Archives Posts
January 27th, 2007 by musicinterfaces
Gizmodo deliver an admirably even-handed overview after three months with Microsoft’s Zune. Though a long-term Apple user, I found myself dismayed by the negative reception accorded the Zune and felt that the interface was a step-up from the iPod in terms of attractiveness and customisability. Caveat: said observation made only from viewing online video, not personal experience.
Gizmodo find that the player does have some advantages over the market leader, but end up recommending Apple’s product because of the latter’s better infrastructure. It could also be that the Zune will be rather more embattled if there’s a significant iPod update announced at the rumoured Apple special event on 20th February.
Link: Gizmodo article
Archives Posts
January 25th, 2007 by musicinterfaces
Engadget has a report of leaked photos of upcoming Nike gear. Not being exactly the world’s greatest exerciser, I’ll pass on the ability to measure displays distance, pace, elapsted time, and calories, but the
three iPod controlling watch systems including the Amp+, and the so-similar-they-may-be-the-same-product Flight+ and Aero+ (which features voice feedback and a rocking bezel for music control)
have me interested. I currently use a Griffin Airclick plugged into my iPod and a remote controller I keep in my pocket (detailed in this post about my iPod setup. When I bought it to replace a broken Apple wired remote, a friend bet I’d lose it. I did, but found it again a few days later - I really didn’t like being without it and having to dig out the iPod itself to slightly adjust volume or pause/play seems a very unattractive way of going about things. I don’t wear a watch so this Nike looks attractive, at least in theory. Unfortunately, it’s not exactly my style, but even so, I’m tempted to consider one. Engadget reports it will be out May 1st.
Link: Engadget article
Archives Posts
January 16th, 2007 by musicinterfaces
I think that iPhone-esque iPods will soon be released. Look for larger capacities, probably 100GB, and a very similar design to the iPhone. We’ll be treated to the same great touchscreen that automatically rotates the interface depending on how we hold it, which will be perfect for watching videos. But we’ll lose the phone functions, and with those we’ll also likely lose the camera and OS X interface. What makes the iPod so great is its simplicity, not its robust set of features, and by merging that notion with the new iPhone hardware Apple will be giving the iPod a serious upgrade.
Link: Gizmodo article
Archives Posts
January 12th, 2007 by musicinterfaces
Including at number 9:
‘Allow iTunes Store purchases via Wi-Fi’
The iPhone has 802.11 support, so it can connect to wireless networks. But as far as we know, you won’t be able to use the iPhone to connect to the iTunes Store and download music, movies, and podcasts. Sure, it might not work when you’re in EDGE mode on Cingular’s network (speeds aren’t fast enough), but if you’re on an 802.11 network using a high-speed connection, why not give the iPhone direct access to the iTunes Store?
Link: MacUser article
Archives Posts
January 12th, 2007 by musicinterfaces
I’d feel like Apple was abandoning an opportunity to make this more than a phone, and more that an iPod, and even — let’s be frank about the elephant in the room — much more than a Palm or a Pocket PC. There’s the potential here for some serious George Jetson shit and it would be a pity not to capitalize on that as early as possible.
I can very much sympathise with the wish for at least a relatively open platform for developers. And, yes, the iPhone is a different beast from the iPod, but the iPod has remained securely locked down - apart, that is, from games and Linux hacks. For my part, I’ve used the ? software as a plug-in to liven up iTunes’ sound output. I would love to have this on my iPod as well, but requests by the developer have been entirely ignored. I can’t help but suspect a similar situation will apply to apps for the iPhone (widgets may be different). This is still the honeymoon stage, with the device literally locked behind glass or only held in the hands of company reps, but once it’s out in the wild, there’ll be a blizzard of user feedback and the last thing Apple will want is the messiness of third party software and uncontrollable issues.
Link: 43 Folders: Let OS X developers at the iPhone. Please.
This NYT article: “>Phone shows Apple’s impact on consumer products sheds some light on the situation:
Mr. Jobs is moving in that direction, too, but it appears that he wants to control his device much more closely than his competitors.
“We define everything that is on the phone,” he said. “You don’t want your phone to be like a PC. The last thing you want is to have loaded three apps on your phone and then you go to make a call and it doesn’t work anymore. These are more like iPods than they are like computers.”
(…)
“These are devices that need to work, and you can’t do that if you load any software on them,” he said. “That doesn’t mean there’s not going to be software to buy that you can load on them coming from us. It doesn’t mean we have to write it all, but it means it has to be more of a controlled environment.”
Archives Posts
January 11th, 2007 by musicinterfaces
Archives Posts
January 11th, 2007 by musicinterfaces
I used to pine for headphones without wires, but since I found the right way to wear my Shure E3Cs (see this post), I’m less bothered. The fact that they need batteries for something that otherwise doesn’t require a separate power source makes them ultimately unattractive to me - just like wire-less mice and keyboards.
Via Engadget
Archives Posts
January 10th, 2007 by musicinterfaces
Time magazine article on the iPhone:
It’s not quite right to call the iPhone revolutionary. It won’t create a new market, or change the entertainment industry, the way the iPod did. When you get right down to it, the device doesn’t even have that many new features—it’s not like Jobs invented voicemail, or text messaging, or conference calling, or mobile Web browsing. He just noticed that they were broken, and he fixed them.
This confirms my impression that Apple’s new product isn’t at base innovative, it’s just (hugely) improving how existing processes are undertaken. See this Gizmodo article for a feature comparison with Windows Mobile 5. My interest is, rather inevitably, in the music interface. Apple’s video shows a user flicking through a Cover Flow interface - I wonder whether that’s the top level or whether a genre/playlist/artist/song level occurs or can be enabled to occur above that. With the maximum drive capacity of 8GB being largely filled by files, pics, OS, etc., I guess there won’t be a huge amount of room for music so perhaps Cover Flow may suffice. Having said that, even three or four Gigs of music would require quite a bit of flicking to locate what you’re looking for.
Gizmodo’s video of the interace
Archives Posts
January 2nd, 2007 by musicinterfaces
Ambient Addition is a Walkman with binaural microphones. A tiny Digital Signal Processing (DSP) chip analyzes the microphone’s sound and superimposes a layer of harmony and rhythm on top of the listener’s world. In the new context, some surprising behaviors take place. Listeners tend to play with objects around them, sing to themselves, and wander toward tempting sound sources. With Ambient Addition, I’m hoping to make people think twice about the sounds they initiate as well as loosen up some inhibitions.
Link: project page with Quicktime movie.
via City of Sound.
