Tag Archives: apple

Why should we pay for major iPod updates?

Leave a Reply

Now I am the proud owner of my iPod Touch, I try to keep up with the news to do with it. And the biggest thing that springs into mind at the moment is the upcoming 3.0 update for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The only thing that does annoy me a little is the fact that iPhone users will get the update absolutely free and us iPod Touch users will have to pay about 10$ (about £6.60 at time of writing) for it.

Now I know that there are some cool updates in it (bluetooth being enabled as a feature being just one of them) but compared to other popular mobile devices, Apple are just trying to drain us of our cash.

For example,  the PSP is a similar mobile device (not physically, but in terms of hardware) – and it’s cheaper to purchase plus all those updates Sony have provided in the past haven’t cost a penny.

There are ways to get round paying for the iPod update, but I don’t really want to go breaking the law and certainly don’t want to encourage it.

I think no matter whether they make us pay for it or not I will go and get it, mainly because it’s too much to miss out on, but it does seem like Apple just want to drain that little bit more out of us. Especially in these credit crunch times, most people are trying to save the pennies and not go pouring them into Steve Job’s pocket for a small update.

So yes – small rant there – but come on Apple, I can think of countless companies that don’t charge for updates to mobile devices and I don’t think it’s 100% fair.

iPod Touch – I’ve Got One! (It’s a review!)

1 Reply

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!

Safari 4.0 Beta – The good, the bad and the ugly.

Leave a Reply

It looks like Apple have been working on their next release of the well known Apple web browser which was released for Windows a couple of years back. Safari 4.0 Beta is their latest release, and I took the courage and downloaded the beta.

The first thing you notice when you download it is that it’s quite a big file – for a web browser anyway. Baring in mind that Google Chrome’s installer is about 3 or 4 MB (including the installer downloads), Safari’s installer size of 25.5 MB is a little bit of a shock. Once it has downloaded and you run the install program, you are presented with the usual terms and optional extra installs (which I proudly unticked – I personally think the Bonjour crap is a waste of time), after which it will spend a couple of minutes installing the program.

Once it’s installed you will find the program immediately fires up, and you are presented with a “Welcome to Safari” video, followed by a very snazzy looking frequently used tabs screen.

 

Safari

Safari

As for generally browsing the web, the experience is relatively good. There are a few bugs, but these can be reported with ease via the bug button at the top right. 

The new interface has definitely made an improvement to the general feel of Safari since version 3. I still prefer Chrome – despite what Apple says, Safari is not the fastest web browser. It has to be Chrome – by miles. Don’t you agree?

I recommend you go and try it. I don’t think I’ll keep Safari as it’s just unbeatable to Chrome, but maybe in the future when the final release comes around, maybe I’ll do a full review. Head over to apple.com/safari to try the new beta.

iTunes is going DRM free!!

Leave a Reply

At last, senior vice president of Apple marketing. Phil Shiller finally announced at Macworld yesterday that iTunes is in the process of going DRM free!

Yesterday, 8 million tracks were converted to non-DRM tracks thanks to a deal with Sony BMG, Universal, and Warner music, and it has been said that all 10 million tracks on iTunes will be DRM free by the end of this quarter.

It has not yet been confirmed whether music you have already bought from iTunes will be stripped of its DRM, but we’ll soon find out.

If you use iTunes, which millions of us do, this is a big day. This may well cause the end of DRM forever, eventually.

Good times!