January 21, 2008
iPoll: How many iPods have you
Since Macworld 2008 didn't announce any new iPods, I thought this would be a good time to survey iPod owners. Are you on your first, second, third, or fourth iPod? Apple has sold more than 100 million of the little buggers, so I'm a little curious about how ...
From iPoll: How many iPods have you
Posted by Ryan at 04:49 PM
Designer Macworld Part 3:
OmniGroup is one of my favorite Mac application developers. They make slightly niche, slightly quirky, but always very well-crafted and innovative applications that take full advantage of the technologies built into the OS. Omni were showing off their new OmniFocus application, for those who are fans of the GTD approach ...
From Designer Macworld Part 3:
Posted by Sean at 02:56 PM
Nearly Identical Fake iPod [Portable Media]
Cunning and clever iPod knockoffs are popping up across the globe. This one specifically was seen in Istanbul. Look at how well those geniuses crafted this'"they even labeled it as an iPod and use the proper lowercase i. I could hardly tell a difference, but the only way I knew it was a fake was because it featured an FM tuner and everyone knows Apple is too cool to use FM tuners in their MP3 players. They use magic fairy dust! Fake iPod spotted by reader [The Inquirer]
From Nearly Identical Fake iPod [Portable Media]
Posted by Joe at 02:33 PM
Editorial - Toshiba's Price Slash of HD DVD Players Bad for
In the aftermath of Warner's selection of Blu-ray over HD DVD, Toshiba is reeling from the decision and is slashing prices of its HD DVD players. However, gaining market share isn't what they're after.
From Editorial - Toshiba's Price Slash of HD DVD Players Bad for
Posted by Jason at 01:25 PM
Gaming: iPhone Finger
Filed under: Gaming, iPod Family, iPhone 
TUAW reader Alex Cahiz pointed us to this New Creatives page showing a design for Van's Finger Fracture for iPhone and iPod touch. It's hard to tell how close this design is to being a reality -- whether it's just a concept design or whether there will be a real product. I couldn't find any further details at the Vans website but if it is for reals, it looks like it would rock. According to the writeup, the game uses the touch screen to steer your skateboard and allow you to pick various equipment to perform tricks and earn points. It's unclear whether the accelerometer would be used as well. To read more as well as to see other screen designs, pop over to the New Creatives website. [Via NotCot] Readers suggest that these are lifted screen shots--so we're going to go with either "Concept Design" or "Internet Hoax" for now. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Posted by Jim at 12:10 PM
iTunes 24-Hour Movie Rental Limit Hacked, then
The 24-hour limit on watching Apple's new iTunes movie rentals was briefly hackable. Gizmodo reported early Thursday that simply playing with your system time -- either setting it forward before watching a movie, or backward after watching a movie -- confused iTunes and allowed effectively unlimited watching time for your movies. In a follow up report, the site noted that Apple has now disabled that workaround, restoring the company's 24 hour time limit on watching movies.
From iTunes 24-Hour Movie Rental Limit Hacked, then
Posted by Peter at 11:54 AM
Will iTunes rentals play on a 5G iPod?
Filed under: Macworld, iPod Family, iTS, iTunes, Bad Apple 
The long-rumored iTunes rental service is finally up and running. For many users, the most attractive part of the service (and certainly the only part that really sets it apart from any of the other online rental options) is the ability to transfer your rental to an iPod, iPhone/iPod Touch, or third-generation Nano for playback on the go. Actually, let me rephrase that: your iPod Classic, iPhone/iPod Touch or third-generation Nano. That's right boys and girls -- if you are one of the millions who have 5 and 5.5G iPods with video, no iTunes rentals for you. I suppose that's one way to get people to upgrade. There was an explosion of applause during yesterday's keynote when Steve Jobs announced rental compatibility with every iPod. Something tells me that if it had been understood that it only included every current generation iPod, the response might have been more akin to the boos that erupted when it was announced that the iPod Touch software update is $20. Update: Evidently, Steve did say "current generation iPods" - in any event, it was not made clear that 5/5.5G iPods would not be compatible. I mean, I for one was not expecting the message below when trying to test out this whole Rentals scheme: 
So, why are previous generation iPods incompatible with iTunes Rentals? Pure speculation leads me to believe that the whole authentication-chip for TV-out "update" to the Classic is at the root of the incompatibility. I guess it would just be too much of a risk for Apple (and the movie studios) to allow 5G customers connect their iPods to a TV via an open TV-out cable so that the SD content could then be captured using the analog hole. Because really, circumventing the iPod rental system using TV-out is how people really want to pirate digital media. Not through BitTorrent or breaking the actual iTunes copy protection. No, individuals are going to capture the analog signal from the TV out on their iPod and then convert that back into digital, all for sub-DVD quality movies. Makes perfect sense. (Not.) Well, at least I now have an actual reason to look at buying an iPod Classic aside from capacity. Still, this and the lack of Front Row rental access is not really doing the best job of convincing me that iTunes rentals have a place in my digital life. Update: As some of the comments have pointed out, the reports about the iPod Classic's only working with certified Apple TV-out cables might be untrue. I don't have an iPod Classic so I can't verify it one way or another. Again, that was just pure speculation on my part for some logical reason for 5/5.5 G incompatibility. Update 2: After looking at iLounge's dissection of the AV cable, I feel confident that an authentication chip is infact required for the new models. If this is related to the iTunes rentals remains unknown. Other comments have raised the question of the quality of the rentals being too high for the 5G iPod. This I can unequivocally state is NOT true. As a test, I went ahead and bought "Chuck & Buck" from iTMS. Not only was the file size identical (1.06 GB), iTunes itself saw no difference between buying the movie and renting it. I was able to transfer the newly purchased copy of the film to my iPod with absolutely no problem. This is NOT a matter of hardware not being capable, it is a decision for whatever reason, not to update the software on older generation devices to work with the new rental system. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
From Will iTunes rentals play on a 5G iPod?
Posted by Perry at 10:23 AM
January 20, 2008
Free on iTunes - Termination, Artists, Exquisite Corpse and
If you're looking for free stuff that has nothing to do with Macworld then you've come to the right place. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, The Artist Den, Exquisite Corpse...Oh, OK, and Steve Jobs' keynote as a free download, too!
From Free on iTunes - Termination, Artists, Exquisite Corpse and
Posted by Joe at 04:58 PM
