Video iPod is a Fake

The Video iPod image which has been making the rounds appears to be a fake. A video of the creation of the fake image has been distributed by the apparant perpetrators.

TuneFind.com

Heard a song on a TV show or movie and want to know what it is? TuneFind will help you find it.

They also compile popular song and artist lists. For example, find out that Coldplay has had a song on at least 11 TV shows and movies from CSI to Garden State.

Free TV Show

NBC and Apple are offering NBC's mid-season replacement legal drama, Conviction, for free download.

Apple Special Event February 28th

Special invites have been sent to an event on Apple's Cupertino campus on February 28th. Speculations include more Intel-based Macs, a true video iPod, a full-length movie download service and a Hi-Fi "boom box" for iPod. The event starts at 9am Pacific time, or 12pm Eastern time. You better believe I'll be waiting.

Billionth Song Downloaded

The billionth song, ”Speed of Sound,” was purchased as part of Coldplay’s “X&Y” album by Alex Ostrovsky from West Bloomfield, Michigan. As the grand prize winner, he will receive a 20-inch iMac, 10 fifth generation iPods, and a $10,000 Music Card good for any item on the iTunes Music Store. In addition, to commemorate this milestone, Apple will establish a scholarship to the world-renowned Juilliard School in his name. Source: Apple Computer, All Rights Reserved

Half Star Ratings in iTunes

Andrew Escobar's blog shows you how to add 1/2 stars to iTunes ratings. There is no direct way to do this in iTunes, but it is supported through some AppleScripts. I welcome the feature - some songs are not quite 5's, but more than a 4.

True Video iPod Coming Soon?

ThinkSecret.com reports that a true video iPod is on the way possibly as early as April 1. At Macworld Steve Jobs told the crowd to look for a major announcement on April 1, the 30th anniversary of Apple Computer.

The unit will supposedly have a 3.5 inch diagonal display. Sources say it will have a digital clickwheel on the display.

Sounds really cool if true.

I watched Star Wars Episode III and Airplane! on my recent trip to the UK & back on my 5G iPod. I was very happy with the experience, but a bigger screen is always better!

Apple vs. Apple

Just a quick update on the Apple Corps (The Beatles) and Apple Computer. Trial is set for the week of March 27, 2006 for this lawsuit, which was filed more than two-and-a-half years ago.

Digital Music Profits Double

AppleInsider.com reports the Warner Music Group nearly doubled its quarterly profit to $69 million dollars.

iTunes 6.0.3 now available

iTunes 6.0.3 (54MB) includes stability and performance improvements over iTunes 6.0.2. The company notes that after purchasing music from the iTunes Music Store with iTunes 6 or later, users will also need to upgrade their other computers that purchase music from the iTunes Music Store to the latest version of iTunes.

iPod Mondays

iPod Monday at The Lift in Des Moines, Iowa celebrates its first anniversary next week. I've been meaning to go for, well, I guess a year now. Love the idea. It's indicative of the cultural force that the iPod has become on our daily lives. The concept is to build a 15-minute playlist on your iPod and the bar will play it sometime through the course of the night. It's brilliant and not surprisingly, very popular. Check out the website for just a sense of what the culture is like.

Of course, as you probably already assume, Des Moines is not known for its night life and The Lift is certainly not the only establishment that has an iPod-themed night. But for it to maintain and build popularity in a place that South Park once called two years behind everybody else is a testament to the lasting power of the iPod way of life.

Billion Songs Countdown

Download the billionth song from iTunes and get a sweet package including a new 20" iMac, Ten 60GB iPods (yes, 10), $10,000 iTunes Gift card, and a full-ride scholorship in your name to a world-famous music school.

For every 100,000 song downloaded in the meantime, win an iPod nano and a $100 iTunes Gift card.

Free (Legal) Movies For Your iPod

There are many films that are now public domain that you can download for free. Public domain is when the copyright has run out and is not renewed or cannot be renewed. The famous George Romero flick "Night of the Living Dead" is in the public domain.

The Internet Archive has a ton of these movies for download, many of them already in an iPod-friendly format. For those not in the format, you can convert using iTunes or QuickTime Pro.

The Last iPod Video Guide You'll Ever Need

Everything you ever wanted to know about getting video onto your 5th Generation iPod is here. The Last iPod Video Guide You'll Ever Need has it all. Convert video in H.264 or MPEG? Find the answer here. How can I get commercial DVDs that I own (of course) on my iPod? Find the answer here. How can I get 3+ hours of battery life from my 30GB iPod? Find the answer here.

It definitely lives up to its name.

New 1GB iPod nano, Reduced Shuffle Prices

Apple announced a new 1GB iPod nano today as well as reduced prices for the iPod Shuffle. The new 1GB nano will sell for $149 USD. The previous 1GB Shuffle sold for $129, so for just 20 bucks more, you get a much more attractive iPod with a screen.

I really don't get the Shuffle - I've never been able to make it successfully work at the Apple Store, and the fact that it doesn't have a screen really bugs me. But if you're looking for the small form factor of the Shuffle as well as the small price tag, it might be worth it. The 512MB Shuffle is now $69 and the 1GB model is now $99.

iPod prices now range from $69 to $399, so there is an iPod to fit everyone's budget and needs.

iTunes Signature Maker

This is cool. The iTunes Signature Maker will make a short WAV file of up to 100 snippets of your tunes from your iTunes collection so that you can add it to your email signature. Very unique idea.

Another Dumbass Lawsuit

An iPod user is suing Apple Computer over the sound volume on the iPod.

Okay, so the iPod at full volume is as loud as a jet airplane taking off (115 decibels). But you don't need to listen to it at full volume. Apple's lawyers have always had the legal copy talking about listening to music at high volumes is bad for you, yada yada yada. Bottom line - it is your personal responsibility - not Apple's.

Now back to my lawsuit against the hair dryer industry for the volume of my hair dryer.

iPod Seeing Red?

No, iPod being red. Maybe. According to T3.co.uk, U2 front man Bono was overheard talking about a red iPod for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS charity. We'll see. There's been a few color iPod rumors in the past - a pink one for Madonna, etc.

New iTunes Phone - Motorola SLVR L7

Motorola is out with a new phone that will hopefully address some of the flaws with their first phone with iTunes. Extremely thin, this phone has elements of the popular RAZR phone, but is not a flip-phone. The 100 song limit and USB connectivity is still there however.