Having started as a music player, Apple's iTunes application has historically organized content in your account's Music folder. With the introduction of iTunes 9, Apple applied slight changes to the default organization of files that iTunes manages, which may or may not show up for you, depending on how you use iTunes.… Read more
The recent iTunes update has addressed a number of issues some people have had with iPods, playlist syncing, and the capability to remember passwords. While for most users the update should work without problems, some people have experienced issues with iTunes updates in the past and there is no guarantee that new problems will not occur.… Read more
Apple has released iTunes 9.0.3, which addresses a number of bugs found in previous versions of iTunes 9. The update provides a number of important bug fixes, including:
iTunes no longer ignores your " Remember password for purchases" setting. Addresses problems with syncing some Smart Playlists and Podcasts with iPod. Resolves a problem recognizing when iPod is connected. Addresses issues that affect stability and performance.The "remember password for purchases" fix will be very popular, since it has been the biggest complaint we've ever received from iPhone Atlas readers about iTunes.
iTunes 9.0.… Read more
Apple makes extracting your music from your iPod unnecessarily difficult, and there's been a cottage industry of software tools designed to get around Apple's restrictive file-renaming conventions. Most of these programs charge you to use them, and of the free ones, few are exceptional at what they do. SharePod breaks the mold with useful features that work encased in a simple but appealing design.
It's a fast freeware tool for transferring your music collection from your iPod to your hard drive, making it easy to back up or restore your music, videos, and photos. It also transfers … Read more
Overall, Apple's iPad looks and behaves like a scaled-up version of an iPod Touch or iPhone, but there are some key differences that distinguish the iPad from its pocket-size comrades. One of these differences, surprisingly, is music playback.
Clicking on the iPod icon sitting in the virtual tray at the bottom of the iPad opens up a music browser that looks nothing like any previous generation of iPod or iPhone, but instead, works like a stripped-down version of Apple's iTunes music software. There's the familiar iTunes gray bar running across the top, with playback controls, a volume … Read more
While it's still too soon to tell if it can live up to the insane amount of hype that preceded its introduction, the iPad is, more than any other product the company has made, the quintessential Apple device.
From the almost entirely homegrown technology, to the addition of the books counterpart to its iTunes media hub, to taking a risk on the middle category between smartphones and laptops, the iPad completes the picture for Apple in a lot of ways.
Steve Jobs used "revolutionary" to describe his company's newest device Wednesday, and while that's more … Read more
At this point, it looks fairly certain that an Apple tablet computer, expected to debut on Wednesday, will offer digital books, newspapers, and video.
But what about music? Conspicuously missing from much of the speculation surrounding Apple's tablet is any word about what music features it offers. Music is the content that Apple used to forge the iTunes and iPod dynasties, and music has been an integral part of the iPhone as well.
Could music be left out of all the tablet ballyhoo?
CNET reported last week that Apple spoke to the labels recently about offering iTunes users the … Read more
T-Mobile announced today it has formed a partnership with DoubleTwist to give Google Android customers multimedia sync capability. Once installed, the software finds music, photos, and videos and allows for transfer to and from Android devices. Essentially, it acts like iTunes for every other smartphone platform.
Users of DoubleTwist can create or sync playlists, and transfer photos and videos back and forth from their Android phones. In addition to DRM-free content, the app also supports your iTunes playlists and it can convert all video formats so there's no headache over compatibility.
The software itself is not new--it launched last October… Read more
I own J.J. Abrams' "Star Trek" reboot. The DVD's bought and paid for. Needless to say, I'm not about to give Apple another $14.99 so I can watch the movie on my iPhone or iPod Touch. That's as ludicrous as buying the MP3s of an album I already purchased on CD.
Alas, though it's easy to turn a CD into iPod-friendly digital media--iTunes can do it, as can Windows Media Player--ripping a DVD requires a bit more muscle. That's why I tested the latest versions of two popular products: WinX DVD Ripper Platinum ($29.95) and Wondershare DVD Ripper Platinum ($39.95). (Apparently platinum is the, um, gold standard when it comes to ripping utilities.)
Basically, I wanted to see how well the two tools handled a new release like "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" and an older one like "Back to the Future." Again, these are movies I own; I believe creating a digital copy constitutes fair use, same as ripping a CD does.
For these fairly informal tests, I opted for medium-quality MPEG-4 conversion using preselected "iPhone" profiles. Also, my system has a quad-core AMD processor with 6GB of RAM, so performance results will undoubtedly vary unless you have similar hardware.
From a feature standpoint, the two programs are pretty similar. Both give you an abundance of conversion options, meaning you can rip your DVDs for viewing on devices other than just the iPhone and iPod (everything from Apple TV to Zune).… Read more
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Take the best in technology for a spin with Brian Cooley.
