Alternative Apple iPhone 3GS headphones / earphones as recomended by twitter followers

zbud_blackUPDATE 26.02.12:  I thought I’d update this post as there are a few more headphones on the market that will work as per the Apple iPhone headphones (and cheaper) for the 4 and the 4s. I had a look in my local tescos the other day as I have lost another set of Apple headphones and both sets of Addidas Seinheisers are out of action.

I bought these and they work perfectly KIT Sound iPhone Stereo Earphones with Microphonebut also while I was there I saw these Bliss Black Metallic Earphones available in various colours and for those (like me) who loses or breaks them all the time, pretty cheap to.

Please add anything else you find to the comments on this page to keep it up to date, thanks!

After not having too much success with a google search for an alternative replacement set of headphones for my iPhone 3GS I turned to Twitter for some advice. I got quite a response so I thought I would share the tweet recommendations. Note: I have popped into a reseller and they did tell me that apple would replace a faulty set still within the 1 year manufacturers warranty.

Apple [Link]
Replacements for the headphones that ship with the iPhone £21 and the in ear earphones are £59 on the Apple site.
Z.buds [Link]
These look awesome, durable, not to expensive and all the iPhone functions.
Griffin [Link]
SmartTalk and TuneBuds Mobile. Two solutions and not too expensive, both do not have volume control though.
Bose ipod buds [Link]
A little more expensive, in line microphone but no volume.
Klipse Image S4i Earphones [Link]
Looks like a good set of headphones, a little expensive although comes with a 2 year warranty, microphone but as far as I can see no volume control.
Etymotic hf2 Hands-free Headset [Link]
Again going for the sound quality higher end of the market, a little expensive mic, control, but again no volume.
JVC HA-KX100 [Link]
Affordable, mic and control but again no in line volume.

Digitizing your DVD / Film collection, software, settings, exports, codecs, file size etc

The other day a colleague, Ryan Garner! you may have heard him on Simon Mayos drive talking about iPad sales (tech expert) no big deal! said he was thinking about digitizing his DVD collection. It got me thinking, it’s about that time that hard drives are so big and compression routines so efficient that we all should start to think about having our films as files. I have a few DVDs as digital downloads and a few I have converted for my iPhone but with 160gb of ps3 hard drive sitting there doing nothing why haven’t I taken the iPod mentality with my DVDs and got them all on a hard drive. So it’s testing time.

I started by looking at the old iPod exports I had done a few years ago but I was after something that wouldn’t look to degraded on a 40″ TV. I remembered having a download available with my x-men origins DVD I bought recently and so download it to look at the file. It was slightly bigger at 8 x but still what would this look like on a 1080 tv, I was optimistic as it looked pretty good in full screen on the MacBook. So the next step was to play it from the PlayStation. No transfer need, see Media Streaming from an Apple computer to a PS3 using MediaLink….  No worries, here to help!

So, next to look at some software, exports settings and codecs. My preferred DVD ripping software is Handbrake on the mac but have a search on Softpedia or Download.com if you are using a PC for alternatives. Handbrake has a few export presets so I tried a few to compare results. When these exports are played back on laptop there isn’t much in the quality although the files sizes can differ dramatically. I exported another targeting the file size to around 700 mb, this produces a very low bitrate and a noticeable reduction in quality. I next produced an export with a targeted bitrate. Many video files on my laptop had a bitrate of around 1500 so I thought it would be interesting to see what file size this produced. The results were a medium size file, approximate 2 gig and a good quality. The test would be though which files I could play through the TV and still be happy with the quality. My opinion is that if you are after DVD quality videos you need to target the 4 to 5 gig file size with minimum compression. If you are happy to notice slight pixelation in your image and funnily enough this occurs on the flat chunks of colour then go-ahead and start reducing the bitrate.

There Is other software and codecs that do the same sort of job, DIVX has a very good compression routine and produces small file sizes in high quality, just make sure you check what file extensions your devices can playback before you compress your entire collection.

Installed Quicktime Plug ins and Components for video production

After recently having my first issues playing certain video codecs in Quicktime since the installation of Mac OSX Snow Leopard I thought I’d look at my installed Quicktime Components that in the past have allowed me to play most files. Obviously, Quicktime Pro facilitates many options that are grayed out in the regular Quicktime Player. I also have Premiere Pro which now facilitates many HDD camera files, Final Cut which also supports many mpeg formats and VLC Player which seems to open most files.

Flip4Mac Pro WMV
I have the Flip4Mac Studio Pro for WMV playback and export. There is Flip4Mac Player for WMV Playback,  Flip4MacPlayer Pro allows you to import WMV’s for conversion to Quicktime formats although this version is not free, Flip4Mac Studio allows you to export WMV’s in the Quicktime environment but using the presets and Flip4Mac Studio Pro which allows you to create you own custom export settings. I would advise purchasing Studio Pro if you support a company that uses Video in Powerpoint as it provides the most versatility.

Visit The Flip4Mac download page here

Perian
Perian, they say is the Swiss army knife for Quicktime Codecs. I’ll be honest, I installed it and as I can play most formats I guess it helps but couldn’t evaluate it completely. Here is the list of codecs Perian supports.

  • File formats: AVI, DIVX, FLV, MKV, GVI, VP6, and VFW
  • Video types: MS-MPEG4 v1 & v2, DivX, 3ivx, H.264, Sorenson H.263, FLV/Sorenson Spark, FSV1, VP6, H263i, VP3, HuffYUV, FFVHuff, MPEG1 & MPEG2 Video, Fraps, Snow, NuppelVideo, Techsmith Screen Capture, DosBox Capture
  • Audio types: Windows Media Audio v1 & v2, Flash ADPCM, Xiph Vorbis (in Matroska), and MPEG Layer I & II Audio, True Audio, DTS Coherent Acoustics, Nellymoser ASAO
  • AVI support for: AAC, AC3 Audio, H.264, MPEG4, and VBR MP3
  • Subtitle support for SSA/ASS and SR

Download the Perian Plugin here

REDcode
I have REDcode installed but to be honest I have know hardware that would require using this as yet.

Visit the REDcode website here

DIVX 7 Codec
I have the DIVX 7 Component installed which adds playback of .divx videos and .avi files, there is also a DIVX 7 Pro version which allows you to create your own DIVX files but I have not yet had the need to do so so I don’t have this installed

Visit DIVX here

TechSmith EnSharpen
Since I have installed Camtasia on the Edit suites at work I have installed the TechSmith Ensharpen Codec to reduce the problems I might come across saving out screen capture video created in Camtasia and saving them to Quicktime to then import for edit into Adobe Premiere Pro.

Visit the TechSmith EnSharpen Codec page here

I’m pretty sure I have the XVID Component installed too but again am not sure whether this ever needs pulling out of the bag and if it does it probably runs nicely in the background.

For more Qucktime Components visit Apple

Favourite and most used iPhone Apps for December

December_iPhone_AppsBy far my most used App of this month is Copilot Live and the recent improvements to iPod control within the Sat Nav makes it all the better. But this month I wanted to mention a couple of novelty Apps I have been playing with.

Timelapser is a nice litle time lapse / stop motion software that produces a nice little video. I liked it so much I bought a gorilla pod for my iPhone.

GS Lite, not played with it much but a nice to have for simple blue or green screen effects.

NB TotalFit, works with Mapmyrun and apparently is based on the iMapmyrun App, it has all the little extras like voice feedback that you meed to pay extra for on the premium version of iMapmyrun.

Natwest, I didn’t think it would be long before a bank jumped on the App badwagon and luckily my was first apart from the company that tried to produce an app for a bank that no-one has heard of. Natwest is a very handy and has taken anoter routine job of mine off the laptop and onto the phone.

Flixter, now I have a Ciniworld season ticket thanks to the PruHealth plan the flixter app is perfect for seeing what’s on, rating and trailers.

TV Guide, I don’t get much of time to watch TV but this app is very easy to use and allows you to glance over all the channels very efficiently, with one touch providing more details.

And of course WordPress 2 which without I would be writing these blog posts with on the train most mornings.

Apple Quicktime removes the Mpeg2 playback component

Quicktime_MPEG2_Playback_ComponentApple, what are you doin to me? QuickTime.. the one program I thought I could trust in the world of video. The program that I thought I could make play most videos has slowly been getting worse as apple moves their programs more towards the consumer market than the professional but this takes the buiscuit.

Why have you removed the MPEG2 playback component? I have hundreds of videos produced by the company and external agencies which now apparently are not movie files and it really messes up the playback of .tod files which up until a couple of weeks ago I played fine with the JVC Everio plugin.

Their is a solution! Apple will sell the MPeg2 playback component back to you for a bargain $19.99 but why? Who made this ridiculous decision to reduce the power of Apple programs! Come on let’s not turn into windows media player! Come to think of it, Powerpoint supports mpeg2 and no other mpeg codec.

Please ReTweet until someone at apple reads this.

Apple MacBook trackpad fingertip shortcut strokes

I was amazed how many people with MacBooks did not make full use of the mouse pad fingertip shortcuts so here’s a few to get you started.

Firstly, quite obviously the entire pad is a button.

Two finger scrolling, by placing two fingers on the pad a stroking up and down you can scroll pages with ease.

Apple_Macbook_Trackpad_Scroll

Holding ctrl and placing two fingers on the trackpad allows you to zoom in on the macs screen.

Zoom in, similarly to the iPhone you can zoom in by placing your fingers together and pinching open.

Apple_Macbook_Trackpad_Pinch_Open

Zoom out, pinching closed zooms out.

Apple_Macbook_Trackpad_Pinch_Closed

Rotate, place your thumb and index finger on the trackpad and rotate the two together. This is especially useful in programs such as Adobe Photoshop.

Apple-Macbook-Trackpad_Rotate

Four fingers up for expose, place all four fingers on the pad and then throw then up, this will throw all your windows away from the desktop and allow you to choose your next program.

Apple-Macbook-Trackpad_4_Fingers_Up

Four fingers down for expose, place all fingers on the trackpad and drag them towards you, this will place all of your windows on your desktop for you to select your next navigation.

Apple-Macbook-Trackpad_4_Fingers_Down

Screen-shot

Four fingers left / right, reveals all your open programs, using one finger your can scroll through and select similarly to tabbing through programs in Windows.

Apple_Macbook_Trackpad_Toggle_Programs

Three fingers scroll to navigate, scroll through folders of images etc

Macbook_Trackpad_Swipe_To_Navigate

For more detail click Apple > System Preferences > Trackpad

Apple Mac Keyboard Twitter #hashtag bug – The key facts

#_Hashtag_SymbolAs if it wasn’t annoying enough that on the Apple Mac Keyboard sometimes the @ sign and ” are sometimes not as displayed on the keys (mine is right in the Mac OS and wrong in my Windows XP environment) but just wait until you write your next Tweet and need to emphasis a word with a hashtag, where is it? this was only brought to my attention in the past week and reminded me that there were a few other characters I have been meaning to find without having to google it and then paste it into my work. Here’s a few useful symbols and characters.

# = Alt + 3
€ = Alt + 2
© = Alt + G
• = Alt + 8
And one just for fun
 = Alt + Shift + K

Thanks Nick Buckley for raising the #hashtag issue

VMWare vs Bootcamp – What is best for running a Windows Operating System on your Mac?

Unfortunately, though I tried to avoid it, I do have a need for both Microsoft software as well a Mac based software, both at work and at home. I am fortunate enough to run two different set ups for running windows on an Apple Mac machine. At work I have a VMWare environment known as VM Fusion running Windows XP and on my home MacBook I have Windows vista running on a partitioned part of the drive, set up using Apples Bootcamp which comes pre installed on the Mac. For both situations you will need a working copy of windows.

VMWare Fusion EnvironmentVMware_Fusion_Logo
The VMWare environment essentially loads a program and within this program loads the Windows operating system. All programs such as Microsoft Office work as usual within the environment. Fusion also has a handy little feature known as Unity which hides the VMWare surround displaying you windows programs in much the same way as you mac software. If, for example you minimise Word it slinks down to the Dock and not the Windows taskbar. If you take the time to set up VMWare Fusion you can also conveniently save down your files to convenient places within the Mac system so as to avoid the need to drag and drop files between the operating systems. We have VMWare fully integrated on the company network which means full support from the IT department.

Bootcamp_IconBootcamp
Bootcamp is relatively easy to install, it happens in two stages. First, you partition the drive, then you install your windows operating system on the partition. The benefit of running the Windows OS separate to Mac OS you would think would be less of a drain on resources but I have to say that when I boot up in Vista the Apple Mac hardware reacts in a completely different way. The fan kicks in pretty early and the system gets hot. Granted the speed seems to be good but if I’m honest with the processors and ram I am operating with I don’t think I’d notice a difference in speed between my windows programs running in Bootcamp and the windows programs running in VMFusion, the downside being running two operating systems at the same time. The main disadvantage is the fact that the two are separate, you can create a drop box to pass files between the two setups as you can see the partitioned drive from each system but it means rebooting.

In summary, if you are prepared to folk out a little extra for a VMWare licence it is well work it. It just means a more seamless work flow between applications. If you want to copy and paste from a window in outlook to Photoshop you can do, if you want to drag and drop from your windows desktop to an application you can do. As a time saver and for ease of use I’d say VMWare Fusion is the winner.

Speed up your blog posts with quick screen grabs using Mac OSX shortcut keys

You could always use Grab, Apple Macs built in screen capture software but I will tell you how to print screen in seconds, even capture screen images ready to go straight into you blog or powerpoint presentation, already cropped and re sized without the need to use a program such as Adobe Photoshop.

Screen_GrabOk, first method. Hold SHIFT + COMMAND + 3 to print the entire screen, this will automatically place a high .png file on your desktop with a generic name.

Second method, SHIFT + COMMAND + 4 provides you with a set of cross hairs to select your desired workspace. Click and hold at the top left of the part of the screen you wish to capture and then drag diagonally down until all of the area is highlighted, release the mouse and the image will be generated and saved to your desktop.Print_Screen If you change your mind press escape to remove the cross hairs.

Be sure to name the image in a way the the search engines can read what it is, for example My_Screen_Grab.jpg

Insert the image into your blog, web page etc and have a brew with the time you just saved faffing about with picture editing programs.

Media Streaming, MacBook Pro, PS3, Xbox 360, MediaLink, iTunes Part 1

I grew tired of having loads of tech, loads of tunes, loads of software but still limited by not being in the right place or not having a lead long enough, so I set about improving my technical life. I started with my music, I have a 2.1 surround sound system plugged into my TV with an iPhone dock in it yet I hardly ever dock the iPhone and only have access to 8 gigs of music…

Streaming_Media

MacBook Pro (iTunes) to PS3
I downoaded Media Link and installed it on the Mac. Once installed go to your system preferences, register your software then under the iTunes tab make sure you are sharing your library. Use your settings here to share anything else you wish to make available. Go onto your PS3 and scroll left to the music icon, scroll down to search for media servers. Your Null River Media Link icon should appear in the menu system. Scroll down to your music and browse the folders as you would your playlist, providing the music is in a exognisable format for your ps3 you should hear tunage.

MacBook Pro to Xbox 360
I then set about doing the same for the xbox and soon gave up, Mac, Microsoft! Bad combination

iPhone to MacBook Pro (iTunes)
Apple have made a nifty little app that doesn’t ship with the iPhone software. It’s a handy little WiFi remote control available on the app store it gives you full access to you iTunes library as long as you are withing range and you HD is not asleep. Very easy to set up and most importantly FREE.

iPhone to Macbook Pro (full operating system)

Given the nature of my job a high proportion of my time is spent video editing which means I struggle to work from home or on location like many others. As an experiment I decided to play with remote desktop. I have worked for a company in the past that tapped into the company server using remote access and in turn could remote desktop to any one of the PCs as long as it was on. Security is extremely high on the company network so I began testing to see if I could log onto my laptop at home from my iPhone. I began by setting up a logmein.com account and installing the relevant software locally on the MacBook. Logmein also a produce a tidy little app called logmein ignition which provides a seamless iPhone interface to operate Mac OSX. Before I invested the £17.99 I tested the theory by merely using safari on the phone (didn’t work) I also wanted to know what kind of speeds we would be looking at. When I attempted through a Firefox browser logmein required the installation of further software and an active x control in Internet explorer. The connection from work to home on the first test went well. As you can imagine there is no delay on programs loading at the remote end but the refresh speed locally was slow. I am presuming the wireless connection a distance away from the router does not help. I am slightly reluctant to test the logmein ignition app on the iPhone as I don’t think it will be able to handle the tasks I need to perform over wifi but especially over the 3G network ( I wonder if an iPhone 3G S would help)

MobileMe
The subscription has put me off the MobileMe software. I really don’t know whether it would improve my efficiency that much that I can justify paying the recurring price tag. But, I am rubbish with dates and having a work calender and a home calender does not help. Often the email I need for some information on a particular task will be on my laptop at home.

Part 2 coming when I am considerably richer and invest in a home entertainment system.