Saturday, November 10, 2007

iPod Accessories - 5 Must-Haves To Maximize Performance

If you happen to be one of the millions of iPod owners throughout the world, then you may be thinking of improving the watching and listening experience by purchasing some newer iPod accessories. However, it can be a bit overwhelming and confusing with the hundreds of iPod accessories that are currently available in retail stores and on the internet to make the best choice for the kind of car devices, cases, stereo as well as other strange or essential iPod accessories.

To help narrow the field of your choices, here are five essential iPod accessories for all you individuals who have had challenges in trying to find the right accessory for your iPod Minis, Nanos, or iPod videos.

Doing The Dashboard Dance

There are dozens of products in the category of devices that connect your car stereo to your iPod. There are a less expensive solutions to this problem that are inexpensive battery-powered devices that utilize your iPod headphone jack that sends audio to the connector of the stereo.

However, if you're in search of simplicity as well as quality, you could locate some car audio connectors that are somewhat more expensive that gives you the ability to mount your iPod holder onto your dashboard. By using a power cable that is attached to your car you can quickly and easily listen to your iPod and recharge it at the same time. One of the challenges with this type of iPod accessory is that you can sometimes get less than ideal reception that is caused primarily by the position of the antenna.

Video Recording and Sound Enhancements

If you're the type of person that still utilizes a voice recording or Dictaphone during interviews or lectures, your existing in a prehistoric times. By plugging a microphone into your iPod it can be your device for audio recording. The cost for these types of iPod accessories is roughly $10 up to $100, depending on the brand that you pick. You don't even need to install any kind of software, you just simply plug the microphone into your iPod.

Sounds Like a Concert

External speakers are another great accessory that you can purchase for your iPod. An additional iPod accessory is a home device that gives you the ability to turn your iPod into an alarm clock, an AM/FM radio that has the ability to play your entire music collection through the speakers. In addition to these features, some of these types of speakers can also be used to charge your iPod. This type of accessory gives you the ability to be awakened by your choice of music.

Look! No More Tangles

If you're the type of person that has been having difficulties with basic iPod headphones, there have been new tangle free headphones introduced to the market that run anywhere from $20 up to $100. These wireless iPod accessories will give you the ability to never experience tangled cords again.

Get Off of My Case, Dude!

Many people would agree that cases are one of the most significant iPod accessories out there today. Of course, this will depend entirely on personal preference as whether you'd want one of these kinds of accessories. However, if you do choose to use one of these the most durable are constructed from sports wraps and leather. Regardless of the types of products that you pick, purchasing add-ons for your iPod should not only be based on appearance, but the functionality as well.

Listen to Korbin Newlyn as he shares his insights as an expert author and an avid writer in the field of electronics. If you would like to learn more go to Ipod Music advice and at Ipod Car Adapter tips.



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iPod/iTunes: Under Attack from Hackers

Apple's iTunes/iPod is a closed business model, built on two essential premises. One is that songs bought from iTunes will only play on iPod players. The second premise is that songs purchased from other music download sites will not play on iPods.

Now Apple's business model is under attack - by 26-year-old hacker Jon Johansen. Johansen, of Norway, has decoded iPod's Digital Rights Management (DRM) encryption, known as FairPlay, according to reputable sources.

Johansen is making his hack available - for a licensing fee - to businesses seeking to sell hardware competing with iPod, and download sites competing with iTunes.

Note that Johansen's hack does not remove DRM from downloaded songs. It actually adds DRM, to trick iPods into thinking that a given song has been purchased via iTunes.

If this hack takes off, will the closed business model fall apart?

Hardly. Johansen's decision to market his hack through licensing agreements means that your average teen music-lover is not suddenly going to find his music collection iPod-compatible. Instead, she will have more choices of legal music sites, to download songs that will be iPod-playable.

The effect of this may be to lower the industry-standard pricetag of $.99 per song. Apple could face real competition from other sites that can now sell legal music to load into those insatiable iPod hard drives.

Something to consider for Microsoft Zune... if the hack was figured out for iPod, can a Zune hack be far behind?

[Harvey Chute is webmaster of http://www.Zunerama.com, a Microsoft Zune resource center that provides one-stop for all things Zune, including Zune specifications, documentation, comparisons to iPod, FAQ, user forum, and a blog providing analysis and commentary on Zune news.]



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Download Movies To Your iPod - Steps on How You Can Put Your Favorite Movies On Your iPod

People these days are now demanding more and more entertainment in their lives. Because of this, several multimedia companies have invented several devices just to provide entertainment to people. From video games to mobile multimedia players, you will see that there are quite a lot of state-of-the-art entertainment devices out there today that can provide you with high quality entertainment wherever you go.

Today, the latest craze is the iPod. So far, iPod have provided people with multimedia entertainment never before seen on other portable multimedia players. With iPod, you will be able to store and listen to far more music than other kinds of portable multimedia players. Also, it is not only the capability to store and play hundreds or even thousands of songs and videos, but because iPod is so small that it can fit in your pocket. In fact, iPod is so small and compact that you wouldn’t even feel that it's there.

The fact that iPod is so portable and provides high quality entertainment is enough reason to get out and buy one.

However, there are people who don't know how to work an iPod or at least download movies to iPod from their computer. If you don’t know how, then you won't be able to fully enjoy the power of your iPod as you won't be able to use all the features it can provide you, such as the ability to watch your favorite videos and movies while you are on the go.

Just imagine, camping in the middle of nowhere where electricity is non existent. What could be better than watching your favorite videos and movies while waiting for your friends who are hunting to come back? Surely waiting for an hour with no one to talk to is enough to get you bored. With the iPod, getting bored is a thing of the past.

The first step in downloading movies in your iPod is by making sure that your iPod is one of the latest models that are able to play videos. If your iPod is capable of playing videos, the next step is to plug it in your computer via the USB port.

You need to understand that iPod with video capabilities only plays videos or video files that are in MP4 format. You might be aware that most media files in your computer are in AVI, MPG, MPEG, MOV or any other file format. These kinds of files are not actually compatible with your iPod. So, what you do is get a software program that is designed to convert any video format, such as AVI or MPG to MP4 file format.

Today, there are quite a lot of software programs like this that is able to convert video files to MP4 format without affecting the overall quality of the video. And, the great thing about MP4 is that it compresses the file even more. This means that it will allow more movies for you to download in your iPod as the files are smaller.

Now, after converting video files in your computer to MP4 format, you are now ready to download your favorite videos and movie files to your iPod. You can easily do this through an iPod software, such as iTunes. After this, you are now ready to play and enjoy your favorite movies on your iPod.

As you can see, by knowing how to download videos to your iPod, you will be able to fully make use of the features that iPod can provide. By following these few simple tips, you will be able to enjoy high quality entertainment while you are on the go with your video capable iPod.

Sandra Stammberger owns and operates http://www.ipodissimo.com Ipod Tips


The New iPod Touch - Hype or Heaven

With its physical similarity to the iPhone, the new iPod Touch creates an expectation of iPhone versatility in consumers while lacking iPhone features, such as camera and Bluetooth. Nor does it compare to traditional iPods - offering only 10% of the capacity of the iPod Classic. Despite offering web access via a special version of Safari, email is conspicuously absent.

Having said this, one of the main advantages of the iPod Touch is Apple's revolutionary new multi-touch user interface. The device features only two controls, the sleep/power switch and a Home button. All other features are accessed via the multi-touch screen.

The multi-touch interface starts with a single touch on the power button to turn the device on and take you to its "Home" screen. Select applications and settings with a touch of your finger, or push the Home button to return to the main screen. Touch an input box to open a touch sensitive keyboard. Touch to select items in a list. Touch a slide control to adjust a value.

Sort your music via genre, artist, playlist or album and flick through them using the iPod Touch coverflow feature

When viewing photos on your iPod Touch, you can flick through them using coverflow. A photo that was taken in landscape mode can be viewed full screen simply by turning your iPod horizontally. To zoom in on detail simply "pinch" the section of the photo you want to zoom in on and slowly draw your fingers apart. To return to the original view simply tap the screen.

To view video on your iPod Touch, simply touch the video button at the bottom of the home screen and select the video you want to watch. Then turn the screen horizontally to watch in full screen mode on the 3.5" screen that has a resolution of 480-by-320, with 163 pixels per inch. Photos and videos display beautifully on this screen in clear, sharp images.

The versatility of the iPod touch is sure to impress your friends the first time you demonstrate it to them. You can expect gasps of surprise from those who have never seen it before.

The iPod Touch features several applications including the Safari web browser, YouTube, a calendar, a contact list, a clock, a calculator and more.

There are so many things you can store on your iPod Touch too - including, music, videos, photos & podcasts. You can even download content directly from iTunes if you have a WI fi connection. Apple has even made an arrangement with Starbucks that allows you to access a WI fi connection in Starbucks stores without connection fees or login requirement.

Is the iPod Touch for you? Well, if you already own an iPhone there is no need to purchase an iPod Touch as the iPhone includes all the same features plus many more. However, if you want many of the features of the iPhone without having your music disrupted by the ringing of your phone or without that pesky 24-month contract with AT&T then the iPod Touch is definitely the way to go!

The iPod Touch will cost you US$299 for the 8GB model, or US$399 for the 16GB version.

Julia Andersson is an Australian mother of three including two teenagers. Julia is also a student with ProsperLearning where she recently completed learning ecommerce and Search Engine Optimisation techniques. She runs an electronics sweepstakes website at Free Electronics Source


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