We suppose dreams really do come true. Nearly a full year after we heard that VIA was toiling on a new processor line to really give Intel's aging Atom a run for its money, the company has come clean and confessed that those whispers were indeed true. The Isaiah-based Nano 3000 Series is a range of six new CPUs clocked between 1GHz and 2GHz, all of which boast an 800MHz FSB, 64-bit support, SSE4 instructions, Windows 7 / Linux compatibility and power ratings that check in some 20 percent more efficient than existing VIA Nano processors. There's also the promise of 1080p multimedia playback, and VIA swears that we'll see these popping up in all-in-one desktops as well as thin-and-light laptops in the very near future. How soon, you ask? Samples are shipping now to OEMs, with mass production slated for Q1 2010.

We know what you're thinking, how dare that new iPod nano have features your premium iPhone and iPod touch handhelds don't? Well, if this 9 to 5 Mac rumor has any merit, Apple is right there with you and has a solution in the works. According to said whispers, a Radio app is in the works to capitalize on the recent models' latent FM tuner. It'll either be standalone or integrated into the iPod app, and either way it'll be able to work in the background while you browse other, not so fortunate apps. The apparent cause for delay is work on a feature that'll identify the songs and link you to the appropriate iTunes page for purchase. As always, this is just a rumor, so do yourself a favor and try not to dwell on it too much, k?

Oh yeah, everyone loves the extended battery, but are we really kosher with the added bulge? A team of boffins at the University of Missouri certainly aren't, as they've spent the last good while of their lives researching and developing a new nuclear battery that could be used to power devices much smaller than, well, most anything. The radioisotope cell, as it's called, can reportedly "provide power density that is six orders of magnitude higher than chemical batteries," and while some may question the safety of this potentially volatile device, the liquid semiconductor (used instead of a solid semiconductor) should help ease concerns. The current iteration of the device is about the size of a penny, and it's intended to power a variety of MEMS systems. Now, if only these guys could find a way to make a standard AA last longer than a week in our Wiimote, we'd be pleased as punch.

[Via BBC, thanks Jim]

Ross Rubin (@rossrubin) contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
In a New York Times interview of Steve Jobs conducted by Engadget columnist aspirant David Pogue, Apple's CEO suggested that the company did not include a camera on the iPod touch because the company was now marketing the iPod touch as a game machine and that a camera was not germane to such a device. "We don't need to add new stuff," said Jobs.

But why is adding a digital camera any less germane to the portable game device of the iPod touch than it is to adding it to the media player of the iPod nano? Or, if price is an issue, why not exclude it only on the entry-level model? The iPod touch market will soon be large enough to support such diversity. And if the iPod touch is indeed being marketed as a gaming console and a low-cost point of entry to the app store, excluding a camera disrupts the continuity of the touch/iPhone platform, while the iPod imaging message is now more muddled: If you're buying the iPhone 3G, you can capture stills but not video, while the "lower-end" iPod nano offers video capture but not stills, the iPod touch offers neither, and only the iPhone 3GS offers both.

We know you come here for the hard, gritty, "$2 slice" end of the gadget news spectrum, and we've got that in spades in our video hands-on of the new iPod nano. We start out shooting the iPod with our regular Sanyo Xacti rig, and then dive in to the nano's shot -- real movie magic at work. Granted, the nano's camera isn't that magical. Apple's piled on a huge complement of effects to disguise this fact, and in truth, some of the Photo Booth-style filters and distortions really do make the video more interesting (cyborg and kaleidoscope were a couple of our favorites), but the basic video mode is much lower quality than the recent crop of cheap pocket video cameras, and a far cry from the iPhone 3GS's quality. Motion is shaky, the video is pixelated and oversaturated, and the mic is horribly easy to distort, especially when you're talking into the back while shooting. But really, we suppose we couldn't expect much out of such an offering, and it certainly does spice up the traditional PMP formula. Video is after the break, with the second video offering up the few non-conformist videos that happened to be shot vertically (it's a little difficult to tell how the video is recording, or even if it's recording, since the indicator is pretty small). By the time they made it to Viddler they ended up stretched wide and inexplicably upside down. Magic, we tell you.

Dying to know what that tiny VGA video sensor in the new iPod nano looks like? As usual, the folks at iFixit have it covered -- hit the read link to follow along with all the gory action as it proceeds. (Seriously, they're posting the teardown pictures live as they do it.)

Update: It's all over, and the findings are interesting, if not too shocking: the 8GB of flash is from Toshiba, the processor is an Apple-branded ARM unit manufactured by Samsung, and the camera's VGA resolution is probably explained by its 3mm thickness -- the iPhone 3G's camera is 6mm, and the nano is only 6.2mm thick at its fattest.

Need to catch up on today's Apple news? Well, you can either fire up iTunes and download Apple's video podcast of the event, or you can skip the endless game demos and marketing chit-chat and just peruse the links below. The executive summary? iTunes 9's new app management, Home Sharing, and iTunes LP features are really nice, but it's almost impossible to understand why Apple added a camera to the iPod nano and not the iPod touch, no matter what Steve says. Oh -- and don't forget the Palm Pixi!

The event

Live from Apple's 'It's only rock and roll' event
Video: Steve Jobs returns to the Apple stage

iPods

iPod nano unboxed, camera gets tested against the mean streets of Manhattan
iPod touch 3rd gen hands-on and video
iPod nano 5G with camera first hands-on!
Apple announces cheaper, more colorful iPod shuffle, new Special Edition
Apple updates iPod touch line, drops prices, adds top-end 64GB model
Apple adds video camera, larger screen to new 5G iPod nano
iPod classic bumped to 160GB, price stays the same at $249
iPhone OS 3.1 is official, available today
iPhone / iPod touch OS 3.1.1 is live!
iPod shuffle 2g is no more

iTunes

iTunes 9 bringing iTunes LP functionality, 'beautiful new look'
iTunes 9 breaks Pre media sync... what did you expect?
Video: iTunes 9 Home Sharing and iPhone app management

We came and we saw... but there's not much to say. It's exactly the same save for that new coating, bigger screen (which does help), and tiny little camera around back. Video quality looked decent, but you really can't tell on the small screen. If you've ever held a nano -- this is the same experience. Want to really know what it's like? Hit the gallery!

Update: Quick walkthrough video is now after the break!

Apple sure took long enough to get to this, but just as rumored, the iPod nano is seeing a hotly-anticipated refresh today. The big addition? A camera that just so happens to shoot live video (but not stills, apparently). On the lower left of the new fifth-generation nano, you'll find the camera as well as a speaker and microphone, but unfortunately you'll have to sync it with your computer before you upload clips to YouTube. The camera-laden nanos will be available starting today in a rainbow's worth of hues (nine, if we're being precise), with the 8GB model pegged at $149 and the 16GB edition at $179 -- though, we should mention that yellow and red are Apple Store exclusives. Oh, and oddly / tragically enough, the iPod nano is officially the only dedicated iPod with a camera, leaving the iPod touch -- and every human on the planet -- scratching their head in befuddlement. Meanwhile, iPhone 3G users are equally bewildered by the fact that a mid-range iPod can shoot video while a fully-capable smartphone cannot.

As for other specs, you'll find a built-in FM tuner with Live Pause (!) and iTunes Tagging, a pedometer (you know, for that fancy Nike+ integration), VoiceOver, support for voice memos and a larger 2.2-inch display (up from 2.0-inches) with a 376 x 240 resolution. As for the camera, we're told that the video capture mode snags footage in VGA quality (640 x 480) H.264, with up to 30fps and AAC audio. If you're feeling fancy, there's also 15 real-time special effects including Sepia, Black and White, X-Ray, Film Grain, Thermal, Security Cam, Cyborg, Bulge, Kaleido and Motion Blur (among others). As for dimensions, the 5G nano remains identical to the 4G nano at 3.6- x 1.5- x 0.24-inches, though it somehow shaves a whopping 0.02 ounces as it climbs down from 1.3 to 1.28 ounces. Curious about battery life? Apple claims that the new nano can last up to 24 hours when playing back audio (same as 4G nano), while video playback should zap the rechargeable battery in just five hours (which is up an hour over its predecessor).

Update: Check out our first hands-on live from the event!

According to a "well connected source" in the Wired camp, the iPod mills in China are hard at work as we speak, churning out next-gen iPod Touch models with integrated cameras and microphones. This certainly jibes well with the tips we've received regarding both this device and a cam-equipped nano -- although we're still skeptical about the rumored OLED iPods. The article goes on to suggest that once you add a mic to the mix, all you need is a MiFi and the Skype application for "the iPhone experience" on Verizon's (or Sprint's) network. Seems like an awful lot to go through just to avoid AT&T, but we suppose that it's good to have options.

What do we have here then? An OEM netbook, looking remarkably like a recent ASUS iteration, has come to our attention with some bold claims in tow. Spec'd with a 1.6GHz VIA Nano processor and S3 Chrome 9 graphics, this promises to be one of the most potent netbooks yet and backs up that claim with up to 4GB of memory and 500GB of storage. The major attraction of all this extra juice is full 1080p video playback, which is somewhat confounded by the 1024 x 600 resolution and 10.1-inch screen, but can be pumped out to an external display via HDMI. Expect this to be rebadged and hitting store shelves some time soonish, at which point we may consider the distinction between netbooks and laptops entirely academic.

[Via liliputing]