2010 iPod + iPhone Buyers' Guide

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Ask iLounge 7-10-09

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By Jesse David Hollington

Contributing Editor
Published: Friday, July 10, 2009
Category: Ask iLounge

Ask iLounge offers readers the opportunity to get answers to their iPod-related questions from a member of the iLounge editorial team. We'll answer several questions here each week, and of course, you can always get help with more immediate concerns from the iLounge Discussion Forums. Submit your questions for consideration using our Ask iLounge Submit Form. We reserve the right to edit questions for grammar, spelling, and length.

The most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I copy music from my iPod onto my computer?

Click here for the answer.

The second most asked question at iLounge.com:

How do I put DVDs on my iPod?


For converting DVDs, web video, TV shows and home movies to your iPod, iPhone or Apple TV, we have a three-part series outlining the best formats, settings, and various tools to use for converting all types of video content for use on these devices.

The Complete Guide to iPod, Apple TV and iPhone Video Formats

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Mac)

The Complete Guide to iPod, iPhone and Apple TV Video Conversion (Windows)

Top five questions most recently asked by iLounge readers:

Q: What are the best speakers to use with my iPod? (15, 76-79, and 90-92)

Q: What are the best headphones to use with my iPod? (10, 72-75, and 90-92)

Q: I really want to get a nice case for my iPod. Do you have any suggestions? (36-37, 54-67, and 90-92)

Q: How can I connect my iPod to my car stereo? (14, 32-35, 68-71, and 90-92)

Q: Are there any batteries that I can use to extend my iPod's battery life? (82-83 and 90-92)

A: Answers to these and many other questions can be found in two places. Our Free iPod Book 3.3 provides a complete report card to all of the iPod accessories we've reviewed as of summer 2007, as well as over 125 iTunes and iPod tips & tricks. Further, our new 2008 iPod & iPhone Buyers' Guide has accessory tutorials at the page numbers listed in parentheses above. These and other publications in our Library are free downloads, developed by the editors of iLounge!

And now, for this week's Ask iLounge column:

Q:

My iPod touch, running iPhone OS 3.0, was recently stolen. My 3 email accounts (2 GMail, 1 Hotmail), Facebook account (via the Facebook app) and Twitter account (via the Twitterrific app) were all active on it. My question is two-fold. Firstly, is there any way of performing a remote wipe without MobileMe? Secondly, I have changed the passwords for all my email accounts, Facebook and Twitter, does this help? Do you know if when you open the Mail and Facebook apps (and others) whether they check if the password saved is still the correct one? Any advice or help is very much appreciated! Many thanks.

- Simon

A:

Unfortunately, the Remote Wipe feature is only available for users who have MobileMe or Microsoft Exchange accounts configured on their device. Without having a MobileMe account configured, Apple is not really in a position to help you as it is the MobileMe account on your device that communicates with the MobileMe servers at Apple to register your device with their network for the Find my iPhone and Remote Wipe features.

The good news is that changing your passwords for your e-mail, Twitter and Facebook accounts will successfully prevent further access to those services. Essentially, each of these apps still has to “log in” to the appropriate services using the password saved on the device. If you have changed this password, then the old password still on the device will be invalid, and the applications will be unable to log in.

In the case of Facebook, the user will be prompted for a password as shortly after they open the Facebook application, and none of the existing data will be accessible without logging back in with the new password. Note, however, that if the user starts the Facebook app without Internet connectivity, any information that was displayed on-screen in the app when you last exited it will still be shown, although they will not be able to access any additional information.

In the case of Twitterrific, no further tweets will be downloaded into your timeline, nor will it be possible to post any new tweets. However, as Twitterrific caches any information previously downloaded, this data may still be available on your device.

Lastly, the same concept applies in the case of e-mail. The ability to receive any new e-mail will not be possible without knowing the new password, but any existing messages that were already downloaded will still be stored on the device and can be viewed by anybody with physical access to the device.

Other information on the device, such as contact and calendar info is not protected in any way without setting a passcode lock on the device in general.

Note that if you have specified a passcode on your device, it will not be accessible by anybody who does not know the passcode. Even connecting it to any iTunes library other than your own will simply display an error message that the device is locked. Further, increasing delays between unsuccessful passcode attempts will make guessing the passcode unlikely.

Q:

I own a second-generation 16 GB iPod touch and love it! Lately, however, I’ve had a problem with it, the headphone jack does not work properly, sound only comes out of one headphone, when I apply pressure to the headphone jack inside the socket I get sound through both. I think maybe a pin inside the socket has bent or something, is this something Apple cover in their 1 year warranty or do I have to get a specialist to fix it? Is it something I can do myself?

- Arun

A:

This problem can sometimes be caused by dust or dirt in the headphone jack, so as a first step you may want to try simply gently blowing into the jack to see if you can clear up anything that might be blocking the connection.

Failing that, you’re most likely dealing with a hardware issue. This behavior sometimes happens on various iPod models, and is normally covered until Apple’s warranty provided there are no signs of physical damage to the device. If you live near an Apple Retail Store you should be able to take it in to the Genius Bar and they will take care of it for you. If not, you can either try contacting a local Apple Reseller or telephoning Apple Support directly. In either of these cases, however, it is likely that your device will have to be sent to Apple for repair or replacement, as third-party Apple Resellers do not normally have the facilities to repair or replace devices on the spot.

Q:

Is there a way to re-categorize music in iTunes? For example, a CD I imported into iTunes is a country CD but was put in the Rock genre.

- Denny

A:

Definitely. To change the properties for a track or group of tracks in iTunes, simply select those tracks, and then choose File, Get Info from the iTunes menu and you will be presented with a track information dialog box where you can make the necessary changes.

In the case of importing a CD, you can either change this information directly on the CD track listing in iTunes, in which case the files will be imported with the updated information, or you can find the tracks in iTunes after you import them and make the changes from there. In either case, the procedure and file information dialog is basically the same.

Q:

I have audiobooks that I ripped from CDs that are currently in MP3 format broken up by chapters. I figured out how to get iTunes to recognize them as audiobooks but I’m still not completely satisfied. I would like to take all of my split MP3 files, join them into one audiobook track, but have chapters within the MP3 file so that I can skip around. I see that podcasts do that often. Is there a way that I can do this too, preferably through iTunes?

- Rachel

A:

Although there is no way to do this through iTunes itself, third-party utilities are available to merge your MP3 files into a single audiobook file and add the necessary chapter markers.

If your a Windows user, you’ll want to check out MarkAble and Chapter Master from iPodSoft. MarkAble provides the ability to join multiple MP3 files together and convert them into an iTunes audiobook format and Chapter Master can then be used on the resulting files to add in the specific chapter markers. Each application is sold individually, but iPodSoft also provides a bundled price of $25 for both. Note that if you already have another tool that can join your MP3 files and convert them to an AAC format, you can purchase Chapter Master alone for $15 simply to add chapter markers. Much of the other functionality previously provided by MarkAble, such as making files bookmarkable and having them show up as Audiobooks, is now directly supported from within iTunes itself.

For Mac users, then the tool to use is Audiobook Builder by Splasm Software. This $10 application is capable of importing audio book CDs directly, merging existing MP3 files, and adding chapter markers to the resulting files.

Q:

I have the first generation iPhone with the latest 3.0 upgrade. I wanted to get a Bluetooth headset for my phone and wanted to purchase the Motorola S9HD headset. My question is will this device work with my iPhone or do I need the DC650 device to make it work? I get conflicting advice so I thought you could answer me truthfully and not try to sell me something that won’t work!

- CW

A:

The iPhone OS 3.0 update now provides stereo Bluetooth support, also known as A2DP, but only on the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPod touch 2G. For whatever reason, the original iPhone does not include A2DP capability from the 3.0 update, and the first-generation iPod touch simply does not include any Bluetooth hardware at all. You can find more information on the specific Bluetooth features supported by the various iPhone and iPod touch models in Apple’s knowledgebase article: iPhone and iPod touch: Supported Bluetooth profiles.

So unfortunately for owners of the first-generation iPhone, the 3.0 update doesn’t change anything in terms of the Bluetooth audio accessories that are supported. Standard monaural Bluetooth headsets continue to work in the same manner as they always have for phone-related audio, but there have been no further enhancements to the Bluetooth audio capabilities.

This means that the Motorola S9HD headset will still require the DC650 iPod adapter to be able to listen to music and other stereo audio from your first-generation iPhone. In this configuration, the S9HD basically works in the same way it would if you had a separate iPod and cellular phone: You use the DC650 iPod adapter connected to the Dock Connector port at the bottom to listen to your music, and pair the S9HD with the iPhone for making and receiving phone calls and listening to other phone-related audio such as Visual Voicemail messages.

With an iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS, the DC650 adapter would not be required as these iPhone models now have native support for the A2DP profile for listening to stereo music.

Q:

I really want to get the Nike+ iPod but I don’t know if it will work without the Nike+ shoes. Do you know if I can use Nike+ iPod sensor with my iPod touch 2G?

- Patrick

A:

The advantage of Nike+ shoes is that they have a slot below the insole that is designed to fit the Nike+ sensor within the shoe itself, making it easy to install and unobtrusive.

The piezoelectric Nike+ sensor itself, however, does not require anything specific within the Nike+ shoes in order to operate, but rather simply registers the movement of your foot as you walk or run regardless of where or how it’s attached. As a result, a number of third parties have created pouches to attach the Nike+ sensor to other types of running shoes. Two such examples are the Shoe Pouch by Grantwood Technology and the Sportsuit Sensor+ by Marware.

Note also that the iPod touch 2G and iPhone 3GS both include built-in support for the Nike+ sensor, so it is not necessary to purchase the Nike+ kit with the receiver, but simply the separate Nike+ sensor for your shoes. Other iPhone and iPod touch models do not provide any support for the Nike+ kit, even with the Dock Connector receiver, as they do not include the Nike+ application.



Ask iLounge Archives:

11-20-09: Sharing iTunes libraries between two user accounts, Enlarging text on iPhone 3GS, Transferring an iPod to a new user, iPhone shuffles when walking, New 8GB iPod touch models, Transferring purchases from a remote iTunes library

11-13-09: Syncing different contact info with two iPhones on the same computer, iPod shows no content, Syncing music and videos in playlists, Exclamation marks next to tracks in iTunes, Playing podcasts on 3G iPod shuffle.

11-6-09: Storing iPod software updates, Playing an iPod continuously, Transferring play counts to a new iTunes library, iPhone backups, Klipsch S4i earphones

10-30-09: Authorization problems with iPod touch, Changing Grid View background in iTunes, iTunes library and Music Folder are different sizes, Older iPods and firmware updates, Reconciling two different iTunes libraries, Syncing multiple devices to one iTunes library

10-23-09: Using a laptop with an iTunes library on an external hard drive, Transferring YouTube videos to iPod, iPod touch accessibility settings, Disabling Shake to Shuffle on iPod nano, Purchased songs fail to download from iTunes Store, Charging and powering off iPhone

See the rest of the Archives...

Next: iPhone Gems: Bionic Surfer, GloBall, and Zombies & Me

Previous: iPhone Gems: Arrr! Pirates vs. Aliens & The Battle of Pirate Bay

Comments

1

A cheap and easy way to attach the Nike+ sensor to your shoes is to use something like a Case Logic flash drive soft fabric sleeve. The sensor fits securely in the pocket and then you can lace your shoes over the top of that side. Then flip the other side down over the top of that, use the Velcro to close it and tie your shoe over the top of it all.

Posted by Dayna on July 12, 2009 at 4:44 PM (PDT)

2

Thank you so much for answering my question about the stolen iPod touch. It is a great help!

Posted by Simon Boulle on July 13, 2009 at 5:59 AM (PDT)

3

Okay so I was listening to my ipod one night and then when the song was over my ipod just shut down.But the thing is through the screen I can still see the time and the battery.But it wont turn on! Even when I plug it in the charger theres no reaction.I can see it still has one bar. I think it froze. Is there something I can do to fix it? Or is it broken? I didn’t even drop it or anything. Physically its in great condition.

Posted by brianna on July 20, 2009 at 12:03 PM (PDT)

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