News Archive for 05/03/18

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SF Chronicle looks at "free iPod" schemes

03/18, 5:25pm

\"Free iPod\" schemes

San Francisco Chronicle looks at the widespread "free iPod" offers circulating online. "This one is from something called Incentive Reward Center, which is typically reached via Web-site banner ads and promises a free iPod ... What it doesn't say is that the offer terms will expose you to reams of spam and marketing solicitations ... [it] will almost certainly cost you money." The Incentive Reward Center is in fact a Florida business entity called Theuseful.com, "which is in fact a fictitious business name registered by another Florida business entity called NiuTech." As for NiuTech, the Better Business Bureau says the company has an "unsatisfactory record ... due to unanswered complaints concerning advertising and delivery issues." A supporter of the service said one of the pitches he was required to sign up for cost about $150. "I wouldn't recommend it to the average person ... You really have to know what you're doing, signing up for things and then canceling them. You have to document everything you do."

The Clips, JamPlug, JamPod to ship in early April

03/18, 11:50am

iPod accessory ship dates

DVForge today said it would ship The Clips on April 6th. The Clips is a $15 set of three alternative carrying gadgets for the iPod shuffle. The company also announced April 8th as the shipping date of its new JamPlug FM plug-in FM music transmitter for electric guitar or bass guitar. JamPlug FM is a 1.2" x 1.8" x 3.5" gloss white module that plugs into the output jack of any electric guitar or electric bass, and then transmit the output form the instrument to any nearby FM radio, boombox, car stereo, or home stereo receiver. JamPod, a guitar practice amp module for the iPod and iPod mini, will also begin shipping on April 8th (see original report for Macworld Expo). JamPod plugs into the headphone jack and the remote port on top of any dock connector model iPod or iPod mini.

PyMusique delivers iTMS access, DRM-free songs

03/18, 11:45am

PyMusique for iTMS

Three developers have released PyMusique, a music utility that claims to let users download music from Apple's iTunes store without any plackback restrictions. The songs bought with PyMusique, which claims to be " The fair interface to the iTunes Music Store," are not protected Apple's FairPlay DRM technology, allowing users to playback the songs on any number of computers and bypassing the 5-computer limit imposed by FairPlay. Based on the Python scripting language, the application is a clearl violation of Apple's Terms of Service, which prohibits access to the iTunes Music Store from any other application other than the iTunes application. PyMusique allows users to preview songs, sign up for an iTunes account, buy new songs, and redownload previously purchased songs, a feature not available for users of iTunes.