iLounge believes it has hit on the design for the fourth-generation iPod Nano, reporting that Apple plans to bring back the thinner iPod Nano design of years past but in a taller package that’s a nod to the screen size of today’s “fat” iPod Nano. Video would play in landscape mode, borrowing from the landscape viewing mode of the
iPhone and iPod Touch and delivering a 1.5-to-1 aspect ratio.

One possible design for Apple's fourth-generation iPod nano, on the right, as compared to a Microsoft Zune music player.

The current iPod Nano, redesigned for video last year.

(Credit:
CNET)

(Credit:
iLounge)

The next generation of the
iPod Nano might be getting a slimmed-down makeover, according to a report.

Apple has held a September iPod event the last several years, and we’re pretty sure they’ll have another one on tap this year, with a revamped iPod Touch likely to accompany a new iPod Nano. In support of that suspicion, AppleInsider is reporting that resellers have been told to expect shortages of iPods and Macbooks in the coming weeks.

The new design also reminded iLounge of Microsoft’s
Zune flash player, although to be fair, that Zune player seemed to remind people of the original iPod Nano design when it was released. In any event, the Zune didn’t seem to make much headway in the past year against the fat iPod Nano design.

The fat iPod Nano was a bit controversial when it was first introduced, but people seem to have gotten used to the idea. Last year Apple redesigned its most popular iPod in line with its increased focus on video in the iTunes Store, as the screen size on the early thin iPod Nanos was way too small to comfortably watch video.

(Credit:
Engadget Mobile)

Last week, we reported on the rumored touch-screen RIM BlackBerry Storm that’s headed to Verizon Wireless, and while details were sparse at the time, it looks like Engadget Mobile got its hands on some internal documents with further details about the smartphone.

First, the BlackBerry Storm will feature a 3.25-inch, 480×360 touch screen, which is better than the BlackBerry Bold’s (yowza), and it will offer tactile feedback and auto rotation. As for text entry, you will have the option of a virtual full QWERTY keyboard in landscape mode and a SureType keyboard in portrait mode.

The handset will also be one of the most connected phones with CDMA/EV-DO Rev. A, quad-band GSM/EDGE, and 2100MHz HSPA support. Standalone and assisted GPS is reported to be onboard. There will be 1GB of internal memory with a microSD expansion slot; reportedly, a 8GB microSD card will come in the box.

Other goodies include full HTML browsing with support for attachment downloads and video streaming; a 3.2-megapixel camera with video recording, auto-focus, flash, and zoom; built-in instant messaging clients (Yahoo, Windows Live, Google, and AOL; visual voicemail; and support for V Cast and VZ Navigator. Of course, no word yet on launch dates or pricing, but I’m definitely chomping at the bit to see this rumor become a reality.

Sheesh. A girl goes on vacation and that’s when the cell phone world decides to drop a bomb. Obviously, the big headline Tuesday was the official unveiling of the T-Mobile G1, but turns out there was some non-Google Android related news that might also pique your interest.

InfoWorld’s Peter Sayer sagely notes:

The Apple Blog’s Bob Rudis, meanwhile, just causes the hoofed one to scratch his furry head.

One way to avoid such unauthorized access to e-mail messages or Web favorites would be not to add e-mail addresses or URLs to favorite address book entries.

Again, the Macalope’s not arguing that this is a bug. It’s clearly a bug. It’s bad. It needs to be fixed.

Or, if you’re just lazy and don’t like to get a little dirt under your fingernails, you could just change the setting for Home Button to, uh, Home. Which, if the Macalope’s not mistaken, is the default setting. So, you may not even have to get up.

Although, if you need to phone home, just hit Emergency Call and double tap the Home button and…

As Alex Hutton points out, you can mitigate the threat by disabling the “home button double-tap” feature of your device.

But Pete’s idea is good, too. Living a life of solitude might be good for you. What with your sex addiction. Whatever.

Well, no, you can’t “disable” it, you can only select the behavior. And by changing the behavior you can “mitigate” the threat all the way down to a little number the horny one likes to call “zero”.

As you may have heard, everyone’s favorite little phone that can has kind of a big bug that kinda sorta makes it, oh, seem like you might be protected when, in fact, your “hysterical” buddies poked holes in your entire pack of prophylactics with pins and didn’t tell you until after spring break.

For the umpteenth time, Apple has a real security problem and needs to better address the issue and this is just another thing that make the company look stupid. In and of itself, though, it may not be worth phoning home about.

Right. Don’t email your friends. Become a hermit. Put the phone in a mason jar and bury it under your front porch.

So, yes, it’s a bad bug and, yes, Apple needs to fix it post haste. Which, of course, is license for everyone to freak out.

Netflix users suffering service’s longest outage ever

Intel readies new remote PC access function

Plus, Business Week is calling Infineon’s chip inside the
iPhone 3G the root cause of the reception problems that numerous iPhone 3G owners have reported. The good news, according to the publication, is that Apple believes it can fix the problems with a software upgrade; the company is said to be testing an update that could be released as early as the end of this month.

Intel USB 3.0 update resolves dispute with Nvidia, AMD

Hunters claim to have nabbed Bigfoot, Internet goes nuts

Apple market cap tops Google

HSBC could order 200,000 iPhones

Logitech snaps up Ultimate Ears for $34 million

Report: Software fix in the works for iPhone 3G

The 2008 Summer Olympics can be watched online more than any Olympics past, which is no surprise. But how smoothly is all the streaming going, and how many people are tuning in to watch the Games on their computers? CNET News reporter and sports enthusiast Ina Fried breaks it down.

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Facebook declares support for new nonprofit ServiceNation

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Beijing 2008: Tech gets in on the Games

Apple recently released an update to
Leopard, version 10.5.2. If you read the list of goodies included, it’s a pretty compelling update. I’ve particularly enjoyed better WiFi connectivity with the update.

But I don’t live 100 percent within the Apple ecosystem. Because I like an office suite, I use NeoOffice (OpenOffice) and
Microsoft Office. Because I like an integrated email client (address book, tasks, calendar, email, etc. – all together under one roof), I use Microsoft’s Entourage suite. And so on. Apple doesn’t control these products and, just like in the Microsoft world, the more software complexity introduced into the Mac’s universe, I’m betting (because I’m experiencing it) that the “everything just works” logos of the Mac will start to break down.

In sum, my biggest problems on the Mac today have little to do with the Mac and everything to do with the Mac’s intersection with third-party software. This may be Microsoft’s big moment to yell out, “I told you so!”

It doesn’t, however, solve my biggest problems with my Macs right now: an inability to sync between Microsoft’s Entourage and iCal (which may be Microsoft’s problem or it may be Apple’s problem – both support teams point fingers at the other company when I’ve called on the issue) and it doesn’t remedy my inability to sync between my Blackberry and Entourage (which is a RIM/Microsoft problem, but both companies like to point fingers at each other on this issue, too).

Coming full circle to the Mac, is the Mac too tightly integrated with its kin to effectively socialize with third-party software? Any developers out there who could comment?

If I were to stay within the Apple cocoon, I’d probably be fine. My wife has zero problems working between her
iPhone and Powerbook – they work great together.

commentary

In like manner, I wish applications were developed with open APIs and open standards so that plugging the two together would be a bit less guesswork and black magic and a bit more science and artistry.

All of which may demand a better paradigm for cross-platform, cross-application development. I like Firefox because it works pretty much the same across any platform (Linux, Windows, Mac). This is also why I increasingly love Zimbra. I don’t want to use an application that treats the Mac (or Linux) as a second-class citizen, because I think good product design often stems from a certain amount of independence from the vagaries of a given operating system.

I’m not a programmer, so I might be asking for the impossible. I’d like to think, however, that the principle of modularity that makes open source tick could be applied more generally to software. I think I’d prefer applications with loose, promiscuous affiliations to other applications than tightly wedded applications that rely on insider knowledge to make them work together properly. I’m sure I’d be giving something up in this loose-knit affiliation model but the greater pluggability might well make it worth it.

One thing the horny one will call out is that Fox’s Jim Gianopolus is one entertainment industry executive who seems to “get it” (as far as that’s possible for entertainment industry executives). He hit on some key points the Macalope’s been hot on for a while: people want a one-stop shop that’s easy to use that lets them watch their media anywhere.

By now you’re surely read the big news — Time Capsule backup device, a strong
iPhone update, movie rentals with an accompanying Apple TV update and the ultra light MacBook Air — so the Macalope won’t rehash it.

Sure, you can quibble over the 24 hour time limit for viewing and you can bitch, bitch, bitch about only being able to watch a movie on one device at a time, and you can moan and whine and cry yourself to sleep over the price or whatever detail you want to gripe about.

But it’s still a killer offering. All the major studios, HD content, download directly to an Apple TV, watch content on all your devices, iTunes versions on DVDs… These are notable for the stark contrasts they draw to what the music business had been doing. Now there’s a compelling solution.

It’s a solid follow-up to last year’s Keynote which was a tough act to follow. You can’t get a new iPhone every year, but the MacBook Air comes pretty darned close.

Granted, video games will not solve the world’s troubles, but countless studies have shown that although a massage may relax you more effectively, video games can provide therapeutic relief as well.

And perhaps that’s why I think everyone should embrace gaming. It’s not that I’m so obsessed with it that everyone should play. Instead, I believe that people should embrace gaming because it’s an industry that provides superior entertainment value to films and never forgets that there’s more to life than life itself.

Check out Don’s Digital Home podcast, Twitter feed, and FriendFeed.

Video games create a world that’s free from stress, and although some like to say they ruin our children and will ignite a wave of violence unlike anything we’ve ever seen, they’re not nearly as violent as the “real world.” If I wanted to look at the horrors of our society and see the worst human beings for what they really are, I wouldn’t play a video game. Instead, I’d do a simple Web search and learn anything I’ve ever wanted to know.

But why don’t they look through their reality distortion field and realize that video games can provide a lot of good for most people?

In reality, I love gaming because it’s an escape into a reality that can only be possible in the world of video games. It’s not just a place where I can be entertained–though I am quite often–and it’s not even a place where I can waste the day by immersing myself in a virtual world.

I’ve oftentimes thought about why gaming is such an important part of my life. Is it because I grew up with it? Possibly. Is it because I love tech and it’s an extension of that? Maybe.

The simple fact that anti-video game zealots don’t understand is that video games can be a haven for some people. It’s easy to say that the content is violent or sexual, but I can say the same about the news I watch on TV every night and the movies I pop into my DVD player after that. Video games provide a retreat and there’s no way to downplay that.

But I don’t think either characterization really captures why I love gaming and why anytime I have some free time, I immediately push my computer aside, turn my HDTV on, and start playing with my
Wii,
PlayStation 3,
Xbox 360, or the countless consoles that have littered my past.

I have a serious problem with people who look at gaming as the root of all evil in this society. “Kids learn how to kill!” they say until their voices lose their thunder. “Look what these video games show our children!” they continue the next day.

Information Solutions Group found video games can be therapeutic to kids with ADHD. Another study from PopCap Games found video games reduce stress and can reduce the effects of depression.

(Credit:
Ina Fried/CNET News.com)

A Colombian boy plays in a heavy rain at Juanes de la Paz park in Medellin. The downpour lasted just five minutes.

I also had a chance to tour the factory where workers painstakingly refurbish the computers that end up in places like Corinto. The program, Computadores para Educar (Computers for Education) refurbishes more than 20,000 computers a year. Although the machines are typically a few years old (the minimum specs are machines with Pentium II processors and 128MB of memory), a government study found that the computers the program refurbishes have roughly the same time before failing as new PCs, in part because of its rigorous process of cleaning and testing.

(Credit:
Ina Fried/CNET News.com)

However, that painstaking process is costly, and the program often has to supplement donated computers with new parts. As a result, some say the $160 it costs to refurbish a computer may not be the best use of funds, when new machines, capable of running the latest software, can be had for around $280. It’s a fascinating debate, and I plan to describe the program and its challenges more in a post that will go up in the next day or so.

A herd of cattle blocks the road toward the rural village of Corinto.

At one point on our way there, the road was blocked by a herd of rather skinny cattle. Though on its face amusing (and definitely a Kodak moment), their presence was unsettling to even some of the Colombians in the van. Such incidents can be a diversion to initiate a kidnapping. Thankfully the cows were just cows.

I also doubt I will forget the torrential rain that came out of nowhere as we visited the peace park in Medellin, started by well-known Latin singer Juanes, who is also from Colombia. The rain was probably the hardest I have seen in my life, but lasted just five minutes or so. A few minutes later, the kids taking tennis lessons at the park were back outside playing around.

Though the trip into the countryside had some risk, it feels important to write about people that are trying to move forward, even as the conflict remains close to their homes. The visit was particularly powerful for me, having known someone in high school, Terry Freitas, who was later kidnapped and killed near the Colombian-Venezuelan border.

The military escort was not just a sign of the esteem that Ayala is held in–though the Colombian native is something of a favorite son here–but rather an indicator of the danger that remains in the area in an around Corinto. Though its just 30-some miles from Cali, the area is not far from rebel strongholds.

CORINTO, Colombia–It was easy for the kids at the rural school to see I had arrived.

In Corinto, I saw students thrilled by the opportunity to use decade-old technology and a mayor and principal pleading for the more modern computers that could make an even greater impact. I was also struck by the teacher who helped the students with the computers–a zoologist who moved back to Corinto to help improve the education in the town where she grew up.

Even if they didn’t see the van carrying myself and Microsoft executive Orlando Ayala, it was hard to miss the 20 or so soldiers that accompanied us in a convoy.

Click here to read all of the stories in The Borders of Computing series.

“I hope that readers will be willing to pay subscriptions or watch ads or things that will keep the high quality and breadth of journalism alive and (make it) even better than it is today,” Gates said. “In some ways, we have better journalism today… (With) in-depth, certain kinds of journalism…there’s still a question of how that gets funded.”

But I was also intrigued by some of his other answers, including something that hits close to home–the future of journalism.

And if you really can’t get enough, you can watch my video interview or listen to Wednesday’s podcast, in which I discuss Gates’ speech with News.com’s Charlie Cooper. Then you should really get outside, get some fresh air. It’s a beautiful day (well, at least here in San Francisco).

As promised, I’ve posted a pretty complete transcript of my interview on Tuesday with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.

As noted earlier, some of his most interesting comments dealt with Yahoo as well as the natural interface options that are planned for Windows 7.

HD DVD, just in case you didn’t get the word, you’re toast. The cosmetics industry says so, and would like to blow you a high-definition kiss goodbye. Mwah.

In case you were wondering, it’s able to skirt copyright regulations by calling itself Blu_ray rather than Blu-ray.

(Credit:
Cargo Cosmetics)

Well, sort of. Cargo Cosmetics has launched a new line called Blu_ray, designed for makeup artists who need to adapt to high-definition cameras. Design blog Notcot notes that it’s marketed toward filming, photography, bridal makeup jobs, and other occurrences where high technology means that the camera really doesn’t lie–those HD cameras can highlight any flaw.