A friend just linked this in an IRC channel and I felt a small kernel of anger well up in the blogging portion of my brain:

ThomasPurves.com » Canada Worse than 3rd World Countries when it comes to Mobile Data Access:

This is the same portion of my brain that gets angry every time I have to deal with Rogers. While I enroute to the Hockey game last night, I was again lamenting the poor quality of Rogers’ online services. I haven’t received a bill in over a month now. My friend replied, “It’s better than Bell”.

Is this really supposed to make me feel better? That I could live in India and have unlimited data at Real High Speeds on a cell phone, but have to pay $1600 for a measly 500MB here in Canada is laughable.

Screw you Rogers! Screw you CRTC! Gimme my bandwidth at a reasonable price or become a 3rd world digital nation. We’re lagging hard here.

Then, as if from heaven, my replacement Xbox 360 arrived. Joy!

Still more annoying, the tv** (font-permitting, this is probably the most-onerous product to type of any other in the history of consumerist blogging), is both extremely promising and severely limiting. Restricted to playing back H.264-encoded MPEG4 or Quicktime files, the vast bulk of all video that lands on a person’s computer will have to be re-encoded. I hear there are other devices that can get your DivX (XviD) to the television, but none will do so with an interface that isn’t a pain to use or require you to configure device drivers or recompile kernels. I will probably continue to lug my MacBook Pro into the living room and attach it to an array of cables that would make a NASA mission control specialist blush in order to view my internet videos on my entertainment system until I hear the (`)tv can be coerced into usefulness.

Finally, the coup-de-grâce on the whole affair was Steve Jobs declaring that Apple Computer, Inc. is now simply-known-as, Apple Inc. There was no “One-more-thing”. There wasn’t even mention of any new software (Leopard) or hardware (8-core MacPro, 12″ MacBook Pro, …). As if to emphasize the de-emphasis of “Computers” within the corporate name, he all but ignored them in the keynote. Why call it “Mac”World at all?

It may be early to begin predictions for next year’s MacWorld, but I predict it will be called AppleWorld and there will be even less focus on our computing platform of choice. Get ready for 5 days of iTunes Store coverage!

* – the victory meal and wine still tasted delicious, despite my somewhat confused feelings over the product itself. Thanks, dria!

** – this might show up correctly if this page were using Lucida Grande in UTF-8. Maybe only on a Mac. It should be an Apple.

Technorati Tags: Apple, Computing, Hardware, OS X, Software, Technology, TV

The actual article is here: http://www.mytechlists.com/10-very-odd-ipod-accessories/ and not terribly-worth reading.

The real reason for posting this was an attempt at writing a blog entry via Vienna’s Blogging Integration feature. Seemed to work pretty well!

boolean is listening to: Nobody Told Me from the album “Billboard Top 100 of 1984″ by John Lennon

[composed and posted with ecto by way of Vienna]

Technorati Tags: Apple, Hardware, Internet, Software, Technology, Web

I contented myself with playing around with some of the new features in iTunes and prepped my collection for transport for when the device finally arrived. At just over 9000 tracks weighing in at 60GB, this was not a trivial matter. My collection’s been scattered across multiple iPods for so long that I’ve forgotten how convenient total syncing was. The new album art retrieval feature in iTunes grabbed the covers for most of it though I have enough odd-ball music that it was unlikely to get everything. Some weekend when I’m feeling obsessive I’ll run some AppleScript to search out the rest of it.

The new version of iTunes makes good use of the album art, with a couple of new views available that let you browse your collection grouped by album with art or as CD covers. It’s cute, but not really that useful and only really serves to point out how many albums have missing art. If I were a demented sort, I might think this was a clever ploy by Apple to catalog my collection for their own nefarious purposes.

Also refreshed is the sidebar with nicer groupings and a cool blue look. Scroll bars have replaced the standard Aqua look with something smoother and less glassy. The control buttons are more rounded now and the buttons along the lower border (which annexed the “Browse” icon) are a little darker. Maybe a glimpse of the new look & feel for Leopard. Even the app icon got a little polish.

There are nice little touches throughout the app including the much-sought-after “gapless playback”. Now that it’s there, I haven’t heard much about it from the crowd that whinged for so long about it. You really only notice it’s there when you realize that you haven’t heard any harsh transitions between tracks on some albums (electronica and live recordings are particularly jarring without it).

what about the iPod?

The 5Gs have returned to a flatter surface than the recent iterations. It’s at once similar to the 1G iPods and more modern. Amazingly, the 5G is quite a bit thinner than my 3G 40GB even with the double capacity. Kryder’s Law (or whatever it’s called) continues to amaze and astound. The screen, apparently brightened and more efficient than the first batch of 5G iPods is really quite nice, despite its tiny size. The click wheel is a joy to use and the new search features are a nice addition.

Unpacking the iPod was a pleasure — ritualistic unpacking photos above with a walk-on by Wally. Apple has cut down on packaging considerably since I bought my 3G several years ago. They’ve also cut down on what’s included: no dock and a flimsy, velveteen sleeve in place of a real case, itself an addition after complaints during the 4G notes and the nano-scratching debacle. The ubiquitous cheap earbuds and a USB cable round out the package. This has been been the case since the introduction of the 4G a couple of years ago, but it’s still somewhat annoying. The case that came with my 3G iPod is still probably the most-used accessory, coming in ahead of the wired remote which I will miss on this new version. The old wired remotes are incompatible, but have been replaced by a wired FM receiver / remote which I’ll acquire the next time I’m near an Apple Store. Though really, the most-used accessories included with the 3G iPod not included with the 4 or 5s were the little plastic dock port covers. Leaving those edge connectors exposed fills me with great fear at having the insides fill up with dust and particulates that may one day cause my hard drive to grind to a halt. I know it’s sealed, but still!

A word about the cheap earbuds: A lot of people like them. They like ‘em a lot. I can’t really fault them for that, but if you’re going to spend $300+ on a piece of hardware, do you really want to put a pair of 99¢ speakers in your ears? I don’t. I continue to use my trusty and durable Koss PortaPro headphones and when I’m being more serious about turning off the world, my Shure E3s. There are lots of good ‘phones out there and those of you who’ve never bothered to try something a little better might be surprised at the extra detail and subtlety these players are capable of producing.

After the unpacking, I proceeded through the setup. Plugging into the USB port with the fairly short, but nice white USB->dock cable, I was brought to the registration screen. After going through my Apple ID and selecting Canada and verifying my address was connect, I clicked the button to continue to the good part and was greeted with error messages. I tried to do this process several times and each time the system rejected my postal code. I registered through the website, but c’mon guys! I don’t want to spend those precious first few minutes fiddling with a registration page, I need to get my music loaded and playing!Fortunately I would have plenty of waiting to get through while 60GB and various calendars and address books squeezed their way through the USB2 connection. It’s not like Firewire would be that much faster, but… would Firewire be any faster?

I decided to use the time wisely and snuck out to get some accessories. It’s mandatory when getting a new iPod to go spend half as much again on accessories, and Apple’s making it real easy to do that by not including such amenities as a case and dock. So, I went to CompuSmart and nabbed a Universal AV dock kit which comes with another USB cable, a dock with a bunch of different-sized cups to accept any sized iPod, and a nice cable with a composite video line on it.

Let me say something about that nice cable and how it works with this new dock. The rings in the new cable are different from standard stereo mini jacks. That means, I can only use this cable with this dock on any stereo or television I want to plug my iPod into. Composite video’s cheap and plentiful and all, but since there’s an S-Video port, it’s not like I need that composite line dangling off the end of the cable. There are S-Video->Composite converters so the need for a hard-wired composite plug with a special adapter is really a kick in the pants. The remote’s nice though and I can see why a lot of people really like them.

The other item I got was a Belkin NeuElements slip case. The lid can’t really stay closed with the little non-clasping button and the clip is a little weak, but it’s a serviceable case for the time-being and has a nice suede-like interior and a screen protector. It doesn’t add a lot off bulk and looks decent and has a nice padded feel.

So what about it, then?

It’s safe to say that I like this thing a lot. I’ve only been using it for the better part of a week and it’s amazing just how retro my 3G iPod seems now. Sound quality on the new device is every bit as good as prior generations and the headphone preamp is still just as powerful. The volume limiting function is a nice addition. The somewhat controversial searching function (controversial because it wasn’t included as a firmware upgrade for original 5G iPods) is another nice touch, though honestly, I’d be more interested in the brighter screen.

I’ll still be using my 3G iPod in the car for now as the ICE>Link adapter I have installed doesn’t support the new models yet. I can already see myself wishing for the new ‘pod for its improved music collection and the ability to store and view maps as photos. Couple with the better-looking screen and UI, the notes function and pictures can be very useful navigational aids. And when sitting around, waiting in the car for something, being able to watch an episode of ze frank’s “The Show” or a music video would be a fun way to kill time.

But really, it’s about the music, stupid…

boolean is listening to: Le Monde from the album “The Mirror Conspiracy” by Thievery Corporation

Technorati Tags: Apple, Hardware, Music, Technology

The missing piece was a means of mounting the ice>Link’s dock. I didn’t want to do a hard mount with screws into the dashboard, so I opted for a horizontal extender plate from ProClip. Doing it again, I’d probably have opted for Dension’s dock connector cable and one of ProClip’s iPod mounts instead of the “active mount” that came with mine. It’s not the securest connection and the little hex bolt needed to mount the dock to the plate was a pain to tighten. Regardless, you can see my setup below. Here is the list of ProClip pieces I added:

• V635 holder + tilt swivel
• Audi TT bolster angled-mount
• horizontal extension plate

the whole arrangement is a little close to the shifter, as you can see from the pictures. But it doesn’t interfere. Fifth is clear. I opted to use the iPod interface for selecting music. I can still skip tracks and shuttle from the head if needed. Other than that, that’s about all I have to say about it. Now if I can just get the right tires put on my wheels, I’ll be all-set…

Car/tt-ipod-phone

Voice quality through the BT800’s earpiece is solid, the speaker producing enough volume to be easily heard in noisy environments. The device itself is comfortable and easy to put on over my ear with one hand even while driving. The noise-cancelling mic is remarkable — even in noisy environments, people are able to hear me clearly. The little display on the unit makes accessing the device options easier than any combination of button presses, beeps and flashing lights found on most headsets. Selecting a device to pair with is a matter of selecting it through the onscreen menu.

I’m quite happy with it and glad that I didn’t opt for the much smaller JX10.

Technorati Tags: Bluetooth, Phones, Technology

I wonder if this is a security “enhancement” for the Motorola phones in preparation for the iTunes phone? Maybe Apple and Motorola have inked a deal to prevent browsing the phones with anything other than iTunes? Maybe it’s just a bug? I like questions?

boolean is listening to: Feitceira from the album “White Pony” by Deftones