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Posts tagged iPod/iPhone
Touching the Kindle
3 years ago
by manfred
in iPod/iPhone
Amazon released the new Kindle e-book reader about a week ago and hinted at making electronic content available for the iPhone and iPod Touch. True to their word, the Kindle application showed up in the iTunes Store a few days ago and I was keen to try it out.
The Kindle reader for the iPod is free and downloads rather speedily. Setting up the application is similarly easy. All that is required is an Amazon account.
Enter your user name and password and the iPod is registered as a Kindle device in the Amazon Kindle store. Registration of the device is necessary to ensure synchronization with purchased content. For someone outside the US geographical region, I was rather intrigued to determine whether or not I would be able to get some content down to the iPod Touch. A first attempt at purchasing a single issue of Time Magazine failed, indicating that my device had not been registered. I checked my account settings and indeed had a 32GB iPod Touch registered. So I tried a sample of Gladwell‘s Outliers.
Photographer’s reference
3 years ago
by manfred
in Photography
There is no better thing than to combine one hobby with another. For me, that means hooking something up to a computer or utilizing a computer to expand on a hobby or pastime. The iPod Touch has really come into its own as a constant companion. Browsing through the application store, I found two rather interesting applications in the photography section. Since I couldn’t really decide which of the two would be better than the other, I purchased both. In fact, they are complementary in many ways, even though certain features are provided by both.
PhotoBuddy provides a quick and easy way of calculating the most basic camera settings. These include exposure, depth of field and flashlight range. The interface is clean and uncluttered with an attractive interface for the depth of field determination. A database of SLR cameras is included to populate possible settings – my new EOS 5D Mark II is included.
Using the application is a pleasure – very few options and easy entry fields make getting the required information hassle-free. The exposure calculation is particularly pleasant to use: lock the field that is to be calculated by pressing the corresponding button, then twirl through the other two. The field to be calculated is adjusted based on the law of reciprocity.
WebiTunes
Apple has made the iTunes Store viewable in a standard browser, which is quite useful when one is interested in browsing through a few applications without having to launch iTunes. The look and feel of the page layout is very similar to that found in iTunes and it is possible to purchase content directly from this interface.
To download and integrate the purchased content or applications, the a target device or computer still has to be connected by way of iTunes. Launching iTunes directly is facilitated by means of a link on the page.
Access the web-based iTunes Store here.
Manual iPod Touch 2.2 firmware upgrade
3 years ago
by manfred
in iPod/iPhone
I’m waiting for some news regarding my dead iPod Touch from the local iStore. Since it died two dies prior to our departure from Australia, I had the chance to run to the nearest Target to pick up one of the new generation iPod Touch units as a replacement. Can’t approach a 28 hour journey without entertainment in hand!
The new 32GB unit is a marked improvement over my first generation 16GB Touch, and that has nothing to do with the double capacity the new unit provides. First off, my Touch constantly had a drained battery and had to be charged almost daily to avoid an incapacitated gadget. The second generation unit has been charged only a few times and happily keeps on running for hours. There’s no nasty shock of not having the unit power on, either.
Overall, the second generation Touch simply feels more robust from a software point of view and the inclusion of volume controls and an external speaker doesn’t hurt either. Best of all, the 3.5mm stereo jack means I no longer need to carry around the conversion cable. I used the Touch extensively throughout the flight and transit from Australia, not bothering to upgrade the preloaded 2.1 firmware with the newer 2.2.
Upgrading the firmware on the iPod is generally a simple affair, though I cannot understand why every download in iTunes, except for the firmware software is under control of a download manager. It was a frustrating exercise restarting the broken download of the 240MB 2.2 firmware upgrade and seeing it reset its size to 0. Eventually, I was determine to find another way of getting the firmware update downloaded, and happened to find this link. Provided are URL‘s for the direct download of the firmware files, allowing you to use a regular download manager to prevent the download from dying halfway through. Once downloaded, there’s a very simply trick to get iTunes to recognize the file that was manually downloaded. Simply launch iTunes and connect the iPod, then wait for everything to settle down. Click on the iPod description in the left-hand pane of iTunes, then hold down the alt key and click the Update button.
iTunes will permit you to browse to the location of the downloaded file and will continue with the firmware upgrade. This is a great trick if you are using a single machine to upgrade multiple iPods.
The procedure should work for any iPod and the iPhone, provided you are able to find the direct download URL. Felix Bruns’ website is one of the better resources I’ve found to help select the relevant download link.
Deep Green
3 years ago
by manfred
in iPod/iPhone
I used my iPod Touch extensively during our holiday, crammed full of audio books, music and a number of interesting applications from the iTunes store. Unfortunately, the Touch‘s life came to a rather sudden end two days prior to our flight back. It suffered the white screen of death and could not be coaxed back to life. A number of restores and reinstallations of the latest firmware could do nothing but keep the white screen from being lit up.
A visit to the local iStore achieved little – the unit has been sent in for repairs… since these things are pretty much sealed and not really designed for opening up, I’m hoping for a replacement.
While the Touch was still operational I quite enjoyed playing chess. One of the better applications available is Deep Green. It features attractive graphics and a very intuitive user interface. At USD 7.99 it’s not cheap, but its chess engine is suitable for a wide range of skill levels and offers custom board setups, too.
Deep Green has deep Apple roots, having been coded to run on the Newton almost ten years ago. It is one of the few chess applications for the iPod that includes move suggestions, playback of moves, display of captured pieces, play modes against the machine or another human and a concentration engine to make the program behave in a more human fashion.
Numerous options are available to control how the engine behaves.
Luckily for me, Deep Green is able to cater for those who don’t spend too much time in front of the chequered board. It can be a rather tough opponent.
I’d say Deep Green is one of the best looking chess games available at present, but it’s not just a pretty face. If you’re in the market to test your chess skills, this game comes highly recommended!
Fruity-loops updates
This weekend saw me struggling quite a bit with Apple‘s software updates. First up, I was very keen to get the new iPod Touch firmware 2.2 installed. After booting up the MacBook, I allowed the new iTunes 8.0.2 update to download and started the firmware 2.2 download from within the existing iTunes application. Maybe that was part of the problem I experienced: with the Touch connected, the 2.2 firmware upgrade got going and ended rather promptly in a failure. A subsequent restart of the update did little to alleviate the situation. The iPod Touch required a restore, but that simply wasn’t happening…
A restart of Leopard also didn’t help. Then, I allowed iTunes 8.0.2 to be installed and attempted to restore the bricked Touch again. No go. A variety of error codes indicated that the restore and update would not be happening. I switched to plan B and fired up the Mac Mini, then set about initiating the download of iTunes 8.0.2. Once that had completed, I connected the iPod Touch and let it demand the restore and update. That worked, though I had the pleasure of synchronizing all my content and setting up mail and other applications.
The podcast feature in the Touch‘s iTunes application is a fantastic addition to the device. Once iTunes is launched and the podcasting section selected, all available podcasts may be browsed.
Select whichever ones are of interest, and the files are downloaded directly to the device! Over my wireless network, the sample download of 40MB was quick and reliable and is immediately available in the iTunes library for listening.
Classics
3 years ago
by manfred
in iPod/iPhone
Project Gutenberg hosts a huge library of books available for free download. A modern slant on presenting a small selection of that content has been brought to the iPhone in the form of the application Classics. It’s a slick application that presents a library of twelve classic books for reading on the go. Some of them, such as Alice in Wonderland, include illustrations.
The library contains twelve books, such as my perennial favourites 20000 Leagues under the Sea, Robinson Crusoe and The Time Machine. The purchase price includes any new texts that are added in the future. These will be available as an update to the application. At USD 2.99, there is no reason not to buy this application.
The best part of using Classics is the interface and moving from one page to the next. The animation is extremely slick and is another prime example of a developer taking the time to think of how best to leverage the graphical capabilities of Apple‘s mobile OS.
Move a finger from right to left or top to bottom to page…
…to page through. The reverse works too, of course.
Touch the Earth
The iPod Touch (iPhone too) excels at providing interactive applications. One of the most practical I’ve seen is Google Earth. The popular desktop application is now available for the iPhone and boasts some innovative uses of the touch interface and accelerometer. I played around with it on the Touch and have to say I’m very impressed.
The obvious lag experienced whenever the application has to fetch satellite data for a selected view is not as bad as I expected – it all depends on the wireless network’s signal strength. The data you see on the screen is the same as you’d see using the desktop version.
A search function is available:
and you’ll be flown to your search target in typical Google Earth style as soon as it has been found.
The motion sensor in the iPod Touch is used to great effect when the device is tilted. That causes the map display to tilt towards or away from the horizon. The sound advice to any pilot push the stick and the houses get bigger applies 
It’s probably more suited to terrain with a bit more relief…
Google Earth is a free download, roughly 9MB in size, from the iTunes App Store. Location-based services are accessible and the application does include two layers for the Geographic Web. These layers may be enabled or disabled, depending on how much information you wish to see.
If you have an iPhone, you may want to monitor your 3G data usage…
Touch with Monster click
iPods have always been neat gadgets and constantly provide an opportunity for customization and enhanced use by applying a slew of add-ons and accessories. Since I intend cycling more and more in the coming months I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have some tunes for the single tracks. During a recent visit to the iStore, the Monster iEZClick caught my eye. The name is a mouthful and ridiculous: Monster EZClick would have sufficed.
So what is it, precisely? Quite simple, really. It’s a radio frequency remote control whose receiver attaches to the bottom dock connector of an iPod.
The oversized remote control provides simple controls for playback and volume control. That’s about it.
The package contains the small receiver that attaches to the iPod dock connector, the large remote control unit and a roll of velcro for attaching the remote control. The remote is very large and is rubberized and sealed to protect the innards from dust and moisture.
That makes it ideal for use when cycling or skiiing, for example. The remote can be attached to clothing or a backpack strap by means of a simple clip, or the velcro may be used to fasten the unit around a handlebar or forearm. It’s incredible simple to use: once connected, the remote can send signals and control playback. I’ve used it in-car to avoid having to fumble with the actual Touch interface and found it works quite well. There’s a lock switch to prevent accidental switch activity or to turn the unit off when not in use.
The iEZClick is driven by a single CR2032 battery which should provide plenty of juice for a lot of clicking. When cycling, I am able to drop the Touch into my backpack and run the headphones in the general direction of my ears. No more fumbling with any audio playback controls!
One criticism: there is no storage in the remote control unit for the receiver. Since the receiver is rather small, there is a risk that it will be dropped or left behind somewhere. Given the size of the remote, Monster could have come up with a solution for storing the receiver in it.
It’s also rather pricey: around ZAR 550. But I consider it a worthwhile accessory. Other uses include in-car use or even controlling an iPod from across the room without having to get up and set that beer down…
iTunes Remote
3 years ago
by manfred
in iPod/iPhone
By far the best application available in the iTunes App Store is the iTunes Remote. It works on both the iPhone and the iPod Touch and is published by Apple. There is no cost and the application is downloaded to the device of choice in a flash.
For this to work, you’ll need the Remote application installed, have access to your wireless network and have iTunes installed on either a PC or a Mac. It is important that the iPod is connected to the wireless network. The moment that happens, the iPod should appear under the devices list in iTunes.
To authorize the iPod Touch or iPhone to gain access to that iTunes library, a key is provided that will have to be entered. That’s it. The program connects to the iTunes library
Once the library has been found, all playlists and other content stored within iTunes is displayed on the iPod and may be played
The application is not restricted for use with a single library, which makes it even more flexible. At times, it’s a fun toy to startle the user busy on the machine housing the iTunes library
I’m considering this as the remote control for a Mini storing all media and connected to the amplifier in the lounge.
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