Review: Apple In-Ear Headphones

When Apple announced their new earphones way back when, I was very excited. Finally, the company behind the world’s greatest music manager (iTunes) and MP3 player (iPods) are getting more serious about their earphones. Could they translate their success in those respective fields to the earphone market? In short, not really. Let me go over some of the things that I liked about these headphones first.

Sound:

I can safely say that these earphones sound really good. I have heard thing that sound better, but at a significantly higher price tag. They sound GOOD. The highs an mids (especially vocals) sound especially crisp. The bass is a bit lacking, but not entirely. The new tweeter/woofer build that they touted as revolutionary (or just boosted about) during their iPod conference last Fall is a little exaggerated. The bass is decent and may satiate the palette for many, but for a lot of you fans of the rock and hip-hop genre will be disappointed. All in all, they sound good enough to justify the price tag if you listen to a lot of acoustic, classical, or vocal-centric music. Fan of bass? Look the other way.

Fit:

This is were the Apple earphones end for me. The cable feels cheap and tangles VERY easily. At this price tag, I would expect a better build. Something that is more rubberized to reduce the tendency to tangle. The earphones come with 3 earphone tips (three pairs, that is) and the metal cap replacements. Great on paper. Very nice attention to detail. HOWEVER… The ear tips suck. Based on my ear size, I use the small tips. The fit great, but in and around the one hour mark, they become a nuisance. I can really feel them drilling my ear canal and just the uncomfort is too much. Sadly, Those are the only tips that fit. Apple could have gone above and beyond had they included cone-shaped tips, or foam tips. Instead, you receive a small/medium/large combo. And odds are, only one will actually fit right, but not for long.

Above I mentioned how the sound quality excels in certain genres and may justify the sticker price. However, the only thing that really detracts from that is the lack of comfort. Especially during long periods of time. If your music library is acoustically rich, and not deep in the club-thumping, booty-popping bass, these earphones may be for you. BUT… and this is a big but… pay attention to the fit. At most retailers, you don’t get a ‘try-before-you-buy’ scenario (which is just unhygienic). So ask about the return policy and try them out for yourself. This review is simply me expressing my opinion and my experiences. Ultimately, every user has a different ear shape and musical taste. Cheers!

Final Score:  (out of five)

My 3.0 experience…

I spent a good portion of yesterday downloading/restoring my iPhone to the latest 3.0 firmware (and a larger portion just waiting for it). So what do I think of it?

DAAAAAMN! Let me just address the features that I have been using and really enjoyed. Firstly, MMS. Despite the fact my carrier has a ridiculous (and not in a good way) multimedia messaging package, the service worked relatively well… when I was doing the sending. I send a picture and it was received almost instantaneously. However, it took nearly eight hours for me to receive the first MMS. This should be fixed soon enough though… at least I hope.

Second, copy and paste. It works flawlessly for the applications that support it (which is almost anything). Copying and pasting between apps with such ease is just amazing. And if it took Apple this long to perfect it, then I’m glad it took this long.

Third, spotlight search. The FIRST time you awaken your iPhone and go to spotlight, there seems to be a slight delay. Thereafter, the feature works very smoothly and for those of you that don’t own a Mac, spotlight is the BEST means of searching your hardware. Period! Items are ordered by which app they fall under. Also, just like on the Mac, you can use spotlight as an application launcher. But that is NO excuse to not organize your apps. Organize your apps people!

Fourth, landscape keyboard. Need I say more? Notes, email, and messaging apps now support the landscape keyboard input. It tilts fast enough and feels even better. This may be more of a feature designed for those awkwardly large thumbs and elephants, but I’m sure many will welcome the extra space.

Lastly, TETHERING! A quick story. I called Fido to get the low-down on MMS and tethering. The man had had the BALLS to tell me my iPhone 3G does NOT support tethering, and only the new one will. So after a few words of wisdom to the individual, I embarked on a path to figure it out myself. Luckily, Apple made the procedure DEAD EASY! You just pair your iPhone via Bluetooth to your computer, and enable tethering on your iPhone and voila! That’s it! Speed tests are yet to be experimented with, but in my make-shift office, the speeds have been sweet. Check out Episode 109 on my YouTube channel for a demo.

All in all, 3.0 has a lot more to deliver. There are TON of other features, and several that are not as obvious (now you can see if calls were incoming or outgoing from your phone). I have to admit, there was SOME slow down when exiting applications in 3.0, that weren’t apparent before. This may be due to 3.0 or the app’s improper compatibility with the new firmware. But that was minimal. Now, the waiting game begins. Let’s see how fast the 3G S runs 3.0.

Enough of the whining…

At the time of writing this, Rogers and Fido have yet to announce their pricing for purchasing an iPhone 3G S outright, however, AT&T are out in the clear. In simple terms, if you got an iPhone 3G with AT&T than your going to be forking over somewhere in the neighbourhood of $600-700 for the iPhone 3G S (unless you are special).

What really grinds my gears (Peter Griffin style) is the fact that people are outright WHINING about the price. Did you really think that the MAN was going to subsidize your next phone a mere 12 months (or less) later? Now I’ll be honest, I am not an expert on the US cellular market, but just about anyone can understand that contracts subsidize phones. You don’t get a free phone, you get free* phone (emphasis on the asterisk). When you see those delicious $199 and $299 prices, it’s taking into account that you will be a loyal companion to AT&T for two years whilst maintaining a certain billing amount every month.

All in all, stop bitching. It wouldn’t be capitalism if you promotional pricing whenever you wanted. Of course, this can lead into other arguments about monthly spewing, manufacturing costs, etc. That’s all great, but at the end of the day… Your the one that signed the contract. If you want some of that S, pay up… Or shut up. I don’t mean to be so crude about it, but I just have a low threahhold for whiners. What are your thoughts? Post below!

I’m back… Now play my song!

I figured it was finally about time to get back into the blogging business and disseminate (that means to spread) the vast array of tips, tricks, and trivial knowledge that I house within my cranium. It has been a while, and during this time I thought about what exactly do I want to do with my blog. I toyed with various ideas, but the conclusion was to make my blog a little more diverse in the things I talk about. Which is why the first post back has NOTHING to do with technology.

Where can I get good, free music legally? Well, all over the place. It generally boils down to what kind of music you listen to. Though I listen to just about anything, hip-hop is my forte. Which is why I will be recommending any of you to check out Friends With Money featuring the hip-hop underdog, Drake. This is a free mixtape that can be found at getrightmusic.com (URL links to the album download) and is a breath of fresh air for anyone that thinks hip-hop is dead.

I won’t always be recommending an album to download, and they won’t all be hip-hop for that matter. But I will keep as many of them as free downloads. If I do buy something and think it’s worth the listen, I’ll review that album. As for the future? You can expect many more posts to come. A lot of which, despite the slight changes, pertain to tech and tutorials. As always, make sure to leave you comments and suggestions below. Cheers.

My Top Mixtapes

I decided to post a little something on my favorite mixtapes I have downloaded in the past year or so. All the music here can be found on by simply typing a search into Google. Not everything will coincide with your taste, but that’s the brilliance about this blog… it’s all about me! All in all, I’m sure if you are a fan of the urban music scene, you’ll find something in this list for yourself. And NO… these aren’t from your artists you always see on television. This is all ‘underground’ and up and coming stuff. Read and review.

Album: A Matter of Time

Artist: Mike Posner and The Brain Trust

Worthy Single: Cooler Than Me

Why: Because this album is starring a kid from Duke university that just followed his ambition. It has great beats, soulful lyricism, and all in all, a good vibe. It leans more to the R&B side at times, but it’s well worth the download. Also, if you get the chance, search up Mike Posner on YouTube. It’s always cool to see how artists do their thing in the studio. Aside from all the weed.

Album: The Greenhouse Effect

Artist: Asher Roth

Worthy Single: Roth Boys

Why: Because who doesn’t want another Caucasian to succeed in the music industry? Alright, but in all honesty, Asher brings a very slick vibe to the hip hop scene. At times he can sound like Eminem, but the sheer amount of lyrical talent this guy has is SICK! The album is pretty much instrumentals from other well known songs, that he just sings over. Very varied and very voluptuous stuff! If you want more, you can always download his single ‘I Love College’ on iTunes.

Album: 808’s and Mixtapes

Artist: Novel

Worthy Single: Amazing

Why: Because it’s about time you think more about the world around when you listen to music. With some instrumentals coming from Kanye’s latest album, the songs of 808’s and Mixtapes are chock-full of powerful stuff. I mean, aren’t we all tired by now of all the artists talking about how shiny their wrists are? How curvy their women are? Or how amazing they sound with autotune? Seriously, Novel writes great stuff. His stuff can be entirely acapella and it STILL be one of my favorite mistapes. CHECK IT!

Album: So Far Gone

Artist: Drake

Worthy Single: Uptown Girl

Why: With the seal of approval by Lil Wayne, Drake is creeping up the music industry. Though the beats are a little slow in nature, they are a bit different. What really takes the cake is the slick witticism and finger flicking lyrics. Some great stuff to be heard here. It’s very different form what you may typically listen to. Oh, and he’s from Toronto as well!

Album: Fix Your Face

Artist: Travis Barker & DJ AM

Worthy Single: The whole thing!

Why: This is one of, if not thee best mash-up of 2008. DJ AM works the vinyl with a cornucopia of classic hip hop beats, while infamous drummer of Blink 182, Travis Barker, beats his drum like a monkey on Prozak. And that’s a compliment. YOU MUST DOWNLOAD THIS! Don’t even question yourself.

Album: This Charming Mixtape

Artist: Theophilus London

Worthy Single: Crazy Cousins

Why: This is very ‘out-there’ kind of hip hop. Not your typical mixy mixy, scratchy scratchy, deep bass rap music. Download it and find out for yourself. If your into the club/house scene, you’ll love this mixtape. If your just generally interested in a new kind of hip hop, check this out.

Album: Before There Was Love

Artist: U-N-I

Worthy Single: Night Nurse

Why: This album is simply AMAZING. Great variety and a daring re-envisioning of west coast hip hop. There are a ton of tracks on this album. And the kicker? They all have a different flair to them all. If you find this mixtape, you will definitely thank me later.

Album: Well Isn’t This Awkward

Artist: Charles Hamilton

Worthy Single: Re-Anna

Why: I have to admit, this isn’t the best mixtape by Charles Hamilton. In fact, it’s only his latest. To be honest, just look for his other songs and ‘best of’ mixtapes. He is a up and coming artist with some serious talent. Quick wits, and just downright funny lyrics make this dude a general favorite on your playlists.

Album: Smash The System

Artist: The Kickdrums

Worthy Single: Sky High

Why: The Kickdrums bring together a plethora of midwest music from the likings of Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Charles Hamilton, and many others. It’s a mash-up of sorts, but a really well done one. It has a great vibe, and a good ol’ urban theme. I don’t have much to say other than get it!

Album: A KiD Named CuDi

Artist: KiD CuDi

Worthy Single: Down and Out

Why: Cliche, but I saved the best for last. I discovered Kid Cudi last year around July and he has been on owning my iTunes hip hop playlist since. He has a very down to earth attitude as a person, and delivers super surreal lyrics. You may not be a fan of ALL of his songs (I am…), but you’ll definitely find something of his that you can’t stop playing. Check this out. If there was one mixtape I could advice anyone to download, it would be this one here!

Productivity Problems

As you may (or may not) know, my university has been on strike for nearly three months. After a slight scare of classes commencing, I realized I should buckle down and get some serious work done. Now… being the über-geek I am, I was on the hunt for a really smooth to-do app for the iPhone.

After a few minutes of searching and several podcasts, I cam to ‘Things’ for the iPhone. It’s by the same people (Cultured Code) that brought Things for the Mac desktop. After a bit of debating, with my mind of course, I dropped some serious coin for this app ($10!!!).

So what’s the point of this blog post? Feedback. I’m using this app and plan to post my thoughts of course, but I would really like foe you guys to give me feedback on your top productivity apps. Either post below, tweet at me on Twitter (link in the top right), or shoot an email to drj0k3r@mac.com. Thanks in advance!

PureBuds Earphones Review

I recently was fortunate enough to receive a review unit of the PureBuds Reverse Sound Technology earphones. The basic concept of these earphones is that sound is pumped outward from the ear canal and then bounced back into the canal to provide a ’safer’ listening experience. That is a basic synopsis of the device, so make sure to check out the company website for more info. On top of the Reverse Sound Technology, there are three different sleeves that are included with eahc pair of earphones:

- A surround sound tip

- A bass boost tip

- A full range tip

Let me start off by saying, that the claims of this being a safer listening experience MAY be true. When I was pumping my music, it did seem a little softer to say the least. However, this may not always lead to a BETTER listening experience. The watered down sound will not be for everyone, especially audiophiles. If you have sensitive ears, or even a really young individual, this sound might be okay. But audiophiles will immediately find the headphones to be rather muddy and, depending on which sleeve, to have a tunnel-like sound.

The inclusion of different ear pieces to vary the sound is a great concept on paper, but was, in my opinion, executed far too hastly in the PureBuds. Sure, you get three different tips, but they are all a specific size, and we all know when it comes to earphones, one size does NOT fit all. The bass boost tips are probably the worst tips. When you wear them, every low end sound seems to sound as if it were coming out of a tunnel. The surround sound tips are okay, but don’t sit very well in the ear. The full range tip seems to be the best choice out of the bunch. It delivers good sound, especially for you clubbers. They fit in the ear somewhat nicely and seem comforable.

All in all, these are GOOD headphones. They concept is cool but, from my grade 12 physics background, I can tell you that there is some inteference going one when sound is bouncing back into your ear. This ultimately dissapates the sound, giving it a watered down effect. It may be nice for a specific niche of people that want a softer tone, but the general crowd may not be to fond of effect. If theres one piece of advice I could give to the crew at PureBuds, it would be to scrap the Reverse Sound Technology, and come out with a pair of earphones that deliver great sound based on the different tips included. Include at least five different tips, all of which in conjunction with one another will hit a wider consumer group and satisfy a great deal of them as well.

Top App Store Games of 2008

It’s been a long time coming but I really wanted to wait as long as I could before I post my top ten choices of 2008. Mind you, this is my opinion. You are more than welcome to post (in text or video) your picks, but don’t hate on me because I have an opinion. And ere it is folks… DRJ0K3Rs’ top ten games for the iPhone/iPod Touch of 2008:

10. Monopoly
An instant classic. Dare I say that if you own an iPod or iPhone, you probably heard of monopoly. The two aren’t correalated, but that’s beside the point. An easy to use interface. Up to four player multi-player. And a relatively fast UI. This is a great addition to your collection. I just wish there was a way to switch back to the old property names instead of the world edition. Control the red and control the game!

9. Space Ninja
This game came out today (new years) and was good enough to make the cut. It’s best described as a top-down shooter + bullet time. Any further description would only confuse and disservice the game. Check it out. Fast. Simple. And plenty of longevity.

8. The Creeps
I really enjoy tower defence games (for the iPhone at least) and I vowed I would only choose one for this list. The Creeps beat out plenty (see below) to be my favorite. Despite the lack of a soundtrack, it’s gameplay is stellar. It has varying levels, plentiful towers, and overall is pretty challenging. If you want the best tower defense game as of now, this is it.

7. Dr. Awesome
There’s no doubt that ngmoco:) makes some great stuff. Dr. Awesome has to be their second best game to date. It’s fun. Extremely simple to learn, but there’s plenty of challenge ahead of you. The fact that patients cab die if you don’t play the game for a long time is just an added touch that makes you come back for more. Definitely a must-have.

6. Tiki Towers
This is World of Goo + monkeys. If you don’t know what world of goo is, just go buy it (don’t ask why, you’ll thank me later). I haven’t had as MUCH time with this game. But I’ll tell you now that this game is super fun and VERY deep! I won’t bother explaining the premise… Too complicated to put into words. Just get it and play!

5. MotionX Poker
I believe I mentioned this game store in a video of mine, and rightfully so. It’s poker with dice. With virtually no real wait time and great physics, this just one of those games you whip out while waiting in line at starbucks as that greaseball behind the counter is trying to perfect his mochiatto.

4. Burning Monkey Casino
Not only is this one of the best casino apps inthe app store, it is an absolute steal! You get 7 familiar (or unfamiliar) casino games that’ll have you preoccupied for several hours. Really helpful during those monthly meetings at work.

3. Galcon
This is a very stripped down, but addictive, RTS for the iPhone. You start off with one planet and you fire your minions to conquer others. With multi-player over wi-fi, and an unforgiving AI, Galcon is definitely worth the cash for the pro version.

2. Scoops
Not only is this the best iPhone app involving ice cream, it was my favorite app for a long time. It’s simple: catch ice cream but avoid vegetables. With a clean, cartoon look and quick start up, scoops is one of those games that you play and compete amongst your pals for bragging rights. Post here if you’ve hit the 300k mark

1. Rolando
This app represents the future of mobile gaming. It’s built around the iPhone hardware so tightly that you often find yourself fooling around with the controls in the menu screen! It has plenty of levels that can get pretty challenging and long. This is easily the best game on the app store. You don’t have to take my word for it… Try it yourselves. It may be the best $10 you spent on your iPhone and/or iPod touch.

It wasn’t easy to narrow down these choices. I pretty much asked myself, ‘if I could only fit 10 games on my iPhone for a flight, which would they be?’ However, there are some other games that really got my attention. The following are my, for lack of a better term, notable mentions:

- SimCity
- Fieldrunners
- Uno
- Super Monkey Ball
- Crash Bandicoot Racing
- Booty Blocks
- Topple

DIAA: Best Music/Navigation/News Apps

So since this was pretty much the only chance I’ll get to post here since I will be extremely pressed for time later today, I decided to cram all my remaining ‘Best of…’ posts into one awesome, super, mega-post. Take your time to look through. There may be many apps you already heard of, and several you haven’t. Check it out!

Shazam

This is my favorite music-related application. You hold it up to music, and 98% of the time (make sure it’s English, though it may support your odd foreign song) it will track down and find exactly what song it is. I use this ESPECIALLY when there’s that one song on the radio you can’t seem to figure out. It’s free and works amazingly well. Check it out.

Simplify

I don’t use this app much ever since I got my iPod Classic, but if you have a huge music collection and your iPhone/iPod Touch doesn’t have enough storage: get simplify. I don’t know if it’s still free or costs a few bucks, but it works great. You download a desktop app (Mac and PC compatible) that pretty much broadcasts your iTunes library. You can have up to 25 (I THINK!) iPods and/or iPhones synced to this broadcast. Once your synced over Wi-Fi, you can browse you entire library on the go. Sweet stuff.

Where To?

I made a YouTube video about this app. It then disappeared from the App Store. The developers sold the application and it is not back on the App Store for $3. It is a convenience application. Check out my channel to SEE how it works. It resembles a rotary phone and you pretty much choose from a bunch of categories to find the nearest ANYTHING! If you use the GPS on the iPhone, it’s simple… you NEED this app.

Red Rocket

So this app is solely useful to Torontonians and others that may visit Toronto. It’s just a really easy to use app that tells you where the nearest bus is. That may be an oversimplification since it does MUCH MUCH more. You can save your ‘favorite’ routes and know well ahead of time where your bus is coming. Minus the odd snow storm, this app was accurate to about 3 seconds each time! If you take the bus in Toronto, or have $0.99 to toss, check it out!

NetNewsWire

Go to www.newsgator.com. Create an account. Add your favorite RSS feeds from the websites you love to follow. Then download this app. This app, I’m going to ruin the surprise here, is my MOST favorite iPhone app. It is simple. Minimalistic. Fast. Accurate. And simply the BEST way to stay in tune with what’s going with any of the sites you follow. This app is so good, they may as well ship every iPhone with it! Oh yes, it is free baby!

Digg (The Web App)

Alright, so the image is a little misleading. I will tell you techies right now. Go to http://digg.com/iphone on your iPhone or iPod Touch, and save it to your homescreen. This web app is, in my opinion, MUCH better than the ACTUAL Digg application for the platform. It’s fast and easy to use, especially if you just want to know what’s on Digg. Try it out.

So there are some of my top apps (for their respective genres) of 2008. I will try to follow this up with another portion, and wrap the entire blog-series with a video higlighting my top games of 2008 for the iPhone/iPod Touch. Happy holidays everybody!

DIAA: Best Education Apps

Education apps can be hard to categorize. There are so many differing subjects with specific apps to boot. I’m in a health-related field so there is a LITTLE leniancy to the apps that appeal to my field of research. However, I’m sure my top pick will appeal to any enthusiastic student:

iProcastinate

This is arguably the BEST app to use to manage your busy school schedule. Tests? Assignments? Labs? Whatever the case, this tricked out To-Do app is free and offers enough features in a sleek interface to appeal to the user and offer a lot in terms of functionality. This is definitely something I use everyday (when I am in school).

Netter’s Anatomy Series

This app is no joke. Rounding out at around $40 each, they are DEFINITELY pricey. But when your degree hinders on your knowledge of the body, you gotta dish out the goods. This app is a bit slow on start up, but really delivers in terms of picture quality and information. Anyone in a health field should really consider this app. Heck, you may even want this app just to know more about the body in general. Now if only they highlighted the pressure points, I would have made this my number one ninja app.