Apple's latest iPod touch update has been given a direct comparison to the iPhone 4, with new videos that demonstrate the speed, display, and video-taking quality of each device.

A trio of videos were posted this week by letemsvetemapplem.eu, which compare the iPhone 4 and fourth-generation iPod touch, as well as the iPhone 3GS and iPad. The iPhone 4, latest iPod touch and iPad all sport Apple's custom A4 processor, though the iPhone 4 has twice the RAM as the 256MB found in the iPod touch and iPad.



But in a comparison of startup times, the iPad was the clear winner, with a full startup achieved in just 19.04 seconds. Next was the fourth-generation iPod touch, which took 26.40 seconds to start, followed by the iPhone 4 at 28.64 seconds. Last year's iPhone 3GS started in 32.80 seconds.

A side-by-side comparison of the 720p video cameras on both the iPhone 4 and fourth-generation iPod touch was also conducted. In the videos, the iPod touch camera has a darker contrast than the video shot with the iPhone 4.



Finally, the most obvious disparity between the two devices is the display. Though the new iPod touch packs a high-resolution "Retina Display" packing the same 326 pixels per inch as the iPhone 4, the iPod touch screen does not have the same in-plane switching technology found in Apple's smartphone.

When viewed from sharp angles, the iPod touch display has distorted colors, while the iPhone 4 remains accurate. This is thanks to the IPS technology in the LCD display.

IPS technology was developed by Hitachi in 1996 to improve viewing angles and color reproductions on screens. Its first appearance in Apple's line of iOS devices came earlier this year, when the iPad was introduced.

iPod touch 4G speed, camera, display measured against iPhone 4

The new MIDbot is a robot that can be monitored via Skype or other video chatting software.

MIDbot is an ultra low cost tele-present and an easy to use Internet Remote Monitoring Robot with interactive robot arm, allows one to control the robot remotely and globally, with real time video through the common video chatting software Skype or others. Users can see the video, control the movement and robot arm by another computer in network/internet.



Features:

* Plug and play with simple cable connection to MID up to 1.5 Kg
* Remote Monitoring via Skype or other video chatting software
* Remote control of movement, effectively support camera Pan/Tilt/ Zoom and Location
* Utilize the build in camera of MID or external USB camera, provide control of viewing angle
* Real time Video and Audio
* Interactive arm or gripper control for holding and moving things
* Powered by USB
* Product Height: 155mm (max.), 100mm (min.)
* Product Width: 260mm
* Product Depth: 480mm (max.), 370mm (min.)
* Weight: 1500g

MIDbot the Internet Monitored Robot

The Chicago based company SmartFish Technologies has a passion for smart technology and true ergonomic innovation. The latest example of this is their new product ErgoMotion Mouse – “the first laser mouse ever to feature a patented swivel mechanism that promotes a fluid movement, allowing the mouse to intuitively adapt to the user’s hand position.”

SmartFish’s award-winning ErgoMotion technology enables forward, backward and lateral wave-like movements for the wrist every time the mouse is in use. This helps to relieve discomfort from repetitive stress injuries related to extended computer usage.

Here’s a video demonstration of the ErgoMotion laser mouse:


The ErgoMotion Mouse boasts a sleek design, and features both left and right click, four-way scroll wheel and a discreet wireless USB plug-in.The device is compatible with MACs and PCs, and features an ambidextrous design for both right and left-handed users.

The Computer Mouse Reinvented

An LCD and digitizer alleged to be from Apple's upcoming fourth-generation iPod touch shows a display that is smaller and different in color than the iPhone 4 front panel.

The website smartphonemedic.com got their hands on a purported part from Apple's forthcoming iPod touch refresh. Like on the iPhone 4, the LCD, glass and digitizer on the part are all fused together as one solid component that cannot be disassembled.

A side-by-side comparison with the front panel for a third-generation iPod touch shows that the presumed new device is slightly longer and slimmer than its predecessor. Laid next to the iPhone 4 front panel, the supposed iPod touch component is slightly smaller.

The site also noted that the LCD panel on the iPhone 4 is darker than the display found on the alleged fourth-generation iPod touch front panel. It said the fourth-generation screen has a "red or grayish tint to it."

The site also noted that the connections included on the LCD and digitizer are "a little different" than found on the iPhone 4. The purported iPod touch panel is also missing brackets found on the side of the iPhone 4 assembly.

Alleged next-gen iPod touch front panel compared with iPhone 4

Apple's new 30-second TV spot for its touchscreen tablet, the iPad, relies on a series of applications and adjectives to pitch the popular product.

Posted this week on the company's official YouTube page, the new advertisement shows off a range of software available on the App Store, including Flipboard, iBooks, Twitter and Pages. "iPad isn't just one thing," the video's description reads. "It's thousands of things." The advertisement is entitled, "iPad is Delicious."

The 30-second advertisement does not have any voiceovers. Instead, it relies on images of hands interacting with software on the iPad. The quick glimpses are accompanied by a series of words that describe what the iPad "is," including "delicious," "current," "playful," "literary" and "artful."

The last displayed adjective is "magical," a word that Apple has consistently used to promote the iPad.

It's a change from the previous iPad ad, which relied on a voiceover that answered the question "What is iPad?" The commercial showed users out and about, interacting with their iPad, and described the hardware as "thin," "beautiful," and "magical."

iPad was introduced with its first ad campaign in March, with a TV spot that demonstrated browsing through photos, watching videos, downloading e-books, and browsing the Web. The first commercial debuted during the Academy Awards, nearly a month before the device launched in the U.S.

Apple's latest iPad ad is heavy on apps, adjectives

Back in 2007, Time Magazine named the Espresso Book Machine one of its inventions of the year. The Espresso, now on version 2.0, costs around $150,000 and is an on-demand printing press that features some nifty robotics. It can output a professional-looking paperback book in about four minutes (see the video below).

On Demand Books, founded in 1993, has been slowly making some headway with its product, even if the current machine costs a good deal more than Time said it would in its 2007 article. The blog Publishing Perspectives has an interesting piece on how the University of Texas Co-op--the most profitable independent college bookstore in the United States--has purchased an Espresso Book Machine and is aiming is to "revolutionize how the store does business and interacts with the local community." About 15 other university bookstores have bought the compact printing press, which looks like an elaborate copy machine.



Where the machine comes in most handy is for "narrow interest" titles or important out-of-print and low-demand backlist titles that it doesn't make economic sense for a small press to print. PDFs of those books are stored on a server and can be printed out on request for a much more affordable price. Many of these books are textbooks that would normally retail for well over $50.

The University of Texas Co-op is also looking into marketing its Espresso--dubbed B.O.B. (Burnt Orange Book machine) for the color of the Co-op's Forty Acres Press logo--to local authors for use in self-publishing ventures.

Chad Stith, who runs the newly founded Forty Acres Press, says that "recent history for booksellers has shown that you can't afford to put up enough inventory to have an enormous selection of books. The frontlist is just not selling enough to support much investment in a backlist. So this might be an answer to that. Now you can walk into a bookstore, search through a computer's catalog of books, and while you drink a cup of coffee, the book you want is printed on demand...a sort of book ATM."

Of course, those who argue that e-books are the real future, would suggest that the Espresso Book Machine, while impressively modern and forward thinking, is actually destined to become a relic before it has a chance to realize its potential. That said, for those looking for a more cost-effective alternative for printing and selling paper books--particularly the kind that only sell hundreds of copies--this "robot" may represent a much-needed lifeline.

Can this 'robot' help save publishing?

An updated version of Frash, an app that permits the otherwise banned Adobe Flash technology on Apple mobile devices, has been released. At the moment, however, it's only capable of handling relatively basic Flash animations (including, for example, the cult-classic Flash cartoon "Trogdor the Burninator"). The device in question must also first be "jailbroken," or hacked to remove protections and restrictions put in place by the hardware or software manufacturer.

Comex, the development firm that created Frash as well as the JailbreakMe tool, initially launched the app in a limited test that was first only accessible via the Safari browser on the iPad. The updated Frash, Comex says, also works on the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and third-generation iPod Touch.

Last month, the U.S. Copyright Office ruled that jailbreaking is technically legal from a copyright standpoint. Apple objected to the ruling, and has said that jailbreaking nevertheless violates its user terms of service, but at the same time there has never been an instance of the company pressing legal action against a customer who jailbroke a phone.

Will the wider ability to add Flash to an Apple mobile device through jailbreaking make Apple crack down on the practice? Apple's relationship with Flash manufacturer Adobe grew quite hostile this spring, with Adobe's Flash evangelist writing a blog post that read "Go screw yourself Apple" in the wake of Apple's decision to keep non-approved third-party APIs off iOS 4. That policy change had cut off a back-door approach that had let Flash, which Apple says it doesn't permit for security and performance reasons, onto Apple mobile devices without jailbreaking.

New app brings Flash to jailbroken iPhones