Ipod touch 2G

No. The 2G does not mean of is a lesser version of the iPhone 3G. The iPod touch 2nd generation is out and just in time to get one this Christmas. It has more built in apps and the new app store button that opens you up to thousands of nifty apps you can put on your iPod. For those of you that took the time to jailbreak your iPhone or ipod touch, best take a look at the new software updates of apple to their successful mobile line of lifestyle gadgets.

ITunes 8

If you haven't downloaded itunes 8 yet I suggest you do so immediately. The new Genius function is . . . well it's pure genius. Basically it allows you to pick a song in your music library and automatically (well with one click) builds a playlist 25, 50, 75 or 100 songs long all with similar sounding tunes from the original song you picked.

I've only ever built one playlist before because to make one I basically went through the tedious process of running through my library and picking songs one by one. I guess that's why my running (yes I do excercise) playlist has a weird list of songs in it everything from Sting to Rent and Lenny Kravitz and Michelle Branch in it. Now I get a more consistent playlist going with the Genius function.

My latest one now has Chemical Brothers, the Prodigy, Crystal Method and Moby in it. Makes more sense right, and all that with one click.

Note however that you have to activate the Genius function by clicking on Genius on the left menu options in ITunes 8. This will then have Genius scan your music library so that it can make intelligent choices for your playlist.

Happy playlisting. Download Itunes 8 here.

Quick Windows Desktop Tip

Ever needed to get back to your desktop in a hurry but opened up too many windows?  Instead of minimizing each individually just press the windows button on your keyboard plus the letter D and you'll automatically minimize all windows giving you direct access to your desktop.  Go ahead, try it now.

Apple News - Let's Rock

Okay, here are the highlights of the new Apple Products that are coming out;

Itunes 8
- Accessibility (not sure if that means Philippine customers can now access Itunes, will update you later)
- HD content now available for movies and TV shows
- NBC shows are back on Itunes
- Genius function which basically allows you to make a playlist of similar songs in your library by clicking on the Genius button when listening to a song.
- Genius will also allow Itunes to recommend songs similar what you have on your library.
- Free for download.
Comments: Hope this makes Itunes available for the Philippines now so we can actually have access to all their content, not just the apps.

Ipod Classic
- Discontinuing the fatter version and sticking with the thinner one.
- 80 gig version used to cost $249, now you get a 120 gig version for the same price.
Ipod Nano
- Looks like the rumors (see picture below) were correct. Bigger screen nano is now a reality.
- Comes in additional colors - yellow, purple and orange
- thinnest ipod ever
- enhanced user interface
- accelerometer (like on the iphone and touch) allows you to view landscape pictures on the bigger screen.
- shake to shuffle
- 24 hours music and 4 hours video battery life.
- $149 for 8 gig, $199 for 16 gig

Ipod Touch
- thinner than old touch
- integrated volume control
- built in speaker
- Nike+ Plus software built in
- Nike+ Plus receiver built in
- 36 hours music, 6 hours video battery life
- $229 for 8 gig, $299 for 16 gig, $399 for 32 gig
Comments: I hate apple, bought my 2 month old touch for $400 plus.

New earphones
- headphones ($29) with volume control, pause and play, previous and next function as well as a mike for use with memo record software already available on the new ipods.
- in ear headphones ($79) with two drivers - tweeter and woofer.

See Steve's Keynote address here.

Apple News

Apple is planning to announce something big soon, as in the next couple of weeks. My guess is new upgrades to existing laptops (faster processors, more memory, etc.) and new Ipods. There's been a picture of the new Nano floating around and it looks sleek.



Another bit of news, the Ipod Touch prices may go down soon also. It currently costs more than the Iphone so it only makes sense . . . to those that haven't bought one yet . . . not like me . . . dammit!

So if you are planning on buying anything Apple, WAIT!

Google's Browser now available

Chrome, Google's new web browser is now available for download. Now if you are like the millions of drones out there that still uses Internet Explorer (look at the top right hand corner of your browser, see that "e" with a diagonal ring going around it, that means you're a drone) then this news is nothing great.

If however you're a bit more net savvy and use safari, firefox or opera, then this news is a big deal. Again for the drones, web browsers are important because they can generally make your surfing experience more secure and faster, Internet Explorer is known to be the slowest among those I just mentioned and the least secure.

Google wanted to build their own browser to be less dependent on Microsoft for their search engine and for the kind of applications they want to launch in the future.

Just played with Chrome and I have to say, it is still rough (remember though it is still running as a beta, a test run if you like) but I like it, here's why;

1) It's minimalist, as you'd expect from google.  Not much of a tool bar which gives more real estate to the website.

2) Each tab is supposedly a separate browser that you can drag to the desktop as its own window.  Being a separate browser too it also means that if one tab crashes it won't affect the rest of the pages (although I hear from others this is not yet the case, I told you it was rough).

3) The address bar is also a search bar WHICH you can configure to use other search engines (how nice of google).  For me though, I'd keep it with google.

I've played around with it and apart from a Microsoft notice saying that my junk mail hotmail e-mail address might not work perfectly under this new browser it has loaded all my usual pages without a problem.  Facebook even seems to be faster although it did slow down loading pictures from my other blog www.sleepingonthebus.com (shameless plug).

The beauty of this browser though will come into its own when Google has worked on it a bit more.  Here's the link - Chrome.

Wii + Wifi

Guys, you gotta get this working. If you've already bought a wii, then bring it up to the next level of gaming entertainment - online gaming.

The Wii with all it's wireless capabilities also comes with WiFi right out of the box. You'll have to take some time to setup the internet connection, but it's all worth the effort.

If you run into problems, check out the www.wiierror.com site
Nifty huh, a site dedicated to wii errors. Cuz when you're done fixin the errors, wii can have fun!

Once WiFi connected, start off with the news and weather channels to initially test the online updates. Next off is the mii channel. Your mii's can now meet other mii's online and mii's online can drop into your mii plaza and be part of the crowd.

Impressed so far? Well now let's get serious. Bring out that Mario Kart Wii Disc and let's race head to head online. Finally got to race on the WFC channel of mario kart wii. I get to choose to race against players worldwide or on the same continent. Up to 12 racers at a time. There's really a difference between playing the single player and multiplayer races.

Other games are also designed for online play, but i've not had time to get off my Bubble Bike to give them a try. More news later on then..