Recently I decided to upgrade my 2nd generation ipod nano with a 3rd generation one. Not that I had a problem with my old nano, but it just seemed too outdated -just after one year- with no video playback capabilities and only 2GB of memory.

The new nano is as thin as its predecessor, but it looks a little bit thinner due to the rounded corners. Its much shorter though, and with bigger display which led to a much smaller clickwheel. New nano is powered with a 2″ display with 320×240 resolution and 204 pixels per inch. Although the display is small, its high resolution makes it comfortable for viewing movies or movie trailers. If you run the latest ipod software alongside with the latest iTunes version, you can rent movies and watch them within 30 days.

3G Nano’s software is completely updated and reminds of the ipod’s software. Cover flow lets you navigate easily through your albums (assuming that you have them well organized with covers and artist information). Cover flow runs smoothly but it is a little bit slow, especially if you have too many album artworks. If you find the built-in display small, the new nano can be connected to your HDTV, via a component cable (which is sold separately). When viewing movies on your ipod, there is an option to enable zoom (pan and scan) and get rid of the letterbox (black lines above and below the movie due to 16:9 format) but that cuts part of the movie information (a small piece from the right and a small from the left).

Navigating through nano’s menu is easy and screenshots of album artworks, photos and animated menus are everywhere. New graphics make navigation easier. Pre-installed applications are almost the same with the previous nano, but with better graphics: Global watch, photo slider, calendar and contacts (can be synced with Outlook or Entourage), notes and three games: Music Quiz (which is completely updated and is my favorite game in the new nano), a 3D version of the brick game and a completely redesigned solitaire.

Sound quality is great as with all ipods. I think that low-frequencies (bass) sound better here and that volume can be adjusted louder than the older nano. Songs can be browsed in any imaginable way: by artist, creator, genre, album, etc. Music transfer from your PC/Mac to your ipod is done via itunes software.

Battery lifetime is the same with 2nd gen ipod nano and lasts for up to 24-hours music playback and 5-hours video playback. That is nice if we consider that 3rd gen nano’s display is much brighter. Although if you use your nano for playing games, battery lasts for 3-4 hours. Nano is charged using the USB cable. What is liked is that while nano is charging, display’s light remains turned on, letting you know when your nano is charged, even if you have not exported it from itunes. Battery indicator appears also in iTunes. The device can be used (like every ipod) as portable flash drive for transferring data. Note that when you carry your nano, you should take care of the back surface, because it can be easily scratched.

Nano package contains the basics: USB cable (used for charging, syncing and data transferring), earphones (same with the previous version), dock adaptor and a brief manual. Full operating instructions can be found in apple’s website in pdf format. New nano is available with 4 or 8GB of memory. 4GB model costs $149 and is available in silver color only and 8GB costs $199 and is available in a variety of colors.

In general I can say that if you own an older nano, upgrade worths it, especially if you are going to use your ipod for movie playback. Better sound quality, smaller size, brighter display and battery lifetime should also be considered to pros.

During Macworld 2008 keynote, Steve Jobs made some announcements for the forthcoming Apple products, itunes and some statistics for the previous year.

First of all iTunes will offer from now on the opportunity to rent movies. Movies can be rented for 30 days (playback should be started up to 30 days after the rental) and when you begin watching them you have 24 hours to see the movie once or as many times you want. Movies will be available in iTunes for renting 30 days after their DVD release. Movies from all major studios are featured and HD movies will be available in a while. When you rent a movie, you can watch it on your pc or mac or on your ipod/iphone.

Apple TV is upgraded to Apple TV take 2 and integrates completely with iTunes, offering the ability to rent movies straight from your HDTV. Time Capsule is also a new device that offers back-up solutions to Mac an PC users. Time Capsule features a server hdd and an airport extreme wireless solution, which means that you can backup everything without having to plug any kind of cable. Time capsule is offered in 500GB and 1TB capasities.

Last but not least, Steve Jobs announced a new member in the MacBook family, called MacBook Air (”there is something in the air” was the slogan of Macworld 2008). Macbook Air is extremely thin (0.16″ to 0.76″) and offers an Intel Core 2 Duo processor (1.6 standard and 1.8 Ghz optional), 2GB of RAM (not upgradeable), an isight camera, a touch pad with advanced capabilities similar to the ones for ipod touch and iphone, 13.3″ LED backlight display, 802.11n WiFi and Bluetooth wireless connectivity. There only one USB port, a DVI port and the MagSafe port for the power cord. MacBook Air is equipped with a 80GB hdd drive as standard. Also there is an option for replacing the standard drive with a 64GB SSD drive (no moving parts) for $1000. There is no DVD combo drive so if you want to uses CDs or DVDs you have to purchase the external one which needs the only-offered USB port (the external combo drive is powered via the usb cable so no power cord is needed). Prices for the new Macbook start at $1700. Although if you want a MacBook Air with the SSD drive and the 1.8Ghz Core 2 Duo, you have to pay near $3000.

In general -as a geek- I love the design and the portability of the new MacBook. The only problem is that a portable notebook should have the option for manual battery replacement. MacBook (as most Apple products, like ipods and iphone) does not offer that option. Battery (according to Apple) lasts for 5 hours, but with wireless on I think that it should be around 3.5 hours. So as Paul Stamatiou said:

For a notebook so perfectly poised at being the ultimate travel computer, not being able to have spare batteries is a huge turn off.

RAM is also not upgradeable but MacBook Air is an ultra-portable notebook and not a desktop replacement. 2GB are ok for most cases and everyday uses.
More photos from MacBook Air can be found here.

Have you ever thought of how you could charge your ipod’s battery when you are not near a computer with a usb port or (for those you have the power adapter) electrical power is not available? Here is the way: you can charge your ipod using onions and Gatorade energy drink!

You will need:
1. 1 White onion
2. 2 cups of Gatorade
3. Screwdriver
4. iPod and USB cable

Watch the video below and you will see how!

I suggest that you do not try this with your personal ipod as it may be fake and damage your ipod device and usb cable

In the last few days, updates were realised for two of the most commonly used web browsers. Safari 3 beta updated to version 3.03 and Firefox to version 2.0.0.6. Both updates fix serious security and stability issues, so it is recommended to install them as soon as possible. If you use Firefox, it will automatically inform you for the update and will be updated the next time you restart the program. Safari can be updated using the Apple Software Update program (looks also for iTunes and Quick Time updates) or by visiting Apple’s web site. After the update to Firefox 2.0.0.6 all of my installed extensions worked. Safari 3.0.3 fixes also some javascript and text issues.

It is time to tell you something about what we use to create our products (like the cards from our Pet Shop Cards collection above). Our equipment consists of:

• Two Dell workstations powered with Intel Pentium D 3Ghz processors, 2GB RAM, running Windows XP Pro
• One Intel Core 2 Duo MacPro running Mac OS X with 8GB RAM
• One workstation equiped with a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processor and 2GB of RAM running Windows XP Pro
• One G3 Mac with 512RAM running MacOS 8.1
• Our server which features a Pentium 4 processor, 2GB RAM, running SuSe Linux 10.2
• 2TB of total storage (multiple internal and external hard drives plugged to our systems).
• For printing we use an Epson Stylus Photo 800 inkjet printer, an HP Laserjet Plus laser printer, a Roland HifiJet 52 for quality CMYK printing (we use Light Magenta and Light Cyan colors as extra colors instead of the Orange and Green which are plotter’s selection). For digital printing, we use Xante Illumina.
• For scanning we use a Linotype Hell Topaz scanner, driven by Linocolor Software, running on the G3 Mac.
• For photocopier we use an Infotec which prints on any type of paper (A4, B3, A3 etc).
• All of our stuff is connected to an 100Mbit LAN via a 3com router and to the broadband Internet (we use a 2Mbit connection) via a Speedtouch 585.
• We also own a Wacom Intuos3 A4 Tablet.
• Our workstations have Eizo ColorEdge CE210W displays.
• For monitor callibration we use Pantone Huey.
• For color control we use Pantone Color Que 2.
• The software we run mainly is Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Macromedia Dreamweaver, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Fireworks, Quark Xpress, Adobe Acrobat and since January Adobe Indesign.