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Not happy with the iSkin eVo3
Steve at The Sneeze waited weeks for his back ordered iSkin eVo3 iPod case to arrive. Now that he has it, he's not too thrilled. From his blog:"If I was featured in an iPod commercial, instead of dancing with joy you'd see my silhouette just sort of moping around against an orange background, fiddling with the hold switch and wishing I had my forty bucks back."The post is actually pretty funny, but if his main complaint is the lack of access to the hold button (sharp steak knife, anyone?), it may not be so bad. Still, I'd like to see his sad iPod commercial.
Microsoft ponders creating an iPod killer
Businessweek is reporting that Microsoft is considering whether or not it should start producing an iPod type product of its own in response to Apple's runaway success. The Microsoft party line has been that people want choice, and enjoy having to pick between 150 'Plays for Sure' media devices that offer no true distinguishing features. Apple's model of a simple product line and seamless integration between the player and the service has worked out fairly well; Microsoft thinks it might be able to do the same.MS is considering leveraging the XBox brand to create a mobile device that would integrate with the XBox and offer up media playback (kind of like the PSP, I assume). Will Microsoft actually do this? Time will only tell, but if they do they run the risk of pissing off a boatload of 3rd party developers that would be hard pressed to compete with a product straight from the labs at Redmond.
Free Music Video Content for your iPod
It's always cool when bands release free music videos as promotional material. I remember last year when The Decemberists released the music video for 16 Military Wives via Bittorrent. Many bands now release promotional material in download-able formats. This leads me to my current point: the Texas-based band SOUND Team has released a music video as a preview to their upcoming full length album Work EP due out in March. What is so amazing about this music video that I must post about it on TUAW you ask? Well, they have released an iPod ready version. That, dear readers, is good marketing. Free music videos that are formatted to play on an iPod (and therefore in Quicktime as well) are always a good thing. Incidentally, my favorite site to grab free music videos is videos.antville.org. They may not be iPod ready, but there are a few ways to take care of that. [via iLounge]
iPod as a catalyst for DMCA reform?
CNET News has a really interesting perspective piece highlighting the video iPod's potential for being a catalyst for DMCA reform, specifically: the (outlandish) portion that makes it illegal to sell or distribute DVD-ripping software.The idea behind the article is that, until now, these measures of the DMCA haven't really hit the radar of an audience outside the comparatively small segment of digital-rights advocates. Declan McCullagh, the articles author, believes that the video iPod could finally be the spark large enough to get a much greater portion of consumers interested in (and angry about) the non-DVD-ripping limits on today's software. While McCullagh mentions a few DMCA-reform bills that are already floating around, he's also quick to point out that none of them, at present, have a very bright future.The video iPod, according to McCullagh's logic, might be able to help all of this. With its wide popularity, he thinks more and more users are going to start questioning why it's so easy for iTunes to rip a CD to their library (and iPod), and yet the software balks at a DVD movie. Yes - before you start firing up the comment form, there are still ways of getting a DVD off a plastic disc and onto your favorite media player, iPod or otherwise. But for the greater community of users out there, DVD ripping is still a thing of mystery and magic.I recommend you check out the full article as I think it's a really interesting read, but there's one thing I want to add to the discussion; a factor that neither the industry nor these politicians seem to examine: price. I wholeheartedly believe that if these companies cleaned all of their "market research" and "value perception" statistics out of their ears, they would realize that people are stealing content because they know the providers are taking them for a ride - and they won't put up with it anymore. Everyone knows CDs cost pennies on the dollar, and DVDs cost even less than VHS tapes to produce, yet they retail for a far higher price. The rampant (and as-yet unstoppable) success off the iTMS is real world proof that people will pay for the content, maybe even more content, as long as it has a fair price.But alas, as with all other political affairs, our ability to copy DVDs that we own will only change at the speed of bureaucracy.
mycitymate: European City Notes for iPod
Here's a neat little tidbit for you iPod users out there who may be travelling to Europe in the near future. On mycitymate.com you can download a guide for select destinations including Berlin, London, Rome, and more.I downloaded and copied the Berlin guide (free with registration) to my iPod nano. The guide is well formatted and each subsection is organized by neighborhood or category. They're not exhaustive guides, but for a free (with registration) collection, the mycitymate guides are a great find. I especially liked the handy "Nearest Metro/Tube" note at the bottom of each entry. Snazzy![via iLounge]
iMod, YouMod, WeAllMod for the iMod Hifi Audio Mod
If you've been dreaming of "A tighter, more articulately defined bass" and "A firmer and more expansive image" for your 4G iPod, look no further than the Red Wine iMod service. For $199.00 plus $15.00 return shipping, your 4G iPod will be modded as follows: New SMT Coupling Caps after the Wolfson DAC DHLabs silver wire connecting the DAC's output to the 1/8th inch jack (rendering it only a line-out jack) Bypass of the Opamp output stage after the DAC Bypass of the surface mount components in the signal path Free battery installation If anyone has A-B tested the audio between a standard 4G iPod and an iModded iPod, please let me know in the comments!
Dock your iPod on your Vespa
My wife and I took our honeymoon in Italy a few years ago, and those Vespa scooters were absolutely everywhere. When we returned home, I said, "I want one of those Vespas," but it just didn't seem to have the same panache here in the states. Plus, I'm likely to get crushed by an SUV. Still, I think about them from time to time, especially when I see one with an integrated iPod dock.The Stereo Kit by Scooterworks is a $300US kit that includes an amp, two 4-inch Alpine speakers, replacement glove box door with pre-cut holes, and a cradle/connector. They send you the kit, and you put it in. The Stereo Kit works with the Vespa Stella and P-series models.Now I want a Vespa again.[Via Engadget]
Rig of the Day: Drool
Today's rig of the day has us drooling. This shot by Flickr user The Real Dexta features two 30" cinema displays, an iSight, a 15" Powerbook, a 1TB LaCie RAID (yikes), a dualie 2.7 G5...and an iPod sock. It's the sock that puts it over the edge for me (mostly because I still use my grey one, too). There are more goodies buried in there, click around the plethora of notes to see what you can find."dexta_computers" posted by the real dexta.If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We'll select an image every day to highlight.
iPod as theological metaphor?
Metropolitan Baptist Church Pastor Sal Sberna of Houston, TX has been delivering a series of four "iPod Theology" sermons that focus on the simplicity of the iPod. Sal said that his intention is to tap into the pool of millions of iPod owners, who represent a potentially huge audience for his church. "The reason the outside of the iPod is so simple to use and so beautiful to look at is because of the way they designed the inside of the iPod," said Sberna. "All you do on the outside is push the little button, drive the wheel and pick what usefulness you want out of your iPod, and so when Jesus talks to us about simplification, it must start on the inside." If you've had any doubts about the iPod's far-reaching appeal, consider them squashed.Kudos to the pastor for trying to reach a younger audience by embracing some current technology. He says he hopes to one day make his sermons available as podcasts.[Via IPod Garage]
Wireless iPods: Is the Times Online UK sure about that?
I found it hilarious that a reporter at the Times Online UK edition said this today in an article:"Apple is also understood to be working on the next generation of iPods, which would have the ability to connect wirelessly to the internet."Wow, so I had no idea that wireless internet enabled iPods are something that Jobs would let slip! This article struck me as a bit off in other ways when the reporter mentioned that Jobs may end up chairman of Disney if the Pixar/Disney deal goes through. Riiiiiiight.[via iLounge]
Does a Stolen iPod Warrant a Pat Down?
Jay Allen at Blogging Baby asks if it's ethical to round up a group of sixth graders after a teacher had an iPod stolen at a middle school in Texas.Sure, an iPod is worth quite a bit, but Jay Allen posits that patting down middle school students is not the best example to set. Go voice your opinion about whether or not your favorite little white (or black) music player warrants a round-up-and-search.
Forty-Two DVDVX Plus v3.0 = movie encoding heaven
Apps that convert video for portable devices just keep getting smarter, and Forty-Two DVDVX Plus v3.0 is a prime example. Recently updated to version 3, I think this just might be the perfect tool for the job, whether you're rolling with a 5G iPod, a PSP, a Nokia series 60 phone or a handful of other devices. They main feature that makes Forty-Two DVDVX Plus (could that name get a little shorter, please?) so appealing in my eyes is that, on top of encoding for all these different devices, it also handles batch encoding of both movies files and individual chapters from a DVD. But wait, there's more: its UI has that easy-to-use "inspired by iLife" feel to it, and it offers a bunch of other goodies like automatically adding files to the iTunes library and Automator actions, as well as a choice of format, quality, resolution and more.I'm encoding some stuff into H.264 with the demo right now, but just from playing with it I'm really impressed. This should definitely give both iSquint and that Automator action I found earlier a run for their money - which, of course, is the only ding here: Forty-Two DVDVX Plus will set you back a cool $19.99 (upgrades are only $9.99). But if you're serious about all this video on the go stuff and are looking for one app to encode everything from local files to DVD folders, chapters and DVD's themselves - Forty-Two DVDVX Plus just might be the app for you.
Apple releases 1Q results for 2006
Spoiler alert: It's going well. Apple recorded its highest earnings in the company's history during the fiscal quarter that ended on December 31, 2005. Apple claimed $5.75 billion in revenue and a net quarterly profit of $565 million during the 14-week quarter. They sold 1,254,000 Macs and 14,043,000 iPods, representing a 20% growth in Mac sales and 207% growth in iPod sales from a year ago.In other news, I found six bucks in my jacket pocket today and was really excited about it. Me and Apple: Same planet, different worlds.
Find iPod videos with SearchForVideo
SearchForVideo is a new service that scours the internet for iPod-compatible videos. All sorts of genres are represented, from humor to current events. There's also a video podcast, of course [link]. Choose the type of content you're interested in and be directed to the proper link in iTunes. Of course, most of these clips are culled from the net using criteria that I'm unaware of, so you're going to get some odd stuff. I chose to subscribe to the "humor" podcast, and the video I received was...interesting, to be polite (not entirely safe for work). If you simply can't cram enough video onto your iPod, visit SearchForVideo.[Via Macworld UK]
Mr. LaForge, your iPod video is ready
Introduced at last week's Macworld expo, the MyVu Personal Media Player by MicroOptical looks like...well...Geordi's visor. When connected to a fifth generation iPod, it allows you to watch stored video displayed, quite literally, right before your eyes. Attached earbuds provide the sound. From the press release:"By connecting the small, ultra-light 'binocular' eyewear viewer to an iPod, users can watch their favorite music videos, video podcasts and TV shows with a large image right in front of their eyes...Because the display and audio systems are built into the eyewear, myvu can be worn in any position -- reclining on an airplane, sitting on a park bench and even lying down on a couch."It provides a virtual field of view at approximately 13.5 degrees horizontal and 16.8 degrees diagonal on a 25" (virtual) screen at 2 meters. It reminds me of all of the "virtual reality" hubbub we had to endure in the early 90's.
Disney to release Oscar shorts via iTunes
According to the great cartoon and animation blog, Cartoon Brew, Disney, following in the footsteps of Pixar, has plans to release all of its Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated shorts on the iTunes Music Store for portable playability on iPods everywhere this summer. Evidently, this information was "leaked" while Amid and Jerry of Cartoon Brew were hanging out with Roy Disney, Don Hahn, David Stainton, and Leonard Maltin at a preview screening of The Little Match Girl, another Disney short. Jerry notes, "Starting this summer, Disney will be making all its Oscar-winning (and Oscar-nominated) shorts available on itunes - for Internet downloading to iPods and the like. Yes, Der Fuehrer's Face will be available to carry around in your hand - along with The Three Little Pigs and Destino. "When it comes to media on the iPod, I'm of the opinion that the more animation, the better.
Custom Keynote themes for 5G iPod
I really dislike having to endure slide presentations, even when I'm the one talking. However, delivering the show via my iPod does add a little bit of fun to the process for me ("Is that coming from his iPod?"), and it's easier to lug around than a laptop. Keynote Pro's EP Edition themes were created specifically to be presented from a 5G iPod. They have been designed for enhanced readability and use with the iPod AV Cable, without losing any detail. There are currently three themes available for $9.95US each, or you can purchase all three as a bundle for $24.95. The EP themes require iWork '05 or '06 (Keynote 2.x or higher), Quicktime 7 and, of course, a 5th Generation iPod.
Automator action: Export movies to iTunes/iPod
Since the 5G iPod landed, an army of scripts and mini-apps have answered the call for a simple, painless way for getting video into iTunes and ready for your favorite little music video player. Since I'm always up for more options, here's an Automator action that accomplishes the same task for Tiger users. You can select a group of files, run the action (it's meant to be installed as a Finder plugin), and it will use QuickTime to export the video and add it right into iTunes for you.While I haven't tested this out yet, I'm excited about being able to do with with an Automator action as it opens up the possibility of adding more steps to your workflow, such as batch renaming files, or anything else Automator can do. Plus, just like one of the reigning favorites - iSquint - the Export Movies to iTunes action is free.
iLounge reviews ETCHamac
We were impressed with ETCHamac way back in July, but we hadn't actually sent off a Mac or iPod to their service to see how it would turn out. iLounge, with a trusty iPod in tow, decided that they must see if ETCHamac's product was up to snuff.The image to the right is the iPod that iLounge had etched, and it looks pretty good to me, however, as the review points out the placement of the logo is a little odd.Overall, iLounge gave the process a B.The image in this post is from the iLounge review, we just borrowed it to illustrate our point.
Rig of the Day: Typical desk
I love this shot because it looks a lot like my own desk: Mac, Coke, iPod, external hard drive, books, random junk...ahh. I'm feeling productive already. I'm also glad to see that I'm not the only one who has powered speakers sitting around and doing nothing."iBook at Work" posted by migroveruk.If you'd like to see your own rig featured here, simply upload photos into our group Flickr pool. We'll select an image every day to highlight.
