DVD to iPod touch, iPod nano, iPod classic

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 Popup
On 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.

Wondershare Platinum is actually a very good program, it works fast and can be used for all of your DVD ripping needs, not just for your phone, it will output formats for pretty much every popular mobile and desktop video and audio format out there today.

So read on…

Here’s a bit of info about Wondershare DVD Ripper Platinum from the site, you can read more HERE if you wish.

Wondershare DVD Ripper Platinum

Wondershare DVD Ripper Platinum is the best DVD Ripper software that supports almost all portable video/audio players. It lets you easily rip DVD to iPod, Zune, iPhone, Apple TV, PSP, Xbox 360, PS3, Archos, iRiver PMP Player, Creative Zen, PMP, MP4/MP3 Player, Smart Phone, Pocket PC, PDA, Mobile Phone and so on. Furthermore, it upgrade to support BlackBerry Storm, Bold, Palm Pre, PSP Lite 3000, Google Phone.

Features:
* Directly rip DVD (including protected DVD with CSS) for playback on iPod, iPhone, Zune, iPod, Apple TV, PSP, Smart Phone, etc.

* New upgrade to support BlackBerry Storm, Bold, Palm Pre, iPod Touch 2, PSP Lite 3000, Google Phone and convert DVD to HD video formats.

* Support video trimming, cropping, video effect adjustment, adding watermark and video file and chapters merging.

It can rip DVD to iPod Video; Rip DVD to PSP; Rip DVD to PS3; Rip DVD to iPhone; Rip DVD to Apple TV (MP4, M4A, MP3); Rip DVD to Zune (WMV, WMA); Rip DVD to Archos MP4 Player (MP4); Rip DVD to Creative Zen (WMV, MP3, WMA); Rip DVD to iRiver PMP; Rip DVD to iPod nano and iPod shuffle (MP3); Rip DVD to Pocket PC (WMV); Rip DVD to Nokia; Rip DVD to Motorola Phone (3GP) and so on.

Most of the software of this type has a very similar interface, which is a good thing as it makes life easier so if you’ve used one you can easily pick up on another.

The interface for Wondershare DVD Ripper Platinum is organized well, across the top are some drop down menus, but for the most part you don’t even need to worry about them, everything pertaining to your DVD and video is below.

There is a little help section as well that can be access by the top navigation bar, it gives you instructions on how to rip your DVD.

On the very bottom is a pop-up menu that will allow you to select the output format, most every portable format is represented along with standard desktop ones as well. One thing to note is that I didn’t see .AVI or Divx as one of the choice under common video, for me that’s a disappointment as I like to use it for all of my video files

We’re concerned with Windows Mobile Format and in that category we see four choices actually, the General Pocket PC is what I used for this review.

Put your DVD in your drive and navigate to it, then you’ll need to select which files you want to convert. It’s nice to be able to choose what to convert so you’re not converting the entire disc, we only really want just the movie.

Once you’ve selected your movie you can go in and make some adjustments if you wish via the ‘Settings’ option next to the output selection bar.

One thing cool about this program is that you can do a little editing to your movie before starting the process of conversion.

You can change the output size, and you’ll see a preview of how it looks:

You can also change effects like Brightness, Contrast and Saturation along with adding effects like Gray, Emboss, Negative and Old Film.

The last setting will allow you to watermark your movie, this can be very useful for your own creative works.

After you’re done changing things hit the Start button and off you go, you can watch the preview or not.

Looking at the Task Manager we see Wondershare does use quite a bit of my Quad Core CPU, 72% in this screenshot. That’s a plus there that it can utilize dual and quad core CPUs.

The time from hitting the start button to finish was 12:25 which is very fast, that time does not include editing etc, just the pure conversions process.

Wondershare is one of the fastest DVD ripping programs I’ve tested to date, but speed doesn’t mean much without a quality finished product.

The final file weighs in at almost 1gig in size, coming in at 905MB. That’s a big file, for me, with a 16gb card, that’s not a problem, but I can guess most of you out there do not have a 16gb card in their phones. So depending what else you’ve got on your card, you might not be able to fit many of this size file on your card to take with you.

Size issue aside the quality of the movie playing on my phone was excellent… I used a macro lens to take the following pictures, so you can see the pixels, but in reality with the motion you can’t see them. Very, very nice quality, audio and video are in sync just fine.

Wondershare DVD Ripper Platinum sells for $39, that’s a bit high compared to others out there, but if you consider all that it can do in addition to just converting to your phone it’s worth the cost.

The program works well, it’s fast and it’s very easy to use, and of course the final result is near DVD quality, what more could you ask for?!

Pros:

+Lots of additional options

+Easy to use

+Very fast conversion

+Excellent quality of final product

Cons:

-Large output file size

-No Divx output option

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.

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.

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.

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

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?

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 nano chromatic 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 for iPod nano chromatic.

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.

When got new iPod touch 2, ipod nano 4, what to do first ? Download free music!

About how to convert DVD video to new iPod touch 2, iPod nano 4, please go here.

In the interest of helping our readers stay out of jail and avoid massive fines, here are a bunch of places you can get tunes without fear of finding a summons in your mailbox. There's plenty of good, free, and legal music on the net for you to download.


iLike is a social music site which allows you to discover new music with a little help from your friends. Free downloads and the buddy system, what could be better?
Altsounds has a lot of streaming content, but there are quite a few quality mp3 downloads mixed in, including bands like Anberlin, Panic at the Disco, 10 Years, and Underoath.
bt.etree.org tracks live recording torrents of "bootleg friendly" bands. You'll be able to find all kinds of FLAC downloads from performers like Ben Harper, Jerry Garcia, Blues Traveler, Trey Anastasio (I smell a trend here, or at least some patchouli), Radiohead, Primus, and even Tenacious D.
Legaltorrents is still in its early stages, but there are still a number of music and audio books available from their site.
Stereogum has been offering free, legal mp3s since 2006. They're all still available, along with zip and torrent file archives of previous months. The Gum Mix streams music to you while you browse, and all the tracks it plays can be downloaded.
SXSW is a good news/bad news situation. The bad news is, they only have one torrent file for download. The good news? It contains over 700 mp3s of bands that performed in 2007 for a whopping total of 3.1 gigs of audio. Change the year in the subdomain to get the 2006 and 2005 downloads.
Unsigned Band Web is a palce for, well, unsigned bands to share their music and get noticed. Just about every genre you can imagine is offered here, and they maintain charts to show you what's hot. Apparently electronica is hot. Maybe I'll stick to genre browsing. Bottom line: tons of free mp3s to download.
Soundclick's music page will hook you up with a ton of downloads, including more unsigned acts - like my favorite new addiction: German hip hop. I blame my scarf-wearing co-worker.
Honc "if you love music. The site isn't much to look at, but there's still more undiscovered goodness to be found here.
Garage Band is also worth checking out for more diamonds in the rough. Rub it in your friends' faces that you "heard them first."
Indie Rock Cafe offers more up-ad-coming music, blog style. There's no centralized download page, so you'll find the tracks sprinkled around the blog post.
DMusic has been offering indie musicians a chance to be heard since 1998. Top 20 charts are maintained for each of the 20+ main genres (which are broken down into several sub-genres as well).
Fuzz offers - oh crap - a mixtape feature. The interface is cool as hell, and there's a ton of great, free music to discover on the site.
iCompositions is dedicated to music created with Mac's Garage Band software. You'll need to register in order to download songs.
The Internet Archive has a massive audio section, including audio books as well as music. Be sure to check out the open source section, with over 150,000 Creative Commons licensed items.
Jamendo rocks for one big reason: they offer both direct downloads and a torrent tracker. 555 pages multiplied by 20 items per page equals a veritable crapload of music. You'll find lots of international music too, from exotic places like Brazil and er...Canada.
Peoplesound is similar to Jamendo, but you'll find some major label artist offerings. Registration is required to download, and you'll have to browse the genres/artists to find the mp3 files, but they have plenty up for grabs.
Epitonic is "your source for cutting edge music." You'll find tracks by artists like The Strokes, Carl Cox, Pavement, Peaches, Guided by Voices, and Yo La Tengo.
I love me some punk music, and fortunately punk labels love to share their music. Fat Wreck Chords, Hellcat Records, Subpop, and Epitaph all have tons, and usually offer two or three fulls songs from a CD. Oi!
Stereokiller has even more punk/hardcore/metal goodness for you. According to the guy that runs the site, it's "better than damn MySpace." Well, no argument there.
Anti's slogan is "real artists creating great recordings on their own terms." Downloads galore from guys like Michael Franti and Spearhead, Greg Graffin, Nick Cave, and Billy Bragg.
3hive's bloggers pass on links to some excellent free mp3s on their site. It's got a nice, personal feel to it, though there's not the tidal wave of music you'll find at some other on this list.
itsfreedownloads is worth a bookmark for iTunes users. It's a site that keeps tabs on the weekly freebies in the iTunes store. You may get sick of looking at all the ads, but the free music will help soften the annoyance.
mp3.com has a pretty huge collection of free tunes as well, with offerings from almost 1,400 artists. Most can be both streamed and downloaded.
Purevolume.com is loaded with streaming music, but there are plenty of downloads as well. Click the search link, then search or browse to "discover new music." It's the quickest way to the freebies.
Music.download.com. What can I say, they've got a ton of MP3s. I'm not much of a CNET fan, but free is free.
Last.FM has free downloads, too. It's not just for streaming.
Stage.FM used to be Audiri, and still offers streaming and downloads for independent artists.
iSound offers another large catalog. Head to the mp3 page for free downloads, as some artists only offer streaming - including Our Lady Peace frontman Rayne Maida, who I was disappointed to see had no downloads.
we7 is offering all kinds of free tunes - if you're ok with a brief advertisement being appended to the track. They're legal, they're free, and you'll find bands that you'd normally have to pay for to get full mp3s.
SpiralFrog is doing the ad-supported thing, too (if you can get to it).
Blentwell is "an ongoing document of the evolution of blended music." Tons and tons of DJ mixes, categorized by genre.
MTV offers a new group of about a dozen downloads on a somewhat regular basis. A drop in the bucket, but still free.
Anyone with a toddler or three at home will apprciate Free Children's Music. You'll find tons of great, kid friendly tunes there.
Classic Cat maintains a massive listing of free, classical mp3s available on the internet. Files aren't hosted there, but it's an easier way to find works by Bach and Beethoven than searching yourself.
At Spinner (AOL Music), our chums have been giving a free MP3 away every day for the past two+ years. Will more major artists give free music a shot? Radiohead's In Rainbows is no longer available as a free download, but Trent Reznor is still in a giving mood. NIN fans can still grab The Slip for free from his web site.

Daniusoft now releases professional multimedia DVD to iPod Touch 2, DVD to iPod nano 4 converter software on Windows - Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter, which converts DVD to iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod classic, iPod Touch, and new iPod touch 2, iPod nano 4 with 1:1 ratio. At the same time, Daniusoft Video to iPod Converter, and Daniusoft DVD to iPod Suite which composed of DVD to iPod Converter and Video to iPod Converter have new released, too.

Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter focuses on its professional performance to convert DVD to iPod with customizable setting functions, such as DVD cropping & trimming, output format setting & effect editing. By taking advantage of this unique DVD to iPod converter, you can freely enjoy your favorite DVD on iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod classic, or even iPod Touch.

As a customer-oriented DVD to iPod Touch Converter software, Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter exerts itself to convert DVD to iPod video formats MP4 (MPEG-4),M4V, and convert DVD to iPod audio format MP3, AAC, M4A with great quality and super fast speed!


This DVD to iPod Converter allows you to set many DVD editing functions:

With this powerful DVD to iPod Converter, you can put protected DVD on iPod shuffle, iPod nano, iPod classic, iPod Touch and new iPod touch 2, iPod nano 4. . This convert DVD to iPod Software is so easy-to-use that whether you are an experienced user or a beginner, converting DVD to iPod video is just a breeze.
Support OS: Windows 2000, 2003, XP, Vista.

Here are some key features of Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter:

1.Crop Video - Cut off the black edges of DVD movie; Set the Screen size by Keeping original/ Full screen/ 16:9/ 4:3.

2.Trim Video - Trim any segment of your DVD movie by setting the Start time and End Time.

3.Effect Editing- Convert DVD to iPod with flexible video and audio effect editing: adjustable Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, and Volume.

4.Output Format Setting – freely customize the output resolution, bit rate, frame rate and sound channel at will to meet your portable player"s special need.

5.Capture picture - Capture your favorite pictures from your DVD movies and save to your computer synchronously.

6.Amazing conversion speed – Multithreading-based batch mode offers you 200% conversion speed beyond imagination.

7.Batch conversion mode - Convert DVD to iPod video & audio and merge several chapters into one file with only a single step.


Availability and Feedback:
Daniusoft DVD to iPod Converter now is available at: http://www.daniusoft.com/dvd-to-ipod.html .
We are appreciated to receive your feedback about the DVD Video Converter Pack to us via E-mail.

About Daniusoft
Daniusoft Studio is a professional application provider who provides you DVD Ripper and Video Converter which can help you Convert DVD Video to all popular players.

http://www.daniusoft.com

Different new iPod touch:
New iPod touch 2 gets new volume control buttons, full Nike+ integration and a built-in loudspeaker. It's not a radical change, but it's better.

New iPod touch 2

When Apple first released the iPod touch, it was with its Wi-Fi capabilities and touchscreen interface - much more than an iPod. With new iPod software updates, Apple brought the apple iPod touch 2"s applications in line with the iPhone.

And there is also third party iPod software update as new iPod apps: Wondershare iPod Video Suite, which convert DVD and all popular video formats to iPod Nano new, new iPod Touch, iPod Classic and iPhone.
About how to convert DVD video to iPod, please go to http://www.dvd-ripper-copy.com/guide/ipod-video-suite-guide.html

Price:
The latest iPod touch 2 model:
8GB capacities for $229;
16GB costs $299;
32GB costs $399
They also ship with the latest iPod touch 2.1 software.

Nike+ iPod integration:
First and foremost I love the Nike+ iPod integration.
The iPod touch 2 is quite thin and would work well as a small waist - or arm-banded device for workouts and not having to have a tiny little dongle hanging off the end is excellent.
Apple will also be selling the little Nike+ pucks separately now.

New iPod touch 2 game:
The second chance is gaming. This is a great opportunity for Apple to enter the casual handheld gaming market as a winner, not an also ran. Some of the other Apps are hit or miss, but it"s nice to have choice.

Volume controls and built-in speaker:
1. Volume controls
Press the top of the rocker switch and the volume goes up. A press at the bottom of the switch causes the volume to decrease. Apple"s headphones that carry the Play/Pause switch and microphone— the Play/Pause switch works with new iPod touch 2. (It doesn"t on older iPod touches, even with the new 2.1 software.)

2. Built-in speaker
As Steve Jobs said, this speaker is for "casual listening." It clearly sits on the bottom left of the device and is fairly directional, the sound from the iPod touch 2 comes from no particular location—it seems to just seep out of any holes on the device.

In the Sound setting, where you can find the addition of the New Mail, Sent Mail, Calendar Alerts, Lock Sounds, and Keyboard Clicks entries. You can also hear a camera sound when you take a screenshot of the display by pressing Home and Sleep/Wake. It's less springy, more plasticky, and noisier.


The Genius playlist:
1. What"s Genius playlist
Genius playlist is one of the marquee features of the new iPod nano and iPod touch 2. It is a scheme for selecting a track in iTunes library or iPod and intelligently creating a playlist of related music. The Genius feature is also available from within the Now Playing screen.
You can read more about the Genius feature in this first look at iTunes 8.

There is a list of all the songs on your iPod touch, when you first invoke the Genius playlist. Tap the Music icon at the bottom of the Home screen, tap Playlists, and at the top of the Playlists screen you can see a Genius entry. Tap a track and the iPod creates a list of 25 related tracks and starts playing the track you originally selected.

2. Create Genius playlist?
How to create a different Genius playlist based on that same track?
Just tap Refresh and the playlist is created. And you can also select this playlist and edit it by tapping the Edit button. How much the playlist is refreshed depends on the tracks on your iPod touch 2.
Note: The new iPod touch is possible to stump the Genius.

After creating a Genius playlist you can refresh it with new material based on the same source song or start over by tapping New.

When you sync your iPod with your computer, any Genius playlists you"ve created are synced to the computer and appear under the Playlists heading in iTunes" Source list.

The new iPod apps:
The new iPod touch 2 includes the iPod touch 2.1 software, which is a free update for those who"ve purchased the 2.0 software update and a $10 update for those running the older 1.x update.

It"s availables for both the original iPod touch and the new iPod touch 2, software 2.1.1 introduces the Genius automatic playlist generator to the device, as well as complete Nike+ integration.

More:
Apple claims that the 2G iPod touch offers better battery life than the original touch. I haven"t had the 2G iPod touch long enough to test its alleged audio playback time of 36 hours and video playback of 6 hours, but will as I delve deeper into the device in preparation for my full review.