Archive for the ‘Mac’ Category

iTunes store for Bermuda?

Posted: January 31, 2008 in Bermuda, internet, Mac, music
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Could frustrated Bermuda digital music fans finally be able to legitimately buy downloaded music from the iTunes store without having to resort to overseas credit cards and buying up iTunes gift cards when they’re on a trip? Maybe, according to yesterday’s story in the Bermuda Sun by Tim Hall:

Richard Todd, manager of the island’s iStore, is in negotiations with Apple to have the company’s licensing agreements extended to Bermuda.
Apple’s lawyers are looking at the proposal and are expected to make a decision in the first half of this year. It could mean Bermuda getting its own country-specific version of iTunes – the world’s biggest online music store. Such a move could also put pressure on other companies, such as Amazon, to offer digital music and movies to the island.

Meanwhile, Richard says he hopes to reach an agreement with Apple to at least sell the iTunes gift cards in Bermuda. He’s already managed to convince them to let him sell the Apple TV which – ludicrously – is one of the products Apple deemed a “US-only” product and not available in an Island 600 miles away, which it lumps in the Latin American region. This is also why you cannot buy the top-end 2.8 Extreme iMac in Bermuda either. If you want one, check out B&H in New York. They will ship to Bermuda via UPS.

Back to the Sun story: a couple of minor corrections – eMusic is wrongly listed as an illegal download site (it’s a totally legit, if limited, music store) and yours truly is not a Bermudian, despite the Gibbons surname. I am a mere permanent resident, although I do have a Bermudian daughter which will no doubt be confusing to off-rock readers. Welcome to Bermuda!

QTrax questionable

Posted: January 29, 2008 in internet, Mac, music
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I got all excited for five minutes today … QTrax, an ad-supported free legal P2P music jukebox was announced at the Midem conference last weekend and due to launch this week with 25 million available songs and backing from the big four music labels. At present QTrax is Windows-only – Mac support is due March 18 – with iPod compatibility from April 15.If something sounds too good to be true, chances are it probably is. Well the Jan.28 launch date came and went – the beta player software was eventually available for download today .. but no music. Then last night, the music page went down and was replaced by a site for an Oracle application. Now, it seems that three of the big four labels – EMI, Warner and Universal – have denied having any agreement with QTrax and several news outlets are doubting whether it will take off at all. Watch this Wikipedia page or Wired for breaking developments.

In Sync at last

Posted: January 21, 2008 in internet, Mac, Technology
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Google quietly launched a useful bit of software over Christmas with Google Mobile. Basically, it will not only load Google apps like News, Picasa Documents, and Maps on to your mobile device but will also sync GMail and Calendar.
 
For me this couldn’t have come at a better time. I have a Blackberry and have been running into a lot of trouble trying to sync with iCal on my Mac. The excellent free PocketMac usually does the trick beautifully but my iCal has been crashing continually and, despairing of a fix, I started using Google Calendar as an alternative. Google Calendar is great and as I use GMail almost exclusively these days and iGoogle is my home page, it all tied in pretty well. The trouble was, syncing up between Google, iCal, and my Blackberry was becoming a pain. Spanning Sync is a limited option for the Google/iCal part but you still have to then sync separately with your device – and this week, any iCal sync starting wiping out any new entries on my Blackberry.
 
Google Mobile has now solved my problems at a stroke – it syncs Google Calendar beautifully with my Blackberry calendar automatically and I can add or delete items on the fly. If this is a sign of Google’s mobile apps to come, it’s a good start and until I pick up a new Mac and I can use an iPhone properly in Bermuda, this will certainly be my preferred option.
 
To set it up, simply go to mobile.google.com on your device and download the apps you want. You need a Google account to get started – if you need one, e-mail me and I’ll happily send you an invite.

  

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