It seems that Nokia is currently working on a phone codenamed “tube” that will compete with Apple’s iPhone. The new phone which was shown in a slide at the Evans Data Developer Relations Conference in California looks similar to the iPhone. The “tube” showed graphical displays, such as a promotion for the movie Shrek the Third. Other capabilities will be featured, such as the ability to upload photos.

“It’s our first touch device,” said Tom Libretto, vice president of Forum Nokia. Interfacing with the system is done via touch similar to the iPhone. He said the company has not published the planned date of shipment for Tube.

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Apple’s much anticipated Software Development Kit (SDK) for its iPhone has been released the SDK in beta form. Contrary to their previous stance that third-party development would only harm the reliability their customers would come to expect from the unit, Apple is now claiming that they are now excited about the third-party development.

The iPhone SDK is a software development kit that will allow third party developers to create applications that can run directly on the iPhone and the iPod Touch. The kit is significant because Apple can’t possibly anticipate, nor produce, all the applications that people might want to use on an iPhone. And some of those applications will convince people who weren’t sure about the iPhone to buy it.

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While Apple’s official iPhone Software Development Toolkit still unreleased, a hacker who calls himself “core” has successfully ported a BitTorrent client to the iPhone.

The client software is based on the Transmission open-source client for Mac OS X and Linux. The software currently runs via iPhone’s command line form. The client software is believed to be crashing when downloading files over the iPhone’s EDGE connection while downloading via Wi-Fi connection is more stable.

More details about the client software can be found on the CoreOS - iPhoneUnix blog.

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HandBrake is an open-source, GPL-licensed, multiplatform, multithreaded DVD to MPEG-4 converter, available for MacOS X, Linux and Windows. HandBrake 0.9.2 incorporates many major and exciting changes—including full support for the AppleTV Take 2 and the latest iPhone/iPod Touch firmware. Mac users take note: this release is only compatible with Mac OS X Leopard, 10.5.

Features:
• Dolby Digital 5.1 (AC3) sound in MP4 files, for a true DVD experience on the AppleTV and in Perian.
• Multi-track audio support for Apple devices
• iPhone-compatible anamorphic video at its full size
• Variable frame rate encoding with detelecine filtering
• More flexible, “loose” anamorphic video
• MP4 optimization for progressive web downloads
• Dynamic range compression for encoding from AC3 audio
• Robust program and transport stream support
• A fresher, faster version of x264
• Tuning of FIFO sizes by processor count
• Better handling of audio discontinuities
• Better handling of DVD read errors
• Work-arounds for missing end-of-cell markers
• Recovery when streams have signal loss
• Better synced chapter markers
• Better handling of B-Frames
• No more cutting off the very ends of films
• No more lost subtitles or chapter markers
• No more crashes in 2-pass encoding

Click here to download HandBrake 0.9.2

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Imagine your clothes powering your ipod, Hmmnnnn sounds interesting right? Well, US researchers have created a nano-fiber textile that harvests energy from movement, paving the way for clothing that could one day power an iPod or other wearable electronic devices.

Using the same mechanical principle as a self-winding watch, but on scale measured in billionths of a meter, tiny nano-generators can scavenge “wasted” energy from sound waves, vibrations, or even the human heart beat. The fibers, developed by a team of scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology led by Zhong Lin Wang, are covered with pairs of zinc oxide nanowires that produce tiny pulses of electricity in response to friction.

“The two fibers scrub together just like two bottle brushes with their bristles touching,” converting the mechanical motion into electrical energy, explained Wang.

“Many of the devices could be put together to produce a higher output,” he said.

This method of generation energy from friction is called the “piezoelectric effect.”

However, there is at least one significant problem before this technology can become part of our daily clothes. Zinc oxide is sensitive to water, which means that clothes made from these fibers could never be washed.

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Apple has added new models of the iPhone and iPod touch, the new models come with doubled memory, thereby doubling the amount of music, photos and videos that customers can upload to these devices.

Apple iPhone now comes with 16GB memory size for $499 while the new iPod touch now comes with 32GB memory for $499.

“For some users, there’s never enough memory,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide iPod and iPhone Product Marketing. “Now people can enjoy even more of their music, photos and videos on the most revolutionary mobile phone and best Wi-Fi mobile device in the world.”

Both iPhone and iPod touch feature Apple’s Multi-Touch user interface and pioneering software that allows users to find and enjoy all their music, videos, photos and more with just a touch of their finger.
The new iPhone and iPod touch models include the following software enhancements:

• Automatically find your location using the redesigned Maps application
• Send text message to multiple people with one message
• Create Web Clips for your favorite websites
• Customize your home screen
• Watch movies rented from the new iTunes Movie Rentals.

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