Apple released its 5th generation (5G) of iPods last fall. The most dramatic new feature of these iPods is that they play video. In addition, these latest iPods while being smaller in overall size have a larger screen (2.5 inches) with a resolution of 320×240 pixels.
There are also improvements in the iPod user interface (UI) that are worthy of note for educators (or anyone who wants to use an iPod for learning…)
More Metadata…
If
song lyrics (or text intended to accompany the audio) are included in
the audio file, then these can now be displayed on the iPod. This means
that you can embed text in your audio files that users can read while
they listen. Before 5G iPods, the only way you could deliver text along
with your audio was put it in an RSS 2.0 feed. Someone would then have
to subscribe to your RSS feed in iTunes in order to get the description
field. Earlier iPods did display this description test.
The
main difference is that text in the lyrics field is embedded in the
audio file and so is an integral part of it whereas text in the RSS
description is only linked to the audio file in the iTunes Library and
so is not included when you download the file directly. To be certain
your text is always included with your audio file, it is best to add it
to both the lyrics field and in the description field of your RSS 2.0
feed (if you have access to a tool that generates RSS). Those with 5G
iPods will get your text regardless of how they download your file
whereas those with earlier iPods will need to download your file via an
RSS feed.
In addition to displaying more metadata, the latest
iPods also make access to this metadata sticky. That is to say, as you
are playing a file, you can click the center button once to access the
scrub UI (that allows you to scroll forward and back in file), twice to
view the file image (e.g. album art), three times to get the rating UI
and four times to get to lyrics or RSS description. On earlier iPods,
the screen would revert to the standard playback UI (i.e. display of
image, artist, album and title) after a few seconds. On 5G iPods
however, the screen remains (i.e. sticks) at the UI you lasted
selected. This means that you can read accompanying text as you listen.
This text could be song lyrics, a summary of the audio contents, a list
of study questions, the transcription of a dialogue for language study
and so on.
High Quality Audio Recording
Much
of the audio on this website was recorded using an 4G iPod with an
iTalk voice recorder. For the most part the audio quality is
acceptable. Earlier iPods allowed you to record in mono at 8KHz 128
Kbps. The 5G iPod is capable of recording audio stereo at 44.1 KHz 1411
kbps. Two vendors, Belkin and MicroMemo have promised microphones for 5G iPods this spring.
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