accessory

Gear4’s impressive iPhone cases now available from Verizon

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Gear4 iPhone case
D30 provides your iPhone with the best impact protection.
Photo: Gear4

You can now pick up Gear4’s impressive cases for iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR at your local Verizon store.

Big Red has started selling a number of its popular products in-store and online — including the award-winning Piccadilly case that provides drop protection from up to 13 feet.

Apple ditches many color options for iPhone, Apple Watch accessories

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iPhone 7 cases
What's disappeared where you are?
Photo: Apple

Apple has begun eliminating official accessories in many color options from its online store.

Shoppers are discovering that a number of iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch accessories are no longer available in some color options. They are likely being phased out before new accessories for Apple’s next-generation devices arrive this fall.

iPhone 8 plans spilled by case-maker

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iPhone 8 Nodus
iPhone 8 imagined by Nodus.
Photo: Nodus

Being one of the first to market with new iPhone accessories can mean big business. We won’t get confirmation of Apple’s plans for the iPhone 8 until September, but some companies are already manufacturing cases based on leaks and rumors.

One of those is Nodus. Launched in 2013, the case-maker focuses exclusively on the iPhone, and its plans for Apple’s next big refresh are already well underway. Here’s everything it knows about the iPhone 8 so far, and how it’s fighting to beat others to market.

3D scanner will let you count food calories with your iPhone

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A prototype of NutriRay3D in action.
Photo: NutriRay3D

There are many meal-tracking apps and iOS-compatible smart scales out there, but for really dedicated calorie-counters the problem with the majority of them is that they don’t give you the nutritional content of the exact meal sitting in front of you.

A new high-tech food scanner straight out of Star Trek hopes to help solve that problem, by giving you a new iPhone attachment called NutriRay3D, which will use 3D image processing to accurately calculate the volume and calorie measurement of any meal.

M-Edge’s Tablet Keyboard Case Is The Missing Link Between iPad And MacBook [Review]

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medge
Tablet Stealth Pro Keyboard Case by M-Edge
Category: Keyboard Case
Works With: iPad Air, iPad mini
Price: $79.99

When should you take your iPad and when should you take your MacBook?

If you use your iOS devices for work on the move, and often find yourself wishing that your tablet came with a built-in physical keyboard so you didn’t have to haul your laptop everywhere, you’re most likely the perfect target audience for M-Edge’s nifty keyboard case — the 10-inch Tablet Universal Stealth Pro Keyboard Case (to use its full and slightly Tom Clancy-sounding name).

Want more details? Read on.

Pulse Is A Tiny Touch-Screened Fitness Tracker With Smart iOS Support [Review]

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Ready for night or day: Withings' Pulse
Ready for night or day: Withings' Pulse

Connected gadgets are the hotness in tech right now. It seems like everyone is trying to track your activity during the day and your sweet sweet R.E.M.’s during the dark of night.

Pulse by Withings
Category: Fitness
Works With: iPhone, iPod Touch
Price: $100

Withings, makers of the Smart Scale and other connected tech., is now ready to join the world of fitness tracking with their new Pulse—a teensy little thing—which tracks your daily steps, pulse, sleep, and with its built-in sensors, even the altitudes you traverse. But there’s more to the story here than basic tracking; with historic data available on its touch-enabled screen and astute iOS integration via the Withings app, the Pulse is a talented first offering from Withings, and an easy fitness tracker to recommend.

Sony Planning 20.2MP Camera Attachment For Smartphones [Rumor]

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7_Xperia_Z_camera_UI

Do you ever wish you had a better camera in your smartphone? Well, before you upgrade to a hideous Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom, you might want to take a look at the blurry picture above. It’s an accessory that Sony is rumored to be working on that’ll help you take incredible pictures with your smartphone.

It’s not just a fancy clip-on lens; it’s actually a 20.2-megapixel Exmor RS camera with a Carl Zeiss lens that uses your smartphone’s display as its viewfinder.

iOS 7’s Lightning Chip Detection Has Already Been Cracked

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iOS-7-Lightning-warning

With iOS 7, when you plug an unauthorized Lightning cable into your iOS device, you’ll get a notification that informs you you’re not using a “certified” Lightning accessory, and that it “may not work reliably” with your device.

But after just two weeks, one accessory maker has already cracked Apple’s detection and fooled iOS 7 into thinking uncertified Lightning accessories are certified ones.

Accessory Maker With Direct Links To Foxconn Says The iPhone 5S Is Coming In June

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iphone-5

A “confidential presentation” that outlines the upcoming product plans for a manufacturer based in Shenzhen, China, suggests the iPhone 5S could launch in June this year. Most rumors have suggested the device wouldn’t arrive until this fall, around 12 months after the iPhone 5, but an accessory manufacturer with direct links to Foxconn is confident it’ll be here much earlier.

Your iPhone Can Now Fix Your Crappy Golf Swing [CES 2013]

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swingtip copy

CES 2013 bug LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – Don’t leave sports out of CES. There’s lots of fitness accessories here that want to turn nerds into phenomenal athletes. If you’re in the camp that believes golfing is a sport, then the SwingTIP is best new accessory here.

SwingTIP is a bluetooth-enabled 3D motion sensor that attaches to your golf club to capture the motion of your golf swing, analyze it, and then tell you how to fix your game.

Apple’s Ridiculous Lightning Rules Force $140,000 Kickstarter Project To Close [Updated]

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Kickstarter-POP

Apple’s guidelines for its new Lightning connector have forced a popular Kickstarter project that sourced almost $140,000 in funding — more than twice the amount it required — to close and refund all of its backers. Electronics firm Edison Jr designed a charging station compatible with a multitude of Android and iOS devices called the POP. But after exceeding its funding goal, it quickly realized that Apple wouldn’t approve it.

Jawbone Announces Second-Generation UP, On Sale Now

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Jawbone wants Fitbit's blood. Photo: Jawbone
Jawbone UP 2.0 is shipping now.

The Jawbone UP wristband first launched back in 2011, and it became quite a popular product. Everyone wanted to get their hands on the fitness- and sleep-tracking iPhone accessory, which came with plenty of promise. Unfortunately, it launched with all kinds of problems, too — including water leaks and inflexible components that broke too easily — and Jawbone was forced to pull it.

The company’s now giving the device a second shot. Today it announced the second-generation Jawbone UP, which is now shipping for $129.99.

Finally! Belkin Unveils World’s First Authorized Lightning Accessories For New iOS Devices

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It's about time!
It's about time!

Belkin has become the first accessory maker to get authorization from Apple to build third-party accessories for the Cupertino company’s new Lightning connector. It just announced a new lineup of Lightning accessories, which are compatible with Apple’s latest lineup of iOS devices, including the iPhone 5, the new iPod touch and iPod nano, the fourth-generation iPad, and the iPad mini.

MobileMount Could Be The Best Stand Available For Your iOS Device, But It Isn’t [Review]

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MobileMount-iPad-back

Born on Kickstarter, the MobileMount is a nifty little tool that allows you to mount almost any smartphone or tablet to a flat surface. Its design is simple; it consists of two suction cups that are held together by a ball and socket joint, so you can angle the stand in almost any direction while it’s mounted.

Both suction cups utilize a ‘turn-to-lock’ mechanism in an effort to ensure it’s super secure, and that your device never becomes unstuck. And because they’re just simple suction cups, you don’t need to remove cases or chargers from your device before you use them with the MobileMount — provided the case you’re using has a flat surface, of course.

This also means you can use one mount for your iPhone, your iPad, your iPod, and more — you don’t need to carry separate, dedicated accessories for each device. The MobileMount comes in black or white, and costs $39.99. But is it really worth it?

Apple Expected To Finalize Lightning Guidelines With Accessory Makers On November 7 [Rumor]

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Apple isn't the only one who can use the Lightning trademark.
Will we see third-party Lightning accessories before Christmas?

The iPhone 5 has been on sale for nearly a month now, but we’re still yet to see any official third-party Lightning accessories. It’s not that accessory makers are slow at producing them, it’s that Apple is yet to finalize its Lightning policies and give manufacturers the go-ahead to use its new connector.

Fortunately, this is expected to happen next month. Apple will hold a conference in Shenzhen, China, between November 7 and November 8 with its Made for iPod/iPhone/iPad (MFI) program partners to finalize its Lightning plans, according to a source “close to Apple’s accessory manufacturing partner.”

Reuters: Apple’s New iPhone Will Get Smaller Dock Connector To Make Room For Headphone Jack

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In today's forecast: Lightning!
Your new iPhone's headphone jack will be located on the bottom of the device — just like the iPod touch.

Sources familiar with Apple’s plans have revealed to Reuters that the company’s “iPhone 5” will launch with a smaller, 19-pin dock connector that will make room for a headphone jack on the bottom of the device. The move will mean that existing iPhone accessories — which use Apple’s existing 30-pin connector — won’t be compatible with the new handset.

The JuiceBuddy Is The Perfect Portable iPhone Charger That Attaches To Your Keychain

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JuiceBuddy claims to be the world's smallest iPhone charger.
JuiceBuddy claims to be the world's smallest iPhone charger.

Apple’s iPhone chargers certainly aren’t the biggest accessories in the world, but accompanied with their wires, they can be a pain to travel with — especially when they get tangled up in your make up (not that I’d know about that). But with the JuiceBuddy from Pacific Productions, there is no need for wires.

This little box attaches to your keychain and provides you with an iPhone charger wherever and whenever you need it most. Simply plug it directly into the wall and then dock your iPhone in the top.

The MacBook Pro Will Be Killed In April By The 15-Inch MacBook Air [Rumor]

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MacBook-Air-logo-close-up
Source claims the 15-inch MacBook Pro will become the MacBook Air's next victim.

The MacBook Air has become increasingly popular since Apple overhauled the ultraportable and introduced an 11-inch model back in October 2010. The company also dropped its price, making it more affordable for the average consumer and paving the way for the death of the white plastic MacBook.

But it seems the MacBook won’t be the Air’s only victim. According to one accessory vendor, the MacBook Pro will be killed of by a 15-inch MacBook Air in April.