iPod

Music HUD offers current track album art and more at a glance

Those looking to spice up the volume HUD that pops up when you turn your iOS device's sound up or down might be interested in a recently released jailbreak tweak called Music HUD.

The tweak, which landed in Cydia last week, has the ability to display useful information for the iPod app's currently playing track in the HUD box like album art, artist name and more...

Apple is researching iPhone technology that could anticipate your actions

Wouldn't it be great if your iPhone could learn your behavior, noting you hold your handset with both hands when texting and always use a 45-degree angle when making calls?

That's essentially the purpose of a newly-discovered Apple patent covering an "intuitive portable electronic device."

The patent, filed in 2011, polls an array of sensors onboard your smartphone, permitting an iPhone to adjust its behavior without you making the adjustments. Imagine your usually annoying ringtone changing to a bit of Brahms when the phone detects your bedroom's lower light levels...

Apple working on removable device clip with tactile controls

It's kind of funny that Apple gets a bad wrap for not being innovative enough, because its IP filings tell a different story. The company was awarded more than 1,200 patents last year — which was enough to beat Google, who dabbles in self-driven cars and computer glasses.

The latest testament to Apple's innovation is a new patent application, which was just published by the US Patent and Trademark Office. It describes a removable clip for a mobile device, such as an iPod, with an integrated trackpad, that could double as a remote control...

Goal Zero’s solar charger kit is perfect for zombie apocalypse

A city-slicker that fancies himself an outdoorsman, I had been on a quest to find an iOS device solar charger for a couple months. After stumbling into an REI, the GOAL ZERO product line piqued my interest. When hiking, camping, hunting, traveling, or when the world ends, finding a power source may be difficult. If we are all Denzel Washingtons, rocking out to our iPods while we hunt for the Book of Eli, then a consistent source of USB power is as important as our favorite post-apocalyptic weapon...

Apple embedding the exploding iPod ad online

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgfJn8FsSKg

This reminds us of Apple's famously interactive version of the Mac vs. PC campaign spotted at the top of NYTimes.com and other big media web properties. This time around, Apple has taken its nicely done dancing commercial for the new iPods and embedded it on various places online, like the indie music review site Pitchfork that in the past ran Apple's custom iPod touch page-topper ad.

It's interesting because the publication draws hipster audience so it's clear who Apple's target is. By the way, turn down the volume before hitting the Play button. Don't you just live how the little things 'explode' out of the box?

Steve Jobs biopic to focus on products and friction between execs

Lights! Action! Steve! Well, sort of. A biopic focusing on late Apple CEO Steve Jobs won't be a cradle-to-grave review of the man who pulled Apple out of the ditch. Instead, the film will feature three behind-the-scenes glimpses into Jobs' most famous products. According to screenwriter Aaron Sorkin who was hired to develop Walter Isaacson's biography of Jobs for Sony Pictures, the upcoming flick will be comprised of just three 30-minutes scenes backstage before the introduction of the original Mac, NeXT and the iPod. Sorkin is known for his screenplays featuring character studies, such as his acclaimed look at Facebook, The Social Network...

Grab yourself a MOBiLE CLOTH, the king of cleaning cloths [giveaway]

We at iDB are big MOBiLE CLOTH fans as you can see from our previous review and multiple giveaways. "Who would get excited about a cleaning cloth," you may be asking yourself. Well, after testing the cloth, we were pretty blown away. I recently tried my hand with a MOBiLE CLOTH and it certainly lived up to expectation. Without any additional cleaning agents or sprays, the dry cloth effortlessly destroyed all of the finger prints and smudges I accumulated while killing baddies playing one of my new favorite apps, ARC Squadron during my review. What impressed me the most is the effortless cleaning process.

To celebrate the launch of the iPad (4th gen) and iPad mini, we teamed up with MOBiLE CLOTH to also giveaway a 24 cleaning cloth gift set...

Urbanears bring the party straight to your ears [review and giveaway]

Having admired Urbanears from afar, on the shelves of local retailers, I was blown away when I finally got my hands on a pair of the new Zinken over-the-ear headphones. Urbanears is clearly a company priding itself by paying attention to the little things and even places a 63 page booklet in their headphones' box to prove it.

As a reviewer, I come across a lot of products for iOS devices on a regular basis and I can count, on one hand, how many times I have been impressed with product packaging (excluding actual Apple products). I must say, when it comes to accessories, often, a book should be judged by its cover and Urbanears spares no expense. Let's open the box on this pair of Zinkens my friends at Urbanears sent over and you too have a chance to grab a pair of your own...

Analyst predicts the iPad mini will kill off the iPod touch

Is Apple getting ready to discontinue the iPod touch, now that the Cupertino, California firm has a bevy of low-priced alternatives, including the just-announced iPad mini? That's the opinion of one analyst who has correctly predicted the demise of other Apple products. The iPod touch "has entered the final stage of its product life cycle," according to Ming-Chi Kuo, analyst with KGI Securities. He also believes Apple "will not invest significantly in developing future models"...

The new iPod nano teardown analysis finds five Apple-branded mystery chips

Solutions provider iFixit tore apart Apple's seventh-generation iPod nano which was released alongside the iPhone 5 and the fifth-generation iPod touch at the September 12 media event. In addition to a Broadcom Bluetooth module and a touchscreen controller from Texas Instruments (whose mobile arm could be acquired by Amazon), the music player also packs in five Apple-branded mystery chips and scores a lower repairability score than the iPhone 5...

New iPod nano gets software update

Owners of the newly-introduced iPod nano might be interested to know that there is now a software update available for the device. That's right, Apple just started shipping the refreshed MP3 player a few days ago, and there's already new firmware for it.

The update brings the nano's OS to version 1.0.1. Keep reading for more details...

You gotta see Apple’s awesome ad for new iPods

Apple yesterday refreshed the iPod lineup alongside the new iPhone 5 (here's your keynote) and boy do these colorful iPod touches look sexy. The company also revamped the popular iPod nano, making it taller and giving it a widescreen display with multitouch user interface, Bluetooth (we envision interesting accessories for the new nano).

Yes, the new touch comes in a bunch of attractive colors as well. The entry-level iPod shuffle also saw a slight redesign. But how do you go about advertising the updated iPods in a memorable, attractive and easy-going manner? Here's how...