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Filed under: Cult of Mac, Other Events, WWDC, Apple History

It's all about the music: tunes from Apple's keynote presentations

I hope this post gets filed in the "I knew I wasn't the only one!" mental filing cabinets of many. Because if it doesn't, then it makes me the only one who really looks forward to the music Apple uses in its keynotes. Whether it's a song that leads up to Steve Jobs' entrance on stage, or one used in software or hardware demos, there's no denying that music is very much a part of Apple's DNA. Heck, the company's namesake reflects Steve's love for the Beatles.

Apple occasionally invites some of music's biggest names to perform at its events because, as Steve says, "it's all about the music."

And this post is all about the music. It's all about the music that Apple has used in one way, shape, or form at its keynote events. Although by no means a definitive list, it's certainly a fair sample.

Continue readingIt's all about the music: tunes from Apple's keynote presentations

Filed under: Software, Cool tools, Freeware, iTunes

TotalTunes controls iTunes with ease

We've all been there, you're working on something and want to easily change a song in iTunes. What do you do? Well, you could right-click on the iTunes icon in the dock; but that will only give you rudimentary options. Well, here comes TotalTunes Control.

With TotalTunes, just create a toggle key then start playing a song. When you want to change a song, just press that key combo and you're given a slew of options for changing song, playlist, rating, volume level, shuffle, and repeat. You can download this slick application for free from the developer's website (it's freeware, but donations are accepted).

Filed under: iPod Family, Widget Watch

Widget Watch: iPodage song calculator

Remember that iPod storage calculator iLounge released? It seems Christian Chladek, maker of such other widgets as the Morse Code Translator, was inspired to provide an iPod calculator in widget form. iPodage allows you to pick your iPod model and adjust all the vital settings to do some quick and dirty math on just how many tunes you can cram into your pocket for the road. For bonus points, the widget can even shrink out of your way should you need to reclaim some Dashboard space.

iPodage is donationware and available from Christian's site.

Filed under: Hardware, iPod Family, iTS, Software, iTunes

PodBuffet - an iTunes Kiosk on its way?

How many times have you found yourself out and about somewhere when 'the iTMS itch' strikes? You know, that catchy song playing over the mall speakers, or a kid's headphones at the airport blaring loud enough for you to jam along. But how are you supposed to scratch that itch if your computer and iTMS account are sitting at home?

Fortunately, 22Moo, an Australian hardware and software company, hopes to lend you a hand with the PodBuffet, an iTunes Kiosk they're developing that is powered by a Mac mini with a 15" touch-screen LCD and a "customised application for timed access to iTunes". Their press release doesn't reveal much more information, so we're assuming they're working out a method for allowing those itchin' for a fixin' to purchase music and load up their iPod on the go, without having to deal with any of that library-linking silliness. 22Moo's site isn't very forthcoming either, so here's hoping these kiosks don't join the ranks of countless other vaporware.

[via MacMinute]

Filed under: Audio, iTS, Video, Widget Watch

Widget Watch: Check new releases by artists in your iTunes library with newTunes


Tired of browsing the (often late) New Release emails from the iTMS to find out whether an artist you actually care about has released a new album? Sick of adding an 'Artist Alert' for each of the hundreds of artists cataloged in your vast library? Well pound those keys no more, frustrated iTMS shopper, for the newTunes widget has arrived. This widget tells you when new music you actually care about has been released by watching for new and upcoming work from the artists already in your library.

Don't you love it when computers actually do the work for you, instead of creating more work for you to do? newTunes is freeware and can be had from Apple's Dashboard downloads section.

Filed under: Hardware, iTS, Hacks, iTunes

1000 song hack for iTunes phones?


For those out there who find the 100 song cap (amongst other things) on iTunes phone a deal breaker, Engadget Mobile might have found your saving grace. A forum at MotoModders has the details and simple steps you can take to run a simple hack on any iTunes phone (except the v3i) to raise the song cap to 1000. Unfortunately, there's one catch: the little app you have to run is Windows-based, so you'll need a PC or Boot Camp to actually do this (sorry, Parallels doesn't support USB devices - yet).

Obviously this is a hack, so don't blame us or MotoModders if something goes wrong. However, if you do try this, please post your thoughts and let us know if it really works.

Filed under: iTS, Software, iTunes

iTunes phone upgrades only for non-U.S. phones with < 100 song limit

I hope no one ran out and bought a ROKR or slick new SLVR after last night's post about the ability to upgrade iTunes phones. Turns out it was more or less a false alarm - at least for those who already have a phone with a 100 song limit. Eddie Cue, iTunes' product manager, got in touch with Engadget to let them know that yes, the upgrade exists, but it's only for non-U.S. iTunes phones that unfortunately had a song cap set at less than 100. Apparently, some phones were set as low as 25 songs, so this upgrade was meant to bring everyone up to the same, yet highly limited, 100 song cap.

I have to agree with Ryan's Engadget post though: if Apple wants to make any headway with this whole musicphone idea, that silly 100 song cap needs to go.

Filed under: Hardware, iTS, Software, iTunes

Apple removing the iTunes phone 100 song cap?


I can neither confirm nor deny the legitimacy of this, but TUAW reader Jake sent us a tip with an iTMS screenshot detailing an upcoming possibility of removing the 100 song cap on iTunes phones. From the screenshot it looks like Apple might soon offer the ability to purchase what I would assume to be a software upgrade to remove the software-based 100 song cap on the phone.

Jake claims to have followed a number of code snippets he found in the latest iTunes update, version 6.0.3. Check out his post for the full details on the steps he took, and check out the actual page in the iTMS. For now, however, I don't know anyone with a ROKR who could take this one step further. If anyone can confirm this page in the iTMS is real, is brave enough to plug their ROKR in and click OK, feel free to sound off. If this is true, it could be a sign that Apple and Motorola are finally listening to the market and removing a silly limitation that should never have existed in the first place. One can only hope.

Tip of the Day

Use Spotlight as a reference tool. Type any word in the Spotlight box and one of the top entries will be a definition. Click on it, and it will bring up the dictionary application to check the word in either the dictionary, thesaurus, Apple database, or Wikipedia.


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