Apple’s…

iPod touch Support

…website went live. And, according to Engadget, units are showing up in Apple stores. My unit still hasn’t shipped. So, I guess I won’t be playing with one as soon as those you who are buying off the shelf. In the meantime, however, the 85 page iPod touch manual is available on Apple’s website as a PDF download.

The good news is that the support pages are up. The other good news is that the touch is so close to the iPhone that Apple is essentially repurposing its web pages for the touch. The bad news is that Apple didn’t bother to take out iPhone related references to things like the EDGE network or even the word iPhone out of the documentation pages.

The Apple iPod touch is weeks away from delivery (early October at best). So, while waiting for it I decided to revisit the original Apple PDA. This is the Apple Newton MessagePad 130. I said in the video that is it 12 or 13 years old. However, according to Wikipedia, this model was released in March 1996. So, I probably bought it around then which makes it a bit over 11 years old. Although its rechargeable battery and backlight died long ago, the unit itself still works after all these years. So, click on the image above or this link here to view the short video to see the Newton in action. I’ll probably bring it back to show the Newton and iPod touch side-by-side in October.

I’ve been saying since the introduction of the Apple iPhone that I just wanted the “i” part and didn’t need the “Phone” part of it. Today, with the introduction of the iPod touch, I got my wish.. or at least part of it.
Here’s what’s missing from the iPod touch when compared to the iPhone…

• Phone radio (of course!)
• Bluetooth radio (aargh!)
• Camera (sigh…)
• Microphone and speakers (no VoIP either)
• Email client (for IMAP4 and POP3)
• Google Maps client

Still, what is left is pretty good. You can watch a video introduction on Apple’s site here (though the choice of spokes-person leaves me a bit baffled).

Apple iPod touch Guided Tour
I ordered mine this evening with shipment currently scheduled for late this month. So, you can expect to read iPod touch rants and/or raves sometime next month.

Way back on May 11, 2006 (forever in Internet time), I posted a blog item on the MacDevCenter asking…

Cause for iPod nano Spontaneous Reset?

Although the cause of the problem is now known and resolved, this blog item continues to attract questions from people with, apparently, all kinds of iPod issues. It doesn’t seem appropriate to use that blog item as some kind of general iPod issues forum (especially since there are other sites better suited and more focused on that topic). So, I put together a page here (look at the left side bar area under Pages) titled…

MobileViews iPod info

…to help people find iPod troubleshooting information and discussion areas.

I’ve listed a small sampling of the questions my original blog item attracted on that page and will, as time permits, provide specific pointers for some or all of them. Hope this helps the various people with iPod issues that posted to my old blog item.

The Belkin iPod TuneBase FM has been out for more than a year. But, I just picked one up today. It has a lot of advantages over the Belkin TuneCast that I used a couple of years ago.

The TuneBase (pictured to the left) plugs into a car power adapter (AKA cigarette lighter) while the TuneCast used an AAA battery. One of the problems I had with the TuneCast is that the battery would rapidly die while driving. The TuneBase also charges a connected iPod which means that both the iPod and the TuneBase are powered and ready to go all the time.

The TuneBase can tune into arbitary frequencies while the TuneCast is limited to four fixed frequencies. This can be a problem if none of those four stations provide a clear signal to the car radio. The FM radio frequency is displayed on the iPod’s screen when configuring the unit. This makes it pretty easy to quickly configure the system with your car radio.

The sturdy looking flexible arm can be adjusted to get it out of the way of other dashboard controls. I am kind of concerned about how much pressure it puts on the cigarette lighter though. I think the best thing to do is to use two hands to insert and remove an iPod from the TuneBase.