Posts tagged with "iPhone"

iPhone 4 Becomes A Skateboard

On iOS, a device becomes the app it’s currently running. Are you using a calculator app? The iPhone looks like a digital calculator then. A GPS map? A TV remote? Full-screen apps can turn an iOS device into, well, anything. What about hardware accessories, though? Can a rather simple accessory like a case turn an iPhone into something else?

The Skateboard Series for iPhone 4 is a new case available on Etsy made out of laser-cut grip tape and actual wood. It looks like a mini-skateboard, only it’s an iPhone and it doesn’t have wheels. Build quality looks impressive, too.

When combined with a wood grain vinyl edge wrap this design actually gives your iPhone 4 the illusion of being a skateboard, all you need now are the wheels. The only advice we can give you is not to slide this phone against your grandma’s table because this material is very rough.

Whether or not you think the grip tape on the back of the device could make it a little harder to get it out of your pockets, this mod can be yours for only $20. Available now on Etsy. [via Reddit]

Eye Scope Adds 8x Optical Zoom To Your iPhone

If you’ve ever wished you could spy on your neighbor’s house or simply take better photos of distant objects with your iPhone (yes, we’re going to pretend your never thought of spying on people using an Apple device), you might want to consider the Eye Scope, a $45 (£29) accessory that can add 8x optical zoom to the iPhone’s lens.

Available for iPhone 3G / 3GS / 4 owners,the Eye Scope is basically a case with an attached optical lens that promises to cover 246 meters ahead of you and your iPhone. Not bad, huh? In the package, you’ll also get a tripod mount and a lens cloth to keep everything clean and well focused.

If you want to go ahead and buy it, the Eye Scope for iPhone is available on online retailer Firebox. [via Ubergizmo]

Merriam-Webster Dictionary App Adds Dragon Voice Recognition

Merriam-Webster launched a free, ad-supported iPhone dictionary app in mid-December. The dictionary app can pronounce words by pressing the speaker icon in the red button but did you know that you can speak a word for it to search for too? A few weeks ago, they updated it with voice search, first for a free iPhone dictionary app. Just press the microphone in the blue button next to the search text box and it activates the new voice search.

The built-in voice search is powered by Nuance Communications’ very popular Dragon voice recognition technology and it’s very accurate but you would expect nothing less from Dragon. Simply look up a word by speaking it directly into your iPhone. You don’t need a connection to the internet, so it’s very iPod Touch friendly. The UI is polished and the ads don’t distract you too badly; Reader Mode is very cool - it shows you a definition in full screen, landscape or portrait, hiding both the header and the footer.

Voice search is an example of the kind of innovation that Merriam-Webster has been bringing to the dictionary business for more than 150 years,” says President and Publisher John M. Morse. “And with the mobile platform being the fastest growing part of our business, we’re pleased to bring our content to wherever our audience happens to be.

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iPhone Alarm Still Not Working? Try A Reboot or Reset

The New Year broke the iPhone’s built-in alarm clock app. After much of a backlash on the Internet (and too good reason, people depend on alarms to wake up in the morning and, you know, do stuff like go to work) and a temporary fix that involved setting a repeating alarm on the device, Apple then reassured everyone that the bug would auto-magically fix itself on Januar 3rd. That didn’t happen for many, as seen both on Reuters and Apple’s own Discussion boards. If you’re running an iPhone or iPod touch and you still can’t manage to get the device to work with alarms, the solution might be easier than you think.

Several users on Apple Discussions are suggesting that a simple power cycle (reboot) or “soft reset” can fix the iPhone software to work correctly with alarms after January 3rd. By “soft reset” they mean the procedure that involves pressing both the sleep / wake and home buttons until the Apple logo appears on screen. This will force the iPhone to dump its temporary stored files and should fix the alarm clock app woes. If you rebooted your iPhone before today and it didn’t fix the problems, do it again now.

The clock app on my iPhone 4 (with iOS 4.2.1) is working just fine both with single and repeating alarms, but I think a reboot or two happened in these past days. I have a jailbroken device so reboots and “resprings” are very frequent. If you’re still experiencing the alarm issues, you can give the method above a try and report back.

Layar Reality Browser Updated to Version 4.0

Layar was one of the first “augmented reality” apps in Apple’s App Store before all the competitors showed up. It’s had a few UI overhauls and the most recent is nice. Layar shows what is around you by displaying real time digital information on top of the real world as seen through the camera of your mobile phone. Layar augments the real world as seen through your mobile phone, based on your location. The idea is simple: Layar works by using a combination of the mobile phone’s camera, compass and GPS data to identify the user’s location and field of view, retrieve data based on those geographical coordinates, and overlay that data over the camera view.

Refresher video after the break.

What’s New in Version 4.0:

  • Layers now support new interactive features
  • The Camera View interface has been redesigned
  • The Camera View is stabilized using the gyroscope on iPhone 4.

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Apple Approves Another BitTorrent App, A Native Transmission Client

Apple has a strict policy on iOS apps that come with any mention of the BitTorrent file transfer protocol. Even if BitTorrent is not illegal by itself, Apple doesn’t want its name to be associated with it. Apps that had found their way past the app review team and into the App Store were quickly removed from sale. It happened with IS Drive in October.

iControlBits by developer Luka Hlastec is a native mobile client for popular BitTorrent app Transmission, available for Mac, Windows and Linux users. Transmission, by default, allows you to check on active downloads using a mobile web interface that’s accessible from iOS devices, but it doesn’t have an official app in the App Store. iControlBits, a native front-end that relies on Transmission’s RPC protocol, offers a faster alternative to the web view and it lets view ongoing transfers, pause and resume downloads and even browse active downloads to a NAS server remotely. You can’t initiate new downloads from the app, but the developer says he’s working on it for a future update. In an interview to TorrentFreak, the developer admits he created the app mainly for himself as he didn’t like the way Transmission for Mac let you see downloads through a slow webapp. iControlBits, however, allows you to change and set speed limits without having to use Transmission on the desktop; all you have to do is enable remote access.

It is unclear whether or not Apple will pull iControlBits from the App Store, but if you’re in need for a remote Transmission client to manage your torrents, go download it now. The app is available at $1.99 in the App Store.

SoPhone: The King of Fake iPhones

I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but: this Chinese knockoff almost looks as good as the original iPhone 4. The SoPhone is, without a doubt, the closest thing to an Apple iPhone 4 I’ve seen so far – not just because of the strikingly similar exterior design. First off, the SoPhone looks just like an iPhone 4, has the same size (115.2×58.6×9.3mm) and fits in any case produced for the real thing. As long as the “glass sandwich” appearance is concerned, the SoPhone seems a success. We can’t comment on the actual build quality, but judging from the video – it’s an iPhone 4.

Problems arise when the average user willing to buy a SoPhone (example: my dad) wants to go deeper and asks about the operating system and internal specs. This thing of course doesn’t run iOS, but the average user might think it does. I mean, look at the video: it’s a well-done iOS skin (probably built on top of Android 2.2?) that’s got Apple’s icons, menus – even the Cover Flow. Guess what’s missing? The smoothness, the scrolling, the refinements – exactly what the “average dude” won’t notice on first sight. This is best shown in the comparison video shot by MIC Gadget. The SoPhone has got an Apple logo on boot, folders (slow), Spotlight and Springboard pages. It’s a fake iOS running on a fake iPhone 4. From what I can see, I believe multitasking’s in there, too. As for the specs, as you would expect this is nowhere near the iPhone 4: 2 MP cameras, no Retina Display, 4 GB of flash storage and a MTK6235 chipset.

The final price for a SoPhone unit? Around $200. Not bad for a well-done ripoff, but still – you won’t have an iPhone. You’ll only get close (closer than any other Chinese knockoff, that’s it) to it. If you’re on the edge, check out the hands-on video below. Unlike the reviewer says, I’m not sure the SoPhone is “very fast” though. Read more

Monetizing The iPhone’s Photo Apps→

Monetizing The iPhone’s Photo Apps

The Wall Street Journal has a piece on the difficulties faced by developers when trying to make apps like Instagram, Hipstamatic and PicPlz profitable. Speaking of Hipstamatic:

Since Hipstamatic’s launch in December 2009, the $1.99 app has been downloaded more than 1.7 million times. The app allows users to choose different lenses, films and flashes. The firm charges 99 cents for a package of add-ons such as infrared.

The company generates a third of its revenue from those extras, says CEO Lucas Buick, and is profitable. In September, it launched a service where users can send in photos and pay a fee for printed copies.

The app has been named “iPhone App of the Year” by Apple and it’s got lots of additional stuff and features to unlock with in-app purchase. The app is a one-time $1.99 purchase, but developers can keep the money coming in with updates and new items to buy. So far, it seems like this business model is working.

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