Yesterday Apple sent out a short and to-the-point message about using software hacks to unlock the iPhone, in which they basically warn not to do it. Apple has a new software update coming out for the iPhone in a couple weeks that among other things will contain the new iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store and could very possibly have something that will “take care” of hacked iPhones, intentional or not.

According to the statement issued by Apple, hacks that unlock the iPhone could cause the phone to be irreparably damaged after installing the update that Apple is planning on sending out, and these unlocking hacks are not covered under the iPhone warranty. Press release after the jump:

Starbucks along with Apple iTunes has announced that they will be giving away 50 million iTunes songs at Starbucks locations to help promote the mobile iTunes store and Starbucks’ Now Playing service. On October 2 the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store will launch with a service provided in Starbucks locations which will display the current song playing through the Apple iPhone in the stores and allow users to buy and download the song without paying any hotspot fees.

In the additional promotion announced today which will run from October 2 through November 7, Starbucks locations will be giving away “Song of the Day” cards that can be redeemed that the iTunes store for a free song download (selected by Starbucks). The coffee company is planning on giving away 1.5 million downloads per day to total more than 50 million songs, so the odds of you getting one when stopping through a Starbucks next month are not too shabby.

NBC has announced that they will be offering free downloads of the popular television episodes through a new service of their own called “NBC Direct”. This move is part of NBC’s overall plan to expand the digital distribution of its programs with the ability to set their own price and provides further competition for its former partner iTunes.

There are a few small caveats with the new service, however. For one, the episodes can only be viewed on PC’s running Microsoft Windows (how interesting). They company says they have future plans that will allow the files to be played on portable devices and eventually Mac’s, but not at this point. The files are also available for download only for the first 7 days after the episode has aired, and then will be removed. Also, you won’t be able to escape commercials with this offering. The downloaded episodes will contain advertising and you won’t be able to skip over them.

If you’re one of those on the cutting edge of Apple technology and got yourself an iPhone soon after the launch, that $100 Apple Store credit Jobs offered you in lieu of a $200 price reduction is now available online. The process is pretty simple and gives instant gratification (no snail mail involved); just follow the instructions on the website and enter in your iPhone phone number and serial number and then Apple will message you with a special access code. Once you enter that in you’re good to go.

If you’re wondering if you qualify, the $100 credit applies to anyone who bought the iPhone from AT&T or Apple at full price prior to August 22. But, rumor has it that some of those who have purchased the new price-reduced iPhones have been able to enter their number and get the credit anyway. No confirmations on that on – you might expect some recourse if you do get that to work but hey, it’s worth a try.

When innovation is elusive try novelty, right? Available in an assortment of colors and certified “Made For iPod”, Mountain Network Solutions unleashes an iPod docking station that will call attention to itself.

Included are the necessary adapters to dock any iPod that is docking capable. The unit will synchronize with iTunes and is controllable via a small remote for navigating playlists and adjusting volume, bass and treble.

iTunes now has the available ringtones for the Apple iPhone turned on where users can choose from over 500,000 tracks that bear a special “ringtone” symbol next to them and make their own custom ringtone. The interface allows users to choose the section of the song they want and add some “mix”, such as looping, fading and selecting the section of the song.

All this comes for just $1.98 for each $0.99 song because remember, owning the track alone isn’t quite enough, you must pay for it again to use it as a ringtone. Happy Tuesday.

A leaked advertisement from T-Mobile Germany gives some inside information that the iPhone may be launching in Europe in November, with tri-band HSDPA and a larger storage capacity.

According to the ad the iPhone will have a launch date of November 12 with T-Mobile, which we knew Apple was planning a launch before the holidays but not exactly when. The iPhone will go for 499 Euros, or about $687 USD, which is higher than the US original price of $599 and way higher than the recently cut price of $399. But, it looks like this model will have 16GB of memory which is twice the largest 8GB model available in the US. It wouldn’t be surprising if Apple started offering this larger capacity in the US before the holidays as well, which would make sense with the lower price on the 8GB and the discontinuation of the smaller 4GB version.

Polk Audio yesterday unveiled a new version of its I-Sonic tabletop radio. The new I-Sonic Entertainment System 2 (ES2) is priced at around $500 and should be available next month.

The I-Sonic ES2 combines iPod and HD Radio playback in much the same way the original I-Sonic did HD Radio and DVD playback. The ES2 has a top-mounted dock which works with all iPods with dock connectors. One feature which is particularly interesting is iTunes Tagging. This new universal technology lets you buy songs heard on HD Radio broadcasts by “tagging” those songs into the ES2′s memory. When you dock an iPod the tags are transferred to the music player as a playlist, which can later be previewed through iTunes on a computer for purchase and download.

Along with all the cool new stuff announced by Apple today the company also unveiled a new upcoming, wireless music download service called the iTunes Wi-Fi Music store.

The Wi-Fi Music store allows owners of the iPhone or the iPod touch to access and download over six million different songs through any Wi-Fi hotspot directly to their mobile device through a new iTunes button.

Apple did what many people thought it would do today as it unveiled a new generation of iPods by debuting one which shares the same touch screen interface as the iPhone. Enter the iPod touch, set to be available later this month in an 8GB model for $299 and a 16GB model for $399.

The iPod touch sports a 3.5-inch widescreen display which is touch sensitive and the heart of controlling this iPod’s features. Users touch the screen to select features they want, be it music, videos or digital photos. There’s also a lot more under the hood on the iPod touch, including Wi-Fi wireless networking for downloading music and browsing the Web, Cover Flow display for browsing music by cover art, a built-in ambient light sensor and up to 22 hours of audio or five hours of video playback.

Today Apple launched the much anticipated, “fatter-style” iPod Nano with a 2-inch, 320×240 resolution video screen at 204 pixels per inch, more than any other current iPod device. The new design is surprisingly similar to the rumored pics that were floating around.

The new iPod Nano measures just 0.26″ thick and weighs 1.74 ounces with a battery that will give up to 24 continuous hours of audio playback and 5 hours of video. It comes in Flash drive capacities of 4GB ($149) or 8GB ($199) and in a choice of 5 different colors, but the 4GB model will only be available in silver.

Steve Jobs and Apple announced today that they will have a new version of iTunes which will be released tonight that supports ringtones for the iPhone.

The new version of iTunes will have a little “bell” icon next to the songs that can be created into a ringtone (about 500,000 initially) and will let you select your own, up to 30 second excerpt from the song to create your ringtone.

It certainly didn’t take NBC very long to get over its break-up with Apple’s iTunes. Only a few days after NBC announced that they intended to pull their video content from iTunes, and after a well publicized dispute, NBC has now announced a new partner.

Today NBC Universal and Amazon announced that NBC’s video content will now be available on Amazon’s Unbox media download service. Amazon and NBC are offering a number of incentives hype up the launch of the new content, too. The pilots of the new series of Bionic Woman and Chuck are available for free, even before the first episodes air. Other shows will normally be available for download the day after they air and the companies are even offering 30% off for buying seasons in advance.

In a sign that shows how powerful the branding of Apple’s iPod is and how much hurt the car manufacturing sector has come to, Apple and automobile manufacturer Volkswagon AG are now in discussions about making a so-called “iCar” that would be the ideal mode of transportation for any iEnthusiast. Apple CEOe Steve Jobs and Volkswagen’s prexy Martin Winterkorn have already met to talk about ideas for their collaboration and will be having more sessions to spitball ideas for their lifestyle ride.

So what kind of features could an iCar have beside the port for your iPod and iPhone? What about smart technology that lets you download iTunes to the car’s stereo? What about a dashboard that has a user interface like the one in the iPhone? The mind boggles at the possibilities but one more idea that we would like to mention are car commercials along the lines of Apple’s “I’m a PC and I’m a Mac” series. How about “I’m an SUV and I’m a iCar?”

NBC was an early-adopter of Apple iTunes, being the second major company back in 2005 to sign on with Apple to provide video content for the download service. Now, a short two years later NBC has announced its intentions to end their relationship with Apple and discontinue providing content for iTunes citing that they are unhappy with iTunes pricing policy and piracy control, or lack thereof.

NBC has over 1500 hours of TV and movies currently on iTunes, and according to a NYT report the two companies are in negotiations which may mean that NBC could be doing a little bit of muscle-flexing might not really upset enough yet to want to pull all of its content.