TUAW Talkcast #6: iPod announcement recap

Sorry, my awful mistake.. :-( Made a mix between AAC MPEG2 and MP3 MPEG1.

Your podcast is cool (not using "very cool' which must be a Steve Jobs patented expression), i do appreciate to listen to it. (Following some comments i read about the recording quality, i would say that while it is true some glitches appear in the soundtracks, it is still very very understandable).

I'll give you my actual feeling about the new Apple products, while i am writing this comment (sorry in advance for my english):

You know, iPhone is a huge phenomenon for Europeans... We love to learn about a product we don't have access to, its features & weaknesses. By the way I must admit, as a software developper myself (but on the windows world, too bad... on Mac as soon as possible !) i am very excited by Erica's achievements on this device. "Unbelievable" as Steve would say.

I am not so excited about the iPod Touch. Yes its a great iPod, it's the one-and-only way to access the multitouch technology for the rest of us, but in a way it's a bit more than an iPod, a bit less than a PDA. To my taste, it's some kind of "unachieved" product because it would have needed a more complete PDA functionality (edit of events/contacts/Todo, and so on). But it's just my personal opinion. I guess future firmware evolutions could give this "hybrid" product a true identity.

As for the nano ... Well, good product i guess. A bit disappointing at first with regard of design, but quite promising on the tech side. Coverflow: yes, good idea, we are getting more and more used to this selection mode. Flash: as usual, very good for power management. But i regret the choices made for the new UI. A screen divided in two sections like this make me LOVE my 5G iPod menu system.

iPod Classic, well... it sounds classic, true.

The iPod line of products had to be refreshed, this is done.

After this keynote, my feeling is that the iPhone is the true winner. But a larger flash memory and it would be even better...

So, please continue evaluating the products, describing functions, hacks, announcements, i like it :-)

#12 -- Unfortunately, Olivier, you are slightly off target. "MP3" is short for MPEG-1 Layer 3, not MPEG-2 Layer 3. MP2 is MPEG-1 layer 2. Neither of them is MPEG-2 related.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mp3

An MP2 file (MPEG-1 layer 2) will not sync to an iPod.

Thanks for listening though!

Hi, just a quick reaction after listening to Talkcast#6: iPod PLAYS Mpeg2 audio, because to my knowledge MP3 is a short for "MPEG2 Layer 3" ... So... not only the WAV format, but also the MPEG 2 are valid answers to your give away question...

Regards,

Olivier
PS: Can't wait for iPhone to arrive in France... Can't wait for Leopard to arrive, my 1st gen MBP just NEEDS it :-)

What will happen to the operating systems on the iPod Touch and iPhone when Leopard comes out? Anyone know?

Will -- you'll be stuck with EDGE on that device, yes.

animefan316 - That's terrific! I'll certainly be posting about my experiences with the iTouch and I'll look forward to comments about yours.

i'm a regular visitor of this blog, and on the most part find it informative but your podcast is something less than desirable. Surely you can do a better job producing this. I'll tunes in to your next podcast instead...sorry!

First time listener btw :)

You're not the only one Lisa, I also don't own an iPod, and I am getting the iPod touch the first chance i get.

Thanks for the response Michael. I know it's kind of a pain to be at the mercy of Skype/Talkshoe. The reason why it frustrates me (and im sure others) is that lots of other podcasters have figured out how to get decent recordings with very minimal expense, so realizing that you have the bank account of AOL behind you guys makes it puzzling why you still have audio quality issues.

A few more bits of advice:

1. REQUIRE that everyone on your podcasts use an actual microphone/headset, and NOT the built-in mic on thier Macbook Pros or whatnot. Erica sounded absolutely horrible on this podcast because she wasn't using a proper mic, and that, coupled with the way that Talkshoe/Skype compresses the hell out of your voice, makes it even worse.

2. Don't run any other apps on the computer(s) that youre using to to the talkcasts from. Anything that diverts CPU time away from the VOIP encoding and recording contributes to stuttering and other issues

3. Keep all exotic birds and/or other livestock out of the room you're talking/recording from. A closed, quiet room with carpeting (or even pillows or blankets around the area youre recording from, which dampens any echoing) goes a long way to getting better sound.