The video camera, while a welcome feature in emergencies or must-capture moments, delivers 640 x 480 output. Even under good lighting however, nano videos lack clarity. The FM radio isn’t that different from your typical cell phone radio; you need to plug in the earphones to listen to your favorite FM stations, as the cord acts like an antenna. The built-in pedometer? You can only maximize it when you buy an iPod + Nike kit—which you have to do so for the previous-gen nano anyway. And the less said about the external speaker, the better.

What does work in the iPod nano’s favor is its status as an affordable, stylish, and high-capacity portable music and video player. This remains true for the fifth-generation iPod: nothing else on the market costs below $180, features a bright 2.2″ 240 x 376 screen, is really thin, and makes short work of browsing through music and videos.

In other words, the iPod nano is perfect for those who’ve fallen for Apple’s effective (and mostly accurate) iPod marketing, but aren’t willing to pay more for the iPod classic or touch, and would rather do without the display-less iPod shuffle experience.

Visit the Apple Store to buy the iPod nano

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Courtesy Julien Madérou

Seriously though, Madérou is a genius! He even made provisions for the iPhone cable! The instructions are available for printing on A4 or US letter (8.5″ x 11″) sheets, and are a simple matter of cutting out the template and following the video below.

I’m assuming a iPhone dock made out of Japanese paper will crumple in an instant once it bears the full weight, and at least one commenter on Julien’s blog post says the “paper weight may need to be increased.” If I do try this out (I’ll need to get an iPhone first), I’ll probably try cutting out some illustration board and scoring the folds for better pliability.

If you’ve already have your own paper iPhone dock, feel free to share just how much paper strength is called for.

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Shiny Shiny reports that 500 movies are currently available through the store, with plans to include another thousand. That’s once deals with the other studios are made. Of course you’ll need a fast connection to maximize the store, since movies take up 1.5GB on average.

To keep things weighted in their favor, only Samsung portable devices (mobiles and media players) within the current compatibility list can play these movies on the go. Though according to the FAQ: “Any PC user can download and enjoy our films”. Windows Media Player 11 required.

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English goalie Ben Foster of Manchester United, having to defend his goal during a penalty shoot-out, watched footage of opposing players taking penalties before the dueling started. Manchester United won 4-1 in penalties, thanks in large part to Foster’s save.

I call that being prepared for a game, but some people may not agree:

Former Premier League referee Graham Poll told the Daily Mail that using iPod technology “had the potential to exploit a loophole in the laws which should be referred to FIFA”.

Whatever man. It’s not like Ben Foster injected himself with chemicals to increase his speed or strength artificially right? (At least, for the situation we’re talking about here). No, what Mr. Foster did was simple: he used technology to realize his potential, by giving himself the mental insights that let him maximize his physical training and natural talent.

This is a clear example of a gadget used as a tool. Apple designed the iPod to play music and show videos on-the-go. If millions of people use it for that, why can’t Ben Foster? In any case, don’t professional sports team already make their players watch footage to understand their opponents better? What’s wrong with doing that right on the field, during a dead ball situation?

(image from sky.com)

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Other juicy tidbits: the PSP 2 will be entirely digital, meaning all content will be stored on-board. If true, then the UMD format is now scheduled for obsolescence. Just rumors for now, so stay tuned for updates. Maybe it’s time to start budgeting for a new console purchase.

Thanks Gearlog!

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This 4GB Coby also claims “touchpad control”, 8 straight hours of video playback, as well as support for MP3s, WMAs, OGGs, WMVs, FLVs, AVIs, JPGs, BMPs, and even text files. All these features in a package that’s 0.6″ thick, 1.7″ wide, and 3.7″ long. As Devicepedia reports, ” you’ll struggle to find more for your money”.

Too bad Amazon won’t ship this out of the US, and too bad a lot of people will ignore this option for the sake of the i-Word. Check out the product page on Amazon for more details

(Image from Amazon)

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With 2GB worth of storage, the SAS Spy Pen promises up to 15 hours of recorded video at 352 x 288 CIF resolution (not clear though if it can record audio as well). The lower part unscrews to reveal the USB plug, conceivably making video uploads possible right after the recording session. And if the product photos are to be believed, the SAS Spy Pen does a great job of scribbling as well. Available from Boys Stuff for £75. (Images from Boys Stuff. Thanks DVICE!)

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Just how much is Apple willing to keep everyone in the dark? Freeverse was able to tap undocumented SDK features to give their demo TV-out capability. To what degree will Apple allow its developers—and customers—to tap the iPhone’s TV-out functionality? Will they give programmers free reign to maximize it, or limit this ability for the its own sake?

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Nikon’s new creation is kinda cool. That’s because the Media Port UP is a headset with a built-in display and features up to 8GB of memory (the higher-end 300x model). Aside from making you look like a borg, this so-called multimedia headset can even do WiFi! Even better, true-handsfree playback control is possible, thanks to the headset’s apparent ability to sense distinct head movements.

It’s just too bad that the Media Port UP apparently can’t connect to a dSLR. Imagine: photogs who can frame a scene without looking through a viewfinder, even if the camera is faced rearwards! Ah well, most people can’t afford to pay $680 for the basic 4GB 300 model anyways. Another requirement: you have to be in Japan to accept shipments of this gadget (link in Japanese).

(image by Crave Asia)

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