Uncle Woz is stirring things up today in an interview with The Telegraph, saying that he thinks "the iPod has sort of lived a long life at number one, things like, if you look back to transistor radios and Walkmans, they kind of die out after a while... they get real cheap and then they are not selling as much." That's certainly an interesting parallel to draw, since the iPod is unquestionably the market leader and the recent updates to the nano and classic weren't particularly overwhelming -- but we've got to disagree here and say that the metaphor doesn't quite work.

Walkmans and radios were standalone products that didn't really change over time, while the iPod is clearly evolving into a compelling standalone computing platform -- and it's tied to iTunes, which, hate it or love it, is the most popular content store out there. Sure, things could change dramatically -- competitors like the Zune are getting way better, subscription music could finally take off, and DRM is slowly going away (at least for music) -- but it's hard to see Apple getting baited into a brand-tarnishing price war or simply letting the iPod fade away without putting up a fight. We'll see, we suppose -- any of you willing to throw down some bold predictions?

[Via Wired]

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime sat down with VentureBeat on the heels of last week's DSi announcement, and while he didn't drop any major bombshells, he did put the kibosh on those Wii HD rumors, saying that they were "pure rumor and speculation" and that Nintendo wouldn't show off upcoming models to devs as the rumors claimed. Reggie also downplayed the talk that Nintendo is going head to head against Apple, saying that Ninty's always "viewed ourselves as competing in a larger entertainment space." That's the end of that for now, we suppose -- but Reggie didn't close the door on either rumor entirely, and his closing comment that Nintendo's good fortunes "makes us the most paranoid people in the world" certainly keeps possibilities open. Hit the read link for the full interview.

Just when we were getting used to having most Nikon announcements thoroughly preceded by a flood of leaks, the company's managed to totally surprise us by introducing a new head-mounted display with PMP features -- and it actually looks pretty sweet. The WiFi-enabled 8GB Media Port UP UP300x has a .44-inch 640 x 480 screen that appears to be the equivalent of a 50-inch image viewed from about 10 feet away, and includes a motion sensor that allows media functions to be controlled through head movements. (There's also a "basic" 4GB UP300 that omits the motion control features.) Codec support is pretty slim, but there's a browser app and a new UP media store that allows for direct downloads. Two AA batteries will last for two hours of video or 270 minutes of audio, which should be enough time for you to look thoroughly like a dork, but we won't lie -- we'd buy one of these in a heartbeat if they ever make it out of Japan.

[Via Akihabara News]

Sure, we've seen projects like SplashTop boot a stripped Linux build quickly, but Intel engineers at the recent Linux Plumbers Conference took things a little farther last Thursday, starting up modified versions of Fedora and Intel's own Moblin Linux on an SSD-equipped Eee PC in just five seconds. That's all the way to an idle CPU and disk, not cheating and starting a window manager while background services thrash in the background, mind you -- and it's fast enough that the splash screen was removed from both distros. The changes are being sent back to the Moblin and Fedora trunks, but if you're curious, a detailed overview of the changes awaits at the read link.

[Via SlashGear]

After seemingly endless delays, it looks like the SlingCatcher is finally making its way into the world, as evidenced by this grainy unboxing at the SlingCommunity forums. Sure, it looks exactly the same as the prepro boxes we've toyed with, but we won't lie -- we've been waiting for this box with breathless anticipation ever since it was announced at CES 2007, and combined with the recent launch of the Sling 2.0 software, the Slingbox PRO-HD, and the seemingly-imminent launch of the Sling.com video portal, Sling's ending the year strong. Click on for a few more pics, and don't worry -- we'll be blowing this thing out as soon as we get our hands on one.

[Thanks, Christopher]

AMD just issued a release saying that president and CEO Dirk Meyer will be making a "significant corporate announcement" tomorrow, which sounds ominously like those breakup rumors are coming true -- particularly since Dirk's on record saying that the chipmaker plans to spin off manufacturing and fabrication into a new company. We'll see in the morning -- anyone planning on throwing a blowout "last night of the old AMD" party in the meantime?

Update: The WSJ confirms it's a breakup -- but don't worry, they'll still be friends. [Thanks, aztalon]

Update 2: Official PR is here. How's "AMD and Advanced Technology Investment Company of Abu Dhabi to Create New Leading-Edge Semiconductor Manufacturing Company. Mubadala increases investment in financially-stronger AMD, which is simultaneously unlocking the value of its manufacturing assets" for an exciting title?

Get ready, Blackberry fans. After weeks of leaks and goofy internal videos, it looks like the Storm's finally a-comin' -- the first ads for the RIM's touchscreen wonder aired on CBS tonight. We're on the lookout for a better video, but even at this low res we can't help but notice how chunky this thing looks -- but we're totally willing to trade some heft for some sweet, sweet copy / paste action. Video after the break.

[Thanks, Jerry and deltajam]

SanDisk just released a firmware update for the Sansa Fuze -- pretty minor, except it adds in support for FLAC and Ogg, which should make fans of jam bands and lossless music encoding extremely happy. Nothing much else of note here apart from some UI tweaks and bug fixes, but Fuze owners will be appreciative, we're sure.

[Via DAPreview]

We're assuming Apple will eventually give up and release a netbook of its own, but until then Steve had better get used to seeing OS X hacked to run on all manner of tiny laptops -- the latest to make the switch is Dell's Inspiron Mini 9. Nothing too complicated about this hack, since most of the work was already done for the internally-similar MSI Wind, but you'll have to dig up some extra Broadcom drivers to get WiFi and sound working. Seems like a fun little project for the weekend -- anyone going to take the plunge?

Man, the DSLR rumor mill never stops, does it? This time we're being treated to some leaked Japanese Nikon ads, which feature a shadowy DSLR body that's somewhat different than the D700 and D3 and the word "big" in Japanese. Of course, it could be totally fake, but we're not going to say we're not hoping for a compact full-frame camera -- but we're clearly dreamers. Anyone else have any guesses?

Read - First ad
Read - Second ad
Read - Sensor size comparison

Steve Ballmer's whirlwind UK media tour ahead of the Professional Developers Conference just keeps giving us sound bite gems: first it was Windows Cloud, then Zune on Windows Mobile, and now Stevie's taking shots at Android and the G1. Calling Microsoft David to Google's search Goliath, Ballms said that he wasn't worried about Android because it won't be "attractive" to other handset manufacturers because it's "version one... and it looks like version one." Not only that, but he apparently thinks Google's going to sit still, saying "they've got one handset maker, we've got 55. They're available through one operator, we've got 175." True for now, sure, but we know Android isn't going to languish on a single handset on a single carrier for long -- and we're pretty certain Steve knows that HTC and T-Mobile aren't exactly minor players, regardless. Still, it's some masterful bluster from a master of bluster -- now if he'd just back it up with Windows Mobile 7, we'd be way more inclined to believe him.

[Via Cool Smart Phones]

Sony's plan to launch an updated Reader today wasn't exactly a secret, but there are still some surprises to the new PRS-700 -- particularly the new six-inch touchscreen E-Ink display. Page turning is now accomplished by a swipe motion with faster refreshes, and there's a stylus and on-screen keyboard for searching and note-taking -- plus an LED reading light (not a backlight) for reading in the dark. Apart from that, it's basically the same deal as the PRS-505 -- internal storage for about 350 ebooks with SD and MS-Duo expansion and a 7500 page-turn battery life round out the package, as well as an updated online store. Of course, there's no Kindle-killing integrated wireless for the $400 price tag, but it'll be interesting to see how they stack up when the PRS-700 hits shelves next month.

When every company out there is cranking out the same 10-inch 1.6GHz Atom netbook, there aren't many ways to make your product stand out: the obvious trick is to go low on price, but ASUS isn't messing with its profit margins. Instead, it's apparently going negative in the most adorable way possible -- check this hit piece on the Acer Aspire One. If all these frowny faces are to be believed, using the Aspire One will basically be awkward and unergonomic for a short while, at which point you'll burst into flames. Not only that, but ASUS can't even bring itself to spell out "Aspire," instead starring it out like someone might catch them saying it out loud. Very mature. Still, if anything can revive our flagging enthusiasm for the entire netbook category, it would be one of these WINNER crowns packed in with every Eee -- now that's a real differentiating factor, ASUS. Full image in the gallery.

3G WiFi routers aren't anything new at this point, but T-Mobile's new Mobile Broadband Share Dock is one of the slicker implementations we've seen from a carrier -- the unit consists of a USB HSDPA modem and a base which shares the connection over WiFi, which means you can unplug the modem and take your access on the road. As long as you don't need a persistent connection at home and can live with the bandwidth, that makes the £20 / month dock sound like a pretty good deal for someone who lives by themselves, since you'd avoid paying both mobile and fixed data fees -- too bad it's UK only for now. Should be out in the next couple of days, we're hearing.

Rumors of a Zune phone have floated around forever, but we've always thought it would make more sense for Microsoft to start by simply making a Zune player for Windows Mobile -- a plan Steve Ballmer casually confirmed today in an interview with CIO Magazine. Sure, Ballmer's hinted at Zune on WinMo in the past, but those were just hints -- not like today's pronouncement that "the Zune software will also be ported to and be more important not just with the hardware but on the PC, on Windows Mobile devices, etc." That's a pretty solid declaration of things to come, if you ask us -- too bad he didn't give a time frame. Now, about that 360 integration.

[Via WM Power User]