I listen to lots of Podcasts on my iPod Touch and I prefer to listen to them in the order that they are released. Podcasts are much like radio or TV shows in that the information presented is often timely, or at least referential to prior episodes, and so it generally makes more sense to listen to shows in the order they are released so that related and timely information is heard around about the same time.

The included “Podcasts” view in iTunes and on my iPod Touch groups different episodes of the same show together with no option to see all episodes of all shows in one big list. This makes it easy to listen to all the episodes of one show in the order they were released, but virtually impossible to listen to all episodes of all shows in the order they were released.

I got around that by creating a Smart Playlist that searches my iTunes Library for Podcasts. My preferred sort order for that playlist, naturally, is by date. That sort order gets transferred over to the iPod initially, and as new shows are added (as they automatically get downloaded by iTunes) they get added to the end of the list in the order they are downloaded. This works extremely well for me most of the time.

Unfortunately every once in awhile the sort order on my iPod gets out of whack (seemingly at random, and in a totally random order), and there is no way on the iPod to reorganize playlists. /They can be reorganized in many different ways in iTunes (by artist, by date, alphabetically, etc.), but I couldn’t figure out how to sync those changes back to my iPod. No matter what I changed in iTunes, the sort order on my iPod stayed scrambled.

Finally I noticed a cryptic command on the right-click menu for the playlist called “Copy to Play Order“. I still have no idea what the name of this command is supposed to mean, because it doesn’t do anything to the playlist in iTunes, but after choosing this option and syncing the iPod to iTunes, the sort order for my playlist magically matches with that in iTunes. Yay!

I don’t understand why I would have to take this extra step as it seems obvious to me that if I can’t sort my playlists directly on the iPod, but I can in iTunes, then I probably want the sort order on my iPod to match what I choose in iTunes. Is that so much of a stretch??

In an interesting twist that I haven’t seen mentioned anywhere else, the free Skype App for the iPhone is now available to Canadian users of the iPhone and iPod Touch. For reasons that nobody could adequately explain to me, the app was initially only available for US based users. I was therefore very surprised when I came across it in the app store on iTunes yesterday. I wonder if this has anything to do with the recent purchase of Skype by a conglomerate that includes the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board??

Skype is a very cool app that allows iPhone and iPod users to make voice calls over the internet, using either the 3G network (iPhone only) or a WiFi connection. Calls are free to other Skype users and inexpensive to landlines and mobile phones. The Skype service also includes additional features such as instant messaging, file transfer and video conferencing; however, only some of these features are currently available with the app.

This is very exciting because the iPod Touch can now be used as a phone (if you have an add-on microphone) anywhere that a wireless internet connection is available. For many users that will be all day long in their home and office locations, or even at McDonalds and Starbucks locations that off WiFi service to their customers.

How long will it be before WiFi is available everywhere? That would eliminate the need to carry a mobile phone and/or to pay for an expensive data plan.

I love my iPod Touch and I use it all the time. Before I actually got one I had been coveting it for a long time.

Without doing all that much research on it I naturally assumed that it would consist of the exact same hardware as the iPhone, and would be missing only the ability to make and receive phone calls. I was quite surprised to discover that the hardware was actually quite different; the Touch was smaller and lighter, and, most significantly, did not have a built-in camera.

Fast forward about 18 months to the launch of the iPhone 3Gs which included not only an improved still camera, but also video camera functionality. It also received a wide variety of software upgrades in the form of the iPhone OS 3.0. At that time there was no corresponding launch of new hardware for the iPod Touch, but the existing device got a de-facto upgrade since it was compatible with the OS 3.0 upgrade. Everyone naturally assumed that Apple was simply stalling in order to ensure high demand for the upgraded phone, and that new hardware for the Touch would follow a few weeks of months later.

This finally happened this week when Apple released a whole new lineup of iPods.  This release also came with a major update to iTunes 9.0 and also to the iPhone OS 3.1.  Some of the highlights of the release include:

• new colors and lower prices for the iPod Shuffle
• a massive 160 GB hard drive in the iPod Classic
• a faster processer in the iPod Touch (the same as in the iPhone 3Gs) and a new 64 GB model
• a video camera (with microphone and built-in speaker) and FM tuner in the iPod Nano

What?  The Nano gets a video camera, but the Touch doesn’t? 

Video is king right now and I can see why apple would want to shove a camera into all of their iPods.  But never in a million years did I expect to see it in the Nano before it was in the Touch.  The iPhone already has it so it seemed like a lock that the Touch would get it next.  My 32GB 2nd gen iPod Touch is plenty fast enough and without a camera in the new generation I’m really not sure why any existing iPod Touch owner would upgrade to the new model.  Even new iPod buyers should be able to pick up some great deals on the 2nd Generation devices.  For me this announcement is just plain odd.

Oh well, maybe bext time.

The music player for the iPhone and iPod touch has been dramatically improved since the iPhone OS 3.0 Software Update with a couple of simple but dramatic changes.  The simplest change was the addition of three new icons on the “Now Playing” screen, including an option to send a link by email to anyone that might be interested in the file you are playing, a playback speed control that gives the option to play the current file at 1/2x, 1x, or 2x the normal playback speed.  I’m not sure about the usefulness of the email link, but the option to change the playback speed is pretty cool and could be very useful to help find your place in a song  or podcast that was forced to restart, or even to play a boring podcast a little faster in order to get it finished! They also added an icon to skip back wards by 30 seconds.  This is also very cool in case you missed something and want to hear it again.  I used this today while listening to a podcast.  I was very surprised to hear what one of the announcers said, and I had to jump back to make sure I had heard it correctly. (I had)

But wait, there’s more!

The absolute best new feature in the new iPhone software is variable precision scrubbing!  This now feature allows the user to quickly and easily navigate through a media file by changing the scrubbing rate depending on where you finger is on the screen.  If you swipe your finger across the media bar it will be the same old high speed scrubbing we were used to hating.  There are now three additional  scrub rates (Half, Quarter, and Fine speeds). The more precise the scrubbing gets, the easier it is to navigate to a specific spot in the track.

I used to complain about how fast and imprecise the scrubbing was before.  It seemed that every time I lost my place in my playlist I simply couldn’t get back to the exact spot I had been at in the media file that I was listening to.  This will help with that problem in a big way!

I’ve wanted this for a long time, but all the hype around the new iPhone 3GS with its bigger, better, and badder camera (that also now does video) has really got me thinking about it.  One of the greatest things about the camera in the iPhone is that it is fully accessible by the applications in the gadget.  Programmers have created a slew of apps that allow the user to control the camera however she wants.  From interval timers, panoramic stitchers, exposure bracketing, or special effects “filters” that allow you to change the entire look and feel of the resulting image right in the camera (errr, phone).  If you have an iPhone then you should check out “Camera Bag“, “Pro Camera“, and “Pano“ for some very cool add-ons to the native camera functionality in the iPhone.  (While you’re at it you can also read “5 Tips for Making Great iPhone Photos” from professional photographer Chase Jarvis for some great tips on making better images with your iPhone.) 

Sure you can do many of these effects in post-processing afterwards using software like Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, the Gimp, but the ability to do them in camera is very appealing to many people (not to mention that you can quickly and easily add your final image to an email or upload it to Flickr without ever having to take it over to your computer first).  And besides, there are many effects that you simply can’t do in post, such as change the shutter speed, so to be able to do them in the camera is very important.

Since I don’t have an iPhone (I have an iPod Touch but inexplicably it doesn’t include a camera), I really want to have some of this programmable functionality in my Canon 40D.  The 40D is a fantastic camera, and Canon has gone a long way in providing user control over the camera.  But as the iPhone proves, there is so much more that can be done, and I really want to be able to control my camera how I want to control it.  The camera already has a very powerful computer built in, so this should be a no-brainer. 

Here are a few of the things that I want control over:

1. Multiple Exposure Bracketing – natively I can only create a 3 image bracket.  When shooting HDR images I typically use 5 to 7 images over a 5 to 9 stop exposure range and I want to be able to set that up easily in my camera. As it is now I have to shoot multiple 3-stop brackets to creat a set with the entire range of exposures that I might want to use.
2. Interval Timer – currently I would have to buy a very expensive Remote Shutter release in order to fire my camera at regular intervals (eg. to create time lapse sequences).  Many inexpensive point and shoot cameras have this built in, so it should be included in every high end SLR as well.
3. Auto ISO – Canon provides a crude Auto ISO feature where it will automatically ramp the ISO up or down based on the exposure, but it doesnt’ work very well. Really it simply sets the camera at the default ISO (400 on my 40D) and only raises or lowers it if it absolutely must (eg. if the camera is maxed out on Shutter speed then it will drop the ISO from 400 down to 200).  But it could be so much better.  I want to be able to set a minimum shutter speed (eg. 1000) which would then force the ISO up as high as the camera requires in order to get the desired exposure.  I also want to be able to set a minimum and maximum ISO based on my shooting conditions and the intended use of the image.  If I’m using my tripod to shoot landscapes then I want the cleanest image possible and I generally don’t care how long the shutter speed is, so let me choose ISO 50. or 25.  But if I’m handholding the camera while shooting sports, then I don’t want the shutter to go below about 1/1500th and I want the largest aperture possible, so I want ISO 1600.  There are all kinds of personalized situations like these that have their own scenarios.  Let me have the control!
4. AF Microadjustment – all the newest cameras have functions built in to allow them to adjust the focus system to correct for front and back focus, without having to send your camera / lens combination in to the manufacturer for mechanical adjustment.  I want that!

There is so much more that I want to be able to control in my camera that I could write on and on.  I guess what I really want is something similar to the CHDK to be made available for DSLR’s, and I want it to be officially supported via an API from Canon.  I want it to be open sourced, or at least open to outside developers to write Apps or Scripts for the camera.  And I want it now!  I don’t think this is too much to ask. 

Apple got it right with the iPhone camera, and now it’s time for Canon, Nikon, Sony, and all the other camera manufacturers to follow suit!