Top 10 alternative uses for an iPod

You may be used to seeing people listen to iPods on the train. You may even use one yourself in the gym or while walking the dog. But the rise of the iPod has prompted generations of developers -- and creative end-users -- to exploit possibilities other than simply listening to music or watching videos.

Here is a selection of the best, worst and oddest uses CNET.co.uk's sister site, silicon.com, has come across.

Record flight data
The little white box can also be used as black box. One aeroplane modification company, LoPresti Speed Merchants, has apparently added iPod integration to its Fury line of planes, with a view to using the MP3 player as an in-flight data recorder.

According to LoPresti, the iPod can record more than 500 hours of flight time details as well as act as a voice recorder to capture cockpit conversations and clearances. The company's chief executive is also hoping developers will come up with some new aviation applications using the iPod.

The cockpit isn't the only place Apple's MP3 players can be found on aircraft. Seats that connect iPods to aircraft entertainment systems are expected from a number of airlines from this year.

Cut medical bills
Using an iPod can be good for your health, it seems. Radiologists at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a system to share images using open-source software and the Apple MP3 players.

UCLA's Dr Osman Ratib, whose background is in medical imaging, wanted to find a way to sidestep the $100,000 workstations needed to view high-resolution images that required 3D rendering. So, with help from programmer and fellow radiologist Dr Antoine Rosset, he created OsiriX -- an open-source application to enable radiologists to teleconference with the images on Mac desktop systems.

Make your desktop ultra portable
Developers have already cottoned on to the potential of the vast storage the iPod packs in. One company has devised a service whereby users can almost carry their laptops inside their iPods.

Once users of the service, which already include some police forces, plug their iPods into another PC, the iPod will present them with their 'home' desktop -- files, folders, Outlook emails, preferences, cookies and the like. The system is apparently used by students and salespeople, who regularly use different PCs, as well as police and the military, who need secure access to their desktops.

Improve your tech knowledge
Aside from all the enterprise applications, it's worth remembering the iPod is first and foremost an entertainment device. If you fancy killing some time in between meetings, fill the iPod up with your favourite tunes, music videos or even a TV show or two.

One of the more interesting changes the iPod has wrought on broadcasting, however, is the podcast -- user-generated content of every stripe and on every subject. If you fancy genning up on tech in your lunch hour, there are a thousand and one podcasts to suit, available from the iTunes Store.

Polish up your bowling
Technology is now even inveigling its way into the fusty world of cricket. According to reports, the England team has been given clips of their opponents' batting and bowling to be played on video iPods to help prepare for matches during the Cricket World Cup.

Reuters reports that team members have long been used to studying such footage on PCs but the decision to put clips on iPods is a recent one. Apparently the gadget-laden cricketers have had footage put on their games consoles too.