Filed under: iPod classic

Filed under: iPod Family, Odds and ends, iPod classic

Open the iPod bay doors, HAL: iPod spotted on STS-125 space shuttle mission

by Steven Sande on May 22nd 2009 at 5:00AM

What's nicer than to come back into a nice, cozy space shuttle after a hard day fixing the Hubble Space Telescope, taking off your sweaty space suit, and the listening to some tunes on your iPod?

TUAW reader Brandon pointed out a photo (below) from the latest mission that showed Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Andrew Feustel grinning in the shuttle mid-deck after the third extravehicular activity (EVA). Plastered to one wall with Velcro are an iPod and some sort of speaker system.

A closeup view (below) shows that this appears to be a 4th-generation iPod, either the iPod Photo or iPod Color, with what looks like a Belkin TunePower battery pack. As for the speaker system, I leave that to our readers to let us know what model we may be looking at.

Since Astronaut Mike Massimino used the Hubble Servicing Mission to send the first Twitter messages from space as @astro_mike, we wonder when the first iPod touch or MacBook Air wlll be seen in orbit. This isn't the first time we've seen Apple products in space (for example, last year's STS-123 mission also had an AstroiPod on board), and it most certainly won't be the last.

Tags: astronauts, hubble, ipod, space shuttle, SpaceShuttle

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Multimedia, Odds and ends, iPod classic

Frozen iPod returns from the grave

by Mike Schramm on Apr 30th 2009 at 6:30PM

Andrew sent us this great story -- he found an iPod classic in the melting snow of Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. It had apparently been there "since early winter," and was frozen solid... as is the case, we'd imagine, with most things left outside there between September and April.

Incredibly, though, once taken home, cleaned up, and given a warm cup of tomato soup and a grilled cheese, it started right back up again. Everything was completely intact -- he says it even displayed the correct date. Pretty impressive for Apple's little music player (and mine's even stuffed in a Vaja case, so I know it'll always run for me -- assuming I don't drop it in a pile of snow somewhere).

He says there is a name on the iPod, so if you've been around the Whitehorse area and have recently dropped your iPod near a place called Takhini School, leave him a note and he will probably be able to get it back to you. But do it quick -- he's giving things about a week, and then it's finder's keepers. We don't blame him: who wouldn't want an indestructible iPod?

Tags: andrew, badrobot, canada, finders-keepers, freezing, frozen, frozen-ipod, snow, snowy, story, takhini-school, vaja, whitehorse, winter, yukon

Filed under: Accessories, iPod Family, TUAW Business, iPhone, iPod nano, iPod touch, iPod classic

TUAW Holiday Giveaway-tacular Part Four: iPhone party

by Victor Agreda, Jr. on Dec 27th 2008 at 5:00PM

Plenty of folks are probably getting iPhone gift cards this season, and for anyone who wants to make their iPhone the hit of the party (later, once you've actually purchased and activated the thing) here's a lineup for you: some speakers (which fit just about every iPod ever made plus the iPhone), a stylus to keep grubby fingers of your precious, and a case.

I tested the JBL speakers and the stylus. The JBL speakers provide an astonishing amount of sound in such a small package. We turned it up as far as felt safe, and the kids had their fingers in their ears. Plus, at either loud or soft volume the audio was always very clear, not muddled with bass or too tinny on the high end (this was from the iPhone with no EQ).

The Pogo stylus does what it says: provides a poking stick for the iPhone's surface that works. It's a stick, and it pokes -- that's about as good a recommendation as you'll get from a stylus. The thing was just a short piece of aluminum too, so there's no heft at all. If you're used to a Mont Blanc in your hand you may be disappointed, I guess.

Thanks to Dr. Bott for the JBL On Stage 200iD Speakers, iSkin Revo2 iPhone 3G case (in red and black) and a Pogo iPhone stylus.

Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
To enter leave a comment telling us what music you would play on some really loud speakers.
The comment must be left before December 31, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
You may enter only once.
One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
Prize: JBL On Stage 200iD Speakers ($149.95), iSkin Revo2 iPhone 3G case ($39.99), Pogo iPhone stylus ($19.95)
Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Tags: 3g, case, drbott, giveaway, iphone, ipod, jbl, speakers, stylus

Filed under: Accessories, TUAW Business, Stocking Stuffers, iPod nano, iPod classic

TUAW Holiday Giveaway-tacular Part One: the active iPodder

by Victor Agreda, Jr. on Dec 24th 2008 at 12:00PM

For the next 5 days we're giving away a bunch of stuff from our friends at Dr. Bott. Check back each day for a new chance to win a bundle of goodies, each with a theme.

Today the theme is "the active iPodder," or all those folks you see running with their iPods strapped to their arms. So we're including the Marware Sportsuit for a long-distance runner (holds up to 160 GB of music) and an EcoRunner 4th-gen nano strap for shorter distances. Plus, you'll want to hear your music while you drive around (perhaps to wherever you're going to run), so we're throwing a Griffin iTrip Auto SE in the mix.

I have tried the latest versions of these iTrip devices, and I have to say they are much better than previous models. Provided you have a clear channel, the signal is strong enough to provide a decent FM sound. My wife, a conisseur of nano wrist straps, was duly impressed with the EcoRunner -- it fits on your arm as well and is supposed to be more green by not using neoprene as the primary material. We didn't give it a long test, as giving away sweaty merchandise isn't cool, but our 1st-gen nano fit (thanks to the way the sleeve is made), which was cool.

Win a Marware 4th-gen nano wrist/arm strap, a Griffin iTrip, a Marware Sportsuit Convertible for iPod classic (80 and 160 GB versions) and the very last of our now old-skool TUAW t-shirt (only available in small). To enter, just tell us whether you are a runner, a cyclist or none of the above.

Open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
To enter leave a comment telling us whether you are a runner, a cyclist or none of the above.
The comment must be left before December 31, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
You may enter only once.
One winner will be selected in a random drawing.
Prize: TUAW t-shirt ($5), Marware Sportsuit Convertible for iPod classic ($34.99), Griffin iTrip Auto ($69.99), Marware Eco Runner ($34.99)
Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Tags: case, giveaway, ipod, itrip, running, t-shirt

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Humor, Apple, iPod nano, iPod classic

"Next Christmas, the iPod will be dead, gone, kaput."

by Mike Schramm on Dec 12th 2008 at 7:00AM

It's the end of the year, a time of reflection, in which we look back at the year that was and what happened during. But The Independent isn't stopping there -- they went back and dug up some of the world's most famous incorrect predictions. And yes, Bill Gates' 640k is in there, as is Ken Olsen's "...there is no reason for any individual to have a computer at his home." Whoops. But there's also a good iPod one in there -- apparently on the iPod's release, someone from Amstrad claimed it a fad, saying that, "Next Christmas, the iPod will be dead, finished, gone, kaput." A few Christmases have come and gone since then, and of course, the iPod is still huge.

That list also reminded me of the famous Nano hater, Motorola's Ed Zander, who said of the iPod nano's release: "Screw the nano. What the hell does the nano do? Who listens to 1,000 songs?" He, of course, was distraught that Apple's then new invention might take attention away from his new Rokr phone, and despite the fact that Motorola later claimed he was joking, we all know the Rokr went on to not only become the USA's most popular handset, but it's the Rokr who has ads all over the place this holiday season.

Oh wait. We might be wrong about that one. Everyone makes mistakes, no?

Thanks, Jean!

Tags: christmas, ed-zander, holidays, iphone, ipod, ipod-nano, motorola, predictions, the-independent, wrong

Filed under: Multimedia, Video, iPod classic

Optoma's palm-sized video projector looks great

by Dave Caolo on Nov 14th 2008 at 10:00AM

Optoma's tiny Pico projector has caught our attention. This small device (50mm x 103mm x 15mm) weighs four ounces and features up to 2 hours of battery life, an LED lamp with a lifespan of 20,000 hours and mini USB connectivity.

The manufacturers claim that images can be viewed at 60" (measured diagonal from corner to corner) from a maximum distance of 2.6 meters. The AV Input combines stereo audio and composite video via a 1 x 2.5mm 4 pole jack socket.

In the video above, it's connected to an iPod Classic and the image looks pretty good. Of course, our experience is only as good as the quality of the clip, but it definitley looks like a fun device. Videos, images and even slide presentations could be run off of your iPod and pocket projector, eliminating the need to bring a laptop, adaptor and full-sized projector to your meeting.

The proof is in the pudding, and we'd like to get our hands on one of these. Optoma says they'll start selling sometime next year with a price point around $400US.

Tags: ipod, optoma, pico, video

Filed under: iPod Family, iPod nano, iPod classic

iPod 101: Make your iPod speak menu items

by Cory Bohon on Nov 11th 2008 at 2:35PM

If you have a current generation iPod nano or classic, then you have the ability to access spoken menu items throughout the iPod. This is an accessibility feature that Apple built into the current iPod line, but I found that feature is handy while walking around, or driving, if you don't want to look at the iPod's screen.

To enable this feature, dock your iPod with your computer and open iTunes. Click your iPod under the Devices list, and select the General tab. If your iPod supports this feature, you should see an "Enable spoken menus for accessibility" checkbox under the "Options" section. Click this checkbox and sync your iPod. Depending on how much music you're syncing, generating the spoken menus could take a few minutes.

Once your iPod is finished syncing, you need to turn on spoken menus on the iPod. From the iPod menu, select Settings > General > Spoken Menus On/Off. When you roll over a song, menu item, or go into cover flow mode, the iPod will alert you with a spoken voice.

Additional Notes:

You can change the voice that is used for the spoken menus by going into System Preferences > Speech > Text to Speech > and selecting a new system voice on your Mac. You will need to resync your iPod after you change the voice.
You should note that not all menu items will be spoken, and some titles of songs won't be spoken properly. This is inherit of the Mac OS X Text to Speech engine.
This feature is not currently available on iPod touch or iPhone.

Want more tips and tricks like this? Visit TUAW's Mac 101 and TUAW Tips sections.

Tags: classic, iPod, menus, nano, spoken

Filed under: iPod Family, iTS, iPod nano, iPod classic

New iPod game: Tamagotchi

by Cory Bohon on Nov 6th 2008 at 3:05PM

This week, Apple added a new game for the iPod nano and iPod classic. Tamagotchi: 'Round the World allows you to take care of a small pet, which you raise from birth. There are four pets to choose from, interactive environmental items, 6 mini games, and three activities to play with your pets.

Tamagotchi was created by Namco, which has other iPod games on the iTunes Store. This game is compatible with iPod nano (3rd & 4th Generations), iPod classic, and iPod 5th Generation (with video). It is available from the iTunes store for $4.99; a demo video is available.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Tags: 5th gen ipod, 5th generation, 5thGeneration, 5thGenIpod, classic, game, iPod, nano, Tamagotchi, Tamagotchi Round the World, TamagotchiRoundTheWorld

Filed under: iPod Family, Apple, iPhone, Apple History, iPod nano, iPod touch, iPod classic

Happy 7th Birthday, iPod!

by Cory Bohon on Oct 23rd 2008 at 10:00AM

Gallery: iPods over the years

It's hard to believe that 7 years have passed since Steve took the stage and introduced our friend, the iPod. Over the past few years, the iPod has gone from new guy on the block to "funnest" guy on the block. While the basic design hasn't changed much (for the Classic model at least), the features definitely have. When the iPod launched in 2001, it was basically a FireWire-capable hard drive and MP3 player -- nothing more, nothing less.

The first iPod sold for $399 for a 5GB version (which was Mac-only). Apple later came out with a 10GB version of the same iPod for $499. Here's some fun facts about the first iPod via Mactracker:

Codename: Dulcimer
Dimensions: 4.02" H x 2.43" W x 0.78" D
Weight: 0.41 lbs.
iPod OS: version 1.0, upgradeable to 1.5
Introduced: October 2001
Terminated: April 2003
Hard Drive: 4200 RPM in capacities of 5/10/20 GB

To celebrate the iPod's birthday, we have created a gallery to show the many changes over the years. If you want to brush-up on your iPod trivia, check out Wikipedia's iPod page. If you have any happy (or unhappy) memories of the iPod, be sure to reminisce in the comments.

Tags: 7 years old, 7YearsOld, birthday, breakingnews, iPod, iPod family, IpodFamily

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Retail, Odds and ends, Apple, iPod touch, iPod classic

Best Buy selling iPods in a vending machine

by Mike Schramm on Oct 13th 2008 at 7:00PM

I was in Anaheim, CA over the weekend (covering BlizzCon for our sister site WoW Insider) and while Macs were in short supply for most of the time, I did notice something Apple-related in LAX on my way out of the city yesterday. Best Buy recently started up a vending machine program which allows you to buy their electronics from staffless machines in various airports around the country, and lo and behold, right there next to the Nintendo DS games and spare USB hubs and mice, were Apple's very own iPods. Which makes sense -- Apple has long sold their stuff inside Best Buy stores, so why wouldn't Best Buy Express do the same?

It was a little strange, though -- at first, I thought there was an iPhone in there, which just would have made the whole activation process even more confusing. But no, it's an iPod touch, in both memory sizes. I also wondered just what you'd do with an empty iPod on a trip, business or otherwise, but I guess people who would really buy their iPods from airports probably don't worry too much about when they'll find the time to get music on there. Not that it mattered much yesterday -- as you can see in one of the pictures, the console's IE version was bugging out, so no one was buying anything anyway (and I couldn't check prices). Still, very strange.

Gallery: Best Buy Express selling iPods at LAX

Tags: airport, best-buy, iphone, iphones, ipod, ipod-touch, lax, pictures, vending-machines

Filed under: iPod Family, Multimedia, How-tos, Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod nano, iPod touch, iPod classic

How to make three free pseudo-apps for your iPod, touch or iPhone

by Victor Agreda, Jr. on Sep 27th 2008 at 12:00PM

Yes, you can roll up your own lighter app by videotaping a lighter. Yes, you can create a soundboard by recording noises and creating a playlist. And yes, coin-flipping apps are a dime a dozen since most of us have ready access to some form of coinage. Along these lines I'm going to show you how to create three "apps" using nothing but a Mac (or PC) and your iPhone, iPod (must be able to display photos) or iPod touch. The apps? A "mood lamp" (or color-changing night light), a futuristic medical scanner (aka Tricorder) and a simulated energy blaster (aka Phaser).

The gallery will walk you through the process step-by-step and on the next page I'll show you a video of these in action. Essentially I'm making playlists: one each for the futuristic devices (with only one "song" in a playlist, set to loop) and a looping slideshow for the mood lamp. Much easier than Xcode, I'm sure. Got a similar DIY trick for you machine? Let us know in the comments. No doubt there are much better ideas than mine!

Note: you'll need speakers attached to your iPods, or you'll look like a fool pointing the thing at people and pretending you shot or scanned them. You might look like a fool anyway, but at least with some external speakers they'll be in on the joke.

Gallery: Creating pseudo-apps for iPhone/iPod touch

Continue reading “How to make three free pseudo-apps for your iPod, touch or iPhone”

Tags: audio, diy, fun, iphone

Tip of the Day

Holding the Command key (aka the Apple key) and pressing Tab will cycle through your open applications. It's easier to Cmd-Tab if you are Copy (Cmd-C) and Pasting (Cmd-V) to and from various applications.

Learn More

TUAW flickr Pool

www.flickr.com

Advertise with us. (Learn more)

Featured Galleries

TUAW bloggers (30 days)

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Steven Sande	40	13
2	Michael Rose	32	26
3	Mel Martin	30	0
4	Mike Schramm	25	1
5	Victor Agreda, Jr.	25	8
6	Brett Terpstra	18	11
7	Erica Sadun	17	2
8	Megan Lavey	16	6
9	Dave Caolo	14	0
10	Robert Palmer	14	5
11	Chris Rawson	12	0
12	David Winograd	12	0
13	Christina Warren	9	28
14	Tim Wasson	8	0
15	Michael Jones	8	0
16	Sang Tang	7	1
17	Cory Bohon	6	0
18	Casey Johnston	6	0
19	Jason Clarke	6	1
20	Mat Lu	3	0

More Apple Analysis

AAPL on BloggingStocks The Apple category feed from BloggingStocks.com
AAPL Quote, News & Summary The AAPL financials page from AOL Money and Finance
iPhone analysis from BloggingStocks iPhone tag feed from BloggingStocks
Macintosh news and reviews on Download Squad The Macintosh category feed from Download Squad

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)