Tag: iTunes

GeekyNights on iTunes

GeekyNights is a great podcast/vidcast about all things tech, gadgetry and other geekiness.

The problem is that their uploads to iTunes is so late their videos have become so irrelevant if you follow it from there.

Tech is a fast-paced game that if your latest update is about the release of the recent gadgets that were actually released 3-4 weeks ago, then what you have there is history already.

And you don’t actually expect us to catch your live broadcasts every time, right? And yeah, I can just watch the latest videos from UStream, but then the resolution is bad and I can’t play it on my TV.

My iOS 5 Top New Features

Maybe the long wait for this brand new OS has somehow diminished excitements about it. We’ve seen these new features demoed by developers.

Nevertheless, having a first hand experience with the iOS 5 today on my iPhone, here are my top “favorite” new features:

  • Notifications center – having all notifications and alerts in one place is one feature that has long been wanting in iOS, that’s why I have it at the top of the list. Yet, just like in Android, I would have preferred to have the quick toggles for cellular data, bluetooth and wifi in the same notification center. Plus, a lot other apps are not yet updated to push their notices to the notification center. Moreover, instead of or in addition to stocks and weather, I wish for an option to have foreign exchange rates and maybe LME prices to be likewise available in there.
  • Wifi Sync – you can now be fully independent from a computer system (either Mac or Windows) once you start using your iOS 5 device, but having iTunes to manage your media and apps is still a neat way to go. Now, you can even sync your device to your computer’s iTunes program via wifi. That’s one less cable system to worry about.
  • Over-the-air future OS updates – this we have yet to experience and find out how seamless it will be. Furthermore, Apple claims further updates will be smaller files compared to the past where it took around 700MB of download file every upgrade.
  • More alert tones via iTunes – now I don’t have to live anymore with the stock ringtones and alert tones of the iPhone. As a matter of fact, I just downloaded Marlon Brando’s “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse” and Acoustic Pluckin alert tones for my use.

More iOS 5 Goodness: More Alert Tones through iTunes

The 200+ features in iOS 5 obviously include the ability to select message (text) alert tones other than the stock tones in your iPhone.

buy custom alert tones

The drawback is you have to *BUY* them through iTunes. Nevertheless, it’s a good thing you have the option to employ different message alert tones into your iPhone, to avoid getting confused with other iPhone users in the office, as to whose/which phone did make that sound alert.

Read more: iOS 5 to sell text alert tones through iTunes

Managing Multiple iTunes Account in one iPhone/iPad

Background

When I first got my iPad (and iPhone 4 a month later), I registered them with a Philippine iTunes account. Since then, I’ve purchased several apps from the Apple App Store using my Philippines-issued credit card.

Now, the problem with the Philippine iTunes store is that you have no access to certain apps (e.g., Microsoft OneNote, Google Voice, etc.), as well as iTunes Music, Movies, TV Shows and iBookstore.

Then I discovered that it is in fact possible and totally legitimate to create a US iTunes account without a US-issued credit card (or US-based Paypal account). See the Apple support page on how to do it.

The Dilemma

So I created another (US) iTunes account.

While maintaining the US iTunes account only and dropping the Philippine iTunes account altogether is an option, it’s certainly out of the equation. I’ve already spent as much as US$100 in the Apps purchased from the Philippine iTunes Store.

I was worried that maintaining two iTunes accounts may pose problems in the future, especially during App updates. Continue reading