In the seventies, Erich von Daniken’s best-selling book Chariots of the Gods speculated that ancient civilizations were visited by space aliens, and that pyramids and Incan ruins were actually signs of extraterrestrial intervention in human history. According to the author, Andean astrological markings were actually alien landing strips. One has to wonder what von Daniken […]

Kenpo (Flash site) has introduced 15 new designs for its line of “smart-jackets” that feature iPod controls embedded into the cloth. Kenpo‚Äôs 2006 line-up of iPod enabled jackets include bubble jackets, sprinter‚Äôs jackets, snowboarding jackets and windbreakers. The jackets are designed to let users listen to and change their tunes using the integrated iPod control […]

Apple has released a new tool, the iPod shuffle Reset Utility, that is designed to restore the original iPod shuffle and resolve a variety of problems with the portable media players. The restore process completely erases all music and data on iPod shuffle and reinstalls software version 1.1.4.

The US Portable Music Device Forecast, a new report from Jupiter Research, predicts that over 100 million portable MP3 players will be in use by 2011 in the US alone. According to Jupiter, the iPod will keep its position as the most popular MP3 player. “Despite the coming of Zune, the return of closed-loop digital […]

All right. We’re bracing ourselves for your catty comments, but we just can’t help ourselves. We’ve been sitting on our hands all day, knowing that we’ll be mocked mercilessly for mentioning this momentous event…. but it *is*, after all, five years since Apple’s Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPod. And even though it pains us […]

UK police chiefs suggested yesterday that the iPod explosion could be behind a 5% increase in recorded robberies. Ian Johnston, chief constable of the British transport police and spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers, said the rise was “a lot to do with the products that are available to be stolen these days. […]

Earlier this week, Apple issued a warning that some of its iPods are infected with a Windows virus. Some video iPods made after Sept. 12 were shipped infected with the RavMonE virus. The virus affects only Windows computers In a unusual PR move, Apple blamed their manufacturing problem on Microsoft‚Äôs Windows operating system. ‚ÄúAs you […]

Potion Factory has released a beta release of Tangerine, an application designed to create playlists based on the BPM and beat intensity of the songs in your iTunes library. “We came up with the idea after I noticed that I was spending a good 30 minutes to come up with about 30 tracks for working […]

Over 40 podcasting seminars are scheduled for the International Podcasting Expo, an online expo being held October 20-22. Anyone with an Internet connection can attend, and participants may download all event recordings. Keynote speakers include Elisabeth Lewin of Podcasting News, Matt Mullenweg of WordPress, Andy Wibbels of BlogWild. Other speakers include Eric Olson of Feedburner, […]

Listening to iPods at unsafe volumes for as little as 5 minutes a day can cause hearing loss. Researchers Brian Fligor and Cory Portnuff estimate that a typical person could safely listen to an iPod for 4.6 hours at 70 percent of full volume using the supplied earphones without greatly increasing the risk of hearing […]