Inside Chris's Head » iPod

Managing Podcasts with Smart Playlists in iTunes

chris2x — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 15:47:08 +0000

This is a screencast tutorial that shows you a better way to manage podcasts in iTunes than the one that iTunes provides (podcasts like the Amateur Traveler)

UPDATE: since I made this video Apple has made a change to iTunes, instead of the setting “Podcast” you now need to set “Media Kind” is “Podcast”.

iPods in Flight

chris2x — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 16:23:37 +0000

Apple announced great news for tired air travelers and harried flight attendants today:

Apple® today announced it is teaming up with Air France, Continental, Delta, Emirates, KLM and United to deliver the first seamless integration between iPod® and in-flight entertainment systems. These six airlines will begin offering their passengers iPod seat connections which power to charge their iPods during flight and allow the video content on their iPods to be viewed on the their seat back displays.

This kind of news makes you want to go out and jump on an airplane but we won’t start seeing planes with this feature until mid 2007.

iPodulator Pro 2 – iPod Notes

chris2x — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 15:36:49 +0000

iPodulator Pro 2 from ThePlaceforitAll.com is an application for taking content form a variety of sources and making them available as Notes on your iPod.

The interface for the program is fairly simple to use although not rising to the level of elegant. The first thing you do is change your iPod settings so that it can be used as a disk and then select that volume from iPodulator.

Then using iPodulator you can add in content from either:

a webpage
an RSS feed
an individual note
one of a series of text based quiz games included with the program

iPodulator can be set to update at a particular interval to fresh more recent content from the webpages and RSS feeds selected.

Since the iPod has a length limit for notes, larger pieces of information (like loading in the latest MacCast website) will be broken into a series of notes:

Clicking on one of these notes form the iPod (shown here on a nano) will bring you into a simple text based note.

The advantage of having some information as close as my iPod is immediately obvious to me, even if what data I would want to carry with me and what the best source of that data is not. With my involvement in a travel podcast I can imagine carrying information about online travel guides, current exchange rates, etc. Your preferred data set will no doubt vary.

Is iPodulator Pro 2 worth the price being charged for it? Well, currently the price is free so I think the answer to that would have to be yes. What data would you carry on your iPod?

Men's Suit With Smart Fabric iPod Controls

chris2x — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 14:32:30 +0000

Gizmodo recently had an article about a new suit for the stylish geek. Does this mean we are officially past the early adopters?

Here’s a dashing and urbane suit designed by Bagir and Eleksen that transforms the suit’s lapel into a control panel for controlling iPods. As seen in the above picture, just make the universal gesture that you’re reaching for a weapon inside the jacket pocket to control the iPod. The suit is machine-washable and wrinkle-resistant, so no matter what sort of fights occur at the office, the iPod suit will be ready to go for another day’s adventure in no time.

The iPod suit uses Eleksen’s ElekTex smart fabric touch pad technology to actually carry out the iPod manipulation. This isn’t the only product to feature ElekTex, however. It was just a few months ago that a backpack was released with the very same smart fabric technology. It seemed to work decently back the, so this iPod suit shouldn’t be complete garbage. We’ll see come November when it’s released for around $280.

This Ain't Your Father's BarcaLounger

chris2x — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 17:31:14 +0000

Meet this generations new recliner courtesy of an article on iLounge.com:

Adonis Furniture has announced a new video gaming chair with a built-in iPod dock and speaker system. The iRocker features Alltek Vision speakers, universal iPod dock, 10-watt amp, remote control, multi-position reclining back, Base Tube (on select models), audio inputs, and master volume dial with LED indicator light. The chair can also be used with any audio device via an auxiliary input. The iRocker is available in models ranging from $100 to $600 and comes in six different microfiber colors, as well as faux-leather in black, bone or saddle.

Apple, Can You Hear Me Now?

chris2x — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 04:08:02 +0000

Gizmodo has a great idea on a spec ad for a rumored cell phone from Apple, the iTalk. This is the kind of product that would produce the response “I want one!”.

Get Yahoo Maps directions on your iPod

chris2x — Wed, 10 May 2006 21:10:25 +0000

I dugg this story up that looks handy for iPod owners:

iPod Directions is using the Yahoo Maps API and some clever coding to make it super easy for you to grab directions (and maps!) and put those in your iPod. Thanks to TUAW.com for reporting on the story.

iPod Nano Tie

chris2x — Thu, 30 Mar 2006 05:59:48 +0000

The latest place to stash your iPod Nano is the Commuter Tie

If you just can’t bear to put your nano in your pocket or man-bag, luckily there is a third choice: Thomas Pink’s Commuter Tie. On the back side of the tie is a secret pocket to house your iPod nano complete with a flat mounted loop of fabric to hold your headphone wires out of sight. I’m guessing you then thread the headphone wires through the top of the tie and up to your ears.

PodGuide.tv – Definitive Guide to Video for the iPod

chris2x — Mon, 27 Feb 2006 05:47:06 +0000

The best directory of iPod video feeds that I have found so far is podguide.tv.

My iPod is Too Quiet

chris2x — Tue, 07 Feb 2006 07:23:18 +0000

My iPod is too quiet. I know what you think. He must already be a victim of hearing loss like in the class action suit recent filed against Apple. That is not the case. My hearing is fine. I have even had it checked recently. And yet the fact remains that my iPod is too quiet. How so you ask? The answer is quite simple really. I am not saying that when I plug my iPod into the ear bus that came with the iPod it is too quiet, but that is not how I use my iPod much of the time. I have a new car stereo which has an external jack into which I can plug an iPod shuffle. The problem I have is that the sound coming from the iPod is much quieter than the sound coming from my CD player built into the stereo. So when I switch from the iPod to the car stereo or the CD player then the volume nearly blasts me from the vehicle if I forget to turn down the volume first. That is one of the major flaws in the class action suite. Apple can’t tell what amount of power is coming from the iPod but cannot actually measure what volume will result. So, thanks very much for thinking of my well being, but keep your hands off my iPod and its volume setting. Perhaps for a change we could all practice personal responsibility for our own volume settings. Oh and kids, especially mine… turn down the volume or it will hurt your hearing.