Apple has just opened up its development software to universities. Not only that, they’re making it freely available with SDK software and hardware so that different colleges can get up to 200 units for any programs that the schools have. Now colleges can have free labor students make iPhone and iPod applications that can be released to the mass market, as well as learning how to program specifically for the platforms. It’s the ultimate proof that Apple is not a hardware or software company, but that they do marketing. It’s a bold move to both get more people interested in their hardware, like college students and professors, as well as putting more professionally made applications in the App store.

Apple had to use Kane Kramer’s patents and drawings to defend itself in the Apple v Burst.com legal case with no choice but to admit Kane Kramer is the inventor behind the iPod.

Kramer’s invention was called the IXI, invented in 1979, stored 3.5 minutes of music on to a chip and Mr. Kramer believed its capacity would improve. His sketches at the time showed a credit-card-sized player with a rectangular screen and a central menu button, very similar to the iPod. But in 1988, after a boardroom split, he was unable to renew patents and the technology became public property.

Apple flew Kramer out from the UK to California to testify on their behalf.The Apple v Burst.com case has been settled confidentially out of court and Kramer is negotiating with Apple to gain some compensation from the copyright that he owns on the drawings. But so far he has received only a consultancy fee for providing his expertise in the legal case plus an iPod that last for eight months before it broke down.

Kane’s latest invention is Monicall – a system for making conversations into enforceable and legally binding agreements.

• It will allow people to have phone calls recorded and emailed to the various parties as an audio file.
• It will speed up business deals and provide a low-cost third-party witness to conversations and agreements.
• A deal will be done on the phone and that is it – an audio file gets emailed over within 30 seconds.

Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published Apple’s six newly granted patents.

The six patents are:

Stand: iPhone stand/dock design. Originally filed for in September 2007.

Computing Device: MacBook design. originally filed for in October 2007.

Electronic Device Holder: iPod holder used in lanyard. Originally filed for in March 2007.

Method and Apparatus for Backlighting a Device: Distribution of light in relation to a keyboard. Originally filed for in June 2005.

Data-Driven Global Boundary Optimization: Text-to-speech synthesis. Originally filed for in October 2003.

Circuits and Methods for Amplifying Signals: Power supply compensation circuit in class D modulators. Originally filed for in June 2006.

Click here for more details.

If you are out with a hot date it might make things more romantic if you run out of gas at the right time. However, if things are just heating up because you’re playing his/her favorite romantic songs, then suddenly your iPod batter dies, well so does the romance. See how to make your iPod last longer in this romance saving video, plus learn a few more tips the video didn’t mention.

Another tip to save battery life that the video didn’t mention is to make sure that "Sound Check" is turned off. This feature makes it so all your songs are about the same volume, but it also using quite a bit of battery life.

If you set equalizers on specific songs in iTunes, setting the equalizer on the iPod to off will use those settings. Set it to flat to disable the equalizer altogether.

After spending your life fortune on your iPod, it needs to be properly cared for. If you’ve ever made the mistake of cleaning electronics with alcohol, which contains sugar, and makes electronics sticky, then we’ve got a very informative video on how to clean your iPod … properly.