Review: Phiaton PS 200 for iPod

Two hundred and fifty dollars for earbuds for your iPod is quite a sum of money, particularly considering that you probably didn’t spend that much to buy the iPod itself. But for those discerning users who can’t stand the audio quality of the iPod’s included earbuds, and who aren’t even satisfied with any of the several excellent third party options in the $100 range, Phiaton’s PS 200 earbuds fall into an exquisite category of earbuds whose audio quality is so expansive, so three-dimensional sounding, that you almost start to believe you’re wearing full cup-style headphones instead of tiny earbuds.



The first thing I noticed with the PS 200, beore I even turned on the music, is that they made probably the tightest seal with my ear canals that I’ve encountered with any rubber earbuds. I never have a problem with earbuds falling out of my ears, but these in particular stood out as being so secure I thoought maybe I could go on a roller coaster while wearing them (not that I tried that particular stunt, nor should you).



Generally speaking, the sound quality is everything you’d want in super high-priced earbuds: while listening to your favorite music with the PS 200, you start to notice new details in that music that you couldn’t even hear with measly $100 earbuds.



The trouble comes, however, with the bass-to-treble ratio. Usually it’s a matter of the earbuds having more bass than treble, and it becomes a matter of whether the bass is too amped up to be considered a mainstream product. But this is converse, where the bass on the PS 200 is the feintest I’ve ever heard on high-end earbuds. Not to be mistaken with cheap, crappy $10 earbuds where there’s literally no bass; in this case the bass is there, and it sounds great too, but there’s just not enough of it in comparison to the upper ranges. I honestly don’t know how many people are going to pay $249 for earbuds whose bass is this feint in comparison to nearly every other option on the market – but I’ll leave that up to each of you. That leaves the PS 200’s quality very high overall, but its market appeal questionable, hence the four star rating out of five. You’ll each have to make your own call on this one.

Learn more at Phiaton.com or buy now.

review by Bill Palmer

iProng Magazine #43: Paul van Dyk, Phil Rossi, Burn Halo, War Tapes and more

iProng Magazine #43: Paul van Dyk interview and more

iProng Magazine has released its 43rd issue featuring a cover story interview with Paul van Dyk, podiobook author Phil Rossi talks Crescent, and reviews of Documents To Go and Bed Bugs. Also interviewed: Burn Halo, War Tapes, Daniel Brusilovsky, Jamie Lynn Noon and much more.

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iProng Magazine 42: Black Eyed Peas, iPhone 3.0 and 3GS, iProng 50 and more

iProng Magazine has released its 42nd issue featuring a cover story interview with the Black Eyed Peas along with the iProng 50 Awards, hands-on with iPhone 3.0, and reviews of TweetDeck and ooTunes. Also interviewed: Butterfly Boucher, Davy Knowles, Endless Hallway, Gretel, Kingsfoil and more.

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Scott Sigler interview

New York Times bestselling author Scott Sigler has just released THE ROOKIE as a hardcover novel and sales are strong already, which is impressive for a book that’s been available for free as an audiobook in podcast format since 2007. But that’s the winning formula that’s allowed Scott to build a loyal audience, make a living from it, and achieve mainstream success. I caught up with him to learn how it’s all happened.

You started out trying to get EarthCore published as a print novel through a major publisher. What led you to change course and give it away as a podiobook instead?


I did land a print deal with an imprint of AOL/TimeWarner, and EARTHCORE was supposed to be out in mass market paperback in May 2002. However, in the post-911 recession, TimeWarner scrapped everything that wasn’t profitable. My imprint wasn’t profitable yet, hence, the whole project was shut down. It took me about three years to get the rights back. By then it was 2005, I discovered podcasting, and thought it was going to be the future of novels, short stories and storytelling.

Wasn’t it a bit scary, at the time, to give away content you’d been hoping to charge for, without knowing if you’d ever see a dime from it?


It wasn’t scary at all, it was a huge opportunity to be the first to do something like this, and use that to build an audience. I saw the connections people make online, and knew that if I created a great product, some people would like it and instantly send their friends MP3 links via IM, forums, chat rooms, blog posts, email, etc. Giving the first book away was about building a brand name, and proving that my work resonated with the marketplace. At the time, I assumed I’d pick up 10,000 subscribers and land a print deal. I hadn’t counted on the fact that publishers had no idea what podcasting was, or MP3s, or downloads or really even the internet, for that matter. I accomplished the goal, but it took five books and three years to get there.

How exactly did you go about building up an early audience for your podiobooks? Was enough to just put it out there for free, or did you have to actively spread the word?


I’ve worked constantly to spread the word, pick up fans, and get them to spread the word. Just putting a free work up isn’t enough, you have to market it. A lot of people will listen because it’s free, and a certain percentage of them will like your work and become fans. Therefore, my real goal as an entertainer is to make sure the most possible people find out about me and give me a shot. The larger the base, the more fans generated by that same certain percentage.

Now that you’re a New York Times bestselling print author, and people are clearly willing to pay for your work, why do you still give your content away? Is that just because you’re a nice guy, or is it part of a strategy to sell more content?


There’s a few reasons. First, my father had a phrase, “you dance with the one that brought ya.” I got to where I am because of my fans. They helped me in a lot of ways because my work was free, and I’m not going to bogart it from them now that I’ve achieved a couple of goals. Right now I give everything away for free, even the stuff that’s on sale. It’s up to the customer to decide how they want the story — free podcast, free PDF, paid iPhone app, paid book. And times are tough; some people want to buy the books but they don’t have the cash right now. So no problem, that’s what the free podcasts are for. Maybe someday they buy my books, maybe they don’t, doesn’t matter to me because that’s the customer’s choice to make. Second, “free” still gets me new people who try my stuff because they don’t have to shell out the bucks. If you have a choice between spending $25 on a Stephen King downloadable book, or get mine for free, odds are you’ll try mine first, even though King is a proven author and always delivers. You know if you don’t like mine, you can go back and spend the $25 anyway, so there’s no risk.

You released a hardcover version of THE ROOKIE last weekend. What’s the premise of the book?


Basically, it’s projecting professional football 700 years into the future, after we’ve discovered alien races, and trying to figure out what the game might be like. From there it gets much deeper, illustrating the integrative nature of sports and sport as a meritocracy that destroys racism (you have to learn to play with the best players, regardless of race, if you want to win). Finally, it’s a kick-ass coming of age story and chock-full of awesome, high-tech football action.

I’ll give you the synopses:


Set in a lethal pro football league 700 years in the future, THE ROOKIE is a story that combines the intense gridiron action of “Any Given Sunday” with the space opera style of “Star Wars” and the criminal underworld of “The Godfather.”

Aliens and humans alike play positions based on physiology, creating receivers that jump 25 feet into the air, linemen that bench-press 1,200 pounds, and linebackers that literally want to eat you. Organized crime runs every franchise, games are fixed and rival players are assassinated.

Follow the story of Quentin Barnes, a 19-year-old quarterback prodigy that has been raised all his life to hate, and kill, those aliens. Quentin must deal with his racism and learn to lead, or he’ll wind up just another stat in the column marked “killed on the field.”

How are your years of participating in social media paying off as far as promoting the print version of THE ROOKIE?


I’ve built up an online following in various social media places, like Facebook, Twitter and on my own site scottsigler.com. Simply making the product available in these different areas lets people find the book based on their preferences. Some find it via Twitter, some via Facebook, and some via my podcasts or my website. The larger the following, the more people want to buy the product, so that’s why doing this for several years gives me the best chance to find customers that really want the book.

Don’t forget, I already gave THE ROOKIE away for free as a podcast, and it’s still available for free. Most, if not all the people who have pre-ordered so far have already heard the story. They liked it so much they want a print copy to read again or to share with others. That’s what social media does for me – when my fans finish a story, I’m still right there, accessible, they can stay in contact and monitor what’s coming next.

Is Quentin Barnes, your protagonist quarterback of the future, based in part on any real-life football player?


I wrote this book years ago, so he was initially based on Daunte Culpepper. When Culpepper came into the league , he was 6-foot-4, 260 pounds. It was almost unheard of for a quarterback with his skill set to be that big. So Quentin is huge for his position, which helps set him apart. Personality-wise, I tried to imagine an incredibly talented kid that’s played his whole life in, say, the Ku Klux Clan minor league, but he wants to be the best so he works his way into the bigs, where — hold on to your hat — he has to have sub-races on his team. The final step was gauging his maturity level. Quentin joins the pros at nineteen, so I channelled a bit of early Kobe Bryant behavior in there.

You’ve said that what you like about Stephen King’s books is that he’s willing to whack any character at any time. You’ve announced an upcoming sequel centered around Quentin Barnes. Is there a chance he bites the dust in that book?


Absolutely. In my books, no one is sacred, and dead stays dead. That being said, THE ROOKIE series isn’t like my modern-day horror/thrillers. This is a scifi series, so odds are everyone’s favorite quarterback will be there to play another day. With a thriller, much of the fear-of-loss revolves around a character’s life. To draw the reader in, you need that specter of death. With a sports series, you get a different specter — losing the championship, the big game, the career, etc. So you can really put a reader through the wringer without having to put the characters’ life on that line.

Speaking of quarterbacks, you’re a long-suffering Detroit Lions fan. What do you think of their drafting of Matthew Stafford with the first overall pick this past weekend?


Paying the kid $41 million guaranteed is a huge mistake. The Lions have needs everywhere, particularly the offensive line. Detroit destroys quarterbacks. Not the other teams’ quarterbacks, mind you, our quarterbacks. If you just look at the statistical trends of Detroit, Stafford won’t be the starter in three years. I wish they would have traded down and loaded up with three first- or second-round offensive line picks. Franchises that had dominant runs, like Dallas, New England, Pittsburgh, they all spend the dollars to develop and retain a great offensive line. I’d love to think Stafford is The One for Detroit, but this ain’t my first trip to the rodeo. At least we didn’t use our first pick to draft another goddamn receiver …

Late last year you released THE ROOKIE as an iPhone app. What role do you think iPhone books and readers like the Kindle will play in the near future of books?


I think portable devices are the future of books, period. There are 20 million iPhones and iTouch units sold so far, in only two years. I don’t even use my Kindle anymore now that the Kindle App works so well on the iPhone. So that’s a market of 20 million potential readers, who can now buy books, stockpile books, and most importantly impulse-buy books. As the cost of eBooks comes down to the $3-$5 range, the same cost as most apps, I think readership is going to go through the roof. The reason it’s going to keep getting bigger is that the iPhone and other cell phones are lifestyle devices. A book is just a book, but an iPhone is your phone, your email, your calendar, your social media, your video, your music, your games and now your books. People will continue to be more attached to their phones. They are already ubiquitous, and if you can read a book on your phone, there’s no reason to read it on paper — it’s just one more thing to carry.

For an aspiring book author who’s just starting out, what advice would you offer them? Has your successful career path written the definitive blueprint, or have things shifted already?


There is no blueprint, things are changing too fast. The first piece of advice is get used to the fact that you are in the minor leagues, there is clearly a minor-league system, and in the minors you have to give your content away to build up a following. Be prepared to do that for three to five years before you have enough people to make a difference. It will not happen overnight for you, nor do you want it to, because audience feedback will help shape your storytelling style. The second piece of advice is that the days of “just writing” are gone. You may hear the old guard talk about how a writer should write, and how they “let other people handle those other things.” Well, that was because these guys signed their publishing deals fifteen, twenty years ago, when there weren’t 500 channels, when there weren’t metroplexes, when video games were nothing like they are today and the internet was basically non-existent. People have so many entertainment choices now, you have to fight for your customers’ time. You have to market AND write, you have to be a businessperson AND an entertainer. Third and final bit of advice, understand the fact that readers want to connect with the author. Embrace social media, reply to emails, to blog comments, interact with them whenever possible. Don’t be an arrogant douchebag. You are not important. Your work is not important. What’s important is giving people value for the time they spend with their works — write great stories, and be accessible. The days of the author’s ivory tower are long gone.

Aside from promoting THE ROOKIE and writing The Starter, what else do you have on the horizon?


Right now I’m working on ANCESTOR, which will be the third hardcover published by Crown Publishing. Should be out March of 2010, and we’re gunning for a top-15 spot on the New York Times hardcover fiction best-seller list. That’s my new goal, and I’ll be unleashing every trick in the book to make people aware of the book, and what it means for user-generated content and social media if we hit that mark.



App review: Chop Sushi

There are many match-three games in the App Store, but “Chop Sushi” stands out in this genre. This game proves to be a tasty treat! The object of the game is to match at least 3 types of sushi. The more sushi you match, the more turns you get.

The unique part about “Chop Sushi” is the role-playing twist. You venture into the game as the character, Master Chef. His main goal is to serve the freshest sushi and to make everyone happy. Unfortunately, everyone he runs into has a personal demon that needs to be dealt with. As he challenges them to a match-three sushi battle, he also levels up, gains health, adds new weapons, and defeat the customer’s demons.

The game starts out simple with very helpful tutorials. Tapping on a sushi piece or stone will signal the chopsticks to pick it up. Move the piece by swaying the chopsticks up, down, left, or right. Matching pieces will disappear and more will appear in their place. If you match more than four pieces, you will get another turn. You take turns with your opponent and the battle ends when you or your opponent have 0% health. Match wasabi pieces to damage your opponent’s health. When no moves are available on the board, all the stones crack to reveal what’s underneath them.

There are three modes to choose from — Adventure, Quick Battle, and Challenges. In Challenges, you have to match items in a specific number of moves. In Quick Battle, you can select which land and demon to battle with. But the game is mostly centered around the Adventure mode, where Master Chef can wander around, talk to people, and swim to new lands.

As the game progress, you start to earn new recipes that can help you with your battles. New weapons and healing recipes will have you thinking about your next move as well as your opponent’s. This adds another level of gameplay to keep the game fun and challenging.

Sometimes selecting a sushi piece to move is difficult. The pieces are small, so you’ll find yourself picking up the wrong piece. However, you are not penalized and there is no time limit in the game. This is nice because you never feel rushed.

If you would like to try out this game, download “Chop Sushi Lite” for free and give it a test drive. You’ll be able to play one level and battle three different opponents. The full version is only $2.99 and is worth every penny!

September 2nd issue with podsafe musician Jonathan Coulton and more!

AppMinute for iPhone

Why are third-party applications important to the iPhone platform?

Third-party applications will create functionality into the iPhone that it does not have out of the box. This will appeal to a much broader spectrum of potential buyers. At the moment, there is no one “killer app” that sells the iPhone. Eventually, a third party iPhone developer will come out with an application or game that people will buy the iPhone just to get access to. This is what happened with personal computers back in the 1970s. It was not until VisiCalc came out on the Apple II that people started to see a reason to even own a computer. All of a sudden, you could use a computer to do your finances on, even complex stuff, fairly simply. That will happen with the iPhone, or maybe the BlackBerry, eventually. 


What can readers learn about iPhone apps by visiting AppMinute?

We (Myself and Sam Levin) link to both interesting iPhone / iPod Touch news and the latest cool Apps worth downloading. There are a number of really great iPhone focused websites out there, providing original content that people want to know about.

Our site is designed to point people in the right direction, making finding content worth reading easy. We also search the internet to find iPhone related video, and post those on the site as well. These could include video reviews, previews, or what have you. 

What future plans for AppMinute can you share with us?

We have many plans, but most we are keeping close to the vest for now. However, one thing we are looking at is creating an iPhone Developer Connection service (free) on the site that will act as a gateway between developers, as well as companies looking to hire developers. We want to become a “one stop shopping” site for all things iPhone App related. 

What are your favorite apps so far?

I love AOL Radio, mostly for the two comedy stations. Uncensored and full of really great content. I don’t know who programs that particular channel, but they have great taste. I also enjoy a few of the 80s channels on there. 

Both the MySpace and Facebook Apps are decent, and in fact they facilitate me actually using both those services more than I ever did in the past. 
My favorite, however, would still be a toss-up between the iPod and Safari. The iPhone has now replaced my iPod, and the ability to browse the internet no matter where I am has spoiled me to no end. 

What’s the latest scoop with MyMac, your “other” publication?

MyMac.com is still my passion, and while I enjoy AppMinute.com, I don’t have the emotional connection to it that I do with MyMac. We are moving into our 14th year of publishing, and while we have come a long way since 1995, I have not lost my passion for it. We only publish original content, and have some of the most creative and honest writers on the Mac scene. Companies, both Mac and iPod / iPhone related, have been seeking us out to review their products in record numbers over the last year, so that is exciting. Our large staff is once again already gearing up for Macworld Expo in January, an event we usually have ten or so staffers covering. Things are going really well in the land of Macintosh for us, and I hope my newest venture, AppMinute.com, can become as popular as MyMac.

Photos from New Media Expo

Photos from the 2008 New Media Expo in Las Vegas. Thank you to everyone who stopped by the iProng booth, we hope you enjoyed our non-stop live podcasting…

Photos from Coverville 500

Photos from the Coverville 500 concert at the 2008 New Media Expo in Las Vegas. We enjoyed the show and hope you did as well…

August 25th issue with Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin and more – read it now!

Musician Diary: St. Louis

It’s been almost a week since I got back from the Indie Buzz Bootcamp in St. Louis. I had such a great time there and have been so busy since then working on my music that it took me awhile to sit down and write you about it!

First off I want to say hello to all my new friends from the weekend. Whether I met you at the conference, while street performing in the loop or six hundred and thirty-two feet up in the air in the arch looking over the flooded Mississippi, you made my weekend awesome and I love you for it!

It all started out Friday when I flew to St. Louis and immediately after arriving at our hotel Griffin and I took off for the arch. It was incredible to see it in person and I recommend taking the elevator/train/carnival ride contraption up to the top when you have a chance. And stop by below for some delicious hot cocoa mixed with a wooden spoon in the “old time” coffee and sweets shop below the arch. It’s delicious and the people are dressed up like they were when Lewis and Clark came through town in the nineteenth century. Correct me if I didn’t remember that correctly – I’m not good with dates.



After that I tried to pull Griffin over to the lake to look at the baby ducks but it was getting late and we wanted to walk through downtown more so we didn’t. On our walk we passed a fountain that was dyed pink in honor of the breast cancer walk going on. We wound up at Union Station where we tried some fudge after the employees at the shop sang and teased us for not participating in a fun call and response thing they were doing.

Most of the weekend was spent at the Indie Buzz Bootcamp. It was an incredible conference put together by indie music marketing guru Bob Baker and his girlfriend Pooki. They set up all of these great networking parties and events, fed us and made me feel very welcome. The speakers were all very motivating and super accessible.

I had the chance to perform on Saturday night with some hit writers from Nashville in the Behind the Song Café. I met Rylee Madison and Wil Nance who are both based out of Nashville. Wil wrote “She’s everything” for Brad Paisley. He teased me a lot about performing on the subway but he’s not so bad!

Sunday I must have woken up on the lucky side of the bed because I won a copy of the Indie Bible and thirty-six custom t-shirts from StickersAndMore.com. Look out for those soon! That afternoon Griffin and I got a little tour from Pooki’s son down to The Loop. If you haven’t been, I definitely recommend checking it out when you visit St. Louis. It’s this strip of shops and restaurants about a mile long and on Sunday’s there’s this happening hippy drum circle that you would never expect in St. Louis.

I like to think I am a hippy but after seeing these free spirits I know I’m nowhere close! One guy who was wearing a turtle shell for a hat that he had made after finding the turtle on the side of the road offered me his guitar string earring. He had taken an old string and cut it off to about 1.5 inches after the round threading and just put it in his ear and bent it around. “It has its own built in clasp,” he said. I couldn’t: 1) Take a prized possession like that and 2) Worry about getting some disease from the metal. If I didn’t realize that I wasn’t a hippy before, it became clear as day then!

Anyways, We hung around for a while listening to the drum circle and then headed over to a restaurant just as it started raining. I wasn’t expecting much but I had the most incredible salad at this place. The caesar dressing was made with curry and I think I freaked out the waiter by telling him how great it was about eight billion times.

After our tummies were full and merry I went out on a search for a place to play my music on the street and hopefully make some new fans. I found a shady spot under a tree where instead of competing with the trains I was up against about a hundred sparrows tweeting loudly because they were so happy the sun had come back out. I started playing and it was slow at first but some people hung around to listen and I met three stellar guys who jammed with me on the Uke.

In the end I got rained out and I had to run half a mile to the train. Griffin and I got back in the shuttle where we met the owner of the hotel we were staying at. He grew up with Sheryl Crow. Small world! Back at the hotel we wound up hanging out in the computer room with some conference stragglers as I entertained myself learning how to make paper cut out streamers of girls in dresses, hearts, fish and a guitar. I left them for some stiff workaholic to find the next morning.

I woke up late Monday before we left and spent about 30 minutes enjoying the Jacuzzi and pool before having Panera Bread (aka St. Louis Bread Co.) for some late brunch. The trip back to LAG airport was pretty painless save for a little two hours delay in Atlanta where we again went to Panera Bread (aka Atlanta Bread Co.).

After writing all of this I’m not sure who would find it all interesting but it put a huge smile on my face to think of all the fun I had and most of all the great people I met!

Till next time St. Louis!

xo
Natalie

First Look: ColorTilt for iPhone

Most games have a goal. Get to the finish line. Collect all the items. But ColorTilt is a “game” in the same sense that an Etch-a-Sketch is a game: there are goals, no checkpoints, no timers, in fact nothing specific you’re even supposed to be doing. A color screen flashes and you draw on it with your finger. Tilt the iPhone in any direction and the colors will change. That’s pretty much the gist of the application.



As such, your level of fun is dependent on your imagination and your willingness to participate a “game” that has essentially no structure. Write your name, draw a picture of a house, or just doodle. Use it as a time-killer, stress reliever, or because you like the pretty colors. And when you’ve filled the page, just turn your iPhone upright and shake it – just like an Etch-a- Sketch in fact – and the screen will erase itself so you can start anew. Kids will obviously enjoy this one, but I suspect adults with a sense of whimsy will as well.



ColorTilt is so simple that the ninety-nine cent price tag seems appropriate. That having been said, it’s probably worth the dollar even if you only use it as an occasional diversion. And you just know you want to use the shake-to-erase feature to impress all your friends who don’t have iPhones.