"iPod/iTunes: The Missing Manual, Third Edition"

O'Reilly has published "iPod & iTunes: The Missing Manual, Third Edition" by New York Times tech columnist J. D. Biersdorfer. "Conspicuously absent is an iPod manual," says O'Reilly, "for getting much more out of an iPod, as well as putting much more into it, this newly updated edition blows open the secret doors of the chrome-and-white beauty and its many siblings, including the iPod Mini, iPod Photo, and the tiny iPod Shuffle. "This book is one-stop shopping for iPod reference and information," promises Biersdorfer. "It takes you on a joyride through the iPod subculture. And it guides you through all the cool musical and nonmusical things you can do with your iPod." The book sells for $25.

Samsung sets sights on MP3 player market

"Apple is a formidable player in the market, but I don't think it's impossible to catch up with it," said Kim Suh-kyum, a vice president at Samsung's Bluetek. "We are behind because we are a latecomer. But we have strong technological prowess in manufacturing digital consumer goods, which Apple lacks." Last month, the company held an unusual news conference dedicated to its new MP3 players, claiming that it would by 2007 increase its share of the market for mini hard disk drive music players from just 7.7 percent now to become the world's top producer of the devices, unseating Apple, which controls 70 percent. "The one thing that Apple has that is going to be very difficult for Samsung to achieve in the short term is the 'cool' factor that Apple has mastered," said Shyam Nagrani, an analyst at iSuppli.

Briefly: iPod boosts Apple numbers... Bush's iPod...

In brief: Apple is now shipping more than four times as many iPods as Macintosh computers (Apple's sales grew 45 percent to $9.7 billion in 2004, while its net income rocketed to $508 million from $140 million a year before).... U.S. President George Bush's iPod is "heavy on traditional country singers" such as George Jones, Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney (Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" is a Bush favorite).... AppleScript Pro will include coverage of Adobe's recently unveiled Creative Suite 2 in Monterey, CA, May 2-6 with a special session on scripting XML in InDesign CS2 by Olav Martin Kvern of Adobe Systems.