iPhone Nano Watch: Worst of Both Worlds

We’ll never, ever grow tired of covering weird Chinese knock-offs of Apple products. What we have here today, though, can’t exactly be described as a knock-off: it’s something that doesn’t really exist to start with. It’s an “iPhone nano watch”, a strange combination of those iPod nano watches people have been wearing since September and the more popular iPhone with its distinctive UI. The iPhone nano watch has got a wristband and some clock functionalities I assume, but it also lets you “slide to unlock” and comes with a SIM slot, FM radio tuner, Bluetooth, USB, camera sensor and a speaker.

Don’t ask me how it’s even possible to make calls with this thing. I guess that’s why it’s still labelled as “engineering prototype” – hey, everyone deserves to be deeply tested, right? The iPhone nano watch will also get a headphone jack come the final release.

On a side note, I can’t wait to find a prototype of this one in a shady Shanzhai bar. Hit the source links for more photos. [Engadget via M.I.C. Gadget]

App Store’s Christmas Brings Millions of Downloads to Developers

All those new iPhone and iPod touch users tracked by the official Facebook app? Yeah, the spike in traffic and new users isn’t limited just to the Facebook app. According to numbers reported by The Next Web and Business Insider, Rovio’s blockbuster iOS game Angry Birds and Tapulous’ Tap Tap Revenge 4 generated over 1 million downloads and twice the level of traffic of last year, respectively. Put simply: this year’s App Store and iOS growth showed its results on December 25th by bringing tons of new customers and downloads to apps that already managed to gain a prominent position in the Store. Or was it because of all those people that got an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad under their Christmas trees?

A little bit of both, in my opinion. Surely lots of people got an iDevice for Christmas and rushed to the App Store to buy apps; we shouldn’t ignore the fact, though, that several developers discounted their apps before the iTunes Connect shutdown (which ends tomorrow, by the way) forcing many users like me to save money for Christmas (or iTunes gift cards) and buy apps altogether right before the family dinner. Either way, those are impressive numbers. Read more

Jailbreak Hack Allows You To Rename iOS Apps

Ever wished you could change “Twitter” to “Tweetie” on your iPhone, as it used to be back in the old days? Well, a jailbreak tweak now lets you do that with a single tap. The hack, developed by Ryan Petrich and called “Icon Renamer” allows you to rename any app on your Springboard by entering “wiggle mode” first, then tapping on the icon and typing the new name. Done. Easy as writing down a new folder’s name. You can rename any app, and changes won’t affect your app library in iTunes. The tweak’s pretty handy if you have to deal with apps that have long names (usually games) and are displayed as acronyms on the iPhone’s screen.

The tweak is free and available in Cydia. And no, you can’t rename Icon Renamer because that would be too meta.

1 Million Apple TVs Sold In Three Months

Last week, Apple announced they would reach the 1 million Apple TV units sold in a few days. According to John Paczkowski at Digital Daily, today Apple confirmed 1 million Apple TVs have been sold in three months since its release date:

Last Tuesday Apple said it expected sales of its next generation Apple TV to top one million units before Christmas. Today the company confirmed to me that they did just that. Seems the addition of AirPlay support for wireless streaming, better iOS integration and the device’s aggressive new $99 price point have done quite a bit to spike sales of Apple’s so-called “hobby.

That’s indeed an impressive result for what Apple used to call a “hobby”. I guess this is the effect iOS has on devices, and we haven’t seen apps on the Apple TV yet.

Why Apple Doesn’t Care About The $75 Android Phone

An article published by Seth Weintraub over at Fortune last week made the rounds of the Internet detailing how the Android platform will “explode” next year thanks to relatively low-cost components. Broadcom has announced a new 3G HSDPA chipset called BCM2157 that allows for popular specs like Bluetooth, GPS, dual core ARM processors, 5MP cameras and capacitive displays. Broadcom is marketing this new chipset to Android OEMs. And the best part, according to Handset Line of Business for Broadcom Jim Tran? Phones built on the new chipset will retail under $100, possibly even touching the $75 price point. And we’re talking about retail prices of unsubsidized phones. That would allow “average users” who don’t normally spend hundreds of dollars on smartphone to buy a high-end Android phone and runs apps on it. Read more

Sleipnir: Free, Innovative Browser for iPhone

From the same developers of Inkiness for iPad comes Sleipnir, a new app for the iPhone that’s without a doubt one of the most innovative, stable and fast alternative browsers released in the recent months. My problem with alternatives to Mobile Safari is that they don’t provide anything better than Apple’s implementation, aside from a different visualization of tabs. Many apps sold through the App Store simply gained popularity because they brought “desktop-class tabs” to the iPhone or iPad, with the trade-off of adding ugly UIs and navigation controls to an already-powerful WebKit engine. I’m all for alternatives and different solutions to built-in software (especially when the third-party version is available for free, like Sleipnir), but I’m looking for something that really takes advantage of iOS. Not just a port of desktop functionalities.

Sleipnir offers just that. From the first first launch, you’ll immediately notice it’s an app developed with the iPhone (and iPhone users) in mind. It doesn’t come with “desktop tabs” yet it allows you to organize open pages in an innovative and useful “tabbed view” I haven’t seen in any other app. Sleipnir might just be the most innovative iPhone browser to date, powered by a nice interface design and a seriously great engine. Read more

Father Develops iPad App to Help Disabled Son Communicate

This is one of the stories that best shows what it’s possible to do with modern technologies, some basic development skills and the real need for something a consumer-oriented product like the iPad doesn’t ship with by default. Victor Pauca is a 5-year-old boy who has a very rare genetic disorder that prevents him from developing skills like speech and the overall ability to communicate with others. To help him, his father created an iPad app that turns the touch screen into an easy to understand communication tool.

The app, called VerbalVictor, will be released later this week in the App Store at around $10. Read more