Hasta La Gadget!

Nano Vs. Shuffle. Photo: Luca Viscardi

Like a recovering alcoholic who wavers between drunkenness and sobriety, Apple just can’t seem to kick the iPod button habit completely. Today, a software update brings new functions to the sleep button on the square, touch-screen iPod Nano.

Remember how the tiny Shuffle lost all of its control buttons in one generation, and then had them restored the next year due to popular demand (or, more likely, flagging sales)? Well, the almost buttonless Nano didn’t even have to wait a full year for things to get fixed.

With today’s new 1.1 software update (around 100MB), You can double-tap the sleep button to play and pause music or radio. You can also choose to have the double-tap skip a track (this is the default — change it in the settings). This, along with the already present hardware volume buttons, means you can ditch those in-line controllers needed to use third-party headphones without going crazy. I have bought and lost a pocketful of these things already.

There’s more. Execute a long press on the same button and the Nano will switch off. Previously you could only sleep the little thing.

It’s a small thing, but great news. Now, Apple, about that iPhone. That has a sleep button too, right?

iPod nano (6th generation): Software update version 1.1 changes [Apple]

Photo: Luca Viscardi / Flickr

See Also:

• Inevitable Strap Turns iPod Nano into a Watch
• Apple's Newest Watch Is … Wait, What? It's an iPod Nano?
• Is Apple Finally Releasing an iPhone Nano?
• Sporty New iPods Tout Tiny Touchscreens, Retina Display

Sure, you can get a Nike+ SportsWatch, or a simply pair an iPod nano with Nike+, but those looking to use their iPod nano as a watch with Nike+ have so far been left with few options beyond the DIY route. Watch band-maker HEX now looks set to change that, however, with its new Sports Watch Band that’s set to debut in April. As you can see above, there’s not a whole lot too it — just a reasonably stylish wristband with a “port” that’s able to accommodate the Nike+ attachment. No word on a price just yet, nor is there any indication that it will come in colors other than white — though that seems a safe bet if the company’s previous watch band is any indication.

Continue reading HEX debuts iPod nano watch band compatible with Nike+

HEX debuts iPod nano watch band compatible with Nike+ originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Feb 2011 19:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re big proponents of the idea that everything is better with lasers, and a team of researchers at UC Berkeley has created a new type of semiconductor plasmon nanolaser, or spaser, that could eventually find a home in many of your favorite devices. The big breakthrough is that Berkeley’s spaser operates at room temperature — previous spasers could only sustain lasing at temperatures below -250° C — enabling its use in commercial products. Plasmon lasers work by amplifying surface plasmons, which can be confined to a much smaller area than the light particles amplified by conventional lasers. This allows for extreme miniaturization of optical devices for ultra-high-resolution imaging, high sensitivity biological sensors, and optical circuits 100 times faster than the electronic variety. There’s no word on how soon the technology will be commercially available, so you’ll have to wait a bit longer for your first laser computer.

World’s first room-temperature semiconductor plasmon nanolaser created by Berkeley scientists originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 01:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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VIA has officially announced its Nano X2 low power dual-core chip. The chip comprises two of VIA‘s 64-bit Isaiah architecture cores, found in previous single-core Nano CPUs. The processors come with native 64-bit software support, VIA’s PadLock hardware security features, and VT CPU virtualization technology. The new Nano X2 chips are compatible with VIA’s previous processors, including the Nano, C7, C7-M, and Eden, facilitating easy upgrades. The VIA Nano X2 processors are already currently available for OEMs, with systems featuring the chips expected in the first quarter of this year. Full press release is after the break

Continue reading VIA Nano X2 low power, dual-core chip gets official

VIA Nano X2 low power, dual-core chip gets official originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 20:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When PCMag reviewed the 6th generation nano, we knocked the tiny touchscreen music player points for all of the functionality that Apple had stripped from the device since the last version. Turns out the little iPod maybe actually have more capabilities than Apple is letting on.

A hacker who performed a bypass of the device’s cache comparison, stripping the nano of its ability to revert its settings. Doing so allowed him to take a look at the player’s plists, Turns out that they’re awfully similar to those of its predecessor, featuring, among other things, Movies, TV Shows, Games, and Calendar functionality.

The poster “hope[s] to enable these pretty soon,” so you may actually be able to turn the thing into a tiny iPod touch–just so long as you’re willing to do it yourself.