Apple iPod Classic

The XtremeMac MicroMemo is a digital voice recorder for the Apple iPod. MicroMemo plugs into your iPod to record audio content directly. It can also record directly from a computer or soundboard. Unlike the Belkin TuneTalk, the MicroMemo includes a small speaker for instant playback of what you recorded.

Recordings are controlled via the iPod’s center button and are simple enough to make based on the selections that pop up on the iPod’s screen (record, pause, and so on).

MicroMemo features one-touch recording in 2 different quality levels: Low (default) and High. They are then saved as 16-bit audio at 44 kHz or 8-bit at 22 kHz WAV files. Recording time is displayed on your iPod screen. Voice recordings come out loud and clear; using a stereo mic brings even better results.

Recordings can be played back directly from the iPod and/or transferred to a computer via USB.

MicroMemo snaps into the bottom of the iPod and works without batteries or cables. The MicroMemo is available in black and white and comes in two versions: one for the iPod Video and one for the iPod Nano.

The XtremeMac MicroMemo is reasonably priced and does and excellent job of digital voice recording.

No Comments » Posted by Gregory / Accessories

Over the last few years, Apple’s iPod’s have received more attention and popularity than any other brand out there, even side stepping the Macintoshes that came out first – this shouldn’t be surprising at all! Apple technologies have taken advantage of the cultural resurgence amongst the youth of today by marketing their ultra-innovative media players. The media players of today’s ‘Generation X’ are super sleek and uber sexy and are available in a whole range of colors, and even come with miniature inbuilt CPU parts!! As amazing as it sounds, its true – your Apple iPod is like a miniature portable computer, storing all your audio and video files.

The recently released iPod Touch plays all audio and video formats, allows you to browse through the Internet by using the wi-fi, and enables you to view photos on a multi-touch wide display screen, making it a mini-miracle gadget.

Just like its former predecessors, the Touch has a vivid blue screen with a dull gray background. The display screen is made up of 163 pixels per inch and has a considerably distinct resolution of 480 x 320. the contrast and brightness and color accuracy are far more precise, and the speed is just as fast. What’s more, it offers no glitches and errors. The resolution will help you browse through photos and videos easily, while retaining the original texture and color – making it one of the most user-friendly media players ever!

The iPod Touch comes with a single master button that is much smaller than the one on the iPhone. The starting ‘wake’ button that is present right on top stands for power on and off purposes, so it isn’t too hard to figure out what you are doing. The wi-fi antenna window will be located right next to the close button and is always used to access the Internet or to receive radio signals. The touch uses a feature called ‘the piezo’ for certain single beeps that are fairly loud. Headphones will be provided for audio playback and the jack or opening for the headphones or earphones is present at the bottom end of the instrument. Remember that the jack can only accommodate original earpieces – so none of those fake earpieces will do. However, if you wish to use another earphone, then you’ll probably need a dock connector.

As the name suggests, the iPod Touch has ‘touch-sensitive’ buttons that may look complicated at first but is actually quite easy to use, since it is fairly primitive in playback control mechanisms. The only limiting factor is the ‘next’ button, which can be quite troublesome and should be avoided as far as possible.

Overall, it is quite easy to browse through the device, since the controls tend to be more instinctive than its other media player counterparts. With such a user-friendly model out by Apple, the heat is finally on!

No Comments » Posted by Gregory / Features and Device

The initial hype following the Apple press conference on the 5^th September has died down. The original iPod, re-christened as iPod Classic, has excited many people, just like the new Nano, and the first ever iPod Touch. Now we can safely come in terms with the reality of these players. Classic is the least innovated of all the iPods for this generation. But at least Apple has continued manufacturing the hard drive based player, which is very hard to come across in the market these days with other companies. While the focus is on the flash memory based players, Apple has proved that the hard drive based Classic can still rock.

There are many changes that Apple has made to the Classic in order to perfect it. Though it’s far from perfect, many users are going to be delighted with the new features. While the price remains the same, the memory has jumped to 80 GB, and 160 GB, which can only be possible with a hard drive based player, at least for now. This effectively means that your Classic ceases to be “just” your media player, and effectively become a portable media library. People who are always on the move, and like to take their collection with them will simply love the new Classic. In addition, they have replaced the plastic body with a metal one, so now the White Classic actually is a Silver Classic. The black remains the same. And though the disk space has increased, the Classic is actually an inch thinner than its previous generation model. Cover Flow is a positive change in the User Interface that is appreciated, and this is enhanced by the complete change in the menu system. The battery life has improved greatly, without which, all that storage space would have meant little.

There are also few problems facing users with the new Classic, and we are not talking about the lack of FM radio, the absent SD card slot, or a removable battery. One of the main drawbacks is that the new Classic is only compatible with the latest version of iTunes, which will not work on the older computers. Also, according to many users, the sound quality has actually come down, as compared to the older generation iPod! Also, all the improvements in the menu, along with the Cover Flow make the new Classic frustratingly slow at times. Browsing through a large collection on Cover Flow is no fun.

Still, iPod remains the most novel media player in the market. Now it is up to individual users to decide whether they can use the improvements or would be affected by the drawbacks of iPod Classic, and accordingly make the buying decision for the festival season.

No Comments » Posted by Gregory / Features and Device

In the world of hard-drive based media players, the new iPod Classic is about as good as it gets. While there have been few changes from the older version of the Classic, the main change comes in the storage space that is now at your disposal; 80 GB, and 160GB for the same old price of $249, and $349 respectively!

There have been few changes in the hardware, but not anything drastic. For those who are still confused about regarding the maximum capacity of the iPod touch, which stands at only 16 GB as compared to the capacity of the Classic, the answer lies in the hard drive. The Touch has a flash memory, and as of now, its technical limitations do not allow it to compete with the hard drives in terms of memory. So that’s definitely an advantage in Classic’s favor. As for the touch and feel of the Classic, the plastic body has been replaced by anodized aluminum, with a slight more ergonomic design than its predecessors. Other things like the click wheel, dock connector and top-mounted headphone jack remains the same as the previous generation. However, the new Classic is a tad thinner than the older ones.

The interface sees a major change, as Apple has introduced Cover Flow on all its iPods (except the shuffle that has no screen), which makes browsing a lot like doing it on the iPhone. Cover Flow allows you to flip through your music by the album art stored on the player. The Now Playing screen is modernized and the album art has a slight 3-D effect to it. One more improvement is the LED-backlit screen, which definitely improves the video quality as compared to its previous version. As the Classic now features progressive scan output facility, you can use all the extra space to treat your iPod as a portable video library. The 160GB model can store upto 200 hours of video at 640×480 resolutions with H.264, or MPEG-4 compression. You will only need an AV cable that costs $49 to watch all this on a TV.

No Comments » Posted by Gregory / Features and Device

With two of the best Apple products hitting the market at the same time, how do you decide which is the best product for you? The iPod classic is a lot like the Video iPod, where as the iPod Touch is a completely different approach. With technological advancement like never before, the iPod Touch is a collector’s item.

Let us talk about the iPod classic first. The iPod classic is really a classic and true music buffs love the classic because of its large storage capacity. The classic comes with 80GB storage capacity and 160GB storage capacity. You can store forty thousand songs with the 160GB iPod classic and include twenty thousand photos! Games, a calendar, notes, clock and audio books are other features on the iPod classic. Also one of the improvements made to the classic is the 2.5-inch display screen that makes watching videos much more pleasant than on the video iPod. The battery life of the iPod classic is nothing to joke about. The 160GB iPod classic can play 40 hours of audio playback and 7 hours of videos non-stop. The 80GB version gives you 30 hours of audio and 5 hours of video play back nonstop. The choice is yours depending on the price. The iPod classic cost $250 for the 80GB and $350 for the 160GB.

The iPod Touch is, as the name suggests, a device with a multi-touch screen. The display screen, which is 3.5 inches, makes video viewing or Internet surfing more fun. You can multi task on the iPod Touch just like you can on the iPod Classic. The touch is perfect for watching movies or videos and you have the option to watch them full screen or split screen while you are doing some other tasks. The touch comes with wi-fi Internet options so that the Touch is much more than just a media player. The only drawback where the iPod Touch is concerned is the storage space, 8GB and 16GB. The price isn’t too bad either, $300 for the 8GB iPod Touch and $400 for the 16GB iPod Touch.

So what you choose is really up to you and depends on your needs. The decision could be tough, but whichever iPod you end up buying, you will have the best.

No Comments » Posted by Gregory / Features and Device