Apple releases iPod Shuffle VoiceOver Kit 1.0.1 upgrade
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted April 10th 2009 9:03PM
posted April 10th 2009 9:03PM
You know what really gets on our nerves? When we're listening to Van der Graaf Generator (look it up!) on our newfangled iPod Shuffle and it pronounces the band's name wrong. Seriously, this is an important function. Without it working flawlessly, how are we going to know the names of the tracks we purchased on the iTunes store and placed on the device ourselves? Thankfully, someone at Apple has heard our prayers, and as of today the VoiceOver Kit 1.0.1 is available via Mac OS X software update (we're assuming that it'll pop up on the company's website at some point). The 17MB download corrects pronunciations for several artist names, as well as correcting a few "minor bugs." What bugs? Apple hasn't said. They also haven't said which names will now be pronounced correctly in that cold, robotic voice, but we're keeping our fingers crossed that Klaatu is among them. Remember Klaatu? They were pretty sweet.
umm so how does the shuffle pronounce the band "!!!"? I would love to see that, any new gen shuffle owners out there care to verify?
Anyone who listens to a band called !!! doesn't deserve to have a shuffle.
this is how i imagine it...
the name of the band is: EXCLAMATION POINT, EXCLAMATION POINT, EXCLAMATION POINT.
Simple, The shuffle turns into a hologram projector then projects this image for you:
http://mek1980.files.wordpress.com/2009/01/o_rly1.jpg
Next...
It just says the name of the track louder and more urgently.
Or "Chick Chick Chick".
BANG! BANG! BANG!
I would hope it makes three rapidly successive "alerted guard" sounds from the Metal Gear games...
LOLZ. nick, i like that.
Who cares?
Nobody buys this piece of crap anyway as the Sansa Clip is considerably better.
All of Engadget's pimping won't change that.
CHK CHK CHK.
Also !!! is awesome. Eff the first replier.
!!! is indeed awesome.
Anyone who writes off a band because of their name shouldnt be allowed to listen to music.
VoiceOver is the stupidest "feature" ever, and they still sell so many of these things because of it.
I own 2 iPod shuffle 2nd Generations that I won in a raffle and an iPhone. The iPod Shuffles are intelligently designed despite the lack of the LCD screen. If Apple had added an LED to the 2nd gen and labeled it 3rd gen, it woulda been awesome.
The 3Rd Gen shuffle makes little to no sense but it WILL SELL since Apple mrketing makes bad features into "good features" that fly in the face of all logic. And what's sad is the Chinese companies in Shen Zhen are gonna produce a bunch of KIRF's which will have an LCD screen on the side and non-proprietary headphones with mini-usb charging.
The new iPod shuffle is a rectangle made of aluminum.
If a company makes a rectangular device with a screen and normal features, it's hardly a KIRF... they would have to call it an iPod.
Every time I see anything pertaining to the new iPod Shuffle, I feel as if I die a little inside. Why? Because it implies that someone actually bought it. I just have to ask, does anyone else feel this way?
I used to hate Apple products for their design and for what I considered a "cult fanaticism" with them.
But all that changed when I touched an iPhone. Had to get one. I've had the iphone and now I have the 3G. WHen they make the next iphone, I will have that too.
Apple's marketing campaigns use subleminal messaging because even though I own aniPhone, for some odd reason I can't explain, I want to own every product they release.
However, I support Apple and Microsoft because they are American companies who are doing a damn good job producing an American product.
The third gen ipod shuffle will be a failure and Apple will return to the 2nd gen form factor again. Exactly like the iPod nano.
IPODS SUCK. PERIOD. APPLE WILL GO BACK TO MAKING NOTHING
quoted from last week:
"Sales are aparently looking quite good for the new iPod shuffle, according to the NPD Group. Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes analyzed a recent report by NPD, and has declared that sales of the iPod shuffle rose by over 50 percent in the first week that the device was on sale, according to AppleInsider. Overall iPod sales, however, are down."
People are buying the new 3G Shuffle, so it's not a total disaster for Apple. In another month it will probably outsell the Sansa Clip just because of the Apple logo. Teenagers are buying mp3 players and they agree that anything other than an iPod pretty much sucks.
They didn't fix any bugs. They took away some features.
What features?
They won't say.
and if they did you wouldnt even understand it
Are they bananas?
no, they're apples.
What about lemons?
they're yellow.
but just as delicious.
I am intrigued by your ideas and wish to subscribe to your ideology. The shit is bananas.
This shit is lemons?
Question for those that have one of these: Suppose there is a song with an artist name or title that uses a language different than what I am currently using for my OS (for example, I use US English, but a song title is Japanese). Will it speek Japanese, will it not synthesize the title, or is it corrupt?
It supports 14 languages, including Japanese.
The only question that I have is which dialect of English does the IPod Shuffle VoiceOver use.
Relating to Japanese. Japanese people pronounce words differently than English people. I for one believe that your favourite Japanese band will use English pronunciation which should be fine for you. However, I doubt that Japanese will understand.
You mean someone actually bought the new shuffle?
well.... i can easily figure out how many were bought......
i just need to find out how many people on the engadget team have macs/iphones first.....
Kamil, 12 people. Do the math.
Actually, I love the form factor. I have the Gen 2 shuffle and it's great for running and in the gym, and the new one supports multiple play lists, so I cold have one for running, and one for lifting weights, etc. When I'm working out I want nothing other than forward / back, play / pause, and volume. However, the deal killer for me is the control on the headphones, and the fact that none of my current headphones will work with it without a dongle.
Besides I got one of the orange ones before they discontinued that color, so I'll stick with that. If Apple comes correct and puts the controls back on the gen 4 shuffle I'll get one...
CragJ, you can use regular headsets with them, you just don't get controls other than on and off. :)
Don't you know the cardinal rule of referencing obscure bands to seem cooler is that you have to pretend that they *aren't* obscure / everyone's heard of them? You need to read Pitchfork more, man...
p4k is for entry level hipsters...
I would've referenced a more obscure blog, but you wouldn't know it.
(get it?)
Every blog is for entry level hipsters. If you don't live in Bedford, Brooklyn, you might as well not even bother.
I'd rather have a mp3 that size integrated into the headset.
They have that, and it seems to be perfect for anybody who uses these little players for working out, running, etc.
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665791112
Try washing your hands before you photograph them next time!
...they are clean, dumbass. Maybe you should clean your greasy ass monitor.
Decent band but still...King Crimson > Van der Graaf Generator
hell yeah king crimson rules
Klaatu - supposedly the secretly reformed Beatles. And while we're on pronunciations - to all Americans reading this - the original iMac color is pronounced Bond-eye Blue, not Bond-ee.
Yes the secretly reformed Beatles.
Who can forget their classis Little Neutrino and Anus of Uranus - rock anthem's all their own.
And where did the name come from? The Day the Earth Stood Still, the original not the remake.