iPod shuffle sales stagnant in Taiwan

Sales of iPod Shuffles are finally hitting a wall in Taiwan, according to a report from DigiTimes. Competition has come in the form of cannibalizing gray-market iPod Shuffles built in Hong Kong and cheap MP3 players from non-traditional brands. Pricing is a major factor: Apple Taiwan charges about NT$3,000 (US$91) for the 1GB iPod Shuffle, but prices of gray-market models are about 10% lower and 1GB MP3 players offered by questionable brands sell for as low as NT$800. Though Apple does not break down individual model sales in its quarterly reports, overall the company moved 9.8 million iPod units in its fiscal third quarter, representing $1.570 billion in revenue -- a year-over-year unit increase of 20 percent, but a sequential decrease of 7 percent in unit shipments.

iWear secures iPod nanos to clothing

ModYFire of Hungary has unveiled the iWear, an iPod nano accessory that secures the device to clothing without revealing itself in the process. ModYFire's iWear is the winner of the first Hungarian iPod casing design competition, according to the company, and works with nearly any type of clothing -- including jeans, skirts, pants, T-shirts, sweaters, and scarves. The iWear is attachable or detachable with one movement, does not use any chemical or glue to secure the iPod to clothing, and holds the player in place while allowing users to move freely. The iWear works with first as well as second-generation iPod nanos, protects the player's screen when users place the device face down, and secures the iPod when performing physical activity like running or riding a bike (pricing was unavailable).

Plusmo offers 20,000 free iPhone widgets

Plusmo today launched its free and customizable mobile widget service for iPhone users that provides access to more than 20,000 widgets. Plusmo enables users to create personalized widgets from useful Web services, XML/RSS-based sources, and user-generated content like blogs and photos or videos. The widgets serve as miniature Web applications that offer traffic reports, store locators, games, blogs, specialized searches, live sports updates, and more. Plusmo's widgets support the iPhone as well as most Java-enabled phones like Symbian devices and RIM Blackberry handsets. The free widgets are already available online.