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Kindle 2 gets native PDF support, improved battery life

Amazon has an early Thanksgiving gift for all you Kindle 2 owners out there. The company has just announced an upcoming firmware update for its six-inch e-book reader that adds a big new feature: native PDF support.

Previously, if you wanted to read a PDF on your Kindle 2, you had two options: convert it to a Kindle format using Amazon’s conversion process or buy a Kindle DX, which has offered native PDF support from the get go. Once you apply the firmware update—which will install wirelessly using Amazon's 3G Whispernet—you’ll be able to load up your Kindle 2 with PDFs to your heart’s content by either e-mailing PDFs to your Kindle address or by connecting the USB cable to transfer them directly to your Kindle 2.

Amazon also claims that the new firmware update significantly improves the Kindle 2’s battery life while the wireless radio is on, by as much as 85 percent. That translates to seven days of readin’ goodness with wireless on (up from four days).

The press release also promises native PDF support for the original Kindle as well, awkwardly stated as coming "for some earlier versions of Kindle” (there's only been one previous model).

The one thing the press release didn't say is when the firmware update will be available. A quick survey of Kindle 2-owning editors found no such update when this story was posted.

Free (and some not free) live music

I love live music. Well, music in general, but there’s something about the anything-can-happen vibe and the interaction with the audience of concerts that’s hard to beat.

With six-month-old twins at home, I haven’t had much opportunity to get out to shows for a while. But I still get to enjoy concerts at my desk, in my car, or on my iPhone. And I don’t mean the edited, polished, compiled ‘live albums’ that record labels release (although some of those can be pretty awesome, too).

If you crave the sounds of a slightly out-of-tune guitar or the banter between a singer and the woman in the front row yelling out a request for “Free Bird,” (or just to hear the show again that left your ears ringing with delight) here are some great places to find free and paid live music.

Free stuff

In the old days, concert goers often taped shows on reel-to-reel machines or cassette tapes. These bootlegs—or, if you prefer, ROIOs (Recordings of Indeterminate Origin)—were often stealthily recorded, of poor sonic quality, included drunken conversations preserved for posterity, and suffered from lots of cuts and tape flips. These days, many bands allow fans to record shows for non-commerical use, and these tapers come equipped with fancy DAT recorders and high-quality mics. The results are some stunning recordings that make you feel like you were standing among thousands of your closest friends, sharing in the groove.

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Hands on: Roku's updated Player software and new Channel Store

Roku will announce on Monday a major update to the software powering the company’s Roku Player models. As part of that update, the company will also introduce the new Roku Channel Store.

Last month, Roku expanded the company’s streaming-media player line to three models: the $80 Roku SD, the $100 Roku HD (formerly the Roku Player, originally called the Roku Netflix Player), and the $130 Roku HD-XR. All three models, which work via a wireless or wired Internet connection, inherit the functionality of the original Roku model: the capability to stream to your TV video via Netflix’s Watch Instantly service, Amazon’s Video On Demand service, and Major League Baseball’s MLB.TV. The SD model offers standard-definition video and analog audio; the two HD models provide high-definition video and optical-digital audio, with the HD-XR adding 802.11n wireless and a mysterious USB port “for future use.”

With Monday’s announcement, Roku has updated the Player software with a new Channel Store, including ten initial channels, that lets users easily add additional content sources. These channels, focusing on independent and user-created media, are blip.tv video publishing, Facebook Photos, Flickr, FrameChannel photo sharing and viewing, the Mediafly podcast aggregator, MobileTribe, Motionbox video sharing, Pandora Internet radio, Revision3 Internet television, and TWiT.TV.

All channels are free to add and use, although you need to set up a Roku account on the Roku Website, and then link that account with your player, in order to take advantage of the Channel Store. (Existing Roku users can continue to use their Netflix, Amazon, and MLB accounts, but will need to create a Roku account—if they don’t already have one—to use the Store.) Some services, such as Motionbox, have multiple levels of membership; a paid membership may offer more features.

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Google adds captions to YouTube search

Editor’s Note: The following article is reprinted from the Today @ PC World blog at PCWorld.com.

In a step to make YouTube videos more accessible to deaf people, as well as to anyone else searching for videos online, Google has launched an automatic video captioning service.

Captioned videos are not entirely new at YouTube. Google first introduced manual user-generated video captioning three years ago, and people have already used the existing service to caption hundreds of thousands of videos.

But the new auto captioning service will exploit the speech-recognition algorithms used in Google Voice to produce captions automatically.

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Cloud Engines updates Pogoplug media sharing device

On Friday, Cloud Engines introduced the second generation of its Pogoplug multimedia sharing device. The Pogoplug is designed to plug into your home or small office network and let you access and share content of USB hard drives over the Internet using a standard Web browser.

The new version adds several new features. First off, it now has four USB 2.0 ports instead of one so you can connect multiple USB hard drives or flash drives without the need for a USB hub. Along with that, there’s now support for global search across multiple drives. (It still connects to your router using gigabit Ethernet.)

Also new are improved transcoding and wider support for streaming movies on the Web or to an iPhone app; the ability to automatically sync photos, music, videos, and other content from apps such as iTunes and iPhoto; tighter integration with Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace; automatic organization of your music, photos, and videos; and an address book that remembers the e-mail addresses with which you’ve shared content for future sharing. (Many of the enhancements will be available to current Pogoplug owners as well.)

Pogoplug supports OS X 10.4 and higher as well as Windows XP and Vista, and Linux; Safari, Firefox 3, IE 7, IE 8, and Chrome Web browsers; and hard drives formatted as NTFS, FAT32, Max OS Extended Journaled and non-Journaled (HFS+), and EXT-2/EXT-3. Although there are no specific bandwidth requirements listed, the company says that a typical DSL connection (with 512 Kbps upload speed) works fine.

It works with H.264 video, as well as common photo types, but doesn’t support DRM media.

Cloud Engines expects to ship the new Pogoplug before the end of the year for $129, and is currently taking pre-orders.

California Energy Commission rule to impact HDTV industry

Editor’s Note: The following article is reprinted from PCWorld.com.

For the California Energy Commission, the voluntary guidelines of the Federal Energy Star program aren't enough to curb energy guzzling by HDTVs. In a unanimous vote, the CEC just introduced the nation's first state-mandated regulations for energy efficiency. The regulations will apply to televisions up to 58 inches in screen size.

The CEC regulations will affect all HDTVs sold at retail or over the Internet, according to Adam Gottlieb, a spokesman for the California Energy Commission, and will go into effect on January 1, 2011. The California rules were adopted despite some vehement industry opposition to them. Many in the industry—including the Consumer Electronics Association, the electronics company Panasonic, and the retail chain Best Buy—felt that the measures taken independently by the TV manufacturers, and by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy's Energy Star program, were sufficient to guide manufacturers on the path towards environmental awareness and compliance.

But the Energy Star guidelines alone weren't enough for California, notes Gottlieb. "Energy Star is a badge of honor for manufacturers. This is a mandatory standard."

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Incase debuts new chargers for iPod and iPhone

Accessory vendor Incase has released two new chargers for iPods and iPhones. The $40 Combo Charger is an update to the company's 2-in-1 Wall & Car Charger, and features a 12V plug (for car accessory jacks) on one end and a fold-away wall-outlet plug at the other. The Combo Charger is compatible with international voltages, requiring only a plug adapter to be used outside the U.S. Unlike the 2-in-1 Wall & Car Charger, which sported a permanently attached dock-connector cable, the new Combo Charger provides two USB-power jacks; you can power and charge both an iPod or iPhone (using the included USB dock-connector cable) and another USB-power device.

The $30 Car Charger is similar to the Combo Charger but connects only to an automobile accessory jack. Like the Combo Charger, the Car Charger provides power via two USB jacks.

Both accessories support quick-charge mode, include an LED power indicator, and are Made for iPod- and Works with iPhone-certified. Each charger is available now, in either black or white, at Apple online and retail stores and goincase.com.

Macworld's complete iPod buying guide

In September, Apple performed the now-yearly ritual of updating its iPod lineup in anticipation of the upcoming holiday season. Why? Apple sold 22.7 million iPods in the previous holiday quarter, compared with 21.2 million iPods in the two quarters that followed—combined. In other words, now’s the time that people love to buy Apple’s digital music players.

Are your loved ones starting to leave magazine ads, scissor-clipped photos, and crayon-scrawled images of this year’s crop of iPods in obvious places around the house? Are you looking to join the fun or upgrade your older iPod? If so, we’re here to help you sort out which iPod is the right one for you or that special holiday someone.

iPod shuffle

The iPod shuffle has always been about economy and ultimate portability and that’s never been more true than it is today. Available in 2GB () and 4GB () capacities for $59 (Get best current price) and $79 (Get best current price), respectively, the third-generation (3G) iPod shuffle is a little larger and twice as thick as a piece of Dentyne gum. That 2GB and 4GB capacity buys you 500 and 1000 four-minute 128kbps AAC songs—more than enough music to get you through the most vigorous workout. It’s available in a brushed aluminum finish in silver, black, blue, green, and pink.

Because it weighs next to nothing, clips to clothing, and is so tiny that it won’t get in the way, the gym is one of the most appropriate places for this diminutive iPod. Another is in your kid’s holiday stocking. Because the shuffle has no moving parts to damage and costs little more than a console video game, it’s a kid-appropriate gift. If it’s lost, stolen, or goes through the wash, you’ll have a measure of regret, but a measure commensurate only with the shuffle’s size and price—not much-bigger-bucks iPod touch regret.

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iPod touch

Apple’s latest marketing campaign paints the iPod touch as a great iPod, a great pocket computer, and a great portable game player. And, indeed, it is all these things. But you could also less elegantly describe it as “an iPhone without the phone, messaging, microphone, compass, camera, cellular network, and GPS features.”

The iPod touch comes in three capacities—8GB (), 32GB (), and 64GB ()—priced respectively at $199 (Get best current price), $299 (Get best current price), and $399 (Get best current price). These models, in ascending order, hold 1750 songs or 10 hours video, 7000 songs or 40 hours video, and 14,000 songs or 80 hours video. While the iPod touch may not pack the capacity of the iPod classic, a 64GB iPod touch that can hold 40 two-hour movies is nothing to sneeze at.

One of the things that makes the touch such a great iPod is the 3.5-inch (diagonal) touchscreen display. Because of its bright and fairly large display, this is the iPod you’ll want to take to bed with you when you’re in the mood for a late-night movie. Unlike with the nano and, perhaps, the classic, this is an iPod you can stare at throughout a double-feature without squinting for hours afterwards.

The 8GB model is the previous iteration of the iPod touch. As such, it doesn’t have the faster processor and graphics chip found in the 32GB and 64GB iPod touches. It also lacks these iPods’ Voice Control and VoiceOver features. (Voice Control is managed through the microphone/controller found on the cord of the right earbud. The 8GB iPod touch’s headset lacks this controller.)

All iPod touches support the creation of Genius playlists and Shake-to-Shuffle, operate as Internet appliances (for Web browsing, e-mail, YouTube, MobileMe syncing, and weather and stocks updates over Wi-Fi only), include a tinny internal speaker, and let you purchase and download media from the iTunes Store and apps from the App Store.

Access to these stores is one of the primary attractions of the iPod touch. With iTunes Store access you can acquire media on the go (provided the place you go has Wi-Fi). This is highly convenient when you’re sitting in an airport between flights and wish to download an album, TV episode, or movie for the next leg of your journey (go after that movie only if you’re sure you’re connected to a very fast Wi-Fi network). Just as convenient is grabbing a free or low-cost game from the App Store that helps you while away the hours in Coach.

Best for: Those who want to enjoy most of the advantages of add-on applications, the iTunes Store, Wi-Fi access to the Internet (and all that comes with it), and portable video, but don’t need a phone.

Not for: Those looking for an exercise-only iPod—it’s a little bulky and, with its glass screen, you don’t want to drop it on a locker room’s tile floor or the jogging trail.

iPhone

If the iPod touch is a great iPod, pocket computer, and portable game player, the iPhone is all those things plus as good a mobile phone as that phone’s carrier and reception allows. And that’s largely what the iPhone as phone boils down to—the quality of the service. For those who get great reception from AT&T in the areas in which they travel, the iPhone is a solid choice. If AT&T’s service is flaky or non-existent, you or the person you give the iPhone to will be unhappy.

As a holiday gift, the iPhone remains problematic. Unlike an iPod, the 8GB 3G (), or 16GB () or 32GB () 3GS iPhone is the gift that keeps on giving in the form of at least 24-months worth of service charges (including a mandatory $30-a-month data plan). Unless you’re so generous that you’re willing to pick up this tab, be absolutely certain that your gift will be welcomed. Be doubly certain if that person has an existing mobile phone contract that, when terminated, imposes additional fees.

Best for: Those who have good AT&T coverage; who desire a very cool mobile phone; and can afford the two-year commitment.

Not for: People who are largely after the iPhone’s media capabilities and happy with their current mobile phone and service.

The last word

As with many purchasing decisions, this one can be boiled down to budget and need. In tough financial times, if you seek a simple music player only, the iPod shuffle is ideal. If you’re after big features in a small, reasonably affordable package, it’s the iPod nano. If you desire to pack as much of your iTunes media in your pocket as possible—expense be darned—the iPod classic is the classic choice. If you’re after a very good iPod, great portable video player, and versatile pocket computer, and can afford at least $199, the iPod touch is right for you. And if you or a loved one needs a new mobile phone, that mobile phone will be used in an area well-served by AT&T, and you’d like that mobile phone to perform the iPod touch’s hatful of tricks (and more), join the ranks of the many satisfied iPhone owners.

Senior editor Christopher Breen is the author of The iPod and iTunes Pocket Guide, fifth edition, The iPhone Pocket Guide, fourth edition, and the upcoming The iPod touch Pocket Guide.

Copy music off your iPod

It’s happened to the best of us: a hard drive crash takes our precious iTunes library down to Davy Jones’ Locker, and we either don’t have backups, or our backups are corrupted or out of date. If those files are on your iPod, however, you can restore them to your computer—with a little bit of work.

I’m so obsessive about my music collection that I keep two backups of my music, because Kirk’s First Rule of Computing is that you will, one day, lose your files. But let’s say something happens to your backups and you can’t get your music files restored. Apple doesn’t provide any way for you to copy files from your iPod back to your Mac. While there are legitimate reasons for blocking bi-directional copying—it would be simple to dump your entire music collection on a friend’s computer, for example—there are also good reasons why you might need to do so.

A friend of mine e-mailed me the other day asking how he could recover files from his iPod. There are several ways and utilities to help you, but let’s start with the easy and free way.

First, connect the iPod to your Mac; as soon as you do so, hold down the Command and Option keys, which will tell iTunes not to sync to your iPod. You’ll then see the iPod (but not iPhone or iPod touch) show up in the Finder sidebar. If you click it, to see its contents, you’ll see four folders by default: Calendars, Contacts, Notes and Recordings. But what you won’t see are any of the music files stored on your iPod; that’s because Apple has hidden them. You’ll need a way to display these hidden files in the Finder. If you’re comfortable using Terminal, you can run this command:

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Review: Roth Audio Alfie

Referred to throughout the marketing material as a ‘he’, Roth Audio’s Alfie appears to have quite a grand opinion of ‘himself’. And if you consider that it’s an iPod docking stereo system with a CD player, AM/FM radio, and a DVD player all rolled into one, you may be inclined to agree.

It certainly looks the part when you take it out of the box. The Alfie has a curved design with silver sides and a shiny piano-black top panel.

The connectivity ports for your TV are on the back of the unit, while the top has a row of touch-sensitive red lights that act as buttons.

However, Alfie’s looks are blighted somewhat when in use. There’s a click-to-open iPod dock at the back—inexplicably it’s slightly to the right of center. The touch-sensitive buttons are also on the unresponsive side.

Overall, the sound is OK, but the high price tag ($815 on Amazon.com) reflects the unit’s multi-purpose nature rather than any exquisite audio output.

Macworld’s buying advice

The Alfie promises much with its cool styling and all-in-one approach to your living room entertainment. We have to say, though, that the sound really isn’t good enough for this to be a main speaker unit; but as a DVD and CD player to play through the TV set, it does a good job.