LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – This is one of those simple ideas we’re surprised no one has come up with before. The PhotoFast i-FlashDrive HD is a flash drive with two different interfaces at each end — one 30-pin, one USB — that makes it super-easy to tranfer files between a desktop and anything with a 30-pin connector. It’ll also work with a Lightning connector through a Lightning adapter.
Move over, Mojang! The Blockheads, inspired by such open-world exploration games as Mojang’s certified hit, Minecraft, is the best implementation of the genre yet, out Minecrafting even the official Minecraft game released for iOS some time ago.
You start the game as either a single or 2 player experience. The two player game promises online multiplayer with voice chat via Game Center, while the single player is what I’ve spent my afternoon messing with on both my iPhone and iPad mini. It’s seriously sticky, with all the kinds of things that made me sink hundreds of hours into the Mac version of Minecraft a couple of years ago. There’s crafting and mining, day and night cycles, sleep, a huge open world to explore, and more.
Rumors have been saying that Apple is gearing up to launch an iTunes music subscription service in 2013. The product has clearly been years in the making, and Steve Jobs was apparently being pitched the idea a decade ago.
Jimmy Iovine is the CEO of Beats, Dr. Dre’s bumpin headphone line. Iovine has a long history in the music industry, and he previously ran Interscope records. Back in the early days of iTunes, Iovine visited Apple to pitch his idea for a Spotify-like music subscription to Steve Jobs.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – After four trips to CES, it’s not often I find a gadget that ambushes me straight out of left field; this one comes from the bleachers. And judging by all the buzz that’s erupted at the show and on the blogosphere about this ungainly Bluetooth utensil variously referred to as the HAPIfork, HapiFork or Hapifork (we went with the latter), I’m not the only one.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – I was so impressed by Simplism neat case lineup that I thought I’d post a few pictures of the Japanese company’s wares, even though it’s still looking for an international distributor.
Below you will see the wonders of a case made to look like wood; the world’s thinnest iPhone 5 case, a clever Smart-Cover-locking, over-the-shoulder rear skin for the iPad and and a screen protector and cover which heal if they are scratched.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – I love my Jambox, but I’m always perplexed why I can’t charge my iPhone using it. After all, it’s essentially a big battery brick with a speaker attached… why can’t I siphon some juice off the top?
The answer is that, in reality, the Jambox has a pretty tiny battery. It’s good for powering a speaker, but it would die pretty quick if you tried to juice an iPhone or (heaven!) an iPad with it. The JBL Charge, though, remedies that problem: it’s a great sounding Jambox-style speaker with a massive battery inside.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – Once, a few years ago, I begged my dad to let me set him up with an email address. “Don’t do it now, I’m moving,” he said with a baffled look on his face. For my dad, whose familiarity with technology went little further than his solar-powered calculator, Flicpost would have been awesome.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – Most Bluetooth speakers are pitched as being ideal for taking out onto the patio for barbecues and parties. But none of them is really loud enough. And that’s where Samson’s new Expedition Express Bluetooth PA comes in. It’s a Bluetooth speaker which is so powerful that it runs off a 12-volt motorcycle battery.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – We’re a big fan of wireless Bluetooth speakers like the Jambox, but let’s face it: for most people, they are both too expensive, and too much of a pain in the butt to remember to pair and unpair. When NFC sees broad adoption, the latter will change, and you’ll be able to play from a wireless speaker just by laying it on top of the device.
Why wait for NFC, though? RCA of all companies is here at CES with a super cool new speaker line called the Soundflow, and it can play music from any smartphone or tablet just by laying it on top of the speaker. Best of all? The technology is so cheap that for the price of one Jambox, you could buy five or six Soundflows.
University vending machines usually dispense soda and junk food, not $1,000 MacBooks. At Drexel University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a kiosk in the library spits out MacBooks free of charge for students to borrow and return five hours later. The kiosk is part of an experiment to gauge interest and see if more MacBook and iPad dispensers should be installed around campus.
Students who don’t want to carry a laptop out of their dorm room can use the self-service kiosk 24 hours a day in the school’s Hagerty Library. A dozen 15-inch MacBooks are available and can be checked out by anyone with a Drexel ID for up to five hours. There’s a $5 late fee for every hour a MacBook is kept out longer than the allotted rental time.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – With so many companies competing for attention, there’s plenty of clever, crazy and just plain weird here at the Consumer Electronics Show. Take the gentleman above: his real name is Gary Fisher but his stage name is Sir Gaga. He claims to be the most photographed performer in Las Vegas. For those of you who like his style, he also has a fashion company called Nazrat (Tarzan spelled backwards)
If you own a relatively recent Android device, it’s likely to support a nifty feature called DLNA, which allows you to stream content directly from your device to a whole host of compatible devices, including televisions, stereos, and Sony’s PlayStation 3. It’s very similar to AirPlay, only it supports a far greater range of devices, and doesn’t require an Apple TV.
Well now you can enjoy DLNA streaming on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch thanks to Skifta, a new iOS app from Qualcomm Atheros.
Apple has settled a lawsuit with Swiss photographer Sabine Liewald over the alleged misuse of a photograph of an eyeball that the Cupertino company used during a keynote presentation for its Retina MacBook Pro. News of the settlement came in an order of dismissal issued by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday, January 3, but the terms of the deal are unclear at this point.
I’m a big fan of Loop Attachment’s Mummy cases for iPhone 4/4S and iPhone 5; I’ve reviewed them both in the past and found them to be two of the best silicone cases you can get for Apple’s smartphone. And so I’m delighted that the Mummy for iPad mini has finally be unveiled at CES in Las Vegas this week — alongside a nifty clip for the latest iPod nano.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – Last year, I gave my friend Rachel — a NYC singer/songwriter/comedian with an impressive array of musical proficiencies — my old iPad 2 as a gift. It was her first tablet, or even touchscreen device. I worried she wouldn’t know what to do with it, so when she opened the box and gave me an inquisitive cock of the eyebrow, I told her that the very first thing she needed to do with it was install Garage Band.
To this day, I think it was Garage Band that is the real gift to Rachel, not the actual iPad. Using Garage Band, she can quickly jot out a song idea on the road, or even fully record a fantastic mix, all from a device small enough to fit in her purse. There’s only one trade-off: you have to use the touchscreen. There’s no physical instrument as portable as the iPad to take on the road with you.
That’s where the Jamstik comes in. A product so new and in-concept it doesn’t even have a distributor yet, it’s one of our favorite products of CES. It’s a tiny, ukelele-sized guitar with real strings that connects to your iPad over WiFi, and not only can you use it to record or even perform with your iPad, but it can also teach you how to play the guitar… or serve for an impromptu game of Guitar Hero.
ZeptoLab released Pudding Monsters, its first iOS title since its success with Cut the Rope, back in December. But it hasn’t finished its original physics-based puzzler just yet. The company just released an update on iOS that introduces a brand new box of content with 25 new levels.
Isn’t it annoying when your iPhone rings and you don’t get to it in time to answer it? One Japanese gentleman aims to solve this problem with a crazy quick-draw contraption that ensures your iPhone is never more than a flick away. Check out the hilarious demonstration video below.
Angry Birds Space for Android and iOS has today received yet another big update, introducing a brand new galaxy with 30 new levels. It’s called Splash, and every planet is filled with water, strange aquatic life, and pigs in boats. The update also promises the “ultimate under water boss level.”
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iPhone protection company Hitcase is debuting a new iPhone 5 case at CES which is going up against the like of Otterbox to provide a secure shell for your iPhone 5. Going one step further, Hitcase has also made a harness system for the case itself, so you can mount your iPhone in a variety of different ways.
Like you’d expect from a rugged iPhone case, the Hitcase is waterproof up to 10 meters and fully protects all of the iPhone’s ports and switches. The back even integrates a wide angle lens for shooting scenes while outdoors with the case.
Amazon has today launched a new music service called AutoRip, which offers customers a free MP3 version of every album they’ve bought on CD from Amazon since 1998. The service currently boasts more than 50,000 digital albums from all the major record labels, and Amazon insists that new titles are added on a regular basis.
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Cocoon is showing off at CES this year a new bag that combines the best of their organization tools with the familiarity of a carrying case for your devices.
The IQ Collection, as it’s being tentatively called, is based around Cocoon’s Grid, a storage system that keeps a wide variety of your gadgets secure and organized while you’re traveling.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – Back when I was a kid, I had all kinds of Fisher-Price toys I loved playing with. But I don’t think I remember anything quite as magic as Fisher-Price’s new line of Apptivity sets for preschoolers that combine child-safe cases and toy figures with slick augmented-reality apps (though my little Classic Xylophone came close).
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When it comes to styluses for your iPad, there’s quite a few options, but none are quite like the Connect, Pogo’s newest stylus that they’re showing off at CES this year. The Connect is a pressure-sensitive stylus with some unique features that set it apart from the rest.
The Pogo connect lets you rest your hand on the iPads screen while drawing, something that can come in handy when using the stylus for extended periods of time. Because of this, your hand won’t get sore trying to rest it on the bezel to avoid unwanted input from your wrist.
Tim Cook is on his second visit to China as Apple CEO this week, and during an interview with local reporters on Thursday, he confirmed that the cellular version of the iPad mini will be arriving in the nation in late January. The Wi-Fi only model arriving in China on December 7, just over a month after it launched in the United States.
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Cult Of Mac’s gadget hunter Erfon Elijah stopped by the HEX booth at CES this year to check out some of the company’s new products, including a new backpack as well as some custom designed headphones.
HEX’s products are focused heavily on great design, and it shows in the new Origin backpack that was demoed at CES. Instead of going with run-of-the-mill materials, HEX developed the material for the Origin backpack themselves, to get just the right texture.