How To Get The Most From Your Ipod

ejaviles (25)in #ipod • 7 years ago

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………. 4

CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED …………………………. 6
Windows PC ……………………………………………… 6 Macintosh ………………………………………………….7
Preparing Your iPod ……………………………………8
Playing Music ……………………………………………..9

CHAPTER 2: IPOD CONTROLS …………………………… 10
Wheel Functions ………………………………………. 11

CHAPTER 3: MAKING THE MOST OF ITUNES ……….. 13

CHAPTER 4: ORGANIZING AND TRANSFERRING MUSIC ……………………………………………………………. 14
Transfer Music Automatically ……………………...15

CHAPTER 5: TRANSFER AND VIEW DIGITAL PHOTOS ……………………………………………………………………….16
Transfer From Camera To Computer ……………17
Transfer From Computer To iPod …………………18
Transfer From Camera To iPod ……………………22

CHAPTER 6: IPOD AS A STORAGE DEVICE …………..23
Copy Songs From iPod to Computer ……………..25
CHAPTER 7: IPOD FOR MAP DIRECTIONS …………… 26

CHAPTER 8: IMPORT AUDIO BOOKS ……………………28
Optimize Your Import Settings …………………….29
Importing …………………………………………………30

CHAPTER 9: VOICE RECORDING WITH IPOD ……….34
Audio Hardware ………………………………………..35
Start Recording …………………………………………37

CHAPTER 10: LASER BEAM AND FLASHLIGHT ……..40

CHAPTER 11: REMOTE CONTROL ……………………….41
Recording The Signal ………………………………..43
Adding The Signal To Your iPod ………………….45

CHAPTER 12: THE BOOM BOX …………………………...45

CHAPTER 13: MAKING SMART PLAYLISTS ………….48
Access The Smart Playlist Dialog ………………..49
Create Your List ………………………………………..50
Track Attributes ………………………………………..50

CHAPTER 14: THE IPOD SHUFFLE ……………………….53
The Shuffle Buttons ……………………………………54
The Lights On Your Shuffle …………………………56
iPod Preferences ……………………………………….58

CONCLUSION …………………………………………………..59

INTRODUCTION

Since the iPod was first introduce over fours ago is has proven to be a versatile little tool. Even though the architecture is tightly closed, hackers have managed to find their way in so that they can make modifications. Software developers and creators of content have made it possible for you to use the iPod to keep all kinds of information at your finger tips. Besides being a unique way to carry around your music wherever you go, the iPod can be used for many other purposes.

Most people buy an iPod for the obvious reasons. The iPod works with your computer so that you can import music and organize your songs and photos. These files are then transferred to your iPod so that you can listen to them and view them wherever you go.
But your iPod is so much more that just a player for music. Some of the incredible things that you can do with your iPod include:

• Store up to thousands of songs from your private music collection so that you can listen to them wherever you want to take them.
• Store up to thousands of digital photos. This is ideal for viewing whenever you want as well as for backing up your digital photos until you can transfer them to your computer.
• Import photos from your digital camera by using the iPod Camera Connector. This is ideal for when you are traveling and your digital camera care is full.
• Look at your photos through a slideshow. You can add music to the slideshow and view it on your television. This is done by using the iPod AV Cable.
• Listen to audiobooks. You can find audiobooks at the iTunes Music Store or at www.audible.com.
• You can create On-The-Go playlists. Playlists are great for arrange music that you want to listen to at a certain place and time, such as a work-out playlist for working out at the gym.
• You can use your iPod as an external hard drive. This is great of storing files or backing up data.
• You can change the equalizer settings on your iPod to make your music sound as great as possible.
• You can store all of your contact information and synchronize it to your calendar.
• You can record your own voice memos. This is done by purchasing an optional microphone.
• You can play games.

The following pages outline some of the creative things that you can do with your iPod.

CHAPTER 1: GETTING STARTED

One you purchase your iPod, getting started is easy! Apple has made it easy since the instructions included with your iPod are accurate and concise. Depending on what computer operating system you have, the instructions will vary slightly.

Windows PC

To use your iPod with Windows PC you need the following minimum essentials:

• A built in high power USB 2.0 (or higher) or a built in FireWire.
• Windows 2000 OS with Service Pack 4 or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 2.
• iTunes. Make sure that you are running the latest version, 4.7 or higher. You should find iTunes on the CD that is included with your iPod purchase.
• Software for your iPod. You should find the software on the CD that is included with your iPod purchase.

Note that your iPod can be used to import photo collections directly from Adobe Photoshop Album. Keep in mind that this is optional software. You can also import your digital photos directly from your computer or directly from your digital camera.

Macintosh

If you have a Macintosh computer you will need the following minimum essentials:

• A built in high power USB 2.0 (or higher) or a built in FireWire.
• Macintosh OS X v10.2.8 or Macintosh OS X v10.3.4 or higher.
• iTunes. Make sure that you are running the latest version, 4.7 or higher. You should find iTunes on the CD that is included with your iPod purchase. Make sure that you have the latest version of iTunes by checking out the iTunes website at www.apple.com/itunes.
• Software for your iPod. You should find the software on the CD that is included with your iPod purchase.

Preparing your iPod

Before you start using your iPod you will need to prepare it for use. You will need to charge the battery, install the software, and take the time to import songs from your CD collection or from music folders on your computer. Don’t forget that you can also purchase songs from the iTunes Music Store. The following steps will guide you in correctly preparing your iPod for its first use:

Charging the battery: Your iPod will be 80% charged in three hours and fully charged in five hours. Connect your iPod to the Power Adapter by using the iPod Dock Connector to USB 2.0 (or higher) cable.
Software installation: Put the iPod CD into your CD drive. Follow the instructions to install both the iPod software as well as iTunes.

Now you are ready to import music to your computer from your CD collection if you haven’t already done so. You have two options when it comes to obtaining music for your iPod: (1) importing to your computer from a CD, or (2) buying music online at iTunes. To import music from a CD use the following steps:

Choose a CD and put it into your CD drive. Once iTunes has been installed it will open automatically and the CD that you have inserted will appear in the iTunes Source list.
Check off any songs that you don’t want to transfer. Click on import.
Continue this process for all of the music CDs that you want to transfer to your computer.

To buy music online use the following steps:

Open up the iTunes software program. From the Source List click on Music Store.
Select the Account option. Set up your account so that you can purchase music online. Keep in mind that this service is not available in all countries.

Playing Music

Once you have finished transferring your selected music you will be prompted with a message that says okay to disconnect. Disconnecting is easy by squeezing both sides of the dock connector before you remove it from your iPod. Use the wheel on your iPod to choose a song to play.

CHAPTER 2: MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR IPOD CONTROLS

Press any button your iPod to activate it so that the main menu displays. You will quickly learn to use the click wheel in combination with the select button to move through the menus on the screen. You will also use the wheel and button to look at information, change the settings of your iPod, and play music. Use your thumb to move the wheel and highlight a menu option. When you want to select a menu option all you have to do is press the select button. If you want to return to the previous menu selection simply use the wheel to press on the menu option.

Wheel Functions

Following are some basic wheel functions that you will want to get the hang of using:

• Tuning the iPod: Press any button.
• Turning off the iPod: Press the play/pause button and hold down.
• Selecting an item on the menu: Use the wheel to scroll to the menu item. Press and hold the select button.
• Return to the previous menu: Press and hold the menu button.
• Searching for a song: Choose the music option which is found on the main menu.
• Playing a song: Make sure the song that you want to play is highlighted. Press the play/pause button or select. Remember that your iPod must be disconnected from your computer before you can play any songs.
• Playing an entire album: Make sure that the album, or playlist, that you want to play is highlighted. Press the play/pause button.
• Changing the volume: This is done when you are on the now playing screen. Use the wheel to turn the volume up or down. For most iPods there is an optional iPod Remote that you can buy to remotely change the volume.
• Pausing a song: When you want to pause a song that is currently playing press the play/pause button.
• Deactivate the buttons: This is a good thing to do if you don’t want to accidentally press the button and make changes to what you are listening to. You will want to use this option if you are carrying your iPod around in your pocket. Set the hold switch to “hold”. You will find the hold switch at the top of your iPod. An orange bar will appear if you have done this correctly.
• Scrolling through your photos: Go to the photo viewing screen. Use the wheel to move back and forth through your digital photos.
• Using the photo slideshow: Choose an album or a single photo. Press the play button.

CHAPTER 3: MAKING THE MOST OF ITUNES

iTunes is a unique software application that Apple uses exclusively for the iPod. You will use iTunes to organize and manage the music that you have on your computer before you transfer it to your iPod. iTunes will open up automatically when you connect your iPod to the computer. Some of the unique things that you can do with iTunes include:

• Buy and download music and audiobooks from the iTunes Music Store.
• Listen to both digital music and your own CDs.
• Transfer music from your CDs to the library. This way you don’t have to put the CD into the CD drive to listen to it.
• Create your own music CDs. You will need to have a CD burner in your computer to do this.
• Create your own playlists of songs that you want to listen to in one session. You can then publish your playlist, which is called an “iMix”, to the iTunes Music Store for others to see and use as inspiration.
• Create your own “Party Shuffle” playlists. This option allows you to make a playlist that is then put on shuffle so that songs are played in random order.
• Listen to songs on the Internet. Choose a radio station that plays songs that you enjoy listening to and that are a genre that is your favorite.

CHAPTER 4: ORGANIZING AND TRANSFERRING MUSIC

Transferring music from your computer to your iPod is fast and easy. First, connect your charged iPod to your computer by using the iPod Dock Connector to USB 2.0 Cable (or higher). The minute that you connect your iPod to your computer, iTunes will open up. Follow the simple instructions to transfer the music from your computer to your iPod.

Organizing and transferring music from your computer to your iPod is what makes the iPod such a unique MP3 player. Music transfer is fast and easy. When you connect your iPod to your computer it will connect automatically by default.

Transfer Music Automatically

You can set your iPod so that music is transferred automatically. The following steps will guide you to transfer your tunes:

• In the iTunes Source List select the iPod button.
• Click on the options button.
• Choose automatically update all songs and playlists.

At this time, iTunes will update the music that is in your iPod music library so that it matches the songs, selctions, and playlists on your computer. These new songs will then be transferred to your iPod. If there are nay songs on your iPod that aren’t in your iTunes library they will be deleted from the iPod and replaced with only those songs in the library list. This is one of the greatest features of the iPod. You can continually change the music that you carry with you by updating your iPod with the music that you choose. You can create playlists of the exact music that you want to listen to so that as your musical tastes change, so does your iPod music and artist selection.

You also have the ability to manually transfer songs to your iPod. This gives you the capability of transferring individual songs as well as playlists. This feature is ideal if you are going to be using your iPod with more than one computer. Think of the unlimited possibilities. You can use your iPod between your home computer and your computer at work with blinking an eye.

Transferring music from your computer to your iPod can be a simple process or a complex on depending on (1) how often you want to update your iPod, (2) how complicated and multifunctional you want to make your playlists, and (3) whether or not you are transferring complete albums to your computer or choosing your music song by song.

CHAPTER 5: TRANSFER AND VIEW DIGITAL PHOTOS

The iPod Photo is a great way that you can view your digital photos on your iPod as well as transfer your photos from your camera to the iPod or to your computer. You will be able to import your digital photos from your camera to the computer without worry of losing important data. You can then transfer these photos to your iPod for viewing.

Another great function of the iPod Photo is that you can connect your iPod to your television so that you can view them with family and friends. Pictures can be viewed as a slide show complete with background music.

Transfer Digital Photos from Camera to Computer

The iPod is a great way to import the photos that are on your digital camera, or digital photo card, to your computer no matter what type of an iPod you have. These steps are simple no matter whether you have a Windows PC or a Mac. If you are using Windows, simply follow the instructions that are included with your digital camera or the photo application that you are using. If you have a Macintosh, use the following steps:

• Connect your digital camera, or the digital photo card, to the computer. iPhoto should open up automatically. If iPhoto doesn’t open up automatically, open it up manually.
• Choose the import button. At this time the digital images on your camera will be imported into iPhoto.
• You have the ability to import other types of digital images into iPhoto. This includes any images that you have downloaded from the Internet.

If you don’t have the iPhoto program you can still import digital photos to your computer using “Image Capture”. Start by connecting your camera, or the digital camera card, to the computer. Next, open up the “Image Capture” program. You can download all of the available digital photos or you can choose specific images to transfer.

Transfer Photos from Computer to iPod

Once you have imported your digital images from your camera to your computer, you can transfer them to your iPod. The photos will have been imported into a folder that is located on your computer hard drive. If you are using a Mac, iPhoto will let you automatically transfer photo albums. If you are using a Windows PC, you can use Adobe Photoshop to transfer digital photos. Depending on how many photos you have in your digital camera, it may take up to one hour to transfer everything.

To transfer from your Mac to your iPod use the following steps in combination with the iPhoto program:

• Open up the iTunes program and choose the iPod icon in the iTunes Source List.
• Choose the options button.
• Click on photos and then choose the synchronize photos from option. When the pop up menu appears, choose the iPhoto option.
• You can now choose to copy all of your digital photos to your iPod. Or you can choose to copy only certain photos from your iPhoto albums.

Keep in mind that every time you connect your iPod to your computer, the photos will be automatically transferred.

To transfer your digital photos from the Windows OS to your iPod use the following steps:

• To transfer using Windows, you will be using either the “Photoshop Album” program or “Photoshop Elements”.
• Open up the iTunes program. Select the iPod icon from the iTunes Source List.
• Click on the options button.
• Click on the photos option and then choose the synchronize photos from option.
• Choose the photoshop album or photoshop elements option from the menu.
• You have the option of importing all of your photos to your iPod or you can choose to import only certain photos from your photo albums. This option requires that you choose the copy selected albums only selection.

Remember that when you connect your iPod to your computer that all of your photos, unless otherwise indicated, will be automatically transferred to your iPod.

Another way that you can transfer digital photos to your iPod is to transfer them from a folder on your hard drive. All you need to do is drag the digital images that you want from a specific folder on the hard drive. You can place these photos in individual photo albums on your iPod. Simply create folders inside the main folder, making sure to name them all accurately so that you can keep track of which photo belongs where. Then drag each particular image into the appropriate folder. Use the following steps to complete:

You can transfer full resolution image files to your iPod. Each time that you transfer digital photos to your iPod, iTunes will make sure that each picture is optimized for ideal viewing. The one thing to keep in mind is that full resolution image files won’t be transferred by default.

You may be asking yourself why it’s useful to transfer full resolution images in the first place. The reason is this: you may want to store high resolution images on your computer but you may not want to view them at full resolution quality on your iPod. If you want to transfer full resolution files use the following steps:

• Open up the iTunes program. Select the iPod icon from the iTunes Source List.
• Click on the options button.
• Click on the photos option and then choose the include full resolution photos option.

At this time iTunes will copy your full resolution photo copies to the “photos folder” that is on your iPod.

Transfer Photo from Camera to iPod

You can use the iPod Camera Connector, or an iPod compatible photo card reader, to transfer photos from your digital camera to your iPod. You can quickly view your digital photos that are on your camera before storing them safely on your iPod. You can then delete these pictures from your digital camera so that you have room to take and store more digital pictures. At a later time you can transfer the photos from your iPod to the computer.

You won’t be able to view slideshows on your television using the photos that have been directly transferred from a digital camera or a photo card reader. If you want to view the pictures as a slideshow on your television you first need to transfer them to your computer and then import them back to your iPod using the iTunes program.

Following is a list of cameras that are compatible with the iPod Camera Connector:
• Canon
• Nikon
• Olympus
• Sanyo
• Sony
• Epson
• Casio
• Minolta

See individual camera listings to find out which specific cameras are compatible. You’ll find a complete list of these cameras at www.apple.com/support/ipod/photos.

CHAPTER 6: USE YOUR IPOD AS A STORAGE DRIVE

You can use your iPod as storage drive. Depending on the type of iPod that you have, it can be used as a flash drive or as a hard drive. This means that you have the ability to store and transfer files and data. This is known as disk mode. Here’s a little tip: use iTunes to transfer files of music from your computer to your iPod. You won’t be able to see the files as they are copied from iTunes to your iPod so be patient. If you copy your music files to your iPod using an Explorer window you’ll find that you won’t be able to play them on your iPod.

The following steps will show you how to use your iPod as a storage drive:

• Connect your iPod to the computer. If iTunes doesn’t open automatically, open it manually by clicking on it.
• Set your iTunes preferences. Find the edit menu on the Windows toolbar. Choose preferences. If you are using a Mac you can go directly to the iTunes menu to choose preferences. For both a PC and Mac, click on the iPod button.
• Choose the enable disk use or manually manage songs and playlists option (do this for every iPod model except the iPod shuffle). Both of these options will let you use your iPod as a drive. If you choose manually manage songs and playlists you won’t automatically update your iPod with the songs that you have in your iTunes library. If you are going to be automatically updating your iPod with new songs, you will want to use the enable disk use option instead.
• For the iPod Shuffle. Click on enable disk use. Adjust the storage allocation slider to the exact amount that you want to be used by your audio files and the amount that you want to be used by your data files.
• You will now find the iPod icon on your desktop as well as in my computer in Windows. All you need to do is double click on the icon and drag your files from or to the iPod window to copy them over.
• Remember to eject your iPod before you disconnect it from the computer.

Copy Songs from your iPod to your Computer

It’s easy to copy songs from your iPod to your computer. You will find that the iTunes library that is on your computer contains all of the sondgs that you have encoded either from your own collection of CDs or from the iTunes Music Store. When the default settings are activated, iTunes will automatically copy the songs that are in your library onto your iPod. If you are going to be using your iPod as a hard disk you won’t be able to see the songs that are being copied through my computer. Don’t worry since this is completely normal. You won’t be able to copy these same music files from your iPod to another computer or back to iTunes. This is because the synchronization of your computer and your iPod works in only one direction: from iTunes to your iPod.

Beware if you’ve erased your library of music from your computer. There isn’t a way that you use my computer to copy these song file from your iPod back to your computer so that you can reload your library of songs. The only thing that you can do is encode the music files from your collection of CDs one more time and then sync this new library to your iPod. If you have bought music from the iTunes Music Store and forgot to back them up there is no way for them to be downloaded again. This means that you will have to buy new songs! This is why you will definitely want to back up all of your song files in iTunes from the start.

If you are going to connect your iPod to another computer make sure that you don’t end up connecting to the iTunes library on that computer, if there is one. Choose the manually manage songs and playlists option so that you don’t put someone else’s playlist on your iPod and wipe out your own selection.

CHAPTER 7: USE YOUR IPOD FOR MAP DIRECTIONS

If you have an iPod Nano or iPod Photo you can use it to view Yahoo! Map directions. There is a new service that you can use called “iPod-iWay”. This online service has been created by Yahoo Masp and iPod for use with your MP3 player. But just what is iPod-iWay? This service will give you step by step directions when you are driving so that you know exactly where you are going and how to get there. All you have to do is export the results that you get for online driving directions as provided by Yahoo Maps. These directions are then imported into your iPod Photo. This is a great way for you to save the driving directions that you need in your iPod without having to buy any other software.

Using iPod-iWay is easy! You will first want to navigate to www.ipodiway.com. The process is just like using Yahoo Maps. Enter your starting point and your destination in the form provided. Once your information has been entered click on verify directions to ensure that you get accurate directions. Next click on get directions. You will be prompted to download a .zip file which holds your driving directions. Extract the .zip file into your iTunes Photo Folder. Connect your iPod to the computer, sync, and then you are ready to start driving. This software program is completely free to use and is perfect when you need to drive someplace unfamiliar to you. You will be able to utilize your iPod Photo to the max whether you travel in the US or in Canada.

CHAPTER 8: IMPORT AUDIO CD AUDIO BOOKS TO ITUNES

Many people think that the iPod is only for music. If you do, you are missing out on a big feature since the iPod is ideal for listening to audio books. The iPod can provide you with a great audio book experience. However, if you listen to a lot of audio books it can get expensive downloading them from the iTunes Music Store. This is the time for you to find a source of free audio books.

One good source for free audio books is the public library where you can often find them on CD. Audio book CDs can’t be played directly on your iPod. This is where iTunes is so invaluable. iTunes is known for making it possible for you to import CDs, keep them organized, and synced with your iPod. However, there is one problem even with iTunes: iTunes has been optimized for music CDs. It is often hit and miss when it comes to producing audio book files that are easy to use on an iPod. This is because the size and quality of an audio book CD file from the library isn’t always as good as the audio book files you get when you purchase your book from the iTunes Music Store. There are a few things that you can do to improve your luck when it comes to downloading audio book CDs from the library, or other free sources, to your iPod.
Optimize your Import Settings

The first thing that you need to do is make sure that your import settings are at their optimum best for the spoken word and audio books. The following steps will ensure that your import settings are the best that they can be:

• Open up iTunes and click on the preferences dialog.
• Click on the advanced icon. Then click on the importing tab.
• Choose the on CD insert to show songs. You don’t want to choose the auto-import because when you are in the process of importing an audio book there are some steps that need to be completed before the import begins. If the import begins automatically make sure to stop it.
• In the import using pop up choose the AAC encoder. You’ll get higher quality when you choose this format as well as get better support for your audio bookmarks.
• When the setting pop up comes up, choose custom.
• Choose a stereo bit rate of 64 kbps when the AAC encoder setting dialog appears. You’ll also want to choose (1) sample rate of auto, (2) channels of auto, and (3) make sure that optimize for voice is checked.
• Click okay.
• Uncheck play songs while you are importing the audio book. You’ll also want to uncheck the use error correction when reading audio CDs option. Both of these options will slow down the import process so you’ll want to have them both unchecked to speed things up.
• Click okay.

Once you have optimized your import settings on your iPod you will find that importing audio book CDs is that much easier. This will certainly encourage you to use your iPod for than just music.

Importing

The following importing information is based on the use of iTunes 6, however you will find that if are still using iTunes 5, the directions will work as well. Importing audio book CDs can be a painful process because there are usually dozens of tracks on the CD. This makes it difficult to manage on the tiny screen of your iPod. The next problem is that the track names are usually not recognized by the automatic lookup service and you will have to enter them on your own. The following method of importing audio book CD tracks tries to minimize how much manual input you have to do as well as ensures that the track information is much more usable on your iPod.

• Put the audio book CD into your CD drive. Wait a minute or two for the tracks to show up in iTunes. Keep in mind that you might have to dismiss one or more dialogs which will prompt you to agree to some sort of automatic action. The only thing that you want to do is display the tracks on the CD whether or not the automatic lookup of those track names was a success or not.
• Choose all of the CD tracks. Then choose the join CD tracks from the “advanced” menu. This option will consolidate many of the CD tracks into one and make it that much easier for you to manage when these tracks have been transferred to your iPod.
• Choose submit CD track names from the “advanced” menu.
• When the CD info dialog appears fill in the correct information about the audio book. This information will include: (1) Artist = the author of the book, (2) Composer - the reader of the audio book, (3) Album = the title of the book, (4) Disc Number = the disc number out of the total number of discs on the track, (5) Genre = just call it “audio book”, and (6) Year = the year that the book was published.
• Click on okay. The above information about the audio book will be submitted. At this time you will be prompted to choose the select CD category because the database that is online uses a different category for audio books. Select the books & spoken option and click okay again.
• A dialog box will appear telling you everything so far is done. Click okay.
• Once the submission process has been completed all of the CD tracks will have the right information connected and attached to them. This is your cue that so far everything has worked just fine.
• Choose the import button to import the disc. You will find the import button in the top right corner. The import settings that you optimized earlier will be used.
• Once the import process is complete you can remove the audio book CD from the CD drive.
• Go to your iTunes library and look for the track that you have just imported (there should only be one). Choose this track and press the option command-I so that you can do a get info about the track. Choose the info tab.
• Check to make sure that all the information about the audio book is there. The name of the song will be the same name as the album. You want to see the name on your iPod so you will need to add the disc sequence number to the song. Keep in mind that a short format is better than a long one, particularly if you have an iPod mini which has a narrow screen. You might want to consider using the format “xx/yy”. “xx” is the disc number and “yy” is the number of discs in total. Make sure that you add a zero (0) to the number of the disc if the total number of discs will be totalling more than one digit (for example you will reach disc “10”). This will ensure that all of the tracks will be correctly sorted when you sort them by name.
• You might want to think about including a small note in the comments field about where the audio book is from (library or free source online).
• Move to the options panel. Make sure to check both the remember playback position and the skip when shuffling boxes. The remember playback position option will tell both iTunes and your iPod that the file can be bookmarked. The skip when shuffling option will ensure that audio tracks aren’t included when you choose to play random groupings of songs.
• Use the above process for each of the audio books that you want to import to your iPod.
• Once you have imported all of audio books to iTunes you can transfer them to your iPod.

A note here on accountability of legal issues. If you have checked audio books out of the library, you have the fair right to listen to them on your iPod. However, once you have listened to the audio book you should delete it from your iTunes library.

CHAPTER 9: VOICE RECORDING WITH YOUR IPOD

The iPod is often coveted for its amount of disc space, its long battery life, and the seamless way that it integrates with your computer. What is often overlooked, however, is the iPods great capability as a voice recorder. You can store many hours of 16 bit .wav files of sound on your iPod with the simple addition of a microphone. And you don’t need an elaborate microphone. An inexpensive piece of hardware is all you need to add to your 3rd generation iPod since the recording software has already been built into the operating system of this functional digital music player.

There are many reasons why you would want to use your iPod as a voice recorder such as recording a lecture at school, recording your baby’s first words, capturing the sound of that loon, or laying down some audio tracks for a digital movie and then synching it with the video.
Audio Hardware

You will need to have a 3rd generation iPod for recording voice and other sounds. A 3rd generation iPod will have the dock connector on the bottom. You have three choices when it comes to “input”:

• Belkin Voice Recorder: The Belkin voice recorder is quite compact when it isn’t attached to your iPod. This is means that you can pack it up and take it along with you without having to find extra room. The one disadvantage of a Belkin is that it doesn’t have an external headphone jack so when you want to plug in your ear buds you will have to remove the device first. The nice thing about the Belkin is that it has a small speaker that allows you to see what it is that you have just recorded. Visit the Belkin website for more information. http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=158384
• Griffin iTalk: The Griffin iTalk is a little more sophisticated than the Belkin both in the way it functions and the way it looks. The iTalk has a chrome speaker grill as well as an external jack that can be used for both output and input. The iTalk is compact and tiny enough that you can leave it permanently attached to your iPod. For more information about the Griffin iTalk visit their website. http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/
• Universal Microphone Adapter: The Universal Microphone Adapter is also made by Belkin and is a great choice if you are looking for an external microphone for your iPod. The Adapter plugs into the top of your iPod but rather than having a built in speaker and microphone it as input and output jacks that are separate and give you three-position settings.

Each of the above recording devices will capture a 16 bit mono at 8 kHz. This won’t be very good for recording a concert but it will be perfect for voice recording. To use of these devices you simply need to mount them on the top of your iPod. Try to position yourself about two to four feet from the source that you are recording. There is no need to hold the recording device up to your mouth and yell as they have been designed to be used from a few feet away from the source.

If your iPod has a software version that is 2.1 or higher you won’t need anything else to record audio files since everything is already built into the iPod system. What you will need when you plug your iPod into the computer is QuickTime Pro so that you can use the content that you have recorded. If you are already familiar with digital media you most likely have QuickTime. If you, this is the right time to obtain the free version or upgrade to the full version. http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/win.html.

Start Recording

As soon as you plug a recording device into your iPod it will be recognized as “audio input” and will come up with the recording menu. Choose the record option. Your iPod will keep track of the length of time for each recording session. When you have finished recording you can either (1) press on the pause button or the stop and save option. You will want to use the pause option if there is more audio that you want to add to that particular session. Use the stop and save option when you want to completely end the recording session and are ready to have your iPod catalog it.

Once your iPod has catalogued the recording session, the session will be listed in the voice memos menu. The session will be referred to by date and time with no title included. You can then listen to the session and then delete it or you can choose the record now option to record another audio track. The controls for recording audio are simple and easy to use. When you want to access your recording sessions you don’t even need to have the microphone attached to your iPod. All you need to do is navigate to the extras menu and choose voice memos.

Transferring your recording sessions to your computer is just as easy as recording. Connect your iPod to your computer. If you have the settings set to manually update you will be notified that there is a new voice memo on your iPod and do you want to add this memo to your iTunes library. You might want to decline this option. This is because your recording sessions are only labelled by time and date and they won’t be of much use when it comes to tracking. Plus, you won’t want to mix your voice recording sessions with your music files.

If your iTunes library settings are set to automatically update you won’t have a choice about adding your recording session to your library. You will find the sessions added to the library with titles that look much like “7/3/06 11:41 AM”. This is why you will want to change your preferences to manually manage songs and playlists. This is done by clicking on the iPod icon (found in the lower right corner of iTunes) when your iPod is connected to your computer.

When you choose the manual mode you will automatically be activating the enable disk use. This will put an iPod icon on your desktop. This icon will give you access to your iPod just the same as you would get with any FireWire hard drive. Click on the iPod icon and search for the recordings folder. You will find your audio sessions in this folder. The file names will be easy to recognize as “20060719 12345a.wav”.

You might want to create a folder in your music directory that is called “iPod recordings”. Because you want your .wav files to open in QuickTime instead of iTunes you want to have control over these files. Click on the file to highlight it and then use the ctrl-click method to display the contextual menu. Choose the get info option from the open dropdown menu. Then click on the change all button so that the mapping is applied to all the .wav files that are on your computer. After this, when you click on a .wav file, it will open in QuickTime at which time you can edit them the way you want. You might also want to change the file name from “20060719 12345a.wav” to something such as “Philosophy Lecture.wav”.

Once you have copied your audio files from your iPod to your computer you can delete them from your iPod to free up some space. Create a working method that is right for you. Consider leaving iTunes completely out of the picture and organizing all of your audio files in a music directory specific for your .wav files. This can save you a lot of time when it comes to editing your audio files.

CHAPTER 10: LASER BEAM AND FLASHLIGHT

You probably already take your iPod with you wherever you go. This means that you always have it on hand when you want to listen to your music or record a voice memo. But your iPod has another function: You can use it as a laser beam or a flashlight.

Griffin iBeams is complete and ready for your dock connected iPod mini or iPod. You can use the flashlight device for finding things in the dark or for when you just want a bit of added light. The laser is a class IIIA laser pointer. This is ideal for when you are doing presentations. Both the flashlight and laser come complete with a protective snap-on cap that you can attach to your keychain so that it is always handy and accessible.

The Griffin iBeam laser is a red laser beam, which can be seem from over two kilometers away. This doesn’t mean that you should spend valuable time playing, but it does mean that your iPod has one more bit of functionality that makes it a great investment. The Griffin iBeam has been designed for the following iPods:

• the iPod mini
• the iPod Photo
• 4th generation iPod that has a click wheel
• 3rd generation iPod that has buttons and a touch wheel

CHAPTER 11: REMOTE CONTROL

You can turn your iPod into a universal remote control which you can then use to control all of the electronic equipment in your home or any other device that uses a remote control. For example, you can use your iPod to control your television, DVD player, XBox, and Satellite Radio. To get your iPod to act as a remote control all you have to do is record the sounds that an infrared remote device makes to a computer and then transfer them over to your iPod as a song file. You will need to add a special “sound to IR converter” which will turn these same sounds back to IR and then actually use your iPod as a remote. You can use your iPod from up to 100 feet away from the device that you are trying to control. This means that you never have to have all those multiple remote controls lying around your home.

You will need the following items to convert your iPod to a remote control:

• any model of iPod
• a PC or a Macintosh that is complete with sound recording software
• any model of pocket PC (aim for one from 2002 to 2003)
• Griffin’s Total Remote software and Griffin’s IR device (sold together)

The most important from the above list is the Griffin sound to IR converter. You will be using this device to extend the range of the pocket PC. The first thing that you are going to do is use the pocket PC software to input the IR signals from your remote control devices. Then you are going to convert these signals into sound waves. The last thing will be to use your iPod to play these sound files through the sound to IR converter so that you can control the electronic devices in your home. Follow these steps to convert your iPod to a remote:

• Install the Total Remote software to the pocket PC. Follow the directions and begin entering all of the remotes that you want to use on your iPod to the software. The next few directions focus on turning your television on and off.
• On the pocket PC, once the software has been installed, choose start – programs – total remote.
• Next choose edit – start one shot sampling. Choose the correct power button which is shown on the interface.
• You will be prompted to hold the remote up to the IR port which is located on the pocket PC. This is how the IR signal will be recorded.
• After you have recorded the IR signal you need to test it. This is done by using the IR device which is included with the Total Remote software.
• Once you have verified that the signal works you need to get the IR signal from the pocket PC to your computer as a sound file.

Recording the Signal

Take the Total Remote IR device away from the pocket PC jack (for headphones). Next run a line out cable from the pocket PC to the line in port or to the microphone. If you like, you can get a 3.5 mm stereo audio cable to help you with this. You can buy a 3.5 stereo audio cable anywhere where electronics are sold.

On your PC use a program for sound editing that edits sounds as well as removes channels. One such program is SoundForge: http://www.sonymediasoftware.com/products/soundforgefamily.asp.

No matter what recording application you use, make sure that you set the recording format to: 44Hz, 16 bit Stereo. PCM. You are going to be saving the sound signal as a .wav file. Choose the record option in the sound recording application. On the pocket PC press the button which you have designated as the power signal. Use the line out from the headphone jack).

Next, stop the recording and press the play button. If you have recorded the signal accurately you should be able to hear pulsing and beeping sounds which is exactly what the IR signal sounds like. If you are using the SoundForge application you will be able to see these sounds as a .wav graphic. Now you are ready to highlight the correct channel and put it on mute. Make sure that you don’t miss this step otherwise the sound won’t be properly through the IR device. Save the sound recording this way: 44 Hx, 16 bit stereo, PCM .wav file. For example, you can call it channel.wav.

Adding the Signal to your iPod

Connect your iPod to the cradle. When iTunes open create a new playlist and call it something like television. Then you can add the .wav file to the playlist. The file is transferred to your iPod and you are ready to test your new remote control! Take your iPod out of the cradle and put the Total Remote IR device into the headphone jack on the top of your iPod. Go to your iPods playlist and point your iPod at your television set. Press on the play button. If everything has been done correctly your television will turn on and off every time you “play” this particular sound. Use the above directions for all of converting all of your remote control devices to your iPod.

CHAPTER 12: THE BOOM BOX

Boom Box™ is a software application for your iPod that will give you incredible performance powers. Boom Box™ is a combination of five Mac software applications that have been combined into one. Some of the functionality of this software includes:

• Preserve all of your old tapes and LPs.
• Grab hold of Internet streams such as podcasts to listen to whenever and wherever you want.
• Create playlists that are absolutely perfect.
• Create audio files from the text of ebooks, news feeds, and web pages. Send these audio files to iTunes for transfer to your iPod.

How many times have you looked at your old cassette tapes and LPs and wish that you still had the capability to listen to them? The Boom Box™ lets you import music from a cassette deck or a turn table to your iTunes library. You can then transfer this music onto your iPod. The software will automatically detect the tracks and then reduce the background noise as much as possible. Filters, included in the software, will enhance the sound so that the music files are of the highest quality.

Podcasts are becoming more and more popular as people choose to listen to media that they are most interested in. With so many thousands of topics on the Internet to choose from, it’s just a matter of narrowing down your interests, downloading the podcast, and sending it to iTunes. You can then transfer the podcast to your iPod for listening whenever you want.

The Boom Box™ will also allow you to change any web page, email, or other written document into an audio file for listening rather than reading. This will allow you to listen to your favorite blogs, email from family and friends, or web content from your iPod. This handy function is perfect for those people who are too busy to sit and read or for those who have difficulty reading online.

Another great function of the Boom Box™ is the ability to create great playlists. You can analyze each of the tracks in your iTunes library before adding it to a playlist. This lets you create lists that have similar acoustic sounds and personalities.

The Boom Box™ may cost a bit more than other software applications. And you might be thinking that if you have already invested in buying an iPod, why spend more money? The answer is this: your iPod is a great music player that has been built with a sturdy and solid hard drive. This means that you are going to have your iPod for many years to come. You will want to make the most of the functionality of your iPod so that you can enjoy it in as many ways as you can.

CHAPTER 13: MAKING SMART PLAYLISTS

You have the option of making mediocre playlists for your iPod that simply “do the job”. Or you can master the art of creating Smart Playlists that wow everyone including yourself. Smart Playlists are one feature of iTunes that is very underused. A Smart Playlist is automatically updated depending on what kind of criteria you set for them. iTunes lets you create playlists by combining your music tracks from a variety of albums, artists, and genres. Using Smart Playlists lets you take the playlist to an even higher level.

Smart Playlists were first introduced in iTunes 3. With the Smart list you are able to personalize the music that you listen to by updating your playlist with criteria that includes last played, my rating, play count, and comment. You have the choice of using any or all of these criteria when you are creating a Smart Playlist. You also have the option of eliminating some of the criteria, such as song name. The great thing about a Smart Playlist is that it is something different for everyone who creates a playlist.

One thing that you will want to know how to do on your iPod is “rate a song”. To rate a song all you have to do is press the center of the wheel two times. The first press will push the wheel into “jog mode” while the second push of the wheel will push the wheel into “rating mode”. Once you are in the rating mode you will see that there are stars on the screen. You can then turn the wheel to increase or decrease the number of stars that you are giving a particular song.

Make sure that iTunes is set to either one of the two automatic transfer modes when you are in the iPod options screen. If you are not in one of these modes you won’t be able to transfer the play counts, play dates, or ratings in an easy manner to your iTunes library.

Access the Smart Playlist Dialog

You can access the Smart Playlist dialog box from the iTunes menu file. You can break the file menu down into three different areas: (1) the match line, (2) the criteria lines, and (3) the limiter area. The match line will determine just how your criteria are evaluated. The line will change in a contextural way depending on the criteria lines. When you have specified multiple criteria the match line will show the any/all pop up. If there is no multiple criteria the pop up won’t appear.

Create your List

Begin by making certain selections from the pop up menu in the area called criteria line. Select your songs based on certain attributes, operators, and values. The criteria line will usually only display one line. If you want to display more lines press the “+” button. The match lines option is what will determine how each of the criteria is evaluated.

Smart Playlists really start to show how smart they are when you combine certain rules. When you want to add a criteria line or a new rule all you have to do is click on the “+” icon. The number of criteria lines that you can create can be endless. Every rule that you create will be evaluated as a Boolean operator. This means that only when there is a true match to your specified criteria will the track be added to your Smart Playlist. When a false result is turned up, the song won’t be added to the list. Once you have selected your criteria the limiter area will let you limit the number of true results that will be returned by the Smart Playlist.

Track Attributes

To make great Smart Playlists it’s important that you understand the many track attributes that you can choose from. No matter where you get your music from, such as the iTunes Music Store or copied from your own CDs, attributes will always be looked at in the same way. There is, however, one attribute that will group CDs track together and that is the album name attribute. You can group your songs together in a variety of ways including year, genre, artist, and play count. The following list is some of the attributes that you should become familiar with if you want to make Smart Playlists:

• Album: This is the album on which a particular track was released.
• Artist: This is the artist who has recorded the track.
• BPM: Beats per minute (also known as “tempo”). This is number value that accurately describes the number of beats that there are in one minute of time. iTunes doesn’t calculate BPM but you can calculate it with a third-party application. The BPM is a great way that you can add criteria to your Smart Playlists based on tempo.
• Comment: This field is “user defined” which means that you can use it for whatever purposes you want. For example, you might want to include information here about certain tracks such as which ones you borrowed from a certain friend.
• Grouping: This attribute is used when you want to group more than one movement in a single classical piece.
• Kind: The kind attribute is an audio file format. Some of the current audio files that are supported include AAC, AIFF, Apple Lossless, MPEG, and WAV.
• Last Played: Every time that you play a track, iTunes will recored the time and date when it was played. This way you can find out which songs you play more than any others and add them to your Smart Playlist.
• My Rating: You can rate your music by giving it anywhere from 0 to 5 stars in the iTunes library as well as on your iPod.
• Play Count: This attribute will keep track of how many times you play a specific song.
• Playlist: The playlist attribute will either exclude or include tracks that are found in other playlists. You can use this attribute for creating Smart Playlists that are quite complex.
• Size: The size attribute lists the size of each track in megabytes.
• Song Name: This one needs no explanation.
• Time: The time attribute keeps track of how long each track is.
• Track Number: Every track on an album will be assigned a certain track number. For example “6 of 10”.
• Year: The year attribute lists the year the track was first released.

Making Smart Playlists is a one way that you can get the most out of your iPod. You will be able to listen to exactly the lists of songs that interest you the most. This is a great way that you can create a specific playlist for the gym or for you walk.

CHAPTER 14: THE IPOD SHUFFLE

When the iPod shuffle was first introduced everybody had an instant opinion about Apple's decision not to include a display with this iPod. Depending on your point of view, it was either a bold solution for reducing cost and complexity, or the latest example of an unclothed emperor. The iPod shuffle has now been in the world for a while and so far it has been a big winner. The shuffle is so simple to operate that even your 2-year-old will be asking you for one. But there are plenty of fun features and tips to learn about in iPod shuffle so that you can use it to its fullest functionality.

The Shuffle Buttons

There aren't many buttons to push on the shuffle, and that's a good thing because it makes it hard for you to push the wrong one. Most people can figure out how to press the big button to start and stop the music, and perform other basic functions using the four other buttons to control volume and navigation. There are a few interesting features hiding behind those buttons. Unlike other iPods, the shuffle has no hold switch to prevent tragic button-push accidents. On the shuffle, you can lock the buttons by holding down play/pause button for a few seconds until the amber light blinks at you a few times. To unlock the buttons, hold down play/pause button again until you get the blinking green light.

Although iPod shuffle lacks the fancy song-scrubbing trick that lets you quickly skip through a track, it does have the same basic fast-forward and rewind feature as other iPods: just hold down next or previous to move around in the current song. When you pause your iPod shuffle, then press next or previous, the iPod moves to the new song and starts playing. That's different from other iPods: on those, the iPod stays paused when you press next or previous. This is just another example of how Apple wisely simplified a feature to accommodate a screen-less design.

When you pause the shuffle, the green light blinks at you. If you leave the shuffle paused, the light stops blinking after a minute, and it's easy to forget that it's still on. The shuffle has clever hardware and software that greatly conserves power if the iPod has been paused for more than a minute or so, but when you are not using your shuffle you should use the good old-fashioned off switch to be sure it isn't using its battery when you don't want it to.

Once in awhile your iPods will get confused and must be brought back to its senses by resetting it. iPod shuffle is no exception to that but there is a unique way of resetting it: turn it off using the slider switch on the back, wait awhile (at least 5 seconds), then turn it back on again, to either the play-in-order or shuffle mode position.

Your iPod shuffle includes a handy shortcut for going back to the beginning of its playlist: just press play/pause three times and the shuffle will start playing at the beginning of the first song. If your iPod is in shuffle mode it will reorder the playlist before starting over. You can use this trick to quickly get to songs at the end of the playlist. Just triple-click to go to the start and then press previous to wrap around and get to the last song. While other iPods let you choose whether they start over or stop when finishing a playlist, the iPod shuffle always starts over, for the sake of simplicity, which makes this tip work. (It also works on other iPods if you turn on repeat all in the settings. But other iPods have screens, which makes them somewhat easier to navigate).

The Lights on your Shuffle

The iPod shuffle has two subcutaneous LEDs on the front to help you figure out what it's doing in the absence of a display. There's a green light, which is mostly useful when you're listening, and an amber light that is primarily needed when your iPod is connected to your computer. The lights give you reassuring feedback that all is well, or help you figure out when something is wrong. Here are some of the most important iPod shuffle light shows:

• Usually, when you press any button, the green light will shine as long as you hold down the button.
• If you press a button and you see the orange light instead, and nothing else happens, your iPod is locked. Hold down play/pause for a few seconds to unlock it.
• If absolutely nothing happens when you press a button, not even a light, you probably need to charge your shuffle's battery.
• If you press a button and see both the green and amber lights blinking, one after another, that usually means there are no songs on the iPod, or some other error has occurred. Try resetting it by turning it off for 5 seconds, then back on. If you still get the psychedelic lights, you'll need to connect to a computer and load some music.

When your iPod shuffle is connected to a computer, you'll see the amber light. A blinking amber light means, "I'm busy. Please don't disconnect me." If you have disk mode turned on the light will blink whenever the iPod is plugged in. With disk mode off, the light blinks only when it's transferring music. Be sure you click the eject icon next to the iPod name in iTunes before unplugging a blinking iPod. If the amber light isn't blinking, feel free to unplug at will.

There's another set of LEDs on the back of the iPod shuffle. When you're playing tunes and you press the oval button on the back, these tiny lights tell you about your battery level: green for a good charge, amber for low, red for uh-oh, and no light for no charge. When the shuffle is connected, the battery light blinks if the orange light on the front is blinking, as an additional reminder not to disconnect if you happen to be staring at the wrong side of your shuffle.
iPod Preferences

When you connect your shuffle you will get access to a few iPod settings in iTunes preferences. Keep this iPod in the source list, also known as shadow mode, is a cool feature that lets you modify the shuffle playlist even when the shuffle isn't connected. You can add, delete, Autofill, and top off to your heart's content, just as if the iPod were there. When you connect it, your spiffy playlist is copied over to the iPod.

By turning on "Keep this iPod in the source list", you can edit your shuffle's playlist even when the iPod isn't there.

If you create a playlist you're particularly fond of, you can save it forever. Just select all the songs, then choose new playlist from selection from the File menu.

There is also a preferences setting for enable disk use, including a slider that lets you indicate how much space you plan to use for files vs. tunes. This slider simply tells iTunes how much space to leave for songs when you Autofill or add songs to your shuffle manually; it doesn't actually partition or reserve space in the shuffle's flash memory.

CONCLUSION

The iPod is one of the most diverse music players to hit the market. Each day, more and more people are finding that their iPod is one thing that they don’t want to live without. Apple has gone in an entirely new direction when it comes to the music play…and the gamble paid off for them.

This book outlines many of the unique and diverse things that you can do with your iPod, not matter which model you have purchased. Most of the features don’t take long to learn to use and implement and in the long run will help you get the most out of your iPod.

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