by taoski on September 13, 2006
I am still just a little kid at heart - getting excited about new things.
In my youth it was the excitement of a new StarWars film coming out. But now it’s new hardware and software that gives me a mental stiffy.
Yesterday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs did another one of his Keynote speeches and announced a whole new set of iPods, software and hardware. I sat on my sofa and streamed the whole thing! Over 1 hours worth!
- The iPod will get a brighter screen, more battery life, some new search features and better quality video.
- The iPod Nano will get larger memory capacity, an aluminium casing - also available in different colors, and all of the same new features that its larger brother has now got.
- The iPod shuffle has been totally redesigned and is now “the smallest MP3 player in the world!” coming in at a tiny 1.6 inches long! It also has it’s own clip to allow it to be attached to your clothing, belt, nipple etc.
- iTunes gets an upgrade to version 7 and features new album art based browsing features, a slight new design and iPod managability sections. You also get free album art downloaded for any CDs you have ripped - as long as you have an iTunes account.
- iTunes will offer movies for sale (US only at the moment). They will be at 640×480 resolution which is apparently “near DVD quality”.
Steve also demo’ed their new upcoming product which, at the moment, is known as “iTV“.
This small box, similar in design to the MacMini will plug into your TV and will allow streaming of audio, video, photos, podcasts and movie trailers wirelessly direct to your screen. It will work with iTunes on PCs and Macs. Almost like having “Front Row” plugged into your TV.
This iTV device is what impressed me most. I have used iTunes to share music between my PC and Macbook and it works perfectly and without any hassles at all. If the iTV can do this for visual and audio content that can be displayed on the TV - then it will be brilliant! I hope that it will also allow streaming content of movies you have imported into iTunes. DivX is pretty cool - but can be difficult to get working on remote devices due to different compression ratios and codecs being used in the creation process. I assume that converting them to H.264, the compression codec used by Quicktime will allow them to work on the iTV too.
The iTV is coming out early next year and looks freakin cool.
I want one already!
by taoski on June 2, 2006
Those iPod luvvies over at iLounge have released their new “Free iPod Book” featuring all things iPod, iTunes, iAccessories and iOtherStuff.
I downloaded the iPod buyers guide from them back in 2004bi (before iPod) and it was really good. This one looks even better!
by taoski on June 1, 2006
On my weekly sabatical to Birmingham yesterday I dragged my colleague to the Apple store at the Bullring to check out the new Macbook. I did look for them at my local John Lewis at the weekend but they were no-where to be found.
I was impressed by them too. Small, light, neat, smart, fast, clever and great at oral sex too!
But after looking at the 20 inch iMacs and also after reading that my matey WhiteBoyBob has just bought one (and not managed to break it), I am wondering if one of those might be a better purchase. I have also been reading some benchmarks on gaming with the 20 inch iMac using XP and Boot Camp. They do seem impressive too. I think I will have to install XP via Boot Camp as the kids use some games on XP still and the wife will probably get all confused over OSX and will not be able to work her Home Accounts Spreadsheet properly without ringing me all the time.
I do use my laptop at home a little. Not lots though - just a little. Sometimes after a hard days internet surfing work I don’t want to be huddled over another PC in the corner of the room. Sitting on the sofa, slowly cooking my legs with the laptop on wifi is quite nice really. I have done more of my “Blogger Template Overhaul” series using the laptop than anything else. My desktop PC setup at home is not perfect for spending lots of time at the screen. Stuck in the corner next to the dinner table, it is quite restrictive to use and the desk it sits on gets piled with paper, toys, mobile phones and recently, my Xbox360, controllers and headset as I now play that via my LCD monitor.
But the 20 inch iMacs are nice and they are faster and have a bigger hard disk too! I do quite a bit of photoshop stuff so maybe that would be a better purchase? But the laptops are nice and “free” and I can take it on holiday and stuff too. Oh… crap…. more decisions.
by taoski on April 27, 2006
When I plugged in my iPod to my home PC running iTunes this morning, it quite happily overwrote the database and the tracks from "Northern Exposure - Expeditions" that I added here at work yesterday have all gone.
Shame.
But as Yamipod is so cute and I don't buy from iTunes - there is nothing stopping me using Yamipod as the manager for my iPod.
DamoB blogged about Anapod Explorer as an alternative to using iTunes, but as you have to install it onto a PC to use it - it's not quite what I wanted.
by taoski on April 26, 2006
I just found this application via a list of "handy programs" to take around with you on your USB memory stick. YamiPod is a freeware application that allows you to manage your iPod without the need for iTunes.
The most impressive feature is that the application does not need to be installed and can be run from the iPod when it is plugged into the PC and operating in disk mode.
Yamipod allows you to copy music files to and from the iPod, edit, export or create playlists, rate songs, change the ID3 tag details and many more things too. The application is also available for Mac, x86 and Linux too.
Does anything get any better?
Well… it could do, as after editing and uploading songs and playlists to the iPod using Yamipod at work - as soon as you get home and sync with iTunes - it all gets overwritten with the local iTunes database stored on your PC….
Then again - I have not "fully" tested this "unfortunate feature" yet, so I will report back.
I'm off to find some people on our corporate network who have iTunes installed to leach some tracks for the bike ride home!
by taoski on October 20, 2005
Just spotted these two links via my lunchtime Bloglines readings and thought that I would blog them before my phone rang and I forgot my name…
How to find and add media to your iTunes library with del.icio.us - using RSS feeds. Works with MP3, PDF etc..
Subscribe to free del.icio.us videos in iTunes - using keywords like "funny" or "boobies".
Both via the excellent Lifehacker site.
Not tried it yet - but it does look "interesting"!
Technorati Tags: itunes, ipod, apple, ITMS, RSS, del.icio.us, lifehacker, video, mp3, media
by taoski on October 20, 2005
A report yesterday found that on average, the average person spends and average of ?21,000 on music in their lifetime. The Uber-Music-Geek however spends, on average ?44,000 (mostly due to ordering that rare INXS german remix with the japanese cover notes from eBay).
In this modern age, ?21,000 equates to aproximately 30,434 purchases from the iTunes Music Store (based on 69p per track). The Audiophile with their ?44,000 gets a whopping 63,768 purchases from the same store.
With the average size of an MP3 being about 6mb, the iPods for the next generation of tune-heads would need a storage capacity of 200GB (to fit aprox 30,000 songs) and 400GB (to fit aprox 64,000 songs) to enable you to carry your entire lifes music purchases in your pocket.
In realistic terms, we are not too far off these possible capacities.
Come on Apple, sort it out! There's a market hole waiting to be filled!
Just don't make it too heavy! By the time I have purchased (torrented) all my music - i might be a little frail.
Technorati Tags: apple, ipod, storage, music, itunes, ITMS
by taoski on October 16, 2005
by taoski on October 5, 2005
So next week Apple are doing another of their Invite only announcements and the rumors circulating the Internet is that they are going to announce a Video iPod. I reckon it’s going to be called a ViPod.
Although Uber iGod Steve Jobs recently said that they were not planning a video version of the popular iPod range as "no-one had got it quite right yet" - this does not mean that they will not do so. As with any Apple product, the security has been kept tight as ever but with other product enhancements, like a new range of the popular iMac Mini and possibly a new range of "Professional Mac Workstations" in the offing, the announcement could be not what we are expecting (or predicting).
I for one did not expect them to announce the iPod Nano. That was a total surprise. Read from that event that Apple still have the upper hand on this and could announce something totally new that we have not expected.
People have already found links within the newest versions of the iTunes software that appear to link to some sort of downloadable movie content - the same as they did when they found that iTunes also contained code for exporting to the new ROKR iTunes mobile phone before Apple and Mr Moto (officially) announced the device.
Engadget have already posted a possible sneaky shot of the Video iPod. It kind of looks how I would expect it to look if there was such a device. But Steve Jobs has got to have something clever up his sleeve to make this work.
Seeing how the majority of portable video players out there support various formats, including the BitTorrent's friend, "DivX", would I pay £xxx for a device that only allowed me to download content to the player via iTunes and in a format decided by Apple? Hell no. I don't do that with the music on iTunes at the moment. It takes what i feed it (and loves it)!
Or will they be releasing a new version of iTunes at the same time that will convert my DivX, Avi and Mpeg files to their copyrighted locked down Quicktime format? Only time will tell. The dudes over at Engadget have already reported that someone has found information in iTunes regarding the Microsoft WMV format - which can also be copy protected.
When, not if, the device is launched, stand by to subscribe to iPorn and iVidcasting too by the way…
Technorati Tags: ipod, apple, video ipod, steve jobs, itunes, music, video
Well, it's not a giant lizard slaying robot and its not a new religion.