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Top 5 Free Apps

Release Date: August 05, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: May 22, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: August 29, 2009
Genre: Games
Release Date: March 27, 2009
Release Date: August 07, 2009

iTunes New Music Releases

Release Date: September 29, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: September 20, 2009
Release Date: September 15, 2009
Release Date: August 25, 2009
Genre: Rock
Release Date: August 25, 2009

Top 5 Paid Apps

Release Date: April 22, 2009
StickWars $0.99
Release Date: March 31, 2009
Genre: Games
Bloons $0.99
Release Date: April 05, 2009
Genre: Games

Discover New Music

  • Goodbye Jumbo

    • 8 out of 10
    • World Party
    • Released in 1990, World Party's

  • Spanks for the Memories

    • 8 out of 10
    • Asylum Street Spankers
    • The Asylum Street Spankers are...well...The Spankers. Hailing from Austin, where I saw them live dozens of times, the band played entirely acousti

  • Spilt Milk

    • 10 out of 10
    • Jellyfish
    • The second and final album from this power-pop group makes me wish Jellyfish had been able to make just one more record together. The album is best enjoyed as a whole piece, flowing from one track to
  • King James Version

    • 4 out of 10
    • Harvey Danger
    • The sophomore effort from Harvey Danger, I was really looking forward to this followup to "Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?" Unfortunately, "King James Version" failed to deliver any of the bri

  • Kind of Blue

    • 10 out of 10
    • Miles Davis
    • The jazz album to end all jazz albums. Miles Davis and John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly and the list goes on. The who's who of who's who in jazz have assembled for this monumental record. Get this

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News

iPod touch: The Future of Handheld Devices

Some see the iPod touch as just an iPhone without the phone. Others see it as a taste of things to come: Truly portable tablet computers that deliver features only Apple can bring to the table.

Apple’s touch screen iPod is about to take a serious leap forward in capabilities come June when the App Store launches and third party developers can start offering their programs for the palm-size computer. It appears that Apple will be doing little to limit the applications developers can release, which means the iPod touch will be limited only by coder’s imaginations.

Even Apple refers to the super-slim touch screen iPod as a "mobile Wi-Fi platform," and not as a media player, making a clear distinction between the touch and its other iPod products.

Right now, the iPod touch offers a subset of the features found on its cousin the iPhone. It doesn’t include a cell phone, and Bluetooth is clearly missing, too. While Apple won’t add cell phone features to the touch, it may well roll in Bluetooth at some point, which could potentially open the door to a wide range of wireless peripherals like keyboards, mice, and stereo headsets.

BusinessWeek pointed out that one feature missing from the touch is an ebook reader like Amazon.com’s Kindle. The touch’s current display size is fine for Web surfing and email, but it might be a bit small for reading books, which means if Apple is considering ebook support, it might also be considering a larger screen version of the device -- which could be the birth of a true Apple table-like computer.

Ebook support could also lead to a new feature at the iTunes Store: Electronic versions of books, magazines, and other periodicals. "All that’s needed are willing content suppliers for the iTunes Store, which could become a central distribution point for all kinds of digital media�a record store, a video shop, a bookstore, and a newsstand all at once," BusinessWeek said.

As Wi-Fi networks expand to cover wider areas, some iPod touch users may find that the need for cell coverage will dwindle and they can rely on IP-based communication services like Skype. That certainly won’t be an option for anyone that travels outside of Wi-Fi saturated areas, or needs the always available wireless connections an iPhone offers, there is a subset of iPod touch users that could find the idea of cutting their cell phone tether very enticing.

Years ago, Palm looked like the company that could deliver the be-all handheld device for tech users. Thanks to an unfortunate series of mismanagement issues, however, the company lost its edge and market leader status. Apple’s clear vision and complete control over the touch and OS X could mean that its device can continue to grow where the Palm stalled.

As long as Apple maintains its focus, the already successful iPod touch has a very bright future ahead of it. Maybe some day touch fans will start calling the iPhone an iPod touch with a phone.

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