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Can this Casio phone give the Palm Pre a run for its money?

It features dual screens. On one side is the traditional screen many cell phone users are accustomed to, with a full phone keyboard. But twist the screen around, fold it down, and the phone becomes a touchscreen multimedia device similar to the iPhone.

With a 5 megapixel camera, microSD card slot, Bluetooth connectivity, and video recording, it’s got features and specs Apple’s mobile computing device can’t touch. It’s scheduled for Japan release in February, though there’s no word yet on pricing.

They’ve sold a lot of watches over the years, haven’t they?

Via DVICE

With apologies to all who cannot yet receive Hulu. Your time will come.

Great story over the weekend from a TUAW reader who related how being able to produce evidence of his auto insurance saved him from getting a $200 ticket and having his driver’s license pulled after being involved in an auto accident somewhere in the snowy Midwest.

Seems the poor guy couldn’t produce an insurance card for the county sheriff who showed up to investigate the fender-bender, but while Johnny Law was writing up the paperwork, the quick-thinking iPhone user logged into his GEICO account and was able to satisfy the officer’s yen for documentation by having GEICO email a PDF of his insurance card, which the lucky driver produced on his iPhone touchscreen. The cop accepted it as proof of insurance and did not issue the citation.

Those who simply cannot wait for Google to release the official version of Chrome for Mac have the option now of checking out CodeWeavers’ free Chromium download, a proof of concept project to get Windows executables to be run as-if-natively on Intel-based Unix operating systems such as Linux and Mac OS X.

Sound like fun?

Those interested in previewing the Chromish experience on the Mac should understand, first, that it only works on Intel CPU architecture – no PowerPC – and has no auto-updater, so if you’re a security skeptic, forewarned is forearmed.

Chromium is built from the open source Chrome code base, however and CodeWeavers helpfully provide a tarball for the source code for those who like to get under a browser’s hood, but, there are still some fairly significant reasons to think hard about whether Google’s browser is for you, even if the official Mac version was on offer.

As presently built, Chrome’s “porn mode” – a feature that allows one to browse the Internet without passing identifying information to visited web pages – is not supported on sites such as Facebook, nor is Chrome capable of being used to collaborate via Google’s own Google Docs application, as an article Sunday at TechCrunch points out.

So, if you’re just insatiably curious about what they’re up to down in Mountain View and you want to give Windows developers a leg up on marketing their wares to the Mac community, go get you some Chromium.

The Contra Code is the most famous video game cheat code ever – Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left Right, B, A. eBattalion, developers of the puzzle game FLIP, have built it in to their iPhone and iPod touch app, allowing savvy players to unlock all the levels in FLIP’s “Puzzle” and “Speed” modes.

Full disclosure: I got off the video game train shortly after it pulled out of the Pong station. I think I was trying to get someone with ID to buy me a beer in the PacMan station, and I turned around and all of a sudden, the train was gone and I just never got back on. I know. That makes me both old and non-conversant with something like 80% of the people on the planet.

But I came across this at Macenstein and I think it seems like something that could maybe be built into more than just one of the AppStore’s thousands of games.

So tell us, Cult of Mac gamers, is FLIP the only iPhone/iPod Touch game that can be unlocked using the legendary Contra Code?

Surely there are other hidden gems and “easter eggs” out there, for Apple-oriented developers are nothing if not whimsical and versed in the historical arcana of game and software lore.

Let us know what you’ve found in comments and we’ll feature the best bits in another post.

This post has been edited to correct the author’s error transcribing details of the Contra Code in the original. Thanks to commenters who pointed it out.

The latest competitor for MP3 player domination comes out of Japan (where else?), where an engineer friend of Engadget, living in the town of Ageo, has built a motion controlled device that plays tunes from an SD card.

Housed in a set of speakers (switching from stereo to mono when the satellite is unplugged), the very DIY device has an accelerometer-based interface: you can skip ahead, skip back, change albums, pause, loop, turn down or crank up the sound by tilting, tapping, or setting the thing down.

Check the video and if you want to build your own, there’s a parts list, schematics and firmware page.

Via Engadget

The iPhone and iPod Touch take another step toward recognition as legitimate atristic tools with the introduction of an app called Lignt, from Digital Film Tools. The app allows users to introduce realistic lighting and shadows to any photograph using digital versions of the gobo library created by Gamproducts.

Normally used in front of lights during photography, gobos, or patterns, are widely used by lighting designers in theatre, film, photography and television to create atmosphere, project scenery, and generally enhance the visual impact of their lighting.

With Light, these same exact patterns can be applied digitally to an entire image or inside a selected area. Gobos from the Gamproducts collection included with Light are arranged into categories designated Breakups, Foliage, Lights, Sky and Windows, and are controlled with sliders affecting light position, rotation, and size. They even built-in accelerometer functionality so that a shake can produce a random effect or reset effects to the photo’s original state.

One probably needs to have an advanced sense of lighting design or a least a little training to make truly effective use of Light’s capabilities, but for $2, anyone can take a whack at turning blah and boring into striking or alluring just by experimenting with different effects.

Light is a great example of the many applications being developed to drive the evolution of Apple’s mobile device platform. As iPhone’s drawing and photography options become more varied and its output is more accepted, look for a new wave of visual and multimedia creative talent to come from its millions of users.

T-Mobile USA, the carrier that released the first Android-based cell phone, said it plans this year to introduce more smartphones using Google’s open-source handset platform.

Promising “more G series phones” in 2009, T-Mobile USA senior engineering vice president Neville Ray breathed new life into rumors of the G2, according to industry publication FierceWireless. The G2, created by HTC, reportedly could be released in April.

Unlike the G1 which T-Mobile released in mid-2008, the G2 would ditch a slide-out QWERTY keyboard for a virtual one similar to the iPhone. The phone could also carry a smaller price, making the handset attractive in the current tight economy, according to reports.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is increasingly appearing to be the place to be in 2010 for Apple vendors. The tradeshow announced the iLounge, an 18,000-square foot area for Apple gadget sellers.

A gauge of the swiftness of the shift from Macworld to CES could be seen in that the Apple-centric venue at CES initially was to be just 4,000-square feet.

“In fact, the original space allocated for the pavillion sold out in less that one week – a CES show record,” AFP quoted CEA vice president Karen Chupka.

Just days after Apple released updated iPhone firmware, some owners of the handset report problems connecting with iTunes.

The complaints, voiced on Apple’s online support message areas, revolve around reported trouble syncing their iPhone with Apple’s music store.

While many owners talked of problems with their iPhone syncing with iTunes, one writer reported having trouble adding a movie he purchased to his 160GB iPod.

Computer-maker Dell is considering entering the tight smartphone market, possibly offering a touchscreen alternative to the iPhone as soon as February, according to a Friday report.

Dell is mulling whether to use Windows Mobile or Google’s Android platform to power the handset, according to the Wall Street Journal. The device, which could compete with Apple’s iPhone or RIM’s BlackBerry would also featured a slide-out QWERTY keyboard.

The report follows analyst talk earlier this month that a smartphone from the No. 2 computer-maker was “closer to reality.” In late 2008, accidentally released photos appeared to show two smartphones on Dell’s website. In October, the website briefly featured the Traveler 117 and Traveler 127 from Inventec.

Image © 2009, Robert Boethe

The TekServe store in Manhattan has been celebrating 25 Years of Mac this week with what it calls “a petting zoo” of Macs at the largest independent Apple shop in the US. The store’s exhibit includes an original Macintosh 128k signed by Steve Wozniak himself, a Lisa, the original Mac Portable, a Newton, a NeXT cube, the G4 Cube, various Powerbooks, the eMate, the legendarily laughable 20th Anniversary Mac, and the first iPod.

If you happen to be in the New York area and want to get a first-hand look at the Mac’s evolution, be sure to stop by TekServe by Sunday, the exhibit’s final day.

The event is free and open to the public. Tekserve is located at 119 West 23rd Street, just west of 6th Avenue. Store hours are Monday through Friday 9 am till 8 pm, Saturday 10 am till 6 pm, and Sunday noon till 6 pm.

Via Macworld

In the last of our stories from owners of original and classic era Macs, we talk to Nigel Curson. His Mac Plus has seen action as a desktop publishing workhorse, early internet client, and now toy for kids. And it’s still going strong.

If smartphones were judged on component pricing, Apple’s iPhone would best RIM’s BlackBerry Storm. The iPhone 3G costs $174 to make, versus $203 for the Storm offered from Verizon Wireless, according to a new report.

The data from iSuppli suggests carrier Verizon Wireless is greatly subsidizing the $200 touch-screen BlackBerry. AT&T, the exclusive U.S. AT&T has indicated subsidizing the iPhone 3G cost it $450 million in the fourth quarter.

The manufacturing cost difference appears to hinge on component choices, including transmission technology.

Here’s an early Mac movie product placement. In the opening minutes of 1989’s “Back to the Future II,” Marty McFly lands in 2015, where hover cars loom, “Jaws 19” in 3D plays in movie theaters and folks sport layered outfits that only a daltonic could love.

In an antiques store, Michael J. Fox does a double-take over a “vintage” Mac sitting next to other 80s relics like a Dust Buster and a bottle of Perrier.

Found on the excellent Starring the Computer, where James Carter has compiled a few other early Mac movie sightings including “Manhattan Project” and “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” both from 1986.

Anyone remember Mac movie appearances before 1986?

As Apple’s App Store grows and more publishers seek recognition, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company is set to highlight ‘premium’ games priced at $19.99, reports said Thursday.

The action is viewed as yet more confirmation traditional game publishers see the Apps Store and the iPhone and iPod touch as new vehicles to reach customers.

Athough the move would allow big-name games to stand-out from the $0.99 apps, the move is being criticized for a form of red-lining. The new ‘premium’ games section would be limited to large publishers, such as Electronic Arts.

Apple faces another lawsuit over iPhone 3G performance. The latest, a class-action lawsuit filed in Northern California, asks a court to award more than $5 million to iPhone 3G buyers.

In the 14-page lawsuit, California resident Jason Medway alleges Apple knew the “iPhone 3G cannot maintain consistent service” and has only offered buyers replacement phones.

The legal action claims iPhone 3G purchasers “have experienced broken promises regarding the phone’s transmission speeds.”

AT&T, after using the iPhone to salvage its fourth-quarter revenue, is in talks with Apple to team up for a 3G data service aimed at MacBook owners, reports said Thursday.

At the heart of the speculation is a brief comment to Fortune by the carrier’s Emerging Devices group president Glenn Lurie. Lurie said he’s talked recently with interim Apple CEO Tim Cook.

“I would very much like to do more business with Apple, and I hope that we do,” Lurie said Wednesday. Although the AT&T executive said he was having similar conversations with other companies, Apple has been an especially profitable partner.

The BBC’s coverage of the Mac’s 25th has in some cases left something to be desired, the nadir being a bizarre video showing a Microsoft employee battling with an original Mac and comparing it against her Windows laptop. Ex-Macworld UK head honcho Simon Jary rightly pulled said video apart on his PC Advisor blog, although he didn’t note how, amusingly, the Mac boots much faster than the PC, despite MSN tech editor Jane Douglas cunningly refraining from giving the Mac its system disk until the PC’s been whirring away for a good few seconds.

Presumably wanting to avoid the same level of oddness, BBC Radio Five Live’s Pods and Blogs scoured the internet, looking for a Mac expert to chat to. Failing that, they ended up with me (Oho! You self-deprecating Brit, you!–Ed.), and I spent a happy 20 minutes talking to the extremely personable Jamillah Knowles about all things Mac.

As is always the case, the interview itself was knifed somewhat (due to it being nearly as long as the entire podcast was supposed to be), but there’s still a reasonable chunk left. Importantly, the Mac doesn’t come off looking too bad, although I do wonder what Jamillah’s co-presenter is going on about regarding how rubbish Macs used to be for getting online. (I’ve never had such a problem.)

Anyway, the podcast is at https://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/pods/, and the Mac bit’s at the 14-minute mark.

Apple has expanded the refurbished products offered at discounted prices from its online store. The Apple Store now includes newer iPods, as well as refurbished aluminum unibody MacBooks and MacBook Pros.

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company now sells its latest 1GB iPod shuffle for $39. Available colors include silver, green, blue and pink.

The latest 8GB and 16GB iPod nano is being sold refurbished for $129 and $169, respectively.

Here’s an Apple keyboard spray painted snowy, pure white — nothing to stop your eye but if your touch typing skills are still at high-school level, you’re in trouble.

Maker Essell says:

“The design snob in me isn’t particularly happy with Apple’s recent trend of using two colors (black and silver, white and silver) on their stuff.

So. Combine my pedantic taste for minimalism with nerdy touch typing abilities and a cheap can of white spraypaint, and you end up with my keyboard – possibly the most pretentious keyboard in existence.”

What do you think?

Via NotCot

AT&T Wednesday deemed Apple’s iPhone 3G a “success,” reporting adding 1.9 million of Apple’s smart phones before the end of 2008. The news comes as the exclusive U.S. iPhone carrier appears to have sold double the Blackberry handsets of rival Verizon Wireless.

The carrier said it had activated 4.3 million iPhone 3Gs since the handset’s launch.

Despite being a $450 million drag on AT&T earnings, the carrier announced new iPhone subscribers helped it post a 2.4 percent revenue increase for the quarter, reports said.

Bruce Fox has been a Mac user since 1988. He got in touch with the Cult to tell the story behind his beloved Mac Classic.

The DC Public Library’s first-in-the-nation iPhone App giving users access to card catalog and reservation systems almost cries out for an “if they can do it in Washington” joke.

On the other hand, we’re not talking about the Library of Congress.

Still, it’s pretty cool DC residents have access to (indeed, anyone in the world can have it) vital library information, with an iPhone app providing 24 hour a day, on the go access to the Library’s card catalog and reservation systems. One might think any forward-looking City in the nation would want to have one of these in the AppStore in no time.

There’s at least a few jobs in that gig all over the world, right?