iPhone Ringtones on iTunes

Apple now lets you create ringtones from any tune you purchase from the iTunes Store. You have to pay an additional 99 cents (for a total of $1.98 -- the original 99 cent tune purchase plus the 99 cent ringtone purchase), but then you get a custom ringtone from that tune you can import onto your iPhone. Check it out from within the latest version of the iTunes software.

iTunes WiFi Music Store -- and Starbucks

Part of Apple's new product announcements last week was the opening of the iTunes WiFi Music Store. Designed for use with WiFi-enabled iPods (currently, the iPhone and iPod touch), the WiFi version of the iTunes Music Store lets you purchase and download music directly to your iPod/iPhone from any WiFi hotspot, no computer required. Songs you download in this fashion are later transferred to you computer when you sync your iPod.

It's a great idea with some limitations. For example, you currently can't download DRM-free iTunes Plus tracks. Neither can you download videos. Maybe at a later date.

Apple also announced a partnership with Starbucks. If you hear a song you like playing at your local Starbucks, just tap your iPod's new "Starbucks" button to display information about the track and, if you like, to purchase and download it. Good deal for Starbucks, I'm sure, and an interesting application of the new iPod/iPhone WiFi capabilities.

New iPod Models

Just in time for the holiday gift-giving season, a totally revampted iPod lineup. Here's what's available:

• iPod touch, more or less an iPhone without the phone. The touch has the iPhone's form factor, touch screen, Cover Flow navigation, Wi-Fi capability, and web browser, but at a fraction of the price. Two models are available: 8GB for $299 and 16GB for $399. Memory is flash-based, of course, and the touch plays both music and videos.
• iPod classic, more or less the current iPod Video but with a thinner case, more storage capacity, and a lower price. The 80GB model runs $249, and the double-capacity 160GB model runs $349. Both are available in black or silver.
• iPod nano, completely revamped for this generation. The new nano is shorter and wider than the older model, with a 320 x 240 pixel display. The display is perfect for viewing videos, which the new nano (unlike the old) lets you do. Both the nano and the Classic come with a new Cover Flow interface, which works well on the larger screen. It's available in 4GB ($149) and 8GB ($199) versions; the smaller one is silver only, the larger one comes in silver, blue, green, black, and red.
• iPod shuffle, essentially unchanged from the previous model except for new color choices: silver, turquoise, red, green, and blue, all priced at $79.

I expect the new iPod touch to be the big seller, along wth the revamped nano; the classic will continue to appeal to those with extra-large music collections (up to 40,000 tracks for the larger model).

iPhone Price Cut

You knew it was going to happen, you just didn't know it would happen this fast. Apple has lowered the price on the ridiculously overpriced 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399. It also dropped the once-lowerpriced 4GB model. At $399, that makes the iPhone somewhat more appealing; the price is closer in line to that of competing smartphones.

And what if you already purchased an iPhone for $599? Tough luck, chump. Apple will give you a $100 credit for the Apple Store, but past that you just paid $200 to be an early adopter.

iTunes Store Sells 3 Billion Tracks

Apple announced today that the iTunes Store has now sold more than 3 billion songs. It's also the third-largest music retailer, behind Wal-Mart and Best Buy and now ahead of Amazon.com.

iPhone Sales Disappoint

Remember my previous post about analysts estimating that Apple sold a half-million iPhones in its first weekend of release? Wrong, sorry. Apple just announced its latest quarterly results, and the real number of iPhones sold wasn't 500,000, it wasn't 400,000, it wasn't even 300,000. Nope, AT&T reported activations of just 146,000 iPhones. Now, that's not a small number, but it's not a half million. (And it's nowhere near the 8 million copies of the last Harry Potter book sold in its first weekend of release.)

Some analysts are predicting iPhone sales to increase from current rates, but I think not. The first weekend was a tremendous sales surge, based on pent-up demand from die-hard Apple cultists, gadget geeks, and fashion trendists. Sales from here on out will be to normal people, and normal people are less fascinated by Apple's overpriced, under featured first generation phone.

I hold to my previous advice. Wait for iPhone 2.0 -- it'll fix all that's iffy with the current model, and probably be a better deal, besides.

500,000 iPhones Sold

Various reports say Apple sold more than a half-million iPhones in its first weekend on the market. That puts it well on the way to meeting the 10 million units Steve Jobs says it will sell by the end of 2008.

The iPhone is Here!

In case you missed all the media hoopla and long lines outside your local Apple or AT&T Store, the iPhone is now shipping. It looks like everybody who waited in line got one, and there were a few left over after that. Initial reports are mainly positive, with some common negatives.

The positives:

• Touchscreen interface is everything it promised to be
• Activation is quick and easy (for most users) via iTunes; you choose your AT&T plan directly from the iTunes interface
• Voice quality appears to be good
• The web browser is terrific -- with one qualification (in a minute...)
• The screen is also great for viewing movies.
• The auto-swivel feature works quite well, reorienting the screen when you turn the unit in your hand.
• The 2 megapixel camera is pretty good for a phone
• It's a great iPod music player, except for the storage limitations

The negatives:

• Web browsing and email via AT&T's EDGE network is slower than slow -- several minutes to retrieve a message or load a web page. Intolerable, especially for device that has souch a great web browsing interface.
• The touchscreen keyboard is difficult to type on at best, impossible at worst. This is not a phone for heavy instant messagers or emailers.
• No connection to corporate email servers means you can't use it for work email, as you can a Blackberry. Which is why most corporate IT departments are saying "no" to the iPhone.
• The lack of MMS messaging means that you can't send the photos you take via text messages. (You can send via email, however, but not to another user's cell phone via text.)
• Lack of stereo Bluetooth means you can't use Bluetooth headphones -- although you can use Bluetooth mobile headsets, like the Jabra.
• You only get 4GB or 8GB of storage (actually 3GB and 7GB, after you account for operating system software), which isn't enough to store a lot videos or big music libraries.
• There's no voice activated dialing, which is baffling in a phone of this overall caliber.
• In spite of previous reports (wishes?) to the contrary, you buy the iPhone, you're locked into a 2-year AT&T service plan.
• AT&T sucks, of course.
• It costs freakin' $600!

My advice? Unless you absolutely, positively have to have the latest and greatest, don't buy a first-generation iPhone. Wait for the second-generation model, probably in January, which should fix most of the negative issues. (There will be lots of negative press in the days and weeks to come; people will have buyer's remorse.)

Strip Personal Info from iTunes Plus Tracks

iTunes Plus is great in that it offers you DRM-free tracks at a higher sound quality. But it's not so great that Apple embeds personal information in each track, in kind of a digital watermark. This way Apple or the RIAA could track you down if you posted an iTunes Plus track on a file sharing site, for example.

Fortunately, somebody has already figured out a way to strip that personal information out of the DRM-free tracks. Privatunes is a free utility you can use to make your iTunes Plus tracks nice and clean, and totally untraceable. Take that, Apple!

iPodpedia on Computer Outlook Radio Talk Show

On June 12th I was a guest on the Computer Outlook Radio Talk Show, out of Las Vegas, talking about iPodpedia and the iPod. You can listen to a podcast of that show here. I'm scheduled to appear again on the June 26th show, so mark your calendars -- you can listen to the show live on the Computer Outlook website.

iPod Shuffle Adapters

Here are some cool new accessories for the second-generation iPod shuffle. First up is Griffin's Dock Adapter for iPod Shuffle ($19.99); one end of the adapter connects to the shuffle's earphone jack, the other side is a standard iPod dock connector. It lets you use the shuffle with any iPod dock or speaker system.

Also cool is DLO's PowerBug for iPod Shuffle ($22.99). One end of the cable connects to the shuffle's earphone jack, the other end has a standard USB connector. You can use the cable as a USB cable, or connect the USB end to the included AC adapter. In this fashion, the PowerBug lets you recharge your shuffle from any AC power jack.

iPhone Release Date: June 29th

Apple will release its long-awaited iPhone combination iPod/smartphone on June 29th. Two models will be available, a $499 model with 4 GB music/video storage and a $599 model with 8 GB storage. In the U.S., the iPhone will work exclusively with the AT&T mobile service.

160 GB Apple TV Available

Apples is now shipping a second Apple TV model, this one with a 160 GB hard drive (vs. the original 40 GB) for $399. All Apple TVs are also being upgraded to stream YouTube videos; expect to see the YouTube option your Apple TV screen sometime in mid-June. In my mind, the 160 GB hard drive (for $100 more than the base model) makes Apple TV now worth considering, although my own CD collection takes up more than 400 GB on my Windows Media Center PC -- so it's still not big enough!

iTunes Plus is Here (and so is iTunes 7.2)

Apple has just released the latest update to the iTunes software, version 7.2. The main new feature in iTunes 7.2 is support for DRM-free tracks from the iTunes Store. These tracks, dubbed iTunes Plus, are offered at a 30-cent premium ($1.29/track), and also have a higher bitrate (256 kbps vs. the normal 128 kbps). Apples says these tracks sound "virtually indistinguishable" from the originals, which isn't true, but they do sound a lot better than normal-bitrate tracks. And the lack of DRM means you can copy them to as many computers or CDs as you want.

iPodpedia Book Review

I just received a great in-depth review of iPodpedia by Eric Sinrod, on the Findlaw site. Read it here.

Five Cool iPod Tips and Tricks: Podcast

I recently did a podcast for NetworkWorld online where I discussed five cool tips and tricks for iPod users. Listen to it here.

New Roxio Video Converter for iPod and Apple TV

Need to convert some existing videos to view on your iPod? Roxio has released Roxio Crunch, a software program that converts video files into acceptable formats for viewing on both Apple TV and your iPod. Here's what it does:

• Converts native QuickTime file formats, such as DV, AVI, MOV, and MPEG-4
• Converts non-QuickTime file formats, such as MPEG-2 and DivX
• Converts DVD movies and discs created with Toast, iDVD, DVD Studio Pro, and other DVD authoring applications
• Offers multiple MPEG-4 and H.264 quality settings tailored for use with Apple TV, iPod, or iPhone
• Automatically adds converted video to iTunes library for easy syncing with Apple devices
• Includes batch video file conversion

The initial release of Roxio Crunch is Mac-only. A Windows version will be released later this year.

iPodpedia Now Shipping!

The book, iPodpedia: The Ultimate iPod and iTunes Resource is now shipping from the publisher's warehouse. Look for it at your local bookstore or online any day now!

Yahoo! Lyrics for Your iPod Tunes

In iPodpedia I explain how to add lyrics to any tune you have stored in iTunes and in your iPod. But where do you find those lyrics? Here's a brand-new source, completely legal and completely free. Yahoo! Music has partnered with Gracenote (who partners with major music publishers) to offer lyrics for more than 400,000 songs. Unfortunately, Yahoo! has disabled the copy function, you can't cut and paste the lyrics. Instead, you'll have to read them and hand-type them into the iTunes software, but it's better than not having any lyrics at all.

100 Million iPods

Apple just announced that it has hit the 100 million mark in terms of iPod sales. Other numbers: 2.5 billion songs, 50 million TV shows, and 1.3 million movies sold through the iTunes Store.

DRM-Free Downloads from EMI

Apple and EMI have just announced an agreement where EMI's music catalog (except for Beatles tunes, natch) will be available for download from the iTunes Store in DRM-free versions. Users will be able to choose from the normal copy-protected versions at 99-cents each, or the new copy-free versions at $1.29 each. As an added benefit, the DRM-free tracks will be encoded at a higher bit rate (AAC format, 256 kbps) for improved sound quality. Sounds like a good deal to me. Expect other companies to follow suit.

Complete My Album Discount on iTunes

New in the iTunes Store is the Complete My Album feature. When you purchase a complete album, you're credited 99 cents for each track you've previously purchased -- which means no more double purchases!

New iPod Software from Koloroo

Here's some neat little software applets for any color iPod. TipKalc is a an easy-to-use tip calculator, while KolorWheel displays a variety of coordinated color schemes. (It doesn't change the iPod's color scheme; it's useful for designers who want to show clients various matching colors.) TipKalc costs $4.99, while KolorWheel sells for $7.99. Buy them from Koloroo.

Apple TV Now Shipping

As of March 20, 2007, Apple TV is now shipping. Apple TV is a computer for your living room, a way to watch and listen to all your iTunes media on your home theater system. Learn more here.

iTunes 7.1

iPodpedia isn't even to the printer yet and already there's been an update to the technology. Apple has just released version 7.1 of the iTunes software, avaialble for free downloading from Apple's site. (Or just select Help > Check for Updates from iTunes.) iTunes 7.1 offer mainly bug fixes and compatibility (more or less) with Windows Vista, but also adds one cool new feature -- the ability to view cover flow album art full-screen. There's a new full-screen button next to the cover flow slider; click it and the cover flow fills your entire screen. (Makes you want to update your art to higher-resolution versions, if nothing else...)

Welcome to iPodpedia: The Blog!

Hello, and welcome to this new blog in support of my upcoming book, iPodpedia: The Ultimate iPod and iTunes Resource. The book is due for publication this spring -- look for it on bookshelves soon!