I upgraded my iPod over the weekend and discovered this breathalyzer attachment while looking for accessories. Definitely the perfect stocking stuffer for your raging alcoholic, iPod sporting friend or family member.
The new hotness is great, however I ran into an issue - apparently consistent with previous iPod nanos/minis that I had never encountered. That issue is with variable bit rate mp3s, specifically LAME encoded VBR mp3s - the iPod nano won’t play them. Allofmp3.com fans, take notice.
The iPod nanos can now claim 24 hours of battery life, up from 14. Apple accomplishes this with an Apple-branded ARM processor which is severly underclocked to save on power. This is fine and dandy until you run into a VBR mp3 not encoded with iTunes. The theoretical result would be the iPod processor spiking when the bit rate spikes on the mp3, making the iPod playback sluggish if not crashing the system.
I’ve been ripping my music into VBR with iTunes since that feature was available - but admittedly, not all of my music comes from CD rips and the iTunes store.
I was just listening to Tom Waits - God’s Away On Business