Tag: iPod touch

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All in the iPod Family

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When Apple sent over a 5th gen nano I couldn’t help but put it side by side all the other iPods I actually owned through the years. That’s the first gen iPod shuffle which, in retrospect I bought for P10,000.00 when it first came out, the fatty nano, and the second generation iPod touch which was given as a gift.

Again, in retrospect, there was a time when I used all these iPods as music players but since then there’s been a behavioral change due to the sheer number of iPods at home. I’ve stopped using the shuffle as an MP3 player and lend it out to the guy behind The Geek Salad when he uses it for running. The nano houses my complete indie playlist while the touch is my everyday iPod since it also has WiFi.

I’ve seen the appeal with the 5th gen nano. Whip it out, start recording video without any delay. It’s that simple. I really feel though that it needs a camera. It’s also light. Too light to be honest. If it fell out of my pocket, I wouldn’t notice.

Oh and just one more thing — it seems that the current version of Podworks won’t work with the latest 5th gen nano, and I assume other new iPods as well.

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Mostly Everything

Apple iPod nano with camera priced at PHP 8,790; iPod touch 8GB at PHP 11,490

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I’m at the Apple press conference for the new iPods and iTunes 9. Here are the prices for the new iPod nano, shuffle, iPod classic and iPod touch.

The 8GB iPod nano with the “controversial” video camera that can’t take stills will be released at a comfortable sub 10K price at PHP 8,790. The iPod nano allows you to record up to 15 minutes from the built in FM Radio, allowing you to catch up with your favorite radio program in case you had to stop listening. It also comes with a built in pedometer and sync directly to Nike+. The pedometer records steps, not strides — so that means if you want to record your runs, you still need to buy a Nike+. Video recording is done in packets of 2GB at 640×480 and 30 frames per second.

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The yellow and Product Red versions of the 5th generation iPod nano are only available in the online store.

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The 8GB iPod touch that was announced at 199USD is now down to PHP 11,490. Previously it was at a little below PHP14,000.00.

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The iPod classic (160GB) retails for PHP 14,490.

The new iPod shuffle retails for PHP 3,290 for the 2GB model and PHP 4,390 for the 4GB model. The special edition ipod shuffle in aluminum retails for PHP 5,490 which is only available through the Apple Online Store for Philippines..

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So if you can get it cheaper than these listed prices, you’re either Art Samaniego or you just got yourself a good deal. 🙂

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Mostly Everything

What a GENIUS this iTunes 8!

So along with the hot iPods, iTunes released the new Genius feature for iTunes 8.0 that does two things. First, the new version allows you to make on-the-fly playlists based on one song that you choose. The choice is heavily dependent on the genre, artist and I even think it has something to do with the cadence of the song. iTunes chooses similar beat counts for that playlist.

The second part of Genius is the iTunes recommendations sidebar, which is their monetization model. When you’re playing songs, iTunes can recommend songs from their library which you can click to purchase. It isn’t available in the Philippines, sadly (see first image).

The Genius concept is not new. Online services such as Last.FM and Pandora have implemented this related playlist scheme for quite some time. Of course, sometimes you get really off recommendations.

I tried a few playlist creations based on KENNY LOGGINS, JAMIROQUAI and RICK ASTLEY and got pretty good results (hmm there are one or two out of place songs, but hey, sometimes Geniuses make mistakes too!). The first song in the 25 song countdown is where all the songs are based from.

Share your Genius Playlist Mix? 🙂

P.S. And yes, I listen to BARRY MANILOW, OK? Mandy, FTW.