Peeling an Apple iPod Touch

So you have an iPod Touch and wish it was an iPhone? Now you can with a new device called the Apple Peel 520.



The Peel is a shell that fits around the iPod Touch and contains a battery, dock connector and SIM card that allows voice calls. Users will have to ‘break’ the iPod software to install special software to enable a text messaging function, and to allow the device to properly work with the iPod Touch.

The device doesn’t come from Apple but from Yosion Technology in China and was invented by a student who says he did it, "because I love the iPhone, but it's too expensive in China." The iPhone in China costs between $588 - $740, the iPod Touch some $,235 and the Apple Peel sells for $57.



The Chinese market has problems already with cheaper and greater functional iPhones being smuggled in from Hong Kong and the West. Now these are being sold Taobao.com, a popular Chinese e-commerce site.

So we now can peel an Apple

iPod Touch Rumours - Evolution or Step Change?

If Apple wanted to sound out the market, then planting a story to gauge market reaction would make a lot of sense. We don’t know that they have done this, but there is much noise today in the market of a new larger iPod Touch, which if it were to happen, would clearly not only rewrite the notebook world but obliterate the eink readers in a heartbeat.

Apple have apparently been experimenting internally with a large form of tablet for some time but have never taken the bold step into the market. However the huge success of the iPhone , iTunes and IPod family has brought touch screens to everyone and there are now considerable numbers of games, videos, and even books that could find a common home. Apple claim that over 300 million applications have been downloaded since they launched their App Store last July. 2008.

The current iPod touch has a 3.5 inch screen and ranges in price between $229 and $399 so we can expect a iTablet to be higher but it effectively starts to merge the laptop and the IPod with Apps Store and iTunes and in doing so create a family that could hurt the likes of Microsoft, all PC manufacturers and media moguls such as Amazon. It is interesting to note that we all thought that Microsoft was unstoppable, but Apple has continued to chip away, gain iconic status and attack the media market from a completely new angle.

Steve Jobs said he wasn't going to build an ebook reader. He hasn't. He however is building a media platform in which ebooks are accommodated and find a natural home!

The idea of a wireless mini-tablet with the multi-touch interface is insipring. We have seen the pulling power of the iPhone and iPod now to have something a little larger making DVD players, notebooks and ereaders redundant, would be not only natural, but also a clear step change. We predict it would be a category killer that would redefine the category and if it were to happen we certainly want one!

The Technology Award Goes To...

When it comes to design and that special factor that makes a technology device a 'must buy' Apple clearly lead the way.

At the UK’s T3 technology magazine's annual awards, Apple won four of the top prizes, including gadget of the year for its iPod Touch. The votes were cast by 54,000 readers of the magazine and clearly separate the market icons from the also runs.

The touch-screen music and video iPod touch beat the Asus Eee Pc budget laptop, TomTom's GO 920 car navigation system, Sony's HDR-TG3 compact camcorder and six other devices for the prestigious award.

The lack of an ebook reader device or award may say something about the devices, the market, the fact that the Kindle is yet to reach these shores, or that the readers of this technology magazine are not ebook people, but their absence clearly shows that ebooks are off these consumers’ radars.

Full list of winners:
mGadget of the year: Apple iPod Touch
Best music gadget: Apple iPod Touch 32GB
Best imaging gadget: Nikon D60
Drop dead gorgeous: Audi R8
Best new media: BBC iPlayer
Gaming gadget: Nintendo's Wii Fit
Toy of the year: Guitar Hero, music video game
Commuter gadget: Apple iPhone
Gadget Candy: Apple MacBook Air
Retailer of the year: Dixons.co.uk
Innovation of the year: Sony XEL-1 OLED television
Green gadget: Honda Civic Hybrid
Hi Def award: Sony PlayStation 3
Home gadget: Sky+ HD, digital television
Gadget you can't live without: TomTom GO 930