So you might already know how to upload music and play music on your iPods, but maybe you want to do something else other than music playing with it. The iPod has become somewhat of an American phenomenon.

With the ever-growing popularity of this little gadget, more and more people are starting to use the iPod for things other than just playing music.

Below are alternative uses that you can use your iPods for:

Probably the most popular alternative use of the iPod is podcasting. Podcasting is like running your own radio stations, except you’re the boss and can do whatever you want.

Podcasts have become very popular with iPod owners of all ages and walks of life. Creating your own podcast is fairly easy and you have the ability to reach thousands of people.

Your podcast can be about anything you want; the FCC does not have any restrictions on podcasting, so you are pretty much free to say whatever you want.

Maybe you want to tell the world about your religious or political views, or perhaps, you just want to share the music that you love.

The capabilities of the new iPod video continue the developing process of the old capabilities – software, hardware and compatibility with other devices.

Concerning the software, it is well-known that the iPods in general and the iPod video in particular play MP3, audible audio book, WAV, M4A/AAC, protected AAC, AIFF and Apple Lossless audio file formats.

Generations of iPods and its capabilities

Since the 5th generation iPods there is another possibility of playing m4v and mp4 MPEG-4 video file formats. Only non copy-protected WMA files may be copied to an iPod. Other formats are not possible to be played by the iPod and this is the case of FLAC and Ogg Vorbis formats.

Besides, the iPods are especially designed for matching the iTunes media library software. This online music store appeared in 2003 and it sells songs and it was thought exclusively for the iPod users and not for other portable music players.

This may have contributed to the success both the iPods and the iTunes music store and to the great development and improvements of the iPod’s capabilities.

The iPod video is known as the last generation of iPods, which surprised the market and the sales since its appearance.

Basically, this new device is able to play videos. If this seems like fun, the technical part might need some guidance.

Firstly, you should know that both the PSP and iPod can play H.264 / MPEG-4 encoded videos with AAC audio tracks.

Due to this fact, the resolution is rather limited, together with the limitation of the bit rates that you can use on the device.

For the new iPod video, this limits means (for the H.264 video) up to up to 768 Kbps, 320 x 240 and 30 frames per second.

For the MPEG-4 video, the limits are up to 2.5 mbps, 480 x 480 and the same 30 frames per second.

Even more, the AAC audio bit rate is around 160 Kbps. After establishing these limits, the next step is to establish the source of the iPod video, which can be either from a DVD or a video of the computer.

The new iPod video has a wide range of new qualities and among these, the most important is, without any doubt, the video feature.

Due to the fact that the market already had a small and portable device which basically played games, but also played videos, the new iPod video was released with some suspicions of the critics.

The iPod video is hardly the first portable video player on the market, as the device belonging to Sony claims to be the number 1 portable video player in the world, but it is principally used to play video games.

Even so, the sales of this new product turned out to be surprisingly high, a fact which was obvious shortly after the first semester.

The main concern regarding the product was the fact that due to the small screen, the people willing to watch a serious movie on it would be limited.

In fact, studies show that most people prefer to feel the actual movie, while watching it in front of a big screen, like the one in the movie theatres.

The new iPod video became famous due to its huge memory and the capacity of playing video, due to its slim design and longer life battery. Still, there are voices that point out some disadvantages and highlight different negative aspects.

Taking into account that there are few perfect things made by the human hand, these aspects may be used by the iPod video creators for further improvements.

Therefore, the customer’s reviews are very important and the suggestions may be really taken into account.

The fact that the screen is bigger is great, but the surface is easy to scratch, aspect that is more in the cons category.

Although the image is excellent and the clarity screen may be easily compared with the TV set’s screen quality, there are still some problems with freezing iPod video images.

There is a great achievement the fact that the light, sun or other previous obstacles are annihilated, but another important problem is the unresponsiveness in some cases.

The dimensions of the new iPod video are great, but there is no way you may watch it with more than several persons.

Apple has proven with the iPod that, like cheese and wine, it just gets better over time.

The iPod is currently available in three versions: iPod, iPod Nano, and iPod Shuffle.

The iPod, available in 30 and 60GB storage capacities, can store up to 15,000 songs. The iPod Nano, a smaller version of the iPod, is available in 1, 2 and 4GB storage capacities and can store up to 1,000 songs.

Yet it is the iPod shuffle that stands out from the others. Available in 512MB and 1GB storage capacities, the iPod shuffle is proof that bigger isn’t always better.

One of the major things that sets iPod shuffle apart from other iPods is the element of surprise.

People love a good mystery and they get exactly that with the iPod shuffle. Out of 120+ songs, you never know what you are going to hear next.

It’s like having your own personal radio station, only without the commercials. With a regular iPod, you set the playlist you want to hear and the songs are played in that order every time.

The iPod shuffle adds fun to the listening experience because the playlist is completely random.

Everyone wants to keep their iPod looking as good as new, but this can be difficult sometimes, especially since the product seems to attract scratches.

Purchase a case to cover the iPod. Cases are available in a variety of colors and material. They usually have a vinyl material that covers the screen.

Sometimes cases can be bulky and inconvenient. Not only have they hid the sleek design of the iPod.

The Apple store offers trendy socks that are fitted to the iPod. The socks come in a set of six different colors.

To use, simply slide the iPod into the sock to keep it from being exposed to elements that will scratch its surface.

One of the drawbacks to using a sock is that you will have to slide it in and out of the sock whenever you need to use the click wheel. The iPod sock is compatible with all iPod models except iPod shuffle.

Know about iPod nano.

Also available from the iPod store are iPod nano Tubes. As the name suggests these are designed specifically for the iPod nano.

Many people have been suffering from hearing problems since the introduction of iPod music and other portable music devices.

One of the reasons that the iPod music stands out among its competitors is that it is one of the loudest portable music players available right now.

The loudness also becomes a vice as people use iPod music capabilities to its full extent, paying little or no attention to the effects frequent loud music can have on their hearing.

If you frequently listen to your iPod music at a high volume it can cause Noise-Induced Hearing Loss. The effects of noise-induced hearing loss can be temporary or permanent.

The symptoms increase when a person is frequently exposed to loud noises for a long period of time. Prevention is the only cure for noise-induced hearing loss.

Here are a few tips to help take care of your ears while listening to your iPod music.

Use noise canceling or sound-isolating headphones. The earphones that come with iPod music are hazardous because they fit directly into the ear. These earphones boost sound by as much as nine decibels.

Apple makes iPod for Mac and Windows, but not for the open-source operating system Linux. Because of this, Linux developers began working on an iPod solution for Linux.

When developers began testing Linux with iPod it was partly just to see if it could work.

It did. However, initially there was no real need for it and no benefits for users who installed Linux onto their iPods.

They just simply had two operating systems on their iPod: the Apple firmware and iPod Linux.

Once the concept was proven, more work was done to tweak the system and its capabilities.

Now, installing iPod Linux is a way to add capabilities and enhancements beyond the basics.

Podzilla is the name for the standard iPod Linux interface. It is similar to the Apple interface but has a crisper font and switches between menus between one and two seconds faster because there is no animation for menu changes. Once of the cons is that the iPod Linux operating system uses more battery.

IPod Linux-One of the operating systems

The iPod Linux includes an Extras menu that expands to four other items. First, is the Recording Menu that allows you to do Mic or Line in Record. Line In recording is for recording the audio output from other sources.

Rechargeable lithium-based batteries power most of our electronic devices from cell phones to iBooks, not to mention the very popular iPods.

But with so much demand of these electronic devices that use this type of battery, does any one really take the time to find out how to maximize the life of these batteries? You take the time to buy these electronic devices every day and take the time to learn how to properly use them.

But do you actually take the time to learn how to properly make the life of the battery work as long as you can before you have to break down and buy a replacement battery?

In addition, as everyone knows, most of these rechargeable batteries are not cheap.

It is actually more economical to learn right from the beginning the proper steps in extending the life of the battery.

Some of the first models of iPods that were introduced did not have a battery pack that could easily be replaced by the consumer. It came with an enclosed battery pack that made it only possible to open by virtually breaking your iPod.