Luke Irvin

Today is the day many have been waiting for!  Apple has released their new line up of iPods and released the iTunes 8.0.  

To start off, the Shuffle has been updated with four new colors and still come in 1 or 2 GB for $49 or $69.

The nano’s have the huge update.  Apple is calling this update the “nano-chromatic”.  People can now choose between 9 different colors in the nano line.  There are 8 or 16 GB models.  The rumors that Kevin Rose had leaked seem to be true.  The nano’s have a new look.  They are designed to work well with wide screen display.  They have a feature to where you “shake” the actual iPod and it will shuffle to a new song.  I don’t know how well this will work out or how sensitive it is.  Also the new “Genius” feature in iTunes 8.0 has been applied to all the new iPods.  The price range for these are $149 or $199.  Also they have 24 battery life for music and 4 hours for video when fully charged.

The iPod classic is now in just a 120 GB model only.  Still comes in the white or black model.  Prices at $249.  It seems that’s about it for the Classic.  Doesn’t have the “Shake” feature, which was originally rumored to be in the shuffle but like I stated above, is in the Nano which is what is very interesting to me.  The iPod classic does have a 36 hour battery life which is very nice.

The iPod Touch is still in the 8, 16 or 32 GB models.  The rumored 64 model was false, or maybe sometime later in the year or next year.  The 8 and 16 are both priced at $299 which is very, very surprising.  Why would Apple price them the same or is this an error?  The 32 is priced at $399.  The Touch has a new look to it.  It has a polished stainless steal design.  Apple is calling this the “funnest iPod ever”.  I don’t know how that will play out with the price range it has.  

So that’s the lineup there.  Not a huge price change that I was hoping for.  I think the 8 GB Touch should be 199 and the 16 249 and the 32 349.  I feel that would have been a little bit better.  Why pay 299 for a iPod touch when you can pay 199 for an iPhone.  But I believe the main focus is on saleing the iPod Nano’s with their new features.  

I think I may get an 8 GB nano and check it out.  I do have an original iPod Classic video but it is old and scratched up and it’d be nice to have a new iPod even though I don’t really need it since I mainly use my iPhone for all my music and such.

I did install iTunes 8.0 and it seems to be working well now.  I do like the Genius feature.  With the Genius sidebar all you need to do is select one song and the sidebar will bring up more songs by the same artist or songs from artist that have a similar music style that you may like.  It has the price right there and the “buy” button to make a fast purchase.  I don’t really care for the Grid view.  I like it “ok” but I usually stick to standard view.  I do like the updated Visualizer.  They lights, color’s and effects are pretty amazing.  The iTunes store now has HD TV shows and specials on a lot of my favorite shows like LOST or Grey’s Anatomy.  So overall, the new iTunes is a great update.  

Also, the new iPod Touch have the firmware 2.1 installed on them.  I haven’t seen what is featured in this but if I do find what it is I will post about it.  No news on when the iPhone will be getting the 2.1 update.

That’s all the big Apple news for today.  I’m more excited about October when they are suppose to release the new MacBook/MacBook Pro lineup.  I am hoping for a really new price change here even though I know it won’t happen.

Thanks to Kevin Rose for all the rumors.  Thanks to Digg and Gizmodo for some updates.  And thanks to Apple for all their great gadgets!

Keep on blogging!

Luke

Linkin Park is by far one of my favorite bands.  I just seem to connect to their sound and their lyrics more than any other band.  A lot of their songs have been hunge influences in my life and help open up my mind to think about things differently.  Linkin Park had an interview and announced that they will be entering the studio in November to work on another album.  Huge news for me, and I hope other LP fans will enjoy this.

Also congrats to Linkin Park for winning best rock video at the VMA’s!

Thanks to Linkin Park.com, LPAssociation!

Keep on bloggin!

Luke

So one bit of news that has caught my eye for a while now is that Bill Gates has asked Jerry Seinfeld if he would like to help them with ads on Microsoft Vista.  Mainly to help with the fight against the Apple ads against it.  I was a little excited about it because I am a huge Seinfeld fan.  But I think it would have been an even greater idea if they could have gotten the whole four member cast of the show Seinfeld, instead of Jerry himself, and made an ad.  Maybe give it a Seinfeld feel to it with them in their normal coffee show talking about it or what not.  Another irony of it is that on the TV show, Jerry did have an Apple computer.  I thought that was a little funny.  Well, there is now a video of what seems to be the first advertisement, maybe?  I’m not sure what this is, or what to think of it.  Take a look, and please feel free to leave comments on what you think.

Thanks to Digg.com, and Gizmodo.com!

Keep on blogging!

Luke

Growing up I have always been a huge Anime fan.  Especially Janapanese Anime.  One of my favorite shows growing up was the Dragaon Ball/Z/GT series.  Incase you didn’t know, they are finally making a Dragon Ball movie.  There have been many picutures up showing off the cast and characters.  All except for Piccolo.  I was pretty sure they would keep him under wraps until the trailer hits but he has finally been revealed.  dbthemovie.com has shown some clips from the Dragon Ball trailer, set to be released in October with the Max Payne movie.  Here are the two shots of Piccolo.  Hope you enjoy!

Thanks to dbthemovie.com and Digg.com!

Keep on blogging!

Luke

We have finally released our pilot episode of GeeksOnMic.  This is the podcast that myself and my best friend have created.  We will talking about things from community news, college news, world news, all the way up to tech news which is the main stuff.  We’ll cover things from movies, video games, to books.  Camera’s, audio/video, just anything technology or anything at all.  We are going to try to submit one podcast a week.  They may not all be video but we’ll try to work something out.  I hope all enjoy.  Please feel free to ask questions if you have any or leave comments.  Let us know what you like or would like to see. 

Thanks a lot everyone! 

Keep on blogging!

Luke

Oh, and expect a .com or .tv soon!

http://www.stickam.com/geeksonmic

geeksonmic@gmail.com

According to a recent post by Digg’s founder Kevin Rose, it seems a few new features of iTunes 8.0 has been released.  It seems that there will be a new feature called Genius that will create playlists from you iTunes library of songs that will work together.  I don’t think many people will be thrilled with this.  It’s ok by the sounds of it.  If it can make a great playlist to work out to then I’ll like it ok I think.  Also on the sidebar will be a list of albums and songs that you do not on that relate to the music you listen to.  Also expect a Grid view, HD TV shows, and a new visualizer.  I’m sure there will be a lot more features to look forward to.

Thanks for the update Kevin Rose.

Keep on blogging!

Luke

Remember the best part of going to the movies?  It was that guy who did the movie trailer voices of course.  That man was Don LaFontaine.  He passed away with a collapsed lung at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, http://www.cbc.ca.  He will surely be missed but well remembered throughout our time.

Luke

Along with being a huge Apple fan, I am also a huge Google fan.  I have been doing my best to keep up with Android, Google’s soon to be released phone.  But I was not aware of Google Chrome.  Google Chrome is Google’s browser.  It is still in beta form but has just been released minutes ago.  So far I really enjoy it.  It will import all book marks from Firefox which is nice.  The great thing about Chrome is that when you open a new tab, it is designed to automatically show you the most visited websites to give you a faster browsing experience.  It will also remember passwords for you and keep track of most recent bookmarks and visits.  It has a nice, fast downloading feature.  It will place recent downloads or visits in the bottom left corner of the page.

I look forward to future Google developements.  I would like to see this browser on the iPhone.  I really enjoy using iGoogle on my iPhone.  Hopefully we will see more enhancements with Google’s latest releases.

Keep on blogging!

Luke

A couple of days ago some new pictures were released showing new covers and iSkins for the iPod Nano 4G.  From the looks of things they are identical to the picture that Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, Pownce, and Revision 3, had posted on his blog.

It seems Apple is going away from the squareish, fat looking Nano and going back to  a similar older version.  The difference is that the screen is longer, giving it that wide screen feel if you watch a movie on it.  Also the screen is like a curved glass look on it.  Everything new with Apple seems to have this “curve” look on it.  I’m ready to see one in person to get a better feel of it.  Am I thrilled about it?  Not really.  We’ll see what else Apple has coming for us here in a couple of weeks.  I believe the rumored date for Apple’s September upldates is September 9th.

For more info on this keep checking Apple.com, and Digg.com!

Keep on blogging!

Luke

Well it’s that time again, that’s right, another year of college.  I am now starting my junior year of college.  So far it seems like my classes will be reasonable and something I will enjoy.  I am taking Database Systems, Networking, Calculus 1, and Principles of Sociology.

I have a brand new professor to my University this semester for my Database class.  He seems to be a very understanding gentleman.  He is actually pretty close to my age.  He graduated with a Ph.D. from Georgia not too long ago.  It’s kinda nice to have a professor near my age.  It makes the class feel a little more comfortable and relaxed.  He even stated that he prefers teaching as if it is a friend-to-friend teaching method.  I have been looking forward to this class all summer.  I’ll try to post more about it later.

As for my other classes…they should be about normal.  Calculus and Sociology are just more GenEd’s I have to take.  I decided to take Networking as one of my elected, major classes.  I worked a lot in networking in High School so I do have some background on it.  I felt this is a class that will come in handy in the long wrong when it comes time for me to look for a career.

In other news, I am currently in pursuit of purchasing an HDTV.  I have a Vizio picked out at the moment that catches my eye.  It’s a 42″, 1080p, 5000:1 resolution.  It has a very, very nice picture and it’s a great size that will work well in my living room.  I am waiting to see if it get’s any price drop for Labor Day weekend sales.  It’s saling at under 900 at the moment which isn’t bad at all.  I am sure that I will look into Blue Ray players soon after I purchase a new tv.  I know September is a big month for some popular movies to be released on DVD/Blue Ray.  I know that Iron Man is at the top of my list, along with Season 1 of Terminator:  The Sarah Conner Cronicles, LOST, and HEROES.  If you have any recommendations feel free to comment or send me an email:  luke.irvin@gmail.com

Don’t have much news on current movies.  I have seen Step Brothers and Pineapple Express here lately.  They were both very funny and not a bad choice if you are hanging out with friends and have nothing else to do.  I will be going to see The Dark Knight for the third time tonight, of course on the IMAX screen ^_^!

I have updated my links with some of my favorite sites.  I am big on using Twitter and Facebook.  The rest are fun sites to check out.

My podcast idea is still in the works.  I am in the process of looking for some decent microphones and then I’ll be getting to work on it.  I’ll update as soon as it’s getting closer to being released.

Luke