Stream Net Radio to Your iPod
Use PandoraJam to stream internet radio to your iPod. Get it here for $15.
[tags]iPod, Internet Radio, Last.fm[/tags]
Archive for the ‘iPod’
Did Apple Predict An Accurate Future?
in 1988, Apple released this video, simulating what they thought the computing world would be like in 2010. With 2010 fast approaching, how accurate do you think they were?
[tags]apple, future computer, future of computing, nostradamus, mac, steve jobs, commercial, apple 1988, apple 2010, knowledge navigator[/tags]
Amazon Competing With iTunes?
Amazon announced today that it was finally opening its long-rumored DRM free music store. You an look for it to open later this year. With a full catalog of DRM free music and 12000 choices so far, is this a threat to iTunes? Not really. Apple continues to be at the forefront of the DRM free fight with the remaining three record labels (EMI being the only major label who has already signed on with both Amazon and Apple). Steve Jobs continues to use his heavy hitting industry clout to bend the last hold outs to his will, er, make them sign a DRM free agreement for his customers. (more…)
One Blog Explains Why Macs “Just Feel Right”
Apparently, it’s all in the design, and in the design process. Technology Review takes the time to walk us through the Apple design process, revealing why Macs really do “just feel right”. Most of the meat of the design reveal is in the end of the article but it is worth a read all the way through. Some highlights:Â (more…)
Mac Hacks Part One
Macs are solid, easy to use computers. Even so, there is always room for improvement, and plenty of people online willing to share the ways they have hacked their Mac to make it better. Lucky us, as some of these Mac hacks have become essential tools in our technological life. I’ve combed the web for you, compiling a list of some of the best hacks out there. I’ve tried to give credit where credit is due, since these people have worked hard to create these tools for you. If you see a hack that is yours and you want credit, let me know so I can link to you and share the love. (more…)
Ticketmaster and iTunes Summer of Free Music
Yes, you read that correctly. Ticketmaster and iTunes are teaming up to give away free music all summer long. Here’s how it works:
Go to Ticketmaster and purchase concert tickets for any summer concert between Memorial Day and Labor Day. You get a free song from iTunes for every ticket you purchase. Also, every person who buys a concert ticket this summer, no matter when they purchase it, will get a 10 song downloadable music sampler showcasing songs form ten artists, for free! That’s a double whammy of free song goodness.
Free music – concert tickets you were going to buy anyway – how can you go wrong? Go! Check it out!
Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved
Do you iFrogz yet?
The quest for the perfect iPod case or skin consumes iPod junkies everywhere. Do you want one that protects your iPod, or one that makes it your own? Do you think of your iPod as a tool, or as a kind of pet or accessory? If you want to truly customize your iPod, you may fall in love with iFrogz custom iPod cases.
The site works on a build-your-own basis, with full customization possible for around $30 USD. The cases are made with three components – wrapz © , bandz © and screenz ©. The components can be any one a large number of colors and combinations, and the screenz can be plain colored or have a picture on them (the screenz go over the click wheel).
If you’ve been looking for the perfect iPod case, head on over to iFrogz and design one of your own that expresses you perfectly.
Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved
Stuff For Your Mac
Today is a travel day for Apple Reporter, so let me entice you with goodies for your Mac:
Keyboard skins for your MacBook. Trouble seeing the letters on your MacBook? Type so much the letters are wearing off? Never fear, lettered skins are here, for under $25 USD.
Trivia junkies now have an outlet for their addiction made for the iPod. Now you can show off your esoteric knowledge of all things useless anywhere you go with iQuiz, available at the iTunes store.
Samsung announced its breakthrough in RAM today, touting the develop of a 4GB stacked memory stick, expanding the possibilities of computer memory and reducing space usage exponentially.
Tired of your plain white MacBook 13″? Skin it with a laptop skin representing any of your interests, teams, hobbies or more. Sold by SkinIt.
See more cool Mac stuff every Monday on MacObserver.
Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved
Apple Continues to Lead the Charge Against DRM
After striking such a successful and well-received deal with EMI for DRM-free music, Apple plans to continue its successful bid against DRM by meeting with the remaining three major record labels. As expected, Sony BMG, Universal and Warner are all upset at the “unfair” deal struck by EMI and Apple. The deal between EMI and Apple embraces the future of digital music delivery, and has little to no resemblance to the bloated cash cow the music industry has been used to. The other three record labels are upset EMI didn’t try for a bigger piece of the music pie, and of Apple’s pie.
“EMI struck a deal that puts all of us at a disadvantage,” said an anonymous music executive. EMI defends its position, saying that consumers were frustrated with DRM protection. “We believe removing it will boost digital music overall,” an EMI spokeswoman said.
It is said that the three remaining major labels will try in typical greedy fashion to push for a share of iPod sales and restrictions on iTunes, among other things. I still hold firm that refusal to let go of old industry standards will continue to hamper the music industry. It is my hope that Apple will stand firm against the price gouging and greed that these companies view as their birthright and force them to change with the times by not giving them the extra money and needless restrictions they seek.
You can read the full article here.
Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved
iPods For Every Kid in Michigan?
One state’s government sees iPods for the potential learning tool that they are. Michigan is considering a $38 Million budget allocation for the purchase of iPods for every child in school in Michigan. This would mean a tax increase for Michigan citizens, causing it to face the major hurdle of convincing parents to pay to buy an iPod for their own kid as well as someone else’s – a tough mental leap for most people.
Why buy iPods for every kid in school in Michigan? Michigan is acknowledging what many already know – the iPod’s potential as a learning tool. It’s video capability, audio capability, recording capability (with additional software) and it’s interactive quality make it ideal for downloading lessons, tutorials, homework and more onto its compact and portable hard drive. Students could have every book for English on their iPod instead of carting them to class each day. While some subjects aren’t feasible for download on iPods due to the small screen, you can still use the iPod to hold tutorials for them, or to transfer them onto a student’s home computer. The possibilities are endless.
Read Apple’s take on using the iPod in education here.
Read the full story here.
Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved
First iPod Virus Created
The first iPod virus has been created. It was created by a Russian computer security firm as proof of the concept that a virus could be created for the iPod as a stand-alone device, as opposed to a virus create for a Pc and transferable to an iPod. This is big news from the firm, Kaspersky Lab, as it means the virus world could encroach more on Macs. At the moment this is the only known iPod-direct virus. Why it may pose a threat to the actual Mac user, as opposed to just the PC user, is because of the portability of the iPod – plug it in and it syncs to your computer, potentially transferring this virus along with the music.
What should Mac owners with iPods do? At some point, with the world of Windoze growing ever intwined with the world of Macs courtesy of the integration of iTunes, BootCamp, Parallells, Windows and more into Mac systems, I’d recommend getting a virus protection program now, while the news is still young, and updating it regularly to get in the habit. Macs will still never be as vulnerable to viruses because of its closed system, but its better to be prepared. You can get protection through a paid service like Norton or by download a free virus protection software like I use: Clam XAV. Hopefully someone will provide a solution for the iPod as well in the near future.
Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved
Apple Gadgets To Go With Your iPod
One of the fun things about Apple are the peripherals companies release to go with their products, especially the iPod line. There are several cool gadgets coming out for the iPod, and a few that have been out that you may not know about yet.
Releasing this week is a keyboard from Razer that has a built in dock for your iPod. It is slated to sell for around $130. The keyboard is to be called the Pro | Type and will be sleek white to match the majority of the Apple line, and will have ten media fast keys for easy navigation and control of your media experience.
[tags]apple ipod ihome ms pac man games nano shuffle gadgets speakers dock keyboard razor[tags]
If you haven’t put games on your iPod yet, you should. They are a ton of fun downloadable for under $5 on iTunes, and give you a portable gaming experience for those times when music isn’t enough to keep you occupied. One such game is the nostalgic Ms Pac Man for the iPod, a true representation of the arcade classic.
iHome has developed a line of affordable iPod-ready radios and other devices. I actually have the iHome under counter kitchen clock radio installed, and I love it. It has great sound for its price range and it was super-easy to install. It fits all iPods, Nanos and Shuffles on the market. Sure, there are plenty of high end iPod intergrated radios and speakers by companies like Bose, but those are out of many people’s price range. iHome gives the average user a chance to increase the usability of their iPod.
Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved
iPod Reaches the 100 Million Mark, Shows No Signs of Stopping
Yesterday Apple reported the sale of its 100 millionth iPod. Today market analysts are predicting a continued upswing in the product’s sales and popularity. Apple isn’t known for tooting its own horn on anniversary dates and milestones, but the 100 million iPod mark got a mention. You can read one of the news articles about the 100 millionth sale here.
In fact, says Phil Leigh, president of market-research firm Inside Digital Media, making DRM-free tracks available at iTunes could actually help Apple by driving more music lovers away from peer-to-peer sites.
That’s why analysts like Leigh think Apple will be able to hold on to its dominant share of the music-player market—and perhaps even see a significant boost to the rest of its business. “This is going to be something more than just the doubling of [Apple’s] market share,†Leigh added. “I think it will go from 5 percent to 20 percent. It will have a much more significant affect than what Microsoft have let themselves believe.â€
So what makes the iPod so incredibly popular? How did it crossover into the coveted arena of the “must have” item? It it most likely due to a combination of things. It was the first product offered by Apple that offered the Apple cachet and Apple look and feel that the “cool” technology users had always known about at a price point many people could afford. It has Apple’s traditional intuitive design. It has iTunes, which is a solid music and video purchasing interface in spite Apple’s initial reliance on DRM. The fact that Apple is now discarding DRM only makes the iPod / iTunes combo more appealing than ever before. iPod was, in short, the right gadget at the right time marketed to the right demographic.
Apple’s drive to constantly improve and innovate, striving to be on the cutting edge in all of its markets, will hep increase iPod sales as time goes. Their commitment to DRM free music, beginning with the recent EMI deal, will draw in even more customers. They are dealing with the potential issue of DRM free music opening them up to mp3 player competition by increasing the quality and bit rate of the DRM free music files you purchase form them. They continue to bring their A-game in a world that has been faced with substandard, “disposable” technology for too long. Their commitment to quality will continue to push them forward, especially if they continue to keep their customer service rating at the level of excellence they currently have.
Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved
Breaking News: iPod Saves Soldier
From Endgadget:
An HP version of the iPod saved soldier Kevin Garrad of the 3rd Infantry Division today. When a bullet was fired at him from close range it slowed it enough to prevent it from piercing his government issued body armor.
Read more about the odd hPods here.
Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved
Now You Can Find Your Apple A Day At Best Buy
Apple started a test program in recent months that made their systems available at Best Buy brick and mortar stores. It worked so well in the handful of Best Buys that carried their products that they have reached an agreement to expand. Now you can get your daily recommended dose of fruit at 200 more Best Buy stores.
The program has been tried a few other times with limited success, notably in 1998 and in 2004. Recent successes have been credited to an increase in store employees trained in Apple product usage and sales (it isn’t just their operating system and look that is different than the Microsoft world). The first stores to add Apple to their product lineup are the stores that have experienced a slow down in sales of Windows products.
In addition to adding Apple computers to the line up at hundreds of select Best Buy stores, other products will make an appearance as well. iPods and Apple TVs will be sold in every Best Buy store when the program starts. The iPhone is rumored to be making an appearance as well, if Best Buy offers Cingular/AT&T sign up along with it, as it is still under contract as a Cingular exclusive.
I think apple making their products more available to more consumers is a smart move. They have been in limited Circuit City stores and nearly all CompUSA stores for some time now, and show significant improvement in sales from it.
Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved
Silly Marketing Campaign or Cool Idea?
On the feeds this week is the announcement from Volkswagon of their marketing campaign for the Volkswagon Golf. Currently being rolled out in Europe is the new campaign for the Golf, which they are now referring to a the iGolf. that’s right, they are touting their car as completely iPod intergrated, down to the name. so what does the iGolf console look like? Check it out:
One of the drawbacks, of course is the label on the car. With iGolf printed everywhere, everyone will know there is expensive equipment inside they could possibly steal. Other than that, it’s a groovy thing, baby, dig it. To read more about the campaign in Spain, go to the Spanish campaign website here.
Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved
Transform Your Documents To Voice
There is a cool little program out now called iAudioize. What this little gem does is create an MP3 file of your typewritten documents. You can then send this file to your iPod (or other MP3 player) and listen to it. This is a great tool if you are making audio books out of your ebooks or audio versions of your how-to files, among other things.
The neat thing about it is a choice of voice (several options come with the program, all as “natural” sounding as possible). You can make your files sound as much like you as you want, or if you write under a pen name, you can make them sound like someone else. This little program is a great time saver – no more hiring voice over talent (or trying to be voice over talent yourself) for each small project. Just put it into iAudioize and watch the magic happen.
Other handy features of iAudioize (made by Limerick Software) are its compression feature and its ability to integrate with iTunes. You can now send MP3s with confidence, as the program automatically compresses them to a file size much less than normal MP3 files. Not only that, you can view your audio files as a playlist in iTunes, which makes keeping track of them easy as 1-2-3.
You can get iAudioize from Limerick for under $40 USD by going to their web site.
Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved
Nike and iPod, Together at Last?
They will be together in 2008, if projections are true for the new melding of Nike and iPod into sports gear. According to Endgadget’s recent interview with Nike CEO Mark Parker, Nike will release all future running shoes to be compatible with the Nike iPod Sports Kit by 2008.
What is the Nike iPod Sports Kit? A slim, waterproof, virtually indestructible bluetooth transmitter fits inside a pocket in the Nike shoe. The other end of the transmitter fits into your iPod Nano. Your shoes then send the Nano information about your run (speed, distance, etc) that displays on the iPod screen while still playing your music. It’s a pretty slick way to integrate the iPod into a must have item for athletes. You can get the Nike iPod Sports Kit for under $30.
It’s great that Nike is expanding the compatibility of their running line to meet technology head on and embrace it, but what about those who aren’t Nike fans? If you prefer to run in another brand of shoe, never fear, hacks are here. If you want to hack your way into the new technology, you can. Of course, these hacks won’t help the running purist who doesn’t want to modify the shoe in the first place, but I think it’s pretty cool.
Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved
iPod Music Mug
Museum of Modern Art is now featuring a cool iPod gadget in its Museum store – iPods have finally arrived to the world of art. What’s the gadget? The Music Mug. It looks like an arty coffee mug, but it is really a speaker for your iPod, designed by Masato Tokuno. The MP3 player powers the Music Mug. It doesn’t seem like this would have much power and sound quality for your $42.00 USD, but I suppose sometimes art triumphs over technology.
If you want your very own Music Mug, you can order it online at the MoMA store for $42.00 USD (non-members). If you get one, let us know how it sounds.
Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved
FSF Calling Steve Jobs To Account For His Words
FSF (the Free Software Foundation) has been focusing on Apple and Apple products for a while now, even going so far as to picket Apple Stores both here and in Europe. They promote the use of fully DRM free file downloads and other free use software. In the aftermath of Steve Jobs’ white paper “Thoughts On Music” on ending DRM they have called on him to put his money where his mouth is.
FSF has started an internet petition for the complete end of DRM at Apple. In the petition they have presented several ideas on how Apple could accomplish this, including better indication of independent artists and immediate DRM-free file downloads from the independents. This would also help music buyers who are participating in the move to Boycott the RIAA choose independent artists who are not affiliated with one of the four major labels, and thus not under the thumb of the RIAAs henchmen. FSF also asks Jobs to use his position of power in the industry to promote DRM-free music everywhere, and also to promote DRM-free movies from Disney Film Studios.
Their petition may be hard to get to – it received over 1000 signatures in the first hour it was posted and has been under fire with heavy bandwidth traffic ever since. If you’d like to read the open letter and sign the petition, it is here.
Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved
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