Looking for a convenient place to spent a few hundred dollars? Look no further! The iPod vending machine will suck your money away and replace it with a shiny new Apple flavored gadget!

So this may be old news, but it was certainly the first I’ve ever seen. I was recently on vacation for a few days in Colorado. At a large mall in Denver there is a Macy’s which had an iPod vending machine. When I saw it I did a double take then had a quick chuckle when I realized exactly what I was looking at. I actually said the words "Is that an iPod vending machine?". I pulled out my cell for some low quality shots so I could share with you what I saw.

And there it is, an iPod Vending machine. From headphones to full iPod docks, there was a lot of accessories to choose from. But what is an accessory without the iPod itself? Right from the machine you could buy an iPod Touch, Nano, Shuffle or iPod Classic. There were even multiple colors of Nanos. The only actual iPod player that was missing was the iPhone. The whole machine was controlled through a touch screen terminal on the right. I’m not sure how much money Apple actually makes from these vending machines but it surely is interesting to see how easily you could pick yourself up a full set of Apple devices and accessories. Two more shots below.

As you have most likely heard, Apple today announced the iPhone 3G at their annual WWDC event. The phone’s most obvious new feature is the HSDPA 3G cellular data connection that now enables the phone to have faster cellular internet connectivity. This replaces the old iPhone’s EDGE technology which was on the dial-up end of the internet speed spectrum. HSDPA in the iPhone 3G is closer to wi-fi speeds as demonstrated by Apple. The phone itself has changed very little cosmetically. We’re talking about millimeters in size differences, and a plastic back on the iPhone 3G instead of easily scratched aluminum. The iPhone 3G will be available with a black or white back.

Probably the second most significant hardware change is the addition of GPS. Apple says that the iPhone 3G will use a combination of GPS, wi-fi and cell towers to pin-point the position of the user. The iPhone EDGE used Locate Me, a function that provided a rough estimate of the users position based on cell tower information. With the addition of GPS the system is accurate enough to locate the street the user is on and give driving directions, something that couldn’t be done due to the inaccuracy of the Locate Me technology of the iPhone EDGE.

Another one of the anticipated upgrades is to the iPhone’s operating system. The iPhone 2.0 firmware will be released when the iPhone 3G comes out on July 11th. At the same time, Apple will make the update free to iPhone EDGE users, and available to iPod Touch users for $9.95. The 2.0 software will bring some increased functionality to the current feature set including things such as mass email management and contact searching. Additionally, 2.0 will bring the App Store onto the home screen of iPhone/iPod Touch users, and will allow them to download applications wirelessly to their device. The store will offer a combination of free and purchasable applications. Developers who charge for their apps keep 70% of the cost; for those who will be releasing free apps, Apple has said there will be no charges to the developer. Along for the ride in the 2.0 firmware is a lot of support for enterprise users including VPN connectivity, Exchange support, and more.

This time around Apple has worked with AT&T to subsidize the iPhone to a more attractive price point. The iPhone EDGE was released as an 8GB model for $599 USD, while an iPhone 3G will only run you $199, with the 16GB version following at $299 (of course this is all with a contract from AT&T). In addition to reduced pricing, Apple has stated its goal to release the iPhone 3G in 70 countries this year.

Check the technical specifications on Apple’s website for the dirty details of the new phone.

We’ll have some thoughts from the UMPCPortal team in a later post. Is it a MID? Is it good value? Does it improve the Internet Experience? What about video and cam capabilities? Bluetooth profiles improved?