There are a couple of websites I use regularly that continually wanted me to install the QuickTime application so I could enjoy the website in all its glory. I finally caved in and decided to give QuickTime another try.

Then I kept getting updates and updates that kept wanting me to install iTunes and Safari along with my QuickTime updates. It just gets annoying and I decided I’ve had enough. So I uninstalled everything again. Then I start getting the message window above. I couldn’t figure out how to turn everything off so I set-out for an answer.

I’d recently heard about the hidden options for Mozilla Firefox with the about:config settings. After searching around for some keywords I finally found two that seem to be doing the trick.

In the “Filter:” section on the config tools look for the following:

• plugin.scan.plid.all
• plugin.default_plugin_disabled

On both of these items set the “Value” to “false” and close and restart Firefox.

Since I’ve done this I haven’t had the warnings about the QuickTime plugin. I’m hoping it stays that way.

Post from: EveryJoe

Stop the QuickTime Prompts on Firefox

My colleagues laughed at me when they saw the Winamp which was expected, I use this application because it is simple, requires low memory and at the same time works just fine. While I have thousands of songs, I only listen to a short list of albums that I listen to over and over again. These songs include songs from Sebastian Bach, Sting, Toto, Jed Madela (local artist) and some other artists.

Some of the media players I tried out include Windows Media Player, Zune player, and iTunes. Still, nothing beats something that just works – Winamp.

Image from my own computer.

Post from: EveryJoe

Are you still using Winamp?

In the “yes” column: iTunes 9.0. Full-length album download format. Facebook & Twitter integration in iTunes. Lower iPod prices. Whole new iPod Nano with built-in video camera, FM radio tuner, microphone, speaker, pedometer, available today.

And all this under the long-awaited return of Steve Jobs.

Let’s break it down.

iTunes

iTunes got a major upgrade today in the form of iTunes 9.0, which sports a clean, fully redesigned interface and tons of enhancements both big and small:

• The big news is iTunes LP (the project formerly code-named Cocktail), a snazzy new format for downloading entire albums. Purchase a full album that’s LP-enabled and in addition to all the songs, you get full lyrics, photography, liner notes, videos, and other “extras” similar to what you might get on a DVD.
• Similar to iTunes LP is iTunes Extras, additional interactive content and “DVD Extras”-style features for downloadable movies.
• Greatly hyped was the new ability to manage iPhone/iPod Touch Apps from inside iTunes. This is something users have been begging for, for years: the ability to reorganize how Apps are displayed on your home screen.
• Genius Mix is a new function that culls together music from your playlist in a never-ending stream of like-minded songs, like your own personal radio station.
• Home Sharing lets you copy any media from one version of iTunes in your house to any other version of iTunes in your house — on up to 5 computers.
• Twitter and Facebook have been integrated with iTunes at last, thanks to little arrows next to the “Buy” button on each song, that let you do more than just buy: you can add a song to a wishlist, gift a song to someone else, or microblog about a song on Facebook and Twitter.

iPod

There was less unveiled here than everyone seemed to be hoping for, with the biggest news being the new model iPod Nano. The Nano, which Apple says is the “most popular music player in the world,” now comes with a built-in video camera, a built-in FM radio tuner, a pedometer that can be synced to Nike’s popular workout software, a microphone, and even a speaker — a first for a non-Touch iPod. Two models are available: an 8GB version for $149, and a 16GB version for $179. They come in nine high-gloss colors.

The iPod Touch saw no major enhancements, but got a price drop down to $199 for the 8GB version, $299 for 32GB, and $399 for the new 64GB version.

The iPod Classic did not get discontinued, as some had speculated it might. Instead it also got a bump up in capacity, from 120GB up to 160GB, but the price remains the same: $249.

The iPod Shuffle was another device some thought might end up on the chopping block, but it ain’t so. The device itself got no major improvements but Apple announced that new and different kinds of headphones will soon become available for the Shuffle, all with the Shuffle’s controller built into their connector cord. Five new colors were introduced for the Shuffle, which sells for $59 (2GB) and $79 (4GB). A special edition brushed stainless steel version was also shown off.

iPhone

Not to be left out, the iPhone got a little love today as well, in the form of iPhone OS 3.1, which adds the Genius function to Apps, to recommend Apps you’d like based on ones you’ve already bought. Also included is the ability to buy and download Ringtones right from your iPhone for $1.29 a pop. Apple claims to have 30,000 Ringtones available from all four major record labels. OS 3.1 is a free download that’s available today.

Looks like that’s about it, kiddies. The fabled iPad tablet remains exactly that: a fable. The Beatles catalog won’t see the light of day for a while, if ever. But we have a whole new iTunes and some mild upgrades to the various iPod models.

So are you excited by what Apple showed off today? Or was it too much hype and not enough action?

Images: Apple Inc.

Post from: EveryJoe

Apple lowers iPod prices, unveils iTunes 9

The songs aren’t available because the computer they were stored on is now offline and I’m not sure when it will be getting fixed again. You’d think there would be an easy way to get this done. If there is, I haven’t found it. That’s one of the reasons I really do not like iTunes and haven’t missed it not being on my own computer.

After not finding anything I did a quick Google search and came across this post where people other than me seem to be wanting to accomplish the same thing and can’t very easily.

That post didn’t really give me the answer either.

Here’s what I ended up doing. I selected every file in the iTunes library and selected “Delete”. This prompted me with a warning about the fact that I’d also be removing all of these songs from any iPod or iPhone that was also synch’d to the computer.

I was then prompted on whether or not I wanted to send all the music files to the Recycle Bin or leave them in the iTunes folder. I chose to leave them in the folder. After the library was shown as empty I then added the same iTunes folder back to the library.

It the refreshed everything in the library and only showed those songs that were actually available. Bingo! Now, wouldn’t a “Refresh” button have been much more helpful? As someone in the forum post mentioned earlier, yes it would have, but Apple just wants us to “Think Different”.

Image: iTunes 8 from Apple.com

Post from: EveryJoe

Playing Around with iTunes

Veering away from tradition of having the events on Tuesdays, Apple’s September music event is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept 9, 2009. The venue is yet to be announced but according to the Digital Daily it’s sure to push through.

Apple’s September event is usually a music centered event. Last year saw the launch of iTunes 8 with the Genius feature, the 4th Gen iPod Nano a.k.a Nanochromatic, the 2nd gen iPod Touch. What will Apple pull out of it’s proverbial magic hat this year and will it’s number 1 magician be the one to perform its tricks?

Rumors are circulating that this year will bring us a new for of “Digital Album” dubbed Cocktail. This is apparently a collaboration between Apple and the music labels to entice more people to buy the whole album rather than just individual songs. This will help music labels make more money with bulk sales rather than just individual songs. The album will include lyrics, notes and photos plus other interactive goodies.

Of course we can’t have a new format without new hardware. Next generation iPod Nanos and iPod Touch are reportedly set to make their debut. With both of them reported to get cameras. There have been leaked photos (true or not) of the iPod Touch with the cameras.

A camera for the iPod Touch would be sweet. I’ve played around with the iPhone 3GS’ photo app and the tap to focus is niiicceee.

While most of us are awaiting the launch or the Apple Tablet/NetBook or whatever you want to call it, don’t hold your breath. The reports say it won’t be coming out this month. It’s more of a 2010 product.

Products are good but what excites me the most is the chance that Steve might actually do the keynote. It’s a good time for him to do this since, one, he’s back at work full time and this will be a good way to show people that he’s back on top. Two, this is a much shorter keynote and should be less stressful than a regular keynote should it should make for a good comeback.

Well, with a little over a couple of weeks till September 9th, Apple hopefuls are now giddy once again. Will it be an early Christmas for us? We’ll see.

Post from: EveryJoe

September Apple Event A Go

iPhone 3GS

One of the web sites I currently read with regularity is Smashing Magazine. I must say that I enjoy this site a lot and have been learning a lot of things. They recently published an article by Jen Gordon of Clever Twist. The article is entitled “How To Create Your First iPhone Application”. It lists the steps that you need in order to create your first iPhone application.

With the iPhone’s rising popularity, applications for this device are rapidly gaining market share. The great thing about the iPhone is that for the first time there’s a great mobile platform that people really want to use. I’ve been using mobile devices for a long time and I haven’t really seen a great platform that made me want to use my mobile device. In fact I think the Palm OS was the closest thing that did it for me. The sad thing is Palm’s development stagnated until recently with the introduction of the Palm Pre. We’ll see how that goes.

As of now the iPhone/iPod Touch is the mobile device to beat. So more and more people are getting interested in developing for it. I’ve read the article and here are some of the things pointed out.

A great idea is the most important aspect. No matter how good a designer or developer you are without a great idea your skills will just not be enough.

Assemble the things that you need to build the application. This goes both for the hardware and the manpower. Ask yourself, “What am I good at? What can I bring to the table?” and based on that assemble the other pieces that you need to build the application. Apart from the manpower you’ll need the tools such as a membership to the iPhone Developer Program, an iPhone or iPod touch, software such as Xcode, etc.

Learn the iPhone/iPod Touch OS and UI. There are a lot of great reads at the Apple Developer web site. This requires a membership though.

Other things that you need to do are upload it to iTunes and have your app approved and a have marketing plan to promote your app.

Like I said, the iPhone OS is a great platform that will surely become more popular in the years to come. More and more people are using it, the apps are getting better and better. So if you think you have that next great idea that you think will make for a good application get started and make it happen. Who knows, it might be your ticket to fame and fortune.

Read the complete article here.

Post from: EveryJoe

Steps To Creating Your First iPhone App

It’s called “CMX,” and it’s due around November of this year. According to the Times Online, online shoppers haven’t shown much interest in downloading entire albums — only singles. CMX hopes to change that, by enticing customers with loads of extra content if they buy and download full albums. CMX is a unique offering in that when you open it on your computer, each album has a launch page that’s distinctive and different from all others.

But here’s the twist: rumor has it that the Big 4 record labels first tried to get Apple to adopt their planned CMX format, but Apple wasn’t interested. More recent rumors suggest that Apple has reconsidered and is developing its own full album file format, codenamed Cocktail. Apple’s Cocktail format could be launched as soon as September, when the new iPods are expected to be announced.

No word yet on how much the CMX format will be offered for, but if they hope to be competitive, it will need to be in the $10-or-less range.

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Post from: EveryJoe

CMX album download format takes on Apple

With today’s online distribution, record companies are losing album sales due to the fact that people can now just purchase songs they like instead of an entire album. Honestly, buying on a per song basis makes much more sense to me. Having said that there’s still something nice about albums of past. It’s getting the other content that makes the experience a whole lot better.

So according to the article, Apple will be making a new kind of “digital albums”. This is not your ordinary PDF file with pictures and text. Instead it will be more interactive. You can even play the songs direct from the album without going through iTunes. That’s pretty cool. Add some lyrics, photos and other multimedia content and it will really make for a compelling reason to buy albums again.

This coincides with the rumored release of a “tablet” style device from Apple. We’ll see this fall if all of these comes to fruition.

Post from: EveryJoe

Apple and Labels To Launch “Digital Albums”

30 Rock's Kidney Now Video

The video features big name stars such as Sheryl Crowe, Elvis Costello, Mary J Blige, Clay Aiken, Norah Jones as well as other performers. Jeff Richmond, 30 Rocks’ music supervisor composed the song.

The video is available for $.99 through the iTunes Store.

Post from: EveryJoe

30 Rock Gives Back Through iTunes

Apple had to give in sometime to the demands of the record labels, who are currently struggling with dipping CD sales and trying to find the best strategy to leverage digital downloads. In exchange Apple got the record companies to drop DRM for the songs. Apple has completed migrating it’s song library to the DRM less version. This is good for consumers.

Another thing that the record labels agreed on was to allow people to download songs via the iPhone and the iPod Touch. So all in all it was a good deal.

I’ve always been a fan of simplicity. I feel that the best way to get loyal customers is to make it easy and pleasurable for them to buy your products. This is what Apple did for iTunes. It was a no-brainer, at the price point they set, you almost didn’t need to think about whether or not you’ll buy a song. It was that easy and cheap.

However, changing times call for a change in strategy as well. While variable pricing means the buying gets a little more complicated, I think it’s not a big step down. With only 3 tiers, it’s still fairly easy to buy a song. Sure the $1.29 $.30 more and considering we’re going through tough economic times, I think having the songs DRM free is a good trade-off. In the interim this is a workable solutin wherein everyone will be satisfied.

Is variable pricing right? I think at this time, it is. Let me know what you think. Leave a comment below.

Post from: EveryJoe

Is iTunes Variable Pricing Right?