500 million app downloads for iPhone - Really?

Ok, so the iTunes app store has had 500 million app downloads so far! But does it really mean anything, considering that the Top app in iTunes for the iPhone and the iPod Touch is iFart, a completely useless application, that sends gaseous sounds out it's speakers. It would be more impressive if Apple promoted the iTunes app store with a press release that read, 400 million iFart downloads, and 100 million meaningful application downloads so far. Tongue in cheek, the App store has enable developers the distribution platform to reach it's users. Hopefully 2009 brings 500 Million ground breaking applications this year, oh and a iFart version 3.0.

App Store Pick of the Week: iPump Pilates
January 14, 2009
Resolved to get — and stay — in shape this year? Then you may want to try out iPump Pilates. The app guides and inspires you through a strength training and body toning fitness regimen and makes it easy to log and track your progress. Developed by fitness pros, iPump Pilates is one of 20 fitness apps from iPump on the App Store.Filed under: iPhone, iPod+iTunes. Read more: App Store in iTunes

With a Apple App Store Pick of the week like this.. I'm thinking, it's going to be a long year.

Apple is "rushing" a college near you! -free ipod touch

Ok, now you need to save just a little less! - It's a free iPod touch
The catch... must buy a Mac!

You trying to figure out how to afford your ipod and your laptop to hit the books with this spring. Well I'm sure every! student can drop this type of cash on a Mac, and still afford the book fees, bording fees! Okay.. let's just get a bigger college loan and hide the "NEW LAPTOP" under misc. study supplies! Joking aside here. Why not take a look at the deal

Final Cut Starts to ship!

Final Cut starts shipping:
Apples workgroup solution software - Version 10 starts shipping out of the apple store today. It's asset management, asset meta tagging and workflow automation make final cut "a cut above". If you're running a small shop or a huge company, final cut will streamline your production work flow. Learn More

$100 off Refurbished Apple TV

Apple Certified Refurbished Apple TV
Refurbished Apple TV with 40GB drive
Mac + PC
Wi-Fi 802.11 wireless
40GB hard drive for up to 50 hours video
Apple Remote
Learn More
• Save 34% off the original price

Apple TV 40GB Apple TV turns your living room into an on-demand movie theater. After a free software update, with a few clicks of the remote, you can rent HD movies from the same place you watch them ? your widescreen TV.

Apple Store now selling AirPort Express Base Station 802.11n

802.11n, Includes AirTunes

Available now at the Apple Store.

With 5x the performance and 2x the range the new AirPort Express Base Station now also include AirTunes, Enjoy your music collection from anywhere in your house using the latest wireless technology.


AirPort Express Base Station with 802.11n and AirTunes. Free Shipping

Go on Safari! Download 3.1 available

Apple Release Safari 3.1 for Download


Experience the web, Apple style, with Safari: the fastest, easiest-to-use web browser in the world. With its simple, elegant interface, Safari gets out of your way and lets you enjoy the web — up to 1.9 times faster than Internet Explorer.

Features:

• High-end Performance
• Stylish User Interface
• Easy Bookmarking
• Pop-up Blocking
• New Find Tools
• Tabbed Browser
• SnapBack
• Auto-fill Form Feature
• Built-in RSS Reader
• Sizeable Text Areas
• Private Browsing Features
• Enhanced Security

More Information

Thin is in! Will Apple set the new laptop trend again?

APPLE AIR - THIN

Apple has be setting design standards with innovative designs for decades, many say that the removal of the floppy drive was initiated by Apples removal of the drive around 1999 when the iBook came out. Over the past few years companies have been scrambling to catch up, let’s look at Dell. This year they have entered into the mass-market chains (Walmart, Best-Buy, Staples, etc.). Their whole campaign and designs are around personalization. Who does that sound like?

Now if you realize that Apple designs are about pushing the envelope (Mind the pun) then Thin is in! With the announcement of the Apple Air, a couple of design standards will need to be re-thought. The Air isn’t just Thin! Light! And about style! What will probably become standard in the next couple of years in all laptop designs; will be the incorporation of a backlit keyboard. Also the removal of the DVD drive to an external resource. It’s also believed that the AIR (Apple naming convention for the wireless components i.e. AIRPORT), is the reason the DVD drive is external, and the move to a large use in Wifi technology is ahead.

Okay, the Apple AIR will probably not sell a huge amount of units in the next few months, but it is attractive as an option for students and business people looking for the compact laptop.

Amazon pre-sales state the AIR will ship around Feb. 1. 2008, and you can already pre-order with them or at the Apple store.

Nano goes PINK!

Apple Nano now comes in a new flavor! Pretty in Pink! Just in time for Valentines Day!! I'm sure your special someone will love one, or maybe it's a treat for your self.

Putting a DVD onto an Ipod or other Digital Players.

Making a digital copy and watching it on your Ipod or other types of players is fairly simple. What you need is a software package that by-passes the DVDs disc encryption, then takes the VOB files of the movie and converts it to the correct format.

Now bypassing DRM (Digital Rights Management) and Copy Protection on DVD dics may not be legal in your country. If you own the DVD and you are making a copy to play on your device then in some countries this is legal.

Now each digital media player uses a certain type of audio video codecs to encode the file so it’s playable on its video playing software.

Apple Ipod media players use a encoding called a MP4. The MP4 format can be encoded using the MP4 encoding or for the Ipod the H.264 Quicktime video codec with the Apple Audio codec (AAC).

The Zune player uses the WMV (Windows Media) format and uses the WMA(Windows Audio codec) for sound.

Blackberry Video uses the MP4 encoding, Divx 4 encoding, Divx5,6 files are currently not supported.

When you’re looking to convert from DVD to a type of player, it’s important that the software you use goes from VOB to the correct codec types. If a file is coded in the incorrect format, most likely your player will not be able to read the file correctly.

Now each video media player may have a different way of loading the files to the players, both blackberry and zune can be accessed by the different OS file manages as a USB type drive.

The Ipod and Iphones are a different story, these players use Apple’s (Mac) file systems and you’ll need to use a “loading software” (Itunes) to sync the files onto the devices. Fairly easy to do, all you do is import the MP4 file to your Itunes software. Then sync up your device.

The best advice I can give is check your hardware specs, most players play resolutions of 320x240, up to 30 frames per second (fps)

Is it the Apple Time Capsule or a waste of time?

It's really up to you! You might find it a waste of money. It a welcomed idea for me.

Why?
The other day, I was sitting around chatting with a friend about how I wanted to put a large external drive mounted on my electrical panel and hook it up to my wifi router to make it accessible to the laptops in my house. The day after the Macworld keynote speech we sat there and kind of snickered about how the timing of the Time Capsule announcement was so close to our conversation.

Now what makes having a wifi enabled external drive so handy, for one thing, backups! I’ve had a few near misses the last few months with losing a large amount of photos. I guess it’s the things that can’t be replaced that are so important not to lose. So the Time Capsule is here! Its two models allow you to have 500GB or 1000GB available for backing up pictures, movie clips. The things that if you lost you would never be able to replace.

I was also thinking that the time capsule will some day make a great storage option for the apple TV. Both have N wifi wireless and Apple TV now pulls from multiple data sources. This makes the extra storage handy to use as a data stream source.
Even though a data copy software will be needed for the Microsoft OS, I’m still extremely happy about this! The announcement wasn't a WOW! Factor at Macworld this year, but its still a welcome tool for many, many people.