There are many reasons to transfer music from your iPod to your computer, including wanting to transfer the files to a new iPod, getting a new computer and wanting your music there as well as on your iPod, storage size issues, even dealing with a hard drive crash and wanting to recreate your iTunes library. (God forbid you ever try copying your iPod files to your computer’s iTunes library after a crash if you have been using automatic synchronization. You will find that your empty iTunes library will replace your full iPod, and you’ll lose ALL your music!)

Transferring your music from your computer to your iPod has always been easy, including that ‘gee, let’s just replace all those lovely iPod tracks with an empty library!’

Unfortunately transferring in the other direction (iPod to computer transfer) has not been, unless you bought the music from the iTunes Store. Indeed, with the latest versions of iTunes, you are not only limited to transferring only purchased tracks, but iTunes allows you to only transfer all your purchased tracks, rather than being able to pick and choose which ones you want to move. Talk about being pushy.

(For those of you wanting to know step-by-step details in transferring music from your iPod to your computer using iTunes, check out “Copying Content from your iPod to your Computer - The Definitive Guide” available at iLouge.com

Fortunately third-party vendors were quick to recognize the market and jumped in with both feet, providing all sorts of options for transferring your music from your iPod to your computer, even with the new DRM restrictions.

The best of these utilities can read iPod databases files and use them to locate specific tracks as well as show playlists, ratings and play count. Indeed, some of these products can quite nicely be used in place of iTunes, for those of you not wanting to use iTunes.

Here are a few that you could consider:

> Lenogo iPod to Computer Transfer - This works with iPod, iPod Touch and iPhone!

> imTOO iPod Computer Transfer - This is another great software for transferring songs, files and video from iPod to your PC.

XPlay, another transfer utility, also works on both Macs and Windows operating systems and doesn’t require you to learn a new system. Simply plug in your iPod, and XPlay makes it appear as simply another drive on your computer. Just open the XPlay folder and your music appears just like it does on your iPod. You can then drag-and-drop your music from your iPod to your computer…and vice versa. Talk about easy. XPlay even includes a built-in WMA to MP3 converter.

Transferring music from your iPod to a computer is easy with the right tool. Check out your favorite search engine to find reviews and user comments, and the best tool for you.

Many people who are in the know of Apple and iTunes say that Apple should change their approach to iTunes. They say that it is a good idea for Apple to allow users to access all or most of for a monthly fee. Currently users can buy either a song or a album at one time.

This idea has been popularized by record labels that want a more regular and predicatable stream of revenue from iTunes. iTunes ranks after Wal-Mart as North America’s second-largest music retailer. According to Steve Jobs, it is a better idea for people to own rather than rent music.
Read more… »

There is something new in the malware world. There are now websites with code specifically written to crash your computer which runs on Safari, whether it is PC or Mac. In addition the code on these websites result in a lock up on your iPhone or iPod Touch. It requires no user interaction to execute.

This glitch in the Safari spans most versions. It seems like the latest version is not vulnerable to this though. What happens that the memory allocated to Safari is overrun. Cnet says that remote code execution may be possible but is unconfirmed. This new exploit is different from an earlier exploit that required user interaction, this one is executed without user interaction.
Read more… »

The iPod Touch and iPhone are just like handheld computers. They have storage space, memory and mobile processors. Just like a computer, therefore, you should shut it down every once in a while. When you are on a roaming or foriegn network the iPhone will then not fetch updated emails. The iPod Touch will deliver improved performance as a result of regular shutting down.

Many iPod Touch owners have observed that playing large play lists or in shuffle mode, the iPod stops playing music and returns to the home screen. When the iPod Touch is turned off by default, it goes into standby mode. The RAM is then maintained just like in a laptop.
Read more… »

The iPod is now truly a space age gadget. Last week there was a photo released of Endeavour - the space shuttle. There was one special treat in that photo for iPod lovers. A keen blogger noticed in the window console an…iPod!

Using a 400 mm lens an overhead exterior shot of the shuttle was taken. The shot was taken by crew members of Expedition 16 on the international space station. Astronaut Dominic Gorie STS-123 commander did a roll pitch maneouver. This is essentially a back flip which allows the space station crew a proper view of the heat shield of the Endeavour.
Read more… »

In an announcement, Monster, which is a leading manufacturer of advanced consumer accessories said that the iSoniCast Wireless Audio Bridge is now shipping. The iSonicast is revolutionary.

Using the iSonicast you can listen to your iPod over a home stereo without batteries. Noel Lee the head of the company announced that Monster which had been highly successful in iPod accessories had a new addition.
Read more… »

Apple is being sued by ZapMedia based on a claim that the online iTunes store as well as the iPod were infringements of ZapMedia’s patents. Zapmedia claimed that it tried repeatedly to negotiate with Apple and when this failed they filed the suit against Apple.

The suit was filed on Wednesday in Marshall, Texas in the US District Court. According to the suit ZapMedia Services’ property was being unlawfully exploited and they therefore wanted a royalty on this. This was a statement made by Steven G. Hill.
Read more… »

Recently an Apple iPod shot out sparks and this is being investigated in Japan by government officials. One official from the trade and economy ministry of Japan told AP that this sparking that happened in Kanagawa Prefecture in January was thought to be due to a defect in the lithium-ion battery of the iPod Nano.

The model number of the defective iPod was MA099J/A according to Associated Press. Between September 2005 and September 2006 about 425000 iPods with this number were imported into Japan. This is not the first time problems have cropped up in the Nano. In Douglasville, Ga, last October a Nano reportedly caught fire in a mans pocket.
Read more… »

In vehicles that have been manufactured after 2006, iPod connections have been offered as standard fare. If unsure whether your have an iPod connection in your car check the radio deck for an auxiliary input which is the standard connection. It would be labeled as “aux”. If this is a part of your car deck then all you need to do is buy an auxiliary cable running from the headset connector to the radio deck input.

Some radio decks do not have this feature. For these you have other options for iPod connection. For cassette players, you need to connect a cassette adaptor. This costs about $15.
Read more… »

The iPhone has been hacked for quite a while in order to create games for it. People have even used the accelerometer for the purpose of playing by calculating the direction of hardware tilt. Steve D. has developed a new title aimed at the ipod Touch and iPhone called Trism.

This puzzle game is said to be really neat and simple. The game uses the Touchscreen with which the onscreen triangles can be manipulated. You have to use a fair bit of strategy and the direction you tilt the phone decides which way the blocks fall down.
Read more… »

The three main businesses of Apple are doing very well. This is not all. According to Tim Cook, COO, Apple, there is a very good growth potential for these businesses in the future.

According to Cook, among all Apple products, the iPhone has received the highest customer satisfaction ratings. This is an achievement for the iPhone since all Apple products are so high on customer satisfaction.
Read more… »