A week after the iPhone met the US consumers analysts already started to hint at new products Apple laboratories are preparing. Even if sources in Apple’s supply chain are cited, I find it hard to believe an iPhone Nano with a circular scroll wheel will soon make its debut.

Seen as a competitor for the yet undisclosed Motorola RAZR 2, the product is supposed to reach the shelves sometimes before Christmas at a price of about $300. This will make Apple compete on the traditional mobile phones market (not just on the smartphones one) which could bring the company a bigger percentage than the initial Steve Jobs estimate of 1% (10 million handsets).

The second product rumored to be in preparation is a new iPod with borrowed features from the first generation iPhone. Yes, replacing the NAND memory with a magnetic hard drive for cheaper and greater storage seems a good idea. However, an iPod with a touchscreen and most of the features existing in the iPhone might turn out to be a competition for the very Apple handset that inspired it as it will most likely cost less.

This reasoning makes such an iPod very unlikely but an upgrade to the current Apple line of MP3 players is almost necessary as the competition already offers larger screen areas, greater storage capacities and other valuable features which often come at lower prices. However, nobody knows what Steve Jobs is planning but an announcement is near and we will then see what new devices and features Apple’s boss prepared to impress us.

Apple announced a battery replacement plan for the iPhone mobile phones that passed the warranty period. It looks like you will need to pay $79 to install a new battery and a $6.95 fee for handling and shipping. Apart the extremely high price of $85.95 there are bigger problems you could face if your battery dies (warranty or not). First of all you need to backup all your profiles, photos, songs, contacts, email account settings, text messages and other stuff on iTunes, because they will be all wiped out.

Second of all, you need to leave your mobile phone with Apple for 3 working days which is not something that we can afford, right? I am waiting for a lot of mushroom companies to pop up, to replace iPhone batteries so that the price could go down and the downtime could lower.

iPhone was released yesterday in US. Even the stores were closed the people sat in the line many hours before the launch. Some were nervous, some were excited. Here are a few photos and video footages of the event:

From San Francisco World Premiere:

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=7vf9wUlfmOo[/youtube]

and another one:

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=NjtntpqmDyM[/youtube]

The victory:

The launch will be this Friday 6 p.m local time. Everyone waits the most advertised device. The iPhone has got over 11,000 articles and 69 million hits in Google in the last six months.

But people don’t talk too much about what it can’t do. Today I have found some shortcomings. For example iPhone can’t record video and the songs can’t be used as ringtones. That are common features for any mobile nowadays. Besides, it doesn’t support games, flash applications, instant messaging, MMS or voice recognition.

iPhone is revolutionary in mobiles industry, but it is not perfect. Other things it doesn’t have are: 3G, expandable memory, removable battery. Probably other new problems will be discovered after the launch. Some people who tested the phone reported lower battery levels than it was announced. The question is: “Does it worth the hype?”

[via Gizmodo]

Not even available on the market, Apple’s mobile phone already got some improvements today, ten days before its release. According to an official Apple statement the overly anticipated device promises to deliver more battery life: “up to 8 hours of talk time, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback or 24 hours of audio playback” and 250 hours (10 days) in stand-by mode.

The other upgrade announced today focuses on the multi-touch display. As the only input method of the iPhone, the display is clearly exposed to scratching and consequently Apple decided to replace it: “We’ve also upgraded iPhone’s entire top surface from plastic to optical-quality glass for superior scratch resistance and clarity“.

[Apple's announcement]

Orbino, a leader in leather accessories, announced a new leather case for 2G Shuffle iPods. The Genio Leather Case offers a built in cord winder that allows you to wear the cord at the perfect length. Being a luxury product, the Genio case is handcrafted. It comes in many leather styles: classic calfskin, stamped crocodile or exotic skins.

Orbino complements the extraordinary design with a leather knotted lariat and little straps that hold the earbuds. The Orbino Genio Leather Case retails for $39.

[Product page via TechFresh]

Apple presented some new commercials for the iPhone. In the TV spots, they announced the official date for launching: June 29th. Here are the three commercials that officially say the iPhone is coming on June 29th:

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=RYg2RyHkJMI[/youtube]

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=N27r1Kby0HA[/youtube]

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=alSHDmv3spc[/youtube]

This is a little unusual because history shows that Apple released products only Thursday. Obviously, the tradition will be changed because June 29th is a Friday.

Apple announced yesterday in a press release that the 160GB Apple TV model will be available today. The recommended price for the 160GB model is $399. Apple told that storage would be sufficient for 200 hours of video, 36,000 songs, 25,000 photos or a combination of each.

Besides, announcing the larger capacity Apple TV, Steve Jobs talked about YouTube videos: “This is the first time users can easily browse, find and watch YouTube videos right from their living room couch, and it’s really, really fun.” Starting from mid-June, Apple TV will stream videos directly from YouTube. The free software upgrade for YouTube will be available in June too.

Philips released a new clock radio called AJ300D. Why it is special? You guessed, it features a dock for iPods. It is compatible with the Philips GoGear MP3 player. It will charge the docked devices when in use. Besides the docking station, Philips AJ300D has many other utilities.

The Philips AJ300D offers FM digital tuning with 20 presets. The device sports a LED readout and DBB speaker system. Its users have many possibilities to wake up in the morning using the regular alarm, the radio or the wake to CD function. The Philips “wOOx” loudspeaker technology will give you the best music bits. Just in case, you receive a remote control if you don’t plan to put the clock radio near your bed. Philips AJ300D retails for $83 at Amazon.

[via NewLaunches]

Pioneer is going to launch a new series of Elite A/V receivers that feature iPod connectivity. The new range of Elite receivers is composed from four devices: VSX-90TXV, VSX-91TXH, VSX-92TXH and VSX-94TXH. Those receivers can be connected to your iPod using the IDK-80 docking station.

You could manage your files from iPod and you can play the movies right on the big screen. To make that easier, the system features a remote control, HDMI and component connectivity, THX Select II certification, and Dolby Digital EX decoding.

The VSX-90TXV and VSX-91TXH receivers will be available in June for $650 and $1000 respectively. The other two will be out in August at the prices - $1300 and $1600. The IDK-80 docking station for iPod is retailing for $100. - MIHNEA BOIANGIU