Belkin debuts TunePower for iPod video

Belkin today announced its new TunePower for iPod, a new black battery pack for Apple's popular music/video device that keeps users' videos and tunes playing even when the internal battery is drained. Offering up to six hours of additional video playtime, this rechargeable battery pack allows users to extend the playback time of the device. "The iPod video allows for approximately two hours of video viewing, which may not be enough to last until you reach your iPod dock. TunePower will give you this extra time so you can watch your videos, making it ideal for long flights, hikes, or for anytime you do not have access to an AC outlet." Two sleeves are included to fit the 30GB and 60GB iPod video devices. It also features a protective case design to prevent dirt, dust, or impact from damaging the connector and includes an AC adapter for simultaneous charging and playing; a low-level power indicator allows users to monitor the battery status. The TunePower for iPod video will ship in North America in late March 2006 for $80. (A white version is already available for older iPods.)

PaperToolsPro aids student iPod owners

EPen&Inc has released PaperToolsPro, an application that allows students to use an iPod at any computer to take notes, cite sources, create bibliographies, organize notes for an outline or draft, and avoid plagiarism. Students can collect quotations, notes, and sources to create note cards, as well as save interpretations of quoted material to avoid plagiarism. The software can append new or previous in-text citations to note cards, query a database of quotations/notes to organize information, transfer query results to a word processing page to write a rough draft, and create citations. PaperToolsPro can also create a bibliography or works cited list in MLA, APA, ACS, CBE, AAAS and Chicago styles. PaperToolsPro is available for $55, and requires Mac OS X 10.3 or later, or Windows 9x/Me/2000/XP.

Flash memory prices continue to drop

Slow sales of the iPod and more competition is forcing Samsung to drop prices on flash memory, according to the DigiTimes: "With weaker-than-expected iPod nano sales this year, Samsung has been trying to maintain control over its inventory levels by dumping excess stock with memory module makers, according to sources at downstream players. Samsung is pushing its products hardest with companies that it has close ties with, but other firms are receiving attractive quotes from the memory maker as well." The report says that competition from rival memory manufacturer SanDisk, who is selling memory below its cost, has been pushing NAND memory prices down even further. Meanwhile, Hynix--the third largest chip maker behind Samsung and Toshiba--believes that memory prices will drop by 25 percent as oversupply is causing a market glut.

iPod focus retains college students

Universities continue to look for innovative uses of the iPod on campus and at least one educator believes that its focus on the iPod helps keep students in college longer, according to The Associated Press. "At least 100 of the rural school's employees are turning iPods into education or research tools -- impressive for a college with only about 300 faculty. But it's more than simply making class lectures available -- a practice now routine at many colleges and even a few high schools. History professor Deborah Vess asks students to download 39 films to their video-capable iPods so she doesn't have to spend class time screening the movies. Psychology professor Noland White has found a new-age answer to office hours: a podcast of the week's most asked questions."

SanDisk looks to take on Apple

SanDisk believes it will be able to take on Apple with its new line of MP3 players that offer more features at a lower price point. The memory card maker says that it is targetting non-iTunes users and those who "who are concerned about the future of switching costs related to moving from Apple," according to a new report: "Sandisk's feature set is also greater than the iPod's, and includes voice recording, FM tuner and the ability to support a greater number of music subscription services, and it's aimed at an aggressive price point of at least $20 USD under the equivalent Apple product. He also said that on a recent secret shopping trip to Harvey Norman staff had admitted to a high return rate on iPods: 'Australians are blindly paying for Ipods, but my experience showed that a lot are being returned due to a problem with formats on pre-recorded libraries and, in particular, problems with WMA [Windows Media Audio].'"