The Free iPod Book 2.2 | iLounge Library: "The Free iPod Book 2.2" The Secrets of iLounge.com New features at the Lounge? Of course - here they are. Sneak Peeks: Summer Edition Upcoming iPod add-ons, 20 exclusives. First at iLounge. The All Things iPod Guide Fifteen steps to making the most of your iPod, anywhere. Installing The Right iPod Software Connecting Your iPod To Your PC/Mac Filling Your iPod Music Podcasts Radio Videos Photos & Art...... AND MORE (Via ilounge.) Read more [...]

Google Maps Plugin for Address Book – Brian Toth: “The Google Maps Plugin is the easiest way to find your Address Book contacts using Google Maps and Google Earth.”

(Via briantoth.)

Allume releases StuffIt Deluxe 11: “Allume Systems today released StuffIt Deluxe 11, the latest version of its data compression, access, and management tool for Mac OS X…”

(Via MacMinute.)

Time declares Apple iPod 80GB as ‘Gadget of the Week’: “Time Magazine has named Apple’s recently announced 80GB iPod as Gadget of the Week…”

(Via MacMinute.)

Experiences with Vista RC1—a brief report For the past two weeks I've been working almost exclusively on the Windows Vista RC1 build (5600). The quick and dirty is this: performance is drastically improved over Beta 2, stability is significantly improved, but I am convinced there will be a second release candidate. I would also be surprised if Vista slips out beyond a late January release. 'Life in the Fast Lane' Those of you who played with Beta 2 know that it wasn't a zippy build. I'm happy Read more [...]

TMO Quick Tip - Backing Up Your iTunes 7 Media Library: "Depending on the size of your iTunes media library, you can invest a lot of time ripping your CDs to your Mac. If something goes wrong, like your hard drive crashes, all of that hard work, along with any songs, videos and movies you purchased from the iTunes Store could be lost. If you have a good backup strategy in place, you shouldn't have to worry. But for just in case, Apple added a media library backup option to iTunes 7" (Via The Mac Read more [...]

TrimTheFat 0.7 - MacUpdate: "TrimTheFat 0.7" TrimTheFat is a simple, silent drop-launch utility to strip the code for the architecture(s) you're not using from a Universal application. Please note the low version number. It's a work-in-progress being released so people have something in-hand and to encourage feedback. (Via Download.) Read more [...]

Microsoft unveils Zune media player | TG Daily: "Redmond (WA) - Microsoft today introduced what the company hopes will challenge the market dominance of Apple's Ipod. Zune is the first media player in this segment to offer Wi-Fi connectivity and carries a name that will allow Microsoft to create a competing brand and product family." (Via tgdaily.) (Via Internals.) Read more [...]

The iPod Observer - Now Playing - Microsoft Announces Zune Specs: "Microsoft Announces Zune Specs" Microsoft officially revealed the specifications for its first Zune media player on Thursday. It didn't, however, reveal the unit's price, or exactly when it will be on store shelves - only that it will be available "this holiday season." The first Zune will include a 30GB hard drive, 3-inch color LCD screen, a built-in FM tuner, wireless networking that lets other Zune users listen to your music, plays Read more [...]

The Unarchiver "The Unarchiver is a much more capable replacement for 'BOMArchiveHelper.app', the built-in archive unpacker program in Mac OS X. The Unarchiver is designed to handle many more formats than BOMArchiveHelper, and to better fit in with the design of the Finder. It can also handle filenames in foreign character sets, created with non-English versions of other operating systems. I personally find it useful for opening Japanese archives, but it should handle many other languages just Read more [...]

Microsoft to debut its ‘iPod killer’ today: “News on Zune will emerge later today at an invite-only Microsoft press event.

(Via Macworld UK.)

New iPod Nano Disassembled: "iFixit writes 'Just got our new 'remastered' Nano today, and we immediately took it apart and posted photos online. It is heavily reminiscent of the iPod mini, and should be much more scratch resistant than the old Nanos. The battery is quite a bit larger than the old one (Apple now boasts a 24 hour battery life). Oh, and we also posted iPod disassembly Guides for every other model Apple has ever made.'" (Via MacSlash.) Read more [...]

Apple Posts Quicktime Stream Of Event, Apple Store Down: “Apple has posted an MPEG-4 video-on-demand stream of today’s special announcement. It is unclear whether it will be broadcasting live or whether it will be a replay of the event as Apple has done in the past and as AppleInsider has claimed. Either …”

(Via MacRumors.)

Google Earth gets Featured Content: “Google Earth gets a bit more interesting to play with, as the company inks agreements with partners for tie-ins with the earth browser.

(Via Ars Technica.)

Apple’s “Showtime” announcements: “At today’s event, Steve Jobs introduced several new iPod models, iTunes 7.0, a movie download service, and a TV set-top box. Here’s an overview:

Video iPods Capable of playing back six and a half…

(Via MacMegasite.)