How iTunes Match Works

Before: DRM-ed	After: Unprotected

Apple has always stored iTunes music “in the cloud”, but it was never accessible except at the time of purchase. In other words, Apple would allow you to buy a song and download it but you could not re-download purchases, let alone stream them to other computers or iDevices.

ITunes 10.5.1, now available for download, enables online streaming and re-downloading the of media to any authorized computer or device. This means that all of your past and future iTunes Store purchases are now available on all the devices you own. You can stream them over the Internet for casual listening or download them for off-line use. This includes movies, television shows, and books as well as music.

But iTunes Match is the signature feature of this upgrade. Using technology acquired from Lala, Apple now offers an annual subscription allowing you to “match” your off-line library with the online iTunes store. This match technology will scan your entire library and make available all songs in it, regardless of source.

ITunes Match allows you to “upgrade” your music library with legal, licensed, high-quality files regardless of the source. This includes DRM-protected iTunes store purchases, which are also upgraded to 256 K bit DRM-free AAC files. This is a huge benefit: Building a high-quality non-DRM library is well worth a year $25 per year even without online streaming.

For example, if you bought an album from Amazon or ripped a CD (or even if you downloaded music through Bittorrent), it will be available for streaming and downloading to iTunes, iPhones, iPads, and iPods. Even better, the downloaded version will be Apple’s high quality 256 kbps AAC “iTunes Plus” version, even if yours was a lowly 128 kbps MP3 file.

How to Upgrade a Song

Upgrading is fairly straightforward, and iCloud “has your back” if you make a mistake. Still, I recommend backing up your music files before proceeding!

Enable these headings to make it easier to locate songs to upgrade

The first step is subscribing to the iTunes Match service. Download and install the latest version of iTunes, and click on the new iTunes Match entry in the menu bar. Apple will prompt you to sign up and pay your $25 using your existing iTunes account.

Once you have subscribed to iTunes Match, iTunes will scan your library for songs, match them to the online library, and begin uploading any that it did not find. You can continue working with iTunes while the upload proceeds, since we will be working with files that do exist on the iTunes servers.

Right click on the menu bar above the song listing in iTunes’ Music pane and add the new “iCloud Status” column. You might also want to add the “Kind” column to determine which files should be upgraded.

Locate a file to upgrade. There’s no need to replace songs that are or 256 kb iTunes Plus format, so look for those with “Kind” listed as “MPEG audio file” or “Protected AAC audio file”.

Next, check the “iCloud Status” column to make sure the song is “Matched”. Now you’re good to go with the upgrade.

Any song that is "Matched" can be re-downloaded DRM-free!

I created a backup folder to save a copy of my music just in case the upgrade fails. Just drag and drop the file right out of iTunes and into a backup folder.

In iTunes, select the song you wish to upgrade and press the delete key. ITunes will ask if you’re sure: Go ahead and click “Delete Song” but do not select “Also delete this song from iCloud” just in case.

Scary! Delete your music (but save a backup first!)

Once the song file has been deleted, you will notice that it does not disappear from the iTunes interface. Instead, a new icon will appear in the “iCloud” column. This is the iCloud download button: Click it and iTunes will re-download the high quality version of that song directly into your library. Or just press “Play” to stream it over the Internet!

That nifty little icon (or a right-click) allows you re-download your deleted files

Note that any metadata, such as custom year or composer, will not be lost. Even star ratings will be retained, though it appears that play counts are not saved.

This process can be repeated for multiple items at once, allowing you to upgrade your library with just a few clicks.

Before: Low-bitrate MP3	After: 256 kbps AAC

Stephen’s Stance

The ability to “go legit” and upgrade older music files is a huge benefit, and makes iTunes Match well worth the $25 annual fee. Having all your music online for streaming is pretty cool, but probably wouldn’t have enticed me to spend money. I will definitely be upgrading my entire iTunes library this way!

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2011. | How to Legitimize and Upgrade Your Music Library Using iTunes Match
This post was categorized as Apple, Personal, Terabyte home. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

Initiate an IOS update from an iPhone

Apple added a new menu entry in Settings–General

Open "Settings" and tap "General", then tap "Software Update"

iOS will check for available updates online...

...and locate iOS 5.0.1. Tap "Download and Install"

You will be prompted to "Agree" to Apple's Terms and Conditions

The download is much quicker because only changed files are needed

My download took less than a minute using a home cable modem connection

iOS will verify the download, patch the files, and restart the phone

After the restart, your phone is running the latest version of iOS!

The iPad update is identical!

Stephen’s Stance

Differential “over the air” software updates are a major step forward for Apple and iOS, though Android users have been enjoying this feature for years.  It really is possible to own an iPhone or iPad without also having a computer iOS 5!

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2011. | How To Update iPhone and iPad iOS Software Without a Computer
This post was categorized as Apple, Everything. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

With 18 (!) models to choose from, which iPad is the best choice?

Apple may make their product lines easy to understand, with simple and consistent names, but there sure are a lot of iPad 2 models. Which iPad is the best choice? I picked the 32 GB Wi-Fi model personally, but I can see cases where others might prefer a 3G or base model. Let’s consider it.

The iPad 2 Model Lineup

There are no less than 18 different iPad 2 models:

All of these are iPad 2′s, and selecting one comes down to four basic questions:

1. How much storage do I want?
2. Do I want black or white?
3. Do I want Wi-Fi or 3G?
4. If I pick 3G, do I want GSM (AT&T) or CDMA (Verizon)?

Let’s take these questions in turn.

How Much iPad Storage Is Enough?

I bought a first-generation iPad the day they came out, and it’s seen heavy usage in my house. It was a base model with just 16 GB of capacity, and that’s really put a crimp on the media we could carry around with us. It was plenty for apps, but not enough for music or (especially) movies.

The iPad capacity decision really comes down to a single question: Do I want to store movies on this thing?

If you intend to carry around much video, get more than 16 GB capacity. 32 GB is enough for a few movies and 64 is enough for a few more. Most buyers pick the largest capacity point (no doubt they want to carry around enough to be entertained wherever they go) and a good number pick the smallest (they must not want to watch stored video). I split the difference and bought a 32 GB iPad 2 and it’s been plenty for my use, and I’m a fairly heavy air traveler. But apparently the rest of the world doesn’t agree, since 32 GB is by far the least-common size!

One reason I didn’t go for 64 GB is a new feature in iOS 4.3: AirTunes. It’s now possible to stream video and audio to the iPad and iPad 2 from a computer running iTunes. Since my desktop acts as an iTunes server at home and my laptop contains over 100 GB of music and video, I didn’t feel that I needed as much capacity as in earlier iOS versions. If I want to watch something at home, I can always stream it.

I also purchased the iPad Camera Connection Kit, which makes it possible to watch movies from an SD card. But it’s really finicky, and I’ve never actually done it in practice.

Black or White?

I don’t really care as much about the color decision. It’s up to personal taste, really.

• Black is more understated and traditional, and I feel that the black bezel “works better” when watching movies.
• White is new and different, drawing attention that this is an iPad 2. I felt that the white border was distracting when reading and watching movies, though.

I chose black.

Wi-Fi or 3G?

A 3G iPad is an amazing thing: Pull it out and use it anywhere, any time. It really transforms the use case of the iPad, making it a mobile companion for people on the go.

But many of us are always within range of Wi-Fi, whether it’s our home router, business access point, Starbucks or McDonald’s, or a MiFi. It’s not quite as seamless to use (you have to tell it to use this or that Wi-Fi network) but it’s faster and unlimited. It’s also $130 cheaper.

I picked Wi-Fi only, since I already carry three 3G devices (a Virgin Mobile MiFi, Cradlepoint router, and iPhone 4) and didn’t want another expensive radio. But I’m disappointed with the Wi-Fi range and sensitivity (it’s much worse than the MacBook Pro or any iPhone) and find that, because of a lack of always-on connectivity, I often turn back to the iPhone rather than using the iPad.

I recommend spending the extra money and getting a 3G radio, but which one?

GSM or CDMA?

This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s not so simple. Every Apple owner loves to hate AT&T, so going with Verizon for the iPad sounds great. But the Verizon CDMA model isn’t at all portable outside the United States, while the AT&T GSM model is unlocked and ready to use anywhere. This means the GSM iPad 2 is much more in demand and will likely hold its value better. Plus, AT&T’s network seems to work fine for most users I know.

On the other hand, Verizon’s data plans are somewhat cheaper than AT&T’s for many users. As CNN money reported, AT&T starts cheaper, but Verizon wins past 4 GB per month. This could really add up as time goes by!

Stephen’s Stance

I recommend getting the AT&T iPad 2 in either 16 or 64 GB capacity. Decide if you will want to take a lot of media with you and, if so, opt for the bigger iPad. It’s funny – my own choice was the exact opposite of this recommendation!

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2011. | Which iPad is the Best Choice?
This post was categorized as Apple, Ask a Pack Rat, Everything, Features, Personal, Terabyte home. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

iTunes 10 breaks third-party server compatibility. Again.

Do you use an “iTunes compatible” device like an Iomega ix4 or Drobo FS or Roku SoundBridge? Have you noticed that it no longer works since you updated to iTunes 10? That’s because Apple made a simple change to their Digital Audio Access Protocol (DAAP) that causes third-party devices to fail to connect correctly. Although software patches are already appearing, there is no guarantee that older devices like that Roku will ever be updated.

DAAP, Firefly, and iTunes Clients

Apple introduced “music sharing” over a network in version 4.0 of iTunes way back in 2003, and third-party devices have been trying to play along ever since. Digital Audio Access Protocol (DAAP) was based on http and xml and leverages zeroconf/Bonjour to discover and stream audio across a network. iTunes can act as both a server or client.

Although Apple only licensed the protocol to a select few client applications, DAAP was successfully reverse-engineered shortly after its debut and integrated into a number of third-party clients and servers. Apple has continually modified DAAP for almost a decade, adding MD5-based and proprietary authentication in versions 4.2 and 4.5, but this has not stopped third-party servers like the open-source Firefly/mt-daapd from serving as an iTunes server.

Apple was successful in preventing third-party clients from accessing music through iTunes, adding a client validation challenge to version 7.0 that has not yet been broken. This allowed them to limit client access to only those few third parties who paid for a license, including the Roku SoundBridge that I own.

No More Servers?

Did your "iTunes-compatible" home NAS suddenly stop serving music?

Since it was open source and capable of supporting iTunes, the Firefly Media Server (formerly called mt-daapd) has seen widespread use in “home media servers” like the Iomega ix4 and Drobo FS. Just about every home NAS that supports iTunes uses this software or a related fork, and just about every one stopped working with the release of iTunes 10.

As of version 10, when iTunes requests a list of songs, it requires the server to respond with a correct “mediakind” response. Previous versions apparently assumed type 1 (music) whenever this was missing, but iTunes 10 simply refuses to play, reporting odd error messages like “untitled playlist.” So Apple has broken iTunes compatibility. Again.

A patch is ready for some versions of mt-daapd, but a more important question is raised: Should commercial products rely on reverse-engineered protocols like DAAP? Much of the Apple ecosystem is reliant on reverse engineering, from iPod chargers to AFP to Time Machine. Many of the resulting “tricks” are commercialized in a wide variety of products from manufacturers small and large. Even IT titans like HP and EMC advertise Apple support based on reverse-engineered protocols!

Stephen’s Stance

Anyone want to buy a lightly-used Roku SoundBridge? It may work with iTunes for a while yet...

In my review of the Drobo FS, I questioned the wisdom of relying on “buggy and limited software” and discussed my use of “a real iTunes instance on my always-running iMac.” My experience with a Linksys NSLU2 running Firefly was never positive. Even my two Roku SoundBridge clients don’t work very well, and they’re licensed! I’m much happier with the performance of my AirPort Express, even though it would be nice if Apple would update the Remote app for the iPhone!

Many people complain about Apple’s “walled garden” approach, and I think they have a point when it comes to protocols like DAAP. By not allowing third parties to develop compatible hardware and software, they’ve forced everyone underground. Now that they’ve changed their implementation, all of these devices are “broken” in the eyes of users. Some, like the Roku, are out of date and might never be updated.

This is typical Apple. Out with the old and in with the new. They did the same with their own Apple TV hardware this month, stranding the few buyers it found without an update. Some may suggest that this minor change to iTunes is a conspiracy to push AirPlay, but I imagine it’s a simple case of upgrade-itis. Who cares about all that old junk when all this pretty new hardware and software is available?

We really can’t blame Apple for this. They never allowed the DAAP protocol to be used, and never promised that these reverse-engineered servers would work. In fact, I wonder why they even allowed “iTunes compatibility” to be promised without licensing. Perhaps some of the larger companies have Apple licenses, but I doubt it. At the end of the day, it is these vendors who are responsible for promising compatibility that they could not hope to deliver.

Note: The Roku SoundBridge still works fine as a client with iTunes 10. To clarify, I was saying that Apple could break this functionality in the future and Roku would be unlikely to fix it since they seem to have abandoned this product line.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2010. | iTunes 10 Breaks Non-Apple Streaming (Again)
This post was categorized as Apple, Computer History, Everything, Personal, Terabyte home. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

The series finale of Lost didn’t settle every question, but it did settle many of the long-running questions raised by fans. Although my live viewing was frustratingly complicated by failed transmission equipment at ABC affiliate, WEWS, I was able to watch the entire episode thanks to iTunes. So let’s settle the things that can be settled regarding Lost.

Yeah, this is a break from my normal topics. Feel free to skip this if you didn’t watch Lost. In fact, since there are major spoilers here, you probably ought to skip it unless you have seen the finale!

1. The island wasn’t purgatory – A very popular theory during the first few years of Lost was that they all really died in the crash of Oceanic flight 815 and the island was purgatory or even hell. The concept would be that they would suffer for their real-life sins and when they found redemption they would be able to move on. Although redemption was a major theme of the show, I think we can definitely say that they survived the plane crash and lived, suffered, and (some) died on the island.
2. LA X was purgatory – The entire season 6 alternate reality was, as Christian Shephard points out, constructed in the minds of the survivors and their friends as a “waiting room” until they “remembered” and decided to “move on.” Although we don’t know where they go after LA X, we do know that punishment and redemption played a big part while they were there – a textbook definition of purgatory. Apparently, LA X was a mash-up of each person’s own conception of himself, and what he deserved if the plane had never crashed.
3. Everyone dies, just not at the same time – No doubt, the producers must have been tempted to kill everyone off in the finale. But just as they chose to allow these people to survive the initial plane crash, they chose to let some live and others die. Of the main characters, Boone, Shannon, Charlie, Michael, Locke, Sun, Jin, Sayid, and Jack die and Sawyer, Kate, Claire, Hurley, Rose, and Bernard live (for now). Sawyer, Kate, and Claire seem to make it off the island in the Ajira plane, Hurley and Ben stay and rule the island for some time, and Rose and Bernard seem safe as well. Of course they all die eventually, but they don’t “get it” on screen.
4. Jacob was a jerk – The two thousand year regime of Jacob was cruel and violent, and the rules were his alone, not dictated by the island. Although he was on the side of good, Jacob was not a good person and the game he played with smokey was entirely unnecessary. He set everything in motion and spent two millenia trying to fix his mistake by manipulating others and delivering them to their deaths. Presumably, the rule of Hurley and Ben was far different.
5. Benjamin Linus wasn’t evil – Like so many literary characters, we spent the majority of five seasons trying to figure out which side Ben Linus was on. In the end, we see that although he was selfish and jealous, Ben had enough good inside to be redeemed. All it took was Hurley’s sincere invitation to bring it out.
6. Everyone has a chance at redemption – Ben Linus helped to set up a new positive island regime with Hurley, and he was able to “remember” and show up at the church (though he chose not to go in yet). Sayid also chose to redeem himself, sacrificing himself on the sub and choosing to help Shannon in LA X. Locke and Jack were never really evil, but were filled with the same self-hate as everyone else. In the Lost world, everyone has a shot at redemption.
7. There were ghosts on the island – That’s right, ghosts. Though Michael as much as told us this a few episodes back, many still wondered if this was a trick from Smokey or even Jacob. But the appearance of Christian Shephard at the church, his conversation with Jack, and the ultimate resolution of the series demonstrates beyond a shadow of doubt that there were remnant spirits of the dead on that island.
8. Juliet and Sawyer were meant for each other – As pathetic as it sounds, the Jack/Kate/Sawyer+Juliet love quadrangle was a major running storyline on Lost. The “remembering” scenes in the finale provide some final insight into this plot: Sawyer and Juliet spark each other’s memory, so they belong together. But the wake-up calls for Jack and Kate come from other sources entirely: Jack is sparked by his father’s coffin, and Kate by Claire’s giving birth to Aaron. Although they (finally) profess their love, Jack+Kate do not equal Sawyer+Juliet.
9. Nobody will have daddy issues with Jack – Sorry, David, you were a figment of Jack’s imagination. Nearly every character on Lost had some problem or another with his father or mother, but this was to become the primary mental block for Jack. Although he wished he could break the cycle with his own son, Jack ended it by never having children. Goodbye, daddy issues!
10. This was human drama not science fiction – The mysterious island kept us speculating and coming back for more for six seasons, but the finale answered one last question: What kind of show is this? In the end, we don’t know if the island was home to alien technology or a battle ground for warring gods and demons and we don’t care. Lost was always about people, and the finale rightly focused on their struggles and redemption.

So there you have it. The Lost finale answered some of the most important questions of the series but focused on the human element rather than the sci-fi mysteries. After watching the finale, I have to say it was satisfying in a way that Battlestar Galactica, for example, was not. The characters found redemption and the mysteries of the island remained, for the most part, intact. I call this a win.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2010. | 10 Mysteries The Lost Finale Definitively Settled
This post was categorized as Features, Personal. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

Uh, oh, the iPhone refuses to let you download a podcast over 20 MB, even with 3G!

Ever see that screen? You want to download a podcast from the iTunes Store on the iPhone, but you can’t. It’s over 20 MB, so it’s off limits. Surprise! There is a way to stream any podcast of any size to the iPhone, even over EDGE, with no hacking required!

Although Apple and the wireless providers limit downloading to 20 MB, they allow streaming files of any size. This simple feature has been included in the iPhone OS since the very beginning, but it’s not self-evident. In fact, although I’ve told friends exactly how to do it, many still have problems getting the hang of this trick.

How To Stream Any Podcast

Tap the TITLE to stream, not the download button!

Ok, here’s the secret trick:

1. Tap the title of the podcast, not the download button.
2. There is no step two.

That’s it! Seriously, there’s no secret, no hacking, no URLS or tricks. You just tap the title, wait a few seconds, and a QuickTime screen opens up with the podcast streaming over 3G or EDGE. This even works for video podcasts!

Gotchas

Streaming audio of Chicago Public Radio's "This American Life" over AT&T's slow EDGE network!

Although there really isn’t any trickery involved, some patience might be required. I do this all the time since I live in a part of the USA that has no AT&T 3G service. Here’s what I’ve learned:

1. You have to have patience and let the streaming start. It sometimes takes a minute or more before you hear the sweet sound of success.
2. You can not exit the QuickTIme streaming page and still listen. Tap the home button and the audio stops. Read an SMS and the audio stops. Get a battery warning and the audio stops. You get the picture.
3. QuickTime will buffer audio ahead, so it survives road trips through small middle-American wireless dead zones, but this isn’t saved anywhere. Exit and you lose the buffer.
4. You can scrub ahead to skip to the middle or end of a podcast, but it takes some serious patience to let the audio re-sync. And you lose the previous buffer when you do this.
5. This has been in every version of the iPhone OS I’ve tried, way back to day 1. It was more useful back then, too, since the limit used to be 10 MB!

Hopefully the new background audio framework in iPhone OS 4.0 makes this experience a little nicer.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2010. | How To Stream Any Size Podcast to an iPhone, Even Over 3G or EDGE!
This post was categorized as Apple, Personal. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

iPad iPod

The iPad iPod interface is all new - but where's cover flow?

Apple hadn’t said much about the iPod application in the iPad. But today’s release of a series of “guided tour” videos clears the air somewhat. The iPod app is neither a port of the small-screen app from the iPhone and iPod Touch nor of the OS X iTunes application. It sports a new look and feel that is a cross between the two, with a column listing media types to the left and a new “bookshelf” view of cover art to the right. Surprisingly, cover flow seems AWOL.

Selecting an album causes it to flip and grow in place, changing to a song list. This is a welcome new concept, since simply listing the tracks in the right column would have left much white space on the screen. Album art can be displayed full-screen, but I wonder just how good low-res images will look. I also wonder whether iTunes LP content will display in part or in full.

iPad AirTunes?

One comment in the guided tour voiceover really caught my attention, though. They mention three ways to listen to music: Use the built-in (mono) speaker, listen with wired or BlueTooth headphones, or “connect iPad to your home stereo system and play your music throughout the house.” Does this mean the iPad uses AirTunes to stream to an AirPort Express? Or that the iPhone Remote app is built in? Or do they mean connecting it through a wired or bluetooth adapter? I’m definitely hoping for direct AirTunes, since we very much enjoy that capability today at my house!

The Connected iPad

Yes, the iPad supports Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync

One area of great interest is the usability of the iPad in corporate and academic settings. Although Apple admitted (late) that the iPad supports Microsoft Exchange, there has been no mention of VPN support. Disclosure of calendar and contact support has been sparse, too, though one imagines it will be at least as full-featured as the iPhone.

It’s Mine!

I remain surprised that no multi-user features have yet appeared. Although iPhones tend to remain with a single person, the iPad just begs to be shared. Yet it appears that the apps are all single-user oriented. This is disappointing.

Consider the Mail app. Most people have an email account or two these days, yet the iPad has no obvious means of separating his and her (or their) mail accounts. Even a mail app-specific password would be nice, allowing one to share the device’s other features but reserve private mail access. Apple assumes that iPads will not be shared, but I’m sure my kids will have their peanut-buttery paws all over mine constantly!

Lots of Books!

It’s great to see Apple stocking the iBooks store with 30,000 free books from Project Gutenberg, and major existing book readers and stores (Amazon, Barnes & Noble) look to be supported. I’m especially looking forward to using Instapaper on the iPad, having fallen head over heels for that app recently.

Hardware Surprises?

The mute switch has become "screen rotation lock"

So far, the only post-announcement hardware surprise has been the fact that the switch that mutes the iPhone will be used instead to lock the orientation of iPad content. Although many speculated that a camera might be added before the ship date, it looks like this will not happen. Although all iPads sport a digital compass, only the 3G model includes GPS hardware.

Apple clarified that the iPad will support just about any BlueTooth keyboard or A2DP audio system, but it remains unclear if it can connect to a standard BlueTooth headset. The specs are also vague on whether the headphone jack supports inline microphones, as found on the iPhone.

Waiting For My Box of Mystery

That's a thick box for such a slim device!

iPad mysteries remain. I’m certainly looking forward to opening the UPS package Apple promises to deliver this Saturday!

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2010. | Is There Anything We Don’t Know About The iPad?
This post was categorized as Apple, Personal. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

Check it out! How To Keep Your Family Activities In Sync With A Shared Google Calendar

For the most up-to-date information, see my iPhone Exchange ActiveSync Guide!

This post is part of my series focused on integrating the iPhone with Microsoft Exchange using ActiveSync:

• iPhone OS 3.0 information:
  1. First Look: iPhone 3.0 And Exchange ActiveSync Integration
  2. How To Subscribe To Internet Calendars In iPhone OS 3.0
  3. How To Access LDAP Directories In iPhone OS 3.0
  4. iPhone 3.0 Exchange ActiveSync: Better But Not Perfect
• How To Set Up iPhone Exchange ActiveSync
1. A Few iPhone Exchange ActiveSync Gotchas
2. Can the iPhone Sync With Multiple Exchange Servers?

This is really a major advancement for the iPhone platform. With 3.0, you have many different calendar synchronization options and can mix and match, using all or none as you see fit:

How to Subscribe to a CalDAV Server (Like Google Calendar)

CalDAV is a powerful open protocol for calendar event synchronization. Lots of services support it, including Google’s free Calendar application, which is part of gmail and Google Apps. It’s a mash-up of WebDAV and ICS and supports two-way synchronization, notes, alerts, and such. iPhone OS 3.0 includes CalDAV as a supported protocol for over-the-air subscription and synchronization, so it can seamlessly synchronize your Google calendar with your phone calendar. Unlike ICS, however, you can create and edit CalDAV entries on the phone and the changes will quickly show up in your Google calendar.

iPhone 3.0 includes direct over-the-air use of CalDAV, ICS, and LDAP servers

Setting up CalDAV, though hidden, is pretty slick. Follow these steps:

1. On the iPhone, select “Settings”
2. Select “Mail, Contacts, Calendars”
3. Select”Add Account…” under “Accounts”
4. Select “Other” at the bottom
5. Select “Add CalDAV Account”
6. Enter “www.google.com” for “Server” – the iPhone will automatically identify this as a google CalDAV server!
7. Enter your gmail user name (e.g. “sfoskett”) or full google apps username and domain (e.g. “stephen@fosketts.net”) for “User”
8. Enter your password for “Password”
9. Optionally modify the description
10. Select “Next” and you’re done!

The iPhone recognizes Google Calendar – it’s smart enough to “know” that when you enter “www.google.com” as the CalDAV server it needs to correctly format the URL for Google. Other CalDAV server types might need some tweaking, which you can do in the Advanced tab of the CalDAV’s account in Settings.

All CalDAV calendars are bi-directional, meaning you can create or edit entries and they will (eventually) synchronize on both the phone and calendar server. In my tests, items modified on the iPhone showed up almost immediately, while changes made on Google’s calendar server took a few minutes to show up.

Two notes on CalDAV:

1. Although the documentation says it’s read-only, my Google Calendar absolutely, definitely, is read/write: I can create and modify appointments in the Google Calendar on the iPhone and it shows up online.
2. The “Sync events x weeks back” limit in settings does not apply to CalDAV or ICS! Large numbers of events will cause Calendar to be very, very slow. Beware!

Other popular apps also support CalDAV, including Apple Leopard Server’s iCal Server, Yahoo Calendar, and Zimbra.

I use this capability as a shared family activities calendar. What ideas do you have?

How to Subscribe to an iCalendar Server/.ICS feed

iCalendar is an older calendar subscription format, and many servers offer .ICS feeds of calendar entries. I particularly love TripIt‘s free travel itinerary service, which is available as an ICS feed. iPhone OS 3.0 also includes iCal as a supported protocol for over-the-air subscription, so you can view your ICS feeds right in your phone calendar. Note that iCalendar is read-only, like an RSS feed, so you cannot create or edit items on the phone.

Tap a link to a .ics file and the iPhone will ask to subscribe

The simplest way to subscribe to an ICS feed is simply to email the link to yourself. The iPhone interprets any URL ending in “.ics” as a iCalendar feed and asks if you want to subscribe. This ensures that the link is typed correctly.

Note: This no longer works in iOS 4.2! Now you have to add it in Settings. See Apple Breaks ICS Calendar Auto-Subscription In iOS 4.2.

If you need to manually set up an iCalendar feed, it’s very similar to CalDAV. Follow these steps:

1. Locate the calendar feed you want to use and copy it using OS 3.0′s new copy and paste features
   1. If you use TripIt, log into your account in the iPhone Safari browser
   2. Select the “iCal Feed” icon in your main page
   3. In the popup, select “Subscribe to calendar feed”
   4. Tap and hold the resulting URL (which begins with “webcal://”) until the “Copy” box appears
   5. Tap “Copy”
2. Go back to the hope screen and select “Settings”
3. Select “Mail, Contacts, Calendars”
4. Select”Add Account…” under “Accounts”
5. Select “Other” at the bottom
6. Select “Add Subscribed Calendar”
7. Select the “Server” box and tap “Paste”
8. Select “Next”
9. Optionally modify the description

Updates to the iCalendar feed will now show up in your calendar. These are read only, of course, but it’s awfully nice to be able to subscribe to a TripIt or Dopplr feed or the Red Sox schedule on your phone!

One more time: The “Sync events x weeks back” limit in settings does not apply to CalDAV or ICS! Large numbers of events will cause Calendar to be very, very slow. Beware!

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2009. | How To Subscribe To Internet Calendars In iPhone OS 3.0
This post was categorized as Apple, Personal. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

Iomega has been a staple of the desktop computing environment for decades, but the company’s products have never been quite at home in even small corporate data centers. That changes today with the introduction of the iSCSI StorCenter Pro ix4-200r. As of now, EMC’s SOHO storage subsidiary is a serious challenger in the small business and entry-level VMware ESX storage market.

It might look like the existing NAS 200rL, but the ix4-200r sports upgraded hardware and a new rev of EMC’s LifeLine storage software. This unit packs a serious punch, boasting full iSCSI target support for servers running Windows or Linux (or anything else with an iSCSI initiator) in addition to NFS, SMB, media streaming, print services, and just about every other protocol.

Although both Iomega and VMware are under the EMC corporate umbrella, it was a surprise to find that the ix4-200r is certified compatible with ESX using both iSCSI and NFS right out of the gate. This is the only inexpensive storage system to wear a VMware badge, and this alone will likely make it a fixture in small offices and VMware labs. The desktop StorCenter ix4-100 and StorCenter ix2 are already widely used in these environments even without iSCSI, after all. The ix4-200r provides a complete SAN-in-a-box, supporting multiple NAS and iSCSI shares with dynamic allocation of the internal RAID-5 protected storage.

Although aimed at the office, the ix4-200r retains the vast set of LifeLine capability we’ve seen in Iomega’s other offerings. This includes media streaming for UPnP (Twonky) and iTunes (Firefly), remote access, Active Directory support, and print services. The new unit even packs the more unusual Axis video surveillance capture capability. It sports two USB ports on the back and one on the front for expansion, data import, backup, or printers as well. Probably the best software feature is EMC’s Retrospect backup client, which was recently updated on the Mac platform.

The ix4-200r starts at just $1,799 (list) for 2 TB, and I expect resellers to dip well below that number. For comparison, Amazon currently sells the smaller non-iSCSI desktop 2 TB ix4-100 for $675 and the 1 TB ix2 for $268 and I’ve seen each for much less. I expect a street price of $1600 for the 2 TB rackmount unit – competing products from Buffalo and Netgear are priced and marked down similarly. The 4 TB model is priced $1,000 higher, perhaps unrealistically high given that the only difference is the use of 1 TB hard drive units instead of the 2 TB’s 500 GB drives. For comparison, Drobo just introduced their limited single-server 8-bay iSCSI DroboPro at $1,750 configured with four 500 GB drives. But none of these alternatives boast a spot on the ESX compatibility list, and I suspect this may be a deciding factor for many. Note that you can’t buy less than four hard drives in an ix4-200r, though the drives are easy to replace.

Iomega was kind enough to give me a preview of the ix4-200r at their offices, and I came away impressed by the new array and the company in general. They have a solid vision of the needs of the small office and are hard at work on products to meet them. Although the iSCSI support is not coming to the company’s other LifeLine-powered systems (the ix2, ix4-100, and Home Media) at this point, I would not be at all surprised to see it become a staple in future networked storage systems. A large gap remains below the EMC CLARiiON range, so I suspect that larger Iomega systems are on the way as well. As a potential buyer, I’d like to see Windows logo qualification, and Hyper-V support would be super as well. And as a Mac user, I’d love to see Time Machine support and for Iomega follow Drobo by offering a free iSCSI initiator – a guy can dream, right?

Updates and clarifications:

• Iomega has added the StorCenter Pro ix4-200r to their web site alongside the non-LifeLine StorCenterPro 200rL
• The ix4-200r will not be released until April 22, 2009
• The new rackmount ix4-200r is listed at $1799.99 for 2 TB and $2799.99 for 4 TB. I don’t expect to see either sell for less than a few hundred off those list prices
• The ix4-200r has been listed in the VMware ESX compatibility guide for a few days now for both iSCSI and NFS connectivity – I’m surprised no one noticed!
• Although it’s not mentioned in the press release, Iomega tells me that the StorCenter Pro ix4-200r does still support the BlueTooth file exchange found on its little brothers

More coverage:

• EMC’s StorageZilla posted his impressions as well: Iomega adds iSCSI, threatens war on us all
• Carlo Costanzo is excited to use this in VMware environments: EMC’s Low Cost SAN Starter for VMware (Iomega)
• Chris Mellor gives it a UK spin in The Register: Iomega opens sub-£2k box of storage tricks
• Duncan Epping is also excited about Home Lab Storage

Note: Some of these links include affiliate codes that help pay for this blog. For example, buying an Amazon Kindle with this link sends a few bucks my way! But I don't write this blog to make money, and am happy to link to sites and stores that don't pay anything. I like Amazon and buy tons from them, but you're free to buy whatever and wherever you want.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2009. | Iomega Grows Up and Moves Out of the House
This post was categorized as Enterprise storage, Terabyte home, Virtual Storage. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.

The iPhone doesn't support more than one Exchange/ActiveSync pairing

One of the major advances introduced in iPhone software version 2.0 was the ability to sync over-the-air to Microsoft Exchange servers using Microsoft’s ActiveSync protocol. This was introduced to much fanfare with the iPhone 3G and is available on older updated iPhone and iPod Touch units, too. Google and NuevaSync also offer over-the-air calendar and contact syncing for the iPhone using ActiveSync.

All of these synchronization options seem like an embarrassment of riches for iPhone users. But, like so many things in life, they’re too good to be true. iPhone OS 2 and 3 can’t sync to more than one Exchange/ActiveSync server at a time! Or, at least, not in the way you’d like.

Note: iPhone OS 4.0 will allow syncing to multiple Exchange ActiveSync accounts! See How To Set Up Multiple Exchange ActiveSync Accounts in iPhone iOS 4.

For the most up-to-date information, see my iPhone Exchange ActiveSync Guide!

This post is part of my series focused on integrating the iPhone with Microsoft Exchange using ActiveSync:

• iPhone OS 3.0 information:
  1. First Look: iPhone 3.0 And Exchange ActiveSync Integration
  2. How To Subscribe To Internet Calendars In iPhone OS 3.0
  3. How To Access LDAP Directories In iPhone OS 3.0
  4. iPhone 3.0 Exchange ActiveSync: Better But Not Perfect
• How To Set Up iPhone Exchange ActiveSync
1. A Few iPhone Exchange ActiveSync Gotchas
2. Can the iPhone Sync With Multiple Exchange Servers?

The Connected iPhone

Let’s back up a minute and talk about how the iPhone integrates with mail, contact, and calendar servers. There are essentially two synchronization engines at work here:

• Like all iPods, iTunes can synchronize your contacts, calendars, and mail account information (though not the mail messages themselves) over a USB connection to the iPhone and iPod Touch. This requires a full copy of Outlook 2003 or later on Windows but works with the built-in address book and iCal calendar on Mac OS X.
• The iPhone can also synchronize some or all components of email, contacts, calendars, and bookmarks using a variety of over-the-air protocols.

Note that when you configure over-the-air sync, you must disable USB sync, and vice versa.

iPhone Email Sync

Configured mail accounts can synchronize email messages in one of six ways:

1. Periodically pulling message content down using the POP protocol – this is what most older ISPs and mail accounts use
2. Periodically pulling message content down using the more advanced IMAP protocol – this is what newer mail accounts, including Gmail, AOL, and Yahoo use
3. Having mail pushed to the phone using a weird combination of hidden SMS and IMAP – this is what Yahoo push mail uses
4. Having mail pushed to the phone using a proprietary notification system of XMPP (Jabber) and IMAP – this is what Apple’s MobileMe push mail uses
5. Pulling or receiving push messages using Microsoft’s ActiveSync technology – this is what Exchange servers, NuevaSync, Kerio, Zimbra, and Google’s over-the-air calendar and contact (but not email) sync use
6. The iPhone’s software seems to support IMAP Idle, which is a realtime message push technology supported by Gmail and some advanced mail systems, but the phone will not use it unless the mail application is actually open on the phone

The iPhone does not support P-IMAP, BlackBerry, or other over-the-air protocols at this point.

The iPhone can sync email messages to any number of IMAP or POP accounts without a problem, but it can only sync to a single ActiveSync server at once. So you can set up Gmail over IMAP, Yahoo over SMS/IMAP, your local provider over POP, a Gmail Apps account over IMAP, etc at the same time as your work Exchange server without a problem. But you cannot set up more than one Exchange server using ActiveSync.

iPhone Calendar and Contact Sync

Calendar and contact information can only be synced in one of (perhaps) three ways:

1. Over a physical USB connection to iTunes (as in the original iPhone 1.0) to Outlook or OS X
2. Using some unknown protocol that MobileMe uses – can anyone identify this?
3. Using ActiveSync to an Exchange Outlook Web Access (OWA) server

Yes, that’s really it. Every over-the-air calendar-and-contact sync system (other than perhaps MobileMe) uses the ActiveSync protocol, including Microsoft Exchange, NuevaSync, Zimbra, and Google’s service.

Now the punch line: The iPhone can only sync to a single ActiveSync server at once. Read that again. Now consider what that means.

So no matter how cool a service is (Google sync, Zimbra), you cannot use it for over-the-air sync if you are also connected to an Exchange server. So even though the iPhone explicitly supports multiple calendars, you can’t sync them with multiple ActiveSync systems. So I guess the iPhone’s calendar system is even more disappointing than I thought!

Pick One ActiveSync Service

The upshot is this: iPhone users much pick one (and only one) ActiveSync service.

• Need to use the iPhone for work? You’ll probably have to use your work Exchange ActiveSync server, and can forget about (usefully) subscribing to MobileMe or using Google sync. Instead, try to sync everything else into Exchange in other ways (like Google’s Desktop app) and then let Exchange handle the iPhone sync.
• A dedicated Mac head? Subscribe to MobileMe and get all of your data there, to be sent to the iPhone.
• None of the above? Google’s new Sync service looks great!

The Big Mystery

There are many mysteries lurking here, but one is really perplexing to me. The iPhone seems to maintain its own set of contacts in addition to any ActiveSync contact store. Although it doesn’t obviously have multiple contacts pools, it must maintain them internally. But you can see that it does in a simple way:

1. Set up an ActiveSync server (like Exchange)
2. Set up an IMAP email account (like Gmail)
3. Add a unique contact on the phone (call him “Steve Jobs”)
4. Add a unique contact in Exchange (call him “Bill Gates”)
5. Add a unique contact in Gmail (call him “Sergey Brin”)
6. Now turn on and off the accounts one at a time

Notice that turning off the Gmail account will, within a few minutes, cause your “Sergey Brin” contact to disappear! Turn it back on and Sergie is back. Now do the same for Exchange and Bill Gates. All the while, your “Steve Jobs” contact should stay put. And this all happens in a single contact list! If you assigned one of these to a “favorite”, their name will be replaced by their number when you remove their account.

So the is iPhone somehow syncing contacts over IMAP? Or does it use some other Google-specific protocol? And how does MobileMe’s contact sync work? Time will tell!

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2009. | Can the iPhone Sync With Multiple Exchange Servers?
This post was categorized as Apple. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.