Such a Wonderful Mini Player for iTunes Skins, Lyrics & More

SkiniTunes is an iTunes controller application that will enhance your experience with iTunes.
OK, it's iTunes related again, even for those who is not iPod owner, iTunes itself will also be a good choice for music player. Furthermore, it is hard to not talk about SkiniTunes for it is such wonderful software!
With Skin iTunes, you will enjoy your choice of two compact skinnable players and a track pop-up window that includes song information, album art and track rating on the fly!

Mini Player

Run iTunes from a flashy and compact player. Place it anywhere on your screen, skin it, rate your songs, and dance your night away!

Skini Player
"Slim, slick, and extremely cool!" When screen space is an issue, you're one click away from enabling SkiniPlayer. Small enough to house the basic music controls and track information, this player ensures you have the most space available on your screen.

Track PopupOn each track change you are welcomed with the Track Pop-up window. This compact skinnable window displays the current track and rating information.

Lyrics & Track Information

The detailed track information and lyrics is hidden. And it is only a click away when needed.
Besides, if you have many home DVDs or have many videos on your computer, there is wonderful third party software iPod Video Suite which can convert DVD Video to iTunes for iPod video and music format first on computer.Free download iPod Video Suite to convert DVD Video to iTunes for iPod:

1. iPod Video Suite , for Windows users;
2. iPod Video Suite, for Mac users.

SkiniTunes is also packed with additional stylish features and functionality. Use SkiniTunes to put you to bed with a configurable sleep timer for up to two hours. Customize iTunes with your own unique skins or download popular ones among 35 different kinds skins provided by the official website.

iPod shuffle 3 Review - good iPod mp3 player or not

The new iPod Shuffle was introduced on 11 March as iPod shuffle 3gen, revealing a device completely free from buttons and content 4GB. The most changed is the control way.

Following is the review of iPod shuffle 3.

Here are some features about the iPod shuffle 3.

1. The controls have been moved to the headphone cord

A simple three-button switch allows for play, pause, skip, volume, and activation of the new iPod shuffle 4GB USB banner feature. Silver and black iPod shuffle 3 came out now.

2. Even smaller, even more minimalist for $79

Measuring only 1.8" (45mm) x .7" (17mm) x .3" (7.62mm) in size.

3. VoiceOver

A first for the iPod shuffle 3gen, voiceOver gives the Shuffle the ability to speak song titles and playlist categories in any of 14 languages like Mandarin or Japanese, Greek, or Swedish… and let you change playlists. It still needs the third part software for iPod shuffle 3gen - iPod DVD Video Converter for how to put music on iPod shuffle 3gen.

4. Podcasts

The new iPod shuffle 3 supports sequential audio podcast synchronization - it can automatically synchronize a series of podcasts, rather than just specific episodes. To that end, it now has an iTunes tab for podcasts, unlike the prior-generation model. This feature will appear in iTunes 8.1, due out in very short order.

5. It Works With Apple’s Recent Remote Headphones

The iPod shuffle 3 is officially listed as compatible with Apple's recent mic-equipped $29 Earphone and $79 In-Ear Headphone models, though Apple explicitly notes that the new iPod shuffle 3gen doesn't support the microphone functionality. This is somewhat good news for those who already have one-button-remote equipped headphones released for the iPhone over the past couple of years.

6. USB Cable

Now Apple has replaced the Dock with a USB cable, called the Apple iPod shuffle USB Cable. The version packaged with the iPod shuffle 3gen is 1.8 inches long; for $19, Apple will sell you a package with two cables, one similarly short, the other slightly under 40 inches long.


Here are some criticisms about the new iPod Shuffle 3.

1. Free of buttons
Sure there are three buttons on the headphone cable, allows for play, pause, skip, volume, and activation of USB. But on the actual device - $80, 4GB, no buttons.

2. Replacing headphones gets more complicated.
With the iPod Shuffle 3gen's controls on the headphone cable, support for third-party headphones has been dramatically reduced.

3. Micro US
The USB plug does not at present appear to be Micro USB, validating recent concerns by many about how Apple has not signed on to the Micro USB standard.

4. Voice isn't a new feature. Remember last year when Apple included spoken menus on the iPod Nano? Then why are you calling the Shuffle the first MP3 player that talks to you? Also, technically there have been a few MP3 players for the vision impaired that have already pulled this off.

5. Battery Life Drop
Both the first- and second-generation versions of the iPod shuffle promised 12-hour battery life on a single charge, but the new iPod shuffle 3 drops down to 10 hours.

What's a podcast?

OK, so you’ve heard the word “podcasting”. It’s popping up everywhere these days and even mainstream media like CNN, NBC and the BBC are getting in on it but what is a podcast?A podcast is nothing more than a digital audio file, just like any other song or MP3 file on your computer. There’s nothing special about it, it’s what’s inside the file that’s causing all the buzz.

It’s basically a radio show, just like the Today show on BBC Radio or the Howard Stern show. The real difference is the variety. Mainstream radio has to appeal to broad audiences to cover the cost of licenses and transmitters, whereas podcasts can cater to any niche you can imagine. Anyone can make a podcast about anything they like, there are no rules and no limits, all you need is a computer and a microphone.

Thousands of podcasters around the world are out there right now making shows about what they feel passionate about – everything from sports to financial tips, inspirational ‘Godcasts’ to shows about popular TV series. You name it, there’s probably a podcast about it.

There is even a thriving "podsafe" music scene. Thousands of independent musicians and an increasing number of record labels are seeing the power of podcasting and are making it possible for podcasters to legally play their music on podcasts.

And did I mention podcasts are FREE?

But I don’t have an iPod

Despite the name, you don’t need an iPod to listen to podcasts. All you need is an MP3 player. Any MP3 player. In fact the computer you are using to read this is a MP3 player. There’s nothing stopping you burning a podcast to a compact disc and playing it on the CD player in your lounge or your car. It’s audio entertainment when and where you want it.

Subscribing

So now you've found some podcasts you like, why not subscribe? When you subscribe to a magazine a copy arrives in your mailbox every time a new issue is released. Subscribing to a podcast is just the same, but instead of a mailbox, you have an aggregator – a program that runs on your PC and automatically downloads your favourite podcasts ready for you to listen to. iTunes (no you still don’t need an iPod) and Juice are the best known.

That’s it! You now know what a podcast is, how to listen to it and how to have it automatically downloaded for you every time a new episode becomes available.

Get listening

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and find some podcasts about the things that matter to you. There are plenty of places to find podcasts, but here are a few to get you started:

Some good podcast sources:
iTunes - come with a huge podcast directory
PodShow- The premiere network of podcasts
IndiePodder - a huge independant podcast directory
Podfinder - "Your guide to the podcast universe"
Adam Curry's Daily Source Code - The man who started it all
Diabetic Feed - The first weekly podcast about diabetes.

The next thread is : How to Put Video Podcast on iPod with iTunes

How to Put Video Podcast on iPod with iTunes

Do you still get confused that how to put video podcast on an iPod nano/iPod touch/iPod Classic? Is it free or need third part iPod software?
As we know, We can subscribe podcast on iTunes and enjoy every funny podcast at first time, it's totally free, but how to put the funny video or audio podcast on iPod or free download podcast to iPod?

Following is the tutorial of how to put Video Podcast on iPod with iTunes.It'll show you the easiest way to put video podcast on iPod, either you are Windows users or Mac users.First of all - Install iTunesTo install the latest version of iTunes, go to http://www.apple.com/itunes/ and download the newest installer.

Note: iTunes does not come pre-installed for Windows users.

So you’ll need to install it if you haven’t done so already. But it's not need for Mac users, iTunes is probably already installed, and you can check for updates to get the latest version of iTunes.Second - Subscribe to the PodcastOpen iTunes. Once opened, you can see the “Podcasts” folder on the left side menu bar of iTunes.

Open the Podcast Page In a browser window (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari) go to page where the podcast is published. If you are subscribing to an podcast, this should be linked off your course homepage.SubscribeDrag the PODCAST button from the podcast page into the Podcasts folder of iTunes.

Download In your iTunes Podcasts folder, you’ll see a small triangular list expansion button to the left of your podcast. Click on the list expansion button and you can see all the episodes of podcast you subscribe.By default iTunes only downloads the latest post in podcast.

You can click the GET ALL button If you want them all. It may take a few minutes for all the files to download.Third - Connect and Sync iPod to iTunesConnect iPod to your computer using the USB cable.If you have sync your ipod to another iTunes lib, it'll show messages of:The iPod “xxx iPod” is synced with another iTunes library.

Do you want to erase this iPod and sync with this iTunes library?

Your Answers is YES: Erase and SyncThis will associate your iPod with your iTunes on computer.

All the music and videos that your have in your iTunes will be downloaded to your iPod, including Podcast video and audio.You may also be prompted to update the software for your iPod:A new iPod version is available for the iPod “Name of iPod”.

Would you like to download and install it now?

Your Answers is YES: Download and InstallFourthly - Disconnect your iPod from your ComputerNotice the warning on your iPod: “Do not disconnect”.

Your iPod has to be properly ejected.Note: Do not unplug iPod without properly ejecting it.You need to do one of the following:You should see your iPod listed in the Source menu on the left edge of iTunes.Click the standard eject icon to the right of where your iPod is listed.

Or if you download podcast from podcast website but not from iTunes with podcast downloader, you can convert podcast video to iPod touch/iPod nano/iPod classic with iPod DVD Video Converter.

Apple's iTunes Plus misses beat for many portable music players

Posted by Eric Benderoff at February 4, 2009 chicagotribune.com

When Apple Inc. announced in January that it would sell restriction-free music files, that was supposed to mean that consumers could buy songs from any major online music retailer and play them on the portable gadget of their choice.

Finally, music buyers would have in digital music what they’ve had with vinyl, 8-track and then CDs: Interoperability—the music could play on any device. If your record or CD player broke, you’d buy a new one.

Well, that’s still not the case with digital music. If your iPod breaks, replacing it with a Creative Zen may not work for you if you want to hear all your music.

There have been strides to improve this interoperability issue, and Apple’s move to sell digital rights-free music at iTunes was a big step in the right direction.

But those “unprotected” songs from iTunes, dubbed iTunes Plus, won’t play on every music player. That’s because there are different types of unprotected music files.

Let me illustrate with the albums I downloaded this week from three online sellers of digital music—eMusic, Amazon and iTunes—using music software from Apple Inc.’s iTunes and Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Media Player and Zune.

It was an experience filled with annoyances:

From eMusic: I downloaded new albums from A.C. Newman, Andrew Bird and Wee Hairy Beasties (a great Chicago Indie rock band for your kids). I was able to move the files into the music-playing software from Windows Media, Zune and iTunes with little trouble.

I then burned CDs of those three albums. When I tried to rip them into iTunes software on a different computer, song titles from two albums did not appear. (Few things are more tedious than keying in song titles.)

From Amazon: I downloaded an album from hip-hop band The Knux and a classic recording by Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane. The Knux easily went into iTunes without prompting, but Monk did not. But both albums moved successfully into Windows Media Player and the Zune software.

The Monk album will play on iTunes—I just need to get it into the software.

From iTunes: I bought Charlie Haden’s “Rambling Boy.” I was able to move the album into the Zune software, but not Windows Media. That means I can’t play the Haden album on the nifty Zen X-Fi music player I used for this test.

One would think that album would play on both Microsoft products.

Well, the problem is that Apple’s “unprotected files” are in the AAC format, which Windows Media player does not support. But the Zune software does. (Maybe Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer or Apple’s Steve Jobs has an answer for that discrepancy.)

Unprotected AAC files are not the same as unprotected MP3 files, which eMusic pointed out when it retracted a statement applauding Apple’s decision to sell music without digital-rights management software.

Unprotected MP3 files, sold by Amazon and eMusic, will play on any music software or any portable device.

But not all music software plays unprotected AAC files.

It would be easy to overlook this fact if you read what Apple says on its Web site:

“With iTunes Plus, you get high-quality, 256-Kbps AAC encoding. All free of burn limits and digital rights management (DRM). So iTunes Plus music will play on iPod, Apple TV, all Mac and Windows computers, and many other digital music players.”

Yes, iTunes Plus songs play on Windows computers, just not with Windows Media software. Which music players work with iTunes Plus and which don’t? Apple won’t say.

Does this really matter? Yes, if you want choice.

There are a lot of fine music players that cost less than similarly sized iPods.

As much as I like iPods, I’m also fond of the Zune (the 16gb model is $45 less than the 16gb iPod Nano). And there’s a lot to like about the 16gb Creative Zen X-Fi ($170 at Amazon, $30 less than the Nano.) Another fine player is the 4gb Sansa Clip, spotted recently for $50 at Best Buy. A 1gb iPod Shuffle sells for $50.

When I test music players from Creative, Sansa and others, I use Windows Media to put music, videos and photos onto those devices. The software was designed to work with most music players.

The important software provides choice by allowing any gadget maker to produce a music player. So it’s pretty frustrating that an album I buy at iTunes can’t play using Windows Media.

Does this really matter?

The Charlie Haden album I bought at iTunes, about $3 cheaper than the physical CD, includes a bonus track. If I want to hear the bonus song, I need the right combination of software and music player.

Not even the CD will help. Does that matter to you?

Next from Apple: A Large-Screen iPod Touch?

Jeff Bertolucci, PC World Jan 1, 2009 12:25 am

The latest iPod Touch is a nifty little gizmo that does a lot more than play tunes, but I've always found its 3.5-inch screen too tiny for watching movies or serious Web browsing. After a few minutes of screen-tapping or finger-dragging to view Web pages designed for larger displays, well, things get tedious in a hurry. And movies? Better bring a magnifying glass.

No doubt there's a market for a bigger-screen iPod Touch, and if the latest rumors are true, that's exactly what Apple has in mind. A report from Michael Arrington of TechCrunch says that Apple is developed a Touch device with a 7- or 9-inch display, which is plenty big for video-watching, Web-surfing, gaming, and possibly even conventional desktop apps such as DVD to iPod Converter Suite.

Details are sketchy. Apple reportedly will launch its king-size Touch in the fall of '09. According to TechCrunch, prototypes of the device are out there, and Apple and its original device manufacturers (ODMs) in Asia are working out the production details.

The for awhile that Apple is planning to enter the netbook market, and perhaps a big-screen iPod Touch would fill the bill. With a display as large as 9 inches, a bigger Touch might just work as a laptop replacement too, particularly if Apple adds a slide-out keyboard. Could this be Apple's netbook?

Then again, price is a thorny issue. Apple doesn't do cheap, and at $500 or less, the current crop of netbooks is definitely that. Today's iPod Touch, with its 3.5-inch display, starts at $229, but the 32GB model goes for a whopping $399. Naturally, a bigger Touch would cost a lot more.

How to convert DVD to iPod touch

This document is designed to provide you with step-by-step guide on how to rip DVD to video/audio format for playback on iPod Touch/Nano/ Video with Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter. From this step-by-step guide, you will get an easy-to-use way to freely enjoy your favorite DVD movies on iPod.

This guide includes the following parts:

1. What Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter can do for you?
2. How to convert DVD movie to iPod MP4 video with Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter?
3. Tips about using Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter to convert DVD movie to iPod.

Please download Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter, install and run it.

Part 1: What Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter can do for you?

Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter is a powerful DVD to iPod Converter committed to providing you with an easy-to-use and professional way to convert DVD to iPod MP4 Video (h.264) and iPod MP3 playable for iPod Touch/Nano/ Video with excellent quality and super fast speed! With this wonderful iPod DVD Converter, you can:

• Directly convert DVD into iPod format MP4 and other video/audio formats (MOV, M4V, MP3, M4A and WAV etc) with excellent quality.
• Edit video by video cropping, movie trimming and effect adjusting to make perfect video based on your requirement.
• Customize either image or text watermark for video to color your video files in a unique way.
• Share picture by capturing any picture from video with snapshot function.
• Customize output settings including resolution, bit rate, frame rate, etc to completely fulfill your different requirements.
• Import and preview ISO file directly without installation of any Virtual DVD-ROM on your PC.
• Preview video with two real-time preview windows out of your movies in an intuitive way.
• Enjoy your favorite video freely sync with outstanding quality on iPod Touch/Nano/ Video, ready whenever you need to be entertained.

Part 2: How to convert DVD movie to iPod MP4 video with Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter?

Step 1: Please download Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter. And then install and run Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter.

Step 2: Import DVD files.

Click “Add” button, you are allowed to import DVD folders or click , you are allowed to load DVD Rom, DVD folders, ISO files or IFO files respectively.

Step 3: Edit video files.
Click “Edit” button, you are allowed to make wonderful video editing by cropping, trimming, adjusting effect and editing watermark.

Step 4: Customize output settings.
Click “Settings” button in the output settings area, you are allowed to customize the output parameters and specify output format and folder.

Step 5: Start conversion.
Click “Start” button on right bottom of the main interface, you are allowed to start conversion. All the tasks of conversion will be finished at fast speed and high output quality.

Step 6: Transfer video to iPod
You can transfer video file to iPod with iTunes. Please follow the steps below:
1. Connect your iPod to your computer and Launch iTunes. (If you have not installed iTunes, you can download it from this link http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/ )
2. Click “My IPOD” under the “DEVICES”, and tick “Manually manage music and videos” option in the Summary window.
3. Click File and select “Add File to Library” to locate your MP4 files. The added files will be automatically classified in Movies Category under LIBRARY.
4. Click “Movies” under LIBRARY, drag the movie from the library file list to My IPOD. And then click “Movies” under MY IPOD, you will see the file in the right file list.

Part 3: Tips about using Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter to convert DVD movie to iPod.

Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter provides you powerful editing functions which allow you to crop, trim, adjust video effect , design watermark and customize output parameters.

1. Cropping

After entering the edit page, you cancrop video by clicking “crop”.
You are allowed to finish cropping by the following three ways:
• Dragging cropping frame
Move your mouse cursor onto one of the eight small adjustment boxes on the cropping frame (the dashed line) and drag the crop frame to crop the DVD file such as cutting off top and bottom black bar. The cropped result will be shown on the Output Preview at the same time.
• Selecting aspect ratio
You are allowed to select an output aspect ratio from the Zoom drop-down list. There are six choices available: Keep original, Full screen, 16:9, 4:3, Letter box and Pan & Scan
• Setting the values
Type the value directly or click to set the value in “Left”, “Right” and “Cropped area size” area to set the position of the cropping frame.

• 2. Effect adjusting

Click “Effect”, you are allowed to adjust brightness, contrast and saturation of video by dragging . You can also select a special effect from the Effect drop-down list for the video. The available choices are Gray, Emboss, Negative, Old film and No effect. Besides, you can select the suitable option from Repeat odd field, Repeat even field, Odd interpolate and Even interpolate in the deinterlacing drop-down list to adjust the picture's quality, if there are some pixels, lines, mosaics or stripes on the picture.

Note: You can check “apply to all” option to apply the current effect adjusting of one file to all the selected files.

• 
  

• 3. Trimming
• 
  

Click “Trim”, you are allowed to make trimming of video by the following three ways:

• Dragging the slider

Drag below the Preview Windows to mark the beginning of your clip and drag to mark the end of your clip during the preview.

• Controlling “Mark in” and “Mark out” button

Press to mark the beginning of your clip and to mark the end of your clip during the preview.Note: You can click to play frame by frame to make a precise trimming.

• Setting start and end time

Input certain time number in Set start time and Set end time fields manually and click to trim a clip from the video as you like.Note: You can click to preview the clip. Click under the process bar to remove the selections.

• 
  

• 4. Watermark designing
• 
  

Image watermark editing

1. Check image watermark option to edit image watermark.

2. Click to specify the image you attempt to use.

3. Adjust Transparency, Vertical Space and Horizontal Space by dragging .

4. Resize the height or width by inputting numbers in image size area or dragging .

• Text watermark editing

1. Check text watermark option to edit text watermark.
2. Type the text you attempt to use as watermark in text watermark area.

3. Click to edit the font of text. You are allowed to edit the font style, size, effects etc of text in the following menu.

• 
  

4. Adjust Transparency, Vertical Space and Horizontal Space by dragging .

1. 5. Output settings customizing

Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter enables you to customize output settings in the bottom of the main interface. You are allowed to select subtitle/audio track and specify output format/path etc.

Click “Settings” button in the output settings area, you are allowed to set video/audio output parameters including resolution, bit rate, frame rate, encoder, sample rate and channel etc.