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Keeping Up With iPod's Fast-Paced Evolution

(07 Jan 2007 5:14)

By Christine Laue
Omaha World-Herald
01/07/07 4:00 AM PT

Don't blink an eye, or you'll miss the latest iPod news.

Whether you've owned an iPod for years or you just got one for Christmas, staying abreast of this constantly evolving gadget and its myriad accessories is a task.

So, we're helping out by asking an expert in the iPod universe some questions that will help veterans and newbies.

Answering our iPod inquiry is Jeremy Horwitz, editor in chief of the Irvine, Calif.-based iLounge, an independent provider of information about iPods.
Annual Holiday Favorite

Q: How has the iPod changed from Christmas 2005?

A: Most of the 2006 changes to the iPod family turned out to be cosmetic: Full-size iPods gained brighter screens; iPod nanos received new, colored aluminum shells; and the iPod shuffle became even smaller.

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Latest News about Apple also improved the battery life of both standard iPods and nanos and provided more storage for the dollar than (2005) models.

Q: How would you compare the popularity of the iPod this Christmas to past seasons?

A: The final numbers aren't out yet, but all indications are that the iPod has just had its best-ever quarter, with more units sold than in last year's record-breaking holiday quarter. We're estimating that around 17 or 18 million will have been sold just in the last three months of 2006. For calendar year 2006, the total number will be over 40 million.
More Than Music

Q: What are some of the lesser-known features of an iPod?

A: Most people think of the iPod as a playback device, but thanks to new accessories, it can now also record CD-quality audio, including conversations, transfers of your old record albums and more. The recorder accessories range from US$50 to $70 and fit on current full-size iPods and the latest iPod nanos.

Q: Is it right that you can play games on some iPods? Which ones, and how do you get the games -- only off iTunes, other Web sites or in stores?

A: Every iPod and nano comes with a handful of built-in games. As of today, Apple sells 11 additional downloadable titles directly through iTunes for $5 each, including popular card games, many puzzle titles and a few action/shooting games. The best ones are Mahjong and a 3-D shooting game called Vortex; the newest two are Royal Solitaire and Sudoku.
Accessories Abound

Q: The iPod is best known as a digital music player, but more people are downloading TV shows and movies. How do you see this use of the iPod expanding in the next year or two?

A: Growth of the TV show and movie download part of iTunes appears to be relatively slow, most likely because the iPod's screen is on the small side for a video player, and people don't want to watch full-length movies on their computers. When bigger-screened iPods are available, and consumers can play back iTunes videos easily on their TVs, this feature will become much more popular.

Q: What are the three most essential accessories for a new iPod or nano owner?

A: Replacement headphones, a set of good speakers and either a case or film protector for the iPod's body. We recommend Etymotic, Ultimate Ears, and Shure headphones, speakers from JBL and Logitech, and protectors from InvisibleShield, iSkin and others.

Q: What's the latest, hottest accessory for an iPod or nano?

A: Portable video displays are new and cool this year -- add-on combinations of screens and speakers that let you see widescreen 7- to 8-inch video instead of smaller 2.5 inches on-iPod playback. They only work with full-size iPods. The best one is from Sonic Impact, called the Video-55.

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Big Cache for Small Cash With Online Data Storage

(07 Jan 2007 5:13)

If there is one New Year's resolution even more likely to fail than "I vow to lose weight," it's "I vow to start backing up my computer."

After all, setting up and remembering to use a backup system is a huge hassle. The odds are good that you don't have an up-to-date backup at this very moment. Fortunately, 2007 may turn out to be "The Year of the Backup." Both Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Latest News about Microsoft and Apple Computer (Nasdaq: AAPL) Latest News about Apple have built automated backup software into the latest versions of their operating systems; both make their debuts this year.

At the same time, an option that was once complex, limited and expensive is suddenly becoming effortless, capacious and even free: online backups, where your files are shuttled off to the Internet Free How-To Guide for Small Business Web Strategies - from domain name selection to site promotion. for safekeeping.

Online backup means never having to buy or manage backup disks. You can have access to your files from any computer anywhere. Above all, your files are safe even if disaster should befall your office -- whether it's fire, flood, burglary or marauding children.
Inexpensive Alternatives

As it turns out, the Web is seething with backup services wooing customers. Most of them, however, offer only one or two gigabytes of free storage. You can pay for more storage, of course, but the prices have traditionally been outrageous. At DataDepositBox.com, for example, backing up 50 GB of data Free Trial - Way Beyond CRM � Learn how Landslide can help you. will cost you US$1,200 a year.

Nobody yet offers unlimited free storage; but lately, some have gotten a lot closer. Two companies -- Xdrive and MediaMax -- offer as much as 25 GB of free backups; two others -- Mozy and Carbonite -- offer unlimited storage for less than $55 a year.
Xdrive: Set It and Forget It

Xdrive, owned by AOL, offers 5 GB of free storage. It is polished, easy to use and as fully fledged as they come. Right on the Web site, you can back up entire lists of folders at a time, a method that works on Macintosh Latest News about Macintosh, Windows or Unix.

If you use Windows, however, an even better backup system awaits. You can download Xdrive Desktop, a full-blown, unattended backup program. It quietly backs up your computer on a schedule that you specify, without any additional thought or input from you.

Better yet, a new disk icon appears on your PC that represents your stuff on the Web. You can open and use its contents as if it were an ordinary, if slowish, hard drive. A Mac version of Xdrive Desktop is in the works.

As a bonus, you can share certain backed-up folders so that other people can reach them from their Macs or PCs -- if they sign up for their own free Xdrive accounts. You can view your backed-up photos as an online slide show, or organize and play your backed-up music files right on the Web page. Upgrading your storage to 50 GB costs $100 a year, which is not such a good deal. However, if your Documents folder fits into 5 GB, then congratulations -- you've got yourself a free, effortless, automatic backup system. Happy New Year.
Carbonite: $50 Gets as Much as You Want

Carbonite is a pure backup play; there is no folder sharing, photo viewing or music organizing. The Windows-only backup software is completely automatic and stays entirely out of your way, quietly backing up whenever you are not working. You get no free storage and the service costs $50 a year. However, you do get something that few others offer: an unlimited amount of backup storage. Carbonite is aimed at nontechnical users. It is sold in places like computer and office supply stores and is the easiest online backup software to use.

At the moment, Carbonite does not back up individual files that are larger than 2 GB. It also does not back up pieces of files, so if your 500 MB Outlook e-mail Email Marketing Software - Free Demo database changes, the whole database must be backed up again. Finally, there is no Macintosh version. The company stated that a version due in April will wipe out all three of these drawbacks.
Mozy: 30-Day Grace Period

In many regards, the recently introduced Mozy is a Carbonite copycat. The price is $55 a year, storage is unlimited, an automated background Windows program keeps your PC continuously backed up and a Mac version is planned.

Mozy, however, offers 2 GB of backup at no charge. If you're willing to do the company's marketing for it, you can nab another free gig for every four people you persuade to sign up. Mozy is more flexible too -- and more technical. For example, it can already back up only changed portions of files. You can specify times and dates for backups, instead of having only the continuous option, as on Carbonite. You can view 30 days' worth of backups, too, a feature that prevents you from deleting a file from your PC accidentally and then finding its deletion mirrored in your latest backup.
Mediamax: Big Bytes, Bare Bones

Talk about value. How does 25 GB of free storage strike you? Mediamax began life with an emphasis on organizing and sharing photos, video and music -- which it still does well. In addition, however, its new Windows backup program -- now in beta testing -- adds automated unattended backups of everyday computer files (just like its rivals). It's pretty bare-bones. For example, it offers no continuous real-time backup, no choice of weekdays -- only a "Back up every __ days" option. You can back up folders only, not individual files or file types.

In times of disaster, Mediamax will give you your files back but won't put them in their original folders. More important, the free account lets you download or share only 1 GB of data a month. That pretty much means that to restore your hard drive after a crash, you would have to upgrade to a paid account.
Data Lasts Only as Long as the Company

There are some disadvantages to all of these services. One of them is time -- even with a high-speed Internet connection, the first backup literally can take days to complete. Maintaining your backup is much faster, of course, because only new or changed files are uploaded to the Web. However, if disaster ever strikes, retrieving your files can also take days.

Then there is security. All four companies insist that your files are encrypted before they even leave your computer. However, if you still cannot shake the image of backup-company employees rooting through your files and laughing their heads off, then this may not be the backup method for you.

Corporate longevity may be a more realistic worry. Since the Internet itself is very young, no Web-based outfit has a particularly impressive track record. Any of these services could be discontinued or sold at any time, which makes it wise to make the occasional on-site backup, too. In any case, the main thing is to have some kind of backup. After all, there are only two kinds of people: those who back up their computers, and those who will.

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January 2007

Halo 2 Briding

Keeping Up With iPod's Fast-Paced Evolution

Big Cache for Small Cash With Online Data Storage


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