Geeks Gadgets - your weekly technology column

Whats the difference you might ask between an mp3 player an iPod?
Well basically nothing! The iPod is Apple's version of the mp3 player and why everyone is talking about them is that is aesthetically they look gorgeous and they are pretty easy to use. The only thing that really sets them apart is using the software that transfers music to them, called iTunes, but more on that later.

So you've bought your shiny new iPod, iPod Shuffle or iPod Nano and three weeks later you are still not bored with running you finger over the navigation wheel, or the big clicky circle in the middle for those that like the sound!
By now I´m sure you've worked out that they are pretty easy to navigate, so let go through the menu quickly.
But for those that are just magnetized by the clicky sound, here is how you navigate.
Running your finger clockwise round the central wheel will take you down the menu, and anticlockwise will take you back up the menu. Clicking the centre of the wheel selects what you have highlighted at that point on your screen. Touch the top and it will take you back a step. Now when you eventually have stopped playing with all the menus and get round to listening to music and you are on the "Now Playing" screen if you click the right hand side of the central circle it will change the display of the song that is currently playing. For instance you can have simply the artist information, or the album artwork and the artist information, or just the album artwork - have a play and see what suits you best. First menu, "Music" has 7 sub menus that the music you have transferred is categorised into, all listed alphabetically.
Firstly there is "Artists", which is all you music listed by artist information that is imported when transfer music. It can be slightly irritating if you are looking for artists that have the "The" prefix as you will need to go down to T in the menu and all are listed together, e.g. The Who, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones - gripe number one! (You can change that when you are orgnasing iTunes to suit your needs).
Next menu is "Albums" and it lists all albums alphabetically. After that is "Songs" and again it is all songs you have imported listed alphabetically - be warned it can be a very long list". Then "Genres" - this simply a category you can put your artist/albums into and something that is chosen automatically when you import songs. The next on the menu is "Composers" and now I think you must be getting the gist. Lastly is search and here you can simply input the first or first few letters to search for what you are looking for. Now back to the top menu, after "Music" is "Photos", and here you can view any photos that you have imported into your iPod….you can even have a slideshow settings of all your photos. But if like me you have bought an iPod Nano then you will need some strong glasses to see them!
Back to the tope menu again and a little look at the "Extras" menu, which has the clock settings, for you to set your clock or even setup as new time zone. Games which I haven't really played with but has Solitaire on it, you'll have fun trying to co-ordinate moving the cards, I did! You have a "Contacts" section where you can store all your favourite people on it and synchronize it with Outlook -all good clean fun. "Calendar" which is much the same as a mobile phone calendar, you can set reminders, etc. "Stopwatch" speak for itself, and lastly "Notes" which if you have some burning inspiration whilst out jogging with your iPod you can write it down!
See you next week...

As always if you have any questions you can email us at: thegeeks@coastrider.net