resistance to persistence

i’ve been thinking about this more today…i was disappointed that my 3G iPhone didn’t get video in the update. Video recording is only available in the new 3Gs version. Which didn’t make sense. The 3G is capable of recording video. Even the previous initial iPhone version can do video if you have it jailbroken. And that’s not something I want to do. But I do want the video – it’s purely a software issue, so that’s why i was surprised it wasn’t in the update.

likewise with the voice controlled dialing. it’s not a feature i really want, nor need. i’ve got some 3rd party apps that can already do this on my phone. but that’s really a software issue as well.

checking the comparison between the 3G & 3Gs models, you see that video recording, voice control and the digital compass are features which set the 3Gs ahead.

So why would these features not be available in the 3G? Hype & sales. Apple wants you to definitely consider the 3Gs over the 3G if you’re a new buyer. They want the 3Gs to sell more than last year’s 3G opening sales. And if you can get a 16Gb 3G for $100 less than the 3Gs with all the same software, you’re going to buy the 3G for sure. So Apple will cripple the software on the 3G in the short term (likely a quarter), then after the first big sales figures are in, they’ll give all the 3G owners a present and we’ll get the video and voice control capabilities like the faster 3Gs.

So, I’ll just sit back, bide my time and wait it out – unless a 3rd party app beats Apple to the punch (I’m sure people are working on it). In the meantime, I’ll just be thankful we got tethering & MMS messaging up here in Canada, which shockingly AT&T has dropped the ball on. I’m amazed Canada has more phone advantages than the US for once. Except for pricing. That’ll never change.

88 Keys – Death of Adam

I keep coming back to this album over and over. To say I’ve listened to it a lot is an understatement and it’s definitely my most played album of the last year. 88 Keys – Death of Adam definitely needs more press.

The album weaves a story from beginning to end but with different musical styles along the way and different musical guests (Kanye, Redman, Bilal) and keeping the humour in some serious adult topics. Dirty Peaches (f J’Davey) is definitely a favorite – soft and swinging. Stay Up has some good beats, samples and solid lyrics from Ye.

If you haven’t heard of 88 Keys (I hadn’t before this), keep an eye out for him at the Ralph Lauren store (dude has worn Polo gear every day for like the past 18 years) and cop this album -you won’t be disappointed.

yvonne of longoverdew.com just pointed me at a new online music listening service. i’ve seen a lot of these, but this one’s different.

listen to music and see graphical relationships at musicovery.com

you can select your musical genres, what kind of mood you’re in (energetic, calm, dark, etc) and the service will select music related to that. it also shows songs related to the song playing. you can narrow the music to a time period when it was released and even discover new music you hadn’t heard before. i’ve had it going for the past half hour and keep hearing new songs or old songs i’ve forgotten about.

i’ll keep this service in mind if i’ve forgotten my ipod or want to find some new tunes.

iPod Touch – all that I wanted

I was right! After Apple announced the iPhone, I felt a bit left out…I wanted all those features in an iPod, especially the widescreen video. It’s the reason I held off upgrading to an iPod Video edition. Today, Apple announced the iPod Touch, all the features of the iPhone, minus the phone. Exactly what I asked for when I blogged about it back in January.

Here’s what I said back in January…

Here’s what I want to see…take the iPhone, minus the phone capabilities, take out the internet capabilities (nice, but not essential) and just leave me the widescreen ipod. That’s all I want. I want videos widescreen, the new navigation capabilities with coverflow, rotational knowledge, etc. All that is cool. And maybe leave in the 2MP camera along with iPhoto so I can load up some photos too. I’ll use it to backup my memory card from my camera while I’m travelling.

I was pretty close. They left the internet capabilities…I should have guessed at that…anything that allows you to buy songs online with the updated iTunes wifi music store. I still would have liked the camera to stay, but I’ll make due with my cameraphone instead.

I can’t wait to try one out (and even more to have one). They’re out September 28. Another occasion to have the press watch the large overnight lineups and push the Apple stock even higher.

The controls will take a bit to get used to. I will actually miss the wheel control. When I’m walking to work, my iPod is in my pocket. And I always know where the pause button is and I can even adjust the volume up or down without having to look at it or take it out of my pocket. This is also very important in the winter time. The less I have to take off my gloves the better. With the iPod touch, I’ll have to turn the screen on (I’ll turn it off to save power) with the home button twice and then adjust the volume or pause. But I’ll have to visually see where these buttons…no more blind pocket pressing unless I get really good at remembering where on the screen the pause button is. Sometimes having some tactile buttons are a good thing. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Touch and will be anxious to see one and try out the controls in person, especially since we don’t have the iPhones in Canada.

The iPod Touch comes in 2 sizes, 8GB for $299 USD ($329 CDN) or 16GB for $399 ($449 CDN).

What do you think about the new iPod Touch? Are you going to buy one? Leave me a comment.

watch a demonstration of the apple iphone in action

In yesterday’s MacWorld keynote address, Steve Jobs introduced the now very popular Apple iPhone. But after the keynote address was over, I still felt lost. What about me? The music listener/show watcher who wants a bigger ipod? What is a fan of music/shows going to do with 8Gb of space on the iPhone?

My 40Gb ipod is busted, and I’ve been using my wife’s 20Gb ipod with a limited selection of my music. I had previously filled the 40Gb and that’s without any video. The answer was previously to buy the 80Gb ipod. But I’ve held off since I knew there had to be a new ipod on the way soon…it’s been so long for a larger screen format. The screen on the existing ipod isn’t wide format and I knew that had to be coming soon. I guessed it would be the full face of the ipod sideways and the iPhone was exactly what I envisioned and more. More that I don’t necessarily need, and more than I can necessarily use in Canada (phone data rates are way too expensive).

Here’s what I want to see…take the iPhone, minus the phone capabilities, take out the internet capabilities (nice, but not essential) and just leave me the widescreen ipod. That’s all I want. I want videos widescreen, the new navigation capabilities with coverflow, rotational knowledge, etc. All that is cool. And maybe leave in the 2MP camera along with iPhoto so I can load up some photos too. I’ll use it to backup my memory card from my camera while I’m travelling.

It will be easy enough for Apple to take the existing iphone, pare it down to just ipod capabilities. And I’m sure they’ll do it as well, but just not yet. They don’t want to take away any press from the iPhone. Hopefully it’ll only be about 3 months and they’ll have a new widescreen iPod with more storage capability. It’s the next logical step in the product line.

check out this free stack of tunes i got! it’s like christmas

Yesterday I walked outside my office building to see a few people with boxes of music CDs, opening the cases, throwing the CDs on the ground and stepping on them. Not something you’d typically see. They work for an online music sales/download company (I won’t reveal which one, but thanks to them!) explained they have to get rid of the CDs and they can’t give them away to charity (tax implications maybe? I’m just guessing as I don’t understand why) so they have to destroy them…or people could just take them. Hundreds of CDs, free for the taking. The pickings were slim, but depending on your tastes, there were some good choices. Barely any hip-hop, but I got what I could. I walked away with a stack of 8. 4 of them were even still in plastic wrapping. My coworkers came away with a similar amount. My coworker Pete Nema also does music reviews, so maybe he found a gem in his pile of tunes.

what i got
snoop dogg – tha last meal
david banner – baptized in dirty water
juvenile – tha g-code
juvenile – 400 degrees
treble charger – detox
our lady peace – healthy in paranoid times
sarah mclachlan – selections from afterglow live (for my wife)
just the hits 2005

I gotta testify, come up in the spot looking extra fly……For the day i die, I’ma touch the sky

Tonight’s gonna be a fun time. I surprised J with a pair of tickets to the Kanye West concert tonight. This will be the 3rd time I’ve seen him. Her first. When the tour was announced, I decided she might like to see him, so I ordered a set of tickets when they went on sale but never told J about it. Then shortly after that, he was on Saturday Night Live. She watched his performance and said “If he ever comes on tour here again, I want to go see him”. Perfect! She didn’t know about the tour at all, nor did she know I had got tickets. I kept it secret until just a few days ago when I gave her the tickets. She was jumping up and down! She liked College Dropout a lot, but loves Late Registration. The CD is constantly in the car stereo.

We’ve got great seats tonight, near the front of the stage. I’m looking forward to seeing J excited when he comes on. And yesterday just happened to be our 1.5 year wedding anniversary (heck, I’ll take credit for any kind of anniversary that I can). It should be a blast tonight. Maybe I’ll even get some photos.

via del.icio.us/popular: Someone’s gone and mashed up Kanye West’s College Dropout disc, ala Jay-Z’s Black Album. 10 tracks, with nice album art to print as well. Get it while it’s available, before the lawyers step in and shut it down. Although this will probably be great press for Kanye’s Late Registration album, out Aug 30th. I know I’ll be going to the cd store early that morning.