We’re talking about the Parrot AR.Drone, the iPhone / iPad touch-controlled quadricopter that, when it finally ships later in 2010, will be one of the hottest geek toys on the market.
The idea of the Parrot AR.Drone project is to create a performing quadricopter with the best of today’s technologies in order to enter universes that are not yet explored, mixing video game and the real world. This is augmented reality.
Read more at their website, here, and be sure to check out the video below. Enjoy.
Your quick-and-dirty guide to the world’s most popular digital media app.
It’s been more than eight years since Apple released the first version of iTunes. And although it’s expanded to incorporate many smart features since its January 2001 debut, it still looks remarkably similar to the way it did when it first appeared, running on OS 9. Back then it was just a jukebox, but over the years came enhancements like CD burning, the iPod, smart playlists, the iTunes Store, video support, and, most recently, the iPhone.
Apple has gradually turned iTunes into a hub for managing and playing all the music and movies on your Mac and mobile devices, while continually adding support for new devices and services like the Apple TV, movie rentals, and much more. In 2003, Apple made the smart move of developing a Windows version of iTunes, opening up the iPod market and the iTunes Store to a much wider audience. iTunes remains one of Apple’s most important applications, and it’s capable of far more than just playing music.
Whether it’s converting movies to watch on your iPod, building party playlists, getting album art online, buying music, renting movies, or backing up your iPhone, there’s an awful lot under the surface–and even more than ever with the release of iTunes 9 in September. Many of the tips and tricks we show you throughout this feature will save you time and even reveal a few things you didn’t know you could do.
Master Your Music
Take control of your music collection with these time-saving tips and tricks.
Use smart playlists to manage music on the fly.
Apple introduced smart playlists in iTunes 3, and it’s one of those features that, once you make using it a habit, you’ll never go back to plain-vanilla “dumb” playlists again.
To create a smart playlist, go to File > Smart Playlists (or press Option-Command-N). You’re presented with a dialog in which you’ll set the “rules” for your smart playlist. When you’re first starting out, it’s best to keep it relatively simple. But once you have the hang of it, you can go bigger, creating much fancier smart playlists to capture only specific types of content, weed out other content types, and so on.
Smart playlists take the manual drudgery out of creating dynamic playlists out of iTunes media libraries of any size–and they’re not limited to music.
If you specify that the playlist should show all songs with the Artist tag “Rolling Stones,” for example, all tracks in your library by the Stones will appear in the playlist. You can go a step farther and add all Rolling Stones tracks that have certain star ratings. By using the Match Any Rule option plus other options, you can have playlists that display different sets of tracks–a playlist, for example, where the genre is both blues and rock, as well as a bit rate greater than 128kbps. Be sure to check Live Updating, so iTunes will watch the library and automatically add any new files that meet the criteria you’ve specified.
Use Genius to find new music–or rediscover music in your library.
With more music than ever available in the iTunes Store, it can be time-consuming to find new artists and albums you might like. The Genius feature in iTunes sends information about your musical tastes to the iTunes Store and recommends new music based on similar artists and other people’s listening habits (if you haven’t already, you need to turn Genius on by choosing Store > Turn on Genius). If you select a track from your library and click the Genius button in the lower-right corner, iTunes will create a list of recommended albums and tracks that you can buy from the iTunes Store to complement your chosen track. Then you can preview and buy these songs directly from the sidebar. Since it knows what music is already in your library, Genius won’t recommend anything you already have.
By activating the Genius feature you can have iTunes recommend new music based on your listening habits.
With iTunes 9, Apple expanded Genius to include mixes using songs already in your iTunes library. To get the Genius Mixes feature to appear in iTunes 9, turn on Genius if you haven’t already, then update Genius by selecting Store > Update Genius. Now, to see what Genius Mixes iTunes recommends for you, click Genius Mixes in the left-hand pane (under Genius) in the iTunes window. You’ll see a grid view of album cover-style graphics. When you mouse over one, you’ll see a name for the mix and a brief explanation of what it’s based on–for example, “Rock/Pop Mix 6: based on: The White Stripes, Weezer, Red Hot Chili Peppers & others.” Mouse over each mix and click the Play button to hear the mix. We just wish that once the Genius Mixes are created you could do more with them than just sit and listen–once a mix starts playing, there’s no way to tell what song is coming next. And, most frustrating of all, there’s no way to capture the mix as a regular or smart playlist.
Genius Mixes in iTunes 9 auto-create mixes using songs in your own library on the fly.
Share iTunes libraries.
You can duplicate an entire consolidated iTunes library by simply copying the Music folder on your Mac. But with libraries frequently running into many gigabytes in size, this is a slow, inefficient method. iTunes can share your library over a local network, so it can be accessed by anyone on your Ethernet or wireless network. Go to Preferences > Sharing and turn on sharing of the whole library or specific playlists. You can password-protect access and also tell iTunes to look for other shared libraries. Since the music is streamed–not copied–it takes up no disk space on the machines of those who tap into your library.
iTunes can share selected playlists or your whole library, including videos, over a local network, with optional password protection.
Automatically rip and import music CDs.
Go to Preferences > General and select “When you Insert a CD, Import CD and Eject.” As long as this setting is active, whenever you insert an audio CD, it will capture track names, encode tracks based on your import settings, and your Mac will then eject the disc. Next click the Import Settings button and choose the quality setting you want iTunes to use to convert the CD tracks as it imports them (192kbps AAC or MP3 files will offer good sound quality at reasonable file sizes). When you insert an audio CD, iTunes will now retrieve all track names and artwork from the Internet and import the tracks using the quality settings you chose.
To set the bit rate for the AAC encoder, in the Import Settings dialog, choose 192kbps, leave the other options on Auto, and click OK.
Video Tips: What You See is What You Get
iTunes is just as good with video as it is with music.
Manage playback settings for the best viewing experience.
iTunes can display videos from your library in many ways. If you go to Preferences > Playback, you can tell it to play back videos in the small artwork viewer, in iTunes’ main window, in a separate window, or in full-screen mode. You can have anything from a small, unobtrusive window to a full theater presentation, blanking out additional displays. When it’s in a floating window, video can be resized during playback, and if you right-click, you can select any preset size. If you have more than one screen, move the floating window onto the display you want to use as the main screen. This is handy if you have a digital TV connected as a second screen.
Use the Playback settings to control how video screens are arranged on your main monitors or multiple displays.
Convert video for playback in iTunes & on your iPod.
iTunes is picky about what video file formats it can read and play back. It doesn’t like AVIs, WMVs, or other non-Apple formats, for example. If you have a movie that’s already been digitized into one of these incompatible formats, the best course of action is to convert it with QuickTime Pro ($29.99, www.apple.com/quicktime) into an MP4 or M4V file using the File > Export > MP4 or Apple TV options. You will also need to install Perian (free, www.perian.org) to enable QuickTime to open the videos in the first place. You should be able to drag the converted movies into your iTunes library, holding down the O key if necessary to override automatic copying of the file. Then choose Advanced > Create iPhone, iPod, or Apple TV version, and iTunes will convert the video using the optimum quality and screen-size settings for the device that you plan to view the video on.
Combining QuickTime Pro and Perian, you can convert video formats that iTunes doesn’t favor (such as .AVI) to .M4V files, so you can watch them on your Mac, iPod, iPhone, or Apple TV.
Export your home movies to your iPod or iPhone.
If you use iMovie ’08 or ’09, you can export a project directly into iTunes using the Share menu. Or, choose Media Browser and check the iPhone and iPod options. For each option you check, a different version will be compressed and exported.
However, if you’re still using iMovie HD 6 or your movie has come from another source, such as straight from a camera, you can use a third-party compression tool like ffmpeg (homepage.mac.com/major4/) to convert most kinds of video files.
If you have QuickTime Pro and Perian installed, you can opt to export directly for iPhone, iPod, or Apple TV within QuickTime Pro.
It seems that Apple doesn’t respect Verizon’s Droid phone quite as much as it does Microsoft’s PCs. But two new ad spots, launching Monday evening, come as close as Apple has done thus far to directly attack the allegedly do-it-all robotphone.
The Droid, you see, went after Apple in its teaser campaign with some telling remarks and the hearty claim that Droid does what the iPhone doesn’t. Then Verizon decided it would be fun to knock both the iPhone and AT&T’s spotty 3G coverage with its “Misfit Toys” concept.
AT&T has already replied by hustling a hastily-dressed Luke Wilson into directing a few resentful pins at Verizon’s effigy. However these new ads, while entirely in keeping with the iPhone tone and style, end with a line that expressly assaults the doings of Droid–or rather, its alleged non-doings.
Both ads focus on the iPhone’s ability to allow you to use voice and data capabilities simultaneously over the AT&T network. By asking gently at the end of each spot “Can your phone and your network do that?” Apple is bursting what it sees as the inflated stealth bombing that accompanied the launch of the Droid.
These ads don’t mention the Droid or Verizon by name. But the fact that Apple has decided to address its rivals, however obliquely, suggests that one can look forward to more accusations, more bickering, and more attempted one-upmanship.
The new Millennium got off to a great start where the world of gadgetry was concerned. For our 20 best we selected only actual gadgets—no websites like YouTube or Facebook, no software programs and no innovative companies like Netflix. From listening to music to trips to the lavatory, each of these gadgets has made life a little more enjoyable. Congrats to the inventors—now quit dawdling on the video-camera watch and the personal jetpack.
20. Jabra Bluetooth Earpiece (2000)
For months after Jabra’s bluetooth headset hit the market, we were all freaked out by the people wandering around in public talking to themselves. And while this advancement has certainly led to an increase in douchy behavior, it’s also probably saved countless lives, freeing hands for that all important thing called steering. Josh Jackson
19. Griffin iTrip (2003)
Soon after the iPod, there was the iTrip, wirelessly transmitting those early playlists to the car stereo via radio waves and with an Apple-worthy sleek design. Josh Jackson
18. Xlerator Hand Dryer (2003)
As mankind ventures further into the technological wonders of Tomorrowland, let us never forget that it’s the small things that matter most. Humans continue to streamline lavatory visits with as little hand contact as possible. It seems like it all started with the automatic paper towel dispenser, whirring out your hand-drying needs one, sometimes two sheets at a time. It didn’t take long before the rest of the restroom appliances caught on. Now toilets flush on their own, sinks spit out water with a finger’s flick and even soap dispensers need no button-pushing. But just when we thought a trip to the restroom couldn’t get any easier, along came the Xlerator, a super-powerful hand dryer that actually gets your hands dry, rather than making you wait 15 seconds before you give up and wipe them on your pants. Gage Henry
17. USB Flash Drive
The floppy disk of this decade, the USB flash drive is the most compact, portable data storage device used by PCs and Macs alike (and unlike many predecessors, no pre-formatting is necessary). The affordable and simple gadget has become one of the most essential computer tools that we use and is so ubiquitous you can buy it in any color or shape imaginable, including R2-D2, Predator or a replica human thumb. Emily Reimer
16. Bose QuietComfort Noise-Cancelling Headphones
While noise-canceling headphones have been available to pilots since the 1950s, this decade they finally fell into the hands of the consumer, providing a sonic refuge from the surrounding chaos. And since the headphones give listeners the ability to “turn down the noise” before turning up the volume, they also help prevent hearing damage—good news for music fans of all ages. Kevin Keller
15. Flip Video Ultra (2007)
Cheap enough that my 11-year-old daughter could save up for it herself and easy enough that she could make movies with it, the Flip video camera made a mockery of the $500 camcorder with which we filmed her childhood. Josh Jackson
14. Sonos Multi-Room Music System (2004)
Sonos changed what the term “home stereo” really meant, channeling your music to every nook where the mood for a little Mastodon might strike. Josh Jackson
13. Dyson Air Multiplier (2009)
The wow factor is still fresh in our minds for Dyson’s new magic-looking bladeless fan. Released just last month, it is superior to the bladed fan (what we used to just call “the fan”) in just about every way. Josh Jackson
12. Apple Airport Express (2004)
Steve Jobs first wowed us with the Airport in July of 1999, browsing the Internet from his laptop with no wires before a stunned MacWorld Expo crowd in New York. In 2004, the airport got an upgrade, letting you stream iTunes wirelessly through the house. And, because it was Apple, even your router looked sexy.
11. Sony Playstion 3/Blu-ray (2006)
Though Warner’s announcement that it would no longer release movies on HD-DVD effectively ended the decade’s biggest format war, Blu-ray’s victory also owes some credit to Sony’s latest-gen gaming device, which along with the XBox 360 ushered in an era of mind-blowing graphics. And with the price of 1080p HDTVs coming down, watching movies at home will never be the same. Josh Jackson
10. XBox (2002)
The reason the XBox and its 360 update get the nod over the Playstation 3 is for revolutionizing online gaming with the advent of XBox Live in 2002. Never before had you been able to meet foul-mouthed teenagers while playing video games without, you know, going to an arcade. Now if we could just stop those punks from quitting in the middle of a game when I’m beating them at FIFA 2010. Josh Jackson
9. Blackberry (2002)
By mid-decade, this series of smartphones from Canadian company Research in Motion had become known as “crackberries,” and they’d become as indispensable in business as the briefcase used to be. Josh Jackson
8. Slingbox (2005)
This genius device gives viewers access to their cable television programming anywhere with a computer and high-speed internet connection. While initially hailed as a solution for dorm-dwellers without space for a television, the slingbox has become a favorite of travelers who can’t miss their favorite shows or games just because they’re away from home. Kevin Keller
7. iPhone (2007)
When Apple launched it’s portable media player/web browser/gaming console/GPS, the phone application seemed the least of its concerns (after all, it partnered with AT&T for actual reception). But even as a phone, it added visual voicemail. And with new thousands of new apps, it’s the gadget that gets better every day. Josh Jackson
6. Amazon Kindle (2007)
Travelers need no longer preserve their novels’ final chapters for the plane ride home. The online superstore Amazon introduced its peculiar literary instrument in 2007, compacting the book and the bookstore into a single, grayscale device. The Kindle married an unlikely couple: literature and the electronic. It will remain one of the few gadgets to be never criticized for its brain-melting capabilities. And best of all, thanks to digital ink, it reads just like paper. Gage Henry
5. Wii Remote (2006)
All those arguments about video games turning children into lazy, pudgy zombies were met head on by Nintendo with the advent of the Wii, whose handheld controller could sense the boxing punch, tennis volley or basketball shot the player mimicked. Even my octogenarian friend Marty got in on the action, bowling with my nephew on Christmas day. Josh Jackson
4. Vodafone 3G Datacard (2004)
You are your own hotspot. It’s as simple as that. Laptops were meant to be mobile, so the Internet should be, too. When you can whip out your laptop in a moving car, any airport, on the bus, in the woods or in Starbucks (without paying “$9.99 for an hour”), well, that’s true Internet freedom. Others have since followed, but Vodaphone led the way. Nick Purdy
3. Garmin GPS (2000)
When judging new technologies, you have to remember what they replaced. And is there any vestigial remnant from the 20th century we’ll miss less than the fold-out car map? The first automotive navigation system was developed in the early ‘80s, but it wasn’t until an executive order eliminated the intentional margin of error the military had insisted for commercial use on May 2, 2000, that the dashboard GPS became more accurate and widely available. Now you can navigate with voice directions from Homer Simpson, Gary Busey or Kim Cattrall. And you never have to try to fold those maps again. Josh Jackson
2. TiVo DVR (1999)
That little black-and-silver box revolutionized the television experience, shifting power to the audience in an unprecedented fashion. No longer do you have to plan your schedule around your favorite shows. Had to work late, caught a ballgame or met friends for a drink instead? You can still watch your Lost (or whatever your jam is) when you get home without having to worry about blank VCR tapes. And, of course, you don’t have to suffer all those obnoxious commercial interruptions. But even beyond the more obvious benefits, TiVo inspires a sense of discovery with its recommendations function, learning your tastes based on what you already like, and helping you find great programming you might otherwise have missed. And though some units did ship in 1999, we certainly consider it an artifact of the 2000s. Steve LaBate
1. iPod (2001)
Digital music was already swinging when Apple introduced its signature device in 2001, but the iPod (enabled by its software buddy, iTunes, with its grandma-friendly syncing) mainstreamed and legalized the revolution. Who needed a shelf full of CDs when you could carry all of pop culture—first music, then TV and movies—in your pocket, accessing everything with ridiculous ease? Filling a need we didn’t know we had, the little beveled box hit the sweet spot of form and function. It drove two of the decade’s biggest obsessions: portability and personalization. And there was nothing on it that we didn’t want on it—beauty is in the iPod of the beholder. In its early days, the gadget was an instant icon of cool. Then everybody from the Pope to your dad got one, and those white earbuds were no longer the hip fashion accessory they had been in ’03—the iPod had transitioned from a cult object to an essential accoutrement of modern life. Not having a pod was like not having a microwave: unthinkable. In The Perfect Thing, Steven Levy’s book about how the iPod conquered the world, John Mayer said the device “changed the chemistry of listening.” With the shuffle feature and easy skipping, it’s all one big celestial jukebox. There are no boundaries, only playlists. Five years into the pod’s reign, a research firm polled college students about the top “in thing” on campus. The iPod was #1. Tied for #2? Facebook and beer. Phil Kloer
