Why you shouldn't buy the new iPod shuffle

I always though the iPod shuffle was neat because of its tiny size.  However, I never really found the need for it in my life.  I could imagine if it would be great for running or cycling.  As for me, I'm a swimmer, and I'm still waiting on the solution for listening to music while swimming.  

The latest version got even smaller and comes with some gadgety features.  Here are some of my thoughts.

Tiny size - By moving the controls to the earphones, they managed to make the shuffle even smaller.  However, the major problem is that you cannot use a earphone of your choice, and you're stuck with Apple's earphones.  If you want to use a earphone of your choice, you might have to spend more money on a separate adapter.  

It talks to you - The new shuffle announces the name of the song you're listening, and announces the playlists so that you can navigate your playlists.  Frankly, I think this kind of navigation is a step backward.  Isn't that why Apple invented the visual voicemail so you don't have to listen to each item one by one?  

I'd assume it works if you have a few playlists, but it would probably not be very usable with a lot of playlists.  

However, navigation by voice would come very handy in situations where you can't divert your eyes to a visual interface like running.  Which brings me up to the next point -

The lack of sports features - Considering shuffle is the best line for athletes and sports, any kind of sporty features isn't there.  You see Nike+ features for iPod touches and Nanos, but the shuffle is really the product that needs it because it's so suitable for sports.  

At $79, the shuffle is a tempting buy.  Although it now supports playlists, I question the usability of using voice feature as navigation.  For someone that wants to buy it for sports like running, I'd hold off a bit because, first, you can't use other sports-oriented earphones, and second, there are no running features like Nike+.  I'm sure Apple knows the shuffle is perfect for sports, and knowing that other iPods have the Nike+ treatment, I think we'll see a shuffle more suitable for sports in the future.  

Utada's latest music video free on iTunes

The latest music video of Utada, one of Japan's most popular artists, is now available in iTunes for free as the music video of the week.  

You can get it here. (iTunes required)

iPhone 3G Free in Japan

The iPhone 3G 8GB model is now free with a 2 year contract in Japan.  The 16GB model will cost 11520 yen, which is about $120.  This offer will be valid up to May 31.  

SoftBank is definitely aggressively pushing out the iPhone in Japan.  It might also be a sign that they are cleaning out the inventory to prepare for the next version of iPhone this summer.  Maybe.

So the bottom line for Japanese consumers, one can get an iPhone 3G 8GB paying as little as 2,324 yen (24 dollars) every month.  

Source:

SoftBank (Japanese)

GarageBand lets you make ringtones + iTunes is become DRM free = hmm...

A friend recently sent me a news item about mSpot launching a browser-based ringtone creator, and it reminded me that GarageBand also lets you create ringtones for your iPhone.  It used to be if you tried to drag a DRM song purchased from iTunes, GarageBand won't let you use it.  

But now, since all the music on iTunes are becoming DRM free, you should be able to create your own ringtones with GarageBand with your purchased music that are DRM free.  Making ringtones with GarageBand is not an one click thing on GarageBand, but it's definitely easy.  They already faded out the track for you, and all you need is to simply determine which section of the song you want for the ringtone.  And click on send ringtone to iTunes, and you're done.  

So, you could spend $0.99 for Apple to prepare the ringtone for you in iTunes, or you can save $0.99 by using their wonderful software GarageBand to do it.  There is probably some legal clause in their terms that says you can't legally and you shouldn't.  If that was really true, that stinks because you bought the music, and shouldn't you have the right to listen to it on any device (i.e., your iPhone) and in any way you like (i.e., just the hook) without having to pay more?

Kindle for iPhone

Just found out while watching GeekBrief that Kindle for iPhone is available.  That is just good news for Kindle and iPhone owners!

The app first asks you to register / log in.  Once in, I have an item called Archived Items, which lets me access the Kindle books I bought.  You can download then download your books.  I downloaded a programming book, and it took about 2-3 minutes.  

Reading a book

To flip pages, you just swipe.  I was surprised to find pictures in color!  You can change the text size and you can add bookmarks.  Though it doesn't seem to able to let you search.  

Pages load instantaneously (if not, very fast).  One of the things I'm not satifised with my Kindle was that pages take a second to load.  For most books, I have no problems.  If it's programming books where I have to flip back and forth a lot,  the Kindle experience is not very good.  However, the iPhone can let me swipe through pages.  Very nice!  Now, my iPhone just needs a bigger screen =)

There's also a sync feature, which I presume will let you sync between devices on where you left off in a book.  Cool!

Buying books

It doesn't seem to allow you to buy books straight from the iPhone app.  You can buy books from mobile Safari or a computer.  Once purchased, the book will show up in the Archived Items.  

Very good news for iPhone and Kindle owners.  Now I can read my books during my train commutes.