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All posts tagged "ipod"


Thursday, April 2, 2009

iZel Universal Device Stand

Posted by Chris Gohlke in "Digital Home Hardware & Accessories" @ 01:00 AM

http://www.myizel.com/

"The iZel is a totally unique and innovative way to support your device for hands free use. Its remarkable design supports a wide range of the world's most popular devices. It has a clever method for adapting its shape to landscape or portrait orientations and it is easily adjusted to position your screen for the optimal viewing angle. Best of all, it folds flat and travels easily. The iZel's durable construction is made possible by using a sophisticated slip-resistant elastomer that helps to keep your device in its place and looking new. Use the iZel when you want to watch a video, make a hands-free call, monitor your email, surf the web, or to simply use your device as a digital picture frame."

This is certainly one way to go about things, but it seems a bit larger than what I want to carry around. Personally, I keep a few paperclips in my bag and just make myself a quick stand on the few occasions that I need one.


Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Escape iTunes With the TuneClone Audio Converter

Posted by David Tucker in "Zune News" @ 11:45 AM

http://www.tuneclone.com/

"You are considering buying a Microsoft Zune as you broke your iPod or had your iPod stolen. And you bought a lot of songs from iTunes store because you had money left on your iTunes gift card. You still want to enjoy those purchased songs on your Zune MP3 player. Or you own an iPod while your boyfriend/girlfriend has a Zune. And you hope to share the library of M4P music songs purchased from iTunes store under your account with your boyfriend/girlfriend. Here comes the headache! The M4P music you bought from iTunes is DRM-laden! You cannot transfer the iTunes M4P music to the Zune software, not to mention playing the iTunes M4P music on your Zune player."

So, you want to migrate from the iPod to the Zune but the main reason you haven’t made that jump is because you have your iTunes library. I’m sure that’s a very common reason for not coming over to the Zune world. (Ok, maybe not, but I’ll maintain my delusion.) This is a serious issue though and if you do want to change platforms, then your only options are mostly time consuming and wasteful.

TuneClone Audio Converter has come to the rescue! You can use this to move your library of M4P DRM protected music to the MP3 format that you can use on any player out there worth its salt. This is a useful tool for anyone looking to break their relationship with the iPod. This software does cost $34.95 to register but that price does give you what appears to be a full feature application. The best part is that it maintains all of the music file’s metadata. DigitalMediaOnline has a nice little tutorial that shows how it works.


Thursday, March 27, 2008

Windows Mobile Shakes with Fear: Microsoft Hints at Office and Voice Recognition Applications on the iPhone and iPod touch

Posted by Darius Wey in "Pocket PC Competition" @ 12:25 AM

http://www.appleinsider.com/article...phone_apps.html

"The Redmond, Wash.-based software giant is already the largest software developer for Apple's Mac platform outside of the Mac maker itself, with Fortune's Big Tech blog estimating that its Mac Business Unit generates revenues in excess of $350 million and profits of over $200 million each year. Add to that the firm's expertise in its proprietary Exchange email protocols and business email systems, and it's almost a certainty that Microsoft will be among those bearing fresh wares for Apple's iPhone and iPod touch a bit later this year, Tom Gibbons, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Specialized Devices and Applications Group, told the business publication. "We do have experience with that environment, and that gives us confidence to be able to do something," he said. "The key question is, what is the value that we need to bring?" Gibbons' team of Mac developers, which actually resides in Mountain View, Calif., just a few miles from Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, is reportedly weighing its most viable options for an initial native iPhone application, which appears as if it will fall within the Office family of productivity applications."



It wasn't too long ago that Apple announced Exchange support for the iPhone and iPod touch. The implications here have yet to be seen, but come June, we'll likely see the two devices consume a reasonable chunk of Windows Mobile's market share. What about Office? It's always been one of Windows Mobile's biggest selling points. The iPhone and iPod touch lack it, but that may soon change, and if it does, it has the potential to be huge. Add in Tellme and a host of other applications and Microsoft will need to find new ways to make Windows Mobile as popular as it once was.


Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Zune Podcast Listener Market Share Exploding!

Posted by Rocco Augusto in "Zune Talk" @ 01:00 PM

http://blog.rawvoice.com/2008/01/19...hare-exploding/

"In the first two weeks of 2008 the number of people consuming my personal podcast with the Zune is WAY up. Over all my show download numbers are up about 15%. This is the largest growth my show has seen in a very long time. What this proves is that when you put Podcast front and center in the Zune Interface like the Zune team has, and make it a integral part of the Zune MarketPlace people are bound to check podcast out. Where Apple has largely failed in iTunes is that they have made podcast hard to find and a buried feature within the iTunes Interface. Today it is nearly impossible to find content that is fresh, the iTunes podcast interface is a wasteland of thousands of podfaded shows and huge numbers of single podcast episodes put up by network marketer�s."


(Sorry about the tiny image, I couldn't find anything bigger!)

Over at RawVoice, there is an incredibly interesting article up about recent podcasting trends and the Zune. In this instance users of the Zune and Zune Marketplace software make up 21.3% of their listeners! This might not seem like a lot, but take iTunes for instance, whose user base makes up only 38.7% of their listeners. Now seeing how the new Zune software and hardware has only been on the streets for a few months now, compared to the many years iTunes has been around, it appears that Apple might have to start taking the "little media player that could" a bit more seriously. Who knows, old Stevie might just take a look at this and declare that all of the Zune Marketplace users have joined good old Robbie Bach in a round a drinks, since you know, being a drunk is the only reason why anyone would want a Zune. Read more...


Tuesday, April 4, 2006

Windows Mobile: Better Than an iPod?

Posted by Jerry Raia in "ARTICLE" @ 04:00 PM

http://www.pocketpcmag.com/_archives/apr06/ipod.aspx

"The phenomenal success of the iPod never ceases to amaze me. Why would people pay so much money for a barebones, single-function device when they could have a multi-functional Windows Mobile device for the same price? Now the big buzz is that the iPod can do video. Big deal! The Pocket PC has been able to display video from its inception in April of 2000, and more recent Windows Mobile devices can do a whole lot more!"

Even though I'm not big on playing music and videos on my Smartphone the point is well taken. The iPod is really just a two trick pony and a late comer at that. When you consider, as mentioned in this article, that you can even stream satellite or broadcast radio you have a formidable device. We should be proud! :mrgreen:


Monday, October 24, 2005

An iPod is Cool but a Smartphone isn't

Posted by Jerry Raia in "OFF-TOPIC" @ 12:00 PM

http://www.mobilegadgetnews.com/index.php?showtopic=10070

"Think about it...the iPod Nano - has your choice of 2Gb or 4Gb flavors w/no moving parts - non-volatile memory in an incredibly small form factor, and the latest rendition of iTunes now lets you easily sync with Mac OS X Address Book and iCal and now also your contacts from Outlook Express or calendar and contacts from Outlook for the PC and isn't that the basics of what anyone would need out of their device? Build around it the best components you like from a Pocket PC Phone Edition or MS Smartphone device and you'd have something really compelling. Even the 30Gb 5G iPod has a thinner design than most iPAQs or HTC devices for that matter - building around that should produce something comparable - and definitely something smaller than Palm's LifeDrive."

Interesting thoughts here but I wouldn't hold your breath for an iPod/iPAQ/Smartphone anytime soon. I don't think Cingular is having too much trouble keeping the ROKR (the new itunes phone) on the shelves either. Think about entering data on that iPod thumb pad interface. Talk about repetitive injury!


Tuesday, September 21, 2004

Justin Blanton: "Obviously, the iPod is Dead"

Posted by Jason Dunn in "ARTICLE" @ 12:54 PM

http://justinblanton.com/archives/2004/09/21/obviously_the_ipod_is_dead/

"So, here�s the deal Apple, if you�d like to keep your competition down and sales of the iPod up, add a GSM or CDMA antenna to the music player and let it ride. I would be the first in line for such a device (shocking, I know) and I imagine that there would be a lot of people behind me. As soon as smartphones start adding 1� and .85� drive bays, it�s not going to take long for end-users to realize that their two or three devices can be made into one, and there is no turning back when that happens. As good as the iPod interface is, and as pretty as the design can get, it�s not going to be able to compete with mass storage on a mobile phone..."

Here's an article that will generate some controversy, although I tend to think it's an obvious conclusion. Convergence is coming (it's always coming though) and in the same way that PDAs without any wireless are on their way out, I tend to think that one-trick units such as the iPod will eventually fade away. Once you get a 5 GB hard drive in your phone, will that be enough? Or do you see single-use devices getting better and better, always keeping ahead of the compromises inherent in multi-function devices?


Monday, November 17, 2003

Microsoft CTO touts BlackBerry, iPod

Posted by Jason Dunn in "NEWS" @ 10:00 PM

http://news.com.com/2100-1041-5108040.html

"Microsoft's chief technology officer touted the Blackberry e-mail device and Apple Computer's iPod in front of an audience of information technology directors and developers. In addition to owning a Blackberry and loving the iPod, David Vaskevitch said he always carries a digital camera. But he didn't mention using one of Microsoft's own Pocket PC devices.

Vaskevitch, who reports directly to company Chairman Bill Gates and is responsible for developing a strategy and architecture for future Microsoft platforms, was speaking for a discussion panel on wireless devices at the Salesforce.com user and developer conference in San Francisco on Tuesday. According to Vaskevitch, he carries an Apple iPod, Research in Motion's BlackBerry device and a digital camera when travelling, because each device is tailored to a specific job and does that job very well. The comments raised speculation among his audience that Microsoft may have an eye on developing more specific devices."

This article left a bad taste in my mouth. :? If the CTO of Microsoft won't use a Microsoft OS-based product to listen to music or get his email, who will? Microsoft has this concept called "dog food" where they use their own software internally for everything, including betas of operating systems, office apps, and Exchange servers. They have a belief, and rightly so, that the only way they can make great products is to "eat their own dog food" - if it tastes bad to them, it will taste just as bad to the customer. I've always thought this was a great concept, because it forced them to look at their own products and want to make them better.

So why doesn't this extend to hardware? Why doesn't the CTO of Microsoft "dog food" his own OS to see how it could be made better for digital audio? And why doesn't he use a Windows Mobile-based device for getting his email, so he can see how that experience could be made better?

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  • Source: Todd Ogasawara


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