9/9/09 Apple Special Event impression

You can download the Special Event keynote from iTunes. I'll be going through the keynote chronologically.
1. Steve Jobs appeared, alive and well, albeit super skinny. Once we go through the whole lackluster event, I think this is the biggest news of all.

2. Genius. Blah, who cares. I already pointed out in the past that Genius to me is stupid. Apple now put the Genius feature for apps. Will see how it goes. I don't have the iPhone, so no ringtones for me. However, $1.29? Really? I thought it was 99c and you can make your own (this option is still available though). In short, ringtones are still a rip-off. Make your own and save your money.

3. iTunes 9. The new iTunes store does feel better than the old one. Definitely easier to navigate. The catch? No more shopping cart. So don't just click happy as it's all 1-click buy now. You have to utilize the wish list to simulate the old shopping cart (yeah, they said wish list is a requested feature, while what they did was renaming the shopping cart). iTunes LP is what cocktail becomes. It's cool, but until they have iTunes LPs for Eurobeat artists like Dave Rodgers, I won't be bothered. They also added Extras to movies, so your iTunes movie purchase is filled with non-useful content that you don't care, like the DVD version. :P

4. Syncing is much more granular now. Instead of having to make individual playlists for specific artists/genres to be synced, iTunes 9 have that option built-in. This is a nice addition. Syncing is also more granular with podcasts and videos, allowing you to specify certain podcasts/videos that you want in the device indefinitely.

5. iTunes 9 Home Sharing. This is a nice feature for those that have iTunes libraries scattered on different computers. Finally iTunes can automatically aggregate the library content between computers with couple of clicks. Very useful if you keep a library on a desktop and another on a laptop. The catch, you need iTunes account, and it only works for computers with the same iTunes account (so no copying music from friends/other family members). Yeah, the recording industry is not that stupid. Kudos to them to limit what you can do with your own content. Luckily, iTunes are now DRM free, so you can always do it the old-fashion way. Home Sharing just makes it a bit more convenient.

6. You can rearrange the App icons of your iPod Touch/iPhone from iTunes 9. Nice long-awaited feature, but I want folders to group certain apps instead of having pages of clutter. Oh well, maybe iTunes 10.

7. iPod Touch. The most disappointing and lackluster announcement. Everybody, including me, is expecting a new Touch with camera, and maybe GPS+compass. Phil went on and on about apps and games, something that everybody knows already. Dissing the PSP and DS won't change the fact that the "new" Touch is NOT new. I guess the rumor that there's production/manufacturing issues with the camera unit is true. So, Apple is focusing the Touch for gaming. Imo, wrong move. Without a significant hardware update, the ZuneHD with nVidia Tegra and 720p HD output + HD radio is a LOT more tempting for enthusiasts, especially Windows users.
So, what do Apple have? 8GB for $199 (the old 2G), 32GB for $299, and 64GB for $399. No camera. The 32 and 64GB version are said to be "faster" and support OpenGL ES 2.0, but no confirmation yet whether it has the same innards as the iPhone 3GS. Whatever, Tegra on the ZuneHD sounds better and better. For comparison, ZuneHD 16GB will be $219, and the 32GB will be $289. However you see it, if you're a Windows user and looking for a new toy, the ZuneHD is extremely tempting and gives better value than the Touch, unless you're on a Mac or you want apps.
Other than the ZuneHD, there is not much competition here though. Creative's Zii is not out yet. Sony X series? That's an even worse joke. 16GB for $299, and 32GB for $399 for a standalone MP3 player? I expect Sony to put the X series on clearance soon.
How did I do on my prediction? Well, I was wrong about most of it, only got the 2G 8GB for $199 right.
No Phil, the iPod Touch is not the best iPod yet as it cannot even do shuffle-by-album, something that the Classic and nano can do for ages. The Dell in the back pocket is cute though, something you copied from Sony's Vaio P ad? :P

8. iPod Classic survived! Really, a lot of bloggers, including me, expected Apple to axe the Classic. I didn't even know there's a 160GB hard-drive that thin yet. Oh well, this is good news for some people. Apple is the only one left that sells hard-drive based MP3 player. Microsoft already axed their hard-drive based Zunes. 160GB for $249. No drop in price as Apple knows they're the only player in town now in this category. No new features either, not even the voice over, something that I predicted. Again, I missed the mark, only matching the price point of $249, simply because I was not aware of the thin 160GB being available.

9. iPod Shuffle, the dreaded 3G Shuffle is sticking. Phil kept saying it's the "easiest" iPod to use. Liar. Apple didn't even bother to drop the price. It's still the 4GB for $79, and only added 2GB for $59. Oh, how about an even more expensive piece of useless metal, 4GB stainless steel 3G Shuffle for $99. $99? Really Apple? For something that is barely usable? Let alone that, it's not even gapless capable. Utter fail!
Let's see the competitors:
-Sony's new E series, not as tiny as the 3G Shuffle for sure, but it is much more usable, compatible with any OS, 8GB for $79, 16GB for $99. So, a tiny piece or metal for $99, or a usable MP3 player with screen and buttons, and 4 times the capacity for the same price. Which one would you pick? You have to be a super harcore Apple fanboy to choose the Shuffle.
-Sandisk Sansa Clip+, again, not as tiny as the 3G shuffle, but more usable due to a screen and buttons. 8GB for $69, 4GB for $49. Sure, it's plastic instead of metal, but usability goes up 1000x with only half the price. Take that Apple! Really, Apple could be losing the low-end market here, a place where Apple is doing decently before with the 2G Shuffle.

10. The new 5G nano. So, the iPod that is getting a video camera is the nano, not the iPod Touch. Huh? Yeah, that's what I said. I'm not really sure Apple's strategy here. Steve Jobs said they're targeting the Flip camcorder market. I don't know if that's a market the nano should be going though. The Flip market is going away anyway, as most of today's compact point-n-shoot digicams at similar price point can also take videos (some even in HD), have better optics, optical zoom, and upgradeable memory. Oh, and they take much better pictures than the Flip. So, imo the Flip itself is not going to last long, and Apple wants to go in? The Touch is in a better position to have a video camera as it has the OS for video editing, picture/video uploading via wifi, and apps. The nano has nothing of those. Even worse, the video camera on the new nano cannot take pictures.
On the other hand, there are quite a few surprises. The video itself is 640x480 30fps. Not too shabby, although I wish Apple added widescreen resolution. Also, according to the new spec, the new nano supports HE-AAC. Well, that's new. And yes, iTunes 9 allow ripping to HE-AAC now, max 80kbps. I think there's something going on here. Apple wouldn't just add this for no reason.
Now, the pricing. 8GB for $149, 16GB for $179. People that are not interested in the camera will look elsewhere, like Sony new E/S series (16GB E345 is $99, 16GB S545 is only $129). Even if you're interested in the camera, you have to wonder how's the video quality. No auto-focus? It's clear that Apple added the cheapo camera to keep the premium pricing. Really, if Sony, a company that is not that smart in term of pricing their products, can sell a 16GB MP3 player for $99, I expect Apple to do better.

11. Norah Jones. No Beatles. Nuff said.

So, a pretty lackluster event. The biggest news is, Steve Jobs is alive and well. Apple is missing the mark on everything except the Classic. The 3G Shuffle is as useless as it was, and instead of price drop, Apple upped the premium. The nano, instead of being cheaper, got a questionable video camera, and no significant price drop. The Touch? Where should I begin? Nothing new, weak pricing and featureset vs the ZuneHD. Microsoft, this is your big chance to push the ZuneHD as much as possible. Even better, just drop the price point to $199 and $249 for the 16GB and 32GB ZuneHD respectively. That might give Steve Jobs a bit of headache. Oh, and where's Mac support for the Zune? This is a rare chance for Microsoft to snag some Mac users. However, I doubt that MS is that smart (they cannot even put unicode fonts in the Zune).

Now, taking a step back, let's take a look at the iPod Touch lineup. Did you notice something missing? Yeah, no 16GB! There a jump from 8GB to 32GB. I wonder what is going on here. I can speculate that, assuming the production problems is true, that Apple has to fill the gap quick, and put the 8GB 2G Touch back. The 16GB was reserved for the intended new Touch with camera. Also, in the end, Steve said "See you soon." I'm guessing an October event, introducing the true 3G Touch with video camera, 16GB at $249 and 32GB at $349, filling the gaps nicely, co-existing with the current lineup. Voila! :)

There you go, my impression of the 9/9/09 Apple event, and with some analysis/rumor at the end to boot! :P

September Apple event is coming

It's this Wednesday, 9/9/09. I'll be following gdgt for keynote coverage and watching TWIT live for Leo Laporte's commentaries (and occasional live spycam from the keynote). I'll be comparing notes with my own prediction.

2009 iPods rumor

Okay, time to put on my analyst hat and do my own rumors/predictions for the next iPod lineup coming later this year as more and more rumors start popping up in the blogosphere. With more and more "analyst" pulling stuff out of obviousness and thin air, I think I could co better.

Let's start with the iPod shuffle. The iPod shuffle got an early makeover earlier this year, in the form of the 3G Shuffle, which sports no buttons on the main body. It drew a lot of criticism, but it seems obvious to me that this is just Apple's testbed on how the market will react to the voice over feature. Couple things that may happen:
1. Apple keeping the current 4GB 3G shuffle as is, maybe dropping the price to $50-$60 level.
2. Apple bringing back the 2G shuffle form factor with buttons, but with the 3G innards (Voice over, Apple lossless support, Apple earbud+remote support, etc). Apple is still selling the 2G shuffle (1GB for $50), so why not making the lineup matching again with the same form factor. I can see Apple spinning the criticism of the 3G Shuffle by saying "The people are demanding buttons on the Shuffle, and we're going to give it to them!" (Cue in the claps and cheers from the audience). I still think Apple might drop the price to the $50-$60 level too. 2GB 2G Shuffle for $40-$50, 4GB "3.5G" Shuffle at $50-$60.
3. Clean up the 3G Shuffle even more, getting rid of the shuffle slider resulting in just a completely smooth piece of aluminum with a headphone jack (no buttons nor sliders). Put an accelerometer in it, and voila, Shuffle with "shake to shuffle" feature. LOL.
Whatever happens, I just want Apple to put gapless playback into the Shuffle.

Next, the iPod nano. The 4G nano is a clear sign that Apple is running out of ideas for the lineup (Shake to shuffle? Really?). In fact, I still prefer the 3G nano's Now Playing screen as it shows the song's rating while the 4G nano does not. The only thing that makes the 4G nano attractive is its selection of colors. So, here are my predictions:
1. Keeping the same 4G nano but adding voice over feature, and cutting the price so Apple can push the pricing of the iPod Touch without overlapping. So maybe 8GB for $99, 16GB for $149, in line with the current refurbished pricing.
2. Currently, there are rumors about the new nano sporting a camera. Imo this is just too farfetched, and even sillier than adding "shake to shuffle." Unless, of course Apple has something up their sleeve. I'm guessing of a touch screen nano. It will have a touch screen covering the front face completely like the iPod Touch. Instead of having a full iPhone/Touch OS, it will just have a stripped down ver of the OS, with only the iPod app plus the basic apps (Contacts, Calendar, Photo. No Mail/Safari/app store, etc). Now, with this setting, adding a camera might work, as it already has the OS to support it. Basically an iPod Touch nano, focusing more on the iPod features. Obviously it will have voice over too. The camera would probably just the basic 2MP one from the 1st gen iPhone (Apple probably already have a boatload of these), not the 3.2MP one from the 3GS. This might work, and will also give Apple a leverage to keep a bit of price premium. 16GB for $179, 8GB for $129. I can see the new slogan already, "Touch, on the smallest iPod ever."
Regardless of what happen, it's a given that there is going to be a price cut and voice over. Either way, I can see the line of standalone DAPs on its last leg, with the trend going to a mobile-OS based PMPs (in Apple's case, the iPod Touch).

iPod Classic, the original iPod lineup that, unfortunately, is getting a step-child treatment. Last year, it didn't even get any UI upgrades, other than the support of the earbud with remote+mic and Genius. It also an oddball in Apple's usually clean lineup, having an overlapping price with the iPod Touch. My guess for the Classic:
1. Keeping the same 120GB, adding voice over. Really, Apple cannot do much on the classic. I don't see Toshiba releasing higher capacity 5mm height hard-drives than the current 120GB. Plus, Apple's obsession with thinness made them discontinued the thicker Classics last year, so I doubt Apple would bring them back. Price cut might happen too, dropping the price to, let's say, $199 to $229. Really, not many competitors here other than the Zune 120, so Apple might as well keep the same $249 price point.
2. Discontinue it altogether. Apple might just decide it's time to truly focus on the iPod Touch, and the oddball Classic pricing was in the way. This might irk some people desiring high capacity players, but I don't think the majority of the consumers would be bothered. I doubt the sales of the Classic is that great, as the big sellers are the Touch and nano.
3. Make a flash based Classic. Really, this is my wish. As much as I love the 3G nano, its controls are just too small. I love my 5G iPod, but the hard-drive prevented me from using it on the go. If Apple went to the route of the Touch nano, maybe we can see a Touch Classic. It will have a full touch screen like the iPod Touch, but with the stripped down OS like the Touch nano, focusing on the iPod capabilities (no safari, no app store, etc). Price and capacity, maybe 16GB at $199, and 32GB at $299. Imo this is highly unlikely though, as it is really overlapping with the iPod Touch, and Apple usually prefer a clean lineup.
Well, it's sad to see high capacity hard-drive based players are going away. It wasn't that long ago we have hard-drive based Creative Jukebox, and the original iPod. Flash memory are just more reliable, and their pricing continues to go down.

Lastly, the iPod Touch. This is the flagship iPod product. Current rumors are that the next Touch will sport a camera, and I think it's true. I can see the next Touch sharing the same hardware with the iPhone 3GS, minus the phone, GPS, and compass. It will have the same camera, the same video recording capability, and a built-in mic. Voice over and voice command are a given. The only question is pricing.
1. 1 way is Apple keeping the premium price and follow the same trend as the iPhone. 16GB for $299, 32GB for $399, and keeping the 8GB 2G Touch at $199. Apple does want people to get the iPhone, thus the 2G Touch pricing was not cheaper than the iPhone 3G. Apple might decide to keep the Touch prices higher than the iPhone 3GS to encourage people buying the iPhone instead.
2. Or Apple can be aggressive, simply price the 16GB new Touch at $199, and 32GB at $299. This will really make the competitors scrambling (especially looking at Sony's pricing of their X series).
3. A more conservative pricing, matching the ZuneHD. The ZuneHD is rumored to start at 16GB at $249, so maybe Apple would simply follow that. 16GB for $249, 32GB for $349. Still a good deal if it has the auto focus camera and a built-in mic. Might not be so hot otherwise though, as the ZuneHD can output 720p.
To be honest, I just want Apple to put shuffle-by-album feature on the iPod Touch. this is a basic feature on the regular iPods. Why is it not in the supposedly "best iPod ever"?

So, there's my analysis prediction for the next iPod lineup, way before all the so-called analysts making their obvious predictions. Take that. LOL. Alas, I'm not getting paid while those so-called analysts are getting paid for writing the obvious.

One can see, as I already stated before, that the trend is going towards mobile OS platform. Standalone DAPs are going nowhere, and a smarter device is the obvious next step. Microsoft is using Windows mobile/CE for the ZuneHD. Apple already have the mobile OS X for the Touch. Sony is going Android for their next Walkman. Standalone DAPs will be just low end cheapo DAPs.

Yellow 4G iPod nano Music Video

Pikachuu's New Toy

Well, I can't help it. Pikachuu wants the new iPod nano that comes in yellow.

One more thing

Last minute blogging that just pop into my head, still related to Apple's new iPods announcement. Steve Jobs mentioned that 90% of car manufactures offer iPod integration. Well, guess what. 90% of those sux. Even worse, car manufactures now have simple AUX in and/or simple USB interface, and advertise them as "iPod integration." I haven't seen any car manufactures that actually openly advertise iPod integration, other than maybe Scion or VW. Most are still touting having a simple CD player as a big feature. There are great options from 3rd party, which is still a pain in the @ss to install (since most car manufactures go above and beyond to make it so difficult to upgrade the stock audio), but still fall short (lack of unicode display for once). I suggest Apple do a reference model of iPod integration, meaning fully support all iPod features (including rating songs), and unicode display. For now, iPod "integration" in most cars are simply treating the iPod as glorified CD-changer.

Couple things I noticed on the new nano "Now Playing" screen when it was demoed by Steve Jobs: Album name now scrolls! In previous iPods, only the track title scrolls. If you have a long album name, it's just displayed partially with a .... However, I don't see the ratings on the "Now Playing" screen. 1 thing I like about the 3G nano is that the rating is displayed on the "Now Playing" screen, which is a nice feature. I have to see the new nano in real life to see if this is not the case anymore. :(

Lastly, the competitors. When people are discussing the iPods, the main competitor mentioned is the Zune. Well, look at the marketshare that Steve Jobs showed, and look at Sandisk. They did pretty good, and they probably spend less money and less hype than Microsoft. Sandisk has a big retail presence, sold in Bestbuy, and even Costco. Now, the kicker is the rumor that Samsung is buying Sandisk. Samsung is one of the main supplier of flash memory for Apple. Although Samsung have their own DAP line, they don't seem to be that popular outside Asia. Combined with Sandisk, and their control over flash memory, it would be interesting to see how the market would shape up if the rumor s true.

Apple rumors?

Is it just me, or is Apple being more and more lenient, or maybe unable to control, the leaks and rumors for their new products? I remember in the past, nobody ever know what's going on, let alone spy pics. Most of the rumors were false. Now, pretty much the rumors of the 4G nano, including iTunes 8 features, the spy pics, all turned up to be correct. In the past, there was the slim aluminum keyboard picture leak, then the 3G nano + new UI leak, and all were correct. Maybe Jobs health is affecting this? Hmmm.

Apple September event, new iPods

You can watch the from Apple here. If you have subscribed to the Apple Keynote Podcast in iTunes, it should download the new keynote, albeit very slowly (since everybody is downloading it too).

So, what's new?
1. iTunes 8
New album display, kinda like Windows Media Player. Nothing exciting. Genius? Remember the iTunes mini store that nobody uses/turn off? Well, consider genius as the 2.0 version of the iTunes mini store. Basically it gathers info of your library, automatically creates playlist based on the "seed" song, and offer recommendation from iTunes store. Currently it's taking quite a while "gathering information" of my library after the installation of iTunes 8. My take? Meh. Really, Apple has done their homework when they released iTunes, and the previous subsequent updates, to the point that there is no reason to fix something that is not broken. Now, I guess the focus is to sell more stuff from the store. HD movies finally on desktops too, previously only available on Apple TV. But meh.

2. iPod Classic
As predicted, to compete with the new Zune, it is now 120GB only for $249. Grab the 160GB while you can, it's on clearance for $299 only. Or for a great deal, get the previous 80GB Classic for just $199! Again, meh. Apple used to be the leader, now it seems that it is following Microsoft since the 120GB Zune is available before this event.

3. 4G iPod nano
Apple change the nano yet again.
-Finally full aluminum enclosure ala 2G nano.
-Glass screen cover.
-A LOT of colors! Are you watching this Sony? Me like orange.
-Price is not aggressive enough. Again, Apple used to be the leader, now it's not. 8GB DAPs have been available for $149 from the competitors for quite sometime. $199 IMO is kinda a hardsell, due to the same price of 8GB iPhone.
-The accelerometer is nice, auto turning screen. Sony, where's yours? You still have to rotate screen manually on Sony DAPs.
-Shake to shuffle. Huh? Sandisk's Sansa shaker anyone?
-Not enough features to justify an upgrade. IMO the 3G nano is excellent, aside from the scratchable chrome back. The 4G nano would have been more interesting if it has more aggressive pricing (8GB for $99/$129, 16GB for $149) and built-in Nike+ transmitter. Hey, they put the Nike transmitter in the new iPod Touch, but not the nano? Doesn't make sense.

4. 2G iPod Touch
-Curved back as expected, ala iPhone 3G
-Stainless steel back? I guess this is Apple's way of built-in obsolescence, for your device to scratch up like crazy. Boo!
-Volume button. Finally!
-Built-in Nike+ transmitter. Why? This would've make more sense on the nano. The Touch is too big.
-Again, pricing is not aggressive enough. The benchmark is 8GB iPhone 3G for $199. The new 8GB Touch is still more expensive, $229. The great deal? Get a previous gen 8GB Touch refurbished from Apple for $179!
-2.1 firmware upgrade for all Touch. You still have to pay for it if you haven't upgraded from 1.x.
-Built-in speaker. There are times that I wish the 1G Touch have this. It's a nice addition.
-Nothing ground breaking or new as far as online capability. Meanwhile, Microsoft is doing some new things with the new firmware of the Zune.
-Now, the interesting one, is the fact that the upcoming earbud accessories have a mic on it. If Apple allow voice on the Touch, all we need is a VOIP app! F U AT&T!
-Again, IMO not that exciting, and not a must upgrade from 1G Touch, unless there is a VOIP app.

5. New earbud/in-ear bud with basic remote capability and mic, obviously to be usable by the iPhone too. The in-ear one has 2 drivers in each side. Sounds interesting, but I HATE the Y-cable design. It is NOT practical. I prefer the behind the neck design.

6. "New" colors for iPod shuffle
-Recycled colors from the 2006 2G shuffles. Boo!
-Are you kidding me? No price drop? You can get 2GB SD cards for less than $10 now. Any modern cellphone is good enough to be a basic DAP.

7. iTunes 8 impression:
-Genius, or should I say, Moron.
Okay, while I was typing this blog, the Genius feature in iTunes 8 finally finished "gathering information" from my library. It took quite sometime despite the size of my library being not that big at all. So, does it work? NOPE! Yup, it only works for "seed" tracks that it could find in the iTunes store, even for the playlist creation. STUPID! The playlist creation is supposed to create playlist from the music IN MY LIBRARY. Nothing to do with the iTunes store! Since I primarily have Eurobeat and J-Pop songs, Genius is baffled, and becomes a Moron. USELESS! At least from the few stuff it recognized, it listed new albums and tracks that I have not purchased yet. Great feature to see if there is a new release or not. As for playlist creation from "seed" that is available from iTMS, it's WAY OFF. The playlist does include tracks not in iTMS, but obviously it's not "smart" enough, obviously only basing stuff on the available tags. And then there are mis-recognized artists (J-Pop artist vs western artist). A very poor feature. I'm turning it off. Maybe it would work better once it gathers all the millions of iTunes users info.
-Grid view is similar to Events view in iPhoto 08. Skimming works, but IMO not practical for music. Cover flow is supposed to be the "better" version of this. I still prefer the list view, but now I cannot get rid of the genre listing. WTF? It's taking up space from the artist and albums list, and I always disabled it, but the option is gone now.
-The new visualizer is pretty slick. I never really like any kind of visualizers before, but this one is pretty cool!

If Apple would've included the Nike+ transmitter inside the new nano, I'll grab those in a heartbeat. Now, I have to think twice. The orange/yellow ones are calling my name, just for collection sake. Just like in Pokemon, gotta catch'em all.

As I expected, nothing spectacular from this event. The DAP market is reaching its peak and ceiling for features and innovation. The obvious next step is the merging of DAP and phone, thus Apple probably putting more effort on the iPhone. Microsoft will be faced with this issue in trying to design better online capabilities of the Zune, being the requirement of a web browser, thus the obvious result is marriage with Windows Mobile. Between now and September 2009, this is the best period for all the competitors to catch up with Apple, but yet again, everybody seems to be failing. Microsoft seems to be the only one taking the chance with some new firmware updates for their Zunes. Sony? Look at their even more meh lineup, and overpriced 16GB DAPs. Heck, they don't even release 16GB models for the new lineup in the US. Creative? Nobody cares about Creative anymore.

Sony NWZ-S616F pink

Guess what I bought.




My sister wants larger capacity DAP than the 2GB nano I gave her, and something with FM radio. The Sony player is perfect, especially with its super easy drag-n-drop file transfer. I guess transferring music to the nano is not "easy" enough for her. :p Plus she doesn't need gapless playback.

The NWZ-S616F comes with minimal accessories. A stock bud (looks like the crappy E808), USB to WM-port cable, and a dock adapter. The body is plastic, but build quality seems okay. The buttons (especially the volume and hold switch) feel really cheap though. The FCC label looks like a cheapo sticker. Unit is Made in Malaysia. Obviously thicker vs the 2G nano (pictured above).

Drag-n-drop from my iMac is straight forward. The Sony is recognized as a UMS device. Drag-n-drop files using Finder is super easy. The only weird issue is that I cannot seem to eject the device. Every time I eject it, it will reconnect almost right away. Unplugging the USB cable when it's not writing doesn't hurt the content, but Finder yelled at me. I connected it to my WinXP machine, and it's recognized as UMS device just fine. The fact that a Sony audio device can be as easy as this is mind boggling. :D

Oh, gapless? Since I don't see anybody doing it, I conducted a test myself. Here's the video:


In short, gapless only on WAV files. Even at 4GB, using WAV files is not practical, unless you only listen to very few albums.

One Touch

A music video that I made. :)

New iPods rumor?

With the day of the iPhone 3G coming closer, more and more rumors are starting for iPods on the net. With Apple putting the iPhone 3G price at $199, it's pretty confusing to consumers in regards to pricing of the iPod lineup. Anything at the $199 price will become a hard sell, since the comparison is the iPhone 3G 8GB.

My take:
-Shuffle: no change, maybe price drop (1GB gone, 2GB at current 1GB price).
-iPod nano: Apple pretty much nailed it with the 3G nano. There isn't much they could do more. Maybe capacity bump across the board and/or price drop. You could see some hints at the prices of the refurbished nanos. Maybe 8GB or 16GB @ $149. It would be hard for Apple to promote the nano at $199, considering the iPhone 3G price.
-iPod classic: There is no announcements/rumors about larger capacity 1.8" hard-drives. The iPod classic is already at 160GB. Price drop will overlap with the nano/iPhone/Touch too closely. Maybe 100GB/120GB @ $249, and 160GB @299, but unlikely.
-iPod Touch: In the past, at the same price with the iPhone, you loose the phone, but gain more capacity at the same price point. With the iPhone 3G, consumers might look at the Touch as the worst deal. Apple could ignore the Touch altogether, pushing people to buy the iPhone. If not, there must be some price cuts/capacity bump. I'm guessing $100 price drop across the board. Same price with the iPhone 3G and all the new apps without 2 year commitment to AT&T.

My wish:
-iPod nano: bring back the aluminum enclosure like 2G nano. I can't believe Apple brought back the highly scratchable chrome back for the 3G. 16GB is a must, considering all the competitors (Sony, Creative, etc) have 16GB already. Maybe also put the Nike transmitter built-in so we don't have to deal with dock-blocking attachment anymore.
-iPod classic: I want a flash based iPod classic. The nano is great, but the click wheel is just too small. The iPod classic has the perfect size on my hand. Make it full aluminum (ala mini/2G nano) and flash based (32GB+).
-iPod Touch: Make it cheap and use the backing of the first gen iPhone. And where's the shuffle by album?

To be honest, there isn't much more innovation you can do on a digital audio player anymore. Apple nailed almost everything, including gapless playback on MP3 & AAC, something that the competitors cannot even figure out yet. Microsoft tried wifi sharing, but it's going nowhere. Creative will come up with their X-Fi DAP, but too late and who cares. With memory card prices getting cheaper and cheaper, more and more people are using cellphones as their basic DAPs. Everybody realize this (Apple with Touch/iPhone, Sony Ericsson with Walkman phones, Nokia with XpressMusic and N-series phones). It's cheaper for people to buy a 2GB microSD card than an iPod shuffle. The MP3 player as we know it is going to the way of the PDA, replaced by cellphones, and Apple is definitely aware of this. I can see Apple will focus more and more on the iPhone/Touch, especially with the new firmware and apps. The iPod as we know it might be gone, or maybe Apple will just keep the nano as a low end DAP, and push the Touch as the main iPod.

WWDC 2008

Streaming video is up at apple.com.

OK, here's my take on the WWDC 08 keynote.
1. iPhone 2.0 firmware.
OK, just bring it out. It's not coming out till July. My Palm Tungsten E is dying (battery & touch screen screwing up), and with the 2.0 firmware, I can easily use my iPod Touch as a replacement, since 1 app, the only app that I use on my Palm will be available for iPhone (epocrates).

The apps look amazing. You don't see app development for Windows Mobile nor Symbian being marketed this way and hyped so much. Games are great, and hopefully we'll see more fresh gaming idea, just like what Nintendo DS brought to the market.

Why apps are so great on the iPhone?
First, high res screen. Other phones from other manufactures usually use (very) low res screen, limiting the image quality and overall experience of the GUI, especially internet browsing. PMPs have high res screen already (Cowon A2/A3), and Apple has the unique position having the experience from iPods.
Second, processor speed. Other manufactures usually cut short in the processor used on their phones, usually using whatever cheapest processor they could find, resulting in slow UI response (like many Windows Mobile devices) to the point that it hampers the regular usage of the device. Even Nokia smartphones suffer from slow response and thus poor experience, even though Symbian has many apps.

The ugly side of this, $10 charge for iPod Touch users. WTF? We already had to pay for the previous firmware upgrade, now we have to pay more? In comparison, Sony adds new features in firmware upgrades for the PSP and PS3 multiple times, for free! MS adds new functionalities to the older Zune for free. Of course, I will bite and pay for this to have epocrates for my Touch. T_T

2. Mobile ME.
I thought the rumor was a joke. The name just doesn't seem "cool." It reminds me of Windows ME. What is it? It's .Mac rebranded, refreshed, and redesigned to work across Mac, iPhones/Touch, and Windows. Windows? Well, most of it will be web based, and there's support for outlook. So, it's still $100 per year. It has more uniform interface with Mac OS' own mail.app and iCal. 10GB storage is upgraded to 20GB. Sounds great? Well, consider that Microsoft offer Live Skydrive for free, and it has 5GB shareable storage space, so if all you want is online storage, nothing beats free. Plus Microsoft will have Live Mesh, which will be Mac compatible too. The upside of .Mac is syncing, and with outlook support, it might entice some people. I already like .Mac's syncing across my iMac and Macbook, but the cost is just too hard to swallow. IMO Apple needs to offer at least a free Mobile ME with maybe only ~2GB storage space, something like that. When Live Mesh goes final, Apple needs to up the ante.

3. iPhone 3G
Finally, long awaited, the newer Jesus Phone. 3G support so people outside the US can think that iPhone is up-to-par with the various 3G phones already on the market. July 11th is the date.

When Jobs started announcing the features of iPhone 3G, it's hilarious that the crowd are getting crazy over things like "flushed headphone jack." LOL. GPS, I never use GPS before, so I don't know if it matters. Battery life seems to be greatly improved (presumably with better power management).

70 countries. Singapore & Hong Kong, yay. Japan, wow. Ooops, not Indonesia, the place that usually gets the latest cellphones, but rampant with hackers and pirates. Are you afraid Apple? Wonder why.

Apple priced the 8GB iPhone 3G at $199. Plus, Jobs said Apple will set the price not to exceed $199 US in all those countries. WOW! This is BIG! Other manufactures usually have variable open prices outside the US (eg. Nokia latest model sometimes is sold at thousands of dollars at launch, then dropping down in price through time, and the cycle repeats). Now, there's gotta be a catch for this price. Although we will see what will happen in those countries, Apple is still going to lock the iPhone 3G with AT&T in the US. WRONG MOVE!

I guess Apple has not been to SE Asia. Most phones sold there are unlocked, even phones sold under a contract. People in Asia like to switch phones & providers, especially if they're traveling. IMO if Apple wants to be successful in Asia, without giving money away to hackers/unlockers, Apple needs to sell the iPhone 3G unlocked. So back to Indonesia, this is a place where they have the latest models from Nokia, etc, being sold, even before other countries like Singapore. The pirates will simply buy/smuggle the iPhone 3G from Singapore/Hong Kong, and unlock it. Nobody would bother buying the phone locked from the cell service provider.

Apple better be selling the iPhone 3G unlocked in Asia, and if they did, expect a flood of Americans/ebayers importing the phone. Moral of the story, just sell the phone unlocked, anywhere, period. Ditch AT&T. Apple has the upper hand anyway, AT&T is getting more business thanks to the iPhone, even from people that don't like AT&T.

Not unlocked, I'm not buying. Even worse, the rumor is that the iPhone 3G will have to be activated in store, in contrast of the first iPhone where users can activate it at home. Plus, it will have worse and more expensive data plans from AT&T. Yup, US cell providers can only go backwards, charging more for less service. Another reason for Apple to sell the iPhone unlocked if they really want to change the way the cellphone business is done. I guess the $10 upgrade fee for my Touch doesn't sound too bad.

That's it. No Fusion, no new Macs, no tablet. But hey, Steve casually mentioned OS X 10.6 called Snow Leopard. But of course they don't want it to steal the thunder from the iPhone 3G. 10.6 already? And I just upgraded to Leopard... T_T

C'mon Apple, why is it so hard not selling the iPhone unlocked? Even if Apple sold the iPhone 3G unlocked for $100 more ($299 for 8GB), I'll buy it right away. If Apple want to lock me to AT&T, then they are no better than those freebies locked phones. Asians want unlocked phones (if not, they'll hack it anyway). Business users want unlocked phones (more economical when traveling by using local GSM providers and not giving AT&T $$$ for roaming charges). I want it unlocked. Apple, you've just missed plenty of customers.

Using UMS DAP with iTunes in Mac

For those that are using Macs, the most logical choice would be to use iPods as your digital audio player (DAP). Well, what if you don't want to use iPods? You can always use any DAPs that are USB Mass Storage compliant (meaning can be connected to any modern OS without needing additional driver/software), and doesn't require a special software to transfer music (eg. pure drag-n-drop). Example of this kind of DAPs* are most cheapo flash players, Creative flash players, Sony NWZ series, PSP, rockbox enabled DAP, etc. Using these DAPs are easy, since they will show up on Finder just like an external drive/memory card. Drag-n-drop your music, and you're done. Easy right? But what if your library is managed by iTunes, and you already have a perfectly auto-cycling smart playlist? Transferring these tracks manually won't update their tags (last played, and playcount). What to do?

Apple scripts to the rescue. I found this website that hosts many kinds of Apple scripts for specific situations. There's one that will add a specified number to the playcount tag on selected tracks (called Add or subtract Play Count), and there's one that will update the last played tag of selected tracks to a specified date (New Last Played Date). Perfect! :)

So how do use these scripts? If you follow the readme included with every scripts, there will be a script menu shown in iTunes. First step is to create a smart playlist that you'll use. Then disable Live Updating (important, especially if the criteria for the smart playlist depend on the playcount and last played tags). If you don't, since we're going to apply the scripts in 2 steps, the set of tracks will already be different the moment you use 1 of the 2 scripts. Next is to run those 2 scripts (in my case, I set to add +1 to the playcount, and set the last played to today's date). You're free to drag-n-drop the tracks to your DAP. The next time you want to transfer fresh tracks, simply enable live updating and iTunes will refresh the smart playlist with new tracks according to the criteria.

Of course, the beauty of iPods are their automatic syncing. There another Apple script based utility called iTunemywalkman. It basically syncs a/multiple iTunes playlist(s) to a UMS device. I tried it, and it delete my ratings on the tracks. Weird, so user beware. For now, manually copying the tracks have to suffice for me. I'm sure somebody can/already created Apple scripts to automate the whole process.

So there you go. You can use your choice of DAPs, and still use iTunes' powerful smart playlist feature.

*Note that iPods are not these kind of DAPs (unless you use rockbox) because even though it is a UMS device, it requires iTunes (or 3rd party software) to transfer music.
**Note: Of course, non-iPod DAPs will not be able to play iTunes DRMed tracks. Simple put a criteria not to include tracks with Protected kind in the smart playlist. iTunes+ tracks (non-DRMed AAC) will play fine on any AAC supporting DAPs.

iPod Touch 1.1.3

Updated my iPod Touch to 1.1.3. As expected, it seems to only add movie rental support. None of the new apps shown(maps, mail, etc) are included, not even the jiggly icons nor being able to modify the home screen. All of that requires $20. Damn you Apple.

Time Capsule + Macbook Air

Macworld 2008. Again, Apple just amazed me. There are 2 things I most probably get:

1. Time Capsule:
Looks like an Airport Extreme with a hard-drive in it. I guess this is Apple's respond to Windows Home Server. I love my HP WHS machine, but of course it doesn't interact with a Mac as well as PC. Although it hurts spending another $$, the $300 500GB version is tempting, considering you also get a wireless router. This would also solve my dilemma if I want to buy a new Mac and use Time Machine.

2. Macbook Air
Simply amazing. I thought the Sony Vaio TZ series are thin, yet the Macbook Air is even thinner! 3 punds, 0.16inch thick! Granted you loose the optical drive, but I have an old notebook, and for the past couple of years, the optical drive is never used sitting in a bag. 5 hours battery life. The Macbook Air will be an excellent traveling machine. The catch is, how much is it going to be with the 64GB SSD option? The Sony TZ is about $3000 with the SSD drive. Also, the 80GB hard-drive is the same hard-drive used in iPods, which is a slow 4200rpm.

The ugly:
Firmware update for the iPod Touch will cost you $20. WTF? That's just lame, really lame.

iPod Touch

Audio:
+ Cover flow seems to group some compilation albums correctly, unlike my 3G nano. Still not foolproof. Apple should just have a Various artists group.
- Cover flow mode is not linked to playlist, unlike cover flow in iTunes.
- No shuffle by album. So much for the "best" iPod.
- Tracks without album art will have a large generic music icon displayed to waste screen space. Apple could've designed the Touch to display the track title/artist with larger fonts instead.
- No dedicated volume button ala iPhone.
- Apple's iPod remote is not compatible!

Internet:
- Since there is no accessible filesystem, you cannot save/upload files from Safari. The internet browser is strictly a browser.
- Although Safari on the Touch is probably the fastest internet browser on a portable device I've used (PSP, WAP cellphone browsers, Nintendo DS, Pocket IE, etc), it can be sluggish, and it even crashes on few occasions. The problem in loading web pages is the ads. Wish Apple can implement something like Adblock so Safari can render web pages faster instead of loading all the animated ads.

Video:
- Nice screen, but the fact that iPods only support MP4s is really annoying. I hate transcoding. It's a waste of time. Maybe when we all have 8-core processors then transcoding videos should be quick and easy.

General UI:
- Certain UIs (like the scrub bar) is too small for my finger, and not as accurate as the iPod's clickwheel.



So, what I think about the iPod Touch? It's larger than the nano and full multi-touch interface (even for volume control) really make it not the ideal on-the-go DAP. As a PMP, video codec and storage size limitations are the hurdles. What is it great for? Here's an example. I was listening a podcast in my bedroom when the podcaster mentioned an interesting link. Instead of turning up my PC and loading up a browser, I just turned on the Touch's wifi, open up Safari, and check out the link right then. Also when I need some hints while playing a video game, I just use the Touch instead of going to my PC. It's a nifty portable internet browser, that have some iPod functionalities. Definitely not a replacement for the regular iPods (mainly missing shuffle by album feature). Some says it's just a training-wheel for the iPhone, and to a certain extend, that's correct. The iPhone would be a better device thanks to a full calendar app, phone and EDGE. The Touch seems out of place at its pricing point. Not for everyone. If you want a music player, go with the regular iPods. I would rate it 70 out of 100. It's cool to show off, has nifty interface and wifi, but not ideal for a DAP use.

3G iPod nano Product RED

Well, I'm going to give my previous nano to one of my relatives. She's happy with her 30GB iPod + winamp, but want something smaller for on-the-go. :D Time for a new toy for me while waiting for the Touch.




A quick video overview:


There are quite a bit of reviews out there already, so I'm just going to be brief.

Annoying things:
-Hold slider is too small, and at the bottom to boot! Docking the nano will prevent access to that slider
-I still don't understand the point of the headphone jack being at the bottom.
-Cover flow is flawed! It listed the albums by artists, and it doesn't recognize compilation albums. So I have repetitive listings on my albums in cover flaw (as you can see in the video). Hopefully Apple is going to fix this. Fixed in firmware 1.02.
-Click wheel touch area is kinda narrow. I have big fingers, so sometime I miss a "sweep" when scrolling on the click wheel. I guess this is the reason why I felt the menu UI to be "laggier."
-Chrome back full of smudges! :( I wish Apple used the whole aluminum design like the 2G.
-Small screen is not really meaningful for movie playback
-As usual, minimal packaging. Only comes with earbud, USB cable, quick start guide, dock adapter, and stickers.
-When the screen dims during playback, instead of showing the "Now Playing" screen, it goes into a "screensaver" mode, showing only the time, battery status, and a play icon. I can't find any option to turn this off.

What I like:
-Larger screen than previous nano: Album art and photos are more meaningful now. Plus the higher res screen allow better font sizes.
-Video playback is great for video podcasts
-Now you can access shuffle option directly on the "Now Playing" screen. On previous iPods, you are forced to go to the setting menu.
-Menu UI is not as laggy as I though (see big finger comment above)
-Gapless playback
-Unicode
-Unbelievably thin!

Not a must buy for previous nano owners unless you need video playback. I rank gapless playback and unicode feature higher than anything, so to me the 3G nano is an obvious choice. For my use, I rate it 92%.

The competitors: The Creative ZEN is definitely the main competitor, having larger screen, drag-n-drop, compatible with iTMS DRM free AAC, and divx support. Problem is video support is limited to 320x240 (so regardless of divx support, most videos will have to be transcoded anyway), no gapless, and no iTunes like experience.

I wish Apple would release a flash version of the iPod classic. Now I just have to wait for the Touch. :)