12-23-2004, 04:34 AM

Ok,I made the leap and purchased the 4G today..started DLing some utilities such as itune to start learning the how-to's while I wait for my player to arrive. I immediately noticed that itunes looks somewhat familiar as I'm a registered Realplayer v10.5 user and from what I understand..Realplayer is now fully Ipod compatable. My question is..who is using/testing realplayer here,I'd like some feedback on this..I'd read someplace the RP will do some neat tricks such as gather ID3 tags from the net on songs that are already on your system..not sure how this works but any feedback will be appreciated since I will be trying both itunes and RP.

I'm looking for a long Y cable (15') to hook/patch into my audio reciever..anyone know of a good source besides high-priced monster stuff..I thought about just using the FM thingie that I'll need for the car (CD only) but a direct connection will eventually be needed..how are you guys doing this?

-Mystro-

12-23-2004, 12:21 PM

Originally Posted by mystro

Ok,I made the leap and purchased the 4G today..started DLing some utilities such as itune to start learning the how-to's while I wait for my player to arrive. I immediately noticed that itunes looks somewhat familiar as I'm a registered Realplayer v10.5 user and from what I understand..Realplayer is now fully Ipod compatable. My question is..who is using/testing realplayer here,I'd like some feedback on this..I'd read someplace the RP will do some neat tricks such as gather ID3 tags from the net on songs that are already on your system..not sure how this works but any feedback will be appreciated since I will be trying both itunes and RP.

I'm looking for a long Y cable (15') to hook/patch into my audio reciever..anyone know of a good source besides high-priced monster stuff..I thought about just using the FM thingie that I'll need for the car (CD only) but a direct connection will eventually be needed..how are you guys doing this?

-Mystro-

I'm pretty sure Apple broke Realplayer's hack to let music on the Ipod... Let me find the article.

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000253023726/

Yep, Apple killed their efforts

12-23-2004, 12:32 PM

Yes, iTunes can gather ID3 tags. If iTunes looks like realplayer, then you have found that realpaper has copied iTunes.

12-23-2004, 04:29 PM

Interesting,I just read this on Dec 22 Tech News:

"In July, RealNetworks introduced Harmony. RealNetworks said it reverse-engineered Apple's copy-protection code so iPods users could play songs downloaded from non- Apple sites.

Apple criticized RealNetworks' Harmony as the "tactics... of a hacker", and warned in July that RealNetworks-purchased songs would likely "cease to work with current and future iPods". Apple has confirmed that the software released with its iPod Photo and Mini will not play music purchased from RealNetworks' music store. Digital music sold by competing online stores, unlike CDs, are not usually compatible with different brands of MP3 players.

Apple continues to turn down record label executives and rival technology companies, who have repeatedly urged the company to make the iPod compatible with songs purchased from other music stores for Ipod owners. Meanwhile, executives from several labels had supported RealNetworks' effort to create compatibility between its stores and the iPod, regardless of Apple's consent."

Anyway,it (the article) didn't mention the 4G being affected,personally I like the simplicity of what I'm seeing in itunes but I certainly do have an issue with not being able to DL music from Real especially since I'm a payed subscriber long before I ordered the 4G.I guess I'll double check what version of software I install on the G4 and make sure it is compatable with the Real
hack for the time being.

..and the saga continues. I'll be watching for future updates on this stuff..I can't help but think Apple will be making lot's of money regardless of the outcome..they seem to be in a no-lose position to some extent.

12-23-2004, 04:43 PM

If this is a new iPod, you will most likely find that the hole that Real network found has been patched.

12-23-2004, 05:46 PM

Originally Posted by rman

Yes, iTunes can gather ID3 tags. If iTunes looks like realplayer, then you have found that realpaper has copied iTunes.

Actually he said that the real player can find tags for songs that are already on your computer, iTunes can't do that as far as I know, it only finds tags for cd's you import whilst connected to the 'net...

I'd try to get used to the idea that your iPod might not be real-compatible for long, as apple might update the firmware soon (if the current firmware is not already "fixed") with features you mightn't want to miss out on...

As a low-tech fix, you can always burn any Realplayer drm protected tracks to a cd-rw as a regular audio disk, and then reimport them into iTunes as unprotected .aac or .mp3 files, thus avoiding any drm issues...