[Via Gizmodo]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtkMMQRKqB0[/youtube]

Apple also went more environmentally friendly by cutting packaging size down 56%, making circuit boards Bromide and PVC free, and taking mercury out of the displays.

The Macbook air can be pre-ordered now in Black or White, and can be seen in stores in 2 weeks at a respectable $1799. Hit the cut for more images of the MacBook air.

Apple has come a long way in movie and song downloads via iTunes, but Steve explains that their current numbers certainly aren’t enough. Apple has sold 7 million movies, 125 million TV shows, and last week Apple sold their 4 billionth song. Today Apple will be releasing iTunes movie rentals for use on all of their video playing devices. Movie rentals will cost $3.99 for new titles, and $2.99 for older titles. Movie rentals are available for 30 days after buying, but the catch is once started, the movie only has 24 hours to be watched.

All major studio’s are involved in iTunes movie rentals which will make pretty much all movies in theaters available for rental. iTunes will have movies for rental today, and will have over 1000 movies for rental by the end of February.

iPhone v1.1.3 features include Google Maps cell tower triangulation called Skyhook Wireless for virtual GPS to pinpoint your general location and give directions to where ever. Skyhook Wireless has driven all around the USA in their vehicles and collected physical location data for triangulation. Google Maps also allows you to drop a pin on any location you’d like to add to memory. SMS now works like email, allowing one SMS to be sent to multiple individuals. You can now add bookmark icons called Webclips to websites on your home screen. You can add up to 9 pages of these Webclips on Springboard. Icons can now be moved around the screen and placed anywhere within the 9 pages of springboard. Lyrics can also now be obtained and placed transparently over album art.

All of the updates are available as a software update for free today.

Head on over to Gizmodo to check out a video of Delphi’s concept car control webapp.

[Via Gizmodo]

The application works very well most of the time, but only likes mainstream music. If you try weird genres, it’s most likely not going to come up with a song. You also don’t need to be directly near a speaker. I tested it tonight inside a wrestling gym and as long as the music over powers background noise, you will get a result. Listen can be downloaded from Installer.app.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32nkACIJuiw[/youtube]

CorePlayer’s supported formats include: H.263, WAV, OGG, Speex, WAVPACK, FLAC, MPC, TTA, AMR, ADPCM, ALaw, MuLaw, Midi, G.726, G.729, G.711, GSM 06.10

[Via JustAnotheriPhoneBlog]

[Via Podcastingnews]

Morphie Knox

The Morphie Knox is an wallet type case for an iPod nano 2nd gen, and the iPod nano 3rd gen (coming Q1 2008). The case is made out of high quality aircraft grade aluminum to protect both your iPod and other wallet possessions. The Morphie Knox is expected to have an MSRP of $40.00.

Morphie Radura

The Morphie Radura is a clear polycarbonate case for the current line of iPod’s and iPhone. The Radura covers the entire scratchable surface of the iPod or iPhone, but leaves all of the connections and click wheel open and free. The case also has rubberized shock-resistant inserts for added protection. MSRP of $20.00.

Morphie Ratchet

The Morphie Ratchet is a hard plastic, 360 degree belt clip with a frost colored base. The Ratchet can be used with a 2nd & 3rd Gen Nanos, 5th and 6th gen iPod classics, iPhone, iPod touch. MSRP of $18.00.

Morphie Run

The Morphie Run is a no-slip armband made of hard plastic that rotates 360 degrees for music right there with you anywhere you go. The Run can be used with all of Apple’s current iPod/iPhone models, 5th Gen Classic, and iPod 2nd Gen. MSRP is $25.00

Morphie Base Case

The Morphie Base Case is a tough case made out of shock-absorbent silicone and provides your iPhone or iPod with a soft second skin. The Base Case comes in Black, Pink, and Frost at an MSRP of $12.00

mStation Stereo Orb II

The Stereo Orb II is a docking station and speaker system in a variety of colors. The Stereo Orb II boasts compatibility for all of the iPod’s and iPhone allowing syncing through iTunes with a USB cable. The speaker system on the Stereo Orb II is said to have 30 watts of power. MSRP of $129.99

More information of the mStation’s new products will be announced at CES 2008.

Hit the cut for what actually is included in v1.1.3, and what we can hope is fixed for the final release.

In the video we see the moving of icons, new features in Maps application including cell tower triangulation, pagination, and bookmarking of links from Safari put on the home screen. Also in the video was a crash of the plain non-hacked firmware. I sure hope Apple works that out before releasing it. No idea when this will be out, but it should be within the next month leading up to the SDK in february.

[Via Gearlive]

Hit the cut to read why I think the video is fake, and indeed does not show the real v1.1.3.

The video is easily spotted as fake because of the Carrier name being shown as “Nate”. The carrier name is easily changed by downloading Erica Sadun’s MIM application from installer.app. Another thing I spotted was that when moving around the icons, he can move to the next page. Why would Apple allow a next page with not enough icons to fill a 2nd page? This concludes that it still is a previous version with a new hack, and customize to hide all the icons.

Here’s a list of all new features that are supposedly coming in v1.1.3.

* The ability to send an SMS message to multiple people
* Google Maps application can now pinpoint your location using cell tower triangulation
* Google Maps can now display the Hybrid map view
* You can now drag and drop application icons on your home screen
* The home screen supports pagination
* You can now add web bookmarks to your home screen

[Via Gizmodo]

Hit the cut for my dislikes on the iPhone.

Signal Strength

The iPhone’s signal strength isn’t too bad, but isn’t really the greatest either. What I really dislike about the signal is how fast the iPhone “refreshes” the signal bar. I never know when I have signal if I slightly move the phone. This might be in part of the internal antenna, but I don’t know. I’ve heard a lot of other problems about the signal strength on the iPhone.

Speaker Volume

This is probably my biggest dislike on the iPhone. The speaker volume on the iPhone is simply, awful. Putting the iPhone on speakerphone during a call is useless because you have to hold the bottom of the phone up to your ear anyways. Sure music should come out nice and clean on the speaker, but voice is so low, I would not care if the voice was heavily distorted such as Nextel phones. Anything for better speakerphone.

Battery Life

I can live with short battery life, but it’s just something that could be touched up a little bit. I can’t go one full day without charging my phone at least once. I remember with my old ones, I had to charge them every 3 to 4 days. I don’t see 3G coming at least until the iPhone gets a better battery and some more energy efficient parts.

Maybe we can expect a change coming in future updates, or possibly the 2nd version of the iPhone.