With professors uploading their daily lectures as podcasts, universities issuing free devices to freshmen, have iPod’s have evolved from the educator’s enemy to one of the strongest tools in modern academia? Organizations like iPREPpress would like to think so.

With students carrying these devices to and from class, it makes sense to use them as educational tools. Dozens of universities are embracing professor podcasts and Stanford is even using iTunes to take lectures globally.

"iPREPpress was founded with the purpose of converting existing educational materials to iPod format. Students can visit the site and download SparkNotes, study charts, dictionaries, encyclopedias and other beneficial resources. They expect to have over 30 publishers on board by December 2006.”

Looks like a great idea and will no doubt entrench Apple even deeper into areas other than pop culture. Too bad iPREPpress only offers this for the iPod and not PlaysForSure devices. 

Cingular Wireless, Palm, and Research In Motion (RIM) today announced availability of BlackBerry Connect for the Palm Treo 650 smart device. With BlackBerry Connect software, Cingular customers now can enjoy their Treo 650 with the BlackBerry service on the nationwide Cingular EDGE wireless data network.

Now Treo users can get the Blackberry experience like Push Email; this gives you live email syncing between the Treo and the desktop wirelessly. This also includes calendar synchronization as well. Attachment Viewing lets users view Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and PDF documents in original format.

The service adds centralized device management, including support for IT policies such as over-the-air device disablement and password device lock, as well as end-to-end security with Triple DES encryption.

http://www.cingular.com/midtolarge/blackberry

Hardware3D.com is a new hardware review site, put together by industry professionals as well as former hardware review site owners and staff (xhardwarereviews.com, from a few years ago, if ya remember).  Here is a quote and link to a new article about using car audio on your PC, check it out:

“Car audio is recognized for its chest pounding subwoofers and powerful amplifiers. Often, people wish to setup a system of equal perfomance in their home, but either fail to deliver due to poor, overpriced home audio equipment, or end up spending thousands. But you really don’t have to go mainstream. There are ways to get around using expensive home audio; one of which is to port a car audio setup to work with your PC.”

Click to read the full article on Hardware3D’s website

XYZ Computing takes a look at Altec LAnsing’s new iM9 portable audio system. They liked the look and size of the unit and that it came with a niffty backpack. However the unit would be more attractive if it came with a remote control and better button feel. We reviewed several of Altec’s offerings recently as well.

Snippet from XYZ:

There are already a lot of very good iPod speakers on the market but more keep coming every month. With so many iPod owners out there, a lot of people are interested in accessorizing their MP3 player. Speakers are a popular choice because they allow the iPod to be used without headphones, as you would at home or at a party. The speakers we are looking at this time are the Altec Lansing iM9. This is high-end set of portable speakers which is designed to compete with products like the iM7 and Logitech’s mm50. It features a portable design and a rugged build which is meant to handle all the rigors of mobile use. If nothing else, this is one of the cooler looking set of iPod speakers on the market, so it’s worth a look.

http://www.xyzcomputing.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=76

Following our movie theme today we would like to pass along a fun little contest being sponsored by Palm. With Samuel L Jackson’s new flick Snakes on a Plane flying a comfortable holding pattern in theaters this week PDAToday has been authorized to run a contest to give away two tickets to SOAP.

The Sprint Palm Treo plays a small but pivotal appearance in the film.

To enter all you need to do is send us a picture your Palm Treo featuring a picture of a snake and/or plane on the screen. We will post the winner and possibly a couple of runners up. Send your entries to Don’t have a Sprint Palm Treo? (insert clever Sprint sales pitch here) Actually that’s not a problem, we will also accept pictures from non Palm devices all you hve to do is click here then send us your non Palm pics. Sorry our sponsors made us do that ;)

Unlike our Tom Cruise/Robert Smith spoof earlier, this is a real contest and tickets will be mailed directly from Palms’ PR firm to the winner.

Good luck and dont get bit!

Insider sources have revealed that in a stunning move by music publisher Elektra, they have signed Tom Cruise to portray The Cures’ front man Robert Smith in an upcoming movie detailing the life of the Robert Smith.

Movie studio insiders have indicated that Paramount was not happy with a deal that Tom’s people brokered with Electra on the project. Tom Cruise being a life long fan of Robert Smith’s work was jubilant at the possibly of portraying the music idol of his youth.

Still reading? So, there is no movie that I am aware of featuring Tom Cruise playing Robert Smith. Sorry to get you all worked up.  I was just tired of reading about all the Tom Cruise drama, like any regular person actually cares. I am a big fan of the Cure and when I saw the above picture of Tom Cruise wasting space in my Google news feed it reminded me of Robert Smith; however I was unable to find the picture I was thinking of so I posted the closest one I could find. 

The PowerSource Mobile 100 is compact; approximately the size of a laptop battery and weighs about one pound. It combines a 100-watt DC to AC inverter with a high output lithium ion battery to provide backup power for mobile devices. It can be recharged from any AC electrical outlet in your home or office, or from a DC outlet in a vehicle or airplane. It provides both 120 Vac and 5 Vdc (USB) power for use with portable products.

The PowerSource Mobile 100 can operate a laptop computer for approximately two hours, a portable DVD player for three hours, a portable game console for 12 hours, or an iPod nano for 72 hours. It can also provide 12 days of standby power for a cell phone and 34 days of standby power for a Blackberry. For more information about the powerfull new product, visit http://www.xantrex.com

(insert joke about about large object in your pocket here)....yeah yeah ok ok I wont be doing stand up comedy any time soon. Seriously, the unit looks like a very handy accessory to have around and it’s priced at about $120 at Fry’s Electronics.

Digital Trends has posted a review of the new Samsung A990. They really liked its retro design and it doubled as an excellent digital camera. The VCAST content service makes it a complete package.

Not all was rosey however, they noted a mediocre call quality at times and the nifty camera has a weak flash. The new hip phone was expensive too. Here is the intro:

“As technology continues to evolve and expand, cell phones keep accumulating new features that detract from the original idea of a portable phone. Features like built-in music players, digital cameras, and 3-D gaming are making their way into phones, but have yet to be implemented properly. Verizon customers are about to be blown away, though, by Samsung’s new A990 phone. This sleek black phone has a 3.2-megapixel digital camera built-in and a swivel screen to essentially transform the device entirely from a phone to a camera. It’s currently available from Verizon and costs $349.99 with a 2-year contract. But can it really replace your current digital camera?”

Read the Digital Trends review here: http://reviews.digitaltrends.com/review3810.html

Sling Media, Inc. announced that its SlingPlayer Mobile TV software is free, for a limited time, to new Slingbox owners who buy and register their Slingbox between August 15, 2006 and September 16, 2006. A $29.99 value, SlingPlayer Mobile is a software package that gives Slingbox owners the ability to watch and control their home TV from any network-enabled mobile phone or handheld computer (PDA) powered by Microsoft?s Windows Mobile operating system.

Sling Media also released its latest version of SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Smartphone software. The limited time free SlingPlayer Mobile offer is valid for both versions of Sling Media’s SlingPlayer Mobile software. A full list of compatible handhelds and smartphones can be found at http://www.slingmedia.com/mobile

SlingPlayer Mobile for Windows Smartphones software is compatible with devices that run Microsoft’s Windows Mobile Smartphone Edition version 5.0, including the popular Motorola Q, T-Mobile SDA and the iMate SP5m. SlingPlayer Mobile for Pocket PC is compatible with devices that run Windows Mobile Pocket PC 5.0 and 2003 Second Edition such as the Cingular 8125, Palm Treo 700w, PPC 6700, T-Mobile MDA and a number of popular handheld computers including the HP iPAQ and Dell Axim. SlingPlayer Mobile supports any type of Internet connection on mobile devices, including 3G cellular services such as EV-DO or UMTS, WiFi, USB or Bluetooth-based connections.

BugMe! Mobile version 5.0 supports Windows Mobile 5.0, for the Pocket PC operating system, and uses the capabilities of the newer models such as the Palm Treo 700w, to provide users with more options for capturing and sharing notes, sketches and screen captures.

One of the most notable new features is the ability for users to use the photo picker feature and camera of Windows Mobile 5 devices to capture “screen shots” off their handheld, insert a handwritten or typed note onto the image, and then email the image to friends, family or co-workers. Finally you can express yourself all the way to your exit interview...lol.

When a short text message isn’t as effective as a picture of your middle finger or sketch of something less savory, BugMe! Mobile makes electronic messaging much more effective and powerful - and fun to use.

http://www.electricpocket.com

Business Week takes a look at what the future of cell phones will look like. The future may make phone vendors more of a slave to fashion putting form before function. Some design changes will be driven by vertical usage. Japanese consumers can already buy waterproof phones for use in the shower.

More people want customized phones to show their own version of bling.  More companies are starting to jump on the customizing bandwagon.

However its new technologies that will really change the shape of the cell phone of the future.

Here is a blurb from Business Weeks article:

“Clamshells and candy bars be gone. Tomorrow’s cell phones may bear little resemblance to the snap-open handsets or even the sleek, flat rectangular phones we sport today.

Visionaries from design firm Pilotfish and sensor maker Synaptics have created a phone that has no buttons. It’s operated with gestures. Designer Manon Maneenawa has built a phone that can be converted into an alarm clock or a wrist watch. Sweden’s GoldVish just began selling a phone for $1.26 million that features diamonds and a secret compartment.”

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2006/tc20060821_810437.htm?campaign_id=bier_tcutsw

SanDisk Corporation today unveiled the world’s largest capacity flash-based MP3 player, the 8-gigabyte (GB). Priced at $249.99 (MSRP), the e280 is the latest evolution of SanDisk’s flagship e200 series. The 8GB device sports a microSD expansion slot allowing expansion to 10GB of music or - 2,500 songs - with an optional SanDisk 2GB microSD card, making it the largest capacity flash-based MP3 player on the market.

Slightly larger than the iPOD Nano, the Sansa is a PlaysForSure device supporting Microsofts WMA and good ol’ MP3. The Sansa also included is a microSD expansion slot, photo and video capabilities, FM tuner with recording capabilities, voice recording, and a 1.8-inch color TFT display. Nice.

Also they claim a scratch resistant alloy metal back casing and the Fm tuner has on the fly recording. Payback time is about 128 hours.

"SanDisk is once again making it incredibly affordable for consumers to purchase the most feature-rich, high-capacity players on the market at the best possible price,” said Eric Bone, director of audio/video product marketing at SanDisk. “The most costly ingredient in a flash-based MP3 player is the flash memory. Since we make the flash memory, we essentially remove the middleman and pass that savings directly to the consumer."

http://www.sandisk.com/Corporate/PressRoom/PressReleases/PressRelease.aspx?ID=3512

Samsung announced that it has developed the first three-inch LCD panel with VGA (640 x 480 pixels) resolution that directly meets industry interface standards for digital still cameras.

Digital camera makers use an interface known as ITU-R601, an international standard for cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs that operates at 30Hz. This standard is incompatible with LCDs, which normally run at 60Hz. Manufacturers have had to reconcile the difference either by compressing the images or by manipulating the signal. However, such approaches will only work with LCDs having a resolution of qVGA(320 x 240 pixels) or less. Samsung’s new LCD operates on 30Hz, allowing VGA images to be obtained from a digital camera without having to create another interface.

Samsung will exhibit its new device at IMID 2006, which opens in Daegu, Korea on August 23. Samsung will begin commercially producing the new VGA-resolution LCD panel in the first half of 2007. 

Griffin Technology, “creator of all things iPod”...lol, today announced TuneFlex for iPod. Like the TuneFlex for nano, this new TuneFlex for full-size, 4G and newer iPods is an elegant dock and charger designed for ease of use in automobiles.

TuneFlex grips your iPod in an iPod-shaped cradle, and holds it on an flexible steel neck. The cradle rotates independently to keep the iPod upright and easily readable, and always at your fingertips.

Plug TuneFlex into your car’s 12 Volt accessory outlet and slip your iPod onto the dock to power and charge your iPod while you use it. A built-in 1/8” stereo line-out audio jack makes it easy to connect your iPod to your stereo.

The package, with included cassette adapter and iFill LE is priced at $49.99 and is available at http://www.griffintechnology.com

Sony is launching its first WiFi broadband communication and entertainment device to capitalize on the growth of wireless Internet access. The new mylo personal communicator is capable of operating in any open 802.11b wireless network, often found on college campuses, in public spaces and within private homes around the country.

Small enough for a pocket or purse, the slim, oblong-shaped device features a 2.4 inch color LCD (measured diagonally) with a slide out QWERTY keyboard for comfortable and quick thumb typing.

The device, available in black or white, comes embedded with popular instant messaging services: the Google Talk instant messaging service, Skype and Yahoo! Messenger. These services are free and the product does not require initial computer setup or a monthly service contract.

It supports the playback of MP3, ATRAC or WMA (secure and unsecure) files. You can also view MPEG-4 personal videos by transferring files via USB cable or with Memory Stick Duo media. You can also store JPEG pictures from the Internet or your digital camera with it’s built in 1 GM of memory.