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Until today I’ve been using the app called ‘Osfoora HD‘ for my iPad twittering needs but that changed today when Twitter launched their official app. It’s free and it’s a really, really good app! This is a must have if you’re a twitterer and own an iPad.

US iTunes link

GPS maps for smartphones generally require a fairly high-speed wireless internet connection, consume significant processor resources, and are optimized for driving. But what if your 3G connection is unreliable or unavailable, and you still need to get from point A to point B — perhaps on foot?

Last week, I spoke with Eric Gunderson and Ian Cairns at Development Seed, one of the companies developing tools to create custom maps that work in a wider variety of situations, like this one. It’s not that farfetched: In a natural disaster and in the developing world, mobile phones may be useful navigational aids, but only if they can work without a reliable data connection and are optimized for different kinds of transportation than just zooming down the highway to the nearest Starbucks.

Development Seed caught our attention with a post that Cairns wrote for PBS’s MediaShift Idea Lab on custom maps for cyclists and drunken, late-night pedestrians. For StumbleSafely, DC Bikes, and DC Nightvision, a typical street map was overlaid with crime data, bike lanes, bar and bike shop locations, and municipal infrastructure: “Not just buildings and roads, but even crosswalks, medians, and topography lines.” In short, all of the data that actually helps you get where you’re going when you’re not in a car.

These maps were built with TileMill, an open-source program the company created to help governments, NGOs, news organizations, and others easily create custom maps. The idea is to make map image tiles and Geographic Information System (GIS) data as easy to work with as RSS feeds or CSV databases are today.

“We want to put these tools in the hands of the subject-matter experts and see what they can do,” Gunderson told Wired.com. Development Seed won a Knight News Challenge award for the project.

Knight News Challenge: Tilemapping from Knight Foundation on Vimeo.

One of the most-needed and currently most-poorly-served markets for mapping and data visualization support is in international development. As Gadget Lab reported this week, mobile devices are thriving in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the developing world, but data bandwidth and easy-to-find electricity aren’t.

“You can’t get an application like Google Earth working in Afghanistan,” Gunderson said. Maps On A Stick offers full-fledged, data-and-image-rich maps on a USB drive for no-bandwidth or poor-bandwidth use. The company and clients have plenty of experience with those scenarios, mapping uncharted road data in Africa, or helping relief workers provide housing assistance after Hurricane Katrina.

I think about those disaster scenarios often, just as I think about the people I love walking home alone in the city late at night.

When Apple launched the iPhone, it made a big deal about how its software team had written its own Maps client, using Google’s data only for the backend. It had to work for the touch interface, but it also had to make sense for how people would be likely to use Maps on a mobile device.

Now that easy mobile maps have become a natural part of our smartphone-carrying, 3G-surfing lives, it may be time for us to broaden our assumptions about the kinds of maps we’ll need and the conditions we’ll have when we need them.

See Also:

• Google Maps Finally Adds Bike Routes
• Microsoft Adds OpenStreetMap Layer to Bing Maps
• Help Us Review Google Maps for Bikes
• Preparing for the Next Haiti, with Maps, Texts and Tweets
• Google Maps Adds Bike Directions
• Satellite Net Service Sued for Caps, Paltry Bandwidth
• Using Google Earth and GPS to Track Afghanistan Cash

The official Twitter app for iPad is finally here, and star developer Loren Brichter has polished yet another gem.

Formerly called Tweetie, Brichter’s popular iPhone app impressed the big wigs at Twitter headquarters who ultimately hired the talented coder to produce native Twitter software in house. Twitter for iPad is his first brand new creation since the acquisition, and from the looks of this app, it was clearly a wise investment.

Twitter for iPad sports a really elegant interface that’s significantly faster and more intuitive than competing Twitter clients we’ve tested (such as Twitterific and Tweetdeck). Loading and sending tweets feels almost instant, and the overall design is very pleasant. When you’re creating a new tweet, for example, the app brings up a notepad-style compose window, which is plain cute.

It also introduces some functionality we haven’t seen before: tap on a tweet with a link, and the content loads in a browser pane (pictured above); pinch a person’s tweet to get more details on the author, and swipe down with two fingers to view the threaded conversation. The paned view of content was very cool and surprisingly fast with loading photos and web pages. However, the pinch and two-finger swipe functions are awfully gimmicky: simply tapping on a person’s tweet with a single finger shows profile details and threaded conversations as well, rendering the pinch and double-swipe redundant (screenshot below).

When composing a new tweet, there’s a location-pin button to share where you’re tweeting from, as well as a paperclip icon to attach a photo. The photo-sharing feature worked in a snap, but after multiple attempts I couldn’t seem to get the location feature to work properly. I’ve put in a query to Brichter about this issue, and I’ll post an update when I receive a response.

All in all, it’s a sweet update, and it’s free. Download the Twitter app in the iPad’s App Store.

See Also:

• With Tweetie Acquisition, Twitter Locks On Mobile
• Hands-On: Tweetie for Mac Shakes Up Twitterverse
• Tweetie 2 for iPhone Flutters Into the App Store

All-in-one printer/scanner/fax machines are so yesterday. Maybe the way to go is with better, single purpose devices: A compact, portable scanner combined with a fast, monochrome laser printer.

I hate my all-in-one machine. It sits on my desk, filled up with its expensive color ink cartridges, mocking me. I never print photos or make copies, and I don’t have a land line to fax anything. But I regularly need to print out black-and-white documents, and a little less regularly scan text or images. I need machines that perform these tasks cheaply and reliably, and then get out of the way when I don’t need them.

This is where two new buying guides might prove very handy.

The first is for scanners: IEEE.org’s “Speed-Dating Portable Scanners,” flirts with the MobileOffice (too big) and the DocuPen (too wimpy) before falling for the Doxie (just right, and which Wired recently reviewed). Pink hearts aren’t usually my thing, but I could really go for a scanner that fits in a laptop bag and Just Works, so I just might broaden my horizons.

The second guide is for printers: Apartment Therapy Unpluggd makes the case for old-school laser printers in “Stark Black and White: Why The Monochrome Laser Printer Still Makes Sense“:

Back when we had a color inkjet printer we were constantly running out of black cartridges. Those pieces of plastic we wasted and merely threw away requiring us to buy a new one after what only seemed liked 20 pages. Once we moved to a simple monochrome laser jet we began to notice that we could print literally thousands of pages before our toner cartridge went out. And instead of paying $35.00 for a shoddy black inkjet cartridge, that same cash can get us happily printing on our way for over a year.

In “Good Looking Printer For Small Space?” Unpluggd recommends the Samsung SCX-4500 monochrome laser — plus the Canon PIXMA iP100 and HP OfficeJet H470 for low-footprint printers with color.

The Samsung actually has a built-in scanner, but a portable model is still awfully appealing; if you’re anything like me, your papers wind up all over the house, while your all-in-one stays in just one place. If the mountain (of text) won’t come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain.

See Also:

• The $20 DIY Book Scanner
• Doxie Scanner Sends and Shares
• HP Plans Line of (Relatively) Affordable 3-D Printers
• Office Equipment Does Printer Jam at onedotzero

After weeks of leaked photos and videos, Samsung’s 7-inch tablet called the Galaxy Tab is finally here. Samsung has announced the launch of the tablet that could become the first major Android powered challenger to the Apple iPad.

The Galaxy Tab runs Android 2.2 Froyo operating system and has a 7-inch LCD display with a 1024 x 600 resolution. At 0.8 pounds, the device weighs just about half as much as the iPad.  It also supports Adobe’s Flash Player 10.1 so it can display web pages that run Flash–something the iPad can’t.

Samsung hasn’t announced a price yet for the Galaxy Tab.

Since Apple launched the iPad in April, almost every major consumer electronics maker has said it is working on a slate of its own. Yet only a few have yet made it to the market.

Earlier this month, Dell launched the Streak, a device with a 5-inch display that has been billed as a tablet but is priced and acts like a phone. Dell plans to introduce more tablets. BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and HP are also reportedly developing tablets. The JooJoo tablet, launched in March by a former partner of TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington, debuted to negative reviews, has not sold well and is embroiled in legal wrangling.

Meanwhile, Apple has sold more than 3 million iPads.

The Galaxy Tab has a smooth, slab-like design that’s similar to the iPad. It packs in a powerful Cortex A8 1.0GHz processor and supports HD video. The device has a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera for video telephony over 3G and a 3 megapixel rear-facing camera to capture images and video. It will offer 16 GB or 32 GB internal storage and will have microSD expansion for up to 32 GB of additional storage.

The Galaxy Tab will support 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, along with push e-mail. It will not offer voice calling features (except via VoIP apps).

Android OS fills out a smart hardware package

Hold the Galaxy Tab and the first thing that strikes you is how compact the device is. The Galaxy Tab has a smaller screen than the iPad and that translates into a lighter device.

The tablet’s smaller size also makes it easier to hold it in just one hand as you would with an e-reader like the Kindle or the Nook. The 7-inch display means the device is small enough to slip into the pocket of a suit or a purse.

The Galaxy Tab runs Android, an operating system that so far has done best on smartphones.

But Samsung seems to have done a good job of making the Android OS work on the tablet form factor. Samsung has an attractive calendar app for the Galaxy Tab and the email app on the tablet is comparable to that on the iPad.

The Galaxy Tab also includes an e-reading application powered by Kobo–the e-reader sold at Borders. The tablet has a ‘Media Hub’ for video clips and movies, which Samsung hopes to offer as rentals or downloads that users can buy.

Almost all independent apps in the Android Market will work for the Galaxy Tab, says Samsung. So users can buy the tablet and immediately have apps they can download and play with. But we will have to test this to see if it will work for all apps in the Market.

Samsung plans to launch the device in Europe in mid September, and in the U.S. and Asia shortly thereafter.

See Also:

• Samsung to Launch 7-inch Tablet in September
• Video: Samsung Tablet Looks Like a Strong iPad Rival
• Samsung Enters Tablet Race With the Galaxy Tape
• First Look: ELocity’s Android Tablet Makes Great Media Player …
• Attack of the Pads: Tablets Take On Apple

Photos: Samsung

Google released the first stable build for Chrome 6. The new version has a simplified user interface: there's a single menu, the "go" button has been removed, the browser no longer shows "http://" in the address bar, the bookmark button has been moved to the right and the toolbar has a new color scheme.



Chrome 6 adds support for form autofill and you can now synchronize autofill data, extensions and all their settings. Extension sync is probably the coolest new feature in Chrome 6 because you can take your extensions with you, not matter what computer your are using.


Another new feature is the support for WebM videos. "WebM is an open, royalty-free, media file format designed for the web," which is already supported by software like Opera, VLC, Winamp and by YouTube. Watch this video in Chrome 6 or switch to YouTube's HTML5 player.
There's also a feature that's disabled by default (probably because it's buggy): the built-in PDF viewer. You can enable it by typing chrome://plugins/ in the address bar and clicking "Enable" next to "Chrome PDF Viewer".

Google tests a tweaked user interface for the navigation bar. The experiment removes link underlining, changes the background color when you mouse over a link from the navigation bar and adds an icon for the settings menu.

Though the focus of Samsung's IFA 2010 press conference may have fell largely on their Galaxy Tab slate device (as did their advertising campaigns - building sized Galaxy Tab adverts are dotted liberally around Berlin at the moment), perhaps the...

Samsung executives have revealed that their hot new tablet, the Galaxy Tab, is just the first in a long line of slate devices the company have planned. "Based on our market research, people have different desires, so we are definitely...

Samsung have finally officially lifted the lid on their Galaxy Tab tablet device, and, like the Viewsonic ViewPad 7, it turns out that it's also a really massive phone too. The 7 inch touchscreen Android 2.2 Froyo device took pride...

Microsoft has made two new controllers — one for your computer, one for your XBox 360 — that can switch into different shapes depending on your needs or preferences. The well-leaked, much-anticipated Arc Touch Mouse is shipping now; the new wireless XBox Play and Charge kit will be out stateside in November.

Exactly a month ago, Microsoft Hardware teased their new mouse on Twitter with a partial image and a riddle/tagline: “Don’t be so touchy… flat is where it’s at.” Most people guessed it was a new mouse or trackpad, but as John Paczkowski noted, “the composite image also looks like the back of a smartphone or media player…or a remote control…or an electric razor…or a pancake griddle.” What was this new mystery device?

Well, it’s a highly mobile, lightweight, touch-sensitive mouse that arcs to fit in the palm of your hand while you’re using it and packs flat so you can stuff it in a pocket on the go. It’s targeted for laptop users who don’t like their always-flat trackpads.

In a press release titled “Think the Mouse is Dead?“, Microsoft Hardware’s Brett Ostrum wrote that even as trackpads and other input devices have evolved, the market for mice has only grown: “The reasons people need external mice will not change: comfort and precision.”

There are some nice concessions to the trackpad model here, though: the Arc Touch has a touch strip instead of a scroll wheel. Instead of a perfectly smooth drag, the strip vibrates to simulate to simulate a wheel’s click-click bumps. I hope you can toggle this feature on and off — I imagine some people enjoy, or at least have gotten accustomed to, the finger-on-glass feel of a trackpad or touchscreen.

(Here’s a promotional video of the Arc Touch in action. If only Microsoft could invent a Silverlight video that could flat-pack into HTML 5 for easy embedding!)

The XBox 360 has a new wireless controller, too, but its flat-packing profile tweak is more subtle. Its directional pad can pop up into a “plus” for raised directional controls, or snap flush into a “disc” for easy Street Fighter II-style thumb-drag joystick moves. (Sorry for the outdated game reference. I’m old.)

There are plenty of other nice things in this model, including wireless (of course) and a new silver-gray look. But I think the versatility of the d-pad is the real item of interest here. As we start using remotes for game consoles to do more and more things, whether as media players or web browsers, we’re going to want controllers that can morph to match.

See Also:

• Hands On: Xbox Kinect Games Give You a Serious Workout
• Why Xbox Might Be Microsoft's Future — and Computing's, Too …
• Apple Redefines Remote Control — Now, It's Your Cellphone
• Poof! After Wireless, the Computer Mouse Turns Invisible
• Toe-Mouse for Foot-Controlled Computing
• Wired 13.06: The Xbox Reloaded

I first started wearing Injinji toe socks when I began working out in the previously reviewed Vibram Five Fingers. However, it didn't take me long to realize the benefits of wearing them with normal shoes as well.

When worn with traditional shoes these socks provide a barrier of fabric between your toes that cuts down on moisture and friction thereby preventing the formation of blisters. While hiking you can wear them with another pair of traditional socks layered over them for added warmth and comfort.

For anybody interested in wearing Vibram Five Fingers, these are a must-have as they significantly cut down on the well-known odor problem. The toe socks that I ordered are a wool poly-blend (they make them with a variety of different fabrics) that do a great job of keeping my feet dry while running and minimize any odors. I have only blistered once since wearing them; and that was on the third day of the fantastic Lost Coast hike which included wet sand, mountain climbing, and soaked feet. They make the already comfy VFFs even better, especially in the winter when the minimal protection leads to chilly feet.

The only downsides to these socks are that they wear quicker than traditional pairs, they are more expensive, it takes a little longer to put them on, and it is all too easy to mix up left and right when doing the laundry.

I love my toe-socks, and I highly recommend them to anybody who wears VFFs, easily blisters while hiking or running, or is simply looking for a more comfortable alternative to traditional socks.

-- Oliver Hulland

Injinji Tetrasok Nuwool Toe Socks $12

Available from Amazon

Manufactured by Injinji

Nintendo Family Computer (Famicom) Teardown [iFixit. Thanks, Kyle!]

Captions by Charlie Sorrel and Kyle Wiens

Just when you thought the only differences between the iPhone 4 and the iPod Touch were the size and the phone, a closer look reveals that the Touch actually has a different camera.

Apple’s specifications page for the Touch lists a resolution of 960-by-720 pixels for the rear camera, which is roughly one megapixel. That’s several steps below the 5-megapixel camera seen in the iPhone 4.

Then again, the iPod Touch is about half a millimeter thinner than the iPhone 4 (which is significant when it comes to pocketability). Anything bigger than a one-megapixel sensor probably would have been a squeeze, especially when you consider that the Touch includes a front-facing camera, too.

When Apple refreshed its iPod family last year, many expected the iPod Touch to gain a camera and were left disappointed when it didn’t. However, a teardown by iFixIt revealed that was just barely enough room for a camera. iFixIt CEO Kyle Wiens speculated that the feature was omitted due to engineering challenges.

Long story short, the iPod Touch’s camera probably isn’t great, but we’re glad it’s finally here.

See our earlier posts for more details on the new iPods announced today.

Via DaringFireball

See Also:

• Live Blog: Apple’s iPod, Music Event
• Sporty New iPods Tout Tiny Touchscreens, Retina Display

Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Apple on Wednesday refreshed its family of iPod products. The iPod Nano, iPod Touch and iPod Shuffle all received some compelling makeovers that should help Apple stay in the lead in the portable media player market.

The iPod Nano was the most interesting upgrade. It does away with the click wheel seen in previous model and is now more like a belt buckle with a multi touchscreen displaying four mini icons on the main screen — basically, a quarter of the size of an iPhone or iPod Touch.

The Nano is now 1.6 inches wide, 1.4 inches tall and just 0.3 inches thick including the belt clip.

One screen on the Nano shows ‘Artists’, ‘Playlists’, ‘Genius Mixes’ and ‘Now playing.’ Swipe your finger and you get a few more apps: radio, photo, podcasts and settings. There’s no home button, so you have to hold your finger down on the screen to exit an app, which is simple enough. You can also rearrange the icons by holding your finger on an app until it jiggles, then move it to wherever you’d like–just like on the iPhone.

The question remains as to whether or not the iPod Nano is running iOS and if we’ll be able to jailbreak it to run different apps. Apple hasn’t disclosed whether the operating system was iOS but it sure looks like it.

Also noteworthy is that the Nano does not include a camera, even though last year’s model just introduced one. I guess nobody cared about snapping photos with the tiny device, which isn’t surprising.

What’s nifty on the Nano is the small integrated clip to snap the device on to your pocket or belt buckle. The entire body including the clip is made of aluminum so it feels nice and sturdy.

Moving on to the iPod Touch, this was a predictable but monster update. It’s about a millimeter thinner than the iPhone 4, even though it’s got most of the same guts. There are the front and rear cameras–the rear for shooting high-definition videos and photos, the front for ‘FaceTime’ video conferencing.

The Nano now has an Apple A4 processor and the high-resolution “retina display.” Grip it in your hand and it feels really smooth and light.

I had a chance to test FaceTime and it felt even faster than FaceTime on the iPhone 4, though this time around Apple might have just had a better Wi-Fi connection.

Overall, the new iPod Touch is the same as the iPhone 4 but now we can’t really say “It’s an iPhone without a phone,” because the Touch includes a videoconferencing webphone! That’s a major difference and should have an impact on videoconferencing in general.

Last, and least important, was an upgrade for the iPod Shuffle. To put it simply, it’s another belt-clip iPod similar to the Nano, only with the traditional click wheel. On the top is an integrated button for ‘VoiceOver,’ which enables you to dictate the playlist or artist you want to listen to. Example, if you say “Play songs by The Shins,” the Shuffle will obey your commands.

The Shuffle is puny– 1.2 inches wide, 1.1 inches tall and 0.3 inches thick. And it is so lightweight I could barely even feel it in my pocket, which should be ideal for athletes.

Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

See Also:

• Hands-on With the New $100 Apple TV
• Apple Takes Aim at Cable With Tiny New Apple TV
• Live Blog: Apple’s iPod, Music Event
• Apple to Live Stream Press Conference — to Apple Customers Only

The last thing Steve Jobs presented today was the brand new Apple TV. It’s brand new, really small (1/4 the size of the old Apple TV), very capable device that they will sell for $99. The strategy is clear, sell tons of these devices and hope that people will rent movies and episodes like crazy.

Instead of the old, time consuming dowload method, you will now be able to stream your content. HD TV episodes can be rented for $0.99 and you will have up to 30 days to start watching and then 48 hours to finish. A pretty good deal. The new Apple TV will be available late September. More info and images inside.

Apple Premieres New Apple TV for Breakthrough Price of $99 Rent Commercial Free HD TV Episodes for Just 99 Cents

SAN FRANCISCO—September 1, 2010—Apple® today announced the new Apple TV® which offers the simplest way to watch your favorite HD movies and TV shows on your HD TV for the breakthrough price of just $99. Apple TV users can choose from the largest online selection of HD movies to rent, including first run movies for just $4.99, and the largest online selection of HD TV show episodes to rent* from ABC, ABC Family, Fox, Disney Channel and BBC America for just 99 cents.

Apple TV also streams content from Netflix, YouTube, Flickr and MobileMe™, as well as music, photos and videos from PCs and Macs to your HD TV. Enjoy gorgeous slideshows of your photos on your HD TV using Apple TV’s selection of built-in slideshows. Apple TV has built-in HDMI, Wi-Fi, Ethernet and an internal power supply for easy set-up, and features silent, cool, very low power operation in an enclosure that’s less than four inches square—80 percent smaller than the previous generation.

“The new Apple TV, paired with the largest selection of online HD movie and TV show rentals, lets users watch Hollywood content on their HD TV whenever they want,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “This tiny, silent box costing just $99 lets users watch thousands of HD movies and TV shows, and makes all of their music, photos and videos effortlessly available on their home entertainment system.”

Apple TV users can now rent thousands of commercial free, HD TV episodes on iTunes® for just 99 cents, with up to 30 days to start watching and then 48 hours to finish—or watch multiple times. Users can also rent over 7,000 movies with over 3,400 available in HD, with most new releases available the same day they are released on DVD.

Apple TV also gives access to the Netflix streaming catalog for Netflix subscribers, and the ability to browse and search, rate content, add to or remove from your queue, or instantly stream straight to your HD TV. Apple TV users can also enjoy millions of YouTube videos, more than 200,000 podcasts, 4,000 Internet radio stations and personal photos from MobileMe and Flickr with several gorgeous new slideshow themes. Music, videos and photos can also be streamed from PCs and Macs, turning your HD TV into the hub of your home entertainment system.

Apple TV set-up is quick and easy with a single HDMI cable connection (HDMI cable sold separately). Just connect Apple TV to your HD TV, join a Wi-Fi network and with a few clicks on the seven-button aluminum Apple Remote, you have access to amazing content. Users can also control Apple TV with their iPhone®, iPad™ or iPod touch® using the Remote app, available as a free download on the App Store℠.

Pricing & Availability Apple TV will be available late this month for a suggested retail price of $99 (US) and can be pre-ordered beginning today on Apple’s online store (www.apple.com). Apple TV, which comes standard with an aluminum Apple Remote, will be available through the Apple’s online store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. Apple TV requires an 802.11b/g/n wireless network or Ethernet network, a broadband Internet connection and a high definition TV capable of 720p. iTunes TV show rentals and Netflix are only available in the US. Netflix features require account subscription. iTunes movies rentals are only available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

*99 cent HD TV rentals only available in the US.

The launch of a new iTunes version today didn’t surprise anyone, the big question was if it was going to be just another 9.x or the new version 10. The new iTunes 10 features a new social network for music called ‘Ping’ and since they launch the application with a potential of getting over 160 million users it could get successful very quick. I can’t access the new version from Sweden yet so I haven’t been able to try it out. With the new version you’ll also get $0.99 HD TV episode rentals! More info and images inside.

Apple Introduces iTunes 10 With Ping Ping Social Music Discovery Now Available to 160 Million iTunes Users in 23 Countries

SAN FRANCISCO—September 1, 2010—Apple® today introduced iTunes® 10 with Ping, a new music-oriented social network for following your favorite artists and friends to discover what music they’re talking about, listening to and downloading. iTunes Ping lets you post your thoughts and opinions, your favorite albums and songs, the music you’ve downloaded from iTunes, plus view concert listings and tell your friends which concerts you plan to attend. iTunes 10 also features HD TV show rentals* for just 99 cents an episode and AirPlay wireless music playback.

“iTunes is the number one music community in the world, with over 160 million iTunes users in 23 countries, and now we’re adding social networking with Ping,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With Ping you can follow your favorite artists and friends and join a worldwide conversation with music’s most passionate fans.”

Ping lets you follow your favorite artists to see what they’re up to, check out photos and videos they’ve posted, see their tour dates and read comments about other artists and albums they’re listening to. You can also create a profile on iTunes to let your friends know who you’re following, what you’re listening to and which concerts you’re going to. There’s no better way to discover new music than to find out what your friends are listening to, and Ping’s Recent Activity feed shows you their posts about artists, albums, songs and concerts, plus a consolidated Top 10 list of the songs and albums your friends and the artists you follow are downloading from iTunes. In addition to using Ping on your desktop computer, you can take it with you on your iPhone® or iPod touch®,** so you’re always plugged into your personal music scene.

With iTunes 10, you can rent your favorite HD TV shows commercial free from ABC, ABC Family, Fox, Disney Channel and BBC America and watch them at home or on the go for just 99 cents an episode. Thousands of episodes are available, many the day after broadcast, to watch on your Mac® or PC, iPhone, iPod touch and the all-new Apple TV®, and you have 30 days from the moment you rent an episode to start watching it, and 48 hours after that to finish it.

iTunes 10 also features AirPlay wireless music playback to listen to your music on remote speakers using Apple’s AirPort Express® base station. In addition, AirPlay now works without AirPort Express, using speakers, receivers and stereo systems from companies including Bowers & Wilkins, JBL, Denon and iHome, so you can enjoy your entire iTunes music library wirelessly from any room in the house with no extra gear required.

SAN FRANCISCO — When Steve Jobs was preparing to introduce the Apple TV, he called it “one more hobby,” and based on our first impressions, that’s a safe choice of words.

The new Apple TV is a major hardware revamp — one quarter the size of its predecessor. It’s a small black box with curved edges, somewhat resembling a hockey puck. The highlights: It costs $100, and it integrates nearly instant TV and movie rentals, along with Netflix streaming.

The major limitation: For TV rentals, only two studios are on board to stream shows through the Apple TV –ABC and Fox. This isn’t an adequate replacement yet for cable subscriptions.

So calling it “hobby” was right — Apple’s starting out small, and maybe it’ll roll into something bigger if more studios warm up to the idea.

I got some hands-on time with the new Apple TV and it is a promising start.

TV and movie rentals are really snappy and fast. After choosing to rent a movie or show, the Apple TV takes a few seconds to prepare a buffer and begins streaming right away.

Also particularly cool was internet integration. I enjoyed searching through Flickr streams. Select a photo and hit the Play button and it immediately plays a slideshow with music and fancy transitions. I’m too lazy to check my friends’ Flickr streams the normal way on Flickr.com, aren’t you? Plus, the photos look great on a big screen through the Apple TV’s HDMI connection.

The Apple TV’s remote is familiar: It’s got the same aluminum and black design as the current MacBook Pros. It’s also very similar to the current Apple remote that controls Macs–only it’s a little longer and the buttons have small bumps for subtle tactile feedback. It feels great in the hand and navigating through the Apple TV menu was really smooth.

As good as the idea sounds, you won’t be able to use your iPhone or iPad a remote for the Apple TV (not yet, at least). Instead, there’s a feature called ‘AirPlay’, so if you’re using your iPad or iPhone to listen to music, look at photos or watch a video, you can tap an AirPlay button, select your Apple TV and boom — your content is streaming onto your Apple TV. We weren’t able to test that since this feature won’t be available until iOS 4.2 ships in November, but we’ll keep you posted.

You can also stream media from your Mac’s iTunes library by choosing the ‘Computer’ option and selecting a movie or playlist. I tested that out too, and it worked fine, but do note that iTunes only supports a few formats for video (.H264, for instance). So if you prefer getting media through some alternative non-iTunes-compatible, means you’re still going to be doing a lot of file conversion before you can watch your videos on the Apple TV.

All in all, it’s a cool device, and for $100 it’s going to pose a serious threat to the Roku Netflix player. But as a TV replacement, it’s still not there yet. Maybe later.

See Also:

• Apple Takes Aim at Cable With Tiny New Apple TV
• Live Blog: Apple’s iPod, Music Event
• Apple to Live Stream Press Conference — to Apple Customers Only

Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

I’m a fan of the new the 6th generation iPod nano but the new 4th generation iPod Touch will fly of the shelves. It features the new high resolution retina display, holds up to 64GB of data, is ultra thin and features stuff like HD video recording, face time and the new gyro. And you can get one (8GB) for $229. Pretty awesome if you would ask me. More info and images inside.

Apple Introduces New iPod touch Features Retina Display, A4 chip, FaceTime Video Calling, HD Video Recording & Game Center

SAN FRANCISCO—September 1, 2010—Apple® today announced the new iPod touch®, packed with incredible new features including Apple’s stunning Retina™ display, FaceTime® video calling, HD video recording, Apple’s A4 chip, 3-axis gyro, iOS 4.1 and Game Center—all combined in the thinnest and lightest iPod touch ever. The new iPod touch features up to 40 hours of music playback and seven hours of video playback on a single battery charge.*

“We’ve put our most advanced technology inside the new iPod touch,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Whether you’re listening to music, playing games, making FaceTime video calls, browsing the web, capturing HD video or watching TV shows and movies, the new iPod touch with its Retina display, A4 chip and 3-axis gyro is more fun than ever.”

Apple’s stunning Retina display makes everything on iPod touch look even more incredible, whether playing games, watching video, browsing the web or flicking through photos. The Retina display has 960 x 640 pixels—four times as many pixels than before. The resulting 326 pixels per inch is so dense that the human eye is unable to distinguish individual pixels when iPod touch is held at a normal distance, making text, images and video look sharper, smoother and more realistic.

With the new front-facing camera and mic, iPod touch users can make FaceTime video calls over Wi-Fi. With just one tap of the new FaceTime app, iPod touch users can call other new iPod touch or iPhone® 4 users** to easily see what their friends are up to, share important moments like the first day of school and even show others what they are seeing by easily switching to the rear-facing camera.

The rear-facing camera on iPod touch is perfect for HD video recording. Users can easily capture HD video wherever they are and share it via email, MobileMe™ and YouTube. With the iMovie® app, users can combine movie clips, add dynamic transitions and themes and include photos and music right on their iPod touch. Users can buy and download the app for just $4.99 through the App Store℠ right on their iPod touch.

Apple’s A4 chip provides iPod touch users with exceptional processor and graphics performance along with long battery life. This remarkably fast and power-efficient chip, along with the Retina display and 3-axis gyro, makes games on iPod touch the best they’ve ever been on any mobile device.

iPod touch is the world’s most popular portable game player. Now with Game Center, iPod touch users can challenge and play friends or be matched automatically with new opponents. Game Center lets iPod touch users showcase their scores and achievements and discover new games their friends are playing. With the App Store on iPod touch, users have access to the world’s largest catalog of apps with over 250,000 apps, including over 65,000 game and entertainment titles to choose from.

Music and entertainment lovers can now easily access iTunes® Ping directly from their new iPod touch. iTunes Ping lets you follow your favorite artists and friends to discover the music they’re talking about, listening to and downloading. iPod touch users also have the entire iTunes Store® at their fingertips, giving them instant access to the world’s largest catalog of music, TV shows and movies.

The new iPod touch comes with iOS 4.1, the newest version of the world’s most advanced mobile operating system. iOS 4.1 enables new features like FaceTime video calling, multitasking, folders and Game Center.

iPod is the world’s most popular family of digital music players with over a quarter billion sold. Apple’s new holiday lineup includes a brand new iPod shuffle® for just $49; the amazing new iPod nano® with Multi-Touch™ starting at just $149; the incredible new iPod touch with Retina display, Apple’s A4 chip, FaceTime, HD video recording and Game Center starting at just $229; and the iPod classic® in a 160GB model for $249.

Pricing & Availability The new iPod touch will be available next week for a suggested price of $229 (US) for the 8GB model, $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 (US) for the 64GB model through the Apple Store® (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers. iPod touch requires a Mac® with a USB 2.0 port, Mac OS® X v10.5.8 or later and iTunes 10 or later; or a Windows PC with a USB 2.0 port and Windows Vista or Windows XP Home or Professional (Service Pack 3) or later and iTunes 10 or later. Existing second and third generation iPod touch users can update to iOS 4.1 free of charge on September 8 to enjoy new features including Game Center.

There’s a lot to say about the new Apple TV that Steve Jobs presented today. But I’m not going to talk about the tiny little box. Instead, I’m going to talk about that remote.

Actually, there are two remotes. The first is the little, minimalist, metal slab that will ship with the Apple TV.

The first iteration of Apple TV had the same little white infrared remote the company used to ship with laptops. It was great for clicking through a slideshow presentation. It wasn’t very good to keep around your living room, unless you stuck it in a bowl with your keys. It wasn’t a real remote, and most people hated keeping track of another remote anyway, especially one that got lost at the drop of a hat.

The new remote, released earlier this year and shipping with the new Apple TV, isn’t a lot different from that old white remote. It’s a nicer device. Like everything else Apple makes now, it’s longer, and it’s aluminum. It’s still got just six buttons: up, down, right, left, play/pause and menu.

But that minimalism seems almost smarter now. Apple now seems to be figuring out the exact number of hardware buttons it needs on each device. It took away too much on the iPod Shuffle, so now some buttons are coming back. It wanted to get rid of the buttons on the Nano, so it changed it to touchscreen.

For the Apple TV, it’s keeping the action on the screen, with the software interface. Make that easy to navigate, give people the exact options they need depending on context, and you don’t need dozens of buttons on the remote/media player/phone.

Maybe you don’t even need a remote, though. That’s because Apple TV’s second remote control is the Apple-made mobile device that Apple TV customers probably already own.

Seriously — what are the chances of someone buying Apple TV who doesn’t have an iPod, iPad or iPhone?

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