iWatchz 6G iPod nano Watchbands Land at Best Buy

Geeks often like to make fashion statements that show off just how geeky they are. This

is the reason for things like the Millenterprise Falcon mashup shirt that gives you +10

geek cred. Another way to show that you are geek is to wear that small 6G iPod nano as

a watch.


There are tons of watchbands on the market today the will let you wear that nano on

your wrist, but most all of them have to be ordered online other than a few in Apple

retail stores. If you don’t live near an Apple retail location, Best Buy is getting

the full iWatchz Q series of bands for the nano.


The bands are cool and made from silicone in several colors. Best Buy will carry all of

the colors and the bands will sell for right under $25. You will be able to walk in and

go home sporting your geeky watch.

The WALDok Will Now Dock Any iPod, Available for Preorder

Remember the WALDok? It sounded like the unholy cybernetic offspring of WALL-E and Iron

Man's creepy hypercephalic floating robot head nemesis, MODOK, but the WALDok was

actually a Kickstarter project for a gorgeously compact speaker dock for the iPod nano

capable of outputting some truly impressive sound while simultaneously juicing you up.

The only problems with the WALDok? First, it was iPod nano only… a design decision

which seemed to unnecessarily specify the WALDok into obscurity. Second, as a

Kickstarter project, it hadn't yet made enough money in $59 pledges to guarantee that

it would ever be made.

Luckily, over the weekend, both problems resolved themselves. Designer Hern Kim not

only redesigned the WALDok to accommodate other iPod models, but also surpassed the

$30,000 pledge total thanks to some publicity from Gizmodo and Wired, meaning that the

WALDok will soon be a very real product. $59 pledged at this point is as good as a pre

-order. Hooray!

Latest buzz on the next iPhone

What will the next generation iPhone look like when it’s released in June?

That’s the burning question on the minds of Apple devotees and technology observers alike, sparked by the less-than-blockbuster release of the iPhone 4 on Verizon.

There are rumors galore, and multiple leaks and media reports suggest that Apple is toying with the following three potential models:

- A miniature, uber-portable iPhone, much like an iPod nano.

- An iPhone with a bigger screen, up to 4 inches from the current 3.5, making the iPhone touchpad more in line with many of its Android rivals and allowing it to more easily support some apps.

- The perennially discussed version with a slide-out keyboard, which has long been in the running but has never made the cut.

Apple produces three prototypes at a time that are brought all the way to the point of manufacturing — but only one is chosen. So consumers are likely to see one, but not all three, of those potential iPhones.

Carl D. Howe, a tech analyst at Boston-based Yankee Group, predicted the larger screen version of the iPhone would be the one to make the cut — and not because Apple is afraid of the Android onslaught.

“What they’re doing is more likely related to usability,” Howe said. “It gives your fingers more room to move on the larger iPhone.”

The smaller iPhone prototype would reportedly be a cheaper version of the phone aimed at targeting Google’s mobile operating system. Apple is also reportedly turning its MobileMe online storage locker into a cloud server that would store electronic books, songs and movies — a move that would augment the smaller storage space of a potential nano.

With an iPhone nano, however, the trade-off would still be that a smaller phone would support fewer apps.

“The fact that there have been rumors does not mean they’ll see the light of day,” Howe said. “They’re always working on the next generation of any product.”