the 5 best ipod car adapters , and How to Instal them

So your car doesn't have an iPod dock. Rather than scrapping your mp3 player for burned cds, (or scrapping your car, for that matter) owners of dockless vehicles can patch together a method for streaming their MP3s through the built-in stereo. Effort and expense will vary, and some setups will sound much better than others. Here are five options to connect your iPod to your car.

By Seth Porges

Option 1: Wireless FM Transmitter

INSTALLATION: Easy
SOUND QUALITY: Poor

FM transmitters are the most popular and convenient way of playing an MP3 device through a car stereo. They typically plug into an iPod’s dock or headphone jack to create what is essentially a low-wattage pirate radio station—powerful enough to be picked up by your car radio inches away, but not strong enough to interfere with neighboring car radios. Unfortunately, these transmitters need to compete with real (and far more powerful) radio stations and are easily swamped by 6000 watts of classic rock. When this happens, the sound that comes out of the speakers can be a cacophonous mix of static, local radio stations and whatever your iPod is playing. This problem is exacerbated by FCC regulations, which prohibit FM transmitters from broadcasting at greater than 18.75 nanowatts, essentially ensuring that they won’t work well. And while this problem is particularly pronounced in cities with crowded airwaves, the issue exists nearly everywhere in the country. There’s another downside to FM transmitters: Even under ideal conditions, FM radio just can’t deliver excellent sound quality.

That being said, FM transmitters are extremely convenient and, with many models selling for as little as $15, affordable. If you decide to use one, choose a model that lets you pick any FM frequency (some restrict you to a few stations on the top or bottom of the spectrum). This will increase your odds of finding an open channel.

Option 2: Cassette Adapter

INSTALLATION: Easy
SOUND QUALITY: Good

Audio cassette adapters take advantage of an increasingly rare feature: a car’s tape player. These adapters are shaped exactly like a cassette tape. They are cheap (around $15), commonplace and deliver decent sound quality. To use one, simply plug one end into the MP3 player’s headphone jack and the other into the tape deck. If your automobile has a cassette player, there is no easier way to get interference-free listening.

Option 3: Wired FM Modulator

INSTALLATION: Moderate
SOUND QUALITY: Good

With wireless FM transmitters, the signal has to travel through high-traffic airwaves on its way to your car antenna. Wired FM modulators, which usually come as small boxes with a few cords running out from them, intercept the connection between the car’s antenna and radio, allowing you to inject your iPod’s signal directly into this wired pathway. The result is dramatically improved sound quality—although the final result is still hampered by the limitations of FM radio, which is far from audiophile-friendly.

These modulators are inexpensive (they can be found online for as little as $15) and relatively easy to put in, as long as you are comfortable fiddling with your car stereo’s wires. To install one, position yourself underneath the dash. Reach up and unplug the antenna from the back of the stereo and plug it into the modulator’s antenna input. Take the modulator’s output cord and connect it to the stereo’s antenna input. You can then set the modulator to run at any FM frequency. Pick one with weak competing signals (usually at the very top or bottom of the spectrum), and plug the modulator’s audio output cord into your iPod’s headphone jack.

Option 4: Stereo With Line-In Port

INSTALLATION: Moderate
SOUND QUALITY: Very Good

If you’re lucky, your car stereo has a headphone-size line-in port right on the front. If so, all you have to do is jack your MP3 player into this hole, tune your stereo source to “Auxiliary,” and crank some tunes. Unfortunately, most car stereos lack this port. Installing a new car stereo that has one is one method for getting excellent sound using your iPod. New stereos with the port can be purchased for under $100 and installed either by you or a professional. (Some shops offer free installation with purchase.)

Option 5: RCA Port

INSTALLATION: Moderate
SOUND QUALITY: Very Good

Some car stereos—primarily ones with CD players—include an RCA jack in the back. Hijacking this audio connection from the CD player will provide excellent sound quality for music coming off an iPod. First step: Remove the stereo. If there is an RCA port, you will see dual jacks—one with a red and one with a white input (similar to the RCA jacks on home stereos). RCA-to-headphone cords can be bought for a few dollars at just about any electronics store. Plug the red and white ends of this cord into the stereo’s RCA jack and the other end into your MP3 player’s headphone jack. Finally, tune your stereo to either “CD” or “Auxiliary” (the exact setting depends on your stereo).

Deconstructing Apple's Tiny iPod Shuffle

A teardown by researchers shows the device's components cost a mere 28% of its retail price—a fat profit margin. Biggest supplier: Samsung

By Arik Hesseldahl

When the first iPod graced store shelves almost eight years ago, it could pack about 1,000 songs into roughly the same space as a deck of playing cards. A new iteration of the digital music player called the shuffle packs the same number of songs into a space that's about the same size as your pinky finger.

There's not much else to the shuffle, released in March. There are no buttons, for instance—only a power switch that also controls whether songs are played in sequence or "shuffled," as the name implies. Other controls for playing and changing the volume have been moved off the device entirely and into the wire running from the headphones.

Nor is there much on the inside of the shuffle, as a teardown analysis of the device by market research firm iSuppli has found. Privately held iSuppli takes consumer electronics apart in order to estimate how much they cost to build. And while a teardown doesn't account for the costs of design, software, manufacturing, or shipping, these cost estimates help fill in the blanks toward estimating the profit on each device sold.

All told, the cost of the shuffle's components, the headphones, and the packaging it ships in comes to $21.77, according to iSuppli's estimates. That's about 28% of the device's retail price. The smaller the component cost as a percentage of price, the higher the potential profit. This suggests the per-unit profit margin on the shuffle is higher than on other iPod models. The component cost for the first iPod touch released in 2007, for instance, amounted to about $147, or about 49% of its $299 retail price. The component cost of the third-generation iPod nano, also released in 2007, amounted to about 40% of its retail price.

Who the Suppliers Are

Analysis by iSuppli also helps determine the makers of the components inside electronics devices. The big winner in the shuffle, says iSuppli analyst Andrew Rassweiler, appears to be South Korea's semiconductor giant Samsung. ISuppli examined the insides of the four-gigabyte shuffle, which goes for $79. The main application chip used in the device, controlling music and other functions, comes from Samsung and costs $5.98, Rassweiler says.

Samsung remains the king of Apple's silicon suppliers, at least for the iPod and iPhone family. It supplies the main applications processor on the iPhone 3G as well as for the iPod touch. And like the other Samsung chips used in Apple devices, the one in the shuffle is based around a core design licensed from ARM Holdings (ARMH), a British chip designer in which Apple used to be an investor.

Samsung also supplied the four gigabytes of flash memory, used primarily to store music, at a cost of about $6, Rassweiler says. Apple is likely to be using other suppliers in addition to Samsung for flash memory, including Japan's Toshiba (6502.T) and South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor. "It's almost like six dollars worth of flash memory tied to some flash and a battery and not much else," Rassweiler says. "It's very basic and downsized." Other suppliers of various parts include On Semiconductor (ONNN), NXP Semiconductor, and Texas Instruments (TXN).

From Tiny to Minuscule

The device contains a tiny lithium ion battery that costs $1.20, and that Rassweiler describes as "the smallest we've ever seen." And for a company that doesn't ignore the tiniest of details, the most mundane of components are the most advanced available. The device's so-called passive components—capacitors and resistors—are unusually small. Known by their numeric label 01005, which in electronics shorthand describes their dimensions in thousandths of an inch, they're about the size of a grain of salt and cost fractions of a penny each. But they're half the size of what had previously been considered the smallest device of their type, those labeled 0201.

It's just one of many ways that Apple continues to differentiate its products from the rest of the pack. "Until recently we didn't see passive components quite this small," Rassweiler says. "Here you see them working on the cutting edge, even on the passives." They also help save space inside.

The components themselves are too small to give even a hint of who made them, but typical suppliers include such companies as AVX (AVX), Vishay Intertechnology (VSH), Kemet, and Rohm (6963.T), Rassweiler says.

There are other costs in addition to components for which a teardown can't account: The time and efforts of software engineers and designers, industrial designers, manufacturing, distribution, royalties paid on patents owned by other companies, and so on. When it last reported earnings on Jan. 21, Apple said its gross margin, a key indicator for profitability that takes into account costs to make all its products, was 34.7%. The company also said it expects a gross margin of 32.5% in the quarter ended Mar. 30, for which it will report results on Apr. 22.

Hesseldahl is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com.

Turn your iPod Touch into an iPhone (almost)

Posted by Dave

The iPhone has taken America by storm since its much-vaunted release. The rest of the world is slowly working on giving a crap, but to the States the iPhone represents the current holy grail of their mobile phone industry. New handsets with high expectations are relentlessly branded ‘iPhone killers’, though has any phone even come close to knocking the iPhone from its pedestal in the minds of its users? Not even close.

However, during these times of economic uncertainty, a little bit of fiddling you can give your iTouch essentially the same features as the iPhone. Sure, you won’t have an inbuilt camera, but you can’t send MMS messages or record video anyway, so what are you really missing

out on? The kink in the plan here is that you need to be in range of a Wi-Fi hotspot to use your iTouch-Phone, but with the ever-increasing number of public hotspots, it’s likely that if you live in an urban area you’re probably not too far away from one most of the time. The only money you’ll need to spend is on a microphone, since sadly the iPod Touch has no built-in mic.

The great news is that besides having to spend a bit of cash on your microphone solution, all the software used in this tutorial to give your snazzy iPod Touch the functionality of the iPhone is totally free. So what are you waiting for?

There’s no need to jailbreak your iTouch or modify it in any way – all you need is an iPod Touch on 2.x.x firmware, a pair of headphones with a microphone, a WiFi network, and access to Apple’s App Store so you can download and use Fring – a free app which supports several different chat protocols.

1. Choose your microphone

Philips iPhone Mic Adapter $9.99 from Target

Apple Earphones with Remote & Mic

(MB770) $29.00 from Apple Store

Apple In-Ear Headphones

with Remote & Mic (MA850)
$79.00 from Apple Store

I’d recommend the Philips mic adapter, mainly because it costs under $10 compared with Apple’s habitually expensive alternatives, but also because it allows you to use your own headphon

es. However, you’ll lose out on having the remote. If you prefer a hands-free approach, SwitchEasy’s ThumbTacks might be more your style. Thanks to Apple’s proprietary chip in the new iPod shuffle remote/mic combo earphones, pickings are a little slim at the time of writing.

For 1st generation iPod Touch users, you’ll have to come up with a solution th

at uses the iPod’s docking port, since the 1st gen doesn’t

support line-in through the earphone connection. Sadly, the new fancy Apple earphones are not backwards compatible with the 1G iPod Touch. However, there are some alternative solutions which use the 30-pin dock connecter, such as the popular iVoice3.

Once you’ve sorted out your mic, you’re ready to start setting up your VoIP application.

The alternative to Fring is downloading the new Skype for iPh

one/iPod Touch application, which was released last Tuesday. How do the two compare, though? Well, Skype is a very recent release and I’ve found that it tends to crash occasionally, though it’s still very much useable. Fring’s current release (v1.0.0.2.4) is very stable in comparison. Both allow you to import contacts from your iTouch’s contact list, and support both text and voice chat… but what really sets Fring apart is its ability to support not only the Skype VoIP protocol, but als

o 3rd party SIP accounts, MSN, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, and Google Talk. It even has plugins for Twitter and last.fm, which make it the winner in my book. However, you can add SkypeOut credit and dial any phone in the world from the Skype application, so if you’d rather stick with a brand you know already, go ahead and download Skype for free and have fun making calls on your iPod!

Personally, I have both, since I prefer the look and feel of the Skype application, but love having the extra functionality of Fring.

2. Install Fring

Step 1: Search for Fring in the App Store with your iPod, and download and install it for free.

Step 2: Once installed, fire up Fring and register a new user account (or sign in if you’re already a Fring member).

Step 3: Now simply pick a User ID, nickname, password and email address (only used to retrieve your password if you forget it).

Step 4: Next, link your Fring account to an active Skype account, and a SIP provider if you have one (I recommend voipstunt.com – it’s free!)

Step 5: Your contact list should now populate with your Skype contacts. Just click their names to call and chat.

Step 6: Click the Dialer and… hey presto! Dial the number you want (don’t forget the leading 00s) and hit the green “SIP” button to dial over your own VoIP provider, or “Skype Out” to use your outgoing Skype credit.

Congratulations! You can now make as well as Skype-to-Skype and Fring-to-Fring calls with other users, absolutely free. Add some SkypeOut credit and you can use that, but watch out – if you don’t make a call for 180 days, they’ll wipe off any credit on your account.

I’d recommend signing up with VoIPstunt for your free VoIP service – they offer 100% free calls to the USA, UK, Canada, Australia and many other countries in Europe, South America and Asia . All you need to do is top up your account with a little bit of credit every 120 days to keep it active. Best of all, Fring supports it out of the box – just enter your username and password and you’re away.

3. Get SMS working
Now that we’ve got the microphone and phone sorted, you’re only missing SMS. Well, you’ve got plenty of options here. For a long time there were apps available that granted jailbroken iPod Touch users completely free text messaging, but sadly a lot of these have been banned, obsoleted, or have not been updated in a long time.

You and Your iPod: It's All About Control











Apple Remote App

Download Apple's Remote app, and you'll be able to control the music on your computer or Apple TV with your iPod touch. Since Remote works with your Wi-Fi network, you can control your music from anywhere in your house that's within your router's range. Specifically, you can see the album artwork, edit playlists in iTunes, search your whole iTunes library, and control your AirTunes speakers once the app is downloaded to your touch. Best of all, Remote is free!9










DLO HomeDocMusic Remote








Want to control your iPod from almost anywhere in the house—even through walls? The DLO HomeDock Music Remote Dock charges your iPod and also provides wireless control up to 150 feet away on the remote. Even more, you can see what song is playing on the remote's screen. Just connect the dock to your stereo or computer with the included cables. Then dock your iPod and download all your iPod's artist and playlist information to the Music Remote. You'll be able to control volume, rewind/previous track, EQ settings, and more using the remote. The HomeDock Music Remote is compatible with the iPod nano (all generations), iPod classic, iPod with video, iPod mini, iPod (4th generation), and iPod touch (1st and 2nd generations). Get it at Wal-Mart for $129.72.









Logic3 i-Station 25





Since the iPod touch has a built-in accelerometer, you can turn it on its side for a better view of video and photos. Place your iPod touch into Logic3's i-Station 25 and listen to music or watch movies comfortably, whether you're at home, the beach, or camping. If you'd rather watch video in full screen, the i-Station 25 also incorporates a video-out port for connecting it to a TV. The i-Station 25 operates on four AA batteries or the included AC adapter, and comes with a remote control to operate the speaker and iPod. It sells for $100 on Amazon.com.








Accenda Voice Control for iPod







Previously featured in our "10 Strange Hands-Free Devices" slideshow, the Accenda Voice Control for iPod from Innotech Systems ($59.95) lets you control your iPod with the sound of your voice. You can tell it to adjust the volume, play a song, skip to the next track, and more. Just plug your earbuds or headphones into the Voice Control, plug the cable into the iPod dock connector, and command it to do as you please. The 1.5-inch device can be worn around your neck or clipped to your clothing. It can even be trained to recognize commands in other languages besides English or those iPod owners with strong accents.






Griffin iTrip AutoPilot








Trying to keep your eyes on the road while driving and navigating your iPod at the same time isn't a smart idea. That's why there's the Griffin iTrip AutoPilot ($99). On one end you connect your iPod and on the other you plug the adapter into your vehicle's cigarette lighter. Then you can tuck your iPod away and control it easily by touching the buttons on the adapter to play/pause and skip tracks. SmartScan technology finds a radio station to play your iPod's music through your vehicle's speakers, too. The iTrip AutoPilot is compatible with all iPod/iPhone models.







Apple Universal Dock








Charge and sync your iPod or connect it to a TV or speakers with the Apple Universal Dock ($49). The included Apple Remote lets you listen to songs and watch photo slideshows, among other things, by giving you control of your iPod from across the room. The dock comes with eight dock adapters that will fit the iPod nano (3rd and 4th generations), iPod touch (1st and 2nd generations), iPod classic (80/120GB and 160GB), and iPod with video (30GB and 60/80GB), as well as the iPhone and iPhone 3G..






Keyspan TuneViewPro for iPod








Consisting of a universal iPod dock, a two-way RF remote with color LCD screen, a USB power adapter, and audio/USB cables, the Keyspan TuneView Pro for iPod is a more pricey alternative to managing your music throughout your house or office. By using the remote up to 150 feet away from the dock, you can play/pause, adjust volume, track forward/back, and access your iPod's menu. The TuneView Pro works with all iPods with a dock connector. Buy it for $159.69 on Provantage.com.








Logitech Pure-Fi Dream







Not only is the Logitech Pure-Fi Dream ($200 direct) an iPod dock with powerful speakers and strong bass response, it's also an alarm clock with easy-to-set alarms. Control your iPod with the backlit, multifunction remote control. When Audio Analyst Tim Gideon reviewed the Pure-Fi Dream, he was able to play and pause music from as far away as 75 feet—and even through glass.








Sonos Controller for iPod touch








Another free application, the Sonos Controller for iPod touch turns your music player into a Sonos Controller. (You'll have to own a Sonos ZonePlayer for this to work.) Search for songs in your music collection by typing on your iPod touch's virtual keyboard or browse through songs by pointing and flicking. The Now Playing screen displays what's playing in the rooms you're in, with details like album art and track titles.









iLuv Desktop iPod/
DVD Player







Watch your iPod videos on a bigger screen with the iLuv 5.1 Channel Slim Desktop iPod/DVD Player ($150). It has an integrated dock to connect your iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano (3rd gen), or iPod with video for watching videos on your TV or listening to music through your TV's speakers. Navigate your media with the included remote control.

The 10 Wackiest Headphone

From headphones that come with their own amplifier to transforming, wearable MP3 players, we've rounded up 10 of the weirdest, wackiest headphone designs you'll ever see,

Campbell Simpson, PC World Australia

Audio-Technica ATH-W5000

Audio-Technica's ATH-W5000 is a set of headphones with a decidedly retro feel. Packing high quality components into an over-the-ear design, the headphones have wooden outer covers for the ear-cups, making them instantly recognizable.

AKG K1000

Recognizable for a completely different reason, AKG’s K1000 headphones are essentially full-size speakers suspended over the listener’s head with the headband. Reminding us of broadcast studio microphones — sans the fuzzy covers — these headphones are as expensive as they are ingenious.

Audio-Technica ATH-EW9

As a smaller redesign of the ATH-W500, the ATH-EW9 from Audio-Technica is a set of clip-on headphones that sit on the listener's ears. With a metal ear-clip mechanism the ATH-EW9 headphones are a pleasant mix of retro and modern styling.

Sennheier HE90 Orpheus

Novel for their bulk, prowess and price, Sennheiser's legendary HE90 Orpheus headphones are one of few models on the market to use electrostatic sound reproduction instead of the moving-coil design used by most headphones. The end result is peerless sound quality with the downside of requiring a dedicated, specially designed amplifier.

Logitech Curve

Slightly out of place in such prestigious company, Logitech's Curve headphones have been chosen because of their ultramodern headband and clip-on design. Molded out of lurid green plastic, the Curve headphones may not suit all tastes but certainly catch the eye.

Takara's Novelty Headphones

A list of novelty headphones can't be complete without at least one boutique Japanese cartoon design. These Takara headphones seem like generic clip-ons — until they unfold to reveal the plastic limbs of either Frenzy or Rumble, depending on which model you purchase. A licensed transforming MP3 player is also available.

Logitech Freepulse

Logitech's FreePulse headphones are the older, cooler brother of the earlier Curve. With Bluetooth technology and a thin band design, they’re stylish enough to be worn wherever you go.

Zelci Outi

These Zelco Outi earphones are designed to be attached to the outside of your ears rather than nestled inside. Transmitting their vibrations directly into your ear cartilage, the Outi are designed to reverberate sound through your entire body.

Skullcandy

If you want a zany design, you can't go past Skullcandy. With all of their models available in over-the-top finishes, you’re bound to make a statement 24/7.

Sony W Series

They aren't specifically headphones, but an honorable mention goes to Sony's new W Series MP3 player range. With a set of in-ear headphones built in to the MP3 player's body, you're literally wearing music. It does make changing songs interesting, though, using Sony's proprietary ZAPPIN technology.