There have been a couple TomTom DUO images drifting through blogs in the past few days, but some more information has floated to the surface. It appears the TomTom DUO will have the ability to share a dock with an iPod. This will allow the DUO to completely control the iPod from the touchscreen navigation interface. The dock will also include bluetooth for hands free calling functions, as well as an FM transmitter to create a wireless link between the dock and your radio. Still no word on pricing or availability of the DUO.

Link

It appears that the Apple Expo in Paris will not be including a keynote from Steve Jobs.

It’s unclear if Apple’s executives aren’t giving a keynote because of France’s recent legislation designed to open competing digital rights management technologies so that all music download services are compatible with any MP3 player, or if the company simply doesn’t have any new product announcements scheduled for that time. Apple will, however, be present at the expo.

I would expect it is a little poke at France’s legislation. I would be bitter about the fact that a country tried changing my company’s business model…

Story Here.

The firmware update that has been introduced causes the fan to run constantly so that it prevents some of the overheating issues that have been causing trouble.

The fan speed is quite slow, so the noise doesn’t seem to be a concern.

“Now we have an update that appears to fix both issues, yet folks are now complaining that in a room with no air conditioner, no music playing, no tv, no voices, you can hear the fan running if you put your ear next to your Macbook. This is unacceptable! I think Apple should also include a pot of gold with the update to compensate for the horrible fan noise. I’m calling Steve right now and demand my pot o’ gold!”

Information Week Article.

Today I ran across a headline on the Apple rumor site, Think Secret. Placed on the main page were the words, “Reborn Mac mini set to take over the living room.” According to Think Secret’s sources, Apple will be releasing an Intel based Mac mini that is already being dubbed as the “TiVo Killer.”

Could Apple have the answer to my media center problems?

Click here to read more…

Apple has reached an agreement with Hynix, Intel, Micron, Samsung, and Toshiba to secure a steady supply of NAND flash memory through 2010. Apple will fork over 1.25 billion dollars over the next three months for the flash memory components.

“We want to be able to produce as many of our wildly popular iPods as the market demands,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO.

Apple currently uses flash memory in their iPod nano line, as well as their iPod shuffle line (which is rumored to be getting an update soon).

Full Press Release

According to Think Secret, Apple is planning a debut of an Intel powered iBook. The unveiling will supposedly take place at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco. Other than that, Think Secret doesn’t have much more information for us. They don’t have any information about what type of Intel processors will be seen, or what the expected price point will be.

Their source does seem to be reliable on this one, as it is the same source that leaked the Mac mini early, and the photo iPod. The source is also telling Think Secret not to rule out the possibility of other Intel/Apple products, but the iBook is the most likely.

Read the full article here.

iLounge has reviewed the Incase Music Belt for your iPod. They seemed to like it, but it looks suspiciously like a fanny pack to me!

It does look somewhat nice though, for a fanny pack. It uses a nylon belt, and can be adjusted for even the biggest of folks.

You can pick one up for $25 bucks here.

Full Review (get’s a B+)

This is great. I have always been fascinated with Solar panels. Now we can all have our own functional solar panels charging our mobile devices with the Soldius 1 Universal Solar Chargers. They are priced from $89.99 to $109.99 at mysoldius.com.

The panels, at only 4 ounces, are small, and low maintenance. I’d be curious to know how long it takes to charge an iPod or cell phone with one of these. I can’t imagine it going very quick.

Thanks popgadget.

You are looking at the iBall wireless iPod speaker. Just dock your iPod, and set the speaker as far as 100 feet away to set the mood. The speaker can even control the iPod! This is actually pretty neat.

The iBall can last up to 6-8 hours on rechargeable batteries, and comes with an AC adapter. It also works with other audio equipment, since it comes with a line-in port. Another neat feature is the ability to hook your iPod up to your TV with the S-video and stereo out ports built into the iBall.

This is much cooler than Altec Lansing’s offering.

The iBall is $299 and found at Oregon Scientific’s site. (thanks popgadget!)

Apple is trying out a new program with the Mac mini. You can now try out the Mac mini for up to 30 days for no cost. If you are not happy with it you can send it back to Apple (although, you do need to pay the return shipping charges).

This works for all of the stock versions of the Mac mini’s, and nothing supercharged, or modded. It’s still pretty cool though.

I have mine on order. I want to give OS X a chance to see if it matches all the hype.