| iPod Inside: Standard features of Apple MP3 players
Munich - Mini, nano, or classic: no matter what the flavour, iPods are bestsellers. Many love the design Apple's portable music players while others swear by the simple controls. The database system, which prevents any software but iTunes from stocking the player, is not to everyone's taste, however. Adventurous types can try their luck with alternative software. They allow for individualization of the player and the installation of additional applications. iPod-Linux is free software that provides users with more than just another way to fill up the database: for friends of mobile gaming, for example, there is a Gameboy emulator called iBoy. The standard user interface for Linux is available in a palmtop format called podzilla. Users can then install things like music players, pocket calculators, calendar, file browser, picture viewer, painting, recording, text and video programs, as well as numerous games.
Apple ships new iPod game: Guitar Hero clone
New to the iTunes Store is Phase (iTunes link), an iPod rhythm game developed under MTV Networks. Closing mimicking the popular "Guitar Hero" console series, Phase lets users pick tracks from their music library, which are then converted into game sequences where players must match button presses and clickwheel motions to on-screen notes. Scrolling backgrounds include alien, urban and underwater settings. Two play modes are available: Quick Spin takes users through a single song, while Marathon strings together multiple songs, with increasingly hard notation. Phase is a $5 download from iTunes, and is only compatible with iPod classics, third-generation Nanos, and fifth-generation standard iPods. It will not work with iPhones or iPod touches. The game also requires iTunes 7.5, released Monday afternoon.
Star time for Feist
Despite well-received appearances on Jimmy Kimmel Live and a thriving career in Canada, Leslie Feist seemed destined to be no more than a cult artist in this country. That is, until a TV commercial for the iPod Nano began featuring the childlike indie-pop tune "1234" from her masterfully executed 2007 release The Reminder. That coast-to-coast corporate boost, along with a note-perfect performance of the track on Letterman, was exactly the push the clever Canadian needed. Today, she sells out pretty much every venue she plays. The depth Feist displays on The Reminder shouldn't surprise anyone. Her work with Broken Social Scene, former roommate Peaches and musician/producer Gonzales, as well as stints in touring Canadian punk and indie-rock bands, demonstrates that she's always been game for musical experimentation.
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