iPodulator Pro 2 from ThePlaceforitAll.com is an application for taking content form a variety of sources and making it available as Notes on your iPod.

The interface for the program is fairly simple to use although not rising to the level of elegant. The first thing you do is change your iPod settings so that it can be used as a disk and then select the iPod from iPodulator.
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Remember back in the 70s and early 80s when sweatbands were all the rage? Well, the folks over at iMojo have released an armband called the nano Sweats which holds the 1G and 2G iPod nano. It’s made out of that same elastic-like cotton weave that was so popular with runners of yore, that fits around your forearm, instead of your wrists or head.
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Apple iPod Earphones (USD $29.00)
Website: Apple Store
Having caved in to what must have been significant request, Apple has finally released some sleeker, form-fitting earphones, and I’ve already picked up a pair for my 30g Video.

Having tried Apple’s terrible, tinny, and low-volume in-ear earphones, I was hopeful that these new iPod earphones would finally achieve what I had missed in ditching my old Sony Fontopia earphones – smoother, thinner, and elongated stem earphones that fit so snugly you forget they’re there. I also hoped that the excellent sound quality (in my opinion) that was present in the previous, stock iPod earphones would remain, or improve.

So how do they measure up?
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Verizon is spending $20 billion upgrading its network to provide fiber to the home, a new network running fiber optic cable for voice, internet and TV/Entertainment applications. I was one of the first in line to swap out my Comcast services. Why?

Good old-fashioned, raw, American speed, of course. While Comcast Internet provides anywhere from 4-8Mbps downloading and somewhere between 500-768K upload service, performance wavers substantially during typical usage. For the same price, I could get Verizon’s middle tier service, offering 15Mbps downloads and 2Mbps uploading speed. Pricing may vary in some regions, but the basic options are as follows:

5Mbps/2Mbps: $34.95/month
15Mbps/2Mbps: $44.95/month
30Mbps/5Mbps: $179.95/month

All with free installation. And unlike cable, fiber technology promises to be “truer” to its rated speeds. You can run a bandwidth tester such as http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest, and see what you’re getting now with your current provider. So far with FIOS, I’m almost always getting the advertised download speeds, and come very close with the upload speeds as well.
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The Mouse BT II (USD $69.00)
Website: macmice.com

I am forever searching for that ultimate mouse, having tried offerings from Logitech, Microsoft and Apple I am always left with mixed feelings. Apple’s Mighty Mouse in either the corded or Bluetooth version looked promising, but I just did not get on with the whole two button sensor arrangement. I found myself having to lift my left finger slightly to get the right click to work. This was a shame as the shape and feel was spot on. So back I went to my Logitech cordless which is great, just a tad big.

The guys at MacMice just recently released a new offering call ‘The Mouse BT II’ and one just landed on my desk to review. To say I am excited is an understatement because the size and shape is almost identical to the Mighty Mouse but with some awesome differences.
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I am writing this blog posting from the food court of a local mall between the TCBY and the Cinnibon. No, this mall does not have anything as great as free wi-fi. Instead I am trying out a new service from Verizon using the emerging EVDO (Evolution-Data Optimized) wireless data standard. EVDO is being offered by a number of cell phone providers using their networks. To use EVDO you need to have special hardware which comes in the form of a PCCard for the PowerBook, or the new express card version for the MacBook Pro. USB versions of the cards will soon become available.

So how well does it work? Pretty well. Having connectivity even more widely available than what is provided by Wi-fi is very addictive. The download speed feels faster than dialup but slower than DSL. The upload speed is much less impressive. Recently it took me 2 hours to upload a 15Mb mp3 file for the latest episode of my podcast. Not impressive speed except that I was driving 65 MPH at the time up highway 101 in California and during that 2 hour period it was connected to my companies VPN server without losing its connection. I also tested it on a commuter train from San Jose to San Francisco and this is the kind of technology that could get me to take the train more often.

I have tried both the Sprint service and the Verizon service and both work well, although the setup with Sprint on a Mac was simpler (you put in the card). Verizon seems to require installing their software. Cost for the service is around $70 a month with flat rate pricing for data.

In advance of Tuesdays Apple event there is, of course, a lot of consensus that Apple will be announcing the addition of full length feature films available for purchase on iTunes. Well now Apple’s web site appears to have an interesting anomaly as pointed out by listener Sam. Go to http://www.apple.com/movies and take a look. Of course this page simply displays an error, but it is THE ERROR that is interesting. It shows a “403 Forbidden” error meaning there is content or at least a directory there possibly awaiting content. If you try the same trick with almost any other random value, http://www.apple.com/zunekiller for example, you will see Apple gives you a nicely formatted “Looking for something at Apple.com?” page instead of the standard ugly web error message. Now this may be nothing but a random fluke made to seem like more by a myriad of Apple meets Hollywood rumors, but it’s interesting either way don’t you think?

SendStation is giving away 1,000 of their Firewire PocketDock connectors for iPods for FREE (you just pay shipping). The offer is good for the first 1,000 people to make a request from the companies web site or until September 13th, so hurry. The PoectDock is a tiny connector that works with all Dock Connector iPods and lets you use the iPod’s docking port to connect a standard 6-pin FireWire cable. The PocketDock Firewire can charge and sync all Dock Connector iPods except, of course, the 5th Gen and Nano, which it can only charge. Get yours at SendStation.com.

Guess Apple decided not to wait until September 12th to deliver its new iMacs. Apple just updated their web site with four new iMac models, including a huge 24″ model. All the new iMacs are up to 50% faster due to the fact that they now all have screaming fast Intel Core 2 Duo processors. The four models spec out like this: a 1.83 GHz and a 2.0 GHz 17-inch model, a 2.16 GHz 20-inch and the all-new 2.16 GHz 24-inch iMac. Prices start at USD$999.00 and they are shipping today through the Apple Store.

Update: As some astute listeners have pointed out, the top 3 iMac models now come with 1GB of RAM standard (Thank you Apple). Also the bottom of the line Intel Mac Mini received a quiet update too. The top model was bumped to a 1.83 GHz Core Duo and lower end model is now a 1.66GHz Core Duo processor instead of the Core Solo. Mac Mini pricing remains unchanged at USD$799.00 and USD$599.00 respectively.

Update too: Something important to note if you plan on buying the cheap 17-incher… it does not include the Apple Remote! If you plan on using it with FrontRow do yourself a favor and make sure you pick up the USD$29.00 remote when you make your purchase.

CodeWeavers has recently released a public beta of it’s CrossOver software to allow owners of Intel Macs to run certain Windows applications without needing to install Windows. I just downloaded a copy and while it certainly is not ready for prime time, it does seem very promising. The application is based on the work of the WINE project which is attempting to bring Windows 32 libraries over to UNIX. As such, there are only a limited number of Windows applications currently on the CrossOver compatibility list which are known to work at this time.
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