January 21, 2008

News: ezGear announces new iPod

EzGear has announced several new iPod accessories, including two new alarm clocks, a new speaker system, and a new line of armbands for both the iPod and iPhone. The ezWake WK3 iPod Alarm Clock is a small, iPhone-compatible alarm clock that uses audio components similar to those used in the company s larger units. It will be available in March for $50. The ezGear XL90 Sound Bar speaker system for iPod incorporates seven speakers two

From News: ezGear announces new iPod

Posted by Guido at 05:20 PM

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 17, 2008

Confirmed: iTunes 7.6 needed for some successful 1.1.3

Filed under: iLife, iPod Family, iTunes, Troubleshooting, iPhone A heads-up for those who are struggling to get iPhones updated: If you've tried upgrading your iPhone or iPod touch to 1.1.3 and are getting mysterious errors that keep you from finishing the upgrade or restore process, make sure you're already running iTunes 7.6. I'm hearing reports from various parties that pre-7.6 iTunes installations will may fail to properly upgrade iPhones and touches. After installing the newer software, the upgrades begin to work properly. iTunes 7.6 is available in Software Update or directly from Apple. Update: It looks like there are 1.1.3 successes on both Mac and Windows without 7.6. If you do get the update error, go ahead and upgrade but as reader responses are showing, you may not need to upgrade beforehand. Update 2: The specific errors you may encounter are 1603 and 1604. If you get these errors, update to 7.6, and if possible reboot both iPhone and your computer. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

From Confirmed: iTunes 7.6 needed for some successful 1.1.3

Posted by Murray at 05:54 PM

January 16, 2008

MacBook Air: Not the thinnest notebook

The MacBook Air, unfurled today, might be the thinnest notebook on the market today, but it's not the thinnest of all time. (Credit: Daniel Terdiman/CNET News.com) That distinction belongs to the Pedion, an ill-fated notebook developed by Mitsubishi and Hewlett-Packard back in 1997.The Pedion measured 18....

From MacBook Air: Not the thinnest notebook

Posted by Guido at 09:48 AM

January 15, 2008

Atlantic Intros Waterproof iPod

Accessory maker Atlantic Inc. on Monday introduced ice, a set of waterproof, floating speakers that add to its EGO line of iPod accessories.

From Atlantic Intros Waterproof iPod

Posted by Gary at 02:58 PM

January 11, 2008

iPods outline "dead bodies" in ad

Filed under: Apple Corporate, iPod Family We've seen clever iPod marketing from outside the US before, like this great campaign from South Africa. Today's ads come from the Sydney, Australia Police Department. Designed to encourage people to be aware of traffic while listening to their iPods, the ads depict users lying on the road, their eyes closed and an earbud wire partially outlining their bodies, Dragnet-style. The headline at the top of each image reads, "Watch for cars when wearing headphones." They certainly grab your attention. We've posted before on legislative efforts to prevent 'walking while listening' -- a campaign like this might be more effective in the long run than law enforcement would be. [Via creativebits] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

From iPods outline "dead bodies" in ad

Posted by Stephen at 05:11 PM

January 10, 2008

EU drops probe as Apple moves to equalize iTunes

The European Commission ended its antitrust investigation into Apple after the company agreed to reduce the price of music downloads from its iTunes website in the U.K., the European Union's antitrust regulator said

From EU drops probe as Apple moves to equalize iTunes

Posted by John at 03:16 PM

January 09, 2008

News: Panasonic announces home theater systems w/ iPod

Panasonic has introduced several new iPod-docking home theater systems, including the $300 SC-PT660, $400 SC-PT760, the $500 SC-PT960, and the flagship model, the SC-BT100 home theater in a box (HTiB) system featuring an integrated Blu-ray disc player. All four systems are Made for iPod certified and can play music or video through the home theater system, display audio tracks and menus on the TV screen and operate the iPod with the supplied remote

From News: Panasonic announces home theater systems w/ iPod

Posted by John at 11:12 AM