The Magic Within Apple's iPod player

There are so many digital music players available.So why is Apple's iPod so special?We used one and discovered that it has a lot more to offer than just music.

Every now and then a technology comes along that promises to change our lifestyle.The Sony Walkman (launched in 1979), the video cassette recorder (in the 1980s) and the internet (mid-1990s) are vivid examples.The most recent technology fascination is a small digital music player called iPod.No bigger than a pack of cards and a slim as a cigarette lighter,the little wonder can owner as many as 10,000 songs!that lets you carry your whole Cd collection in your back pocket!.

But the iPod is much more than a digital music player.In fact it has so much to offer that it's fast acquiring the same status of the Walkman.Here are some features that we discovered.you will find them under the 'Extras' menu on the iPod.

Feature 1 : An address book

One of the iPod's most unknown features is its potential to store and display addresses,phone numbers and other text-based data.If you have a collection of phone numbers that you want to access easily,you can store textual information from website articles and e-books.The number of data you store is little only by the ready space on the iPod's hard drive.

If you are a Mac Os X user,you'll use two application to exchange this data to the iPod:
Address Book and iSync.Address Book installs with Os X and iSync is a free download from the Apple website and will sync Mac,iPod,Pdas and Bluetooth devices.

In other operating systems such as windows,you use any application that will export your data into the vCard format (for e-mail addresses).Then connect the iPod to the Pc,and in the software drag the vCard file into the 'Contacts' portfolio of the iPod.

Now,let's say you want to use the iPod to store a large document.Though the iPod technically does not allow it,you can work colse to the qoute by simply typing the name of the file first where you would commonly type the name of the person.Having done that paste the text file into the 'Notes' or 'Comments' field of your address entry.Then,when it gets transferred to the iPod,your entry will show up as just other address entry and the text file will deployed under the 'Notes' section of the entry.

This is a handy way to take important information and text files on the road with you.You can add driving directions,Wap stumbling logs,notes,just about anything that you can imagine.

Feature 2 : Calendar

The iPod can also function like a Pda (Personal Digital Assistant) and you can store your daily program in it.It has a calendar that can store your forthcoming events.

To access the calendar simply corollary the patch 'Extras | Calendar' and you will find your daily to do schedule.Navigate straight through days by using the scroll wheel or straight through months by pressing the 'Forward' and 'Back' buttons.Selecting a day will bring a list of all events scheduled for that day.Selecting a exact event will bring up exact time information and a description of the appointment.

How does one go about putting their calendar onto iPod?Luckily Apple has used the acceptable vCalendar format.This means that one can export calendar information from application such as Microsoft Entourage or Palm Desktop and put it level into the iPod while a Sync operation.

Apple has developed its own clarification for adding vCalendar files via iCal.If you don't want to use iCal,then use the Palm Desktop or Entourage to export your calendar information.Once you have exported it,simply drag it to the 'Calendar' portfolio on iPod.It will automatically be updated and recognized.

Feature 3 : Games

The iPod also together with some uncomplicated games like Music Quiz,Solitaire,Brick and Parachute.There are web sites from where you can download more games and put these in your iPod.The games and put these in your iPod.The games are the uncomplicated kind,so don't expect as you will get on Pcs or the most recent phones.

Feature 4 : A secret storage device

Here's one thing an iPod can do that a Pda or paper notebook can't.It can be used as a hard disk drive.That might have safe bet advantages if you're involved about safe bet files or information being discovered on your computer.

With storage capacities ranging from 5 Gb to 30 Gb,there are lots of possibilities for use as an external storage device for your laptop when you are on the field.

If there are some applications that you want to use,but for some imagine you don't want to install them on your laptop,you can run them off the iPod.You can also use the iPod as a boot drive if you have an Os installed on it and if your computer supports booting from an external Firewire device.Most modern day computers allow that.

An iPod can be associated to any Firewire-equipped computer and be used to share and swap files as needed.On an iMac computer,the iPod will automatically show up on the desktop as an external drive.With any other ideas you'd need the Firewire drivers to be installed.

iPods connect to iMacs using Firewire cables.This,flexible Firewire cables are now ready that are much best for field use,that the acceptable thick cables that most Firewire devices ship with.To connect an iPod to the Pc you would need an iPod Dock Connector to Usb 2.0 + Firewire cable (see http://www.apple.com/ipod/accessories.html )

Feature 5 : Storing your photos while traveling

The new iPod photo allows you store all of your pictures on the contraption.Truth is it costs a bomb.Perhaps it will come down in few months.

Until then though,if you are saddled with an earlier version of the iPod,fret not.Though you can't view pictures on it yet,there's nothing to stop you from storing them in the device.

A 40 Gb iPod can hold up to 24,000 photos (captured on a 3 megapixel camera ).Want to exchange pictures from your digital camera? Well,then here's what you could do.Get yourself a card reader that connects to your iPod.

The card reader will simply act as a bridge between your digital camera and the iPod.It reads the pictures on your camera and transfers them to your iPod.At a later date,when you get back home,you can pull out the pictures from your iPod and transfers them to your computer.However you may have to spend some money to get this kind of capability.A card reader commonly costs less than 0.

Belkin (www.belkin.com ) has a pretty decent card reader that does a good job.
The advantage of going in for a card reader if you have an older version of the iPod is that you get full functionality for cheaper than what it would cost you to buy a new photo iPod.

Feature 6 : Storing audio files

Storing music is the primary function of the iPod.The fourth-generation models have a 40 Gb hard disk which can store up to 10,000 songs!The 20 Gb iPod can hold about 5,000 songs.

Apple offers an online music store (called iTunes) from where you can buy and download songs for the iPod.
And don't worry about the batteries getting over.The ipod has a long battery life - up to 12 hours.And with the 25 minutes of skip protection that iPod provides,you can listen while playing basketball,and the music will keep playing A word on the batteries though.It is possibly the iPod's Achilles Heel.After 12-18 months of sustained use.It starts running out of juice.Once that happens,you'll have to spend a packet on getting a new pair of batteries for the iPod.Unless you decide to go for a third-party battery pack that isn't quite as sleek as the original,but does the job nevertheless.

Feature 7 : Lots of accessories

There are fullness of accessories that strengthen the functionality of the iPod and make it more useful.Check out the 'Accessories' section on Apple iPod store (www.apple.com/ipod ).

There are external speakers,a remote control,a stereo association kit,an add-on voice recorder,a radio and kits for using the iPod while driving.

You can also pick up an inexpensive cassette tape adapter and listen to the iPod in your car straight through your car stereo.It seems everyone wants to make accessories for the iPod these days.

The Magic Within Apple's iPod player

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Long Term Impression of Apple's Macbook Air

The Macbook Air is possibly the sexiest laptop in the world, even now, years after its launch. Nothing looks quite like it, with the gorgeous unibody (yes, it was de facto the first unibody laptop from Apple) aluminum building and sculpted shape. Even after owning it for a while, I still admire the pewter-like finish.

Much has been criticized about the Macbook Air though, with most remarks being about the device lacking an optical drive, its price, or not having much connectivity. Some of the criticism has been directed at the Air being underpowered as well.

While I do have my own criticisms, most of the opinions mentioned above I do not agree with. The Macbook Air is targeted at a certain type of individual. This man is fairly well-off, meaning they don't need or want one device to do it all. They don't want to watch Dvds on their laptop, because they have a great home theater at home. They do not want to use this as a work laptop, because they may already have one, or prefer to do their work on a permissible remarkable desktop.

I fit the demographic mentioned above, for the most part. I'm not well off though, and even if I was, I would not pay the better part of two grand for this laptop. It is most de facto not worth the sell prices that Apple charges for the discrete configurations. I bought mine refurbished from Apple, for about half the price of a new one. It came with the same warranty, and was essentially brand new with only 3 cycles on the battery.

So after paying half of sell and having it for a while, what do I think? I think that I made the right decision, but of course, there are shortcomings. I'll start with the good though. Apple did consist of the most leading things. What they got right was the screen (same size as the proper Macbook, but of much better quality), the full-size, backlit keyboard, the very large and very functional trackpad, the weight and ease of carrying it and the together with of a dual-core Cpu, 2 Gb of Ram, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 802.11n.

All these things make it a very functional laptop. The full-size keyboard with tactile feedback that is far beyond most laptops is something I find to be de facto necessary. I don't feel the need to go to my desktop with it. It might seem frivolous, but I love the keyboard being backlit. I also ordinarily hate trackpads, but the exceptionally large one in the Air is great, both in terms of response, and the ability that it adds when in Mac Os X (multi-touch features). This is the only laptop where I don't feel that I need to have a mouse. With Bluetooth and N-grade Wi-Fi built in, you're related very well wirelessly, so no dongles are necessary, which is great. I like the inclusion of a decent ability webcam and microphone; every laptop should have this.

So where does it falter? I de facto hate that you can't upgrade the Ram. I'm already at a point where I feel 2 Gb is not adequate anymore. So what can I do? Nothing. My only choice is to sell it and get something else. That's no good at all. I also wonder why they couldn't just have included an optical drive. I have never felt the need for it, until recently when I installed Windows 7 on the Macbook Air (in a dual-boot configuration). It was difficult as (expletive of your choice) without an optical drive, and I didn't like the idea of buying a 0 Apple Superdrive for just this purpose. Maybe Apple should make it so that Remote Disc Sharing can be used for this purpose too, which would alleviate my only complaint about the optical drive's presence.

The speakers on the Macbook Air are not great. Actually, that was inaccurate. The speaker, not speakers, aren't great. That's right, there's only one, and you'll know it, because sound comes out the right side of the laptop. I was shocked when I first noticed this, but I've gotten used to it as the volume is okay - better than the proper plastic Macbook. My final issue is with the included hard drive. I have the model with the Pata 80Gb hard drive that spins at a slow 4200 rpm. It can de facto make the sense feel slower than it should be. This can be addressed by changing the hard drive, but I'm not sure the average owner is up to that. Newer models are Sata and have faster options, even Ssds, so that takes care of this qoute somewhat, but then we come back to the price.

My quick take is based on the price I paid, which is about half of the sell price. At full sell price, flat out, I don't recommend it. I do, however, think it's a good value at refurbished price, even given the shortcomings I mentioned. This is Apple's idea of a netbook. It's more usable than any netbook, and at about a grand or a bit less, is a better value than those cheaply-made, single-core netbooks for 0-0.

Long Term Impression of Apple's Macbook Air

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