We've already heard whispers that Apple has an iPod event in the works for the week of September 7th -- as they do pretty much every year -- and now alleged company sources are narrowing that date down, telling Digital Daily to mark its calendar for Wednesday, September 9th. Upgraded iPods are the apparent main course, along with some Cocktail discussion, but as for tablets... well, the sources are adamant it won't get brought up at all. We're still awaiting official word to come shooting out of Cupertino headquarters, but in the meantime, plan on keeping that Wednesday afternoon as free as possible.

Oh, hey, look at that: you can buy a Pre now! As of 8:00AM on the East Coast, the phone went on sale at Sprint stores, with Best Buy, Radio Shack and Wal-Mart also retailing the phone today as Saturday dawns across the country. After Sprint's invite only pre-Pre launch event last night, we still saw plenty of folks lined up outside Sprint's "flagship" New York store in the Flatiron Building before the doors opened. Apparently people started queuing around 5:00AM, with Chris Lee and Randy Williams the first through the door -- replacing a Treo Pro and a HTC Mogul, respectively. Like last night, the process took about 40 minutes, but a lot of that is spent waiting for a small pit crew of Sprint employees to swap over your address book, so if you forgo that we'd say you can be in and out in 30, which should still be plenty of time to savor the moment. Word is that the Flatiron store has about 100 units, but it's clear that inventory varies widely between locations and retailers -- Touchstones seem to be a much rarer commodity.

We'll be checking out some other launches across the country, so stay tuned, and be sure to send in your own pictures and impressions!

Some word from the wilds:
Tipster Brad says that his Best Buy store in Orlando has only 9 Pres available, and they're giving them out one by one on an appointment basis -- he was fourth in line, so he'll be going back at 12:15PM to pick his up. Unfortunately, their Touchstone stock is zero.

Kevin C. Tofel was fourth in line at his local Sprint store, which purportedly had 30 phones in stock, but he picked up the last of the Touchstones.

We just checked in at the Bryant Park Sprint store in New York City, and while Pre inventory is cool, they are all out of Touchstones. We're starting to think the supply of those is quite limited. We also hear that at least one tenacious gentleman got in line at 6:00PM yesterday, and spent the night outside the store in order to get his first.

It's massive, costs $500,000, and is just a prototype; but you're looking at a possible solution for swapping out heavy car batteries from future electric vehicles. Kind of important if you're hoping to take your EV on a trip a bit further than the supermarket or city center without having to stop for a lengthy recharge. This switch station, unveiled in Japan by Better Place, can swap out a spent battery in less time than it takes to refuel the tank in that baby-killer of a car you hold so precious. These battery swap stations are just part of the enormous infrastructure required to support Better Place's subscription approach to electric vehicles -- infrastructure easily estimated to cost $250 million or so for countries like Israel or Denmark on up to the $1 Billion already pledged by San Francisco Bay Area mayors. Better Place admits that the swap technology is a work in progress but hopes to have 150,000 charging stations and about 100 battery swap stations deployed in Israel by 2011. Check the video after the break.

We can't vouch for the authenticity of these shots, but the fact that there's fully five of them posted certainly lends some element of legitimacy. What's more, the first half '09 window is still very much confirmed by Palm, so let's be honest: there pretty much have to be Pres floating around in some circles at this point. We didn't necessarily anticipate "some circles" to mean "two peeps chilling at San Francisco's Bring Your Own Wheel race," but hey, whatever works. Catch another glorious shot in the wild after the break.

[Via Boy Genius Report]

San Francisco's been mulling this one over for some time now, but at long last, the city has taken a monumental step in turning nearby waves into energy. Mayor Gavin Newsom has stated that his city has just "submitted a preliminary permit application to the federal government to develop a wave power project" off of San Fran's coast. When the project is fully operational, it could generate anywhere between 10 and 100 megawatts of energy, and it has the potential to create upwards of 100 jobs. If all goes to plan, electric power would be generated from waves that are around eight miles off the west coast of SF, and the mayor also stated that he'll be making sure that the impact on marine animals, fishing, shipping and recreational uses is minimized should he get the green light.

We heard that T-Mobile USA was looking to dabble in the low-end arena with $50 unlimited voice plans, and sure enough, the carrier has gone live with 'em in the City by the Bay. In a surprise move aimed to rival similar plans from lesser known providers such as Boost Mobile, T-Mob is offering "loyal customers" the option to move to a $50 flat-rate calling plan. In order to get the offer, you must be located in San Francisco (for now, anyway), have been a subscriber in good standing for at least 22 months and want to save a few bucks on your mobile calling. It's stated that stores in the SF area are actively promoting the new plan, which should be fairly successful given that users won't have to extend their current contracts in order to switch. Toss in unlimited texting, data and Everlasting Gobstoppers, and we're sold.

[Image courtesy of Bicycle-Heaven]

If General Motors has anything to say about it, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. will be the first early adopter markets for its plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt. The company is currently working with the local municipalities to flesh out the details. The goal is to make tax incentives for purchasing electric cars and build an infrastructure that'll support them. San Francisco is already part of the way there since they, along with San Jose and Oakland, have already endorsed Better Place's $1 billion plan to put electric grids in the Bay Area. Of course, GM's deeds aren't exactly selfless -- after all, more markets mean more potential Volt customers -- but if this is what it takes to foster an eerily silent rush hour, we're all for it.

[Via Yahoo!]

Nearly a year to the day after we heard that WiFi trials were beginning on some of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit trains, WiFi Rail has announced a deal that'll last a score and provide high-speed WiFi "throughout the BART transit system and on all BART commuter trains." Reportedly, the network has successfully been tested to handle loads and provide speeds in excess of 15Mbps on trains moving 81 miles-per-hour. As it stands, four downtown San Francisco stations and some segments of the tunnels are already fully functional, but it'll take until the end of 2010 before the entire network is complete. There's no mention of what the price table will end up looking like, though we are told that subscriptions will be available by day, month or year. Now, if only this would filter out to every other mass transit entity in America, we'd be just jolly.

Cruising across the open seas may seem like a great way to get close to nature, but take a look at the sheer quantity of fuel most boats suck down as they power through waves (and manatees) and you'll realize the truth. Thus a new breed of eco-friendly boat has arisen, the latest entry being San Francisco's Alcatraz Cruises Hornblower Hybrid ferry. The ship, which will take passengers on trips to the Rock and elsewhere in the Bay, uses two vertical wind turbines and a solar panel to power its on-board electronics, with any excess juice going to the boat's propulsion systems -- which still rely mostly on diesel to get the craft and its passengers where they're going. Okay, so it's perhaps not as green as other eco-boats we've seen, but a tour on this one should be a good bit more affordable when it enters service early this year.

[Via Inhabitat]

Like it or not California, it's about time you folks ponied up for a serious rail system. With the recent passage of Proposition 1A, the wheels have started to churn on a sophisticated bullet train system that will eventually link San Diego in the south with Sacramento in the north, with stops at most every major city in between (LA and San Francisco included). The 800-mile network of trains would operate at upwards of 220mph and cost around $45 billion to construct, but it'll create 320,000 permanent jobs by 2030 and reduce the state's reliance on fossil fuel by 12.7 million barrels of oil per year. Unfortunately, there's no set time frame for completion just yet, but we wouldn't be surprised to see this one finished before that Anaheim - Las Vegas maglev project even gets off the ground.

[Via BoingBoing]

We dig the idea in theory, we really do, but we can definitely see this causing more harm than good. Starting this fall, San Francisco will begin a trial involving wireless parking sensors in 6,000 of its 24,000 metered spaces, enabling antsy drivers to be alerted via street signs or cellphones when a spot becomes available. Only one problem -- give 50 anxious motorists the same message that a single spot is unoccupied, and you've just created a bona fide mess. Though it'd probably be fun to watch from the sidewalk, wouldn't you agree?

[Via Core77]