iPod Update 2004-10-20

[MacRumors]

iPod Update 2004-10-20 is available for download (http://www.apple.com/ipod/download/) from Apple's iPod download page. In addition to support for the new iPod Photo (http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2004/10/20041026141128.shtml), it provides improved power management for clickwheel iPods, improved playback performance for other iPods, and compatibility with iTunes 4.5 or later and the iTunes Music Store.

[snahabed]

The iPod download page says this update is the same as the August 6 update for all but the iPod Photo, so there is nothing new here.

[jsw]

Pod Updater 2004-10-20 includes iPod Photo Software 1.0 for use with iPod Photo. iPod Updater 2004-10-20 also contains the same iPod software included in iPod Updater 2004-08-06 for all other iPod models.
Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. Except for anyone with an iPod Photo - which presumably already has version 1.0 installed.

Edit: damn it. Answered a phone call before submitting this! See above....

[PlaceofDis]

blah just includes the software for the iPod photo, i wish i had one but i just dont have that type of money, darn you apple making products i want to buy!

[applemacdude]

Did the 3G ipods have lossless support before this/?

[pyrotoaster]

Did the 3G ipods have lossless support before this/?
Yes, but this update doesn't add anything to the 3G iPods (or the 4G ones, for that matter).

It's only for the iPod Photo. :(
(And I was all excited about even better power management!) ;)

[jbembe]

Somebody tell me they added multiple on-the-goes and somehow managed to improve battery life!!??

Come on apple do us good!!! :D

[mms]

Don't see the point when all of the Photo iPods are going to be loaded with the new software anyways. I'm thinking it's just to make the older iPod users jealous.

[Stella]

Somebody tell me they added multiple on-the-goes and somehow managed to improve battery life!!??

Come on apple do us good!!! :D

There will be no more significant functionality for the 3G iPods, unfortunately. When the 3G iPods came out, only minor functionality was introduced for the 1/2G iPods.. so I can't really see 3G being any different now.

If you want multiple on-the-go playlists, you will have to buy a 4G / Photo iPod.

[macridah]

no love for the 3g iPods? what's up with that?

[hob]

I could've sworn the download page said something about 3G improved battery life... maybe it's just a ploy to get us all to "check out these accesories for your ipod whilst you wait for the download to complete"... and then to discover everythings geared for 4g's! I can't believe Apple have just dumped the 3G users like this, there's loads and loads of us!! Give us some new games or something!!

Yes I know it's out of date - i'm getting a iPodP for christmas... but still!!

[extremo]

Didn't thinksecret report that the ipod mini was going to recieve some of the new features of the 4G? i thought today would be a logical time to introduce that :rolleyes:

[swissmann]

Is there a way to get my 4G iPod to also have 15 hours battery life?

[ct77]

Is there a way to get my 4G iPod to also have 15 hours battery life?

In all seriousness, I'm betting no -- I think the Color 4G's are slightly bigger, and my guess is the extra battery life comes from a larger battery, rather than any software or iPod operating system optimizations.

[ct77]

I would really like it if iPod software, someday, allowed for grouping compilation artists the same way iTunes software does.

Before someone mentions it -- yes, I have provided this feedback directly to Apple.

I really don't see how grouping artists like this can be a difficult thing to do for iPod. :rolleyes:

[LeeTom]

I would really like it if iPod software, someday, allowed for grouping compilation artists the same way iTunes software does.

can i get an AMEN, brother! AMEN!

Lee Tom

[Mac til death]

I'm waiting for an official report, but I'm assuming...

no more Real Harmony....

can't say its a bad thing for Apple, but it sucks for people who purchased music from Real, and now it (probably) doesn't work...

[~Shard~]

I'm disappointed to see nothing for the 3G iPods. Come on, I just bought mine 6 months ago, show me some acknowledgment Apple! ;)

[ferratus]

Yeah, but what about the rumored update to bring to minis up to speed ? Wasn't that supposed to come out "real soon now"... 2 months ago ?

Come on Apple. You know you want to!

[t300]

Hey, remember that Mini update that was a rumor a little while back? I DO. Where is it? Oh yeah...Nowhere to be found.


Edit: Why am I complaining? I am selling it for an iPod Photo as we speak.

[JGowan]

iTunes 4.7 includes support for copying photos to an iPod photo, the ability to show duplicate songs in your library, and other performance improvements.

Edit > Show Duplicate Songs

I was able weed quite a few duplicates out this way. Thanks, Apple!

[paulypants]

iTunes 4.7 includes support for copying photos to an iPod photo, the ability to show duplicate songs in your library, and other performance improvements.

Edit > Show Duplicate Songs

I was able weed quite a few duplicates out this way. Thanks, Apple!

Yeah me too!! Love that feature!

[tech4all]

iTunes 4.7 includes support for copying photos to an iPod photo, the ability to show duplicate songs in your library, and other performance improvements.

Edit > Show Duplicate Songs

I was able weed quite a few duplicates out this way. Thanks, Apple!

How is that a good feature to show duplicate songs? Am I missing something? :confused:

[~Shard~]

How is that a good feature to show duplicate songs? Am I missing something? :confused:

Basically just to keep your iTunes library clean, I'm guessing. If you have a few versions of the same song all over the place then this will help identify them and let you do some "house-cleaning". I know I have a few songs which are different versions, remixes, same song but different bitrate, different lengths, etc. etc. so this would be a useful feature I'm thinking...

[n0lram]

"it provides improved power management for clickwheel iPods, improved playback performance for other iPods"

Apparently yes, this update means it's only for the iPod Photo.... you'd think some people would READ, but I know that's asking for too much. I just wonder how much it's improved. Hopefully someone will do the benchmarks.

[sbender]

The duplicate song feature worked wonders for me. I managed to free up 2 gig of space on my iPod. This included some albums that somehow got ripped twice. And easily removing duplicates of songs that were on more than one album.

[aswitcher]

You know what I would like...

An iTunes music controller floating on the screen or better yet in the dock that worked from one account in all others on the machine...so I could use my music account and control my music when in other accounts...rather than having to switch back and forth...

[Giantred]

Ummmm.....

On the Mini note, Im still upset about them not releasing an update.
But............

I had 6 On the Go Playlists on my Mini (Old one). I will do an experiment with my new one (There was a problem and the genius at my store got so upset he could fix it he just gave me a new one :)) to see if I get multiple lists again.


Corey

[subAtomic]

Is there a way to get my 4G iPod to also have 15 hours battery life?

yes there, for this hack you'll need:

1 x Hamster
1 x Hamster Exercise wheel
soldering kit
various lenghts of electrical wire
wirecutters
.....

;) :D

[juniormaj]

The duplicate song feature worked wonders for me. I managed to free up 2 gig of space on my iPod. This included some albums that somehow got ripped twice. And easily removing duplicates of songs that were on more than one album.

How did you get it to work on your iPod?
It's grayed-out when I select my iPod (3G). :confused:
I wonder if it is because I manually manage it instead of auto-sync?

[IndyGopher]

How did you get it to work on your iPod?
It's grayed-out when I select my iPod (3G). :confused:
I wonder if it is because I manually manage it instead of auto-sync?
Exactly. If you autosync, it deletes tracks off the iPod if you delete them from iTunes. If you go manual, it doesn't. There may be really good reasons NOT to autosync, for exactly that reason, but it does make it more tedius to do housekeeping (as one would expect from the word "manual")

[juniormaj]

Exactly. If you autosync, it deletes tracks off the iPod if you delete them from iTunes. If you go manual, it doesn't. There may be really good reasons NOT to autosync, for exactly that reason, but it does make it more tedius to do housekeeping (as one would expect from the word "manual")

Ah.
That makes sense.
I might have to give auto-sync another try. I had some issues with it a couple of years ago.

[iMan]

Is there a way to get my 4G iPod to also have 15 hours battery life?

How about 21 hrs?

Actually this is geared towards the 1-2Gs, but hey, should work with later also I suppose...

http://eshop.macsales.com/Catalog_Item.cfm?ID=7157&Item=NWTIPOD210012


Makes me wonder why Apple is sticking with the lower times they do... I mean if it IS possible at this price... what's the catch here... ?

[Windowlicker]

downloaded this morning before leaving to school and didn't have time to update yet.. will do when getting home. I don't really think I'm getting much improvements on my ipod eventhough the description says "improved playback". That's what every update says and I haven't really heard/seen a difference since the 1st software I had on my G315G.

[iMan]

You know what I would like...

An iTunes music controller floating on the screen or better yet in the dock that worked from one account in all others on the machine...so I could use my music account and control my music when in other accounts...rather than having to switch back and forth...

The "You Control : Tunes" function works very nice with one account - adding all iTunes controls/playlists + + to the top menubar.

For other accounts or machines there is some solutions also that should work:
http://homepage.mac.com/myobie/app/
http://www.whatsmyip.org/itunesremote/
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/netTunes/netTunesDescription.html

The latter the better I believe :)

[combatcolin]

I know this only apply's for the iPod photos owners (ENVY!!!!) but the last time i updated my iPod it deleted all my songs and it took bloody ages to copy everything over again from my (s l o w Win 2000 pro) pc's FW card.

Is this standard?

(Other silly question - friend told me the the PCI slot next to the AGP slot is 66mhz. Yes or no?, changed the card over to this slot but as i havn't imported any new songs for a while i can't tell the difference.)

[t300]

Okay...so I, am many others, have raised the question...Why isn't ANY of this in the software update??

[Yvan256]

"it provides improved power management for clickwheel iPods, improved playback performance for other iPods"

Apparently yes, this update means it's only for the iPod Photo.... you'd think some people would READ, but I know that's asking for too much. I just wonder how much it's improved. Hopefully someone will do the benchmarks.

Yes but what about this "improved playback performance for other iPods" part? Could this be the "AAC+" thing we've been hearing about? Maybe they won't even "explain" it for fear of confusing average users, but then again, average users won't go fiddling around with the bitrate settings...

[lyonsden]

The "You Control : Tunes" function works very nice with one account - adding all iTunes controls/playlists + + to the top menubar.

For other accounts or machines there is some solutions also that should work:
http://homepage.mac.com/myobie/app/
http://www.whatsmyip.org/itunesremote/
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/netTunes/netTunesDescription.html

The latter the better I believe :)

Actually, I've found that if you have your library shared and switch to a different user, it shows up as a shared music library on the second users iTunes library. In fact, my kids have had multiple songs playing from one library using different accounts on one computer. That was REALLY weird.

[Giantred]

Actually, I've found that if you have your library shared and switch to a different user, it shows up as a shared music library on the second users iTunes library. In fact, my kids have had multiple songs playing from one library using different accounts on one computer. That was REALLY weird.


I know what you mean, Its quite weird. But whats even weird is that the guy at the Apple Store said that it wasnt suposse to happen.


Corey

[raschild]

I want to see Apple add the 'Shuffle Songs' command to the main menu on the 3G iPod. Is there anything besides software keeping the 3G from having this capability??

[Doctor Q]

I want to see Apple add the 'Shuffle Songs' command to the main menu on the 3G iPod. Is there anything besides software keeping the 3G from having this capability??No. Hear that, Steve Jobs? Get this done!

[octarine]

Is there a way to get my 4G iPod to also have 15 hours battery life?

Remove some of the RAM?
If you look at the specs for the iPod photo you'll notice that it has less skip protection.

[slu]

"it provides improved power management for clickwheel iPods, improved playback performance for other iPods"

Apparently yes, this update means it's only for the iPod Photo.... you'd think some people would READ, but I know that's asking for too much. I just wonder how much it's improved. Hopefully someone will do the benchmarks.

It is only for the Photo iPod?

Because the quote you gave leads me to believe it is for all click wheel iPods.

I am not trying to be snarky here...I just want to know if I should update my 4G 20 GB?

[artifex]

I'm waiting for an official report, but I'm assuming...

no more Real Harmony....

can't say its a bad thing for Apple, but it sucks for people who purchased music from Real, and now it (probably) doesn't work...


If Real promised compatibility, it's up to Real to fulfill that promise or give refunds, etc. They took a gamble, and probably lost.

[hob]

I know this only apply's for the iPod photos owners (ENVY!!!!) but the last time i updated my iPod it deleted all my songs and it took bloody ages to copy everything over again from my (s l o w Win 2000 pro) pc's FW card.

Is this standard?

(Other silly question - friend told me the the PCI slot next to the AGP slot is 66mhz. Yes or no?, changed the card over to this slot but as i havn't imported any new songs for a while i can't tell the difference.)

Ok:

1)Yes, when you update an ipod, it clears it off and resets it - new firmware! That's standard with most devices I think you'll find. It only takes me about 20 minutes for 20gigs of music.
2)AGP does run faster than PCI - but it's a whole different standard. As far as I recall from my PC usage days (ok it was last year but my minds a little fuzzy!!) a PCI card WILL NOT fit in an AGP slot - they're different things!! So I dunno what you've moved your card to, but if it's anything like MY motherboard, you won't be getting any graphics:
AGP - Advanced Graphics... something... it's designed for GRAPHICS cards, most motherboards have ONE - so your graphics card is probably sitting in it, if you have one at all...

Now, if your firewire card is still working, and you haven't tried forcing it into an AGP slot, you won't have noticed a difference - cos you'll have moved it from one PCI slot to another. Achieving nothing. Zilch

Sorry if i'm edgy, I'm feeling a slight bout of insomnia as it's 5am...

Thanks

Hob


Oh, and ON subject... THANK GOD for the duplicate detection, thought not as good as I would have hoped - it picks up things with the same name only - for example three tracks by mudhoney labeled [Untitled Interlude] are different lengths - and different interludes! I'd have liked it to be a little stricter with the times... so it just picks up things i have in best ofs AND on albums...!

Hob

[hob]

No. Hear that, Steve Jobs? Get this done!

PLEEEEEASE! I want that feature so bad! Infact, I want a dedicated button for it on the side of the ipod. The amount of times I hoik it out my pocket for that very reason is... many!

Hob

[hob]

Remove some of the RAM?
If you look at the specs for the iPod photo you'll notice that it has less skip protection.

Surely less skip protection would incur more hard disk usage? No?

Hob

[artifex]

Ok:

1)Yes, when you update an ipod, it clears it off and resets it - new firmware! That's standard with most devices I think you'll find. It only takes me about 20 minutes for 20gigs of music.
2)AGP does run faster than PCI - but it's a whole different standard. As far as I recall from my PC usage days (ok it was last year but my minds a little fuzzy!!) a PCI card WILL NOT fit in an AGP slot - they're different things!! So I dunno what you've moved your card to, but if it's anything like MY motherboard, you won't be getting any graphics:
AGP - Advanced Graphics... something... it's designed for GRAPHICS cards, most motherboards have ONE - so your graphics card is probably sitting in it, if you have one at all...

Now, if your firewire card is still working, and you haven't tried forcing it into an AGP slot, you won't have noticed a difference - cos you'll have moved it from one PCI slot to another. Achieving nothing. Zilch

Sorry if i'm edgy, I'm feeling a slight bout of insomnia as it's 5am...

Thanks

Hob


Oh, and ON subject... THANK GOD for the duplicate detection, thought not as good as I would have hoped - it picks up things with the same name only - for example three tracks by mudhoney labeled [Untitled Interlude] are different lengths - and different interludes! I'd have liked it to be a little stricter with the times... so it just picks up things i have in best ofs AND on albums...!

Hob


Hah! This is an example of why you need to go to subject matter experts for some things. Now, I don't claim to be a subject matter expert, but I do know that some motherboards have host-capable and slave-only slots, and also that some max at 33 and some at 66, etc. Moving some kinds of cards, particularly communications cards, can make a difference in these situations.

On the other hand, thanks for warning us about duplicate detection. That's pretty scary that it matches solely on name and not on real matching of data.

[hob]

Hah! This is an example of why you need to go to subject matter experts for some things. Now, I don't claim to be a subject matter expert, but I do know that some motherboards have host-capable and slave-only slots, and also that some max at 33 and some at 66, etc. Moving some kinds of cards, particularly communications cards, can make a difference in these situations.

On the other hand, thanks for warning us about duplicate detection. That's pretty scary that it matches solely on name and not on real matching of data.

Well, that's what it seems to do - which is a bit lazy on apples part... all i meant with the mobo is that it's like round hole square peg kinda thing, is it not?

[artifex]

Well, that's what it seems to do - which is a bit lazy on apples part... all i meant with the mobo is that it's like round hole square peg kinda thing, is it not?

AGP and PCI aren't compatible physically, that's true. But the host and slave PCI slots are. Also, the higher speed PCI slots are supposed to be "keyed" differently, but sometimes aren't.

You Apple people have it easy with hardware. Sorta. I know someday I'll switch, but right now I can't afford it.

[Yvan256]

it provides improved power management for clickwheel iPods, improved playback performance for other iPods"

Apparently yes, this update means it's only for the iPod Photo.... you'd think some people would READ, but I know that's asking for too much. I just wonder how much it's improved. Hopefully someone will do the benchmarks.


It is only for the Photo iPod?

Because the quote you gave leads me to believe it is for all click wheel iPods.


Not even. The quote he gave us read as "improved power management for clickwheel iPods" (iPod photo, iPod mini and iPod 4G) and "improved playback performance for other iPods" (iPod 1G, 2G, 3G).

So my question is: where/what is this "improved playback performance"? I don't see an update for the 3G iPods (it's still listed as "adds Apple Lossless capability" which was already there months ago.

[Yvan256]

On the other hand, thanks for warning us about duplicate detection. That's pretty scary that it matches solely on name and not on real matching of data.

Tell me about it:

- "Deliverance", track 6 of 12 on "1492: The Conquest Of Paradise" by Vangelis, 3:29
- "Deliverance", track 8 of 8 on "Antarctica" by Vangelis, 4:29

- "Epilogue", track 35 of 41 on "Metroid Prime & Fusion" (CD1, hence Metroid Prime), 1:02
- "Epilogue", track 34 of 37 on "Metroid Prime & Fusion" (CD2, hence Metroid Fusion), 1:14

etc...

Funny to see how many tracks are named the same, even on the same CD. But shouldn't iTunes check for track length too? (even if they use a range of +- 5 seconds on it, to account for different track "paddings" by different releases).

[combatcolin]

Ok:

1)Yes, when you update an ipod, it clears it off and resets it - new firmware! That's standard with most devices I think you'll find. It only takes me about 20 minutes for 20gigs of music.
2)AGP does run faster than PCI - but it's a whole different standard. As far as I recall from my PC usage days (ok it was last year but my minds a little fuzzy!!) a PCI card WILL NOT fit in an AGP slot - they're different things!! So I dunno what you've moved your card to, but if it's anything like MY motherboard, you won't be getting any graphics:
AGP - Advanced Graphics... something... it's designed for GRAPHICS cards, most motherboards have ONE - so your graphics card is probably sitting in it, if you have one at all...

Now, if your firewire card is still working, and you haven't tried forcing it into an AGP slot, you won't have noticed a difference - cos you'll have moved it from one PCI slot to another. Achieving nothing. Zilch

Sorry if i'm edgy, I'm feeling a slight bout of insomnia as it's 5am...

Thanks

Hob


Oh, and ON subject... THANK GOD for the duplicate detection, thought not as good as I would have hoped - it picks up things with the same name only - for example three tracks by mudhoney labeled [Untitled Interlude] are different lengths - and different interludes! I'd have liked it to be a little stricter with the times... so it just picks up things i have in best ofs AND on albums...!

Hob

Think you misread me mate, it was the pci slot RIGHT NEXT to the AGP slot that i think is rated at 66MHZ on my MB. Pci is rated at 33MHZ (And then theres Pci X at 100 -133Mhz - i think.)

Anyway it was just the ONE Pci slot, the other 3 i know are still plain old 33Mhz.

As i said, i havn't imported any songs for a while so i don't know if there is speed difference.

The last time i did a FirmWare update it wiped the iPods HD (Which dosn't happen to computers - not in may experience anyway) and it took 2 HOURS!!! to copy everything over again.

Copied the same iTunes folder from my iPod to my sisters 1.25Ghz eMac and it took 30 MINUTES!!!

Not going through all that again so i'll wait untill i get my next Mac before i update the Firmware again.

[Doctor Q]

Funny to see how many tracks are named the same, even on the same CD. But shouldn't iTunes check for track length too? (even if they use a range of +- 5 seconds on it, to account for different track "paddings" by different releases).iTunes must check for something other than name. I know from this case, where the songs had different names and were seemingly totally unrelated.

[hob]

Not going through all that again so i'll wait untill i get my next Mac before i update the Firmware again.

In my experience it happens on an apple too - just transfers faster... guess that's what you're after!! :)

Hob

[combatcolin]

I updated the firmware ages ago on my iMac and it didn't touch the hard drive.

Don't mind doing it for the rumored AAC plus...

[artifex]

I updated the firmware ages ago on my iMac and it didn't touch the hard drive.

Don't mind doing it for the rumored AAC plus...

What's that supposed to do?

[combatcolin]

Same sound quality on lower bit rate.

Means a lot with a 21GB iTunes folder.