Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Features, iPhone
The Big iPhone Zapruder #3: Music, Cover Flow, Video and more
And the exhaustive analysis of Apple's iPhone Guided Tour continues, this time with the third installment and photo gallery covering some of the interesting new features we found in the iPod app. This is of course one of the iPhone's key components, and Apple has really made some great improvements to the UI and experience. While we have already seen most of them demonstrated by Jobs and in the commercials, there were a few handy new tidbits revealed in this tour.
Gallery: The Big iPhone Zapruder #3: The Big iPhone Tour Zapruder #3: Music, Cover Flow, Video and more
Cover Flow track selection: We've seen the wonders of Cover Flow, but I don't remember seeing that you can actually select an album and chose a track while still in the Cover Flow view. Previously, I thought the demos showed that you had to select the album and switch back to a full track list view; but not so here.
Theatrical Aspect vs Full Screen video: Looks like the iPhone doesn't default to playing widescreen movies in what Apple calls 'theatrical aspect' so you can see the whole thing; they're zoomed in to a full screen view. Double tap for full widescreen, double tap again to get out.
On screen movie controls: I think we've seen them before, but I couldn't find a screenshot, and even the Calamari ad has the user hit the Home button to get out of the movie; he doesn't actually interact with it.
Customizable iPod buttons: Here's one of the slick ways Apple has really improved on customizability, allowing users to specify which five buttons line the bottom of the iPod app. Listen to a lot of podcasts? Want a genre button instead of artists? You can swap out all the buttons for easy access to the parts of your library you use most. Brilliant.
Headset controls: I also don't remember much being said about the headset that comes with the iPhone. At first glance it looks like a simple, standard set of iPod headphones with a new microphone slapped on, but the mic has a surprisingly functional button. Of course, you can use it to answer and end calls, but when listening to music, you can double-click the button to advance tracks.
That's about all the new goodies we picked up in the iPod section of the video. Stay tuned for more in-depth analysis soon.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
morgan said 2:34PM on 6-23-2007
in no way is this a "big zapruder". it is just a reiteration of small details that can be found in any and all of the commercials and websites apple has for the iphone that you restlessly blog here.
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Will said 2:58PM on 6-23-2007
Re: Cover Flow Track Selection
They have most certainly been showing this the whole time. I can't remember a demo of Cover Flow that DIDN'T show the user tapping the album, which then flips over, and then selecting a track.
That is not at all new information.
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trent said 3:33PM on 6-23-2007
Hi,
what does "Zapruder" mean? I tried to google it but didn't really find anything rational explanation. Thx in advance!
T.
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Brian said 3:40PM on 6-23-2007
What happened to the readers of blog all of a sudden. So many complaints.
If my mom was a TUAW reader she'd make a rule that you can't leave a neagtive compliment unless you say something nice as well.
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Dave said 3:42PM on 6-23-2007
So, Zapruder was annoying when Erica started using it, and it's still annoying. Can we stop? Please?
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buckers said 3:43PM on 6-23-2007
the only thing on that list that wasn't mentioned at macworld was the customizable iPod buttons
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Allen Ormond said 3:47PM on 6-23-2007
You know what's annoying? The people that make negative comments on this blog. This is TUAW, not the Wall Street Journal. Give them a break.
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xbird said 4:01PM on 6-23-2007
@Brian,
This is a blog we look to as an authority for informed news and opinion about all things apple. I hope it offers some insight and information that I couldn't come up with on my own (given my busy schedule), otherwise I have no reason to waste my time reading it.
It's only when we realize that we could probably do a better job at coming up with useful and well-researched journalism during our free time that we get a bit ticked off.
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MxSix said 4:01PM on 6-23-2007
Does anyone know if the iPhone will be eligible for an education discount on launch?
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Brian said 4:11PM on 6-23-2007
@xbird
"given my busy schedule"
yet you have time to comment on a post you didn't even like.
How long does it take you to skip over the post in yoru feedreader? maybe 1 second? Open the posts you want to feed, pass over the ones you don't want to read.
Maybe you knew these four things. But I'm sure this post "offers some insight and information" to other readers not as informed as you.
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miguel said 4:33PM on 6-23-2007
education discounts? that is cute! ... I really like that one
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digitalintrigue said 4:39PM on 6-23-2007
Zapruder refers to the 8mm film of the Kennedy assassination. Google "Zapruder Kennedy."
And yes, *please* retire this verb.
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Dave Chartier said 4:45PM on 6-23-2007
#10: Not likely, especially since earlier this year (or possibly late last year), Apple removed the educational discounts off all iPods altogether.
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Richard said 4:54PM on 6-23-2007
I've been very patient not saying anything about over using zapruder... but it's seriously being misused and overused too many times. All of you care bears need to realize this isn't just a negative troll comment, it's criticism in trying to help tuaw be better. Sure you can say it's just a blog, but isn't the goal of professional bloggers to be treated as a legitimate source for news?
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trent said 4:56PM on 6-23-2007
@13: Thanks! I'm not native english so it was a little bit difficult to get the clue behind this topic.
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Bratling said 5:12PM on 6-23-2007
Respectfully, customizable iPod buttons isn't "brilliant", as you write -- it's a workaround for an interface that cannot scale. The iPod menu is brilliant because it scales -- no matter how many menu items there are, it still works. But a toolbar interface is limited to the size of the display, and a single row limited even more.
Now, simplicity is a good thing, and I think the iPhone gets it right. But brilliant? No, it's a workaround to a limitation of the chosen user interface.
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PeiPei said 5:18PM on 6-23-2007
About the switching of buttons in iPod-view: I really like this feature, and I REALLY, REALLY, hope that the four "main" apps on the home-screen will be replaceable as well, I'd much rather have SMS down there than mail...
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PSM said 5:52PM on 6-23-2007
Well I learned a few things I didn't know from this post. I don't always have time to sort through all the Apple news myself, so a nice summary of stuff like this is appreciated, and anything I've heard already only take up like half a sentence, so I don't consider it a huge waste of time. Not all TUAW readers are going to have exactly the same amount of awareness of what's going on, so they have to compromise at some point.
And I guess I'm in the minority, but "Zaprudering" has never bothered me. The first time I heard it in a TUAW post, I knew exactly what it meant and in one word summed up pretty well what exactly the author intended to do with said video. Language evolves because it's useful. A few years ago a lot of people were like "OMG Google isn't a verb!" Well it is now. So is "Photoshop." If people see a need for it, it becomes a word.
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Anonymous said 6:15PM on 6-23-2007
This iPhone looks cool!
iPhone
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Afterschool said 7:03PM on 6-23-2007
One thing to mention: iPhone doesn't use a standard audio jack. It's a slightly thinner and longer version of it. Belkin and Griffin will be selling adapters, and standard headphones will not work without this.
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