As most of you no doubt already know, Apple is holding a media event in a few hours (10:00 AM PDT) to release new iPods, and possibly a whole lot more. Of note, the event, which Apple has dubbed "The Beat Goes On", seems to be a reference to the final press release issued by The Beatles in 1970:

Spring is here and Leeds play Chelsea tomorrow and Ringo and John
and George and Paul are alive and well and full of hope.
The world is still spinning and so are we and so are you.
When the spinning stops — that'll be the time to worry, not before.
Until then, the Beatles are alive and well and the beat goes on, the beat goes on.
- Final Beatles press release, April 10, 1970

You never give me your mooooney

This of course aligns perfectly with rumors of The Beatles finally making it to iTunes Store, after literally years of speculation. The road has been long and winding, but it looks like it'll only be a few hours until customers can download digitally remastered Beatles songs on iTunes.

For live coverage of the event, MacRumors provides a comprehensive list.

Update: Event has begun Of note:

* new iTunes tonight
* ringtones support in iTunes
* new iPod shuffles in new colors, (PRODUCT) RED version
* new iPod nano, with larger screen, cover flow, games (Vortex, Sudoku), new colors, refreshed design, 320*240 screen, more capacity, video support, etc. (photo)
* current iPods refreshed with more capacity, thinner designs, redubbed "iPod classic"
* iPod touch, basically iPhone without phone functionality, thinner, has wifi, Safari... is making me kinda regret picking up on iPhone. Hum. Too soon? Also interesting that what Steve called "iPhone apps" (aka, glorified web pages formatted to fit the iPhone UI) now by default, becomes iPod touch apps as well.
* iTunes Store on iPod touch (and iPhone?) via wifi, so scratch one off the list
* so, no Beatles? darn. Ars reports, "Steve is being a tease by listening to Lennon songs"
* wait, wait, "One more 'incredible' part of this..."
* oh great, a Starbucks button when you're browsing in Starbucks. Really?
* "Can now buy whatever song is playing at Starbucks with one tap of a finger" from Ars. Cool concept, but kind of a let down. Incredible my ass.
* Ars reports, "welcoming howard schultz, founder and chairman of starbucks to talk (played Paul McCartney in the middle there, Steve is such a tease)"
* motherfucker, my friend was right. iPhone 8 gig price drop, and if his source was correct, 16 gig to fill in the top tier will be announced momentarily. I hope not.
* yay, my month old, 8 gig iPhone still remains kinda cutting edge. for now. but Steve suddenly made it worth $200 less. people are going to be pissed. especially 4 gig owners.
* aaaand, no Beatles yet. burned.
* time to lick my wounds and buy more Apple products

Questions Raised
* how long until hackers open up the iPod touch / start adding native apps, including the iPhone mail app?
* with games on the iPod classics/nanos, when will the iPod touch/iPhone get them?
* since when does "one more thing" mean four more things?
* am I the only one who thinks the Starbucks announcement was far from 'incredible', and closer to 'huh?'
* how are early iPhone adopters (the hardcore Apple fans who waited in line) supposed to feel about their models being cut, prices slashed, and the exclusive, sleek look and much functionality mimicked on a new iPod, just two months after its release? that's a quick turnaround time to screw over early adopters, even for Apple.

On a more optimistic note, this holiday season is going to be massive for Apple with all these new iPods.

Updatea 2: And Steve offers all iPhone early adopters $100 back in an open letter... in Apple products, anyway. Nice gesture, and smart business move.

Exam Week at Dartmouth

It's that time of year, and the house library has pretty much become a home. Peopple have been sleeping, eating, studying, and taking study breaks over the past few days. The result: natural chaos, as only college students can create. Taken with the old iPhone, so excuse the quality. Continue reading...

After a few weeks use, I can say for sure that I love my iPhone. There is simply no other phone out there that does as much so well, and the multi-touch interface is so skillfully and intuitively harnessed that even a 1 year old can use it.

I just wish it had some more applications.

Yes, I know that there are tons of web apps for iPhone out there, but I'm talking real apps, instead of glorified web page bookmarks. (And though there are some pretty awesome native apps that have been created for the iPhone, it involves a lot of hacking on the user's part, which is something I've avoided doing every since I botched up my iPod nano trying to get it to run Doom. Though this little gem by Lucas Newman and Adam Betts is tempting.)

But since I'm not a member of the iPhone team, all I can do is dream. Here are five iPhone applications I'd like to see from Apple, along with mockup realizations by UI designer and friend, Josh Pyles, of Pixelmatrix Design. Enjoy!

An Archive.org/Ebook Reader

I know what you're thinking to yourself. Books? On the iPhone? Come on, who reads these days?

In all seriousness though, the iPhone's high resolution screen not only displays photos, videos and album art brightly and crisply, but renders text like a champ. And for the skeptics, I can attest that the iPhone renders text so well, I've browsed the web for hours on the little device without loss of vision, headaches, or eye soreness. In fact, it was actually a surprisingly pleasant experience.

Admittedly, the iPhone is not ideal for reading. And tackling a length novel on the iPhone's tiny, portable screen is in something like reading Harry Potter on thousands of sticky notes. But since Josh and I couldn't figure out an effective way to miniaturize the latest Harry Potter book into a pocket-sized version, we focused on the easier route. Dreaming up an interface for reading ebooks and Archive.org books on your iPhone that would one-up carrying around an actual book while traveling.

We looked towards the Apple Design Award winning media cataloging app, Delicious Library, for UI inspiration for the display of your library/downloadable books. DL pioneered an immersive, intuitive, and delicious looking interface for digital media browsing, and we love it, and it works. (Oh, and at the request of chief monster, Wil Shipley, here's my one word review of his app: buy.):

Click me to view in full size

Bookmarks, check. Intuitive navigation (tap the corner or slide to the next page), check. One tap definitions. "Skimming" scroll options by dragging around on the right side of the screen, ala iPod functionality in the iPhone. Browsing, purchasing, and downloading of books from anywhere. Check, check, check.

We live in a fast paced, busy world of fast food, on demand, one click buying, and twittering. I think I'd find myself reading more, in smaller chunks at a time, if this app was packed in by Apple.

Continue reading...

Yep. This is a one year old baby using the iPhone. Very cute, and reason enough for me to buy some more Apple stock.

And on a related note, for all of you happy iPhone users out there, check out SeeqPod via your phone. The first potential killer app for the iPhone, and an utter pleasure to use on wi-fi networks. This app alone makes the iPhone a better music player than the iPod.

Update: Found a Business 2.0 blog entry with this video along with a couple of others of babies using the iPhone. But the best part about the blog entry is probably a link to a hilarious Fake Steve Jobs post. (Excerpt: " Check out this video showing a two-year-old figuring out how to use an iPhone. I wept when I watched this. It was like seeing the future.") And Dugg!