Digital Technology for Digital Living.
September 13, 2006
New iPods, iTunes and iTV
Apple saved the music business with the iPod. Can they do the same for Hollywood?
In the five years since the iPod’s rollout, Apple has locked down the online music business. 1 in 5 Americans owns or has owned an iPod and consumers have downloaded more than 1 billion songs from Apple’s iTunes music store. Riding on the heels of that success, yesterday, Apple founder Steve Jobs fired his first shots in the battle to revolutionize the movie industry. In a special event called “It’s Showtime,” Apple unloaded new gadgets like it was Christmas morning.
In this single event, Steve Jobs announced the following new products and preannounced a new wireless video router called the iTV:
- new versions of both iTunes 7 and QuickTime 7.1.3
- bigger Video iPods including an 80GB iPod
- new multi-colored iPod Nanos that go up to 8 GB and don’t scratch
- a matchbook-sized iPod shuffle
The new version of iTunes (iTunes 7) sells more than just music and TV shows. iTunes now sells movies and games. The movies are priced starting at $9.99 and include new releases such as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, as well as older classics. If you were disappointed at the quality of some of the iTunes videos you’ve downloaded in the past, then you will be happy to know that the video quality has also gotten an upgrade. Any movie you buy is at “near” DVD-quality, 640-by-480-pixel video, and in Dolby Surround sound.
WARNING: While I was writing this blog post, 4 MethodShop.com readers reported that iTunes 7 erased their iPod. So you might want to wait and backup your iPod before you upgrade to iTunes 7.
When you’re not watching movies on your iPod, you can always check out some of the new games Apple is selling in iTunes 7. Each game is in full color and uses the Click Wheel as a controller. The selection of games include addictive classics from Tetris and PAC-MAN to a few newer games like Vortex and Texas Hold’Em.
Games, movies and new iPods are nice, but what is going on with the iTV? In a major break in Apple tradition, Steve Jobs only preannounced a new wireless router product called iTV (screenshots). Apple usually likes to have products ready to buy the day they announce them, so this preannouncement caught everyone off guard. According to CBS MarketWatch, the iTV can attach to a television and wirelessly receive and play digital content from any computer (Mac or PC) running iTunes software. The iTV will also feature a HDMI port for high-definition digital televisions. You can expect to see the iTV sometime during the first quarter of 2007 for around US$299.
methodshop | Comments (0) | Broadband, Digital TV, General, Music, PVR, Portable, Software, Videogadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
September 07, 2006
Crocodile Hunter Death Inspires YouTube Users
Steve Irwin’s television program The Crocodile Hunter may have made him an international television star, but it also made him very popular on the Internet… Including on YouTube. His death has inspired many of his fans and bloggers to pay tribute to their idol online.
At the time Irwin’s death was first announced on Monday, there were 4,200 videos tagged with the keyword phrase “Crocodile Hunter” on YouTube. These video clips were mostly a mix of TV segments featuring Irwin, amateur and professional imitators, and even a South Park Crocodile Hunter parody. But as of Wednesday night that number tripled to 15,040.
If you sort these search results by date added, the new Crocodile Hunter videos being posted on YouTube consist of news reports announcing his death as well as flurry of user generated tributes. In fact, a Wednesday night search for the exact phrase “Steve Irwin Tribute” produced 529 results on YouTube. And many of these tribute videos have well over 500 user comments each. This age of user generated content is providing fans a way of expressing their grief and sharing it with others instantly online.
Here are just a few YouTube user comments from one of the tribute videos:
Rest in peace, Steve Irwin. Steve did so much good and was a great person. He died doing what he loved. I miss him already. Steve Irwin was the best. Mooneskygge
Im still not over his death, he was just one of those guys that i cant imagine as being gone… RpgBouncer
A very fitting tribute…I’m sure Steve would have appreciated it… He was the greatest, most dedicated conservationist in Australia…maybe even the world… Goodbye Steve, Le chasseur de crocodile. A legend. We will remember. ChioGaru
The outpouring of support and sympathy for Steve Irwin by bloggers and YouTube users is nothing short of stunning. But what if major iconic figures such as Martin Luther King, Kurt Cobain, Pope John Paul or John Lennon had just died today? How would the YouTube generation react and interact? Can you imagine all the digital tributes. Crikey!
methodshop | Comments (0) | General, Videogadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
September 06, 2006
New iPods, iMac due September 12
Planning on attending Apple Expo Paris? Looks like it might be a hot ticket this year. According to ThinkSecret, Apple will use a September 12 media event for Apple Expo Paris to introduce the 2G (second-generation) iPod nano, an updated 5G iPod, movies in the iTunes Store and an upgraded wall-mountable iMac.
Although the “media event” will be held in California near Apple’s Cupterino headquarters, it will be fed via satellite to a London location for members of the European press. Apple Expo Paris kicks off September 12, the same day as the media event, and these new products will supposedly be on display at the show.
iPod Nano
What does Apple have in store for the 2G iPod Nano? If ThinkSecrets sources are correct, an increased storage capacity and multiple colors. When Steve Jobs first announced the iPod Nano, he said it would replace the iPod Mini. Now that the Nano comes in multiple colors, the transformation appears complete.
iPod Video
Don’t get your hopes up too high for the new 5G iPod. The upgraded iPod will just have bigger hard drive capacities at the same price points. More storage for less money is always nice but this new iPod will probably not be the long-awaited touch-screen iPod. Most people believe that Apple will strategically release a 6G iPod at the same time as Microsoft’s new Zune player. Reports of Apple filing for a touch sensitive media player patent first surfaced back in February. If the touch-screen iPod lives up to the rumors, the Zune won’t pose much of a threat. The Zune is more of a “catch up” product than a leap forward in advanced consumer technology.
iTunes Movies
Apple is also expected to formally announce their movie store initiative at the September 12 event. Several major studios have reportedly partnered with Apple to sell movies in the iTunes Store. Both iPod and movie announcements were originally suppose to happen in August but were postponed for unknown reasons. Perhaps Wal-Mart’s recent efforts to muscle out Apple from the downloadable movie business caused the delay.
New iMac
Details surrounding the new iMac are still a little fuzzy. The new upgraded iMac will probably receive Intel’s faster Core 2 Duo processor and a 23-inch screen already used in Apple’s line of Cinema Displays. Also rumored, but not confirmed, is the introduction of an iMac mounting kit. You wanted to wall mount your new iMac above your fireplace mantle right?
methodshop | Comments (0) | General, Music, PDA, Portable, Software, Videogadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
September 05, 2006
Touch Sensitive iPod Patent Pictures
Here’s a few patent pictures Apple submitted to the US trademark website.
Is the touch sensitive iPod going to be a reality? You be the judge. After seeing these images, I must say it looks like an iPod to me. And with the increasing popularity of tablet PCs, a touch sensitive iPod would be something that would be very plausible. Most people believe that Apple will strategically release a touch-screen 6G iPod at the same time as Microsoft’s new Zune player.
However, it is still unclear if we are going to see an Apple tablet, full screen iPod or a combination of both. Nonetheless the multi point touch screen is a major revolution.
Check out the following video to see the possibilities:
http://mrl.nyu.edu/~jhan/ftirtouch/multitouchreel.mpg
Also here’s a link to Apple’s Patent Application on the US trademark website:
Mode-based graphical user interfaces for touch sensitive input devices
methodshop | Comments (0) | General, Music, Portable, Videogadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
August 30, 2006
Rip DVDs for Your iPod Video
Need something to watch on your iPod Video? Here’s a tutorial that explains how to use a program called Handbrake to rip DVD’s into iPod compatible MPEG-4 video files.
Requirements:
- An iPod Video
- Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later
- 500 MHz G4 processor or better with at least 16MB of video RAM
- QuickTime 7.0.3 or later
- iTunes 6.0.1 or later
methodshop | Comments (0) | General, Music, Videogadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
Universal Music to Offer Free Downloads
Free music downloads? Is this good news for music lovers!? What’s the catch?
Universal Music, the world’s largest music company, has shaken up the record industry by announcing that it will make its song catalogue available as free internet downloads. Unlike Napster and other competing online music retailers, could this service actually pose a challenge to iTunes.
Are these tracks really free??? Don’t be silly.
Is Universal Music just giving away all their music for free? Not exactly. A series of advertisements would play while you wait for each song to download. Will this advertising model work for an online music store? According to research conducted by Universal Music and SprialFrog, consumers willing to watch non-intrusive relevant advertising in exchange for the free content. I guess some people like watching advertising. Not me. I’d rather pay TiVo a service fee for the ability to fast-forward thru the commercials.
Catch#1: you have to watch advertising before/while downloading tracks
So what is stopping someone from redistributing these free tracks on P2P sharing services like BitTorrent once downloaded? According to SprialFrog, Universal Music Group’s online distribution partner, digital rights management (DRM) technology will be built into all audio and video content to address the issue of piracy. However, DRM can be a double-edged sword if you are not careful. The model of DRM they plan on using is Windows Media based and means that any free tracks that you download cannot be burned on to a CD and won’t work with Apple computers or iPod music players. Personally, that’s a major deal breaker for me.
Catch #2: tracks cannot be burned on to a CD
Catch#3: tracks won’t work with Apple computers or iPod music players
In addition to Universal Music’s artists, which include U2 and Kanye West, SprialFrog is seeking to license the catalogs of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI Group. It’s a start. iTunes currently offers millions of songs and video content worldwide. SprialFrog and Universal Music Group have a lot of catching up to do.
Catch#4: smaller music catalogue than iTunes
Will this service actually pose a threat to Apple’s iTunes Music Store? Since iPod owners can’t use these free downloads, it’s doubtful. But you can’t blame the entertainment industry for scrambling to find new ways to make money as the Internet rewrites the rules of distribution and marketing.
methodshop | Comments (0) | General, Music, Software, Videogadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
Rejected iPod Engravings
As you may know, you can order an iPod from the Apple Store with a custom, laser-engraved message. However, not everything gets engraved. Apple has been rejecting some messages for editorial reasons.
The following is a collection of engravings that were actually rejected by Apple, and some that probably should have been. Enjoy!
Full Story: Rejected iPod Engravings
methodshop | Comments (0) | General, Music, Portable, Videogadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
August 28, 2006
Free Google WiFi Internet
Thanks to Google, residents in Mountain View, California have one less monthly bill to pay every month… their Internet.
This month Google launched their free wireless Internet service called Google WiFi Mountain View. The service is completely free to the 72,000 residents of Mountain View and is not supported via ads. It covers the 12 square mile radius of the town and is comprised of some 380 access points.
Speeds have been reported at 1Mbps and Google is hoping that their product will convince many residents to drop their DSL & Cable offerings. Although these speeds aren’t super fast, Google’s free alternative will be something that most people will embrace. People who still want their high speed connections will have to pay for it.
If you’re not in Mountain View don’t despair, Google has teamed up with Earthlink for a more ambitious project – providing wireless Internet service to the San Francisco area. The San Francisco service will be a little different from the one now available in Mountain View in that it will be tiered. The free service (300 Kbps) will be supported by ads. If you want higher speeds (1 Mbps) without the ads, then you will have to pay monthly subscription fee.
So what is Google really up to here? Is Mountain View and San Francisco just beta cities for something much bigger like national WiFi? Google has been quietly buying up miles of “dark fiber” across the United States for years. Add that fiber network to the Wimax routers and chip sets slated to hit the consumer market next year and Google could wipe out the telecom and cable companies before they knew what hit them. Think about it… Google could instantly become a national ISP, phone (VoIP) and TV provider for the entire country.
It sounds easy, but consider the deployment difficulties of a national wireless network. A single WiFi base station can only cover a limited area. With overlap you are probably talking about 300-500 base stations per square mile depending on terrain. I’m no math major, but how many base stations would Google need to cover the entire United States? Over a billion? If Google did decide to build a national network, they’d probably have to hire all those former cable and DSL employees just to repair and maintain this massive network.
National WiFi domination… something to think about.
Sources: Techie Diva, News.com
methodshop | Comments (0) | Broadband, General, VOIP, Video, Wirelessgadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
August 23, 2006
Shower with Your iPod?
There’s no doubt the iPod has revolutionized the way we to listen music. People take their iPods everywhere. On the run, in the car, or at the gym, our iPods have gone with us to the ends of the earth… except places near water.
Until recently, a short fall or a splash of water meant certain death for an iPod, but not anymore.
Thanks to a company called OtterBox, makers of watertight storage cases for electronic equipment like PDAs, and GPS units, you can safely take your iPod near or even underwater. OtterBox has created a waterproof hard shell case they call the OtterBox for iPod.
We put all their waterproof iPod cases through several tough tests including a steamy shower and a trip to the beach.
Here’s our full series of Otterbox case reviews:
methodshop | Comments (0) | General, Music, Portable, Videogadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
August 21, 2006
Free iTunes TV Show Page
Want to beef up on content for your iPod Video but don’t have a lot of money?
Lately the iTunes Store (US) has been full of free videos. A common trend has been for networks to offer a series pilot for free in hopes of getting you hooked on the show. Not a bad idea – especially since it worked on me. I downloaded Spike TV’s free pilot for Blade and now have a TiVo Season pass for the show. I love checking out all the free TV show downloads in iTunes. The only problem is that finding all these free videos can be time consuming and a little challenging.
In an effort to make browsing for free video content on iTunes a little easier Apple created a Free TV Shows Downloads page (iTunes link) last week. When I was writing this blog entry there were currently 12 free TV shows offered.
But this free TV Show download page unfortunately isn’t the one stop shop it should be. For some reason free downloads for TV shows like Passions and Blade weren’t included on this “free” page. Hopefully Apple will make an all-inclusive free download page soon, but until then, this partial page will have to do.
methodshop | Comments (2) | General, Portable, Videogadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
August 18, 2006
What if Microsoft Designed the iPod?
Apple definitely has a successful formula when it comes to their elegant product design and marketing. Simple. Uncluttered. Clean… and very un-Microsoft. But what if Microsoft designed the iPod? What would the packaging look like? This video parody explores those possibilities.
What makes this video even more funny is that it was created by Microsoft. Microsoft spokesman Tom Pilla sent an email to iPod Observer saying that his company initiated the creation of the parody video.
“It was an internal-only video clip commissioned by our packaging [team] to humorously highlight the challenges we have faced RE: packaging and to educate marketers here about the pitfalls of packaging/branding… While MS did not release the video, it’s natural to share funny things with friends. So while we didn’t publicly share the video, it was shared with appropriate teams internally. We’re happy to see others enjoy the laugh as well.”
The music in the background might sound familiar. It’s the song “The Breakfast Machine” from the movie Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.
methodshop | Comments (0) | General, Music, Videogadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
August 10, 2006
3D Laser Display
Remember the scene in the movie Minority Report where Tom Cruise uses a 3D holographic interface to track down people before they commit crimes? True holographic projection technology is still years away from being a reality, but some Japanese scientists are at least headed in the right direction.
It’s not exactly a hologram, but Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) has developed a 3D display that uses intersecting infrared lasers to create small amounts of plasma emission in mid air. By controlling the position of the focal point in the x-, y-, and z-axes, the visible plasma dots are capable of forming letters and simple shapes in 3D-space.
If you attended SIGGRAPH 2006 then you might have already seen this fancy laser projector on display. If not, here’s your chance. Check out the video here.
It’s probably only a matter of time until advertisers start utilizing this technology as a form of nighttime skywriting.
digg story | flickr | methodshop
methodshop | Comments (0) | General, Software, Videogadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
August 09, 2006
Watch the WWDC Keynote
Did you miss Steve Jobs’ Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote? Apple has posted the keynote as a streaming QuickTime movie on their site. A video is also available of “The PC Guy,” who delivers his own greeting to the attendees of the conference.
Some keynote highlights include a preview of Mac OS X “Leopard” and the Mac Pro – the Intel replacement for the PowerMac G5.
The stream was very strained and laggy after word of this stream made the front page on Digg.com. You can also try this direct link if you can’t get a decent video stream flowing.
methodshop | Comments (0) | Broadband, General, Videogadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
July 31, 2006
Apple Store Webcam Wedding Proposal
You’ve probably heard of people proposing at sporting events using the Jumbotrons, but this is ridiculous.
To help document the excitement surrounding the June 2006 grand opening of the 5th Avenue store in New York City, Apple setup a special time lapse webcam to capture the first 24 hours.
The store opened at 6pm. By midnight, the crowds were starting to die down. By 1am the crowd control barriers were removed. By 3am the crowds had vanished.
But if you keep watching the time lapse video, sometime after 5am, an unknown man stands in front of the webcam with 3 giant pieces of paper. The first piece of paper just has a name: Uschi Lang. The second piece got a little more personal: I love you. And the third piece got to the point. It said: Will you marry me? Obviously someone had decided to take advantage of the webcam and use it to do a time lapse wedding proposal.
Here’s the video if you want to check it out:
So after watching this video, your first question will probably be “Did she say yes?” According to Jason Kottke from kottke.org, Uschi Lang did indeed say yes. Apparently Uschi and her fianc?©, James (that’s his name by the way), were both in line earlier that night for the Apple Store grand opening. While in line, James noticed the camera and got the webcam proposal idea. While Uschi was sound asleep, James snuck out of bed around 4:30 am, grabbed some giant pieces of paper and went back to the Apple Store. He then held up his 3 signs for 5 minutes each to make sure that they were captured on video. Those were probably some of the longest minutes in his life. If you watch the video carefully, you can see several people staring at him like he’s nuts.
So was Uschi watching the webcam at 5am when James was holding up the signs? If not, how did he present the video to her? After hundreds of blogs starting speculating on the rest of this story, Uschi decided to send another email to kottke.org with some more of the details:
“… a few days later, James set up a romantic trail of candles leading up to his G5, showed Uschi the video — which she had not seen despite some coverage on the web — and she of course said yes.”
And there you have it. The full story behind the Apple Store webcam wedding proposal. Was it nerdy? Yes, but it was also timeless, opportunistic and creative. Let’s just hope that James and Uschi have a long and happy marriage. Not everyone gets their wedding proposal forever preserved in a time lapse video on Apple.com. Not to mention that it was immortalized online by thousands of bloggers (including this one).
Good luck James and Uschi.
digg story | revver | methodshop
methodshop | Comments (0) | Broadband, General, Videogadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
July 27, 2006
How To Make a Mentos Coke Rocket
Want to make your own carbonated gas rocket? You’ve probably already seen someone make a Mentos Coke Geyser. Just drop a few Mentos into a bottle of Diet Coke and you’ll see a violent 16 foot fountain of Coke explode out of the bottle. Although that may sound somewhat exciting, the geyser is the boring “science teacher” version of this experiment. If you really want to unleash the carbon dioxide power in a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke, try making a Mentos Coke Rocket. Here’s how:
- Buy a 2 litter bottle of Diet Coke and a roll of Mentos. You can use any soda but room temperature Diet Coke for some reason is the best performer.
- Find a big open area to launch your Mentos Coke Rocket. Don’t do it indoors. Trust me.
- Slide the paper cover off the Mentos (leave the foil wrapper on) and slip the roll into the bottle.
- Quickly cap the bottle and shake it.
- Gently unscrew the cap, just a little, until you start to hear fizzing.
- Throw it down and cover your face!
digg story | revver | methodshop
methodshop | Comments (34) | General, Toys, Videogadgets,gadget,gadgets shop, latest gadgets, new gadgets
