The iPod is a deeply personal device. The music, contacts, calendars, and notes you store in it reveal a lot about your personality. From playcounts to playlists, our iPods can tell others what we enjoy, how we think, and even who we are. But if you really want to transform your iPod into an extreme personal expression engine, why not customize it?
Hacking your iPod, whether it’s modifying the case, installing custom software, or breaking and doubling the memory, can transform the ubiquitous music and media player into something unique.
Note: You should be aware that trying any of these tricks carries the risk of ruining your device.
1. Penguin power
iPod Linux is the essential hack for many of the other tricks you may want to try. It is fully compatible with iPods from Generations 1 to 3 and has been successfully installed on all others with a display. It should take ‘Podzilla’, which will add a graphical interface to the iPod Linux. There are several versions of Podzilla available to choose from. Once installed, iPod Linux and Podzilla will allow you to start your iPod in basic Linux mode. In addition, it will serve as the basis for many other tricks.
2. Wikipedia on the go
Everybody loves Wikipedia. It’s a free, user-created encyclopedia with entries on more topics than Britannica. It’s a great information resource, but what if it’s not on your desk? Now, you can get it on your iPod and take Wikipedia with you wherever you go. Unfortunately, it is not yet available for all iPod models; Nano and video users are left out for now, and since there’s no display on iPod shuffle, there’s no point in installing Wikipedia. First, you will need to install iPod Linux.
3. Double your memory
Not satisfied with the 4GB of memory on your iPod nano? Why not duplicate it? First, you will need to buy a broken nano on eBay. Open it and remove the memory. Then open your working nano, solder the memory chip from the broken nano to the empty pad it works on, seal it again and perform a factory reset. You will now have a working nano with 7.2GB of space.
Four. Mobile movies on the go
Transfer DVD movies to your iPod easily and for free using free software (HandBrake) available for Mac and Windows. Be careful though: unless you use an analog capture method, it is illegal to copy the DVDs you own onto your iPod.
For Mac (and Linux) users, get a free copy of HandBrake. Handbrake is now available as a universal binary, good news for those who have a new MacBook, Mac mini, or imac, and can rip DVD video directly to MPEG-4 video, the format you’ll need to watch it on your iPod. . Windows users need to take some additional steps. Get a DVD ripping program like DVDFab Decrypter or DVD Decrypter. Convert your video to AVI using a decoding tool. Finally, convert the AVI file into MPEG-4 video that can be played on your iPod using Videora iPod Converter.
5. iPod to TV
Want to watch content from your iPod on your TV? You can easily do this by purchasing a £ 15 iPod AV cable from Apple or by using a standard mini-jack to RCA three-plug cable. These cables cost between £ 7-10 from outlets like Maplins (www.maplins.co.uk). Set up your iPod to output to TV, connect the cable through the minijack, and connect the RCA connections to a TV using a non-standard configuration. Apple sends the iPod video to the red wire, instead of the traditional yellow one. So you’ll want to plug the red wire into the video (yellow) jack on your TV, the yellow wire into the white jack, and the white wire into the red jack. This is an easy trick that anyone with an iPod can try.
6. Pac attack
Thanks to iPodMAME, you can play Pac-Man on your iPod. This hack will install a version of MAME, the arcade game emulator program, on your iPod. As with the Wikipedia hack, iPodMAME requires you to install iPod Linux first. The program comes with romsets (the set of files that includes all the game data), including one for Pac-Man. PodMAME should work with any iPod with a color screen.
