The iPad has already launched a thousand jokes, some of which you can wear some on your chest, or your privates, before you can even buy one in March.
See some examples after the jump:
iPad T-Shirts, Undies Ship Before Product
Equal Opportunity: Beefcake iPhone Guy Pics
Yesterday, we alerted you to blossoming galleries of attractive young women posing in various states of undress with their iPhones.
But, hey, iPhone fetish pics aren’t limited to the fair sex: there are a few galleries dedicated to iPhone Guys, too. Plus the NSFW user-generated Guys with iPhones website.
Holy Heart Failure! Comics Await the iPad
Comic book publishers are super eager to get their strips in full living color on the iPad, if a round up by Publisher’s Weekly is anything to go by.
“I can’t remember seeing something that I so urgently wanted since I saw the first G.I. Joe with Life-Like Hair commercials in the early seventies,” enthused Gonzalo Ferreyra, sales and marketing VP at Viz Media, “as it relates to digital publishing of illustrated books, the iPad opens up tremendous possibilities. This appears to be the device that will allow users to carry a library of manga around with them any where and every where.”
Abrams’ ComicsArts executive editor Charles Kochman called the iPad the future of e-reading, adding that “The Kindle always felt limited: a lack of color and a standardized typeface seems antithetical to my ideal reading experience and counter intuitive to the careful consideration our designers give to the books we publish. The iPad seems to satisfy all of those concerns and offers the best of what I love about my iPhone and my Mac.”
Only one graphic novel exec, Filip Sablik of Top Cow, was “cautiously optimistic” that the iPad would be a “game changer” for digital comics. “What Apple has done incredibly well in the last decade is take existing technology–laptop, mp3 player, smart phone–and made it really sexy and really easy to use. Right now it looks like the iPad might follow those to pillars of Apple’s success.”
The publishers seemed to be in agreement that while the iPad will be great for reading on the commute, lots of different readers — from small kids to serious collectors — will still want paper editions.
Will you be flipping through comics on your iPad?
Babes + iPhones = Hotter Pics?
Can the right gadget make you hotter? This gallery of iPhone girls would seem to suggest yes. Otherwise adding a smartphone to a bikini and pout would be superfluous. Right?
This isn’t the only gallery pairing pulchritude with tech, there are also a few dedicated iPhone babe blogs, too.
Since they all seem to be SFW, it’s a wonder no one has launched an iPhone app for iPhone babes. We’ll keep you posted on further developments…
Citizen Rants Via iPhone App Get Action
We’ve covered a number of iPhone apps that field citizen complaints in a few different cities — Boston, Pittsburgh, San Jose — but always wondered if angry folks snapping potholes on the way to work would find their grievances fell on deaf ears.
The good news: if you live in Boston and can afford an iPhone, it’s like having a personal fix-it crew.
Some 2,500 downloaders of CitizensConnect have filed 750 complaints since October; at least one reports swift action:
There was the photo of trash bags hauled to the curb on the wrong day in Beacon Hill, the spray paint covering a bus stop in East Boston, and a rattling metal plate on Massachusetts Avenue in the South End that woke up Tom Kozlek at night.
“I feel like if I send them something, it will actually get done, as opposed to the other way of doing it, which would be to call them and report it,’’ said Kozlek, 29, a Boston University Medical School student, who said he also uses the iPhone application to report potholes he sees while biking to his girlfriend’s home in the Fenway. Often, the city fills the hole within a day or two, he said.
“Pretty much any pothole between my apartment and my girlfriend’s apartment gets reported,’’ he said.
Newspaper reports note that iPhone complaints come from across the city, but are “concentrated in an iPhone belt that stretches from downtown, through the Back Bay and South End, into the Fenway and Jamaica Plain.”
It’ll be interesting to see in the long run whether iPhone complaints concentrate in more affluent or more trafficked areas.
Via Boston
iMussolini Storms Italian iTunes Store (No More) UPDATE
UPDATE: iMussolini Developer Luigi Marino told Cult of Mac that he discovered the lawsuit for copyright infringement by reading our story yesterday. Marino contacted the Italian state film archives, Istituto Luce, for clarifications about the video material he used from Mussolini’s speeches and they asked him to remove the app from the store to avoid a legal battle. Marino tells us he requested to pull the app and expects it to be gone from the iTunes store by 1 p.m. (CET).
UPDATE 2: iMussolini is gone. The competing Mussolini app — Mussolini’s historical speeches– — is, however, still available.
An iPhone app of Benito Mussolini’s speeches is the second-highest paid app in the Italian iTunes store a week after launching despite criticism for giving voice to Il Duce’s diehard fans and claims over copyright violations.
iMussolini, a mobile compendium of fascism, features 100 complete speeches, plus 20 audio and video clips for €0.79 (it’s also available in the US iTunes store for $0.99, in Italian only) — without any kind of political commentary.
At about 1,000 downloads a day, iMussolini is more popular in Italy than Shazam and games like Ice Age and Dracula: the Path of the Dragon.
Comments by readers on iPhoneitalia, which broke the story, included enough pro-Mussolini sentiment “Duce! Duce! Duce!” and slogans (“Boia chi molla!”) to prompt complaints to the iTunes store that the app violates Italy’s 1952 Scelba law, which formally abolished fascism. The New York-based American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants also slammed Apple over the app.
Today, the Italian state film archives, Istituto Luce, announced it will sue the developer for using archival clips and asked Apple to remove the application. At this writing, the app is still available.
iMussolini is the handiwork of 25-year-old Luigi Marino, who picked up an iPhone for the first time about six months ago and made the app in his spare time.
Cult of Mac spoke to Marino about why iMussolini is an excercise in free enterprise, getting the app approved and why his next app may feature Gandhi.
CoM: How did you start programming for iPhones?
Luigi Marino: I’ve been programming Java and C++ since high school, in July 2009 I bought my first iPhone and in November 2009 in my first MacBook. Programming for it is more of a passion than anything else. (NDR: Marino owns and runs an unrelated company). In my free time, I also blog for an iPhone website called dev app.
Brits Launch First iPad App Dev Fund
Before you can even get your hands on one, Northern Film & Media is offering £40,000 (about $64,500) for iPad application ideas from developers in England’s North East.
Dev teams — which can include some members from out of the area — have until February 24 to come up with revenue-generating ideas that don’t duplicate the device’s standard app functions, aren’t kissing cousins of iPhone apps and are launchable by summer, 2010.
They’re putting up the cash in the hopes that locals will make a mark on the iPad:
“The iPod changed the way we thought about music. The iPhone transformed our attitudes to mobile phones, and opened our minds to all the things they could do other than call people” Tom Harvey, Chief Executive of Northern Film & Media said in the presser. “What does the iPad transform? You decide. Newspaper and magazine reading? Gaming? Writing and painting?”
The location requirement is fairly strict but may be skirtable: the app must “be developed by teams where at least 70% of the team’s talent have their base in and 50% of the budget is spent in the North East.”
Complete info and application download here.
How to Win an iPad: No-Brain Contests
UPDATE: Check each contest website for details and closing dates — newer ones are last.
The contest list has doubled from the original post. If you hear of others, let us know. Scams have also cropped up with iPads as bait, so remember your due diligence.
Before the launch, we wrote about a daring intern who risked his job by staging a contest with the as yet unseen iPad as a prize.
Today, a bunch of contests giving the iPad out as prizes have already cropped up, many involve no-brain activities like tweeting (sorry, witty chiruppers!) or signing up for Facebook groups. (If you can bug fix, try here or here. )
So if you want to get your hands on one without spending any cash, this may be the ticket.
If you come across other ones, please add them in the comments.
NB: If you win one, Cult of Mac staffers reserve the right to come over and play with it.
iPad Shredded for DRM Restrictions
Journalists streaming into the iPad event yesterday were greeted by a handful of volunteers from the Free Software Foundation protesting DRM restrictions in the about-to-be released device.
They dubbed the iPad the iBad for two reasons:
* All media in the iTunes store (with the one exception of music) is wrapped in Apple’s DRM. That means films, TV shows, movies and audiobooks (NB: books are in an open format ePub) are locked to Apple’s platform, taking away your right to share.
* All applications must be signed by Apple if they are to run, an unprecedented level of control for a general purpose computer. On top of this, Apple can push updates to the device over its wireless connection, letting them add or remove capabilities at any time.
There were only about six or seven naysayers outside Yerba Buena center yesterday, but they still hope to bring about some long-term change, namely by getting people to sign an online petition.
Poll: Are You Ready to Buy the iPad?
[polldaddy poll=”2603845″]
Prices for the new device: 32GB for $599 and 64GB for $699 (Wi-Fi only version),
Shell out an extra $130 for 3G-capable models — so $629, $729 and $829.
Is the price right? Is the iPad a must-have or wait-and-see device?
Buzz over iPad Puts Twitter on the Fritz
The arrival of the iPad and the subsequent cheeping, chittering, cooing, peeping, chirupping and tweeting has blown a fuse on microblogging service Twitter.
Poll: Do You Love or Hate the Name “iPad”?
[polldaddy poll=”2603443″]
There were so many possible names for Apple’s new device.
Now we know the super-slablet has been christened the iPad.
Let us know what you think of the name and what you would’ve named it in the comments.
Intern Stakes Career on Apple Tablet Giveaway
Elliot Hales, an intern at Avantar, who made the revamped Yellow Pages iPhone app (now with GPS-enabled local search) thought a contest might get people’s fingers doing the walking on their iPhones.
But what do people want? Well, sure, iPods are a sexy giveaway. But what if you gave away the new Apple tablet computer?
Awesome! Except that it hasn’t launched yet.
Still, with that unflagging internistic enthusiasm, Hales convinced his boss to set up and pay for a website for the contest — with the tablet, along with some iPod Touches, prizes for participating. The site redirects to a Facebook page he set up a to convince his elders that social media works.
Now, on the eve of the Apple event, it seems even the hale Hales may have cold feet:
“I really hope this product lives up to its hype. I even convinced my boss to launch a host site for an iPad giveaway. I hope it generates some interest otherwise he may have spent $800-1000 bucks for nothing and I could be out on the street looking for a new job! ” he commented on WSJ blog digits.
Hales, whose FB profile quote announces, “I got married a while back and am very happy with life,” may not stay that happy if the iPad turns out, well, not to turn up or not meet expectations despite an avalanche of advance hype.
At this writing, only 87 people have signed up for the iPad giveaway.
Which means that you have a decent chance of winning the iSlablet — should it materialize in all its Jesus Computer glory — but also that Elliot needs to stump at little harder — at least his 400 Facebook friends should sign up.
Ad Archeology: Apple’s First Tablet, The Newton
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQhUEYvEl3c
It’s retro-future time again at Cult of Mac. These ads, circa 1993, for the ill-starred PDA the Newton sound a lot like the all-singing, all dancing expectations of portable computing expected at tomorrow’s tablet announcement.
Some of the salient claims from the “Who is Newton?” ad:
“Newton talks to fax machines, laser printers to telephones (NB – a landline) and computers!”
And remember, the Newton is for “All you mobile professionals who like cool stuff.”
While the “Where is Newton?” spot promised portability and connectivity on the go:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3ITn5LBU5A
“Newton can get you from the urban jungle to the nearest hamlet…You can send a letter or a memo and faxes from places where there are no fax machine. Newton is everywhere and that’s not a bad place to be.”
And when the Newton did not live up to expectations — handwriting recognition being one of the big flaws in attempting to send faxes from outpost gas stations as per the ad — here’s what one crystal-ball gazing analyst told the New York Times in 1995:
“In the long run there is no doubt people will carry around small computers much like pagers today,” said Amy Wohl, president of Wohl Associates, a Narberth, Pa., consulting group. “But it’s still not clear that Apple will be one of the major providers of these systems.”
iPhone Fertility App Helps Deliver Britain’s first iBaby
Lena Bryce spent four years trying to have a baby.
Then she and her husband downloaded the Free Menstrual Calendar app, timed their couplings strategically and voilà: now they now are the proud parents of a 6 pound-12 ounce bundle of joy named Lola.
“Doctors couldn’t find any reason why we hadn’t been able to get pregnant,” the 30-year-old woman from Glasgow told tabloid The Sun. “It began to weigh heavily on us. We were considering IVF and adoption when Dudley gave me the iPhone for my 30th. I typed in ‘get pregnant’ and downloaded five apps.”
Bryce found the Free Menstrual Calendar the easiest of the five apps to use — it tracks cycles and intercourse data — and after two months she was in a family way.
The fascinating thing about these apps is that for every couple who wants to have a baby there are probably just as many relieved couples who use them to figuring out when avoid sex, too. We’re waiting for the “I avoided getting knocked up from a regrettable one-night stand thanks to an app” story to hit the tabs.
Via MacWorld
Video: If the iPhone 4.0 Looked Like Mac System 1.0, We’d Upgrade
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObN9wSLSI_k
Mac aficionado Matt, who made a retro-awesome video of the Apple website over the years, also concocted this video of an iPhone running on Mac System 1.0.
This old school MacPhone does everything you’d expect from an iPhone.
It simultaneously runs apps, widgets, has an accelerometer and makes calls — the phone dial pad graphic is an excellent touch — though you won’t be able to play Desert Trek on an iPhone any time soon since he recreated that 1984 look with video effects.
The MacPhone mock-up took him about a day to make it using Keynote and iMovie plus some photoshopped screenshots from his 128kMac.
Teachers Protest After School District Scraps Macs Over Cost, Performance
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pje8AQg8y3M
The Toronto District School Board decided to phase out Apple computers — about 8% of the 63,000 machines used by some 250,000 kids — in mid-November.
It seems board members bought in to the idea that Macs are more expensive than PCs:
“The Apple computer in a large-scale network―their capabilities for automatically managing that many machines really pales to what’s available in the PC world,” Lee Stem, general manager of Information and Technology Services for the Board, told Torontoist.
“At the end of the day, it really comes down to getting as many devices in the hands of as many people as possible,” added Stem. “Every penny that we save…all that money is going to bring more technology into the hands of kids.”
Teachers in the district are using those last Apple computers to plead with the bureaucrats to keep Macs in the mix. (No more Apple computers will be bought for general use, though they may still be purchased for “special use” classes, like art, video editing or music composition.)
Video of the Day: Apple Website: 1976-1994
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI898pp6rxI
Matt, whose website describes him as a “normal dude that likes to talk about Apple and technology in general,” made this “what-if” trip down memory lane — an alternate reality version of what the Apple website might have looked like from the pre-Internet days.
The farther back you go, the more fun it is, check out the “See Our Ads in Byte Magazine” button and a photo of Jobs & Woz that looks snapped in the founding garage.
For a longer trip down pseudo-memory lane, check out his slideshow here.
Thanks to reader Thomas for the tip!
Elegant Engraved Macs Inspire Study, Thwart Thefts
Joe Mansfield, whose trade is laser customizing books, engraved 550 MacBook Pros for the University of Oregon’s new Center for Student Athletes.
A custom version of the university’s “O” logo was also etched into entry mats, lockers and laptop cases to great effect. Though computers are the backbones of study centers, they usually end up looking out of place, here they’re an integral part of the decor.
The only problem: who wants to hit the field or gym when you can hang out at the “Taj Mahal of academic services?”
Cult of Mac talked to engraver extraordinaire Mansfield about how he got started, an upcoming iPhone case and the weirdest thing he’s ever been asked to etch.
Slam Dunk: Power Mac G5 Panel Morphs into Basketball Backboard
CoM reader Paul sent us these pics of his office where the IT department shoots hoops on a backboard with an Apple logo.
After the cardboard backboard from the Nerf caved in under one too many slam dunks, Paul had a brainwave:
“As we were scrapping an old PowerMac G5 for parts, I realized that we could recycle the door to become our new heavy backboard. Two short screws were used to attach the plastic bracket to the door and another two longer ones to go into the concrete pillar in the office wall.”
Interview: Behind the Real Mug Shot iPhone App
The iPhone app Busted! Real Mugshots serves up police pics from around the US with full names, birth date, age, arrest date/time plus the offending crime.
Dubbed “Facebook for criminals” by a pithy CoM reader, the app, offered gratis on iTunes, launched January 11, generating controversy faster than an ACLU lawyer can say “FOIA.”
Cult of Mac talked to Jeff Jolley, president of the app’s maker Fountain Dew.
He told us about getting the app approved (easier than you’d think), the “bad karma” aspect, and more importantly, how to get your mugshot removed after that artsy late-night prank ended in tears.
CoM: How did you get the idea?
Jeff Jolley: We read an article on the popularity of mugshot pages on newspaper websites
and thought that could be extended, in a more interesting, mobile and viral manner, to the iPhone.
CoM: How do you get the photos?
JJ: We search the Internet for publicly available (and regularly updated) mugshots, and then make them available for use in the app. We continue to look for new sources to expand the available repository of mugshots.
CoM: Are the mugshots storeable and searchable?
JJ: Not at this point. You always stream the photos and you always start with the most recent mugshot available. This could be a good future feature.
Real Mug Shot iPhone App: Because There Are Worse Places to Be Than Work
Keeping to the straight and narrow often sucks: bloviating co-workers, passive- aggressive clients and hobbling back to the homestead to an empty fridge after a long day.
Still, it’s not as bad as being in jail. Or arrested, for that matter.
Busted! Real Mugshots, offers some handy, much-needed schadenfreude for the working stiff, as per the description:
“Real people! Real Arrests! Real Mugshots!”
The iPhone app, gratis on iTunes, serves up police pics from around the US with full names, birthdate, age, arrest date/time of arrest as well as the offending crime. (At least in the first release, it doesn’t give location and does not appear to be searchable).
Follow iTunes Purchases To Catch an iPod Touch Thief?
Online police reports always turn up a few interesting tidbits. Here’s one from the roster of misdeeds that took place in Elyria, Ohio on January 11:
1:46 p.m. – 3300 block Livingston Ave., iPod Touch reported stolen during a party; also, someone is using victim’s iTunes account to download songs.
My first thought: dumb thief. My second: maybe not, if they don’t keep it up for very long.
As an iTunes account holder abroad with a US credit card, I’ve managed to get locked out of my own iTunes account (shockingly simple to do, time consuming to set right again) and there are a few tales of hacked iTunes accounts with fraudulent credit card charges that took a few rounds with Apple to get straightened out. (If it happens — first step: contact your credit card company).
Thieves have been caught using emailing photos from stolen iPhones and using iPods with the victim’s playlist, but what’s the chance police might track down the unlawful downloader via an iPod Touch?
Hung Up: iPhone Art Goes Mainstream with Gallery Shows
Back in 2008, after looking at photographer Russ Croop’s paintings ably done using the NetSketch and Brushes apps on his iPhone, we wondered how long it would take before this form of fancy finger work hung in art galleries. (An exhibit of fellow fingerpainter Matthew Watkins took place at an Italian Apple reseller in September).
Fast forward 13 months: Croop has a one-man show of 15 works called “Painting Through a Keyhole: the iPhone as Canvas” at the The Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder, Colorado until February, 12, 2010 and participated in the international offerings at “iPhone Therefore I Am” at the Chicago Art Department that also launched Jan. 8.
Cult of Mac talked to Croop about how he got from iPhone touchscreen to art gallery, the mistakes he made — that every iPhone artist should avoid — and the misunderstandings most gallery goers have when they see his work.
CoM: How did the show come about?
Russ Croop:
The Dairy Center for the Arts has three galleries and hosts different art shows almost every month…It’s supposed to be a pretty exacting juried selection process with several judges from different disciplines. They use a high-tech projector system that times each image so every picture gets equal billing. I submited my iPhone paintings last April 2009 and didn’t find out that I was selected until October 2009.
CoM: How did you decide on the title and theme?
RC: I often compare creating art on the iPhone to painting through a keyhole because when you zoom in to add detail, you can only see a small portion of the “canvas.” This is especially true when using NetSketch.
Leggo My iPhone: Open Letter to a Thief
Thieves looking to get their hands on iPhones have streamlined operations by snatching them while the owner is on the phone, if recent police reports are anything to go by. (If it happens to you, try writing Steve Jobs — he may render justice when police can’t).
Simple but effective: it’s easier than snatching a bag and hoping there’s something good inside, right?
Chicago-based columnist Mark Bazer wrote an open letter to the person who snagged his wife’s month-old iPhone on a train:
Congratulations on your new iPhone! I just know you’re going to love it, as it’s a fantastic device with an easy-to-use interface and photos of my relatives. Heck, they’re now your relatives, too — we’re on the same family plan! That reminds me: It’s your turn this year to host Thanksgiving.
But back to your shiny new iPhone, because there are a number of things you should know to ensure it gives you so much enjoyment that you forget your shame.
For starters, it’s got plenty of room for music, but we weren’t sure what kind you liked. We were hoping Simon and Garfunkel , but if not, just sync that baby up to your PC and create your own mix. (If you don’t have a PC, they can be stolen from most homes.)
Also, we had the foresight to buy you the AppleCare protection plan, so your iPhone is covered for two years if anything goes wrong — with the exception of someone stealing it.
Funny, but it kinda makes me want to grab one, too.
Via Baltimore Sun