Next-generation iPod is near

The CEO of Hon Hai Precision (Foxconn) Terry Gou today said Apple is close to unveiling the next generation of iPod which makes use of a "none-touch" concept. Gou did not elaborate further, but said he expects Hon Hai's revenue to grow at least an average of 30 percent in the next five years due to rising orders for components from customers such as Apple and Sony. Apple recently punished Samsung for revealing details about its forthcoming iPod before the Cupertino-based company authorized such disclosure, choosing to give more of its business to SigmaTel rather than Samsung following the information leak. Another report recently surfaced claiming that employees working in some Foxconn's iPod manufacturing plants endure grueling conditions for little pay, to which Apple quickly responded, saying that it is investigating allegations of working conditions in the Chinese iPod manufacturing plant.

ProfCast 1.5 offers RSS generation

ProfCast has released ProfCast 1.5, an update to its tool for recording lectures and creating podcasts. ProfCast is designed to provide a low cost solution for recording and distributing lectures, special events, and presentations as podcasts. The latest iteration of the application allows live presentation recording, synchronized slides with audio, RSS generation for podcasting, and publishing support via FTP/SFTP/.Mac. The update also includes integration with GarageBand 3 as well as iWeb, support for audio playthrough, and file size control. ProfCast 1.5 requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later, and is priced at $35.

AFT debuts iCarta iPod bathroom dock

Atech Flash Technology (AFT) has unveiled the iCarta, a stereo dock for Apple's iPod with a built-in bath tissue holder. The dock features four integrated moisture-free speakers, as well as an audio selector to play an iPod shuffle or another audio device. The device charges the iPod while playing music, and is easy to remove from its wall mount. Users can fold up the tissue holder to use the accessory as a traditional dock, which requires AC power via an included AC adapter. The iCarta features two tweeters as well as two woofers, and is compatible with all iPods that offer a dock connector (pricing was unavailable).

iPod sales estimates slashed by 12%...

Apple's iPod has been the driving force for the company's growth in the past, but going forward, Macs will become a more signficant part of its future, according to one analyst. Merrill Lynch analyst Richard Farmer has lowered his iPod sales estimates by 12 percent from 8.1 million units from 9.2 million units for the June quarter based on historical sales data. The analyst also lowered full-year sales estimates of the popular portable media player to 39.4 million from 43.4 million units. However, Farmer increased his Mac computer revenue growth estimates "given what appears to be a decent early reception to new MacBooks," according to The Associated Press. "As iPods decelerate, the Apple story becomes more dependent on upside to Mac estimates, which we see as plausible," he wrote. Farmer maintained a "Neutral" rating on the stock but lowered his revenue and earnings estimates to a 2006 per-share profit of $2.01 on $18.9 billion of revenue, compared with prior estimates of $2.13 per share on revenue of $19.9 billion.