BlackBerry has been going through a bit of a rough patch the last few years. The iPhone and Android stole the smartphone market from beneath their feet, and its recent product launches have been incredibly underwhelming.
Things are looking bad for BlackBerry, but it’s totally not going to let these last few years of mediocrity get to it though. In fact, BlackBerry’s CEO thinks his company just needs to weather the storm while everyone is going through this iPad-fad thing.
In a recent interview, BlackBerry’s CEO, Thorsten Heins said that he sees a limited future for tablet computers, and we’ll probably stop using them in a couple years.
Putting a sweet decal on your MacBook’s lid is cool and all, but if you’re looking to take things to another level with your MacBook decorating skills, maybe you you should try cutting some artwork into it with a laser.
The process of laser cutting artwork into your MacBook’s lid isn’t easy, but the people over at Uncover will do it for you. You can get almost any design cut into your MacBook, but Uncover requires that you send in your MacBook to be beautified, or just buy a new one through them so they can customize it before sending it out to you.
The results are pretty stunning, and it will definitely help you stand out at a college or your next IT conference.
Here’s a peek at some of the cool laser-cut artwork others have had Uncover do for them:
When the VLC iOS app was pulled from the App Store in 2011, a little part of me died inside. I own a large collection of movies in different file formats, and VLC is my go-to media player for files that aren’t supported by QuickTime and iTunes. While there’s hope that VLC will return to the App Store, I’m not holding my breath. And I don’t really care anymore because I’ve found something better.
Infuse by FireCore Category: Entertainment Works With: iPhone, iPad Price: $4.99
For several months I’ve been beta testing an iOS app called Infuse. Support for 14+ file formats, an intuitive interface, and some slick details make Infuse the best third-party media player out there.
Ever tried to record a selfie on Vine? Normally, it’s been a pain in the ass ever since the app came out, because you couldn’t use your iPhone’s front-facing camera, but times are a changin’ as the app is now ready to help you record all your vain selfies from the comfort of your front-facing camera.
The days of awkwardly clutching your iPhone infront of you while pressing the record button on the other side are over. A new version of Vine just hit the App Store and it includes the ability to use the front-facing camera on your iPhone. Oh, and you can finally mention people in posts and comments now too.
The free update for Vine 1.1 is available in the App Store now.
Jawbone has today launched a new platform for iOS that allows third-party apps to work with your Up wristband. The API is called the Up Platform, and provides access to all of your fitness data, including steps, calories, and distance traveled.
The Up Platform has already been integrated into ten iOS apps, including IFTTT, LoseIt, Maxwell Health, MapMyFitness, MyFitnessPal, Notch, RunKeeper, Sleepio, Wello, and Withings.
Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov has revealed that he recently spent $100 million on Apple shares in anticipation that they will rebound. The 59-year-old believes that Apple is a “very promising” investment, despite the current share price being almost 40% off its peak last September.
Popular jailbreak tweak biteSMS just got a new update that introduces a quick compose widget to your iPhone’s Notification Center. The feature promises to be a simple and convenient way to send text messages in a pinch.
Boost Mobile is to begin prepaid iPhone sales during the third quarter of 2013, according to information leaked on Twitter. Boost would become the third prepaid provider to offer Apple’s popular device, following its introduction to Cricket and Virgin Mobile in 2012.
The latest Lensbaby in the lineup is the Edge 80 optic, a plug-in 80mm blur-tastic chunk of glass for your existing Lensbaby body. It offers the same movable sweet-spot of all other Lensbabies, but in a portrait-friendly length.
What if your local coffee shop offered free phone charging along with free Wi-Fi? What do you mean, it already does? Yeah, sure, you can plug your phone in while you sip your delicious cup of pour-over, but you still have to bring your own charger.
ChargeAll’s answer is to sell multi-point charging stations to store owners, and have them provide the service to their customers.
Spotdox is combo Mac app and iOS-accessible web-service which lets you access any file on your computer via Dropbox. That is, you can even get remote access to files which are in, say, your movies folder as long as your Mac is running. How? Magic.
MirrorCase: Handy tool for meetings and lectures, or creepy accessory to help snap pictures of people without them ever knowing (until they find them on some revenge porn site, I guess)? The answer is a resounding “both!” Find out why…
This cute little iPhone 5 case comes from Poketo, and not only coddles the iPhone within but also packs slots for your cash and cards. The twist here is that the cards sit safely on the inside instead of in a set of rear-cut slots on the back, and the whole thing snaps shut with a clicky clasp.
WordEver is neat new iPad text editor with a big gimmick: the keyboard. Instead of using Apple’s built-in keyboard,it has a custom version which is both good and bad. Good, because it brings some geniunely useful features to the iPad. Bad, because it can be hard to type and lacks auto-correct, which is why the original version of this first paragraph was so bad.
It’s a bit of a challenge to describe Spreecast in a nutshell — hence the clumsy headline.
Watching the service is sort of like eavesdropping on a videochat between a small group of people; only you can also interact with other viewers, and the videochatters (I hereby coin this word) themselves, through live (text) comments. Spreecast has been used by a bunch of big organizations and famous people — a few standout examples include Reese Witherspoon, The Wall Street Journal, VH1 — to broadcast conversations and interviews. Of course, peons like me (or you) can also use Spreecast to broadcast our own chatter.
Spreecast is old news, since it’s been around since late 2011; but now it’s available as an iPhone app.
Previously teased as an untitled Mystery Game, Anomaly 2 is releasing in just a couple of weeks. Coming May 15th for Mac (and PC, Linux), this real time strategy/tower offense game is the sequel to the 11 Bit Studios’ previous efforts, Anomaly: Warzone Earth and Anomaly Korea, both originally made for iOS.
If you pre-order now, you’ll get two copies of the game, one for you and one for a friend, for $13.49, which is 10 percent off the final retail price of $14.99. You can grab this special deal at Steam or the official Anomaly 2 game site. However, before you head off to Steam, the devs promise an extra gift come launch day if you order directly from them. So, there’s that.
Consumer Reports, the popular magazine and website for figuring out what consumers think about all sorts of products and services, just published its annual reader survey on computer tech support.
Apple not only claimed the top spot in the list this year, beating out all other computer manufacturers, it got an even better score than it did in last year’s survey.
Jay Freeman, the creator of Cydia, at JailbreakCon last year.
JailbreakCon, the only convention dedicated solely to the iOS jailbreak community, took place last summer in San Francisco, California. We brought you on-the-ground reporting from the convention floor, including profiles of people like pod2g, the luckiest jailbreak hacker in the world.
Now JailbreakCon is coming to New York City on August 23rd-24th.
Last week, Apple announced its plans to return $100 billion in stock to investors over the next few years. The increase more than doubled Apple’s original capital return program of $45 billion. Quarterly dividend payments also increased 15%, or $3.05 per common share.
Apple may have a huge cash pile, but even the world’s most valuable company will have to go into debt to finance a return program of this size. It’s the first time Apple has borrowed since 1996.
Donald Trump thinks Apple should increase the iPhone’s screen size… or else. The real estate tycoon talked about how much he wants a larger iPhone on his Facebook page today. If Apple doesn’t wise up and release a phablet, The Trump says the company will “lose a lot of business.”
As the CEO of Square, and co-founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey has quickly become one of Silicon Valley’s most admired CEOs. His Square payment system is quickly changing the way consumers buy things, and it’s making businesses and consumers interact on a more personal level.
Square’s goal is to make payments quicker and easier for both business and consumers, so the company has an intense interest in wearable tech. When asked in a recent interview whether he thinks Google Glass is an interesting product, Dorsey answered that he doesn’t see much value in Google Glass right now, but he’s intrigued by devices that wrap around the wrist – like Apple’s rumored iWatch – because they feel more natural.
When asked whether he’s looked into Google Glass, Dorsey had the following to say:
Working at the Apple Store has its benefits. You get sweet discounts on Macs and iPhones. You get to talk about Apple products all day. And you get an endless supply of cool Apple t-shirts.
A Genius Bar employee posted the photo above of all the t-shirt’s he’s received while working for the Apple Store at the Westchester Mall in New York. There’s 45 t-shirts total, though Apple’s had many more that aren’t pictured. Which one has been your favorite?
Not only is your iPad the greatest time-killer of all-time, but while you’re busy playing games, writing emails, taking pictures, and tweeting, you’re also creating some abstract artwork with each tap and swipe.
Artists Andre Woolery and Victor AbiJaoudi noticed that each iPad app reveals a different pattern of swipes and taps that form a unique piece of artwork. In their collaboration series called Invisible Hieroglyphics, the duo highlight all of the hidden masterpieces you never knew you were making, by tracking the gestures and swipes on the iPad screen and translating them into artwork on acrylic glass you can hang on your wall.
Here’s a look at some of the invisible paintings you create everyday:
Sometimes, a product can really sneak into your heart. Such was the HEX Drake Origin backpack, which I gave a positive review.
Cabana Laptop Duffel by HEX Category: Laptop bag Works With: Up to 15-inch laptops Price: $100
Although I loved it from the first for being a backpack that a fashionably-inclined, full-grown man could wear without looking like a slobbering, buffoonish manchild — no mean feat — the Drake Origin has become even fonder to me in the months since, until I found that I was more inclined to hoist it up onto my shoulder as I left the house than I was some of my other cherished messenger and satchel bags.
What I loved about the HEX Drake Origin wasn’t just its incredibly solid stitching and construction, but the way it made me feel when I picked it up, I felt as if I suddenly went back in time, and becamed a dandyish Oxford student in the 1910s lugging a tweed backpack full of natural philosophy texts across a blustery, autumn-strewn quad. This may seem precious, and is in fact precious, but the way we all look at fashion is through the romanticized lens of nostalgia. Fashion is a way we tell other people a story about ourselves, and I liked the story I thought the HEX Drake Origins told about me.
I don’t feel the same way about the HEX Cabana Laptop Duffel, but it’s not really the bag’s fault. If the Drake turned me into an Oxford student from a hundred years ago, the Cabana Laptop Duffel turns me into that Oxford student’s girlfriend on a day out at the beach. It’s a very feminine bag that I love, but perhaps not the right bag for me.
iPhone theft has become a hugeproblem. Mayor Bloomberg says if it weren’t for Apple’s shiny devices getting stolen so frequently, crime in NYC would have gone down slightly in 2012.
Despite the best efforts of the boys in blue, catching iPhone thieves is hard work. Police really haven’t gotten too much better at it, so they’re changing their target. To get iPhone thieves off the streets, cops in San Francisco are trying a new tactic: rather than waiting around on subways trying to catch thieves in the act of stealing iPhones, The Fuzz has started trapping the buyers of stolen iPhones.
