I’ve had my iPod a couple of days now to play around with, and have become addicted to it. Anyway, as promised, here are my 10 favourite apps for the iPod Touch in no particular order. There are both free and paid apps, so you can have a range of both if you like.
Any comments on my choices are welcome via comments, so if you’ve tried something I mention already, let us know what you think of it.
Yes, I know how much I really do not like Apple… but I had to get my hands on an iPod, what with all the music and video I have on my computer that I love. So yes, I own one, and I’m very proud of it.
I got the 8GB version since that’s really fine for me. It cost me £165 but I did buy it from The Gadget Show Live event so you know, it’s gonna be a little pricey.
Anyway, what do I think? I love it. It’s fantastic – no other word. It plays my music perfectly – the sound is really good. Videos are great too – I can rent movies from iTunes and stick them on my iPod (although they do take up a large amount of space) or I can put my own on too. Photos look nice on it too with it’s decent LCD screen.
Plus there are small things that are really. The iPlayer site for iPod/iTunes being a prime one. I love iPlayer on the PC, but being able to have it on my iPod is fantastic.
There are some really cool apps as well. I’ll do another post sometime on my favourite apps for the iPod Touch and iPhone. They are some that are just helpful, and others that are just fun to use.
I still do not like iTunes, but I don’t mind using it with my iPod – I can cope for now. I much prefer Windows Media Player to iTunes but you can’t use that with the iPod so I’ll have to make do. Still, iTunes does sync well and backs up my iPod regularly just in case I brick it by mistake.
The battery life isn’t brilliant but it’s enough to be usable. A few hours of apps, music and video will kill the battery in a few hours, but if you listen to music alone and try to keep the screen off, it’ll run for a pretty good time.
Anyway, no matter what, it’s become one of my favourite gadgets. It’s more practical than the PSP (that just feels like a brick now I’ve got my iPod) as it has a better web browser and is in general much more usable, and works as a good personal organiser. It’s got a decent calendar, alarm clock, notepad and calculator, plus it can read DOCs and PDFs from email (did I mention it sorts email as well).
So yes, I love my iPod. And I can’t imagine why I didn’t have one before now. Get one! Yes, there are MP3/MP4 players that have better spec, but there’s nothing like having the pleasure of owning an iPod (please let me know if I ever say that about a Mac – I won’t don’t worry!). I love the GUI and the usability.
This is one of the few times I’ll ever say this, but, good one Apple – great piece of kit, worth every penny!
At last, the BBC have finally updated the iPlayer download software. I just couldn’t stand the Java (? – I think it was Java – correct me if I’m wrong), but the BBC have totally rewritten and redesigned the software with Adobe Air.
Big improvement. It’s much easier to use, it’s quicker, plus it works much better overall.
On top of that, the BBC has added download support for Google Chrome you can download programmes from Chrome.
So if you use iPlayer a lot, this is a very handy update. Head over to bbc.co.uk/iplayer to see what the fuss is about.
These days, the words “up to” are the worst words you can imagine when you are in the process of getting broadband. They are the words that broadband providers always say when quoting you a speed. They always say that the speed of your internet depends on the capabilities of your line and how far you are from your exchange.
Well, I’ve found a nifty little site that will help you to determine an approximate distance that you are from your exchange. It’s called Sam Knows Broadband Checker. You can just use your landline phone number or (if you don’t have a landline) your house number, together with your postcode, to work out how far your house is from the exchange.
Bare in mind it only works out straight line distance, so if you’re in a large town or city this may not be entirely accurate, but it still does give you a good idea of how far you are.
If you are a long distance from your exchange (more than 1 mile or 1.6 kilometers – apologies for that previous measurement error) you shouldn’t consider high speed broadband as you simply be able to get high speeds. An 8MB claimed speed will be plenty as you probably won’t get much more than 2MB in real time.
If you are a short distance (within a mile) you might want to consider 16MB broadband or above as you will probably be able to get a decent speed. It’s still a good idea to check with the company that you are buying from whether you would be able to get high speeds depending on your line speed and exchange distance.
Don’t forget if you are thinking of joining a company that provides fibre optic broadband, this may not apply to you. It only applies if you are joining copper cable broadband.
Anyway, if you need to find out this distance of your exchange from your house, here’s the place to go.
I recently came across Spotify – it’s a free, legal music streaming service available in many countries. It’s completely free to download and use, so go ahead and get it from www.spotify.com.
The first thing you’ll notice is that it has an interface that (I think) vaguely resembles iTunes – but thankfully, it’s much quicker and easier to use than iTunes. It’s really quick to install, and once you’ve spent 30 seconds of your time creating an account, you’re ready to start listening.
It has some distinct advantages to other free music streaming services available on the net, such as:
It’s just really simple and easy to use. I’d recommend it to anyone. It’ll even scrobble to last.fm if you want it to.
Go enjoy some free, legal music that’s worth the bother.