Apple Introduces New Low-End 16 GB iPod Touch

Apple today quietly updated its online Store to launch a new low-end iPod touch that replaces the fourth-generation model. Eric Slivka reports at MacRumors:

Apple today made a quiet update to its iPod touch lineup, launching a new 16 GB fifth-generation model without a rear camera for $229. The new iPod touch, which is only available with a black front and silver back, replaces the fourth-generation iPod touch that Apple had continued to offer since the introduction of new models late last year. The new model is available now in Apple’s online store and should be available in the company’s retail stores starting tomorrow.

New design aside, there are a series of notable additions for the new low-end iPod touch. Removing the rear-facing camera and 16 GB of storage from the higher-end iPod models, Apple could reach the $229 price point, which is $70 cheaper than the fifth-generation iPod family. Keeping the front-facing camera (bumped to a 1.2 MP “HD” status) allows Apple to keep FaceTime and ensure basic compatibility with third-party iOS camera apps.

Apple is, essentially, future-proofing the iPod touch family: adding Lightning, a taller Retina screen, a dual-core A5 chip, faster WiFi on the 5GHz band, and, presumably, more RAM than the 256 MB found in the fourth-gen iPod, the new 16 GB iPod touch will certainly be capable of running iOS 7 and future updates. It’ll be interesting to see if iOS 7 will run on the just-discontinued iPod touch 4th gen, which had less RAM than the iPhone 4 (512 MB), also released in 2010.

On the new iPod touch webpage, Apple features the higher-end iPod models as the ones with iSight and loop – the latter absent from today’s new low-end model.

ReadKit 2.0 Adds Smart Folders, Built-in RSS, Fever, and More

ReadKit initially answered the requests for a proper Instapaper and Readability desktop app, including Pocket and later adding support for popular bookmarking sites like Delicious and Pinboard. Bringing together the multiple places where people are likely to save stuff on the web, ReadKit 2.0 adds offline support for RSS to the mix, and also includes support for Fever and NewsBlur. But by far, my favorite feature is smart folders.

I have a big backlog of articles I have to read through in Pocket, but I’m only interested in a few topics at the moment. Smart folders act as ReadKit’s playlists, bringing forward articles based a set of rules. For example, I can make sure I’ve caught up on all the games I like by looking for keywords in the title.

ReadKit 2.0 also adds a few new options for readers in the preferences, such the option to save and restore reading positions and to cache images locally. Under the hood you’ll find improve sync performance and various other bug fixes.

ReadKit 2.0 is a free update for previous Mac App Store customers, and is currently available for $4.99. With the exception of newly added services, our initial review of the app still holds true.

Second Gear Pit Pass→

This is a neat idea by Second Gear: instead of the regular newsletter, they’ll be using Passbook to gradually release information about their new app.

In Italy, I’ve seen a couple of services that are starting to use Passbook. Pit Pass is the first item that I’ve added to my Passbook since its launch last year, and I’m intrigued by the prospect of more developers using it to tease upcoming apps.

Lex Friedman has a nice overview of Pit Pass at Macworld. As an aside, I’ve also found out today that Passbook files can be viewed in Mountain Lion’s Mail through a popover.

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Twitter For iOS Update Brings Wider Timelines, New Tweet Composer

A few minutes ago, Twitter updated its official iOS app to include a number of improvements for the app’s visual appearance.

On the iPhone, Twitter got rid of the margins at the sides of timelines: the app now uses a wider timeline design that feels more natural and less constrained. Comparing the screenshot above with an older version of the app, you can see how today’s new design makes more sense and is in line with timelines we’re used to seeing in other iOS apps.

The tweet composer for iPhone has also received attention, getting an updated look that lets you see how a tweet containing images will look like when it’s posted. The tweet composer, besides revealing photos in your Library in the same area occupied by the keyboard, embeds a preview of a photo you’re attaching below the status update, with an “x” button to immediately remove it and revert to a text-only tweet.

Twitter 5.7 is available on the App Store.

Gmail Introduces Categories With a Tabbed Interface, Gradually Rolling Out Over the Coming Weeks→

Today, Google announced new features for Gmail that sorts your inbox into various categories for social network notifications, receipts and shipping updates, and promotions from your favorite shopping sites. While Priority Inbox made an attempt to surface only the stuff that really mattered, categories breaks the inbox down to a series of tabs that should help cut down on some of the clutter. Categories and tabs are basically pre-defined filters and labels with training wheels.

On the desktop, the new inbox groups your mail into categories which appear as different tabs. You simply choose which categories you want and voilà! Your inbox is organized in a way that lets you see what’s new at a glance and decide which emails you want to read when.

Categories for Android, iOS, and the desktop will be gradually rolling out to Gmail users and their respective app stores over the coming weeks. In the meantime, be sure to check out The Verge, who have an initials hands-on with the latest features.

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Capturing the Moon With an iPhone→

One of the best methods of taking photos of stars, planets and satellites is with a webcam, like the old Toucam Pro, and processing with Registax. That’s not the easiest method though, and when you want photos of the moon, an iPhone does the job very well.

Jared Earle captures spectacular photographs of the moon by attaching an iPhone to a spotting scope with an interesting set of accessories and offers up some tips on how to get the perfect shot. So cool.

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Analog Camera Review

Through a simple card, Analog Camera introduces itself with a short tutorial and animated image, explaining how to set exposure and autofocus. Personally, I wanted to fool around with the app before I read the manual, seeing if I could discover which gestures did what and whether I could navigate the app without having getting frustrated or lost. I took the same approach with Clear, Realmac Software’s earlier collaborative effort on iOS, and ultimately determined that there was enough feedback and freedom to figure it out on your own. So I dismissed the card, and would have to do so a few more times as I got around to viewing different parts of the app.

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Tim Cook at D11: The Full Video→

In last night’s interview, Tim Cook didn’t reveal new Apple products or hint at new software features specifically (not a surprise), but he did share his thoughts on the “grand vision” for TV, opening up iOS APIs to third-parties, and letting Jony Ive contribute to the next version of iOS. I am watching this today.

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