How to assign a picture to a Contact on your iPod Touch.
1. Tap Contacts.
2. Select the contact entry.
3. Tap Edit.
4. Tap Take Photo if you want to take a new picture. You can also tap Choose Existing Photo and select a photo.
5. Move and scale the photo the way you want it. Drag the photo up, down, or sideways. Pinch or double-tap to zoom in or out.
6. Tap Set Photo and you’re finished assigning a photo to a contact.
Source: iPod Touch Features Guide
It looks like there are a bunch of iPod Touch users that keep getting a screen prompting them for a January Upgrade. When clicking on No Thanks or Remind me later they get an error:
An error occurred. The iTunes store could not process your request.
Then the message won’t go away.
Here are some steps to try for this issue:
1. Unplug the iPod Touch and disconnect the computer from the Internet.
2. Close iTunes.
3. Wait a few seconds and Re-Connect the iPod Touch.
4. Start iTunes.
5. When prompted with the message, click Remind me later or No Thanks, then OK then quickly click the X button at the top to stop loading iTunes shop.
6. Close iTunes and reconnect to the Internet.
7. Start iTunes.
For more assistance, you might want to try the Apple Forum entries: Can’t get rid of iTouch upgrade offer
iTunes supports graphic formats of JPG, TIFF, or GIF for album artwork. Here’s how to add your own album artwork graphic to a song in iTunes.
1. Right-click with you wish to add album artwork to, and select Get Info.
2. Click the Artwork tab.
3. Click the Add button.
4. Navigate to the the file that contains your artwork. Select the file and click Open.
5. Click OK and you’re done. The album artwork will also sync with your iPod.
How to delete your iPod or iPhone backup from your computer. Doing so might save you a bit of hard drive space. It’s also good to keep things clean if you no longer sync the device with your computer any longer.
1. Open iTunes.
2. Select iTunes > Preferences (Mac) or Edit > Preferences (Windows).
3. Select the Syncing tab.
4. Select an iPod or iPhone on the list and click Remove Backup.
I received a new iPod Nano over the holidays. I have carried it with me everywhere. It’s been in my pocket or in my bag most of the time. In under 3 weeks, the thing has many scratches all over it. Even on the back side where the metal part is. I have not exposed this iPod to too much that I thought could do this much damage. The most it has been up against is other fabric in my pocket or bag. I did start using the included pouch that comes with the iPod to protect it. I have still seen new scratch marks on the unit appear. I suspect that the outside is just plain cheap and non-resilient.
I highly recommend investing in a case. I wouldn’t recommend buying one at your local Apple Store or Best Buy though. Those places seem to charge way too much for a simple plastic case. I have found many cases on eBay and at dollar stores in my area for around $1. Of course it’s too late for me. My iPod is already beaten up and it doesn’t really matter how much protection I have at this point.
See also:
Keep your iPod scratch free
Need to extract the music files off of your iPod to your PC? I located a handy tool that will take all of the music files from your iPod and convert them into MP3 format. It will also copy your video files as well.
The tool is called iPodExtract. I prefer it because it has a very simple interface. Just select your iPod drive, then select where you want the files to go. Please note that the iPod must be enabled as a hard drive before using this tool.
Go to bed with your iPod on. Set the sleep timer so that you don’t run down your battery.
1. From the main screen select Extras.
2. Select Clock.
3. Select the location you wish to apply the sleep timer to.
4. Select Sleep Timer.
5. Choose 15, 20, 60, 90, or 120 minutes.
Set the length of time before the backlight timer goes off on your iPod. Setting it to a lower setting can save battery power.
1. Select iPod > Settings > Backlight Timer.
2. Select Off, 2, 5, 10, 15 or 20 or Always On.
Question: Where can I locate the MAC address for the wireless network device in my iPod Touch?
Answer: Tap Settings > General > About then scroll down to Wi-Fi Address
You get an error, Unable to Join Network Failure (error -3) when you try to join a Wi-Fi network.
1. Ensure that the Security setting for your iPod Touch matches the setting on the wireless router. (WEP password, WEP hex or ASCII, WPA, or WPA2)
2. The wireless router may not always broadcast the SSID. In this case, you must learn what the SSID is, and enter it manually under Settings > Wi-Fi > Other . By default, many Linksys routers have a SSID of linksys. Also select your Security setting and enter your password.
3. Other security settings on the router can lock you out such as MAC address filtering. Research whether there are other types of restrictions on the wireless router.
Ever been cruising along in your Dodge Omni, listening to your iPod in your car using an FM Transmitter and then all of a sudden your tune by Green Day gets interrupted by Garth Brooks?
Radio interference can be annoying when it comes to using your iPod in the car. I learned this tip from DL.TV that has helped me a great deal with this problem. Sirius provides a Frequency Finder on their web site where you can search radio stations in your area that are safe to use Sirius Satellite Radio with. You can also use this tool for your iPod, Zune or other music player FM Transmitter.
How to soft reset and hard reset your iPod Touch if it’s frozen or not responding.
Try a soft reset first:
1. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button on the top of the unit until a red slider appears
2. Drag the slider.
3. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo appears.
If a soft reset doesn’t work, try a hard reset:
Press and hold both the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button for about ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
You know how you use your iPod and it can give you 14 hours of non-stop playtime when you first buy it? After a year or two though, the iPod can barely provide you with 5 hours of use. Better care and knowing what affects battery capacity is the key to prolonging battery life. Here’s how to care for your iPod battery in order to keep battery capacity lasting for a longer period of time.
1. Unplug the iPod from the computer when you’re not using it. Having it plugged into the computer creates a large amount of heat within the device. Heat is the enemy for battery capacity.
Read more… »
How to download and view web pages to your iPod.
Don’t have time to read that web site article right now? Put it into your iPod, and read it on the train or airplane. There’s a handy little utility available called the iPodulator. This tool allows you to type in the URL (be sure to include the HTTP:// before it) for the page you want to read on your iPod and it will convert the web page into a format that your iPod will read.
How to perform a hard reset on an iPod shuffle.
On both the 1st and 2nd generation iPod Shuffle, you can perform a hard reset on it by powering it down for 5 seconds then powering it back on. Also be sure you do not have the device attached to your computer or any other device while doing this. This is the only thing that can be done to reset it.
For more information see Apple’s document on resetting the iPod Shuffle here.
Make the iPod act as a hard drive.
1. Connect your iPod to your computer.
2. Open iTunes.
3. Click once on your iPod on the left pane.
4. Select the Settings button toward the top of the window.
5. Check the Enable disk use checkbox. Click OK on the warning about manually ejecting the iPod. Now you can select how much space on the iPod you would like to use for songs and data by dragging the meter to the desired setting.
7. Click Apply on the bottom portion of the screen.
Your iPod should now appear as a drive under My Computer. You can now copy files onto it like you would any other drive. When you are finished copying the files, you must eject the iPod.
1. Download the greasemonkey extension for Firefox
2. Go to www.userscripts.org and installed the “Download YouTube Script”
3. While watching a YouTube video, click Download Video and saved it to disk
4. Install and launch Super video converter from www.erightsoft.com.
5. Select Apple iPod from Output Container option and then the output video codec H/264/AVC.
6. Set Size to 320×240
7. Convert.
8. Drap the Converted file into iTunes
9. Watch it on your iPod
NOTE: If an error is encountered during conversion, disable the Use DirectShow button.
SOURCE: WIRED
How to reset iPod Nano if it is not responding or frozen.
Hold down the Center and Menu buttons simultaneously. The screen will start to melt away. Then you will see the Apple appear on the screen. The iPod has been reset sucessfully.
Music files should still be saved, but some customized settings may be lost.
If that doesn’t fix your problem, try a hard reset by holding down Menu and Play/Pause simultaneously for about 10 seconds. A hard reset will clean all data off the unit.
Other resources:
iPod troubleshooting basics and service FAQ
I just realized how common hardware with USB ports are. My phone was out of power and I left my charger at work. Could I use my Tivo to charge it?
I did however have a USB data cable for my cell phone. My laptop however was also left behind. My Tivo has USB ports, so I figured I’d try plugging my phone into it. The Tivo started charging my phone.
So I took it one step further. My iPod was also low on power. I plugged it into the back and it charged it as well.
You can do this with almost any device now. Some cable boxes even have USB ports. You can find USB data cables for almost any cell phone. Just google or eBay “nokia data cable” for example.
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