Saturday, March 2, 2002
Tips & Tricks: iPod Phone Dialer
iLoungers, Dave G. and Steven P. have both thought of an idea for converting an iPod into a phone dialer:
Dave G.:
“I was reading your tip about creating an Address book on the iPod, and I thought it would be neat if the small mp3 file that was used to store the phone number was actually an mp3 of the touch tones. Then, when selecting the person to call, you could play the touch tones into your handset and have it dial the number for you. Maybe somebody can give it a try.”
Steven P.:
“I haven’t tried it myself, but looking at the tip about duplicating tiny MP3’s to use as phone book entries, it occurs to me that you could even record the DTMF tones for the phone number you want to dial, and possibly even use the iPod as a speed-dial device.”
If you try this, please email us with your results and if it works we’ll publish it on our Tips & Tricks page.
Friday, March 1, 2002
Software: IMDb for iPod v2.0 released
Get the latest movie listings on your iPod!
“Since the first release I’ve learned the iPod’s “interesting” text sorting and have chosen the ‘&Mac215;’ (diamond character) as a prefix character so that the iPod sorts this data at the bottom, out of the way of your real music.
For upgrading:
Delete all the old IMDb files from your disk and iTunes since they’ve all changed. You can do this in iTunes by browsing for ‘IMDb’ or selecting the ‘IMDb’ artists and then selecting all songs and deleting them. This does take awhile, so be patient. I found it goes faster if you delete the files first as iTunes loses the reference and quickly deletes the file.”
There are entries for:
- title (again because the iPod doesn’t scroll long album names)
- the rating, number of votes, Top 250 ranking, MPAA rating, countries of release and genres.
- plot
- actors
- director
Thursday, February 28, 2002
Rumor: New iTunes Equals New iPod?
From MacOs Rumors:
“Several hints by third-party hardware product developers suggest that Apple will be releasing a significant update to iTunes in April. Many on the grapevine have speculated that this might be an indication of when Apple will be updating its iPod.”
Have iPod, Will Secretly Bootleg
Wired reports of someone stealing software at a CompUSA store. Apparently, Kevin Webb at a Dallas based CompUSA store witnessed a teenager copying Microsoft Word X from a Macintosh via his iPod. Wired was compelled to investigate this story from an earlier report at %0A%E2%80%9C>LowEndMac.%20Our%20own%20Publisher,%20Dennis%20Lloyd%20was%20quoted%20as%20saying,%20%E2%80%9CI%20can%20see%20how%20easy%20it%20would%20be%20to%20do.
%0AIt%E2%80%99s%20a%20shame%20someone%20has%20stooped%20this%20low%20to%20bring%20bad%20press%20to%20the%20insanely%20great%20iPod.%E2%80%9D%20
%0A%0A%0A%E2%80%9CWhen%20Apple%20introduced%20the%20iPod,%20the%20company%20was%20aware%20that%20people%20might%20use%20it%20to%20rip%20off%20music%20from%20the%20Net%20or%20friends%E2%80%99%20machines.%20Each%20new%20iPod,%20in%20fact,%20is%20emblazoned%20with%20a%20sticker%20that%20warns,%20%E2%80%9CDon%E2%80%99t%20Steal%20Music.%E2%80%9D
%0ABut%20it%20is%20unlikely%20that%20Apple%20imagined%20people%20would%20walk%20into%20computer%20stores,%20plug%20their%20iPod%20into%20display%20computers%20and%20use%20it%20to%20copy%20software%20off%20the%20hard%20drives.%E2%80%9D
%0A
Wednesday, February 27, 2002
Apple Wins 2002 Technical GRAMMY Award
Congratulations to Apple as they are honored for their excellence in the music industry at tonight’s 44th GRAMMY Awards. “This is the first Technical GRAMMY ever awarded to a PC company.”
“From the original Macintosh, the first personal computer to include built-in audio capabilities, Apple has helped change the way music is written, recorded, mixed and enjoyed. Today’s powerful Mac and PowerBook computers are the choice of recording professionals worldwide and Apple’s innovative iTunes software and iPod portable digital music player are responsibly leading the digital music revolution.”
Rumor: New iPod(s) at MacWorld Tokyo?
SpyMac lists the iPod as a possible surprise announcement in its 2002 MacWorld Tokyo Predictions (March 21-23).
“iPod: Windows compatibility. 10 GB storage. Firmware update (unknown enhancements).”
Tuesday, February 26, 2002
Software: Internet Movie Database
Macintouch reader, Tom Sheppard has developed an Internet Movie Database for use in an iPod, “A.K.A. Stupid iPod Trick”. He has also developed the database for the Palm OS and the Apple Newton. It’s definitely one of the more interesting uses for an iPod.
He also plans on “taking Text-To-Speech and have the output go directly to an MP3 file, then the iPod could read to you”.
“This play list is suitable if all you’re interested in is what’s playing in the theatres.
The database is structured such that the ‘artist’ is something like ‘IMDb’ or ‘IMDb-A’, ‘-B’, etc. where the letter indicates the first letter of the movie title. The ‘album’ is the movie title and the ‘songs’ are the entries for that movie. Not all movies have all entries.”
There are entries for:
- title (again because the iPod doesn’t scroll long album names)
- the rating, number of votes, Top 250 ranking, MPAA rating, countries of release and genres.
- plot
- actors
- director
Rumor: iPods’ compatible with Windows
SpyMac reports they are receiving more information about the upcoming update to the iPod and the latest rumor indicates Windows compatibility. Also note, the update will come “…early as March or as late as July.”
“Primarily, the revision will focus on the bittersweet reality of Windows compatibility. At this point, the new iPods will be Windows compatible right out of the box—but don’t expect a Windows version of iTunes. Our sources have made it clear that “Windows compatibility” and “iTunes” have never made it into the same sentence.
Feature wise, we are still being told that the update will be fairly low-key, with added storage and the possible addition of a remote control being the only hardware changes.”
Software: MediaFour’s XPlay release delayed
iPoding reports, Mediafour’s XPlay FAQ states the XPlay release has been delayed due to a “write-behind data lost” issue. Expect Preview 5 to be available no later than March 4, the same day Preview 4 expires.
“Although this is not a problem with XPlay, it affects XPlay users dramatically. The problem is not something that can be fixed by Mediafour, but we are spending a significant amount of time working with other companies to overcome this communication problems between the iPod and Windows.”
Software: EphPod v1.45 stable released for Windows PC
“EphPod is a program designed to make your iPod work with Windows.
