10 Unexpected Uses for the iPod

Some are lame, others cool. Check it out.

Cheater Cheater iPod Eater

Cool kids all over the world are using their iPods to help out on their third period history exam and educators are quick to ban the devices. I would recommend just banning third period history, but apparently that's not in the cards.

Battery Update

MacBook & MacBook Pro users should download and install the new Battery Update 1.2. It fixes issues where batteries report incorrect charges, don't charge, and even swell.

More DRM Free Music Coming To iTunes

According to the awesome blog Engadget, Apple is sending notices to its content providers that their offering of higher-quality DRM-free will become possible in the near future. Rock on.

Guitar Hero on Mac OS X

Fans of Guitar Hero and Mac OS X rejoice. There's now a way to play Guitar Hero on your Mac. Frets of Fire is the Guitar Hero clone with all sorts of fan-created songs. Check it out!

Why Mac OS X is the most secure OS

It's not because of the installed user base. It's the BSD Unix foundation of Mac OS X.

Upgrade your AppleTV

For those of you not happy with the paltry 40GB hard drive in your AppleTV, and are not technically inclined, Weaknees has a do-it-yourself upgrade kit to bring it to 160GB for a mere $199, or almost twice the cost of the device itself. Seems pricey to me.

iPhone Delays Leopard

The hysteria over the iPhone and making sure it is released on time has unfortunately resulted in a delay of Leopard, the next Mac OS X, until October. In order to complete the iPhone, key resources had to be shifted from Leopard. I'll reserve personal comment.

iPod Case For Kids

Here's a cool idea - a case designed for kids. Let the kids watch movies, play games or listen to music and keep that expensive toy safe in a silicon wrap. Even comes with child-sized headphones. Nice idea.

100 Million iPods

Apple announced today that the 5.5 year old iPod has hit 100 million sold. One of the fastest consumer products to hit 100 million. And there's no end in sight.

Apple Remote Cases

Just when you thought all the cases for all the Apple products have been invented, along come two companies that make cases for your Apple Remote. Phew, thank god. I've really been worried about my Apple Remotes.

Can You Tell The Difference

So EMI and Apple announced that DRM-free music is available at twice the bit-rate and only at a 30-cent premium. But is the sound quality better? PC World has a couple of samples. Take a listen and see if you hear a difference. Even on the tinny speakers on my MacBook, I can actually hear a difference. The 256kbps versions have more presence. I was actually a little surprised at the difference. I definitely be picking up these version when buying tunes and will probably change my default ripping to 256kbps.

I'm Moving to Michigan!

Will someone just think of the children?! Somehow the state of Michigan thinks giving out free iPods to kids will improve their education. Um, I'm guessing not. But still, free iPods - why not?

Blu-Ray Burner for Macs

Well as the article suggests, there are only about 4 people who are clammering for this. And for $800 a pop no less. If you have this burning desire (sorry, pun intended) to be able to burn Blu-Ray discs from your Mac, now you can. Only if you have a 17 inch MacBook Pro, Mac mini or Intel iMac. Oh yeah, and an iBook G4. Nothing wrong with that of course, but I'm not sure why'd you'd put an $800 optical drive in an iBook worth less than the drive. But hey, who am I to judge? Go for it.

EMI/Apple Announcement

So, okay, EMI disappointed everyone many when their announcement this morning failed to bring the Beatles music to the digital download world. However, the upside is that EMI's talent is now available DRM-free.

But all is not as it seems. There are some hooks to all of this apparent pro-customer lovefest.

1. DRM free music is at a higher quality (256kbps vs. 128kbps), but also at a higher price. The DRM-free version of a song is $1.29. You can still buy the same song at $.99, but it will be 128kbps and crippled with DRM. However, full albums cost the same either way.

2. For those concerned with interoperability, the songs are still encoded with AAC (which is better than MP3), but there are very few devices that can decode AAC. So if you want to buy from iTunes but use something other than an iPod, you have very few choices. This was an Apple decision, EMI doesn't care what format the music is in according to their spokesperson.

I haven't had a chance to hear the difference between 128kbps and 256kbps, but my guess is that there's not much difference. And considering I'm quite happy with my iTunes and iPod, I don't see the point in spending an extra $.30 for DRM-free music. If I want to create a mix for someone (which will ultimately spur further music sales), I'll get around DRM the old-fashioned way.

Beatles Announcment on Monday

The Beatles' label EMI announced today that they have "an exciting new digital offering" with Apple to be announced on Monday. Hard to imagine that it would be anything other than the availability of The Beatles catalog through iTunes. Let's hope there's a Beatles iPod with it!

Update: No Beatles, just the announcement of high-quality DRM-free downloads from EMI through iTunes. While it is great to get out from the tyranny of DRM, it is BORING!.