iPodNN reports that Marware has begun shipping the USB Travel Dock made specifically for the second-generation 2G iPod shuffle. Think of it as the smaller equivalent of the behemoth dock that we posted about earlier.

  

The dock takes advantage of the size of the shuffle and comes in the shape of USB dongle. It has a rubberized bottom so you don't have to worry about scuffing both the dock and whatever expensive surface you happen to put it on. The USB Travel Dock can plug into either a laptop or a desktop system without the added hassle of a cord.

The dock also provides data transfer speeds of up to 480 Mbps. While a player is in the dock, it can charge and sync simultaneously without blocking any of the nearby ports. A blue LED light lets users know the dock's power status. The USB Travel Dock is available starting today at US$ 20 a pop.

Apple has recently unleashed an iTunes repair tool for Vista users. The fix basically repairs permissions for important files required by iTunes to play your iTunes Store purchases.

Apple further mentioned that iTunes 7.0.2 may work with Vista but they are already preparing to address a number of iTunes compatibility issue in the next release of the software. Here are the known compatibility issues with iTunes 7.0.2 and earlier versions:

• iTunes Store purchases may not play when upgrading to Windows Vista from Windows 2000 or XP.
• iPod models with the "Enable Disk Use" option turned off may be unable to update or restore iPod software, and make changes to iPod settings.
• iPod models configured to Auto Sync and have the "Enable Disk Use" option turned off may require being ejected and reconnected to resync.
• Ejecting an iPod from the Windows System Tray using the "Safely Remove Hardware" feature may corrupt your iPod. To always safely eject an iPod, choose Eject iPod from the Controls menu within iTunes.
• Cover Flow animation may be slower than expected.
• Contacts and calendars will not sync with iPod.

If you want to get the iTunes repair tool or if you wanna know more about it, click on our read link below which will take you to Apple's official website.

Homebrew developer for the PSP, winnydows, has released an updated version of his video converter application XviD4PSP. Let's say that you just got a PSP and this app intrigues you but you don't know what in the world it does, we'll hook you up with some info.

Basically, this is a program that converts videos for your PSP, iPod and PC. For you to maximize this app, you should have Windows Vista or Windows XP SP2 intalled, and Microsoft Framework 3.0 ffdshow build by clsid. To avoid redundancy, you could always refer to our earlier coverage of this app or to winnydows' website which you can access via the link below. With all that said, here is the lengthy changelog for version 4.046.

Changelog:

• For compatibility with non standard windows themes all text dialogs forced set to black an white.
• In help menu changed links to home page and support, added links to Donate and Check updates.
• In Corrector form added more input framrates - 15.000, 24.000, 30.000.
• Decoder selection now sticky.
• Files for formats MP4 PSP 2.80 and iPod with framerate 23.976 now converted to 24.000 - it fix sync lost on PSP and iPod.
• Files for iPod with framerate 23.976 now converted to 24.000, not to 29.970.
• Now if framerate changed not very much used more fast and quality convertion mode - Assume. Else used ConvertFPS.
• Fixed manual D2V import on systems with Windows Vista.
• Added check for InputPath = OutputPath.
• To menu settings added links for ffdshow settings - Video decoder configuration, Audio decoder configuration, VFW configuration.
• Added AVS script checker. No more messages "Unsupported format: [DIB]". Now script error will be added to log.
• Now if you don`t have selected codec installed, problem will be found in log and will recomend solution.
• In main installer added Framwork installation check.
• In main installer added few AviSynth versions.
• Now XviD not used for decoding YV12 any more and may be removed from system. For decoding YV12 now used Helux YUV.
• XviD removed from main installer.
• Helux YUV added to main installer.
• Mencoder updated to 21682.
• Updated patches for Athlon and Pentium III.
• Now for AVI and DIVX files AVISource default decoder. It fix gray flicks.
• Now for all files anilized Delay information. It fix lost sync after encoding files with internal Delay set.
• Now files decoded over directshow without framerate information. May fix sync lost on exotic files.
• To Settings form added option "Fix gray flicks" - let fix gray flicks with DirectShow decoding. Option trim 20 first frames.
• Maximum bitrate for PMP formats enhanced to 256.
• x264 updated to 614.

Download: [XviD4PSP version 4.046]

If only it were this easy to erase every wrong thing you did and restore your life back to the way it was... Too bad the Reset Utility is only for the iPod shuffle. You'd have loved it more.

Regardless of what it cannot do, the iPod shuffle Reset Utility is very useful as it can fix a lot of problems you've been having with your player. The Reset Utility's main function is to restore the original iPod shuffle. This translates to erasing all music and data on the iPod and then reinstalling software v1.1.4. Take note though that this only works for First Gen 1 GB and 512 MB iPod shuffle.

Here are some other problems that the iPod shuffle Reset Utility can fix:

• Even after pressing the play button while the shuffle's switched on, you can neither sync music from iTunes nor simply play music. Pressing play will only cause the green and amber LEDs to light up for a few seconds.
• Although the iPod shuffle appears as a "Removable Disk" on a Windows PC, the shuffle volume doesn't mount correctly and is listed under "Disk Drives" as "Apple iPod USB Device" in the Device Manager.
• The iPod shuffle doesn't appear or mount in the Finder on Macs; it's only recognized in Apple System Profiler under Hardware -> USB.
• The unit may not be recognized when you're attempting to restore it; worse, the restore may fail completely. Note that it might take three restore attempts and several minutes before the iPod shuffle gets recognized.

Keep in mind these reminders though before and while you're using the Reset Utility:

• An Admin user password for your computer is required to use the utility.
• The Reset Utility restores your unit with the v1.1.4 software and will not restore the unit for a second time once it has been reset.
• If the Reset Utility doesn't work, then your unit may need service from official Apple centers.

Here's what you need to do to install the iPod shuffle Reset Utility:

1. Open the iPodshuffleResetUtility.pkg (Mac) or the iPodshuffleResetUtilitySetup.exe (Windows) file.
2. Follow the onscreen instructions.
3. Once installation is complete, the iPod shuffle Reset Utility will be available on a Mac at /Applications/Utilities/iPod shuffle Reset Utility or on Windows by choosing Start > Programs > iPod > iPod shuffle Reset Utility.

Using the Reset Utility:

1. Quit all running applications on your computer.
2. Open the iPod shuffle Reset Utility.
3. Connect iPod shuffle to a USB port on your computer. Do not connect iPod shuffle to a USB port on your keyboard or other non-powered USB hub.
4. Click the Restore button. If prompted, enter an Admin user name and password.
5. The restore process will start.
6. When it is complete, quit iPod shuffle Reset Utility and open iTunes to sync music to your iPod shuffle.

System requirements:

• Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later
• Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows 2000 with Service Pack 4

Download: [iPod shuffle Reset Utility for Windows]
Download: [iPod shuffle Reset Utility for Mac]

For starters, Mac's new Office will be redesigned from the Windows version to do away with the ribbon system. That, and they're going to be rebuilding the Windows version to do it justice on the Mac.

According to APC Magazine, the Mac version of Microsoft's Office Suite will be made to work more in sync with the OS, with designers rebuilding the program as a Universal-Binary app. At the same time, they're adding in the XML file format for this version of Mac Office to be more compatible with Windows users. They're already at the halfway point for rewriting the code into Apple's XCode, and while the transition isn't over, it's a big relief for the developers to hit the halfway mark.

Regarding the Ribbon redesign for Office, Mary Starman of Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit (MacBU) says that the redesign for the Mac will include a reworking of the Ribbon system implemented in the Windows version. As she mentions to APC, the redesign will not be exactly that of Office 2007.

"Apple has got their own very specific set of user interface guidelines and we try to first and foremost to follow those guidelines. If we can innovate on top of that and do some interesting things to make sure that the interface is really discoverable for the Mac user, then weÂ?ll look at doing that. We can get some ideas (from the ribbon) but it still has to fit within AppleÂ?s UI guideline, thatÂ?s what a Mac user wants to see."

They'll be doing a lot of testing to ensure the product will be in tip-top shape, but they're optimistic that they'll get the job done well. Let's hope Microsoft's Mac developers can please everyone with their Office redesign.

Last week, we were all speculating about what kind of rabbit Steve Jobs would pull out of his hat during the recent Showtime conference. We thought it would be iPhone, half smartphone, half media player. But no. As it turned out, they gave us a sneak peek of their iTV.

But then, with the rolling out of the new iTunes 7, the folks over at MacShrine were looking over some of its resource files. And upon connecting their "iPhone" (Apple & Motorola's joint phone: ROKR, RAZR, and SLVR) an error message would pop-up:

"Some of the games in your iTunes library were not copied to the mobile phone [name] because you are not authorized to play them on this computer" and "iTunes cannot sync photos to the mobile phone [name] because your iPhoto Library needs updating. Open iPhoto to update your iPhoto Library."

Currently, the ROKR, RAZR, and SLVR are the closest stuff that Apple has to an "iPhone". But then, why would iTunes report such an error? It's as if the iTunes is looking for something (a feature maybe?) that the Motorola doesn't have. Maybe this hints at what they will come out with in the future? And what other thing that would be, except a possible iPhone?

Here comes yet another iPod software bundle that will further enhance your iPod's capabilities. Now, you can view files and present slideshows or other media while listening to music.

Released by Zapptek, this new iPod software bundle includes iPresent, which converts PowerPoint, Keynote, and PDF presentation into slideshows that are synched with an iPod. Meanwhile, with the iSpeak It, you can now convert any document or RSS feed into an MP3/AAC track in iTunes using the Mac's built-in text-to-speech capacities. The iPDA software then enables you to sync PIM data such as Word, RTF, or text documents, as well as Web content (including RSS feeds, weather forecasts, and news headlines.

This pretty bundle could all be yours for just $45.

At $69, Apple's Bluetooth Mighty Mouse is not exactly the cheapest electronic rodent on the block. But if you're willing to open it up to make it more battery-efficient, this reduced power hack may be for you.

Ram, the mouse hacker, was playing with his Mighty Mouse when he noticed its LED came on and off on the bottom of the mouse. When the mouse was not in sync with a Mac, this LED would blink. Once sync'ed, the LED would go out if the mouse is in use. When the mouse is stationary, the LED would go on an stay on. He measured the power usage of the mouse and was proven right: The mouse seems to use less power when in use and the LED is off than when it's resting and the LED is on. Thinking like a hacker, RAM proceeded to devise a way to double battery life "depending on your mouse usage behavior."

He dismantled his Mighty Mouse to remove the pesky power-draining LED. "In the end the hack still saves some power but no where as near as what I was expecting," he says. It's your mouse (make sure it's yours) and if you want to wreck it turn it into an energy miser, well, consider this your warning. Proceed at your own risk! Click here for the how-to.

This program is billed on its website as being, "made by Mac users for Mac users." Considering the fact that at one time there was no easy method, other than emulation maybe, that would allow a Mac user to sync and transfer files between his machine and his Windows Mobile device, any Mac user who finds him or herself in the unfortunate situation of being stuck using a Windows Mobile portable device will find this piece of software indispensable.

Given high ratings by critics, The Missing Sync will make your Mac and Pocket PC play nice together. Along with the basic functions like transferring files between your Mac and your mobile, The Missing Sync lets you use a variety of different software from desktop productivity to mirrored tasks and events in iCal and Entourage. Whenever manufacturers (like Microsoft and Apple) neglect to provide solutions that bridge the final gap and fill a consumer want or need, someone else inevitably will do so, and usually rather quickly too.

Mark Space, the company that is selling The Missing Sync, is a company that specializes in Mac synchronization products. Specifically, Mark Space provides Mac synchronization software for the Sony PSP, Windows Mobile devices and Palm Operating System devices, along with a variety of small hip top smartphones as well.

iTunes, Apple's digital media player application, has been updated to v6.0.5. This latest version includes the following features:

• Allows previewing, buying, and downloading music videos, short films, and hit TV programs on the iTunes Music Store, and sync music and purchased videos with iPod to enjoy on the go.
• Allows synching  Nike + iPod workout data to nikeplus.com for progress tracking, setting training goals, challenging others, and much more. Visit the Nike Sport Music area on the iTunes Music Store to download workout mixes, Athlete Inspiration playlists, Nike podcasts, and more.

iTunes v6.0.5 requires

• Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later
• Mac OS X version 10.4.2 or later is recommended
• Windows 2000 or XP

Download: [iTunes v6.0.5 for Windows]
Download: [iTunes v6.0.5 for Mac]