Almost choked on my cornflakes - that could be me. Some months ago I was approached by Cary Whitley as she was compiling a new book. She was reviewing services for people who in marketing speak are cash rich, time poor. Our CD ripping service (read all about it at http://www.podserve.co.uk) was up for inclusion. I'm pleased to say after further talks our service has been listed.
So there this morning is an article by Judith Wood in The Daily Telegraph reviewing 'Secret Services'. Conceitedly I scanned through to see if podServe CD ripping service got a mention, but pride comes before a fall and we didn't get a mention in the Telegraph. Reading the article more closely (I'm not a bad loser) I was fascinated to see the basket of services we're among. I didn't know you can hire a handbag (www.be-a-fashionista.co.uk) or get a company to swoosh out your wheelie bin. I did know there are people who'll assemble flat pack furniture for you and I was pleased to see Ten UK mentioned in the side bar as we've had many of their clients using podServe over the last four years.
If you're looking for a copy of Secret Services by Cary Whitley and her company Fab Publishing, go to www.fabpublishing.co.uk or call 0870 443 0035. If you want to go direct to our CD ripping service we're at www.podserve.co.uk
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
MP3, MP4, GPS, USB - Where does it all come from?
From time to time someone contacts me because they think I sell MP3 players. Actually I don't but I recently came across a young lady who works for a company that does manufacture these items, along with MP4 players, USB items, digital photo frames, GPS units and so on. So, if you're looking for this type of technology in bulk contact Sandy Zhang via her company's website - http://www.taiwantrade.com.tv/honlitw
Friday, October 05, 2007
iPod Touch Springs Into Life
One of the things I like about my CD ripping service (www.podserve.co.uk) is the chance to play with new toys, and today it was the iPod Touch. A client had invested in one while on an overseas trip and plugged it into an HP Windows PC expecting it to synch music and videos.
Result - nothing. First the iPod Touch began to charge so the unit was functioning, then it appeared in My Computer as a photographic device. I was called over to try to work some magic. A quick look at the PC verified the situation being as reported with no new iPod icon in the iTunes source pane. My first thought was to install the latest version of iTunes, despite my clients belief that this was not going to solve the problem. Acording to the client iTunes update had been run when the new device was plugged in - just a matter of days ago.
"Humour me" I said, and loaded the latest iTunes from my USB drive. It took ages to load, so we made small talk about the wonders of technology, until finally the new iTunes had taken root. Instant succes, I appear to be a minor techie god, the iPod Touch starts to synch as required.
Client mainly wants video content so to check it works OK we go to the Apple site and download a couple of movie trailers. "Wow" says client (actually using another word with one more letter) at the image quality. "Can we get on the internet?' We could, in just a few seconds. I was amazed to see the iPod Touch found more wireless networks than the PC and one was unsecured, so we clicked our way onto the worldwide interweb. It was great, fast, cystal clear and easy to enlarge the page image. Client immediately notices how much better this is than BlackBerry.
Moral of the story - if you're having problems with an iPod Touch (or any other iPod for that matter), make sure you have today's version of iTunes not just what you think might be recent. Don't assume for the sake of a few minutes downloading.
Second moral - if you want to play with cool toys set up a CD ripping service in London.
Result - nothing. First the iPod Touch began to charge so the unit was functioning, then it appeared in My Computer as a photographic device. I was called over to try to work some magic. A quick look at the PC verified the situation being as reported with no new iPod icon in the iTunes source pane. My first thought was to install the latest version of iTunes, despite my clients belief that this was not going to solve the problem. Acording to the client iTunes update had been run when the new device was plugged in - just a matter of days ago.
"Humour me" I said, and loaded the latest iTunes from my USB drive. It took ages to load, so we made small talk about the wonders of technology, until finally the new iTunes had taken root. Instant succes, I appear to be a minor techie god, the iPod Touch starts to synch as required.
Client mainly wants video content so to check it works OK we go to the Apple site and download a couple of movie trailers. "Wow" says client (actually using another word with one more letter) at the image quality. "Can we get on the internet?' We could, in just a few seconds. I was amazed to see the iPod Touch found more wireless networks than the PC and one was unsecured, so we clicked our way onto the worldwide interweb. It was great, fast, cystal clear and easy to enlarge the page image. Client immediately notices how much better this is than BlackBerry.
Moral of the story - if you're having problems with an iPod Touch (or any other iPod for that matter), make sure you have today's version of iTunes not just what you think might be recent. Don't assume for the sake of a few minutes downloading.
Second moral - if you want to play with cool toys set up a CD ripping service in London.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Brilliant Stereo Sound That Follows You Across the Room
I’ve got a new best friend. It’s cool white, very discrete and called Dias. Thanks to Dias for the past week I’ve been listening to some great sounds while I work or unwind.
Brilliant sound is what Dias is about. I like a good stereo sound, over the years I’ve invested a lot in audio equipment and music CD ripping is my business now. But getting a good sound here, while I work, is difficult so I love the sound I get now. Yes, the quality is high – very high – but that’s not the main thing. Thanks to Dias I get a great stereo sound wherever I am in the office.
Incredibly Dias stereo sound follows you round the room.
Just think about that. Like me you’ve probably tried speakers attached to your PC, or maybe driven by your iPod. You probably set things up so you get the best sound where you sit, but then when you move, you lose the stereo. Not with Dias – now, my stereo sound really does follow me round the room. Doesn’t matter which PC I’m working on (I rip CDs using six computers), doesn’t matter which end of the office I am, standing up or sitting down, the same great sound.
I’ll try to describe the quality of the sound from Dias. The first thing that struck me is that it’s loud. Some music just needs muscle, rock for sure but a lot of classical music just is loud. An orchestra is loud, and there’s no point in trying to relive an orchestral experience when you can’t make the windows rattle.
Dias, if you want, is thumping loud. Wind up the bass and my wooden floor does overtime transmitting the low notes. That brings me on to the next thing I noticed. Perhaps it’s best described as detail and I hear it in two ways, First, with a good bass setting the music isn’t lost to a dull thump. Dias delivers the bass I love without smothering the rest of the music. Second, there’s a lot of fine points in sound that Dias delivers brilliantly. Sometimes that’s high notes, but I’ve also noticed (I love live recordings) its often little things like a shout from someone in the audience or an aside to another musician, this new system brings out music data I’d expect to hear only on much more expensive systems.
Great at the top, solid at the bottom and faithfully reproducing everything in between. It’s hard to describe what I hear but Dias conveys emotion. Maybe I should call it a warm sound, maybe it’s a human sound quality rather than an overly technical rendition you get with some computer generated sound. Thanks to that emotional quality the Dias is easy to listen to and doesn’t leave you feeling strained. Dias is a good colleague at work and a relaxing friend indoors in the evening.
Where does Dias stack up among the competition? Well, most of my clients connect their iPods to Bose units and Dias can hold its head up in that company. The sound is every bit as good. Both Bose and Dias have that effortless quality people love, plus a handy credit card style remote – all the sound settings are at hand plus a mute button when the phone rings. Subjective comparisons are hard to make but I’d give Dias the edge over Bose because it generates sound over a larger area and is better at carrying that sound round the room.
I’d love to explain how Dias stereo sound follows me when I move and does so without the traditional two speaker system, but I can’t. Try the Dias website – www.diasmusic.com. I’ll just tell you what you get. The biggest of the three ice white units generates the bass and has a black knob labelled ‘spatial level’ which is what does the clever bit – getting stereo in effect from a single speaker. This box can be hidden out of the way, at the moment it’s living under my desk.
Next is the small white satellite unit with speakers at the front and on either side. By the clever use of sound from these outlets Dias generates the great stereo. Because the sound is outstanding anywhere in the room, the location of this unit isn’t as critical as you’d expect in a good stereo. When I set the system up I played with its location but the Dias sounds good wherever the satellite sits. There’s a docking station for my iPod (which charges the iPod while it plays). The cabling is simple to connect and long enough to enable you to locate the units where you want them.
Finally the small remote control. I put my iPod into the dock, hit a playlist and using the remote got the sound I wanted within a couple of minutes. I tweaked the spatial sound knob and found half way round worked great and I’ve left it there. You can use the iPod dock as a sound source – with the new iPod having such a massive disk all your music would be at hand – or connect your computer’s sound card to listen not just to music but internet radio or sound streamed from websites. If you connected this to Apple’s AirPort Express, or a Roku unit, you’d have a brilliant distributed sound system.
That’s my new friend, my best friend. If you love music check out Dias. If you’re interested in digital music check out how Dias makes sound, it’s just so much better than the old two speaker approach. If you’re thinking of pumping sound round your house, check out Dias. If you’re thinking of Bose, check out Dias – sounds better and its £100 less expensive. Dias should be your new best friend too
Brilliant sound is what Dias is about. I like a good stereo sound, over the years I’ve invested a lot in audio equipment and music CD ripping is my business now. But getting a good sound here, while I work, is difficult so I love the sound I get now. Yes, the quality is high – very high – but that’s not the main thing. Thanks to Dias I get a great stereo sound wherever I am in the office.
Incredibly Dias stereo sound follows you round the room.
Just think about that. Like me you’ve probably tried speakers attached to your PC, or maybe driven by your iPod. You probably set things up so you get the best sound where you sit, but then when you move, you lose the stereo. Not with Dias – now, my stereo sound really does follow me round the room. Doesn’t matter which PC I’m working on (I rip CDs using six computers), doesn’t matter which end of the office I am, standing up or sitting down, the same great sound.
I’ll try to describe the quality of the sound from Dias. The first thing that struck me is that it’s loud. Some music just needs muscle, rock for sure but a lot of classical music just is loud. An orchestra is loud, and there’s no point in trying to relive an orchestral experience when you can’t make the windows rattle.
Dias, if you want, is thumping loud. Wind up the bass and my wooden floor does overtime transmitting the low notes. That brings me on to the next thing I noticed. Perhaps it’s best described as detail and I hear it in two ways, First, with a good bass setting the music isn’t lost to a dull thump. Dias delivers the bass I love without smothering the rest of the music. Second, there’s a lot of fine points in sound that Dias delivers brilliantly. Sometimes that’s high notes, but I’ve also noticed (I love live recordings) its often little things like a shout from someone in the audience or an aside to another musician, this new system brings out music data I’d expect to hear only on much more expensive systems.
Great at the top, solid at the bottom and faithfully reproducing everything in between. It’s hard to describe what I hear but Dias conveys emotion. Maybe I should call it a warm sound, maybe it’s a human sound quality rather than an overly technical rendition you get with some computer generated sound. Thanks to that emotional quality the Dias is easy to listen to and doesn’t leave you feeling strained. Dias is a good colleague at work and a relaxing friend indoors in the evening.
Where does Dias stack up among the competition? Well, most of my clients connect their iPods to Bose units and Dias can hold its head up in that company. The sound is every bit as good. Both Bose and Dias have that effortless quality people love, plus a handy credit card style remote – all the sound settings are at hand plus a mute button when the phone rings. Subjective comparisons are hard to make but I’d give Dias the edge over Bose because it generates sound over a larger area and is better at carrying that sound round the room.
I’d love to explain how Dias stereo sound follows me when I move and does so without the traditional two speaker system, but I can’t. Try the Dias website – www.diasmusic.com. I’ll just tell you what you get. The biggest of the three ice white units generates the bass and has a black knob labelled ‘spatial level’ which is what does the clever bit – getting stereo in effect from a single speaker. This box can be hidden out of the way, at the moment it’s living under my desk.
Next is the small white satellite unit with speakers at the front and on either side. By the clever use of sound from these outlets Dias generates the great stereo. Because the sound is outstanding anywhere in the room, the location of this unit isn’t as critical as you’d expect in a good stereo. When I set the system up I played with its location but the Dias sounds good wherever the satellite sits. There’s a docking station for my iPod (which charges the iPod while it plays). The cabling is simple to connect and long enough to enable you to locate the units where you want them.
Finally the small remote control. I put my iPod into the dock, hit a playlist and using the remote got the sound I wanted within a couple of minutes. I tweaked the spatial sound knob and found half way round worked great and I’ve left it there. You can use the iPod dock as a sound source – with the new iPod having such a massive disk all your music would be at hand – or connect your computer’s sound card to listen not just to music but internet radio or sound streamed from websites. If you connected this to Apple’s AirPort Express, or a Roku unit, you’d have a brilliant distributed sound system.
That’s my new friend, my best friend. If you love music check out Dias. If you’re interested in digital music check out how Dias makes sound, it’s just so much better than the old two speaker approach. If you’re thinking of pumping sound round your house, check out Dias. If you’re thinking of Bose, check out Dias – sounds better and its £100 less expensive. Dias should be your new best friend too
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)