Following the announcement that the creator of the iPod and iTunes, Tony Fadell, was leaving Apple, along with his wife Danielle Lambert (who also works at Apple), in order to spend more time together and with their children, the departure looks like it will hurt the electronics giant pretty hard.

Let’s look at the ways that Fadell’s departure will harm Apple.

The iPod franchise will be harmed
Fadell was credited with the idea behind downloading digital music, and was instrumental in the design and creation of the iPod. He also played a major role in the further development of the iPod franchise and products moving forward.

Affects the development of the iPhone
In addition to the iPod, Fadell was the man behind the advancements made in the iPhone. Without his drive the iPhone would never have reached where it is today, and will struggle to move forward.

Apple lose a man who can take on Steve Jobs
At any company you need powerful, opinionated people who can say no to the boss. Fadell was one of those men. Without Fadell, Apple has lost a key decision maker.

Moral will be affected at Apple
The loss of Fadell will harm the moral at Apple HQ and at the development team behind the iPod and iPhone.

Apple is now without a Hardware Device Engineering Chief
With Fadell gone, nobody is able to make the decisions he made. No one can make the calls he made. He’s going to be a tough guy to replace, though they will try.

The spate of robberies involving teenagers and electronic goods such as iPods and games consoles has continued with a sixteen year old boy being the victim of a mugging in Barnstaple this week.

The teenager was mugged on Tuesday in the middle of the afternoon, before 2pm, and was forced to surrender his Apple iPod to two adults. The teenager was minding his own business, walking along a towpath near the iron bridge. This happened in Rock Park. He was attacked by two men, one of whom held on to him from behind while the other man threatened him, and stole his iPod.

This is a common occurrence as iPods are easy to sell on and hold their value second hand, so they represent easy targets for robbers. The fact that many iPods are carried by teenagers makes them even more enticing for thieves who think that teenagers are easy to steal from.

One of the men is described as being Asian, aged between seventeen and eighteen. He’s around five foot nine and was clean shaven. There is no description of the second man.

Anyone with evidence on the crime are advised to contact Crime Stoppers. Police also advise that anyone with an iPod be very careful when out in public.

Apple has just lost one of its most inspirational figures, Tony Fadell, the man credited with inventing the iPod and the digital download store, iTunes. It was the iPod and iTunes that led to Apple’s utter dominance of the digital music arena and MP3 player market.

Fadell was at Apple for eight years before he decided to stand down from his position.

Mark Papermaster, who works at IBM, will replace Fadell, according to Apple. However that appointment may be in doubt after IBM said they’d enforce a non-compete clause in Papermaster’s contract, which would forbid him from working at Apple for 12 months.

A spokesperson for Apple stated:

We think IBM will see that the iPod and iPhone are not competitive with its business.

Fadell used to work at Philips, where he reported first conceived of the idea for iTunes. However it was Apple that backed his plans, which turned out to be Philips’ loss. Fadell became a senior vice-president at Apple.

The loss of Fadell is a major blow to Apple as he was considered one of the front runners to eventually take over from the Apple boss Steve Jobs.

It’s official, the Nintendo DS has now become the most successful handheld in history as it has beaten the record set by the Nintendo Game Boy, which sold 81 million units back in its pomp. The Nintendo DS has sold a staggering 84 million consoles worldwide, eclipsing the Game Boy, and the DS still has plenty of life left in its run yet, with a new console released last weekend.

One of the reasons for the success of the Nintendo DS is that it has appealed to a new audience of gamers that previous gaming systems haven’t, such as young children and women. The DS is also targeted at families in the sense that they are encouraged to play the games together with the console’s wireless connectivity.

Nintendo proudly announced that they have sold over 454 million games for the DS, and over 20 million copies of the Nintendogs game alone.

Despite the success of the Nintendo DS and the overwhelming interest in the Nintendo Wii this Christmas, Nintendo are still wary that the financial crisis in the world could put a damper on their profits.

The Wii Fit has proved one of the most popular gaming accessories ever as it’s appealed to more than just the core gamer market. Children and toddlers love it because it’s fun and easy to use, adults love it because they can get fit without having to go to the gym or leave the house, and the elderly love it because it’s simple to play on and helps them stay fit without exerting too much energy.

It has been a roaring success for Nintendo, but that doesn’t mean EA games aren’t willing to get involved and try their arm at a fitness game. According to Men’s Fitness magazine EA are working on their own Wii based fitness game, with a peripheral controller that doesn’t use the Wii Fit balance board. Instead EA are reported to be designing their own peripheral controller.

The new controller will reportedly utilise the Wiiremote and attach to the player’s body and then be used to measure the performance of the player during physical exercise, presumably like a heart monitor or pedometer.

As there’s no official word on the new game yet, we can expect it to be around for the latter half of 2009 at the earliest.

Next Saturday, Roy Jones Jr. takes on the undefeated Welsh boxer Joe Calzaghe in New York’s Madison Square Garden. It’s a titanic fight, as Jones was once described as pound for pound the best fighter in the world, and Calzaghe has never been beaten in his illustrious fight career.

How is Roy Jones Jr. preparing for the bout? He’s planning on fighting Keith Richards’ daughter Alexandra. No, she’s not Jones’ new sparring partner, the fight is to take place on the Nintendo Wii, and will be screened on the massive plasma TV in the entrance to Madison Square Garden.

Jones said:

When I prepare for a fight, I look for an opponent’s weakness. Alexandra Richards has absolutely no weaknesses that I can see, so I can’t fight her conventionally. I’ll have to charm her with my cute face, good looks and dazzling personality and hope she lets her guard down.

Jones should be wary though because Keith Richards’ daughter is serious about the fight.

When I got the call to fight eight-time world champ Roy Jones, I immediately started training. I’m coming to win. I plan on using my jab and my left hook. He doesn’t stand a chance.

Ever wondered where the cheapest country in the world was to buy cheap iPods? Worry no more, as its Australia. The country’s currency has fallen drastically in recent months, making it the cheapest destination in the world to buy the entry level iPod.

The cost of the 8GB model in Australia works out at just $131.95 US dollars, (about £83) which is the cheapest in the current world economy. Craig James is the chief equities economist at CommSec in Sydney. He says:

It’s a quick and dirty measure of trying to assess trade competitiveness. Our goods are a whole lot cheaper compared with two or three months ago. It’s not just the goods you buy in capital cities, it’s also things like iron ore and coal and copper, our traditional exports.

He adds that British tourists can benefit from buying an iPod for about a 25% saving on the cost of buying one in the UK. Of course, you then have to factor in the cost of travelling to Australia, which more than makes up for the £30 or so saving.

It’s worth knowing though where the best place for cheap iPods is, unless of course you buy online!

As we enter November, Christmas looms ever closer and the frantic flurry for buying presents steps up. The last two years has seen a shortage of Nintendo Wii consoles as parents have scrambled to buy them for their children, only to be disappointed. Parents have turned to discounts sites, import sites and auctions sites looking to secure a Nintendo Wii, often costing them much more than the consoles retail value.

This year however Nintendo claim that the shortage will be addressed with an increase in production. Nintendo claim that they’ll be manufacturing nearly 4 million Nintendo Wii consoles this Christmas to try to meet the demand.

Nintendo say that are producing 2.4 million Nintendo Wii consoles every month, which is almost double the 1.6 million consoles per month they were producing last year.

Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo America president, stated:

We’ve made a 33 percent increase. We’re bringing 50 percent more supply this holiday… producing an unprecedented level of hardware to try to meet demand.

We are selling hardware at rates that no system has ever experienced.

The Nintendo Wii has sold approximately 34 million consoles across the globe since it launched in 2006, which makes it far and away the most popular console when compared to its rivals, the Xbox 360 and the PS3.

He’s the leader of the Autobots, he hails from the planet Cybertron and he can also give your iPod some much needed speaker action. There are many accessories for the iPod user, but none as much fun as a set of speakers that transform into Optimus Prime.

Transformers were all the rage back in the mid nineteen-eighties, and then because of the Michael Bay movie last year, and the sequel planned for next year ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ the robots in disguise are back with a bang on TV and in shops.

Not content with just being robots that turn into cars, planes and other weird and wonderful things, some Transformers toys even turn into practical, useful things. For example, there is a version of Optimus Prime, the leader of the Autobots, that instead of having a trailer that turns into a command centre, comes equipped with a trailer that is also an iPod dock.

This means you can have Optimus Prime sat on your book shelf and proudly boast that it’s not a toy, it’s not a throwback to your childhood, it’s your iPod dock and speak set… that just so happens to be a robot in disguise!

If you’re a Nintendo fan (and they have a lot of hardcore Nintendo Fanboys) you’ll be interested to know that Nintendo is embarking on a UK tour to promote the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS in the run up to Christmas. The tour will allow fans, and people thinking of getting a Wii or DS, to play some upcoming Nintendo games that are due out towards Christmas.

The new games Wii Music and Animal Crossing will be demoed by Wii professionals, plus you’ll be able to play some classic games such as Mario Kart, the Wii Fit and Nintendogs.

Don’t fret if you’re already a DS Lite owner as you’ll also find something from the tour for you. DS owners can download exclusive games from the tour.

There are also prizes on offer, including holidays and indoor skiing days. The dates for the tour are:

The Wii Christmas Tour 2008:

Derby: 30th October-2nd November
Toys For Big Boys, Dublin: 6th-9th November
Lakeside, Thurrock: 13th-16th November
Manchester, Arndale: 20th-23rd November
Braehead, Glasgow: 27th-30th November
MetroCentre, Gateshead: 4th-7th December
Highcross, Leicester: 11th-14th December
Westquay, Southampton: 18th-21st December

The Nintendo DS Christmas Tour 2008

Ilac, Dublin: 23rd-26th October
St. Davids, Cardiff: 30th October-2nd November
Westfields, London: 6th-9th November
Braehead, Glasgow: 13th-16th November
MetroCentre, Gateshead: 20th-23rd November
Meadowhall, Sheffield: 27th-30th November
Bluewater, Kent: 3rd-7th December
Churchill Square, Brighton: 11th-14th December
Highcross, Leicester: 18th-21st December