Although the iPod Touch features just about all the hardware components that the iPhone has, except for the cellular chip, but despite this it lacks many essential applications. Fortunately Steve Jobs came to the rescue yesterday when he announced a major software update which would bring Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather and Notes to the iPod Touch, brining on par with the iPhone. In addition the upgrade will also include some of the features that were added to the iPhone upgrade such as web clippings, customizable homepages, and iTunes movie rentals support. Unfortunately the upgrade isn’t free as previous firmwares have been. Newly purchased devices will have the upgrade pre-installed, however current owners will need to pay $19.99 to get the extra features.

“These amazing new mobile applications make iPod touch not only the best iPod, but the best Wi-Fi mobile device in the world,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “With its revolutionary touch interface and software, plus its stunning 3.5 inch screen, iPod touch is evolving into the first mainstream Wi-Fi mobile platform of the 21st century.”

With the new Mail app and a WiFi connection, you now can check your POP3 or IMAP email accounts to read and compose messages. The Maps feature can now track your location using an IP Trace via a WiFi Hotspot and offers a Hybrid view to see Satellite Images and Street Names at the same time. And rental movies purchased from iTunes will transfer to your iPod Touch, but will retain the same 30-day retention and 24-hour limit after playback begins. This is a good improvement, but it should have already been in the iPod Touch when it was first released. Secondly the fact that they are charging $20 for the upgrade is even more annoying. Especially since newly purchased units with the upgrade will retain the same price. If you just purchased your unit and it is still eligible for return try to see if the Apple Store will offer the software upgrade for free, if they don’t agree return the unit and get another one.

Links: Apple iPod Touch | What’s New

Earlier today, Creative Technology announced a 32GB edition of their flash-based credit card-sized Creative ZEN. Other than for the larger capacity, the ZEN doesn’t seem to have changed a bit from the 4GB/8GB/16GB models, which we reviewed last month. The ZEN features a 2.5-inch display, has a FM radio, voice recorder, SD expansion, and can playback music/photos/videos. As a bonus, it will support listening to unprotected media from Amazon MP3 and iTunes Plus. Creative hasn’t yet stated when the 32GB ZEN will be available in the United States, but it will hit stores by mid-December in Singapore. According to Creative’s press release, the player will cost $549 Singapore Dollars which converts to approximately $380 US Dollars. For more information on the Creative ZEN, checkout our in depth review.

Note To Apple: When will we be getting our 32GB flash-memory iPod Touch???

Links: Creative ZEN Review | Creative.com

If you are a long-time Verizon Wireless customer, you should be quite aware that you have the ability to upgrade your cell phone every two years. Normally customers were offered a total of $100 towards a new phone if they agree to sign another two year contract with Verizon and had maintained a monthly plan of $30 or more. However this is no longer the case. With Verizon Wireless’s “New Every Two” plan, pretty much everyone with any sort of contract has to pay more to upgrade to a new device.

The new plan goes as follows: If a customer has had a monthly plan of $35 or more for 2 years , they then now qualify for only $50 towards a new phone after signing another 2 year contract instead of the previous $100. To receive a total of a $100 towards a new phone, as it was before, the customer must be paying at least $80 or more for their monthly plan for the entire two years or the last three months before becoming eligible to upgrade. Even though some may be eligible to get a $100, they will still be stuck with a new contract. In addition those who are thinking because of their family plan, everyone can new phones, WRONG, only the primary line will be eligible.

Verizon, in their defense, claims that the cost of cell phones has been “drastically” dropping over the last 10 years. I have to agree that prices of any electronic gadget does drop over time as it becomes cheaper to produce. BUT when the price of the new popular Motorola RAZR 2, which will be a hit during the holiday season, is on sale at a price of $250 with yet another 2 year contract, I have to disagree. What do you guys think? Is Sprint, Cingular, or T-Mobile handset upgrades any better?

Links: Verizon Wireless New Very Two | FAQs

If you were to venture over to Google Maps right now, you’d notice a new tab in the upper right-hand corner that reads “Traffic.” Thats’s right; Google now offers real-time highway traffic congestion data for 30 major cities, including San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles. As of yet the system is still in its infant stages: Google Traffic is only capable of displaying the congestion on major highways and does not offer detours based on incidents. It also isn’t exactly the most accurate system available, but it’s a pretty good start.

Google Traffic System Visuals:

• Green: 50 mph or above
• Yellow: between 25 & 50 mph
• Red: less than 25 mph
• Gray: data not available

Google isn’t the first major company to try to alleviate traffic congestion by informing commuters about traffic conditions. Live Maps has had a similar service for quite some time now and they’re offering additional information besides simply the speed of traffic. One of the nicer features on Live is its ability to display road construction with little warning icons to indicate the exact location. Once hovered over, these icons will expand into text boxes to explain the construction plans, the severity of ongoing constructions, as well as start and projected completion dates.

Hopefully we’ll see more companies entering this arena, so that the competition will motivate these companies to keep developing and improving these systems for the benefit of commuters everywhere.

Update: Yahoo! Maps has pretty good traffic data as well!

Links: Google Maps | Live Maps
Related: Google Multi-Point Destinations

Russell Peters, an Canadian-Indian comedian who’s segments have circulated around the web for over a year, has finally landed himself a standup comedy “movie” on Comedy Central. Skatter Tech has been hosting both his Canadian “Comedy Now” show and his New York performance for over a year. Anyways his new movie will air on Comedy Central on August 26, 2006 at 11:00pm (pacific) check your local listings for the channel and exact timings. Also note that “Russell Peters: Outsourced” will be available on DVD and Audio CD on August 29, 2006. You can either pre-order it from Amazon or wait until it reaches stores.

Update: See Video ‘Outsourced’ Here!
Buy It Now: Outsourced DVD ($11.99)

Links: RussellPeters.com | Yahoo TV (info)
Related: Comedy Now Segment | New York Segment

[Video Removed]

The newly aired “Russell Peters: Outsourced” video, which recently aired on Comedy Central has unfortunately been requested to be removed from Skatter Tech and YouTube by Warner Brothers and CMI Management Services. We don’t really want to get stuck with lawsuits, so we have had to remove the content. Comedy Central doesn’t seem to be airing “Outsourced” anytime soon, so if you want to catch his segment you’ll either have to purchase the DVD from Amazon.com or get a hold of it elsewhere. Sorry for the inconvenience!

The following is an offical list of games that will be released for the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) and the Nintendo Dual Screen (DS) in North America for June 2006. Note: This was the accurate list of games as of 05.29.06, games may be removed and new ones may be added later. Check PlayStation and/or Nintendo for the most accurate information. You may also wish to search our archives for previous release lists and reviews.

Sony PlayStation Portable:

• Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light – NIS America
• Carol Vorderman’s Sudoku – Empire
• Def Jam®: Fight for NYâ„¢: The Takeover – Electronic Arts
• Miami Viceâ„¢ – Vivendi Games
• NCAA Football 07 – Electronic Arts
• Payout Poker and Casino – Namco
• Stackedâ„¢ with Daniel Negreanu – Myelin Media
• Tekken®: Dark Resurrection – Namco
• Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth – Square Enix

Nintendo DS:

• Contact – Atlus
• Freedom Wings – Natsume
• Micro Machines V4 – Codemasters
• Monster House – THQ

Links: Nintendo DS Game List | Sony PSP Game List

The following is an offical list of games that will be released for the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) and the Nintendo Dual Screen (DS) in North America for June 2006. Note: This was the accurate list of games as of 05.29.06, games may be removed and new ones may be added later. Check PlayStation and/or Nintendo for the most accurate information. You may also wish to search our archives for previous release lists and reviews.

Sony PlayStation Portable:

• Astonishia – UbiSoft
• Cars – THQ
• Gradius Collection – Konami
• Juiced: Eliminator – THQ
• Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel – Konami
• Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – Buena Vista
• Race Driver 2006 – CodeMasters Software
• Tomb Raiders: Legend – Eidos
• Wold Tour Soccer 06 – SCEA

Nintendo DS:

• Disney/Pixar Cars – THQ
• Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest – Buena Vista
• Big Brain Academy – Nintendo
• Magnetica – Nintendo
• Superman Returns – Electronic Arts
• Harvest Moon DS – Natsume
• Micro Machines V4 – Codemasters

Links: Nintendo DS Game List | Sony PSP Game List

The following is the Offical list of games, as published by SCEA, that will be released for the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) in North America for March 2006. Note: This was the accurate list of games as of 02.28.06, games may be removed and new ones may be added later. Check PlayStation for any future updates. Also search our archives for previous release dates.

• 007: From Russia With Love – Electronic Arts
• Daxterâ„¢ – SCEA
• Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai – Atari
• Field Commander – Sony Online Entertainment
• Kao Challengers – Atari
• Me and My Katamari – Namco
• Mega Man® Powered Up – Capcom
• Metal Gear Acid 2 – Konami
• Neopets® Petpet Adventuresâ„¢ The Wand of Wishingâ„¢ -SCEA
• OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast – Sega
• Pursuit Forceâ„¢ – SCEA
• Samurai Warriors: State of War – Koei
• Splinter Cell Essentials – UbiSoft
• Syphon Filter®: Dark Mirror – SCEA
• Untold Legendsâ„¢: The Warrior’s Codeâ„¢ – Sony Online Entertainment
• Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble – Capcom
• World Poker Tour – Take Two
• Worms: Open Warfare – THQ
• Y’s Arc of Napishtim – Konami

Related: PSP Games Released in February 2006
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