If the iPod touch can be a tool, so can you: 20 Dollar iPod touch Upgrade is Totally Worth it

Alternative title: Ipod touch with Mail. Best Product Ever, Now More So.

 

Mail software in iPod touch upgrade is a winner.

As regular readers know, I'm a huge fan of the Ipod touch (aka, itouch and phoneless iPhone). The $20 software upgrade, to my surprise, is totally worth it.

 

Here is why: you can now store and view files offline (.doc Word, .xls Excel and .pdf Acrobat). Offline is the key word here as Gmail would let you do it while connected. But Wi-Fi is hardly ubiquitous. So before the upgrade, it was impossible to view files while offline with the iPod touch. Now you can e-mail them to yourself, download your e-mail while connected, walk out of range and open and read files offline later. As many email providers such as Gmail allow emails of 20MB, this allows sufficient flexibility.

 

The e-mail program also surprises by making swapping from one account (online, POP or Exchange) to an other incredibly easy.

 

Be warned

Now you can't edit these documents. And forget about Power Point and even .rtf Rich Text Format. Only .doc, .xls and .pdf will work. Emails in HTML work as well. So you can read all that picture rich spam when you are on the elevator (I doubt anybody else sends their email in html, but I could be wrong). Also, setting up a Hotmail account is nowhere as easy as Gmail, Yahoo or AOL.

 

Flash, not that quick

Interestingly, accessing the saved files on the flash memory of the iPod touch is slower than Gmail via Wi-Fi.

 

Widgets

The other features of the upgrade include a weather widget and a stock market widget. Both are cool, but the whole point of the touch is to access the World Wide Web in html, as God intended. So those widgets are almost sacrilegious. But they do work quite well and heretics will like them.

 

Shortcuts

You can also add web page shortcuts to your front page and have more than one front page. Some people may like this feature.

 

Google Maps

Map pages, such as Yahoo, worked quite well with the Wi-Fi iPod touch. Now Google Maps does as well and you can zoom by pinching. Of dubious value if you ask me as you are unlikely to get lost in a neighborhood with free Wi-Fi. But if you are downtown Fredericton...

 

Lyrics

I've yet to experiment the viewing of song lyrics, but apparently that is a feature that already existed on other iPods.

 

Best multitasking tool/entertainment device

No product out there is as portable (easily fits in a tight jeens pocket), complete (full html World Wide Web (but no Shockwave or Adobe Flash) , email, video, pictures, mp3, Youtube, mobile iTunes, easy podcast updates and iTunes synching) on as large a screen (3.5 inches), as the $300 iPod touch.  

 

If the iPod touch can be a tool, so can you

Macworld blames strict accounting rules for Apple charging $20 for the software upgrade (as if), but early adopters like myself (the upgrade is included on iPod touchs sold in 2008) will definitely want to fork over a $20 bill for the ability to view files ofline. The iPod touch definitely becomes more of a business tool with offline email reading and writing capacity. Reading off a 3.5 inch screen isn't ideal (although you can turn it to view in landscape, pinch to zoom), but the incredible portability of the tool (yes, I said tool) compensates greatly.

 

Alternatives

The Archos 605 Wifi (4.3 inch screen) is an alternative product (parts are sold separately!) but with the Archos, you can not read email, Word or Excel files offline (but you can read .pdf). An other alternative, The HTC Touch is smaller at 2.5 inches (and more expensive, but it is a phone).

 

Needless to add, but the iPhone is also an alternative to the iPod touch if you live in one of the few countries where it is available. However, when you factor in the required cell (aka wireless or mobile) service contrat, the iPhone is about twice as expensive as the iPod touch.

 

Labels: Ipod touch

iPod touch TV out

Alternative title: iPhone TV out.

I thought I'd share a few hours of online research and a useless purchase with you...

So you bought an Apple iPod touch or iPhone, and you obviously want to use ALL the features.

Ipod touch TV out (or iPhone TV out) is one of those features. Now before thinking about the dubious usefulness of connecting your iPod Touch (or iPhone) to your TV or VCR, you want to do it because YOU CAN. It is a feature, says so at Settings/Video. You can even select the TV signal and width of the image! By then you are giddy with features anyway and you figure you will use the ipod Touch to take over the world, so why shouldn't the TV out work? Your TV should be begging for the privilege of being connected to your ipod touch or iPhone.

But you need a special cord from Apple. $59 in Canada, $50 in the USA. In Canada, I could only find the Apple store selling the thing: $59 plus $6 for shipping!

Go ahead, look for an alternative. Won't work. You need the Apple A/V composite cord (for those of you with HDTV, you can use the Apple Component cord). The cord comes, oddly, with a integrated usb cord and power charger. No, the USB cord will not be used to miraculously synch your iPod or iPhone with your TV (it is Apple, not magic). As far as I can tell, the video out on the ipod touch and iPhone needs power, and so that is why there is a power adapter (or it could just be marketing, you never know with Apple). SEE UPDATE 2

So $59 plus $6 shipping to view the video and pictures (will that work?) on your ipod touch on your TV. And we are talking expensive Canadian dollars! NOW, start to think about the usefulness of connecting your iPod touch or iPhone to your TV or VCR . Think about it, how did the content get onto your iPod touch or iPhone in the first place.

Granted, getting content from your computer to your own TV is a royal pain in the arse, never mind your friend's TV. By far the easiest and cheapest way is to burn a cd or DVD (use mpeg 2 for video, jpeg for pictures). Alternatives include San Disk's new Take TV available for an affordable US$99 (plus shipping, border brokerage and a trip to your local industrial park when you miss the UPS guy).

Update (2008-05-02): No, inverting the red white and yellow on a generic mini cable does not solve the problem. I had thought of that, but thanks to the prankster who made me check again...

Update 2 (2008-06-24): TV-out is now compatible with the iPhone, so the post has been amended accordingly. I finally bought the composite (RCA) Apple (ridiculously expensive) cable mentionned in my post in order to link my iPod touch to my Cathode Ray Tube ("normal"/prehistoric) TV. Works as advertised. Although you don't need external power, so I guess the included USB power adapter is there for marketing reasons after all.

Nice positive surprises:

-With the TV out feature of the iPod touch (and iPhone), you can show off your iPoded pictures on your TV while also playing your iPoded music on your TV (or stero system)!
-You can watch streaming Youtube (assuming you have access to a wireless network)!
-If you have access to the Internet on a wireless network, you can stream any H.264 Quicktime video you find on the World Wide Web with your iPod touch (or iPhone) and play it instantly on your TV (so the TV Out is compatible with Dailymotion.com)!

Negative surprise: the wire foursome (composite video, left and right audio and USB) is pretty big and cumbersome (and heavy!). Not a practical item to carry around just in case (although it will fit in a jaket pocket).

In other news, the Take TV product mentionned in my post didn't take and the related online service is being discontinued.

However, iTunes is as popular as ever and now allows you to rent movies (only in the USA, the UK and Canada)! If you already have an iPod touch or iPhone, shelling out $65 for the tv out cable now makes sense when compared to $230 for Apple TV. However, please note that if you want to watch movies in HDTV, then you are better off with Apple TV as Apple TV is the only way iTunes will let you watch movies in HD. Ironically, Apple TV does not include the necessery HDMI wire to link it to your TV. Marketing (and perhaps design), but certainly not engineering, runs Apple.

I rented "National Treasure 2" and the action sequences and dark scenes were essentially flawless on my CRT. You can lie to your iPod touch (or iPhone) and tell it you have it connected to a wide screen TV so the letter box effect isn't as pronounced in movies (such as National Treasure 2) that come in that format in iTunes. I also re-watched Steve Jobs' latest presentation on my TV. Is is true what they say, TV does add 20 pounds. And on TV he looks perfectly healthy...

If You Like Music or Nelson Mandela, Get an iPod touch

Listening to music on my iPod touch in my sensory deprivation chamber (the bathroom) is pure bliss. Shopping for music on Apple's ipoded itunes is a genuine pleasure. I wish I could somehow get all my shopping done this way (and for that matter buy stocks and do my taxes).

 

My iPod touch is so enjoyable in the bathroom that the room has been magazine and newspaper free for weeks. I can listen to music while surfing the web while taking a dump. Not to be crass, but that is the killer app. I suppose you could do this with a laptop, but, I'm not sure why, the mobile itunes is actually better than the original!

 

Still, be careful you don't electrocute yourself (or your spouse in the tub) and hand washing timing is more essential than ever...

 

I do apologies for becoming an iPod touch evangelist. But discovering the iPod touch does feel like a religious experience. I realise it is absurd, but I wish everybody could have an iPod touch.

 

One of my favorite audio clips that I downloaded onto my iPod touch (thanks to itunes' Podcasting) is Nelson Mendela's speech from when he was released from prison. After a day at work that feel's like prison, it is quite inspiring, especially when you consider that he later became President of South Africa (and then used by George Bush, President of the United States, as an adjective is his infamous " Mandela is dead" speech (NOT iPod touch worthy)).

 

Labels: Ipod touch

Size and Format Matters

Alternative title: You may have an HDTV in the living room, but I have entertainment system in the bath room: Ipod touch.

 

Before buying a wide screen TV, you need to calculate the vertical real estate you are losing by going wide screen. As for computer screens, you might want to save a few buck by pressing F11, it is amazing how much space those menu bars take up (you will need to use "alt, tab" a lot though).

 

Don't be like one of my friends who bough a wide screen High Definition Television set but is too cheap to pay for a high definition input cable box. He just has normal analog cable because "he doesn't watch TV that much" Argh!!!!

 

Ipod Touch (aka iTouch)

At the other end of the spectrum, I still love my iPod touch. However, I haven't gotten Moncton's free wifi to work on it (it keeps hanging on the login page).

 

The screen is nice, but content is king. So I still use my Sensa because of the radio (a FM radio receiver is available for the iPod). Podcasts are cool, but I'd have to spend the entire day on the bus to watch all the content I've been downloading. Still, most of the video podcasts are amateurish crap. I've figured out how to copy flash video (such as Google video, YouTube and Tetes à claques) on to my device in a playable format (MP4 H.264), but the process is time consuming enough that I usually end up watching what I'm transferring first, so I end up with a bunch of 3.5 inch reruns.

 

TV is where it is at. And I'd like to watch great shows when I have a few minutes (based on a Youtube video, the Simpsons look amazing on the ipod touch). However, transferring TV to ipod is a pain in the neck. I'm tempted to purchase iRecord. However, at $264 at Futurshop, I feel it is a bit pricey. How often would I really watch TV on my iPod? There are also a number of alternatives such a Neuros ODS and V Mate, among others. All have advantages and limitations. I'm not sure the time, effort and money is worth the payoff of a TV library in my pocket. 

 

Update:

 

Alright, when factoring shipping and the fact I don't have a credit card, I bit the bullet and bought iRecord from Thesourcecc.ca for C$229, shipping included (thank goodness for Interact online). They aren't clear on how they ship, but as most people, I live near one of their stores so that is where it will be delivered.

 

The reason I bought iRecord was that it has been on the market for a while; seems to work according to reviews; there have been no reports of self combustion; it is easy to use (as ALL entertainment devices should be), it records in the MP4 H.264 format that my iPod Touch uses. Apparently, it will record directly to the ipod, no computer required, but I'll believe that when I see it.

 

I also just happened to have recently bought a 500Gig usb hard disk drive from LaCie for the too good to be true price of $149 at Future Shop. It is formatted in Fat 32, I have no idea what that is, but apparently that is what the iRecord needs as a format to record on a usb drive. I read one complaint online that copy protection will not allow you to record DVDs onto a usb drive(1) (see why I don't care, below).

 

So far, my iPod touch is getting expensive. $329 for the 8Gig version. $149 for a 500gig hard disk to store the podcasts, media and Flash video to mp4 h.264 video conversion software (software was free). $229 for the iRecord. I'll obviously be forking over an other $65 for the cable that enables the TV out feature of my Ipod Touch (as soon as I can find out how to buy from the Apple store without a credit card). Oh, and $20 for a music card so I could open an account an enable the cover flow (a credit card would have worked to). Grand total: $792! ($902.88 including tax). Add the 80 bucks I spent on RAM this summer (iTunes is gready) and I'm starting to realise that the digital age is expensive (this all for entertainment!).

 

Given the final price, the Archos 605 Wifi would have been significantly cheaper. However, good luck trying to figure out how much cheaper, as with the Archos, everything is sold separately.

 

With the Archos or the Ipod Touch, wireless Internet is essential. However, check to see if you can "borrow" your neighbor's before you buy a wireless router and spring for higher Internet bandwidth.

 

Feel free to leave any questions you have on the subject in the comment section. I'm off to the can with the NY Times, Toronto Star and the entire Library of France (and Youtube). It might take a while. Next week, when I have my iRecord, I'll be able to bring my television and movie collection. Then life will be perfect. :-)

 

(1)However, as Play Station 2 owners may know, copy protection does not apply on the DVD playing capabilities of that device (go figure). And there is no copy protection in my Motorolla DVR which I use to record Pay per view movies and the Movie Network. 

Google Video, Youtube, Picasa or Tetes a claques on Your Ipod or Sony PSP!

Fascinating video about Steve Jobs and the history of the iPod originally broadcast on the Discovery Channel: At Google Video (43 minutes).

I must have missed the memo, but Google Video now provides a link so you can download and save in iPod and Sony PSP friendly MP4 format.

Odly, Google doesn't offer that convenience on it's Youtube site. To save Youtube videos on your iPod, ipod touch or iphone from Youtube, Google's Picasa or from Têtes à claques (or other Adobe Flash video), you have to follow the following procedures:

(If you have access to a Wifi Internet connection (and/or EDGE for the iphone), you don't have to follow this procedure if you just want to watch, but not store, Youtube (only) videos on your iPod touch or iphone ).

1. Download and install the totally free and, according to Norton, safe, Freez iPod converter.
2. Go to Youtube or Picassas or Têtes à claques as you normally would, watch the video. Right click on it, boost the Adobe Flash player cache to something relatively high (After right clicking on the video: settings/folder icon/drag the arrow thing to the right), .
3. Once the video is finished playing, go to your temporary files (in Internet Explorer 7, click on Tools/Internet Options/Browsing History Settings/View Files).
4. When you have found the Temporary files folder, look for a recent absurdly large file (put your files in order of "Last Accessed", go ot the most recent, then go up from there to the large file).
5. Copy the large file, paste it. Change the extension to .flv (you can also change the name of the file if you want).
6.Open your free and installed copy of Freez iPod Converter (not a sponsor of this blog), chose the file you want to convert, chose to appropriate setting (.h264 in the case of the ipod touch and iphone) and voilà, a video in the appropriate iPod touch format (or normal Ipod, iphone, PSP or MP4 players) .

To transfer the video from your computer to your iPod (step one is done):

1. Save the video to a location on your computer.
2. Connect your iPod to your computer and open the Apple iTunes application.
3. In iTunes, select "File" > "Add File to Library." Browse for the video you downloaded, then click "Open."
4. Select the "Movies" tab.
5. Check the "Sync movies" box.
6. Click "Apply."

Let me know if you have any questions.

Movie Rentals with iTunes

In grade 10 I did an oral presentation announcing the imminent death of the movie rental outlet. 18 years later, in Canada and the UK, the future is here! (in the USA, the future has been here since January).

More Movies
Your movie library now includes 1200 movies thanks to iTunes. However, it is still is a better value to subscribe to The Movie Network /Movie Pix or to use a PVR to record movies from network TV. A DVD sure has a convenience factor, seeing that, unlike your computer, your DVD player is connected to your TV and sound system. And Video on Demand, for relatively new releases, is always available to those of us with digital cable (but $6/movie isn't cheap).

Choice, NOW, NOW, NOW (and no late fees)
But never befor in the history of Canada have you had access to so many movies. I'm downloading the Crocodile Hunter as I write this. 1 Gigabyte (my monthly allowance with Rogers is 60). $3.99. I know from downloading TV shows that playback can be a tad choppy (but still acceptable) on my older computer. But on my iPod touch, it is seamless (although, obviously, small).

iTunes Rental Limitations

Annoyingly, many of the movies in iTunes are only available for purchase. However, I'd say 60% of the 1200 can be rented. The National Post said that iTunes would be making new releases available in iTunes at the same time as they are available in DVD. However, the CBC doesn't mention that and I didn't notice any new releases when I browsed the iTunes Canada library. (new releases are now on iTunes, see my update below).

Viewing Options
An iPod touch/iPhone to TV (RCA/composite or HD/component) cable is available for $50 or so from the Apple Store. Ironically, there is no iPod touch/iPhone to DVI or HDMI adapter available (which are the only inputs on many new affordable HD wide screen TV/monitors. I have a 24 inch BenQ 1200p, which has viewing angle limitations, but is otherwise perfect (especially for $300!). Although if you have the money, opt for something bigger (and a wider viewing angle would be better for groups). By the way, spending extra coin on an internal HDTV tuner is stupid as the only place in Canada with over the air HDTV is Toronto. Although if you live in Toronto (or Ottawa/Vancouver/Montreal and are forward looking) AND you are boycotting Bell/Star Choice and Rogers/Videotron/Cogeco/Shaw...

If You get Carried Away
Apple TV is available for about $250 (Apple TV is essentially a modified Mac Mini). However, you could buy a brand new Acer computer (with Windows Vista) for about $300 at Wal-Mart. Even laptops with TV-out are available for as low as $500 at dell.ca. And as many HDTV monitors come with PC/VGA imputs...

Update (30 minutes later): Viewing Crocodile Hunter on my iPod touch is sublime (although the movie requires a beer). I even managed to locate my iPod touch stand which I never had to use before, but is required if you need blood in your fingers after 30 minutes. At times, I did notice a very slight delay between the voice and mouths, but I was paying special attention to such details. Dark scenes are not so good, but bright ones are perfect. And the sound quality is irreproachable (although, obviously not surround). A great feature I did not expect is a chapter guide!

Wow, the Apple movie rental Store (in iTunes) just changed (while I was writing this!). It is now more graphical. And yes (!!!!) there is the new movies section I was looking for. National Post was correct. $5/ movie for those.

If you work at Blockbuster, you will need a new job (that is what I said in my oral presentation in grade 10).

OK, the blood has been restored to all my fingers, I can now resume watching the movie (although I have 48 hours, so I can take my time).

By the way, not a single movie in French among the 1200 in the iTunes catalog. Shame on you Apple. Elvis Graton and Les boys 1,2 and 3 aren't just going to magically appear on my iPod touch now are they? Bell, obviously, does have French language movies on its online rental service (actually, they only seem to have French versions of American movies, hmm).
-----------------------------------

From the National Post:
Titles will be available for purchase on the same day as their DVD release, including recent movies such as Juno, I Am Legend, The Bourne Ultimatum and Cloverfield.

From the CBC:

iTunes Canada adds movies to lineup

Last Updated: Wednesday, June 4, 2008 11:12 AM ET Comments29Recommend33

CBC News

Two weeks after Bell Canada unveiled its own online video store, Apple Inc.'s iTunes store in Canada has followed suit, adding movies for download to its growing catalogue.

Apple announced Wednesday that more than 1,200 films were available for rent or purchase on its Canadian and U.K. iTunes stores, the first time feature films were made available through the online retailer outside the United States.

Movies are available for purchase at prices ranging from $9.99 for older titles to $19.99 for new releases, while rentals cost between $3.99 to $4.99 and include titles such as Juno, The Bourne Ultimatum and Cloverfield.

Video was added to the iTunes lineup in the U.S. two years ago, but has been slower to come to Canada. Television episodes only became available for download in Canada in December.

In the United States, companies like Apple and Microsoft typically negotiate download deals directly with a television show's producer. In Canada, however, television networks often hold the internet rights to shows, which adds a layer to negotiations.

The delay allowed Bell Canada to beat Apple to the punch and launch its own video service in May.

Each service, however, has staked out different territory because of limitations in how they can be played. Aside from watching them on a computer, iTunes users can view Apple's videos on an iPod or Apple TV, the company's Apple TV set-top box.

Bell Video Store users must install the Bell Video Store media player on their computer, and the service is limited to PC users running Microsoft's Windows operating system or owners of some mobile media players from Archos. The videos won't play on iPods or computers running the Linux operating system.

Microsoft also launched downloadable movie rentals in December over Xbox Live, the online component of its video game console. [I don't think the Microsoft service is available in Canada]

To Mini or Not to Mini, that is the iPad Question

I ordered the iPod touch the day Steve Jobs announced it September 2007. I payed $329 and it was worth every penny.

5 years later and you can buy the bigger, better, 2 camera iPad Mini for exactly the same price (in Canada). 

Portability 

The iPod touch is portable. The full size iPad is not. You need a bag. The iPad mini will fit in a jacket pocket.

Retina Display

The iPod touch and the full size iPad have retina display. The mini does not. Once you go retina (or an ereader like the Kobo on Kindle), you really notice those little squares.

Decisions Decisions

So, should you get the $300 iPod touch, the the $330 iPad mini or the $500 iPad with Retina Display (aka 4th generation). Or should you get one of the junkers made by the competition.

Movies

If you will be using your tablet to watch movies, there is a lot of wasted real-estate. So smaller 7 inch tablets would do just fine (unfortunately, no Netflix on the cheap Blackberry Playbook). Unfortunately, the iPad mini keeps the same ratio as the iPad full size, so those black bars will still be visible, defeating, in a sense, the whole point of smaller tablets.

Recommendation

Not knowing your needs or resources, here is my recommendation: Get an iPhone. For kids, a 4 inch retina display iPod touch. If you can afford it, for home use, an iPad retina display (for reading in bed or on the can). The iPad mini fills a niche because it will fit in your jacket pocket. In the fall, winter and spring, you can take it everywhere, just in case. You can use it to show off pictures, for example. The competition has better 7 inchers for less money, but they lack software (aka games). 

If the iPad Mini had retina display, it would be a much tougher decision. But it doesn't. That said, I own an iPad first generation and use if every day (ditto for my iPhone 4s). However, I'm totally counting my pennies to buy the new iPad with retina display. Those little squares are getting annoying.


 

Please Make Your Blog iPhone and iPod touch Compatible

Provide a link to Youtube or use Dailymotion
I just realised something. If you provide the link to your Youtube video in addition to embedding it, you make your blog usable with an iPhone or iPod touch, which are not Flash Player compatible. Youtube has made their site compatible with the iPhone and iPod touch. So by simply providing the link to the Youtube video you are embedding, you make your blog usable by users of the iPhone and iPod touch. If you don't, they just see a question mark where the video should be, no link or anything.

If you embed a video hosted on (the way more permissive) http://www.dailymotion.com/ , a link, accessible by iPhone and iPod touch users, will automatically be provided.



iPhone Dailymotion Version
envoyé par Dailymotion

Everybody Touch the iPod touch

I've been afflicted with a bad case of Apple evangelism. I want everybody to get an Apple iPod touch. It is completely irrational. If there was a charity dropping theme from planes over Africa, I'd be contributing to it.

I'm still not sure most people want (or need) the World Wide Web away from their home and work computers, however. And indeed, the mobile World Wide Web is the main reason to get an iPod touch. An even then, it will only be as mobile as your local Wifi networks. And no Flash player capability.

Still, the ability to purchase music from the throne (mobile itunes store) is the killer application that people should try (granted, you could do that with a laptop as well).

Any way, the following commercial doesn't feature a toilet...



Note the possible confusion: you only need one iPod touch to do ALL those things.

St. Andrews App

I took a while to find, but after reading on the CBC web site that the little town of St. Andrews (aka Saint Andrews) , New Brunswick had an iPhone app, I was quite intrigued.

In the days of fast Internet and Google Street View, it is a wonder that tourism boards produce pamphlets. But they do. So I installed the goExplore app ( http://j.mp/StAndrewsApp or http://j.mp/standrewsapp ) and downloaded the in-app tour.

First impression: Pretty good! My expectations were pretty low (I expected a web site called an app), but it turns out there are enough iPhone/ipod touch features to make this download-worthy (the app is free).

Basically, each tour is a Google Map with pins on it. You press the pin, and you get information and usually a short video. You can use many of the app features without Internet access (as long as you have downloaded the tour). This is quite useful for iPod touch users as well as for visiting Americans who want to avoid international roaming fees. Even if you have disabled Internet access on your iPhone, the GPS feature of your iPhone will tell you where you are on the app's map (this is extremely useful, as I experimented while in Havana with my Lonely Planet iPhone guide. I can assure you, there is no cellular Internet in Cuba).

The list of tours available in the goExplore iPhone/iPod touch/iPad app is quite eclectic. After exploring St. Andrews, you can check out the College of Science and Mathematics and Austin. Not bad for one app! :)

I have to admit, after playing around with the app, I put St. Andrews on my list of places to visit. Simply viewing St. Andrews on Google Street View would not have been enough to convince me the town was worthy of a visit. So perhaps there still is a place for tourism pamphlets, paper or electronic.

Below is an embedded Google Street View map; it is not part of the St. Andrews app. Note the ad for "Garden Gate Bed and Breakfast" when you put your mouse over the picture. If you don't have Flash (because, for example, you are reading this on an iPhone/iPod touch/iPad), you can see it here.

Agrandir le plan

Antidote for ZuneHD Envy

So what does the HD in ZuneHD stand for? Because without an adapter, it doesn't do High Definition. With an adapter you can TV-Out to a HDTV in glorious 720p. That isn't as good as your Blu-Ray player's 1080p, but it is the resolution of many HD TV stations (others are 1080i).

The 3.3 inch screen of the ZuneHD (iPod touch is 3.5 inch) can display in only 480 x 272 (the last number is the important one). That is about the same as an iPod touch (and iPhone) at 480 x 320.

The ZuneHD does have HD Radio capability. But that is HD as in Hybrid Digital. As in cramming as much content as possible into the radio frequency. If you are lucky, especially on the AM bandwidth, you will pick up higher quality radio feeds than analog.

If you don't want a smartphone that can stream Internet radio, and if you KNOW there is HD radio in your area with a station that you want to listen too (that is a lot of ifs), then the hybrid digital capability of the ZuneHD is a major plus.

The 720p to your TV is good if your XBOX, PS3 or computer is far from the right TV and you don't have a Blu-ray player with Internet capabilities. The required dock isn't pocket size, but should probably fit into a large purse.

OLED screens are awesome. The "O" is for organic. And like with food, organic is better... Oh, you want to know why? Um, ah, better contrast and uses less electricity. Better contrast is good. Extra battery life? Well, do people complain about the battery life of the iPod touch? No. People complain about the battery life of the iPhone. And the ZuneHD is not a phone.

Other details are scarce. The browser is apparently IE6 mobile. No flash player for you (not that there is one on the iPod touch).

The ZuneHD is available for under $300 dollars. But only in the USA because Microsoft doesn't like foreigners. Just to be clear: THE ZUNEHD WILL NOT BE SOLD OUTSIDE OF THE USA!

Gizmodo on ZuneHD compatible video formats and battery life.

I want an iPod touch / iPhone projector

First, Apple makes me wait until July 11, 2008, before I can buy an iPhone. Then this company brags about an iPod touch / iPhone projector with absolutely no way to buy it. Argh!

I love renting movies and buying TV shows from iTunes. Unfortunately, the iTunes /Quicktime combo is too hard on my computer and they don't play as smoothly as they should. I could (should) upgrade computers (brand new one at Wal-Mart will only set you back $300), but I've been loosing so much money on the stock market (thanks Google, Apple and that stupid oil wholesaler that I chose at random), that my budget is pretty tight. Besides, buying a new computer to watch movies/TV is crazy.

So I almost got an Apple TV ($250). But that strikes me as buying a computer to watch movies/TV, and that's crazy.

And they play perfectly on my iPod touch. iPod touch and iPhones have a cool TV out feature. Not so cool is the required wire. It is $60 plus $6 for shipping. $66 for an RCA cable! On the plus side, it includes a USB power adapter, but if you have an iPhone fist generation, you already have one of those. You can get a component (HD) version for the same price. The irony, of course, is that component inputs are seldom available on newer HD monitors (mostly HDMI inputs now days).

As you can't download HD content via iTunes anyway unless you have an Apple TV (well that makes perfect sense... NOT !), I opted for the $66 Apple glorified RCA (composite) cable. I haven't seen the wire anywhere else. I know it is hard to believe, but you need the Apple version, nothing else works.

That is, until this. With this you don't even need a monitor. A wall would do just fine. So cool. Not sure if it actually works without the Apple wire though. And anyway, it isn't available for purchase yet.

Free iPod Touch with New York Times

Or, to be more accurate, get an iPod touch and read the New York times, anywhere, for free.

Remember Pointcast? It started all the rage in push. Push was, in theory, a better use of limited bandwidth. You set Poincast for overnight, and your dial-up connection downloaded all the information even the biggest news junkie could use.

The New York Times iPod Touch/iPhone app works the same way. Download the online newspaper when you have Internet access, then read it when you don't. Cool. Obviously, you won't read the entire paper, so in theory you are downloading stuff you don't need. But you do that when you buy the Sunday paper as well...

I can't afford Rogers' iPhone prices at the moment. So having the New York Times in my pocket, on my iPod touch, is a good compromise. Getting (ie updating) the virtual newspaper in the morning is a easy as opening the door to pick up the real thing. With my high speed connection at home, the entire paper is downloaded within seconds. I'm not sure how the revenue model is doing, but I do know I have and incredible urge to stay at Westin Hotels (the only advertising you see when you are in Canada).

Thanks to Firmware update 1.1.4, iPod touch and Iphone now have French Canadian Keybords

A 160 MB later, I now have a French Canadian keyboard. This means I have a North American Qwerty keyboard (the French use the Azerty key format) with "entré" instead of "return". (Hat tip to De l'update 1.1.4… (in French)). I also have "espace" instead of "space".

The French Canadian keyboard is otherwise identical to the American and British Qwerty keyboards. With all three keyboards on the iPhone or iPod touch, to make an accent, you hold the key down and then scroll over. With a computer keyboard, the French-Canadian version (which you can add in Windows) is vitall as otherwise making an accent requires pressing a series of keys (such as alt130 for the accent aigu "é").

So the "space" and "return" on the keyboards used by French-Canadians was a bug. Pat on the back for Apple for fixing this bug less than 5 months after the release of the iPod touch in Canada (how many years did it take to resolve on the Apple II?).

Was it a 160 MB bug? No. What else was included with the update? Nobody knows. No other "features" as far as I can tell. My last 160MB update (1.1.3) was a letdown as well. Almost nothing changed with that one untill I unlocked the features with the $20 upgrade fee. I suspect iPod touch users will be expected to fork over more money this week when Apple announces the new "exciting business applications" next week.

iPod touch 2.0

I don't have an iPhone to play with as Moncton ran out :-( . I would
have bough one by now but Rogers is run by a bunch of idiots and won't
allow me to buy an iPhone online with the $30 6GB version (online, you
have to opt for one of the over priced combos). Although if I had
bought online, who knows when I would have gotten it. Now I have the
local Rogers dealership on speed dial. "Any iPhones now?" "How about
now?"

But I digress, as the point of this post is to write about the iPod
touch/ iPhone 2.0 software.

Buying software on the can is pretty ossom. By the way, many of the
apps look like pure crap. And since when is a 100 year old book
considered an application? Many of the 500 apps are actually books,
including far too many Bibles (but no Koran).

Super Monkey Balls has given me motion sickness. That could literally
be $10 down the drain.

The remote control (free and by Apple) looks cool enough but there are
no instructions and I can't figure out how tu use it. I've got the
code, but where do I put it? Google was no use, nor Apple Support. Help!

My favorite app is the virtual beer by Carlling, excellent. Although
maybe I shouldn't of had so much virtual beer before playing Super
Monkey Balls.

Don't tell anybody but the light saber is the coolest thing ever,
sjoom, sjoom.

I now have a currency conversion app. Not sure why that needed an app
as a web page would have been OK. But free is good in any curency.

Speaking of money, I can now use the $ sign on the French-Canadian
keybord. In 1.4, the $ sign came out as a € ! That was a major pain,
so I'm glad Apple fixed it. Living with that minor bug for 6 months
thought me an important lesson: minor bugs on something you use daily
become major bugs and I don't mind paying for less of them.

I can't afford the best car, but I can afford the best cell phone.

PS, my upgraded iPod touch will soon be for sale.

Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

The Littlest Kobo, Traveling Light is Kobo Style: A Kobo Mini Review

The Kobo Mini is the littlest Kobo. And like the Littlest Hobo theme song says, traveling light is hobo style.

Hat tip Chris Tindal for the Littlest Kobo idea.


I bought a $80 Kobo Mini last week. Here is my review:

The good

-It is pocket size (including jeans pocket)

-At only 134g, it feels very lite in your hand (although, factually, it is heavier than the smaller iPod touch 88g or iPhone5 112g, but less than the iPhone4S at 140g or iPhone4 at 137g) 

-Cost: $80

-You can read in direct sunlight. If you can read a glossy magazine in direct sunlight, you will have no problem reading on the Kobo Mini

-Wifi. You can buy books from Kobo wirelesly.

-The battery. I've had the Kobo Mini for over a week and I haven't charged it yet. At all (I set it up wirelessly). In fact, I almost threw out the usb power charging cable by mistake. 

-Reduction of distractions. Reading a book requires concentration. Even in a very good book, some passages will be painfully boring. When Twitter (or this blog ;-) ) is only a thumb press away, you are doomed. The Kobo Mini is for book reading and buying. Nothing else.

-Ease of use and responsiveness. Apparently ebook readers slow down when hot. But in the October Canadian sun, that wasn't an issue. 

-Won't keep you awake. The iPod and iPad screens apparently will interfere with your sleeping. You could easily fall asleep reading a Kobo Mini. 

The bad (aka less good)

-The cost. Even at $80, if you are not a bookworm  it is going to take a while before you pay it off with the relative savings of ebooks (generally $5 to $10 a book less than a paperback).

-Turning pages. For epub formatted books, a small screen is fine (unless you somehow read more than one sentence at a time). However, the smaller the screen, the more page turns. And I haven't gotten the hang of changing pages with one hand yet.

-You need a light. If you have been spoiled by an iPad or iPhone/touch, you will notice this.

-On a plane, you need to turn it off on departure/landing. "There are currently 15 planes ahead of us" is a horrible sentence when joined with "all electronics must be off". That lasted 90 minutes on my last flight out of Newark (because of the rain!).

-You can only read books. The Kobo Mini is a single use device.

-In theory you can transfer books from any estore to the Kobo Mini compatible epub format with software like Calibre. In practice, you won't. So you are stuck wirelessly shopping from one store: Kobo. But the same can be said for Chapters-Indigo monopoly on paper books, unless you like the selection at Walmart. 

-Selection: There is very little cost to stock a virtual ebook for estores like Kobo. So there are duds a plenty out there. Beware.

-Does the screen scratch? I haven't seen one of those keys on screen Youtube videos for Kobo Mini yet, so I'm still wary of having my Kobo Mini in the same pocket as keys or even loose change.

Conclusions:

I would cry if my iPhone was lost/stolen/damaged at the beach. People, apparently, also tend to drop their smartphone in the toilet. So for that, Kobo Mini wins. I can absorb an $80 loss. $700? Not so much. Still, nobody in the history of time has ever had their paperback stolen at the beach. But if you finish your paperback, or it turns out to be terrible, you are screwed. With a Kobo, you probably have half a dozen books already downloaded and you are just a wifi hotspot away from many thousand more.

If you don't carry a purse, the Kobo Mini will fit in your front pocket. So the mini wins over the regular size Kobo Glo. The mini is smaller than the Glo, but that is a reasonable compromise for non-purse portability. A mini glo would be perfect. But it doesn't exist. Reading in the dark on a Kobo Mini is out of the question. You need a good light source.

If you can't decide between a $130 Kobo Glo and a $80Kobo Mini, buy both! The Kobo Glo for home use in less than ideal lighting, a device that won't interfere with your sleep like an iPad. The Kobo Mini for going to the park or beach, where you know there will be sunlight and you want to preserve your iPhone battery for important emails and, well, phone use.

If you don't already have a smartphone, the new iPod touch Retina display is only $300 and 88 grams. With a touch, you could easily buy from 3 stores: Apple, Kobo and Kindle-Amazon. I'd recommend the iPod touch.

But if you already have a smartphone, and your iPad is keeping you up at night, the Kobo Mini is worth the $80. Still, I just wish it had the Glo light feature.

Update: Turns out you can surf the web with the Kobo Mini. Not that you'd want to, as web pages are barely readeable. Hat tip GoodReader.com . More importanly, by playing with the settings, I was able to change the turn page settings: one hand book reading! My nose and but are greatfull. :)

Non-Touch Kindle In Canada

Cost

If you live in Canada, it will cost you C$122.86, plus HST, for the cheapest Kindle. The Kindle Touch and the Kindle Fire are simply not available to Canadians.

By comparison, the Kobo Wifi will cost you $109 (the newer Kindle Touch is $140) . If you are really cheap, you can pick up a refurbished Kobo 1st gen (not wifi) for $70 at Future Shop.

Cost of ebooks

Remember that with a Kindle, you are really stuck buying books from Kindle's store. Many books are not available to Canadians and those that are, are almost always more expensive in Canada. However, when you factor in the sales tax, that American Kindle store does not charge, the Kindle store books are usually about the same price as other ebooks (at Kobo or iBooks, for example).

Library books

Also, keep in mind you can't read library books on a Kindle (at time of writing, that option is limited to some US libraries). 

Comparison

If you will spend a significant time with your ereader. Possibly in intimate places like your bed and the bathroom. However, why spend more that you have to.

iOS

-I love my iOS devices (iPhone and iPad) because I can shop for ebooks on many different stores as well as the New Brunswick library. Reading, however, is an other issue. The main problem is that I have the entire freeking Internet at my finger tips. To say there are distractions to reading a book on an iOS device is an understatement. The iPod touch is the lightest reading device and very portable. The iPad is bigger and heavier than an ereader, so less portable, but it is easier to read formatted text like magazines. Anything that had glass will have glare. However, the back-lit iOS devices can become challenging in very bright situations (at the very least, you will have to take off your sunglasses).

-Kobo. Every Kobo feels rushed and imperfect. That is just the way they do things. However, you won't suffer from feature creep. They use the standar ePub, so works with elibrary books and you technically could buy from different stores. I'd advise against the non-wifi model as not having to sink to your computer is a luxury that is worth the extra coin (think buying books while on the can). The advantages of touch are debatable in my opinion. I don't remember doing anything but turning the page while reading books on my iOS devices. Glare is a factor when reading under bright lights or outside. Non-glossy paper wins in that respect. 

-Kindle 3G. You can buy an ebook no matter where you are IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. Even if you are house bound, that might be worth the extra $50. Of course, if you don't have a router, or any intention of getting one (and live within the Telus-Bell coverage area), it is the cheapest option.

-Kindle with keyboard and wifi. If you are realistic, and have access to wifi, you won't spring for 3G. And the keyboard is there if you suddenly get the urge to type something while reading a book. But I've never typed anything while reading a book on my iOS devices.

-Kindle without keyboard or touch capability. This Kindle is Koboesque is its lack of features. But is has wifi. And if you aren't the type to write in the margins of paper books, you don't need a keyboard, virtual or otherwise. The lightest eink reader (but almost twice the weight of an iPod touch).

Need more information? If you really like books, more is never enough:

http://altavistagoogle.blogspot.com/search?q=ereader

Rogers Wireless Giving iPod touchs To Employees

My source at Rogers informs me that the company's cell phone division
is now giving away iPod touchs to employees as part of a contest. More
importantly, photos of the iPod touch are posted all over the cell
phone section of the Moncton call centre and on the intranet.

Yes, it would be more exciting if Rogers was giving away iPhones or
giving touchs to all employees (instead of one or two as part of a
contest.). Still, the fact that Rogers is using the iPod touch to
motivate employees is quite interesting.

Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

Hello BlackBerry, Meet the iPhone - New York Times

I'm just as enthusiastic about the iphone/ iPod touch platform as this
NY times article. However, I was an early adopter of the www, the
mobile web and the ipod touch (I ordered one 3 days after it was
announced.)

But think about this: I read the NY Times article and blogged about it
from the comfort of my bed. Granted, I suppose I could also have done
that with a laptop...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/13/technology/personaltech/13pogue-email.html?ei=5087&em=&en=59413bc0dda325c7&ex=1205553600&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1205612473-JMu/mNF7VxI4q+ApzUh20g

Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.

Is Apple Xenophobic?

Almost a year after launch, the Apple iPhone is available in the USA,
France, Germany and the UK. That is it. George Bush's coalition was
bigger for crying out loud.

And how is it that a product manufactured in China is not available in
China?

The availability is so restricted that people assume it is available
in Australia and Singapour (it isn't).

iTunes is available in more countries, but despite being the most
popular music seller in the USA, in most countries you can't use it to
buy music.

Home is easier than away, no doubt. The iPod touch is available in
many countries. Coudos for making a French-Canadian version available
in February (however, with the anoying bugs of having the € Euro
symbol come up when you press the $ dollar sign and not having the
French quotes).

So what gives? According to the New York Times, Nokia hires people to
go to places like Vietnam for market reaserch to better design
handsets. Vietnam ! And Apple is scared to sell the iphone in Canada
and Australia?

At least sell it in Finland (home of Nokia) and Sweeden (Ericson).

Think of the irony of using Canadian and Brazillian musical artists to
sell the iPhone and iPod touch in the USA but not making the products
available in their countries.

There is a recession in the USA, but Russia and Mexico are doing fine...

Hopefully, this xenophobia will be solved with the 3G (faster
Internet) version coming out this Summer.

Otherwise, I think Jobs needs to hire an other executive from Pepsi.

Envoyé depuis mon iPod / Sent from my iPod touch.