Before iOS 5, I had no problems connecting my iPod Touch 3rd Gen or iPad 1 and 2 to my computer. Since iTunes 10.5, it sometimes didn't recognize my pair of iPads sometimes, they did't load in Windows 7, or a combination of both.

iTunes Wifi sync only gives you 5GB of storage, so isn't a good sync solution if you have lots of music or video. I looked through one of Apple's support pages and found that this didn't solve the problem. The second support page solution also led to a dead end.

If you have tried Apple's support pages and iTunes still doesn't recognize your device, the solution is to run a registry cleaner like CCleaner.

Smartphone users can now listen to free music through Grooveshark on their device thanks to the launch of a new mobile web app from the music streaming service.

Grooveshark’s native apps were removed from both the Apple App Store and Android Market last year due to record label complaints. However, Grooveshark has now launched an HTML5-based music streaming service – effectively bypassing the app store owners since approval is not needed.

The Grooveshark web app can be accessed through many mobile web browsers, supporting iOS, Android, BlackBerry and HP devices. To use the service, simply visit html5.grooveshark.com from your mobile and start listening.

You can use the Grooveshark web app to search for and listen to a particular song or artist, or hear playlists generated by genre through the Stations section. The Popular tab lists the most searched-for tracks of the moment. The Grooveshark web app has a compact and easy-to-operate user interface, although it lacks the range of features and functionality that the short-lived native Grooveshark app had.

2011 has been another great year for iOS apps. Despite the fact that Apple’s mobile platform fell behind Android in overall popularity this year, innovation in iOS development is better than ever.

The Apple operating system is still where cutting edge applications are born, and this year’s launch of iOS 5 and the iPhone 4S device have fueled app developer’s imaginations even more. Here’s our pick of the best iPhone and iPad apps of 2011, based on what impressed us out of the hundreds of new apps we tested this year.

Garageband

For me, Garageband is the most accomplished iOS app of all time. It allows you to create impressive musical compositions without any technical know-how, through an interface that’s effortless to navigate. The software's Smart Instruments, including piano, bass, guitar and drums, serve to help you create music that sounds like it's been played by a pro.

First released alongside the iPad 2 in March as one of the flagship apps for the tablet, this music-making app has since found its way onto the iPhone, too.

Price: $4.99

iMovie

As with Garageband, iMovie is another piece of Mac software that makes the transition from desktop to handheld really well. The app makes smart use of the multi-touch gestures to allow you to add videos, photos, music and sound effects, and piece them together. You can choose to add footage from your camera roll, or capture video directly through iMovie. The results can then be shared via YouTube.

Price: $4.99

Google Music is more than just a standalone music player for Android devices. It's also a personal streaming service for users. Currently only available in the United States, Google Music could prove very popular in other markets.

Google Music's support for 20,000 tracks is excellent. Defining storage by track rather than disk space is great, but how does you get your library into Google Music's cloud storage?

If you've always wanted to learn the piano but don't want to invest in a real keyboard, you can always turn your PC keyboard into a Piano! It's not ideal, but also not a bad way of playing simple melodies on your PC. MidiPiano is the neatest Windows app I've found for this.

MidiPiano has two windows, the keyboard with controls, and a piano roll into which you can upload midi files. When you record yourself playing, it's recorded here too, in midi format.

How to use MidiPiano

I've played a real piano a couple of times, and using a qwerty keyboard is a bit awkward in comparison! The layout runs the white keys along four rows: starting at the bottom with the Z to M keys, then continuing with A to L, Q to P and then 1 to 0.

The cursor keys, and numpad also let you run further up the keyboard, but it's much more comfortable sticking to the four first rows. Black keys can be found by using Ctrl plus any other key. Holding shift allows you to play one note with the octave above at the same time. The record feature helpfully starts when you play your first note, and the midi file will finish with your last.

MidiPiano is free, and doesn't require installation. Check out my review and download MidiPiano here.

Want to record voice calls in Skype? Install PrettyMay for Skype and you’ll be able to record and save all of your Skype calls very easily.

PrettyMay Call Center is a stand-alone Skype audio recorder for Windows. To use it, you need to install Skype on your PC then download PrettyMay and install it. The call recording software is available as a 30-day trial, with a 30-minute per call recording limit.

Make a call with Skype

When you launch PrettyMay it will automatically load Skype, so you're instantly ready to record your calls and conversations. Place your call in Skype by clicking on the name of a contact or calling their number with the dialer.

If you want to convert audio or video files for different devices without any fuss, these two apps make the process as painless as I can imagine:

Media Converter

A personal favorite, Media Converter is just an empty window into which you drag the files you want to convert. There's a list of conversion profiles to choose from, naming most of the devices you're likely to be converting for, so there's no need for any technical knowledge. I especially like that the deeper settings are available in the app and even more device profiles can be easily downloaded to it from the developer's website. Media Converter is undemanding and beaitifully easy to use.

Smart Converter

Really popular on the Mac App Store, Smart Converter is possibly even easier to use than Media Converter. It's single paned drag and drop interface has a row of popular device buttons, and you just have to click on the one you want to get a video converted for it. It really is conversion for absolute beginners! The drawback when compared to Media Converter is that there isn't anything more complex in the background, so if you do want to customize the settings.. we you can't so try not to!

These are the best free simple video converters I've used on Macs: have you found anything better?

With the majority of your music stored on your computer nowadays, it's easy to see how your music library can quickly become a disorganized mess. Songs might not have the right title or artist information, or you might even have duplicates. How do you find the tracks you want, when you want to find them? That's where Muso comes in!

Muso is an organizational tool for your digital music collection. It's not a music player, nor is it a playlist manager. Instead, think of it as an alternative user interface to manage the music on your PC.

Start by importing your music into Muso. You can do this by either selecting individual folders or files on your hard drive or an actual music player's library. Muso currently supports iTunes, Winamp and Logitech Squeezebox devices, from which it can both import and play music. You can browse your music collection on Muso by complete albums or individual songs, as well as filter your music by artist, year and rating.

What makes Muso really stand out is its advanced tagging system, which lets users describe their songs and albums as they choose, including by mood. If you're interested in more than just sorting and browsing through your music collection, Muso also has detailed information about the artists, plus album art that's been downloaded from Last.fm, Wikipedia and Amazon.

Muso is offered free as a 30 day trial, after which users must pay purchase either an annual or unlimited license to continue using the software. If you're looking for a new way to keep track of all of the music in your library, Muso just might be the tool you've been searching for!

How do you organize your digital music collection? If you use a program, which one is it and how does it help you most?

Picture a scenario where you're completely stressed out. You've a deadline fast approaching, but don't have time to create a playlist to motivate you to the end. If none of your current songs are cutting it, take a look at Stereomood.

Read more »

Spotify, the music streaming service, has been the talk of Europe for a while now, but it wasn't until a few months ago that it became available to U.S. users. With Pandora being a longtime favorite among Americans, Spotify had some serious competition right from the get-go.

So how do the two music streaming services match up? Is one a better bet when it comes to having a sleek interface, the best music inventory, social integration and even free or paid features? We've put both apps to the test, and the results are in!

You can have a surprisng amount of fun with Skype voice changers. If you like to call your girlfriend pretending to be Barry White or want to call your boss disguised as Darth Vader, here are a few fun apps for Windows and Mac that show you how to change your voice in Skype:

Skype Voice Changer (Windows)

This simple and free voice changer for Skype. Simply install Skype Voice Changer on your PC, open up Skype and agree to the permission request. You'll then be presented with an effects panel that lets you alter your voice. There are a range of presets including Childish, Tremolo and Pitch Down and you can tweak each of them using the sliders.

MorphVOX Pro Voice Changer (Windows)

MorphVOX Pro Voice Changer has some interesting preset voices, including a demon, robot, woman, kid and even a dog! You can also apply background noises to your voice as you're talking, such as a shopping mall or a traffic jam (perfect for a call to your boss saying you'll be late for work). Another great thing about MorphVOX Pro is the 'Voice effects' section, where you can apply various filters to your dulcet tones, including nasal, growl, underwater and monotone. All of the presets can be customized using the 'Tweak Voice' control panel. MorphVOX Voice Changer costs $39.95, although you can try it free for 30 days. (More below the fold...)

While the stock music player in Android OS is okay for casual listeners, audiophiles will always want more options and customization when it comes to their music libraries.  Here are my top five Android Music Apps that offer more features and functionality, like video playback:

doubleTwist is among the most popular music players for new Android users.  Expanded beyond just audio, it also supports radio and video.  By using the free doubleTwist app through PC or Mac, the program can find all the music on your system for easy importing through wired or wireless connections through doubleTwist AirSync.  The app also supports music and video podcasts allowing for even more diverse content.

Winamp for Android is also another recognizable name when it comes to music players.  Along side of having many of the same options as the desktop version, the ability to sync wired or wireless is an added bonus for those who want to unify their mobile and home libraries.  Like its desktop brethren, Winamp for Android supports iTunes library and playlist importing and access to over 45,000 SHOUTcast internet radio stations.  Essentially Winamp for Android is a successful port.

I was hooked on Spotify from the very first day I tried it and if you're desperate to get your hands on a Spotify invite in the U.S. then you can get one right now by signing-up here for Klout. You can sign-in instantly with a Facebook or Twitter account and instantly receive your free invite.

Step 1: Sign-in with your Facebook and/or Twitter account and then enter your Zip Code:

Step 2: Copy the invite code and don't forget to send the link at the bottom of the page to 5 other friends and you'll get a free one month trial of Spotify Premium.

Read more »

Almost two and a half years after its launch in Europe, Spotify has been finally launched in the USA. The European music streaming service has reached deals with major record labels in the US that allows American users to try one of iTunes biggest rivals.

The pricing structure will be slightly different to Europe where there's only Free and Premium. Free accounts in the US will be invitation only but there will be an Ad-Free version for $4.99 a month plus a Premium Account with Mobile Access for $9.99 a month.

Spotify will find the going much harder in the US where established apps such as Pandora, Grooveshark, Rhapsody, Mog and of course, iTunes dominate the music streaming industry. However, according to some market analysts such as Albert Fried & Co., Spotify poses the biggest challenge to all of them. Speaking to PaidContent.org, analyst Rich Tullo said:

Spotify is really the biggest threat, in our view. It’s going to sell into Facebook’s 650 million users, and if you look at the growth of Zynga, it’s clear that an alliance with Facebook is definitely what you want, because it’s the biggest distribution channel out there.

According to my account, I still have the option to "send your family and friends an invitation to join Spotify" so if you're a US user that would like to try Spotify, leave a comment below with a reason why you want to try Spotify, and I'll try sending some invites.

iTunes is a great multimedia application but as I argued a while back, its high time Apple launched a less bloated and intrusive lite version of iTunes for all those that don't want or need all the added extras. If like me, you just want something that plays music without added extras such as Ping, Genius and the iTunes store, then check out some of these alternatives to iTunes on Mac:

Audion

If you've recently switched to Mac from Windows and miss the good old days of simple music players like Winamp, then Audion could be for you. Audion is a simple but powerful music player that makes playing music easy - no music stores, no ads and no bloated syncing options. Simply drag and drop music into it and enjoy. The Audion project is discontinued but fortunately, the developers have decided to make it completely free by providing the serial number for it on their website. There are many other great features in Audion such as an Alarm so you can wake up to your favorite tunes  and lots of different skins which you can use to give Audion a whole new look.

Vox

Vox (formerly known less flatteringly as 'ToolPlayer') is a bit simpler than Audion but definitely slicker in my mind. Vox's biggest asset is that it supports a huge array of formats - it plays almost anything. One extra cool feature is if you're trying to listen to a whole album, Vox will automatically detect that the song you are loading is the first track of the album and load the rest of the tracks at the same time. Vox also now supports Growl alerts for track changes and even scrobbling to Last.fm.