Apple unveils new iPod shuffle (4th Generation)

Apple on Wednesday introduced the next generation iPod shuffle. The shuffle has always been Apple’s smallest iPod, but now it is nearly half the size of the previous model at 1.8 inches tall by 0.3 inches thin.

The new iPod shuffle bumps storage up to 4GB and features VoiceOver, which enables the iPod to speak your song titles, artists, and playlist names. The shuffle can speak 14 languages: including English, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, and Turkish.

Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of iPod an

d iPhone Product Marketing, told Macworld that the iPod shuffle will automatically recognize what language it should speak. If you have a preference of which language you would like, it can be changed in iTunes.

All of the controls for the Shuffle are located o

n the earphone cord, allow you to play, pause, adjust volume, switch playlists and hear the name of the song and artist. The iPod can also give you information like battery life. Apple confirmed that third-party adapters will be available so you can use headphones other than the ones that come with the iPod.

The new shuffle also lets you sync multiple playlists from iTunes for the first time.

According to Apple, the third-generation iPod shuffle holds up to 1,000 songs encoded at 128 Kbps.

Apple’s new iPod shuffle

“The concept for doing this came from the iPhone, specifically the iPhone headset,” said Joswiak. “After we expanded on it in the fall by adding volume control, we looked at it and realized that would work for the shuffle too.”

Joswiak explained that by removing the buttons Apple was able to make the shuffle smaller, without compromising on other features.

“It’s now the smallest music player in the world,” said Joswiak. “Despite being smaller, it actually holds more songs.”

The new iPod shuffle comes in silver or black and features a sleek and design with a built-in stainless steel clip. It requires iTunes 8.1, which hadn’t been released at the time this story was publishing (although Apple’s iTunes download page says the update is coming soon). The shuffle is available immediately and costs $79 (Apple is still selling the 1GB second-generation iPod shuffle for $49).

Microsoft Enters Notebook Cooler Market

Notebook Cooling Base, available in July, will cost $30.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft is introducing a new technology to help keep laptops cooler. Unfortunately, it's not software.

The company on Tuesday introduced its first Notebook Cooling Base, an inch-thick stand with built-in fan. Available in white and black, the laptop-chiller is powered over a USB connection.

The product will sell for $30 when it hits the market in July and represents a new direction for Microsoft's hardware unit, which is best known for its mice and keyboards.

At one point, the company sold wireless networking gear, though it got out of that business in 2004.

Microsoft on Tuesday also announced new colors for its trendy-looking Arc Mouse. Later this month, the $50 mouse will be available in the decidedly non-beige shades of frost white, eggplant purple, deep olive green, and marine blue. It's already on the market in red and black.

The $50 Arc Mouse will be available in frost white, eggplant purple, deep olive green, and marine blue.

(Credit: Microsoft )

Japanese gadget controls iPod in blink of an eye

TOKYO (AFP) — A wink, a smile or a raised eyebrow could soon change the music on your iPod or start up the washing machine, thanks to a new Japanese gadget.

The device looks like a normal set of headphones but is fitted with a set of infrared sensors that measure tiny movements inside the ear that result from different facial expressions.

The gizmo -- called the "Mimi Switch" or "Ear Switch" -- is connected to a micro-computer that can control electronic devices, essentially making it a hands-free remote control for anything.

"You will be able to turn on room lights or swing your washing machine into action with a quick twitch of your mouth," said its inventor, Kazuhiro Taniguchi of Osaka University.

"An iPod can start or stop music when the wearer sticks his tongue out, like in the famous Einstein picture. If he opens his eyes wide, the machine skips to the next tune. A wink with the right eye makes it go back.

"The machine can be programmed to run with various other facial expressions, such as a wriggle of the nose or a smile."

The Mimi Switch could also store and interpret data and get to know its user, said Taniguchi, chief researcher at Osaka University's Graduate School of Engineering Science in western Japan.

"It monitors natural movements of the face in everyday life and accumulates data," Taniguchi told AFP in an interview. "If it judges that you aren't smiling enough, it may play a cheerful song."

Some may use the device for relaxation -- perhaps by changing music hands-free while reading a book -- but Taniguchi said it could also have more serious applications to make people's lives safer and easier.

"If the system is mounted on a hearing aid for elderly people, it could tell how often they sneeze or whether they are eating regularly," he said.

"If it believes they are not well, it could send a warning message to relatives."

The device could also serve as a remote control for appliances for physically disabled people, from cameras and computers to air conditioners, or alert medical services if a person has a fit, he said.

The Ear Switch follows on from an earlier device called the Temple Switch that was small enough to fit inside a pair of eyeglasses and also read the flick of an eyelid.

"As the ear switch is put in the ears, its optical sensors are unaffected by sunlight," Taniguchi said.

He said he was planning to patent his new device in Japan and abroad, work on a wireless version, and seek corporate funding to market it for practical uses -- something he expected might take two or three years.