Macally was one of the first manufacturers to get its iPad mini cases onto the market when the device was launched back in early November, and this one from the guys at MobileFun caught my eye for a number of reasons.
It provides protection for both the front and back of the device, with a hard plastic shell that houses the iPad mini, and a plastic cover that’s lined in soft, suede-like material. The cover also doubles as a stand for typing and watching movies.
The case provides access to your all of your device’s ports and buttons, and includes a cutout for its rear-facing camera. It’s priced at $47 and comes in a range of colors, but is it worth that price tag?
Many don’t know that Twitter didn’t actually invent the word “tweet.” It was a small group of developers at The Iconfactory who thought up the clever moniker when they made Twitterrific, the first real Twitter client. Twitterrific started way back in 2007 as the first Twitter app on the Mac, and the first iPhone version went live when Apple launched the App Store in 2008. Since then, the app has continued to evolve on both iOS and OS X. Twitterrific was the first app to use a bird icon, show a character counter as you tweet, and show replies and conversation threads in-app.
Twitterrific was instrumental in laying the groundwork for the likes of Tweetie and Tweetbot, and the The Iconfactory’s work is a shining example of how third-party devs can enhance a service like Twitter and make the experience better for the user. Without Twitterrific, the Twitter app landscape would probably look very different.
Last week, The Iconfactory announced the upcoming release of Twitterrific 5, a totally new redesign on the iPhone and iPad. I’ve been playing with the new app for the past week, and it has now gone live for everyone in the App Store. After taking it for a test run and speaking with The Iconfactory, I can easily call Twitterrific 5 the best version of the first Twitter app.
Although a bag fancier, there have not been many backpacks in my life that I have cared for. There was a plastic Optimus Prime knapsack when I was six that was pretty boss, and I traveled through over three dozen countries in my early 20s lugging around an 80 pound rucksack, but otherwise, backpacks are the accomplice of unpleasant memories: of inexplicable and unpublished high school rules of coolness dictating the correct number of straps to use in order to silently advertise your relative merit on the cosmic scale of “phat”-ness; of bags torn from my shoulders by laughing cromagnons and tossed into open sewers.
Worse? I think backpacks look dumb on adult men. I know there’s a vocal brotherhood who thinks that any bag on a man looks dumb, but at least I know that a messenger bag or satchel is as much a conscious fashion decision as it is a utilitarian method of hauling around your stuff. A backpack, though, makes even the most slender-of-hip, effortlessly dressed and stubbled metrosexual look as if he were a be-moobed 13 year old gasping and wheezing his way home after school with a backpack overstuffed with text books and X-Men comics. And I should know, because I was that 13 year old.
But backpacks have their purpose, and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve become a little more enamored with their practicality. They are easier on the back, and easier to lug around while biking. If only they didn’t look so ridiculous.
Enter the HEX Drake Origin, a fashionable backpack with a slim form factor that is none the less big enough to fit a 15-inch MacBook, and even has a dedicated pocket for a 10-inch iPad. This is a backpack I not only like; I’m not embarassed to wear it.
Keen internet users might already be familiar with speedtest.net, the website that lets you check exactly how fast your internet connection is. Now it’s available as an app too.
Carbon fiber tripods are great, aren’t they? They’re slim on weight, and if they’re built well, are steady as an oak. Problem is, good ones can cost $600-$800 dollars, and unless you’re regularly shooting for cash, it’s hard to justify spending that kind of cheese.
So when Manfrotto asked me to check out their 290-series MT294C3 carbon fiber tripod ($250 legs only, $319 with 3-Way Pan/Tilt Head as I reviewed it) I pointed at them, stroked my mustache, and said, absolutely. Manfrotto’s a known name in the photo world, but would their new series of affordable carbon-hewn tripods be worthy of their pedigree? I set out to see.
This is the C.VOX, a coat with a built-in sound system so you can listen to stuff anywhere you go, while you’re going there. It’s kind of cool and kind of weird. I’ve been wearing it for the last wintry week or so here in the UK, and here’s what it’s like to own one.
Gifted is a one dollar gift-management app for iOS, that helps you track all the gifts for all the people at all the events you might have to deal with. It works, no doubt about that; but using it, I found myself shrinking away from the whole idea. This is not what gift-giving is all about, in my opinion.
Marvin is a neat little e-book reader for iOS – free for now, but likely to cost about $2 by next week. It’s packed with useful features for serious readers and students, plus some ingenious new ideas we’ve not seen in other e-book reading apps.
New on the store this week is Etsy for iOS, and it’s beautifully done. Taking cues from apps like Flipboard and sites like Pinterest, Etsy is an exceptionally neat way of browsing and buying from the site that’s full of interesting hand-made things.
Longtime Apple executive Bob Mansfield just had a big pay day, according to a new filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Mansfield just cashed in 35,000 shares of Apple stock valued at $582.21 per share, earning him $20.37 million.
After announcing his retirement but then staying on at Apple to lead the company’s mysterious new “Technologies” group, Mansfield now reports directly to CEO Tim Cook. He’s just as instrumental to the company’s success as ever.
Something as simple as a good calendar app can make all the difference.
When Flexibits launched Fantastical on the Mac back in May of 2011, I started actually using iCal to make sense of the hectic mess that is my daily schedule. Fast forward to today, and Fantastical is an app I still can’t live without. I was ecstatic when Flexibits sent me an early copy of Fantastical for iPhone to try out, and I’m pleased to report that it is everything you would expect and more. Apple’s Calendar app just got dethroned again.
From the guys at MyBanana, this iPhone 5 sleeve is handmade in Israel from soft wool felt that’s designed to protect your handset while “keeping it fashionable and stylish.” Not only does it house your iPhone, but there’s also a handy pocket that’ll hold onto your credit cards and cash.
It’s priced at just £15 (about $24) and comes in grey and black, grey and magenta, and grey and turquoise. It’s cheap, then, but is it any good?
Power! It’s the stuff I’m always hunting for in the halls of conventions, like the upcoming 2013 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). For you see, when you’re multi-touching your iPhone 5 morning, noon, and night, a once-a-day charge isn’t going to cut it.
So this year, when I’m gadget-hunting on the floors of CES, in my bag I’ll definitely be carrying the Mophie Juice Pack Powerstation ($79). It’s tiny, looks great (more on that in a sec), and will charge a dying iPhone 5 up to two times. Yes sir, in my short time with it thus far, I reckon it’s already become one of my favorite new iPhone accessories.
I swore that I would never put a case on my iPhone 5. Then I accidentally nicked the shiny antenna frame. Ever since that dreadful moment, I’ve been on the search for the perfect iPhone case. That’s how I stumbled onto Grove.
For about two weeks, I’ve been using Grove’s bamboo case for the iPhone 5, and it has been a bittersweet experience.
Minecraft fans might be interested in Minecraft Reality, a two-dollar app that popped up in the Store last week. It lets you insert Minecraft-created 3D models into the real world, which sounds pretty cool. But it has some limitations.
I’ve stayed in some pretty nasty hotels in my time, but none of them ever quite got as bad as Bad Hotel.
Bad Hotel is bad in the sense that I wouldn’t want to stay there. Too many bad guys trying to smash it down all the time. Unusual, for hotels, but there you go.
As a game, though, Bad Hotel is fantastic. It’s brilliantly different. It doesn’t care what you think of its weirdness. It’s there to entertain, and does so with charm and wit.
I didn’t expect Card Now to actually make me laugh, but it did. The idea of a business card-conjuring trick app made me shiver with horror – why would I inflict such a thing on other people?
But the reality, when I tried it out, was hilarious. When I “magically” pulled a freshly-printed business card off of my phone’s screen and into the real world, people’s reactions were delightful. I ended up laughing out loud.
After months of silence, big accessory makers are finally starting to rollout products for Apple’s Lightning dock connector just in time for the holidays. One such example is Griffin’s new PowerJolt SE car charger. The cord plugs into your car’s 12 volt power outlet and channels 10 watts of juice to your Lightning-equipped iOS device.
My iPhone would die if I couldn’t charge it in the car. I’ve been using a 30-pin Belkin charger with Apple’s Lightning adapter since I got my iPhone 5, but Griffin sent me the new PowerJolt SE last week.
At long last, a full year after its iPhone debut, the Call of Duty Elite app (free) has finally made its way to the iPad. I can finally view my Xbox Live carnage on my iPad 3’s big, beautiful, retina display screen. But besides peeping kill counts, this freshly minted app also introduces some very interesting new features.
As expected, Nokia has unleashed its own maps app for iOS, under the brand name Here. If you’re not Here already, where do you want to be? And can Here take you there?
I bought a 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display this summer, and I’m absolutely in love with it. I firmly believe that it’s the best laptop Apple has ever made, and it has totally changed my workflow.
One of the main qualities of the Retina MacBook Pro is its portability. It’s crazy thin. I carry this laptop with me everywhere, and I knew when I bought it that I needed something to help keep it protected.
I’ve been using Mujjo’s wool MacBook sleeve nonstop for the past couple months, and I couldn’t be more pleased.
Roger Dean is famous for his fantasy world artwork, which graced many a record sleeve and book cover during the 1970s and 80s. His work is iconic and instantly recognisable to a generation.
This app – Dragon’s Dream – is an unfortunate foray into iOS. It fails to do justice to Dean’s skill as an artist, and fails to offer iOS gamers an experience worth five dollars.
