- Author: admin
- Filed under: Apple
- Date: Oct 23,2011
It’s hard to believe, but it’s been exactly ten years since the iPod was first unveiled, ultimately changing the music industry forever. The iPod wasn’t the first, it wasn’t the smallest, it didn’t have the largest hard drive, but it did have an iconic style and simple to use interface that led march away from CDs.
When the history of Apple is written the iPod (perhaps more than the iMac, OS X or the iPhone) will be credited with helping spearhead the company’s second coming.
Over the years the music player has seen countless iterations and redesigns, and an expansion of the product line to include smaller devices and touch screens — but for most it’s the scroll wheel and white earbuds that define the iPod.
Sure, what is now called the iPod classic hasn’t seen a serious update since about 2007, but it still holds a special place in our hearts, especially for those of us who don’t measure their music collection in a few dozen iTunes downloads.
Now that the number of App Store downloads to iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads around the world has handily exceeded the population of Planet Earth, we can hopefully put this story to bed until they hit another factor of ten — and as unreasonable as 100 billion downloads sounds, we’ll bet it actually won’t take that long.
That’s right: just a few days after kicking off its online counter, Apple’s officially hit the 10 billion mark, which is a whole lot of software any way you slice it.
So, Android Market, you’re next?
The latest iPhone and iPod touch are nearly identical devices, ignoring the pesky reality that the latter isn’t a phone. We can fix that. Here’s how to turn your iPod touch into a viable (and cheaper) iPhone alternative out of the box.
Back in the day, turning your iPod touch into an iPhone required a jailbreak, but now, thanks to some wonderful apps and other tools, using your iPod touch as an iPhone alternative is a piece of cake.
The iPhone and iPod touch have always been similar devices, but now that Apple’s added a front-facing and regular camera to the iPod touch, they’re practically identical. You can even make video calls on both devices. The only real missing feature is the phone. Thanks to VoIP (Voice over IP) apps like Skype and Line2 (see more details below), you don’t even need to jailbreak to solve that problem.
Although it’s easier than ever to use your iPod touch as a full-fledged iPhone, there’s still a little work involved. You’ll need the right apps and potentially some extra hardware. Let’s take a look at your options and how you can work around the shortcomings of an iPod touch-turned-iPhone. Read the rest of this entry »
Never heard of Abilene Christian University? We’re guessing a wide majority of the general public hasn’t either, but the institution is definitely getting its name out there by promising each incoming freshman this fall an iPhone or iPod touch.
Granted, these aren’t being explicitly marked as “free,” but similar to Duke’s efforts in years past, ACU plans on using these devices for educational enrichment.
Reportedly, the handhelds will enable students to “receive homework alerts, answer in-class surveys and quizzes, get directions to their professors’ offices, and check their meal and account balances” — and that’s just for starters. Read the rest of this entry »
