Threadless, the online tshirt company best known for its community-designed apparel, is expanding into iPhone cases.
Threadless has teamed up with Griffin, the long-time maker of fine Apple accessories, to offer a pair of iPhone cases designed by members of its community.
The two limited-edition cases — Clouds within the Thunder by Joe Van Wetering; and Birds of a Feather by Ross Zietz — are both available now at Apple Stores for $34.99.
No word though on whether Threadless is going to open up iPhone case design to the masses. I’ve put in a call to Griffin PR to find out, and will update here.
Eighteen-year-old English entrepreneur Ed Nash has come up with a 99-cent iPhone app that claims to use Fibonacci’s golden ratio to scientifically determine whether or not a face is aesthetically pleasing. Just snap a photo of the hapless subject, adjust the anchor points, hit the button and viola, instant decision.
Fit or Fugly’s App Store page suggests you use it “to break the ice at dinner parties.” Sure. But we’re going to suggest “the ice” isn’t the only thing that’ll get broken when your iPhone decides the girl sitting next to you is “fugly.”
Top-selling titles include Friday Night Lights, iSpy Game, iReferee, Pet Peeves (a social network for griping pictured above), iSexyRef2, Pro Rodeo Fan, Sit Up Counter and Shake 2 Count.
CoM had a quick word with owner Brice Milliorn about the sale, what’s next for him and how he sees the future of apps.
CoM: Was JBMJBM sold?
BM: No, I have not sold company or apps yet. I am in talks with one guy about buying me out via stock, but it doesn’t look promising.
CoM: What plans to you have to sell it now?
BM: No plans to sell again, just going to continue doing what I am doing and do more freelance work as well.
CoM: What changes would you like to see in Apple’s app store?
BM: I don’t have a problem with Apple, you follow their guidelines you get things approved, simple as that. The few items that I have had issue with them, they called explained, I fixed and it got approved. I even wrote the number down and called the guy back a few times when I was having issues and within a few hours it was fixed.
CoM: Where do you think the future of app development is headed?
BM: I think the future of the iPhone is opening it up to Verizon. That will be another huge influx of potential app buyers and I look forward to this happening.
I also believe all this hype on the Droid and all those other handsets that will ultimately never get to the level of the iPhone. The only company to match the iPhone and better it is Apple itself.
I’m always wondering how many Onion vodcasts I’ll get though while waiting in line at the DMV before before my iPhone’s battery shuts down and leaves me staring at the back of the bald guy’s head in front of me.
Not only will Battery Gauge tell me that, say the folks over at Tap Mode, but it’ll also crunch the numbers and give you an idea of how long I have remaining for any of the other myriad activities the iPhone is good for, like audio playback, connecting to the Internet and yammering on the phone. It’ll also reveal how much standby time is left.
Battery Gauge figures all this out by monitoring your iPhone use, and apparently needs to watch you through just one single charge-cycle.
Not bad for a buck. Also works with the iPod Touch.
We’ve written before in this space about Apple’s unique status as a Muse to creative people. In fact, the initial impulse for this post was a search for striking pieces of art created on the iPhone.
Those are out there, too, in droves — and we’ll be featuring them soon in another gallery post.
Today, however, we bring you something we didn’t quite expect to find: a series of art pieces that shed a bit of perspective on the dark side of Apple.
MagicHour is a world clock app with great information presentation.
In one screen, the app displays a wealth of info about time, daylight stages and moon phases in different cities. Edward Tufte would cream his pants. All world clocks should be like this.
Are you looking for a way to keep you iPod or iPhone charged, but not happy with the bulky options out there? PhoneSuit introduces the Primo battery, a compact mini battery unit that attached to your dock connector port. The unit’s 800mAh battery claims to power your iPod for up to 45 hours of music playback, or three hours of talk time on your iPhone 3G. The lithium-ion battery is good for 500 charges, according to PhoneSuit.
To charge the Primo, simply use the included USB cable to plug into any USB 2.0 or USB 1.1 outlet. A LED meter displays the battery’s remaining charge – when the LED turns blue you are fully charged.
The Primo costs $35 per unit or $89.95 for a three-pack. The mini charger comes with a 1-year warranty.
The 21-year-old Australian behind the first iPhone virus got a death threat, media interviews and job offers as the result of his efforts.
Ashley Towns, who said the result was an “experiment that got out of hand,” created a worm that switches iPhone wallpaper for an image of 80s pop singer Rick Astley. Astley, who sang the 1987 hit “Never Gonna Give You Up,” who morphed into the Internet prank known as “Rickrolling.” The bait-and-switch worm replaces an ordinary video with one of Astley.
Here’s how it happened:
“I was reading a blog that said in bold letters to change your passwords and I wondered how many had.”
It turned out that most of the people on his network had not.
“So I started writing it from there. I stayed up all night and when I was half asleep I decided to test it.
“I didn’t really think about legal consequences at the time. I honestly never expected it to go this far.
“I thought it would spread to no more than 10 or 15 people.”
Let’s say you’ve got $30 grand to blow on a gold and diamond iPhone but the idea of just buying one without the thrill of an auction bores you.
Two of these tricked out iPhones are up for sale from “bespoke luxury communications” (read: cell phones that go bling-bling along with ring-ring) purveyor Stuart Hughes on BillionaireXchange.com, a site that launched this week billing itself as the first online marketplace for, uh, billionaires.
The pink 3GS model above, coated in 18-carat solid rose gold, was designed entirely by hand and dusted with 53 pink diamonds on the Apple logo. Each phone takes four craftsmen months to make. If that’s too girly, there’s also the 22-carat gold model with a white diamond logo.
Retail price for both? Nearly £22,000 ($36,000). Starting bid on the auction site is £18,000 ($30,000).
Both auctions say the reserve price has already been met, so maybe diamond-encrusted iPhones aren’t the white elephants of the aughts.
The V-Moda Vibe II with Microphone fits this explanation so exquisitely, you might well see them being whipped out as a teaching aid by your Latin instructor when the above phrase comes up.
Carpe diem. (Seize the day. Best way would be by clicking on the link for the rest of the review.)
November 11th is internationally recognised as a day of Remembrance; in the US it’s Veterans Day, and here in the UK is known as Armistice Day or Remembrance Day.
iPhone ‘worms’ haven’t been much of a threat till now. However, things have changed with a new malware, discovered by Mac security firm Intego. Identified as iPhone/Privacy.A, it is a major threat for the privacy of many jailbroken iPhone users who have installed and activated SSH. Note: Non-jailbroken phones are not affected by it.
This malware acts through the SSH just like the others. It infects through client software installed on an attacking Mac, PC or even iPhone, which scans for jailbroken iPhones nearby. If they are vulnerable, they are then injected with the malware using the default filesystem password.
Previous exploits like iKee just changed the lockscreen background but after injection, this new malware copies private data, such as contacts, e-mail, contacts, SMSs, calendars, photos, music files, videos, which it then sends back to the source machine. It is even possible to send it as a malware to a Mac or PC which will then scan and copy the information from nearby jailbroken iPhones or iPod Touch and then send back to the source.
Even though it is not widespread yet, the amount of information it steals is a great deal. Intego currently recommends it’s own solution, Virus Barrier X5, which detects and removes this malware from a Mac but as far as other platforms are concerned, there’s currently no solution. This means that there is a high chance you can be affected as well. Therefore, we recommend you to take a simple precautionary step by changing the filesystem password on your jailbroken iPhones with SSH installed or turning SSH off when not in use with the help of SBSettings available in Cydia.
Are you tired of the giggles elicited by your upscale friends when you whip out your zebra-striped iPhone that burps each time a call is received? Maybe your handset needs a classier grill rather than yet another skin? If that’s the case, we might have your ticket to the technological upper-class: the Appstand.
Positioned as a great $20 Christmas gift for the iPhone 3G or 3GS owner, the Appstand from Thunk let’s you display your handset in the provided frame and start a series of calming slideshows (how about the sounds of wind or the lapping water from a koi pond?) It’s enough to make a subdued BlackBerry look downright scandalous.
LocFinder is an augmented reality app that boasts it will always let you see which direction is home or find your car, even if you’re halfway across the world.
LocFinder costs $0.99 on iTunes and while isn’t the first augmented reality app to tackle parking lot amnesia — we recently wrote about Car Finder — it sounds like a compass on steroids.
It has a bevy of features that may end those ping-pong SMS messages to set up a meeting, make stopping to ask for directions a non-issue even when you’re lost in Paris — or let you know exactly how far away you are from Cupertino at all times.
The Touch project built a prototype RFID-equipped iPhone that used proximity to physical objects to trigger media playback: http://www.nearfield.org/2009/04/iphone-rfid-nfc
If rumors that Apple is adding an RFID reader to the iPhone are true, it’s huge!
An RFID reader would turn the iPhone into an e-wallet — allowing you to pay for everything, from a cup of coffee to a subway ride. It could also turn the iPhone into an ID card, a security access system and an electronic ticketing device.
It’s could also function as an easy and secure online shopping system that doesn’t require you to enter your credit card number.
Your iPhone could unlock your car, pick up e-coupons at the local mall, and pay for all your supermarket groceries just by laying it on top of the checkout.
Imagine if such a system was enabled on your iPhone. It would supplant your wallet — if enough retailers adopted the system, of course.
Transport in Switzerland not only runs on time, but you can buy tickets with your iPhone.
The latest version of the SBB mobile app lets travelers buy e-tickets for trains and all public transport, so you can get off the train in Lugano and catch a bus for Mendrisio without missing a beat.
Users first register with the railway company site to buy tickets via credit card for trains and buses, including day and bike passes.
The app, offered gratis on iTunes, comes in German, French, Italian and English. It also offers timetables, a “take me home” GPS function and has a crowd predictor so you know when to stop in a cafe and wait for the next one.
“My relationship with Apple has been long standing, but it’s a roller coaster ride,” he told web site Kotaku. “At the highest level of Apple, in their heart of hearts,” Carmack said. “They’re not proud of the iPhone being a game machine, they wish it was something else.”
However, the popularity of gaming on the iPhone has forced Apple to think different(ly).
And, now that former collaborator Graeme Devine has gone to work for the iPhone Game Technologies division, iPhone games may get the respect they deserve.
Carmack calls Devine his “man on the inside…a real developer and I understand everything he is saying.”
Via Kotaku
Pssst: If you want to get in on the iPhone app business, there’s one for sale on eBay.
The starting bid for JBMJBM, LLC. — an app factory with 87 approved ones so far — is $100,000 and ends Saturday, Nov. 14
Top-selling titles include Friday Night Lights, iSpy Game, iReferee, iSexyRef (pictured above, which helps muddled sports fans remember the rules), iSexyRef2, Pro Rodeo Fan, Sit Up Counter and Shake 2 Count.
Buy the developer out and you get 87 applications currently listed on iTunes plus all application assets which include source code files, website files and all collateral.
This is a great idea, and bound to go down very well with your kids.
Balloons is simple: you launch a virtual balloon into the air from your phone. You add a photo and a text message to the label that dangles below the balloon, and send it off.
Anyone with the Balloons app can catch that balloon and add their own message. If you shell out for the paid version, you can track the balloons you’ve launched and see what other people have added to them.
To celebrate and set things off, we’ve created a Cult of Mac balloon for you to catch. It’s purple with green stripes, and has a photo of the Cult home page at the top. If you catch it, let us know what you think about Balloons.
This is a particularly friendly application. I can see school classes all over the world launching balloons to make contacts in other schools. And Shiny development have wisely kept the choice of balloons fairly limited to start with; I wouldn’t be surprised to see custom balloons appearing soon, as an in-app purchase.
CoM: Can you use the app during take off and landing?
MBC: Unfortunately, passengers cannot use any electronic device – including the iPhone in airplane mode – during take-off and landing but the app is developed to prepare users for flight whereby making the brief “no electronics” period at the beginning and end of the flight more manageable.
The panic button is intended to be used during the flight when turbulence is encountered or other events occur which make the user uncomfortable.
I really like Stacks on my Mac. Stacks makes it fast and easy to find files, folders and apps right from the Dock. It makes managing a Mac pretty slick with all sorts of little UI tricks. That’s why I recently gave MobileStack a go on my jailbroken iPhone.
I must say that it lives up to the challenge of making an interface that is intuitive and user friendly enough for the small iPhone screen. In fact, it’s definitely the best excuse to jailbreak.
An Estonian website claimed Tuesday to have broken news of a major bug in iPhone’s Safari app that could put unsuspecting iPhone users at risk of running up huge bills with their cellular service providers in certain cases.
The danger appears related to Safari’s failure to close connections with web servers that run Motion JPEG to stream video over the Internet. In the case where an iPhone user uses Safari to browse, for example, to the webcam on the island of Keri and then closes Safari in favor of another app or simply returns to the iPhone’s home screen, data continues to stream over the phone’s 3G or EDGE connection from the Motion JPEG-running server.
The Estonian report claims to have been able to run up over 740MB of data transfer in a little over an hour in this manner and that the only way to get Safari to properly sever the data link is to browse to another site before closing the app.
The bug would appear to affect only those iPhone users who do not pay for ‘unlimited data’ as part of their standard service plan, and thus poses no risk to at&t subscribers using their phones in the US, or to many European users with similar plans in their home countries.
With the rise of limited data plans in some countries, however, and in the case of users traveling with iPhones overseas using limited International Data plans, this could cause a real problem.
A request for comment from Apple PR remained unanswered at press time.
George Hotz a.k.a GeoHot has released blackra1n RC3, which is an update to a 1-click jailbreak that adds activation options and an add-on blacksn0w, which unlocks latest iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS baseband version 05.11.07. To use blacksn0w, make sure you have this new baseband (check under Settings –> General –> About –> Modem Firmware) and if not, then update to a stock 3.1.2 firmware.
It is pretty easy to use and worked perfectly with my iPhone 3G. Besides the tool, there’s a blackra1n application that gets automatically installed on the iPhone after jailbreak, which gives you option to install Cydia and some other alternatives like RockYourPhone and the ‘sn0w’ option to use blacksn0w unlock solution as well.
Please note that if you have an iPhone 2G, you can still jailbreak using blackra1n but blacksn0w will not unlock for you. You must use BootNeuter available in Cydia for that purpose. Also, if you purchased an iPhone 3GS or iPod Touch (any capacity) in October or later, there is a high probability that you have a new model. Blackra1n currently performs only a tethered jailbreak for these new devices, which means you need to use blackra1n every time you boot the device, otherwise all your jailbreak data gets wiped.
