, video, etc.)
• iPhone OS 3.1 with new Genius mixes and downloadable pre-made ringtones

We’ll have a full wrap-up later in the afternoon.

–Agen G.N. Schmitz

There’s a lot of fallout, updates and new discoveries about the recent Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard release as well as the usual bits and bytes of Apple-y goodness (and frustration), so let’s get right to it (image at right via Flickr user Kessiye):

• As with most OS upgrades, users are finding a myriad of software compatibility problems with Snow Leopard (which probably wasn’t helped by its early release into the wild). TUAW reports how Logitech keyboard/mouse users (such as myself–I loved reviewing the Wave so much I bought two) can get their hardware working again. And TidBITS offers some workarounds to getting 1Password to work with the 64-bit version of Safari in Snow Leopard.
• Upgraders are already discovering some problems in Snow Leopard (including two-line URLs broken in PDFs viewed in Apple’s Preview application), and there’s already some details leaking out about some of the fixes in the upcoming Snow Leopard 10.6.1 update. But perhaps the most egregious error on Apple’s part is its inclusion of a previous version of Adobe’s Flash Player, which is susceptible to hacking. If you’ve installed Snow Leopard, make sure your Flash Player is the most recent version.
• The New York Times wrote this week that the iPhone is the “Hummer of cellphones” due to its users heavy guzzling of data, which results in dropped calls, spotty service and delayed voice messages. The NYTimes Bits blog followed up with a response from AT&T, which basically boiled down to “nothing to see here, move along.” But as Eric Savitz at the Barron’s Tech Trader Daily blog points out, the real world experience of AT&T’s customers certainly supports the NYTimes article. From my experience, my reception and calls have been fine, but I regularly don’t receive voice mail messages until hours (sometimes 24 hours) after they’ve been sent to me.
• In other AT&T news, it looks like the company is finally going to roll out the iPhone’s MMS service (which enables you to send pictures via the text messaging application) on September 25… just missing the summer window that they promised. However, still no word on a tethering plan (enabling you to use the iPhone as a 3G modem).
• If you’ve got a new Mac with a DisplayPort video output, TUAW reports that you’ll see some new display options when you connect to an HDTV via an HDMI adapter.
• Yojimbo–one of my favorite, always-on pieces of software–has gotten an upgrade to version 2.0. If you’re not familiar with it, Yojimbo (which is also named after my fave Akira Kurosawa movie) is essentially a storage locker (or junk drawer, depending on your view) for all the digital bits in your life–from web passwords to serial numbers to ephemeral web links that you might just one day need after all. In addition to a sweet new icon, the 2.0 version adds a Tag Explorer and improves the Quick Input Panel, the floating Drop Dock, and synchronization with MobileMe (via MacNN and Cult of Mac.
• iStat Menus from iSlayer–another essential software tool I rely on every day–has also been upgraded to 2.0 status and full compatibility with Snow Leopard. The free utility helps you monitor what’s going on with your system from the menu bar–including RAM, network in/out, temperature as well as a better time/date item than Apple’s basic system implementation (via TUAW).
• Here’s an eco twist on the Mophie Juice Pack battery case for the iPhone 3G/3GS: the Solar Surge from Novothink. While it doesn’t provide the 6 hours of additional talk time that the Juice Pack does (or 4.5 hours of the slimmer Juice Pack Air), the integrated solar panel on the back of the case will get you about 30 minutes of talk time on a 3G network after charging the Surge in 2 hours of direct sunlight. A Surge is also coming for the iPod touch, which will come out first and be followed by the iPhone version later in the fall (via Engadget).
• Speaking of all things green and eco, CNet’s Crave reports that upgrading to Snow Leopard could save you money on energy costs. OK, maybe a dollar over the course of a year, but still…
• Here’s some weekend reading for those who haven’t quite decided whether to upgrade to Snow Leopard or not–Ars Technica’s so-deep-it’s-underground 23-page review of the beast (which it calls a “unique and beautiful release”). As a bonus, you can also look back on all ten of the Mac OS X reviews that Ars has written over the past decade.
• And finally… I recently moved my office, which gave me an opportunity to clean out some of the cruft that’s been following me around for years, including several boxes that I’ve saved from my various Apple laptop purchases over the years–including a PowerBook 140 (circa early 1990s), PowerBook G4 (from around 2005), and the MacBook Pro (this year’s model). It’s pretty amazing how slim the most recent MacBook Pro box is–especially when contrasted with how bloated the PowerBook G4 box is since the two laptops aren’t that different in size. Here are some other views of the boxes at Flickr.

  

Don’t forget to check back to End User next Wednesday (September 9), when we’ll cover all the new releases associated with Apple’s iPod rollout event–which should include all-new iPods, iTunes version 9, the new Cocktail digital album format, possible premade ringtones, and maybe a new Apple TV (or maybe not).

–Agen G.N. Schmitz