The iTunes 8.0.1 Update is now available which is a 59MB download. The update features:

• Seamlessly plays the current song when creating a new Genius playlist.
• Improves syncing spoken menus to iPod nano.
• Addresses an issue of deleting HD TV episodes when downloading.
• Improves checking for updates from the App Store
• Improves accessibility with VoiceOver.
• Addresses problems syncing Genius results to iPod.

It also creates this error message on my iPhone when syncing: “The phone iFinger’s iPhone cannot be synced. An unknown error occurred (13014)”

Apparently, if I reboot my Mac and possibly iPhone it will fix things.

This years top Christmas and holiday gift could well be Apple’s new iPod nano. Introduced, once again in perfect time for the Christmas shopping period. Apple’s tills will melt down, thanks to this very clever design.

This is the thinnest Apple iPod ever made. It has gone back to a form factor that owes more to some of the earlier incarnations of the nano line than the last one. At first I was hesitant about it’s style, but I think Apple, once again have got it right.

Squeezing new features like the accelerometer as found in the iPhone and iPod Touch. The new nano adds a whole new spin on it with the new Shake to Shuffle feature along with the ability to view cover flow artwork. This 4th generation of iPod nano is a slick and innovative design. Available in nine funky colours which all share the same curved aluminum and glass structure. The nano is the best yet, and I was a huge fan of the 3rd generation!

The nano also comes with the Genius playlist creator which will pick a selection of songs based on one that you select. In testing on my iPhone I have found Genius to locate songs that I haven’t played in a long time, and which all roll nicely with each other. Genius indeed.

Available in 8GB and 16GB versions in silver, purple, blue, green, orange, yellow, pink, (PRODUCT) RED and black.

The iPod nano is gonna be one of Santa’s most requested items this Christmas. Kids and adults alike are going to be devastated if they don’t get one in their Christmas stocking.

Apple iPod nano reviews

• Gizmodo
• Boston Herald
• CNN
• Chron.com
• SFGate.com

As promised during the Apple Let’s Rock Keynote. The iPhone 2.1 Software Update was made available yesterday.

iPhone 2.1 Software New Features

• option to wipe data after ten failed passcode attempts
• Genius playlist creation

Bug Fixes and Improvements

• decrease in call set-up failures and call drops
• significantly improved battery life for most users
• dramatically reduced time to back-up to iTunes
• improved email reliability, notably fetching email from POP and Exchange accounts
• faster installation of 3rd party applications
• fixed bugs causing hangs and crashes if you have lots of 3rd party applications
• improved performance in text messaging
• faster loading and searching of contacts
• improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display
• repeat alert up to twp additional times for incoming text messages

Kernel Panic

The first time I tried installing the update I got a major kernel panic, and the black screen wipe of death. Possibly unrelated, but I haven’t had one of those for a long time.

The Let’s Rock Keynote is now available from Apple for your viewing pleasure.

Watching it now. It would seem my first impressions of the iPod nano, which I completely dissed yesterday, might have been a little premature and unfair. I really think Apple have once again got it right. The display looks gorgeous and the use of the built in accelerometer is very ingenious. Shake to Shuffle is an excellent party piece. I love the colours and particularly like the built in Voice Recorder, which means it has a microphone built in. Fantastic.

Apple’s Let’s Rock event was a bit of a disappointment for me. Mainly because Copy and Paste apparently hasn’t made it to the 2.1 iPhone software. The upgrade will be available on Friday. Expect:

• faster sync – yay!
• less call drops
• less crashes
• better battery life

The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.

—Steve Jobs

Also, it seems strange for Apple to drop the 160GB iPod Classic. The biggest iPod you can now get is the new 120GB Classic.

I am not sure about the new iPod nano, either. The new features are cool. Especially the shake to shuffle feature. I like the colours too. I will have to get my hands on one to see what it’s like in the flesh.

The new features of the new Second generation iPod touch look pretty neat.

Really looking forward to downloading iTunes 8. The new Genius feature looks cool. I wonder how it will categorise my music?

Roll on Friday.

Kane Kramer may not be quite as famous as Jonathan Ive or Steve Jobs for that matter. Yet you will know his invention. He patented a device in 1979 which showed a credit-card-sized player with a rectangular screen and a central menu button to scroll through a selection of music tracks. Sound familiar? Even Apple thought so, and asked Mr Kramer to give evidence in a court case to help defend their iPod design.

Kane Kramer took out a worldwide patent but was unable to raise £60,000 to renew these patents and the technology became public property.

To be honest, I was just so pleased that finally something that I had done which has been a huge success and changed the music industry was being acknowledged. I was really quite emotional about it all.

—Kane Kramer

He is now negotiating with Apple to gain some compensation from the copyright that he owns on the drawings.

Read the full article.

According to the Cult of Mac. September the 9th will be a huge day. The Apple media event is scheduled for 10am, September 9th at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

Rumours abound, but it is anticipated that their will be updates to the iPod product line, iTunes 8, possible new Mac notebooks and there are even indications of a touch-screen Mac tablet…

The Apple Remote application is another iPhone App that shows the true potential of the iPhone (and iPod Touch) to become the control centre of your digital life. The future is here and it is looking very bright indeed.

I have recently bought a second 15inch Studiospares PA Speaker. I now have a stereo pair of these active speakers.  Totalling 600 watts, this sound-system is hooked up to my Airport Express, and now unleashed thanks to the fantastic Apple Remote iPhone App with the magic of Wi-Fi. This is my new home stereo. Where before the arrival of the Apple Remote it would have become what it is: a clunky, dopey P.A. system for occasional use only and also a pain in the derrière to use on a day to day basis.

My brutishly large and rather ’stupid’ speakers are brought to life with this FREE iPhone App. I can turn up the volume from both my front and back gardens – to scare the beejeezus out of my cat and other dozing visitors! I can now play all my iTunes digital media through my behemoth speakers. I can turn up the volume, search, select playlists, pause, skip and lots more. It’s possibly one of the first apps to really bring this whole digital lifestyle thing to life.

…possibly one of the first apps to really bring this whole digital lifestyle thing to life.

— Apple Remote iPhone App

But wait, there is more. I can also pair up the Remote App to my wife’s and daughters iTunes libraries too, so in effect, this turns my iPhone into a monster iPod.

There are a few gremlins too, but then I need to remember this is a Version 1 release. It occasionally can’t find my library, but 99% of the time it works as expected.

Apple Remote iPhone App Review Conclusion

A FREE but essential piece of kit for your digital lifestyle. This is a FREE, (don’t you love that word?) app that transcends what one expects from digital gadgets. It rocks my world, breathes artificial intelligence into my speaker system, and creates an audio system that I can control with even the most whimsical of touches.

Apple Remote Screenshots

View some screenshots of the Apple Remote app.