Internet

Hot on the heels of the information that the Nokia 6682 is becoming available on Cingular, the smart folks at howardforums teach us how to acquire the phone for just $99.00 from www.nokiausa.com, courtesy of two "instant rebates." You need to pick a plan which costs more than $39 a month, and sign a 2 year contract. Note that the phone is not listed as a phone you can buy, you have to search for wireless plans, pick a cingular wireless plan, then select the Nokia 6682.

Look at the detailed steps here.

The Nokia is a triband GSM phone built for the US market (it uses the 850Mhz band) which is part of the latest shipping set of Symbian Series 60 phones.

A question many of you will be asking is - should I buy this phone? My opinion is that it's an excellent phone, will provide you with much symbian goodness, and at this price it's a bargain. The only thing it really lacks is a 3G connection, but no symbian phones exist which would provide that in the US. It might not be a worthwhile upgrade if you have a phone from the previous generation (For the US, basically that would mean a Nokia 7610b). This is also the best choice if you need the 850 Mhz band and Symbian, as there is no announced Nokia Symbian phone which works in that band. The choice is slightly less clear if you don't need 850Mhz, because the Nokia N90 is shipping (though not yet in the US) and the Nokia N70 is expected soon.

If you still can't decide, read a good review of the Nokia 6682. After you buy the phone, come back and get our Symbian S60 freeware bundle.

Not entirely unexpectedly, there have been a multitude of online (and offline) reviews of Apple's new entry into the flash mp3 player market, including one by PC Magazine, one by TUAW, and one by Walter Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal.

They're all very positive.

My favourite review, however, is the one by Jacqui and Clint on Arstechnica. It goes into a little detail about new "applications" built into the iPod, including a stopwatch, world clocks, and a screen lock. Unfortunately, it doesn't tell us about sound quality, but they do try their darndest to destroy the ipod.

They actually drove over it. (It's called "stress testing!")

What.. fun.

O2 XDA Exec pricing has been announced. It's not yet on the o2 website, but a little bird has told me that flyers are available (in the UK), it should be released by the end of september, and the pricing is as follows:
free on o2 Max: 75 quid a month with 1000 free mins (2000 for the first 6 months).
£149 on o2 200 & above:
o2 200 is 30 quid a month with 200 mins a month (400 for the first 6 months) OR 300 mins for 12 months.
£229 on all other tariffs, cheapest is 20 quid a month.
That's quite a drop from the £429.95 (with Vodafone connection) eXpansys wants for the iMate JASJAR, but then again, they've already sold more than 600 (stock as of writing was 156, they had 800 when it first became available on wednesday), and it's shipping now.
Read more about the HTC Universal here. Apart from o2 XDA Exec and iMate JASJAR, this phone is also known as the Vodafone VPA IV, Qtek 9000, Orange SPV M5000, and T-Mobile MDA Pro.

Phonescoop, together with a number of other organizations including Geekzone, Make Magazine, Gizmodo, and AllAboutSymbian decided to run a series of auctions of tech gadgets to benefit the Red Cross.

The auctions will be carried out in the Phonescoop forums, and Geekzone forums, and after you win you just have to make a donation directly to the Red Cross. Of course you can donate even if you don't win...

The auction has also been supported by Kyocera, Microsoft, Nokia, and Sony Ericsson.

The Red Cross is very effective in using most of it's donations on relief programs. For the year ending June 30, 2004 (the latest figures available), the American Red Cross took in $3,233,617,000 and spent 91.1 percent of on relief efforts, 5.4 percent on administrative costs (including travel expenses for unpaid volunteers) and 3.5 percent on fundraising.

[via Darla Mack]

Update: Video stream here

Harry Potter iPod with crest engraved on back and entire Hary Potter audiobook set for $548. Picture: Apple's website.

iTunes 5 with new user interface. "Super shuffle" mode, songs can be made to repeat only after all songs have been played at least once. Download now.

Motorola ROKR phone with 100 song capacity; See Cingular store link and Apple. Very underwhelming, the Nokia N91 is still preferable for these reasons.

iPod nano replaces iPod mini. See official website here.

Compared to the iPod mini, the iPod nano is half the thickness and 62 percent smaller by volume. Dimensions: 3.5" x 1.6" x 0.27" and 42 grams. 1.5" colour display. Uses dock connector. USB 2.0 only, no firewire. 14-hour battery. Ships today in 2GB and 4GB configurations for US$199 and $249 respectively.
Accessories: $39 lanyard with built-in headphones, color-coordinated armbands for $29 each, and "nanotubes" -- green, purple, blue and pink slipcases, sold in boxes of five, for $29 each. These slipcases mean that third party clear case vendors are out of luck. Comes in signature iPod white, and also in black. The black one looks amazing.

(all prices USD - pssst. Creative, you're screwed.)

iPod your Car: A host of top automakers offer elegant solutions for both new cars and prior-year models. Or choose iPod integration options from leading car stereo accessory manufacturers and outfit any car to play well with iPod. - Very sweet.

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Read more at Engadget and Macworld.

Pictures from the annoucement are available, from loungin on flickr.