Poking around on your iPod touch can be fun but those who have owned one know that it’s a horrible fingerprint magnet especially the chrome back panel. But then the fingerprints at the back are the least of your problems. The front display, being glossy and bordered in black makes for annoying smudges that can obscure your view.

I can see those rolling eyes and those thought balloons saying you could just wash your hands before you use the damn thing. Yeesh!

Anyways, I previously had a screen guard that I purchased when I first bought my iPod Touch. My mobile phones always have sticker-type screen guards so obviously, I’d get one for a screen as large as the iPod Touch. But I had earlier just picked a regular glossy type screen guard from Capdase that only covered the screen area and not the surrounding black border. And at some point it got a scratch from God-knew-where.

While we were at the Apple store in Greenhills yesterday, I saw an iPod Touch 3rd Gen on display and it had a matte finish screen guard. I asked the lady in the store if they had it on stock and she said yes. It was a bit expensive but I willingly forked over the money just so I could have the matte finish surface on my iPod Touch that I had always wanted. I don’t like glossy computer screens and prefer a matte finish especially on my laptop monitor. And since I use my iPod Touch pretty much like a pocket computer while I’m walking around the house, I wanted the same surface on it. So there, a good amount of cash less, but with a matte finish surface iPod Touch.

So here’s the screen guard that I’ll be installing onto my iPod Touch. There are other types of screen guards being sold by Capdase like the privacy guard which darkens the screen if you view your iPod at an angle so they wouldn’t be able to watch your dolphin-care videos while they sit beside you on the bus. But I had that on my PSP before and it darkened my screen too much it was annoying.

Removed the clear plastic hard case and gave the screen a good rub-down. Need to make sure the surface is completely dust-free before I apply the new screen guard.

Removed the previous screen guard I had on. There was some accumulated dust around the screen guard and I had to clean that off too. >_<

Once I had my screen completely cleaned, I got the new screen guard and began applying it onto my iPod Touch. As you can see in the image above, the surface is different from the iPod Touch’s glossy surface. Also, it covers the entire face of the iPod Touch which is neat. No more dust accumulating around my screen.

Since I was still a newbie on applying screen guards (I normally have the store people apply it so if it gets messed up, it would be on them), there were a couple of times where some bits of dust got in between the iPod screen and the screen guard. I had to get some scotch tape to remove the dust particles without smudging the adhesive part of the screen guard.

After a couple of tries, I finally managed to put the screen guard on properly (making the hole on the screen guard match the home button on the iPod took up most of my time. >_<

So now, Winslow, my iPod Touch, has a nice matte surface on the screen. It kinda dims my view when I’m under direct sunlight but I prefer that over strong glare and fingerprints every where. In the image above, I have already replaced the clear plastic case. I was thinking of getting a different colored one but I also liked the chrome finish at the back so I stuck to the clear plastic version.

What do you use to protect your iPod Touch/iPhone?

iTunes 9 came out today. Got it and installed it on my computer. I also got iPod Touch OS 3.1 for my iPod.

If there’s something I nitpick about my iPod, it would be the album art for the songs/albums that I have in my PMP. So today, I reorganized my stuff again and made sure that most if not all of my songs on my iPod had album art. I love browsing through Coverflow so I find seeing those blank squares in Coverflow quite annoying.

So any of you guys getting any of the new iPods?

For those who didn’t follow the announcements closely yesterday/last night, iPod Touch has OS 3.1 and a 64Gb version selling for $399. iPod Nano gets a camera that shoots video but not stills, glossy anodized aluminum body, a slightly wider screen and 0.2 ounces lighter. iPod Classic goes up from 120Gb to 160Gb at the same price of $249. iPod Shuffle gets three new colors and a glossy special edition version that can be bought online.

I’m liking the green Nano very much.

Sept 9, 2009 is when Apple is supposed to have an event where they’re supposed to be announcing some new products, mainly the new iPods for this year. So I felt like having an iPod Soundcheck survey. I wrote up these questions off the top of my head and answered them myself. If you use your iPod as often as I do and feel like answering this survey as well in your blog, then feel free to copy and post. But please try putting a trackback, especially if you don’t mind sharing your music preferences.

iPod Soundcheck

All these questions mainly refer to the CURRENT contents of your iPod.

1. Do you have your iPod turned on right now?

Yes

2. What’s your current earworm?

One of Those Nights by The Cab

3. What was the last album/artist/song you loaded onto your iPod?

Whisper War by The Cab

4. If you’re feeling heartbroken, list five songs you’d listen to in your iPod right now.

Gravity by Sara Bareilles

Whatever It Takes by Lifehouse

Colors by Amos Lee

To Make You Feel My Love by Adele

Three Cheers For Five Years by Mayday Parade

5. What’s the dominant genre in your playlist?

Rock

6. Do your friends listen to your iPod?

Yes.

7. Do they enjoy listening to the songs in it?

Some of it. They usually give me stares that say “who’s the artist?”

8. Do they always use your iPod as a source for new songs to listen to?

Sometimes, they do. My brothers do.

9. What’s the oldest song in your iPod? (based on the year the track was released)

Symphony in C – IV Allegro Vivace by Georges Bizet

10. What is the oldest uploaded song on your iPod?

I Miss You by Aaliyah

11. Do you load single songs to your iPod or whole albums?

Mostly whole albums.

12. What is your favourite feel-good song in your iPod?

Nothing specific, really.

13. Go to your Songs list and select Shuffle. List the ten songs that your iPod goes through every time you press next after that.

1. I Miss You – Aaliyah
2. Satellites – Beyonce
3. Mesmerized – Lifehouse
4. Your Body Is A Wonderland – John Mayer
5. Release Me – Mae
6. I Miss You – Ayur
7. Risky Business – The Cab
8. What’s Been Going On – Amos Lee
9. Let Her Cry – Darius Rucker

10.  Nyan Nyan Service Medley – Megumi Nakajima & Sheryl Nome

14. Which band/artist has the most content in your iPod?

DEPAPEPE

15. Are you obsessive-compulsive about album art?

Yes.

16. What are the last five albums/artists you’ve added to your playlist?

Whisper War, The Cab

Punk Goes 90’s, Various Artists

Nothing Personal, All Time Low

Burning The Days, Vertical Horizon

Into The Wild, Eddie Vedder

I think it was my good friend Maki who is also a photographer that I admire who mentioned before that the Flashlight App for iPod Touch works nice as a lighting source. Gave it a try with the EVAs today.

But first, here’s a sample shot of the two units without the iPod Touch Flashlight App:

Background is bright so there’s a good amount of shadowing up in front. Using a flash would cause light burns on the photo and would annoy your officemates also so I never turn my flash on.

First up is the EVA Unit 01. Front part looks brighter now so you can make out the details of its chest. I think it helps that the surface of these action figures are glossy and can reflect light as well. The downside is that the purple parts don’t turn out so well.

The EVA Unit 02 fits the background better (it’s my current wallpaper so I don’t really switch backgrounds based on what I’m shooting).

Mug shot for the EVA Unit 01. Tweaked the blue levels a bit just so they aren’t as painful to the eyes. The LX3 can take such rich colors in Dynamic Mode that the purple looks flourescent already and paired with flourescent green, the image looks oversaturated so I had to edit the color a bit in Photoshop.

But yeah, the Flashlight App helps a lot in lighting your desk subjects. I’ll try it out on other toys sometime soon just to point out the difference.

Images taken with a Panasonic Lumix LX3, f2.0, Macro Mode.

Ok, so for the past week, I was internally debating on which iPod I should get when I finally decide to retire my current 2nd Gen 8Gb Black iPod Nano later this year. The two iPods in question are of course the iPod Nano 4th Gen and the iPod Touch 2nd Gen.

Quick Specs

iPod Nano 4th Gen

• 8Gb, 16Gb (with 16Gb priced at $199)
  
• new design that nods back to the 2nd Gen design
• 320×240 high resolution 2 inch LCD display, mounted in portrait fashion
• 24 hours of audio and 4 hours of video
• built-in accelerometer for games and cover flow browsing
• H.264 and MP4 video
• new user interface
• classic clickwheel navigation
• pick from any color of the rainbow

iPod Touch 2nd Gen

• 8Gb, 16Gb, 32Gb (with 16Gb priced at $299)
• pretty much the same design but the back part puts the iPhone 3G’s housing to shame
• 480×320 high resolution 3.5 inch LCD display, mounted in portrait fashion
• 36 hours of audio and 6 hours of video
• built-in accelerometer for games and cover flow browsing (among other things)
• H.264 and MP4 video
• same user interface, no clickwheel, iPhone look and feel
• only has a single design
• Calendar, Notes, WiFi and other PDA-ish features

For My Purposes

I originally wanted a Touch simply because it’s definitely above the rest of the MP3 players out there even if would cost me an arm and a leg MP3-player-budget-wise. But at some point, I had to really weigh my options and see what I already have.

I currently own the 8Gb iPod Nano, an 8Gb Sony Ericsson W960i for my mobile phone and work-on-the-go purposes, and a black Sony PSP for gaming and movie. So gadget-wise, I have WiFi, movies, audio, camera, storage, calendar, notes, email, SMS and calls on the go.

Getting an iPod Touch would make my phone and my PSP redundant.

So eventually finally, I decided to just go with the Nano. Will be purchasing it probably in the next month or so. For the $100 that I’ll be saving from choosing the Nano over the 16Gb Touch, I’ll probably buy a f1.8 lens for my DSLR. I think that’s a better deal.

At some point, one really has to learn to buy things based on need rather than the fact that it’s a cool device. You really have to list down what you need out of that device and what other gadgets you own provide the same features. Fine, I may look nice carrying around a Touch but it tends to seem a bit crazy given the fact that I have a W960 and a PSP in my bag which pretty do the same stuff the Touch could do and more. At the end of the day, I had to stick to the fact that the reason I need a separate MP3 player is to avoid draining the battery on my phone and my PSP. Other than that, everything else can be provided by both gadgets.

Ever bought something that made your other gadgets redundant or made that newly-purchased item redundant?

It’s nearing the end of the year. Around this time last year, I was in Germany when Apple released their new iPod Nano that had that iPod Classic look and feel in a smaller scale and released the video feature for the iPod Nano: something which they figger’d would compete with the Zune’s video playback capabilities at the same price.

A color to fit your every fancy.

This time around, Apple tosses some more good stuff while maintaining the price at $149 a pop. They have a whole spectrum of colors now, ranging from pink, camel yellow, orange, beetle green, racing blue, purple and the [RED] product. There’s also the classic silver and black iPods. The silver iPod Nano comes with a black clickwheel similar to that of the black version and of course, the black version is still offered at the highest memory size. A new goodie inside the Nano is the accelerometer and a new (as far as I can tell) UI for the iPod Nano. Tilt it to its side and it goes into widescreen mode, allowing you to browse your music files with Cover Flow. That’s thanks to a built in accelerometer. So now, even the Nano has the iPhone and iPod Touch’s tilt feature. Also, this time around, Apple dumps their 4Gb option and sticks with 8Gb and 16Gb.

I didn’t put a WMB badge to it because I’m still contemplating whether this would be a better option over getting the 120Gb iPod Classic.  Apples’ Classic now stays at one size for both silver and black versions. And at a $50 difference, I’m torn between feeding my craving for a colorful, accelerometer equipped smaller iPod versus the large 120Gb Classic.

What do yout think?

I remember when iPod Touch first came out and a lot of people were complaining that 8Gb and 16Gb weren’t enough to store your videos and music in. The main gripe was that iPod Classic had a relatively large screen and good picture quality and it had a 160Gb version and yet here’s iPod Touch with awesome screen size and application capabilities and it only had 8Gb of storage. Now, Apple has released the 32Gb iPod Touch for four times the storage size of the smallest Touch. I honestly want one now. Maybe for Christmas. ^_^;

Apple has already released a 2Gb iPod Shuffle for those who think their teensie-weensie lapel-mic-sized iPod should have more storage space. Now it’s double. Whether I would buy a pink one, I’m not entirely sure but I have a feeling more people will be gunning for the 2Gb Shuffle now. What I would love the iPod Shuffle to have though is a small screen that displays music, playback and volume information.

If you’d rather see Steve Jobs talk about these babies instead of reading this, head on to the Apple website for the video. But I’m still going to talk about the new iPods out on the market.

There’s a new iPod nano in town and it’s looking quite gorgeous. As you can see above, it has adapted the iPod classic look and I think it fits quite nicely. The new iPod nano now has video, 2 inch high resolution display (so you don’t lose any quality when you view your videos from your iPod video in your iPod nano), 24 hour battery life, new graphical user interface and album flow browsing. It’s also amazing to see that it starts at 4Gb which is twice the starting size of its predecessor and sells at $149 which is approximately the same price as the previous generation of the iPod nano. That’s amazing package for the price that you pay. It’s even thinner and has an all metal design so no more plastic caps for nano users.

Another new release is the iPod touch which rides on the previous success of the iPhone. This is basically the iPhone without the phone features. You get a really large touch screen, 8Gb minimum hard drive space, sexy graphical user interface and Wifi connectivity in your multimedia player. It sells at $299. Hefty price but this player looks really nice especially since it’s only 8mm thin. You’d hardly feel it in your pants pocket.

Note: I had to edit something on this part. It is quite disappointing to realize that despite the gorgeous looks and features, the iPod touch starts at 8Gb only. And for $299, I’d rather get myself an iPod Nano with the same size of memory and save myself $100.

For more details, watch Steve Jobs’s keynote address at Apple.com.

Related entries: Danny Choo’s take on the iPod touch

My brother and my cousin own an iPod Shuffle and much to their dismay, the Shuffle doesn’t have the drag-and-drop feature. No, not even the new one shown above. So that means everytime you plug in your Shuffle to a new computer, it automatically syncs to that computer’s iTunes and if a good number of your songs aren’t there, then expect them to disappear in your iTunes too. Whoever designed this for the Shuffle was probably thinking with his balls.

So I figured, maybe a workaround is needed. It can be a bit tedious but at least your Shuffle doesn’t get wiped out clean of songs everytime you plug it into a new PC.

First, disable automatically running iTunes whenever you plug your Shuffle into a PC. That disables the autosync that iTunes does to the Shuffle whenever it starts running.

Second, adjust the allocation of space. Don’t put it all to your music. Set aside like 3MB for data if you rarely use your iPod Shuffle for a hard drive.

Third, download an application called iDump. Remember how you can stick songs into your iTunes but you can’t extract them through it? And have you ever tried manually sifting through your 8Gb worth of albums/songs? Sucks doesn’t it. Well, iDump allows you to conveniently browse through your iPod’s list of songs and easily extract the songs that you would like to share to your friend on his or her PC. No iTunes needed. Really. Glee? Glee!

Fourth, when you finally got your iDump, store it in a separate folder inside your Shuffle. How do you browse your Shuffle like a hard drive in Windows? Just press Windows button + R. That makes a small window pop up on the lower right corner of your screen. Normally, your Shuffle registers as drive E: or F: depending on how many drives you actually have plugged into your PC. Type that in and your Shuffle opens up as a regular window. You’ll see that there’s a “hidden” folder named iPod_Control (if memory serves). Anyhoo, make a separate folder and put your iDump inside.

How does this workaround work?

When you plug your Shuffle to a new computer that doesn’t have your songs in them, get iDump from inside your Shuffle, copy it onto the desktop, run it and extract the songs form your Shuffle onto that PC. Unplug your Shuffle first and then run iTunes. Synchronize the songs onto the iTunes on that new PC, plug in your Shuffle and put them all back again.

I know it’s a long workaround. But it’s a workaround nonetheless. It’s better than seeing all your songs from your Shuffle disappear when you accidentally plug in to a different PC and you forget that you’re not synchronized with that PC or you already want to load a song but can’t because of the sync problem. I have iDump in my 2nd Gen iPod Nano just so I can easily extract files from my Nano whenever I plug in to a PC.

tech, ipod, shuffle, apple, workaround, idump, apps
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Time to step away from the uproar that is MG 100 Turn A Gundam and talk about a gadget I own.

If not for the need to upload Fort Minor’s The Rising Tied album and Linkin Park’s Minutes to Midnight album, I would not have plugged in my iPod Nano 2nd Gen to my computer at home and discovered that there was already a firmware update waiting to be installed. It’s version 1.1.3. I tried combing through the first search results in Google but didn’t see any substantial changelogs regarding this new firmware. It appears to be a minor update. I don’t see anything new in it and I don’t see any significant improvements in music quality either. I don’t know if the firmware update improves battery life but with Nano 2nd Gen’s long battery life, that’s something that’s already hard to detect unless the firmware adds 1-2 days worth of battery life to the unit.

“Bug fixes” just isn’t enough.

Been thinking about skinning my iPod Nano also. Since it’s a small gadget, it wouldn’t cost as much (there’s a skinning company here in the Philippines but their services cost an arm and a leg…in exchange for a new look to your usual aluminum casing and the prospect of having swarovski crystals all over your iPod). But I decided to stick with the current look.

firmware, ipod, tech, apple
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