APPLE RELEASES NEW IPOD ACCESSORY

Apple has released a HI-FI boombox for the company's successful iPod line.

This system is basically an iPod dock on steroids. It includes 1 woofer and 2 wide-range speakers. The dock on the system will house all the iPods from generation 1 to 5 including the nano and the mini. The good news is if your iPod doesn't come with the iPod connector you can simply hook up the iPod through an audio cable.

Apple is also boasting the portability of the speaker system. The systems does not have an annoying external power bar. It is all internal. It also has the option to run on size "D" batteries. And as long as we are talking about power the system will also charge your iPod while it is connected through the dock connector.

*The image used in this story is sole property of Apple and has only been resized for reasons of bandwidth and desktop space.

APPLE RELEASES INTEL MAC MINI

Today Apple has released a new version of the Mac Mini with Intel architecture. Just trying to find out information information about the new Mac was hard because the website was bogged down by all the people visiting.


Here are the specs of the two basic systems available:

The Intel Core Solo includes:

• 1.5GHz Intel Core Solo processor
• 2MB L2 Cache
• 667MHz Frontside Bus
• 512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
• 60GB Serial ATA hard drive
• Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0

• Apple Remote

The Intel Core Duo includes:

• 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo processor
• 2MB L2 Cache
• 667MHz Frontside Bus
• 512MB memory (667MHz DDR2 SDRAM)
• 80GB Serial ATA hard drive
• Double-layer SuperDrive (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• Built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0

• Apple Remote

As you have no doubt noted, the Apple remote is now included with the system which means it has some media capabilities. Yes, Apple has included the Front Row system for the Mac Mini. Just looking at the hardware specs you can see this is one powerful little machine and the best thing about it is that you can use all of your existing hardware with this system (which is true for any Mac).

The Core Solo version is selling at a price of $699 (CAN) and the Core Duo version is selling at a whopping $949 (CAN).

Granted this new system has a lot of power there is no excuse for the jump in price. I was thinking about buying one of these systems a while back but have decided not to do so anymore because of the high price.

*The image used in this story is sole property of Apple and has only been resized for reasons of bandwidth and desktop space.

MICROSOFT UNVEILS WINDOWS VISTA VERSIONS

Microsoft has revealed the different versions that are going to be available for Windows Vista.
These versions include:

• Business
• Enterprise
• Home Basic
• Home Premium
• Ultimate

As you can see there are a lot of new versions of Windows that are coming out. I'm not sure whether or not they're trying to get consumers confused, however they've clearly defined the lines between the versions.

The "Home Basic" version looks to be a stripped-down version of Windows only built for internet surfing and email and that seems to be the extent of it.

The "Home Premium" is basically a cross between todays WindowsXP Home and WindowsXP Media Center Edition. It's going to give you the power to watch video and even has built-in Tablet PC technology.

The "Ultimat"e edition seems to been the most feature-overloaded version of the bunch. It has everything. All versions are available in 32-bit and 62-bit editions. Windows Vista Starter was also mentioned briefly in the press release though I'm not sure on the difference between Home Basic and Starter as the press release doesn't specifically tell of the differences between the operating systems.

*The image used in this story is sole property of Microsoft and has only been resized for reasons of bandwidth and desktop space.

LENOVO BUILDING MONEY-CONSCIOUS PC'S & LAPTOPS

The Chinese company Lenovo hasdecied to brand their own line of money-conscious buyers.

Lenovo has released a Lenovo PC and laptop brand. It is said that they are aiming for the small-business and consumer market with these new computers.

The PCs start at $649.00 (CAN) and the notebooks start at $849.00 (CAN).

Lenovo may be wanting a cheaper market to come to them, but if they're banking on the idea the consumers willbuy them just because they are the ones that build the IBM computers,they've got it wrong. The price per system is outrageous.

As far as I'm concernd they're still not competition for the main dealers out there (namely, Dell, Acer, and HP/Compaq).

*The image used in this story is sole property of Lenovo and has only been resized for reasons of bandwidth and desktop space.

NEW EMAIL ADDRESS

We finally have a GMail address. Here it is:

technobabble001@gmail.com

PODCAST IS NOW AVAILABLE

We have completed and uploaded a podcast. I am working on a PAYPAL account to afford better bandwidth. We're working under a tight FREE bandwidth company.

If you want to subscribe to the podcast just click on the symbol in the right links bar.

If you have an idea for a techno_babble logo please submit them to t_babble@lycos.com

Please do not send giant images as the email client only have 5MB of storage. We will be opening a GMail account soon. I will post the new account name when I have it.

GOOGLE PAGE CREATOR

Google has released a new online application that helps you create your own web pages quickly and easily. There is no need to know any HTML to make these pages and Google is going to host it all for free.

Obviously there is an intent on selling advertising or something to that effect because it costs a lot of money to host websites as well as the bandwidth required to have the sites on the internet.

This is intriguing to many people as it doesn't require an advanced program like Dreamweaver or Front Page to create the page.

I look forward to getting back to this in the future with a complete review. I am currently waiting for an account on the service.

*The image used in this story is sole property of Google and has only been resized for reasons of bandwidth and desktop space.

PODCAST PRODUCTION IN PROGRESS

Cee, More_than_earth, and I are working on releasing a podcast. We will be releasing it on iTunes.

The podcast will be about the stories we've blogged about in the last week or two.

RUMORS FLYING AROUND ABOUT APPLE

It seems that there are a lot of rumors going around suspecting that Apple is going to release a new iBook or mac mini at an exclusive media event containing a new Intel processor.

It would be nice to see the iBook get an Intel processor but if it does I want to see the G4 version to go down in price. The only reason I say this is because I can, right now, purchase an Intel based PC laptop , with a bigger screen, for less money with more power here in Canada. The problem with PC laptops is that they aren't built as well.

A Mac Mini would be a cool thing to see go Intel or at least a better G4 processor built-in for the same or less money. The thing is, the Mac Mini is your switch computer but look at the processor speed-1.25GHz @ $629.00. That's nuts. I already have a faster processor in my $399 Acer granted it runs a slower OS (namely WindowsXP; I miss Windows98) but at the same time it's guts are still faster.

I can tell Apple right now that the only thing stopping me from buying a Mac is the price. They are way to expensive.

*The image used in this story is sole property of Apple and has only been resized for reasons of bandwidth and desktop space.

PSP to use NAND Memory on the Near Future?

I have just read a report that the PSP may be released by the end of the year with 8GB of NAND memory on board.

We've all see the upgrades third-parties have created for the PSP so far including the 4GB attachment already in place. Even Sony has realised that the puny 32MB card they provided isn't enough for most people that use their device because they released they GB edition of the PSP last Holiday Season.

Click on the title to read more.

NEW BLOGGERS MEANS MORE CONTENT

I have brought aboard some other bloggers to bring in some specialized content.

My brother "more_than_earth" (don't ask about the name because I don't know) will be bringing weekly game reviews to the blog and my sister "Cee" will be bringing some technology stuff from a "womans" perspective, which is just awesome.

I have some more people in line and are waiting for replies to my requests to see if they will help out with the blog.

MY TRIP TO THE INTERNATIONAL ACADAMY OF DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

So dudes, this was a sweet trip. I went to the International Academy of Design and Technology in Toronto today with my parents. I'm looking into the fashion design program. So it took us a few good hours of driving before we even could see the CN Tower, but we did make it after a stop at the Flying J for a pit stop and gas. When we got into the city, we had to swerve and manouver around other vehicles like I've never seen before. It isn't that busy of a city - like not as crazy as people may think Toronto is. My dad had an idea of where we were going, but that was just it. He had an idea which caused us to make crazy driving moves and so on.
When we finally found the place (at the CBC Building) we had to find a place to park. Let's get this straight right here and now, I'm not driving around in Toronto. I'm taking city transit. The parking lot cost us $30 (CDN). Now you can park there the whole day, but still, we were only there for an hour and a half. A little expensive for me. As I walked closer to the beuilding, I felt like this would be a good finishing school and a really interesting experince, instead of a real place to start out with no skills at all. Anyway, when we made it into the building, the lady at the desk told us that we had to go back outside and into other doors that was a minute away, go inside and go up the green elevators to the 8th floor. So we did. Once at the 8th floor, though, there was no one at the desk to greet or even if we needed to ask for directions from. We kinda looked around a bit then decided to sit down in the "wait here please" chairs, hoping soneone would come by to direct us to where the open house was located. We sat for about 20 minutes. Throughout that time, about 12 people came up and seemed to be in the same predicament as us. We all waited in the little "wait here please" room as students passed us and wondered about our presence there.
Finally, a woman came up with about 6 other people and told us to follow her. I didn't know whether I should or shouldn't, because she didn't even ask if we were there for the open house or not. I followed anyway, hoping that it wasn't a class, with my parents. The woman carted us through a hallway, passed a "key-card open only" door and into a room dubbed the film studio. Now, because the room was called this, my mom and dad wondered if it was where we were supposed to be. My dad asked someone if this was a room just for the film studio people or for everyone and the answer was "for everyone." So we sat, as waited as people walked in with little pamphlets in their hands. We didn't get one nor were we offered one, so Dad got up and asked for one from one of the staff along with a bottle of water that they supplied for all the people attending the open house.
A man gave an introduction to the school and a background as well as their statement of education. It was very good. He talked a little about everything. About costs, 24-hour student access, 85-97% carrer placement stats, and that the teachers are people who are actually in the business that you are learning about. After this speech, he directed everyone to the "tour guides" who were standing in the back. He named each one and what area they would be taking the "tourists". One by one, the crowd dwindled down. One thing that stuck out was when he announced one area for people to follow. Game design. The tour guide was taking the tourists to the game editing and marketing or something weird like that, and all the boys in the room stood up to leave. But a correction came, it was not for game design, but for what I said earlier. So mostly all the boys sat down. Then he announced the game design tour guide and they all stood up again and walked out. That was quite hilarious.
Again, finally, he announced the fashion design guide, so my parents and I got up and followed along with a few other people. When we reached the room, the guide let us in then left us with another person who I soon learned taught the first semester students in the fashion design course. Once entering the room, I saw three rows of sewing machines... industrial sewing machines. I mean these babies were hot! I mean,... um... heavy duty, yeah, top knotch. Anyway, then I went through the doors into the drafting room. Items of clothing were spread across the wooden tables and were also hanging on the "Judys" (the manicins that you can stick pins into and stuff). It was very impressive work.
The woman introduced herself and talked a bit about the program. About the small class sizes (20 people or less to a class), the co-op positions you will get, the different projects that you would have to get done and the way the program works (four weeks of in class, the fifth week- a work week - the sixth week all the work due and so on). It was very interesting and she did a great job of explaning the program. Then my dad began asking questions. Question: "How long is the program?" Answer: "18 months, nonstop." Q: "Is there a co-op program?" A: "Yes, and we'll supply a placement as well as call for you if you want." Q: "Do you need great sewing skills?" A: "No. The first few classes are to teach you how to bob thread and sew in a straight line. We help you develope the skills instead of making you develope them on your own." and so on. Then it came to the most important question of all: "How much will this cost?" A: "I don't really know, the admissions cousellor is here though!"
My dad went over to talk about admission and living costs with the admission counsellor while my mom and I looked around at all the clothing. We didn't really want to get between my dad and his "reality check" moment.
After getting the stats, my dad, mom, and I went for a pit stop at their bathrooms then took a small self-guided tour of the hallways. There were knitting rooms with knitting machines in them, the "Gerber" (the computer program, not the baby food) room which had computers in it and other rooms with sewing machines and drafting tables.
As we finished our tour, we said our thanks and found our way throug the hallways and down the green elevator. I left the International Academy of Art and Design with a content feeling that this place would be actually really good for my fashion design hopes. This place is great for you if you do or don't have any skills at all. Also another perk, you are flown through because it isn't necesary for you to take any unneccessary courses like english or math or pscychology etc. You only take classes that are immediatly relevent to your course. My folks and I found that as one of the academy's strong points.
After pickign up our car and opening up our $30 parking spot to other tourists, we left the city of Toronto with a good feeling. This frightening and sometimes intimidating city was not as crazy as expected and the pedestrain/car ratio was quite even to say the least.

CANADIAN INTERNATION AUTO SHOW 2006

Yesterday I attended the 2006 Canadian Internation Auto Show in Toronto. The cars and concepts were amazing.

I went with the intent of taking some digital pictures with my cell phone and forgot my cell phone in the car.

Anyway I went with my father to the show and it turned out to be a really great show.

I saw a few a cars that I was interested in at the show and I thought I'd describe to you all of my favourites (by the way this does relate to technology so "stay tunes").

I was in Toronto about an hour early so we ended up walking arround for about a half hour. After that they let us into the show. First lesson. BE EARLY. Since we were so early we had the chance to really get up close and personal with a few of the cars.

We started in the Rogers center (formerly Skydome) and the first thing we saw when we first arrived at the base of the Rogers Center was Chrysler.

The PT Cruiser was the first thing my father saw and he immediately asked a woman near-by if he could open it up and check it out. She says sure and immediately helps opening the doors, hood and trunk.

Funny thing about the hood. The hood on the PT Cruiser requires a prop to hold it up. Someone stole it.

As you probably know the PT Cruiser was all the rage a few years ago when it was released with its "retro" styling. You know what. Even though this vehicle isn't as popular as it was then I have to say it still stands out. The Cruiser as I'm going to call it has many things going for it. It has a lot of head room and leg room as well as a pretty comfortable seat (in the command style). Four-cylinders reside under the hood (if you can find the engine because it is really squished in there) along with all the other amenities needed. My father really like the two-tone colour scheme equipped to the dash of the Cruiser. I like the command-centre (where the stereo and climate control are located amongst other things) and the guages as they were easy to see and find.

The car that really struck me at the show was the new Dodge Caliber. We litterly opened everything up on this baby. This car or crossover is has been deemed is taking the place of the SX line that Dodge has in place of its aging Neon line. The Caliber has all the things you need and some that you don't need but are REALLY COOL. The Calibur has cupholders. I know, I know. All modern-day vehicles come with cupholders. WRONG. While most do a few still don't. I own a 1992 Mercury Grand Marquis (beautiful car). NO CUPHOLDERS and guess what. There are no cup holders in the current 2006 Ford Mercury Grand Marquis. Anyway beyond the cupholders. One of the coolest ideas was actually the cupholders. The darn cupholders actually house lights. How convenient when its dark is it not? When you open the hatch on the back there are a couple of things to be interested in. This car has an option for a 8.1 speaker sound systems. Thats cool but not as cool as the next thing. Two speakers are locked-in the hatch itself. Why did I use locked-in? Because these to speakers, when the hatch is up, can be flipped down to be used as external speakers. You can host your own tailgate party in the hatchback of a car instead of a truck ladies and gentleman. The quirkiest thing was the fact that you could actually take out the interior light housed the rear of the Calibur and use it as a flashlight. That's pretty cool.

Beyond the "cool factor" was the practical factor of the Calibur. It has integration for MP3 players as the lady told us, however they look specifically designed to fit a certain product from a certain company called Apple. If you don't know what I'm talking about check this link.

The last technology proficient car that we saw was the "Smart Car".

It basically gets a gazillion MPG as you all know for a hefty price. However, how small is this car actually. If you know me that is techno_babble I am not by any means a small guy. This car can house me snuggly but still comfortabley. Believe it or not this thing has iPod connectivity as well but not much else. Your basically getting a piece of plastic with 2 doors and 3-cylinder 40 HP engine. I am not talking down this vehicle at all but I want to state that you can actually get the Dodge Caliber for 1 000 dollars less than the smart car.

You decide.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Finally has a Release Date

It appears Square-Enix has finally given us a release date for Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

April 25, 2006 is the long-awaited release date Final Fantasy fans have been waiting for. This release will include english voice-actors already being used in a previous Square-Enic game called Kingdom Hearts.

The release includes a Special Edition 2-disc DVD and a PSP UMD disc as well (sold sperately of course). Some of the features will include a making of, and deleted scenes among other interesting tidbits of information.

Over the course of the past three months there has been a lot of worry on the RPG/Movie front about the movie and Final Fantasy Fans will be happy to see it arrive in April.

These are the previous posts...

Friday, January 13, 2006

3:48 PM - CES 2006
Current mood: bored
Category: Web, HTML, Tech

So how about CES? That was quite a show as I'm told. I obviously, as a non-media-realated person didn't attend. However there were a lot of cool thing that showed up.

Intel showed there new processor technology for the notebokk called the Centrino Core Duo. I think this processor pretty cool. Dual cores, one-die the size of a dime, and all the rest of the centrino technologies to go along with it. This chip is going to be very successful. I would like to see something like that in a desktop. I myself don't need a extreme amount of power. Mainly because chip prices up here in Canada are tremendously expensive. I still prefer a good AMD chip though.

The next thing I noticed from CES was the cool demonstartion from Microsoft's keynote. Vista looks pretty cool. I wish I had the money to be an application tester for Microsoft. However MAC OS X apparently has the sam functionality of Vista already.

There was a keynote from Sony as well. The PSP is a pretty cool machine. I have one and if you don't you should get one. They basically gave and idea of what the PSP could do with the LocatioFree devices that Sony sells. I agree that thats a cool idea. however they need to open the thing up so I can just stream what I want to the PSP through my wireless router.

Toshiba has completed an "iPod" killer. That's kinda funny acutally because the toshiba player will only work with windows media player. SCREW THAT!!! I have a 4th gen 20GB iPod and iTunes. Why would I switch now? Actually the question is, when will I buy the new Video iPod?

Speaking of new apple products, how about the new MacBook. SWWEEEEET!!!. I wish I had the money to buy one. I used to have a toshiba satellite A10 (PIECE OF CRAP!!!). I'll never buy a toshiba again. I'm starting to look at an apple ibook though. It may not have the new core duo in it but it is small and portable and still have great battery life.

___________________________________________________________________________

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

7:43 PM - SHOP IS UP
Current mood: happy
Category: Blogging

Here is the link to my shop:

TECHNO_BABBLE SUPER STORE

6:47 PM - Merchandise store
Current mood: chipper
Category: Blogging

I am setting up a store with the techno_babble logo on it. When it's up it will get you the URL and post it up on the blog. I am looking into t-shirts, bumper-stickers, and even hats. Let me know if you want to see anything else. Just so you know, the only benefit I get from selling these items is the advertising of the blog.

PROMOTE THE BLOG. BUY A T-SHIRT.

4:05 PM - PLAYSTATION 3
Current mood: cranky
Category: Web, HTML, Tech

As I was getting my self up to speed on some of the latest tech news I stumbles upon a little tidbit of information worthy of the "techno-babble" blog. As you know, by reading my previous post, I am a gamer as well as a computer geek. I am quite confused about the info that I received from Engadget the Playstation 3 is just a conceptual design.

I am now finding reports that the PS3 (as it has been deemed) may not even be released here in North America in the time-frame allotted by Sony (which was spring). I'm not sure what to think of this. There is a story about this on the Market Watch.

I don't know about you but this doesn't sound good for Sony. They have bragged about a much more power system than Microsoft's Xbox 360 and they do have that however, there is one problem. They still don't have a system.

Sony is going to have to pick up it's socks and start thinking very seriously about the North American market. Even at CES they were promoting their Playstation Portable more than their expensive PS3. As it stands right now, I am happy with my Playstation 2 and I expect many people are starting to really think about waitng for the PS3. I am probably going to buy an Xbox 360 soon (I'm going to wait and see what they do with the HD-DVD drive) and wait probably another year to purchase the PS3 (if its out by then).

Saturday, January 21, 2006

5:11 PM - NEW PLAYSTATION 3 NEWS
Current mood: anxious
Category: Web, HTML, Tech

There's some good news for those of us getting disappointed at the recent rumors surrounding the release date and quantity of Sony's new Playstation 3. according to CNET there is a possibility that there should be about 4 to 7 million PS3's available o-time if they do indeed release it in "Spring 2006".

I am happy about the news however, the article basically says that the blu-ray drives may be ready. Many other sources are watching the availability of the new "Cell" chip that Sony and IBM are co-designing.

We still don't know what the PS3 is going to look like though and Spring is quickly approaching.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

10:29 AM - SOME INTERESTING NEWS ABOUT PIXAR
Current mood: calm
Category: Web, HTML, Tech

It seems that Steve Jobs is now the largest shareholder of Disney. According to Boing Boing and the Business Telegraph the owner of Pixar may now own part of Disney. According to Boing Boing however this may have been a jump on the gun for this story because they are actually discussing the deal this weekend.

If this deal goes through there might be some more news about Steve in the near future. Maybe head of Disney? I dunno but we'll see when the deal is complete.

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

4:28 PM - NVIDIA NEWS
Current mood: happy
Category: Web, HTML, Tech

Nvidia has announced a new 7series video card for the normal consumer that still would like to play some games but afford the video card at the same time. The Nvidia 7300 GS GPU is said from Nvidia to produce about the same results as their 7800 series cards but for the price of $99 USD (roughly $115 CAD). That's a pretty good deal considering to purchase a Nvidia 5600 at the local Staples could cost you $130 CAD. Nvidia is reporting that the card should be realeased sometime in early February.

I'm happy I waited to buy a new video card because this card looks to be amazing. Here are some of the features this card includes:

NVIDIA PureVideo technology

The programmable, superscalar GeForce 7 Series graphics architecture

Support for Microsoft DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 and HDR rendering

Advanced NVIDIA TurboCachetechnology

NVIDIA ForceWare Unified Driver Architecture (UDA)

Saturday, January 28, 2006

5:21 PM - WAL-MART JUNKIE
Current mood: tired
Category: Web, HTML, Tech

Yeah, I've just been informed by my sister that I am a "wal-mart browser". Let me clarify.

When I'm in W/M I head straight for the electronics section and go crazy. I often will spend a half hour just looking at computer and console games. I have been in the section alone for about 1.5 hours though.

Tech news.Hmm. This week has been kind of slow. There were some rumors running around the internet this week that Yahoo was trying to purchase digg. These claims were down-right denied by Kevin Rose.

This had the whole blogging community going crazy. But not just the blogging community, but the internet community as a whole. C/NET even claimed that this was happening.

When I got a hold of this story it was hard for me to grasp the fact that Yahoo was planning on buying digg even though they are buying up everything they can get their hands on as of late. However I also thought about the fact that digg received 2.8 million dollars not too long ago and I think (this is just speculation) that Kevin Rose doesn't want to give up his social news system just yet, if ever.

Friday, February 03, 2006

3:43 PM - INTERNET EXPLORER 7.0 BETA
Current mood: blah
Category: Web, HTML, Tech

I have recenlty also gotten my hands on the new IE 7.0 beta.

IT'S DEFINATELY A BETA. A few noticeable changes stand out as of now.

One change is that there are no menu bars defaultly visible in the main window, however they are easily enable by clicking the "Tools" menu --> "Toolbars" --> and clicking on "Classic Menu". Everything is accessible by buttons now so you really don't need the classic menu anymore.

The biggest change that everyone will notice is that there are now tabs in the browser. Yes you read right, TABS!!. Its about time. All you have to do to open a new tab is click on the square by the first tab and it will open a new tab that defaultly goes to your homepage.

You can now also use the searchbar that is integrated into IE 7.0 to search any search engine you want.

Other than those main differences the normal user wouldn't really notice anything else and different, however it will take the normal user a little bit longer to get used to thebrowser because of the no menu styling.

3:28 PM - THE NEW WINDOWS MESSENGER LIVE
Current mood: blah
Category: Web, HTML, Tech

I have recently gotten my hands on the new Windows Messenger Live beta. There were a few things I noticed about this program that really stand out.

One interesting thing about the new messenger is that it saves the messages you didn't receive the last time youwere signed in. Let me clarify. Say you open up a messenger conversation with a friend and they don't reply. So you wait,..., still no reply. You sign off the service to go do other things. In the meantime your friend responds to the message. The new messenger will save response a open it on the next sign-in. That's pretty nifty.

The second thing I noticed was that the messenger basically is set up like the last MSN Messenger so there is very little learning curve to the program.

Another thing I noticed was that the program interfaces wity your current web-cam very easily. Just a couple of click and you're basically video conferencing, without the sound.

In the future I think Microsoft wants this product to compete with products like Skype. Really, all Microsoft has to do is enable voice transmission in its new Messenger and it would be a pretty big competator.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

2:38 PM - 5th Generation iPod
Current mood: cheerful
Category: Web, HTML, Tech

I finally got my hands on a 5th generation Apple iPod.

This iPod is cool but not mind-boggling awesome. The iPod comes with all the feature of the 4th generation but has a bigger colour screen and the capability to store videos and view them right on your iPod as a sacrifice of battery life.

The standard battery life on the 30GB iPod is 14 hours; however playing video it dies just a little after 2 hours of playback. The 60GB is a little better with 16 hours of battery life but a short video life span of about 2.5 to 3 hours.

On first inspection I was impressed with the finish of the new iPod. It has a much flatter face (mainly to allow the bigger screen). It is also a lot thinner than the 4th generation. I believe the apple website claimes 31% thinner.

The colour screen is at a very high resolution for how small it is (320x240). It also performs well with video playing h.264 and mpeg4 very well. I have personally had some problems when transcoding from a file in iTunes to a playable file for the iPod. I don't seem to get any sound.

For all of you planning on using your old accessories with this iPod, well, you probably can't. Especially if you use the FM transmitters that use the earphone jack and the plug beside it. On the new iPod there is no plug beside the earphone jack so you have to buy a whole new FM transmitter.

To save battery when playing back movies perhaps Apple should integrate a 1 or 2 GB stick inside the iPod so that it can transfer all the video to that stick when it is playing it thereby stopping the hardrive from spinning the whole time your viewing the movie/podcast. They should also consider having an adjustable backlight so that you can choose how bright you want the backlight to be.

All things considered, the new iPod is another step in the right direction for Apple. They are obviously on the right track because a lot of companies are trying to play harball with them (eg Toshiba, SanDisk, Creative, etc.).

Keep it up Apple.

Previous postings on Myspace Techno_babble

We will be moving all posts from techno babble to blogspot to make it easier for everyone to get their information. For now go to the Techno_babble at Myspace.

Techno_babble has moved,... to here

The techno_babble technology blog has now moved to blogger because of the ugliness of the myspace setup.