It's only taken a number of years and some seriously ruined pants -- but Apple has finally come clean on the flammable nature of the first-generation iPod nano, and is now offering to replace the faulty devices. After reports today that two more of the media players had lit up without warning in Japan, the company issued a statement admitting that the nanos do -- in fact -- have battery problems which cause them to smoke or spark and generally burn the hell out of things. In the company's words:

"Apple has determined that in very rare cases batteries in first generation iPod nanos sold between September 2005 and December 2006 can overheat causing failure and deformation of the iPod nano. Apple has received very few reports of such incidents (less than 0.001 percent of first generation iPod nano units), which have been traced back to a single battery supplier. There have been no reports of serious injuries or property damage, and no reports of incidents for any other iPod nano model.

Any first generation iPod nano customers who have experienced their battery overheating should contact AppleCare for a replacement. Any other customers who have concerns about their first generation iPod nano battery should also contact AppleCare."

Well, thanks guys... at least we didn't die.

So Archos still seems to be struggling a bit matching the design curve of the industry, but boy oh boy can they pile on those specs. The new Archos 5 and Archos 7 "generation 6" players offer capacities as high as 320GB, well-res'd screens and just about every codec we'd ever need -- plus available plug-ins to cover the rest. But that's not even the exciting part. The Archos 5g adds in that 3.5 HSDPA data we were hearing about, providing true on-the-go surfing, and all three players sport WiFi as well. Sizes start off at 30GB for the Archos 5g, which runs a 800 x 480 4.8-inch touchscreen. The Archos 5 bumps that up to 60-250GB, while the Archos 7 does up 160GB and 320GB, with a 7-inch touchscreen that sadly matches the 5 series' resolution exactly. All three players can record VGA video through an optional DVR Station dock or the DVR snap-on accessory, and Archos will have plenty of other accessories in the offing as well. As for player design, Archos has made considerable strides in thinness, with the Archos 7 at 0.63-inches thick, and the Archos 5 as slim as 0.5-inches, depending on drive size, but we're not crazy about the new look -- though we're sure opinions will vary. No word on price or availability just yet, but stay tuned.

If Archos.com happens to be a regular haunt of yours, you might've noticed that the site went down last night, with only a simple message remaining: "Coming up soon..." If you can ignore the awkward phrasing, it sounds like Archos has more than a new website in the works, and most people are pretty sure a generation 6 line of players is being prepped, including a flagship 606 device. A tipster says the site is due back at midnight CET (a bit over 9 hours from now), but that hasn't been confirmed. Archos did have a little teaser graphic up for a few days before the site went down (pictured) , but that's about all we've got to go on, at least officially -- rumors naturally abound.

[Thanks, Ziplepingouin]

Look, it's pretty clear that the lithium-ion battery in the first generation iPod nano has the potential to burst into flames. Seriously, how many more cases do we have to see? Even after giving Apple a stern talking-to and ferocious wag of the finger back in March, Japan's government is once again investigating possible battery defects that caused a pair of Tokyo nanos to burn: nano model MA099 recently singed a piece of nearby paper while a model MA005 nano burned a traditional tatami mat in January (no injuries were reported).

Presumably Apple is calculating the cost-of-recall at this very moment. In other words, take the number of 1st gen nanos in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, they don't do one.

Update: Japan has issued a warning to iPod nano users saying, "Users need to be careful about overheating of the machines," particularly when charging the players. Japan's government has reported a total of 14 similar incidents to Apple related to models MA004J/A, MA005J/A, MA099J/A and MA107J/A all sold between September '05 and September '06 -- two of which resulted in minor burns. NHK claims that Apple does not plan a recall but is ready to exchange defective parts.

We've never been big fans of giving your tween some Nickelodeon-ized gizmo when you can simply hand down your current gear and use it for an excuse to upgrade, but apparently not everyone sees it that way. Nickelodeon, Viacom and Imation have jointly announced the latest line of kid-friendly Npower gizmos, which includes a digital voice recorder, a digicam and a webcam based on the "breakout hit" iCarly. Additionally, the outfit is churning out SpongeBob SquarePants-themed speakers, boomboxes, MP3 players and digiframes, and there's even a few Dora the Explorer toys thrown in for good measure. All the (inflated) prices and shipping details are down there in the read link -- we won't bore the uninterested any longer by fleshing it out here.

[Via Electronista]

Hmm, Hov, you may want to check the fine print on whatever deal you've got with Moto, because these Jay-Z-branded MOTOROKR S7-HD Bluetooth headset aren't exactly big pimpin' -- and compared to Dre's big ol' cans, they look downright sad. Of course, the FCC's legendarily nasty product photography isnt helping here, but even A2DP stereo support and the integrated mic can't salvage this mess -- was this really worth unretiring for?

[Via Crave]

Craving some more room for that season of Avatar you've been trying to cram onto your Zune without dropping your Mega Carrie Underwood Workout Mix? It looks like Microsoft is one-upping its 80GB model with a 120GB version, which just blew by the FCC, and should allow all your media to live in harmony. As might be expected, there's not much other than that new hard drive to set this new model apart -- the drive size is the same, as is the 2.5 firmware. The FCC tested this out on June 19th, which helps us exactly none in pinning when this will ship to stores, how much it will cost, or how they'll ever top those Joy Division designs.

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about technology, multimedia, and digital entertainment.
Last year, Switched On discussed the KeySpan TuneView and the DLO HomeDock Remote, two products that allowed remote control of an iPod using small screens on a remote. One of the limitations of those products was that they each required their own docks instead of working with any of the scores of iPod docks already on the market. At CES 2008, though, a company showed a product that not only allows you to use your iPod -- and many other devices -- as a wireless remote with the iPod dock you may already have. Even more unusually, the company that sells it is not one well associated with these speaker docks, such as Altec Lansing, Bose or Logitech, but rather It is iSkin, a company that made its name selling silicone cases for iPods.

iSkin's music product line is called Cerulean, the most flexible configuration of which is the $129 TX+RX (transmitter / receiver). The transmitter, like those bundled with iPod wireless headphones for years, allows you to use your iPod as a remote, sending music to any Bluetooth stereo speaker. But not only does Cerulean free the iPod from the dock, it frees the dock from the iPod.

Plugging the Cerulean Bluetooth receiver into practically any iPod dock opens a door for many Bluetooth stereo music sources -- such as MacBooks and notebook PCs, digital music players from Sony and Samsung, and many cell phones. When used with a subscription service such as Rhapsody, the Cerulean lets you create playlists from thousands of songs or listen to YouTube music videos on your notebook with better audio quality, but there's even one more trick up its sleeve.

A whole new slew of Walkmans have hit Sony's New Zealand site, and we've got the goods on them. The new models, dubbed the NWZ-E435, NWZ-E436, and NWZ-E438 all sport a 2-inch QVGA LCD display, FM tuner, codec support for MP3, AAC, WMA, and Linear PCM files, and clock in at a very petite 8.5mm / 50g. The players will be available in 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB variations, with various color options for each model (except for the NWZ-E438, which only comes in black). Apparently, the PMPs play nice with both Windows Media Player and iTunes, offering drag and drop management for files. No word yet on price, regions, or release date, but we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for these sweet babies.

[Via Sony Insider]

With Zing on board, Dell's going after Apple's portable media dominance once again, but it seems our worst nightmares of a DJ Ditty 2 could be unfounded. Instead of building just another PlaysForSure-friendly or even WiFi-happy DAP, Dell's hoping to partner up with Apple's rivals to build a new ecosystem that will create better interoperation between PMPs, phones, cars, satellite radios and the multitude of online music stores out there. From the looks of things, that ecosystem is in good hands: with the acquisition of Zing's Tim Bucher, formerly of Apple fame, and the 120 person team he's built to help Dell put Apple in its place. Dell's staying a bit coy about the specifics of its plans, but word on the street is that they'll start shipping the software later this year, and push out a couple of players early next year. Sure, it could all fall apart in the end, but it's nice to see someone trying to be "the whole widget" of open standards portable media, as royally as it might eventually fail in the Apple-owned marketplace.

We want to believe it's not the latter. Okay, this is (hopefully) the last one of these Fox-branded iPods we do, we just thought it would be funny, you know, because the movie did so badly and... stuff. Yeah, on second thought, not very funny.

[Via TUAW]

DAB... DAB... that's that digital radio thing, right? But it's not from a satellite, huh? Well, whatever. Revo's new PICO hybrid radio packs some internet radio over WiFi, so you don't have to move to some crummy country like the UK just to listen to predictably-programmed 80's music and cloying chatter. Revo's little unit is portable, gets 12 hours to a charge, and works with DAB, DAB+, FM and WiFi. It'll be available in September for £169.95 (about $3,180,000 USD).

Logitech is getting into the earbuds game, announcing today that it's buying privately-held Ultimate Ears. Historically focusing on spendy in-ear monitors for live musicians, Ultimate Ears has recently hit the earbud game with full force, and Logitech seems to want a piece of that action. Plus the acquisition price of $34 million is like, what, profits from your last seven minutes of iPod dock sales, Logitech? Logitech and Ultimate Ears expect the deal to close in August.

Look out, Pure Digital -- you've got a new rival in town. Radiopaq, best known for bringing thousands of internet radio stations and podcasts to listeners via the web, has decided to hop into the hardware game. The Rp5 tabletop radio features a five-way speaker system, digital / analog processors, a headphone jack, remote control and a rather stylish design. There's also an integrated WiFi module for tuning into the outfit's website and even sucking down news, weather and traffic information. Of course, the more traditional FM / DAB tuners are there as well, making this one quite the multifaceted box. Word on the British streets has this one pegged for a September launch at £250 ($468).

[Via Pocket-lint]