playlist
Awaken Review (Alarm Clock for Mac OS X)
January 21, 2010
Awaken is an alarm clock application for Mac OS X, that comes with more features than you may expect from such an application, and certainly beats other alternatives on the market. Before I came across Awaken, I used Alarm Clock, a free and simple application that did what it said on the tin: played music through my speakers at whatever time I wanted! I found the application to be somewhat unintuitive, and at times buggy, so I went on the hunt for a replacement and came across Awaken.
In a market where there are many free applications that do a simple job, you may wonder why you’d pay $10(CAD) for an alarm clock application, but when using it I felt that the interface was significantly more polished than other similar applications, and offered more options as a whole.
Continue reading »nuTsie Mobile App (Sync iTunes Playlists & Stream To Mobile Phones)
January 15, 2010
Android’s been in the news a lot so far this month, with the release of the Nexus One just before CES 2010 and with more devices on the way, there hasn’t been a better time to switch to Google’s open source mobile phone platform. The only thing putting me off the purchase of an Android device has been the inability to take my music with me. My iTunes library is over 32GB in size, and the Nexus One comes with a measly 4GB storage via MicroSD, which caps out at 32GB.
For me to be able to carry around my music with me is essential in my decision to purchase a new device, and it seemed that my only option was to sync only certain playlists at a time, which is inconvenient at best. Why Apple don’t have an iTunes streaming application for the iPhone is a mystery to me, but why Google themselves don’t is a major question, with Google being very cloud-centric in their future plans.
Continue reading »iTunes 9 Review
January 4, 2010
It isn’t that long ago that iTunes was simply Apple’s audio player. Somewhere to stash and organise your MP3 files and sync them with your iPod. That was pretty much it. Nowadays however, it manages your video files organising movies and tv shows, as well as podcasts, apps for your iPod/iPhone. You get the picture. The name iTunes really doesn’t do it justice anymore.
Many of you may have updated to iTunes 9 already, in fact you probably will have done after being prompted by the software update at the time of release. But in case you haven’t, or in case you’ve missed something, this is what’s new in iTunes number 9.
Continue reading »SonicSwap Review (iTunes Playlist Widget)
December 28, 2009
SonicSwap is described as an iTunes playlist widget. It’s an add-on to iTunes for OS X that provides extremely simplistic usability for even the beginners amongst us. The app features several useful features that all worked extremely well for me and best of all, it’s available as a free download from the downloads section of the Apple website.
Basically, the main feature of the widget is the simplification of the iTunes interface. It sits neatly upon your desktop and allows you to control your tracks and volume etc. without having to bring up the bulky and sometimes laggy iTunes interface.
I have to say, that it doesn’t feature such an attractive look as most other OS X apps, it just doesn’t follow the usual style of apps. However, its functionality is key and it delivers all that it promises. Ok, so you could just leave the iTunes mini player upon your desktop, it would provide the same basics, however, with SonicSwap, not only are the navigational buttons displayed, artwork and track details are listed too without taking up a sizeable chunk of your desktop.
Continue reading »Sky Songs – Online Music Streaming and Download Service
December 5, 2009
According to a journalist for the Telegraph, Sky Songs has the potential to rival iTunes as an online music provider. The concept is not a new thing; downloading and streaming music is widely available online including the increasingly popular Spotify. But coming from a trusted source such as Sky, who provide television, telephone and internet for many households already, gives this service a head start over other options.
The principle is simple. You visit the Sky Songs website, sign up and you have access to 4 million songs. You can choose whether or not to download albums, singles or even mix and match songs creating a ‘music pack’. Most albums or music packs are available for £6.49, rivalling the prices of the likes of Amazon MP3 Download Store and iTunes for top titles.
Continue reading »GrooveNeo iPod Alarm Clock Radio
November 26, 2009
The GrooveNeo iPod Alarm Clock Radio is more than just an alarm clock. It’s also an iPod dock with an integrated AM/FM radio. Features 2.75” stereo speakers so it should produce pretty loud and clear sound quality, although don’t expect anything Bose like from this device. Having said that, I’m sure it’s sufficient for waking you up in the morning.
The volume of the sound and the brightness of the red LED display makes it a pretty good alarm clock with a remote control so that you can position anywhere in your room. It can wake you up with any playlist of your choice, or even podcasts which is pretty cool as I’m sure there are some songs on your iPod that you wouldn’t want to wake up to. Or you can just set it to the old fashioned buzzer sound.
Continue reading »CoverSutra Review (Minimalist iTunes Interface For Mac OS X)
November 2, 2009
I love music and have a huge iTunes library to prove it, but having to go into iTunes every time I want to view what’s playing, select a new track or rate a track I’m listening to gets annoying! Especially when I’m listening to music for a long time while I’m working on something…
For quite some time I was looking for a more minimalist interface (or application) that could manage my music without as much hassle, and I came across an application called CoverSutra, from a small developer called Sophiestication.
When running, CoverSutra sits on your dock, displaying the artwork of whatever’s currently playing, and gives you a larger album art in a CD case template, with song and album information on your desktop. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing on your desktop, but it’s also a very functional application, compatible for Mac OS X 10.4 through to 10.6, although newer versions only support Leopard and Snow Leopard.
Continue reading »Spotify Adds Offline Song Playback For Premium Members
October 5, 2009
As it moves from strength to strength Spotify has really made an impression over the last year, and with the recent introduction of the Spotify iPhone app (and also the Android version) allowing it to be used when on the go one can only see its popularity increasing.
The most recent addition to their arsenal comes in the form of the ability to now play certain playlists whilst offline – a feature already present on the mobile versions of the app but will now be available on desktops/laptops as well.
Continue reading »iTunes 9: So What?!?! – Part Two: Steal, Innovate, Repeat!
October 4, 2009
It’s Bill time again! (it’s always Bill O’clock in my house). I think Bill’s expression here, is a combination of shame and lust. Anyway, on with the whinging about Apple…
I always take delight in posing this quesstion to Mac Monks: “Well if OSX is so reliable and fantastic, where are all the Apple servers then!?” Exactly. There’s only one word in networking, and that word is Windows.
In part one of my iTunes 9 review, I told you how rubbish media sharing was in iTunes 9 and I told you why, but you know what? It doesn’t even matter. iTunes is a great audio manager and a competent audio streamer, but it’s no media-hub. Windows, however, is.
Practical sharing in Windows is so simple, I can cover it a paragraph. Here we go then…
Continue reading »iTunes 9 Review: So What?!?!
September 27, 2009
What can I say to follow up on my iTunes 9 teaser? Well, the scary doll from SAW said:
“Ringtones at a breakthrough price of $1.29” “We’ve bumped podcasts over and given the slot to ringtones”
Because that’s what everyone wants isn’t it? Not free, informative podcasts, oh no. Fucking shitty 30 second ringtones that cost more than the whole song, that’s what we want! – Assholes.
Continue reading »
