Monday, July 28, 2008

gadget du jour

While this is technically an MP3 player, I think it deserves a post of its own. I've had my iPod Touch since October of last year but I've recently become enraptured by it. The big difference is the 2.0 update. I got a little whiny initially about having to update iTunes and pay for another update but this one is so worth it. The Touch now has a number of new apps available for it that really add to its usefulness in a wi-fi environment. A few of the ones I've added are: Twitterrific, Facebook, NYTimes and Pandora Radio. I found it pretty easy to get into Twitterrific in hotels and libraries and send off quick updates. Very cool!

Another feature I'm trying out is Apple's new MobileMe. This purports to allow you to sync email, calendars and bookmarks between PCs, Macs and iPod Touches and iPhones. I just set it up yesterday so I can't really offer a solid review at this point. I've noticed two things right away - one positive and one negative. The positive is that I've been able to set up a number of email accounts on my Touch. So, it will be much easier to check email when I'm traveling. I just click on Mail, choose the account and my messages are right there. And I can type quick replies. But the touch keyboard continues to make me a bit crazy. It will also open up Word docs for viewing.

The negative is that when I first synced my Touch, it erased everything on my calendar. But I'll have to play around a bit more to see if it comes back when Outlook starts syncing with iCal. When did life become so complicated that I've had 3 calendars now 4 to worry about keeping in sync? But if this works, I love the idea of being able to keep web calendars and calendars and contacts on various devices in sync.

I'll keep you posted on whether or not this works. MobileMe does have an annual fee. I get 60 days free as a new iMac owner. Hopefully, by then I'll be able to figure out if it's worth continuing.

And, I was please to see iPods now listed as being compatible with OverDrive at least for MP3 formatted books.

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