Archive for September, 2007
Author: Dave Lewis
September 17, 2007 at 7:12 pm · Filed under iTunes
Yet another update to iTunes. This one purportedly fixes problems with custom ringtones. Let’s say, less than 24 hours for version 7.4.3? Any takers?
From Macworld:
An update to iTunes released Monday fixes a bug that prevented users from making ringtones out of iTunes Plus songs.
Version 7.4.2 of the music jukebox application “addresses an issue with creating ringtones using iTunes Plus song purchases,” according to the release notes provided by Apple. The update also features other unspecified bug fixes aimed at improving stability and performance.
iTunes Plus songs are tracks offered at the iTunes Store that don’t feature digital-rights management protection; the $1.29 tracks also encoded at a higher bit rate than the typical 99-cent downloads offered via iTunes. EMI became the first record label to offer DRM-free iTunes Plus downloads back in May.
Article Link
Tags: iTunes 7.4.2, iTunes Plus, iTunes Ringtones
Author: Dave Lewis
September 17, 2007 at 7:17 am · Filed under Hacks and Such, iPod
For those Linux users out there you can now use your new Classic iPod.
As recently reported on Slashdot, Apple, in its infinite wisdom, has added a checksum to the iPod database apparently to restrict non-iTunes products (like Amarok via libgpod) from having the ability to add music. To me this sounds pretty familiar. This is the same thing they did to iTunes 4.5 to make it harder for other apps to read off their DAAP shares, they changed it again in iTunes 7; open source apps are still unable to read iTunes 7 DAAP shares.
Article Link
Article Link (this one for Linux)
Tags: iPod Classic, iPod Classic Linux Support, iPod Linux Support
Author: Dave Lewis
September 16, 2007 at 8:17 pm · Filed under The Other Guys
Microsoft will learn its fate Monday with respects to the antitrust charges leveled against it.
From Reuters:
A European Union court will decide on Monday whether Microsoft abused its near-monopoly position on the world’s 1 billion computers and servers to push smaller competitors out of the marketplace.
The European Commission ruled in 2004 that Microsoft used its Windows operating system, running on 95 percent of the world’s computers and servers, to choke off competition from rival makers of server software and streaming media software.
Microsoft challenged that decision, asking a special 13-judge Grand Chamber of the Court of First Instance to throw out the Commission’s finding. It said the Commission was interfering with its right to design software as it saw fit.
The court will hand down its ruling on live television on Monday shortly after 9:30 a.m. (3:30 a.m. EDT), focusing on five aspects of the Commission’s 2004 decision.
Gawd, can’t you just taste it?
Article Link
Tags: EU Antitrust, Microsoft EU Fate
Author: Dave Lewis
September 16, 2007 at 3:11 pm · Filed under iPod
WTF? I was a little caught off guard that the new iPod Touch has to call home in order to be activated. I would be interested to know exactly what information it is sending back to the mothership. Admittedly, I was not overly surprised that the Touch requires the user to have OS X Tiger installed. Then again this will most likely be a swift kick in the nuts for some customers. Still, I’m annoyed that I have to be reading about some people unboxing their new iPods when here in Canada we have to wait until September 28th for them to start shipping.
From MP3Newswire.net:
It looks like out review of the iPod Touch just came to a crashing halt. For some reason both our Mac and the iTunes application that holds our store bought tunes refused to see it. Even more curious, the iPod Touch would always launch iPhoto, which once open also could not see the device.
We routed around Apple support trying to find what was causing the glitch and found nothing. Just being thorough we clicked on the system compatibility link to confirm what we already knew, that the Touch worked with our system.
That’s when we found that it did not.
For the full scoop read on.
Article Link
Tags: iPod Touch Problems, iPod Touch Requirements, iPod Touch
Author: Dave Lewis
September 14, 2007 at 8:20 pm · Filed under Apple, iPod
Well, as I pace back and forth waiting for (the next 2 weeks) my iPod Touch to arrive I found this article from playlist mag on iPod Touch impressions.
Yes, I know I’ve written my first impressions of the iPod touch, but now that I have one in my hot little hands without a line of anxious journalists waiting to put their likewise perspiring paws on it, I’ve had some time to notice that which was not noticed before. Including:
Higher-pitched click. Really, it gets better. But I might as well point out the obvious fact that since the iPod touch doesn’t have an external speaker like the iPhone, it uses a “clicker” like other iPods, a side effect of which is a higher-pitched click noise than the iPhone. (When you connect the iPod touch to a computer, it doesn’t chime like the iPhone, either — it emits the familiar trill that iPods have made for some time.)
Read on.
Article Link
Tags: Apple, Apple iPod Touch, iPod Touch
Author: Dave Lewis
September 13, 2007 at 8:29 pm · Filed under iPod
PC Mag.com has a review for the iPod Touch ahead of its launch. And before you cringe they actually give a favourable review.
When the iPhone came out in June, many people (including me) loved it, but wanted it without the phone—and that pesky two-year contract with AT&T Wireless. I’m no Luddite, but I don’t want my personal media player to ring in the middle of a song. That said, the multitouch glass display was beautiful, Cover Flow was a great way to navigate tracks, and the Web browser was better than any other portable player’s before it. Apple could have delivered a player with just these features and nothing more and I would have been thrilled. But it didn’t. Instead, the company, in the new iPod touch, has added a Wi-Fi version of the iTunes Music Store so you can buy songs on the go—now, if you have Wi-Fi access, you can download tracks anywhere. Apple has also announced a partnership with Starbucks that enables iPhone and touch owners to purchase songs they hear in Starbucks stores via Wi-Fi. Okay, maybe I’m not in love with that last feature (I’m not a Starbucks addict). It would also be nice if the Wi-Fi store offered video purchases, too—it’s currently music only. And, yes, the earbuds still suck. But those are my only complaints, and they are minor. The relatively hefty $300 and $400 price tags for 8GB and 16GB, respectively, don’t bug me either. Why? This is probably the best portable media player ever made.
Article Link
Tags: Apple, iPod Touch, iPod Touch Review
Author: Dave Lewis
September 12, 2007 at 2:23 pm · Filed under iPhone
Very cool! It appears that there are two open source hacks for the iPhone.
From TUAW:
Well despite the fact that some hackers claimed they weren’t working on an open source iPhone unlock, it appears it’s happened anyway. iPhone hackers have released a free software unlock for the iPhone.
Apparently there are two solutions– the one above is part of a script based on ieraser, and the other is called iUnlock (Engadget says that one “appears to be in a more complete state”). We aren’t yet sure what these do– whether they’re an actual unlock, or simply a reverse engineer of the iPhoneSIMfree unlock released the other day.
Article Link
Tags: Apple, iPhone Hacks, Open Source iPhone Hacks
Author: Dave Lewis
September 11, 2007 at 2:16 pm · Filed under Mac Software
For those VNC users out there, here is a new version of JollysFastVNC. I personally don’t use VNC opting for SSH but, that’s just me. Check it out and let me know what you think.
AIM to become the best VNC client on the Mac. When I started ScreenRecycler I thought that there are enough VNC clients out there to support it. When the program started to get useful I realized that the VNC clients available on the Mac were pretty slow and people were complaining about the speed of ScreenRecycler. I was using VNCThing at the time which proved to be acceptable on PPC Macs but does not run on Intel Macs.
Without a proper viewer people can’t access ScreenRecycler in a way I imagined. So I started programming JollysFastVNC to enable people using ScreenRecycler. As I got a few mails about the VNC capabilities of JollysFastVNC I decided to enhance the program to be a fully functional VNC client. It’s still in the early stages of development, even though somewhat usable and fast.
Article Link
Tags: JollysFastVNC, VNC, Mac Software
Author: Dave Lewis
September 10, 2007 at 6:09 pm · Filed under Mac Software
Here is a handy freeware app from PeacockMedia. This tool allows you to hunt down broken links on your website. Just feed it your website URL and let ‘er go.
Article Link
Tags: Integrity Link Checker, Hyperlink Checker, Mac, Broken Links
Author: Dave Lewis
September 10, 2007 at 3:31 pm · Filed under Apple, iPod
Not cool. This begs the question, what else have they crippled in a bid to separate iPod Touch and the iPhone?
According to support discussions and their own description pages, Apple has removed the ability to add events in the iPod touch’s calendar, even while it uses the same operating system and application frameworks as the iPhone [Updated after the jump]
After a lengthy discussion in Apple’s support boards about an image published in iLounge’s “The Beat is On” galleries, the company has removed the words “entering calendar events” from its US features page
Hmmm. Starting to rethink my order.
Article Link
Tags: iPod, iPod Touch, iPod Touch Crippled, iPhone
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