I tried to use Microsoft’s Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 for a while, and it was indeed comfortable. However, the keys were squishy, and the unit itself made it seem like I had a black-painted Bantha-II cargo skiff on my desk.
The brand-new Matias Ergo Pro will fix both of those problems.
According to a new report, Taiwanese manufacturer Pegatron could be responsible for assembling as many as half of Apple’s next generation iPhone 6 units.
The company is currently assembling the iPhone 5c and iPad mini, but if this news is to believed (it does cite an unidentified source) Apple’s reliance on Pegatron will grow in 2014 — with a new plant planned in Shanghai satellite city Kunshan in anticipation of an iPhone 6 manufacturing deal.
LAS VEGAS — Eton has improved the wedge-shaped, solar-powered Rukus Bluetooth speaker it introduced just over six months ago, and are now calling it the Rukus II; they’ve also built a second, bigger, badder (and more expensive) version they’ve naturally dubbed the Rukus Xtreme.
The Babolat Play is a tennis racquet for those of us who want to improve our game without having to hire a real coach. Those folks cost a lot of money!
For $399, though, you can purchase this new app-enabled, Bluetooth-connected, motion-sensing tennis racquet for your very own. The company has stuffed a ton of sensors into the handle of this thing without even affecting the balance or weight.
You can connect the racquet to your iPhone or iPad and get real-time feedback, or just let the Babolat Play record your performance information and sync it up later for analysis.
The Babolat Play is available now in the US, and should release worldwide very soon.
Ever wondered what your house would look like if you added an extra room? What about a new set of furniture?
Now you can stop wondering and start building the home of your dreams with Live Interior 3D Standard Edition for Mac. And Cult of Mac Deals has it for a limited time at the low price of just $19.99 – a savings of 59%!
The Cult of Mac crew got its grubby hands — and we do mean grubby! — on hundreds of iPhone cases in Las Vegas this week.
Here are the ones we most wanted to take home.
FLIR One debuted their all-new thermal imaging camera case that gives the iPhone 5 and 5s the power to pick up heat signatures up to 100 meters away from live people, animals, and pretty much anything else around you.
Flir One makes thermal imaging products aimed at professionals but the Flir One case will bring the heat sensor to the everyday consumer. It cost $349, which sounds ridiculously expensive at first, but compared to Flir’s cheapest stand alone model that sells for over a grand, it sounds reasonable.
The detachable case comes with a thermal imaging camera on the back powered by its own battery source with up to four hours of charge. It comes with a custom app featuring different filters to interpret the heat signatures, and can be used for all sorts of household projects like looking for studs behind your wall, checking for water leaks, heat leaks, or even ferreting out a termite infestation. It also doubles as a really cool, really expensive, long-range thermometer.
Flir One says we can look forward to tracking heat with it sometime this spring. — Buster Heine
Think the only serious, affordable quiver of lenses available for iPhone 5/S iPhoneography are the ones from Olloclip? Nope. Wrong.
iZZi Gadgets has actually offered a lens case for the last year or so in the Orbit Pro, a machined alloy case and four-lens — wide-angle, fisheye, telephoto and macro — carousel (it looks like three lenses, but as with Olloclip’s lenses, the wide angle unscrews to become a macro). The obvious difference, besides the alloy case, is that the Orbit Pro keeps all the lenses on the phone and swappable by a simple rotation of the carousel, compared with the Olloclip method of sliding lenses on and off the iPhone. But the Orbit Pro is bulky, suffers from slight vignetting (darkened corners) and carries an eyebrow-furrowing $240 pricetag.
Now iZZi has fixed all that with their new iZZi Slim. They’ve move the lenses closer to the case, eliminating the vignetting; the case is now made of plastic, making it much slimmer and lighter; and the price? $100. Which is less expensive than the $120 of the combined Olloclip 4-in-1 Lens and Quick-Flip case combo. — Eli Milchman
PureGear has a lineup of cases that turn your iPhone into a retro physical game, no app required.
The PureView retro game case line up comes with three different analog game options: a traditional maze, a circular maze, and another called Undecided that’s kind of like playing Plinko from The Price Is Right, except you’re aiming for Yes or No instead of fat stacks of cash.
Pureview recently added new option for the iPhone 5c as well as some limited black and grey editions for the iPhone 5/5s. Each game case will set you back 30 bucks, but they’re more addicting than Candy Crush, don’t need WiFi and won’t waste your battery. Oh yeah, and they’ll protect your iPhone when you get mad and toss the maze across the room. — Buster Heine
Mophie’s Juice Packs are widely considered to be the best battery cases you can get for the iPhone. They attach via Lightning and give you a backup power reserve for long days when a normal charger isn’t available.
Today at CES, Mophie unveiled its new lineup for battery cases for the iPhone. The Space Pack not only doubles battery life, but it has a pretty cool trick up its sleeve: additional storage.
Available in black and sliver, the Space Pack adds up to 32GB of storage that can be accessed any time the case is on the iPhone. The SSD hard drive inside the case works with Mophie’s free Space app. You can view just about any file type in the app’s browser and create folders to manage your stuff.
If that sounds cool, it’s because the idea is awesome. Not only do you have an extra reserve of battery life, but you can effectively double your iPhone’s storage.
Mophie launched preorders at CES with shipping slated to begin on March 14th. The 16GB model costs $149.95, and the 32GB model costs $179.95. Not cheap, but maybe worth it if you need more battery and storage than your iPhone can offer. — Leander Kahney
Loop Attachment, the company behind the awesome Mummy cases for iOS devices, is at CES in Las Vegas this week showing off its latest product for the iPhone. It’s called the Straitjacket, and it fuses a hard plastic bumper with the silky smooth silicone that Loop Attachment is famous for.
The result is a minimalist case that’s protective without being too big or too bulky. It carries the Mummy’s trademark design, which aims to showcase your iPhone’s beautiful aluminum casing, and it provides complete access to all of your handset’s buttons, ports, and cameras.
The Straitjacket also holds a credit card, so you can slip your favorite piece of plastic in the back and not have to worry about carrying a wallet.
“The Straitjacket represents the next step in the evolution of our design language,” said Christopher Peterson, Chief Creative Officer of Loop Attachment. “The driving design intent of the case was to balance the common conviction for slim, space-saving design with the desire for tasteful expression.”
The Straitjacket will be available to order from Loop Attachment’s online store in late January. Pricing is yet to be confirmed. — Killian Bell
I’m not sure I get the whole camo thing. But it’s everywhere, it’s really popular and people can’t get enough of it. Trucks, iPhone cases, curtains, lingerie — if it exists, it probably comes in camo. (Note: If you need camouflaged lingerie, you’re probably doing it very wrong. Or very right. I’m not entirely sure at this point.)
If you know camo, you’ve heard of Columbus, Georgia-based Realtree, the outfit LifeProof partnered with to camouflage up their uber-popular Fre iPhone 5/s case, which now comes in four Realtree colors: Xtra, Max5, Xtra Green and APC, which is essentially pink. Pink camo.
The Realtree Fre is available for the same price as the non-camo Fre ($90). — Eli Milchman
The simplest solution is always the best. Take external battery packs for your iPhone, which are sometimes hard to use when you’re actually talking on the phone. Either you have to remove your case to snap in a battery case, or you have a long cord dangling to an external pack in your pocket.
MyCharge’s clever Talk & Charge ($100) is a slim external battery pack that works with any and every iPhone case on the market because it doesn’t physically attach to your iPhone; you just hold it against the back of your iPhone while talking, like an electronics sandwich. Simple.
It’s almost the same size and shape as an iPhone 5s or 5c. It boasts a 3000mAh battery (good for more than two full iPhone 5 charges) and a Lightning cable built right in, so you’ll never forget your charging cable again. It’s a nice touch.
In fact, I think all of MyCharge’s wares are thoughtfully designed. The tech is pretty good too. According to the company, they are the fastest chargers on the market. Check out their well-designed charging bricks:
I was impressed with the Hub series of external battery packs (3000-9000mAh, $80-$120), which offer 13 to 40 hours of extra talk time. Each brick has built-in cables for Lightning and micro USB, which tuck away nicely into a slot on the side when not in use. Likewise, AC outlet prongs in the bottom can be pulled out when the brick needs recharging. Altogether, there’s no need for all the extra wires and chargers you need with other other external battery packs. It makes for a neat, compact, all-in-one solution that’s one of the best I’ve seen.
MyCharge claims its products are the fastest-charging battery packs on the market. Not only do they charge your devices faster, they are themselves recharged in less time than competing devices, according to the company.
It’s a combination of using the best components available and having good, smart firmware, said Jim Dara, president of MyCharge. For example, while competing batteries output the same voltage to every device plugged into them, MyCharge’s packs maximize the voltage for each device. So iPads get the maximum 2 amps and charge faster, Dara said.
I couldn’t independently test this, but Dara said the company is very careful to test its claims and tries very hard not to overstate them. I believed him. — Leander Kahney
There’s nothing better than a good coach for any sport. When learning how to be good at something like basketball, you need good feedback and suggestions based on how you perform. It’s a dynamic process for sure.
94Fifty thinks so, too, and decided to create a smart basketball that pairs with a free app for your iPhone and iPad. The ball is loaded with sensors and bluetooth and gets you instant, quality feedback on how you’re tossing the rock to the hoop.
The 94Fifty Smart Sensor Basketball will run you $295 at Apple retail stores or online, while the app is free for anyone to download, though it won’t do you a whole lot of good without the ball.
LAS VEGAS — If you’ve ever had trouble falling asleep, or you’ve felt crappy waking up, it might be worth your while to check out the Withings Aura. The new app-enabled sleep machine comes from the folks that brought you other fitness gadgets like the Wi-Fi Body Scale and the Pulse.
Presentics — Productivity — Free ($9.99 unlock)
If you have a presentation to prepare at the last minute or you think PowerPoint is too clunky, you might want to look at Presentics. It’s an iPad app that will help you make a minimalist slide show quickly and easily. It just takes a few taps and some typing, and you’ll have a quick, clean project. You can also embed images, audio, and video right inside the app if you want to go all multimedia on it.
You have access to everything in the free version, but the $9.99 unlock lets you save more than two projects and share over the cloud.
It’s been a little while since I reviewed a tank game, so I picked up Battle Supremacy, a new tread-and-turret action title from the developers of Sky Gamblers out today for iOS devices.
Battle Supremacy takes place during World War II and features authentic vehicles and locations. It’ll have you participating in campaigns in both the European and Pacific Theaters. If you can stop firing long enough to look around, you’ll see birds in the sky and fish in the water. And you can run over absolutely anything that gets in your way. It’s an action-packed, detailed game with incredible graphics.
And honestly, I thought it was kind of boring and clunky.
Browsing the App Store can be a bit overwhelming. Which apps are new? Which ones are good? Are the paid ones worth paying for, or do they have a free, lite version that will work well enough?
Well, if you stop interrogating me for a second, hypothetical App Store shopper, I can tell you about this thing we do here.
Every week, we highlight some of the most interesting new apps and collect them here for your consideration. This time, our picks include a self-improvement program that wants to save you time, a guide to how to properly brush your teeth, and a timer with a beat.
Here you go:
Better Every Time — Productivity — Free
The App Store is full of things to help you set goals and keep you accountable, usually by making everything visible to your friends so they can goad you into persevering. Better Every Time takes a different approach, offering no social media connectivity whatsoever. Instead, it turns your quest of betterment into a journey to the top of a mountain and leaves it to you to check in along the way. Doing so just takes a few seconds, leaving you free to improve yourself.
So it’s basically an app that doesn’t want you to use it too much, which is an interesting angle.
Swear Jar — Lifestyle — Free
In these troubled economic times, we don’t really have the luxury of putting real coins into a jar every time we drop a bomb in front of Grandma. Luckily, we have Swear Jar, a virtual container you can drop change into so you can quantify your dirty mouth. You can use any denomination of change you want, and it’ll keep a running tab of your blue streak. It even has motion controls so that you can jingle the coins around.
Because you have to do something between curses, right?
Simple Additives — Health & Fitness — $0.99 (lite version available)
Food labels can be scary places. Reading the ingredients of whatever you’ve just crammed into your gob can be confusing or even the worst decision you’ve made all day. I don’t know how to keep the stuff in your food from terrifying you, but for those perplexing moments, try Simple Additives. It’s an app that will tell you what those unpronounceable things in your snack do and also whether or not they’ve been linked to cancer or harmful side effects.
I don’t know if I’m really doing you a favor by pointing you toward this, though. Everything’s tasted like poison for like three hours now.
MyTeeth — Education — Free ($1.99 unlock)
It’s important for people to learn proper tooth-brushing techniques, and not just because toothpaste and floss are way cheaper than root canals and fillings. Brushing is just an important part of fitting in with society because society is full of people who will notice if you have broccoli stuck in your teeth or if your breath smells like the inside of a garbage disposal.
MyTeeth is here to help with a selection of slightly creepy-looking children who will brush along with your kids — or you — to ensure that your chompers get nice and clean. Just don’t stare into their beady little eyes too long. I think I saw Cthulhu in there.
Humming Timing — Utilities — Free
I’ve featured timers here before, but this is one you should definitely check out.
Humming Timing looks at other time-keeping apps and wonders why they have to be so quiet. Its solution: to make a countdown using music from your iPhone’s library. So for example, you’ll put your cake in the oven, set the app for 35 minutes, and it will craft an exactly 35-minute-long playlist from your tunes and tell you which song to listen for for the end.
It’s basically a timer you can dance to. If that’s something you’ve been looking for.
Snapchat has today issued a new update for Android and iOS that allows users to opt out of linking their phone number with their username. The move comes after 4.6 million phone numbers were leaked on New Year’s Day following “abuse” of the Snapchat API — which Snapchat has apologized for in a new blog post.
Line, the hugely popular messaging service that boasts more than 300 million registered users worldwide, today launched its new Whoscall app for smartphones. Available now on Android, and coming soon to iOS, the app allows users to identify mystery callers and avoid unwanted calls.
When AT&T announced it’s new Sponsored Data program on Monday, they raised the grim spectre of Net Neutraility by suggesting a plan that would let advertisers pay for data. What people worried about was that AT&T’s new plan would slow data connections to non-partner sites, a big no-no according to the FCC.
So what does the FCC think of all this? Asked about AT&T’s new plans at CES, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler was surprisingly chill about the whole thing: let’s just wait and see before freaking out, shall we?
First debuted in 2005, the bring-your-own-monitor Mac mini has always been Apple’s entry-level Mac desktop, but at an entry level price starting at $599, the Mac mini isn’t exactly “cheap” compared to competing budget desktops out there.
Doubtlessly, Apple doesn’t consider this a problem — they’ve never tried to compete in the race to the bottom — but what if Apple did release a Mac mini that was cheaper? Over at Letemsvetemapplem.eu, they’ve taken a crack at imagining what such a 2014 Mac mini would look like, and they think it would look a lot like a double-stuffed Apple TV, and start at just $399.
More details below, including a close-up of the concept.
One of the maddeningly tiny details of iOS that has been completely broken for ages is the fact that page indicators — those little bubbles you see at the bottom of the home screen indicating there are more pages of apps to swipe to — have been off-center.
In fact, while the indicators have been screwed up since iOS 3.1.3 — a journey of drifting that seems to have started when Apple decided to put Spotlight search in iOS — iOS 7.1 is finally set to put things right, perfectly centering the page indicators for the first time in four years. You can all stop rioting in the streets now.
Source: Marc Edwards
Via: TUAW
iOS can support dynamic icons: just look at the subtly changing clock icon in iOS 7, where the minute hands change in real-time throughout the day according to the time. So why not do the same with weather?
It’s unknown why Apple didn’t think of this first, but if you have a jailbroken iOS 7 device, you can now have a live Weather icon anyway, thanks to a new jailbreak tweak.
Particularly if you grew up in the 1980s, you’ll be familiar with games like the Castlevania series which ask the player to invade a villain’s lair.
Adult Swim’s new strategy game Castle Doombad cleverly turns that concept on its head: with gamers taking on the role of the princess-kidnapping Dr. Lord Evilstein, tasked with defending his tower against the various heroes who try and save the day.
Chinese microblogging site Weibo (think a combination of Twitter and Facebook) has been circulating these images — reportedly showing the metal housing for a supposed iPhone 6.
Prepare to have you socks blown off, and to know the exact GPS coordinates of the exact spot where those socks land. How? With Dr. Drang’s new Pythonista scripts which grabs your current location and writes it down in plain-text form. Better still, it does this using the Drafts app, so you can add location stamps to anything you like – journal entries, notes, or even pictures of your socks, over there in the corner of the room.
Apple and Samsung have agreed to a mediation session — to be held on or before February 19 — prior to their March court date regarding smartphone patents.
Chinese appliance maker Haier has announced that it has become the first company of its kind to be accepted into Apple’s MFi licensing program, guaranteeing ease-of-use and compatibility with iOS devices.
“Haier’s Tianzun [cabinet air conditioning unit] is the first air conditioner and white good that is authorized by Apple’s MFi program,” noted the company’s official press release — going on to claim that, “Haier will use this technology in the other Haier products, such as water heaters, ovens, intelligent home accessories and the like.”
WriteRight is an iPad writing app that helps you with your, uh… words and stops you having to just use the same… mmm… words… Over and over. Instead of struggling to come up with alternative words to the word “word” all the time, you just ask WriteRight for “synonyms, antonyms and phraseology.”
Whew.
Did somebody send you a RAW photo file and you just don’t know what to do with it? Do you need to send your latest DSLR shoot from your Dropbox, only your friend/family member/client can’t be trusted with RAW files, and you only have your iPhone on hand?
Fear not, becasue the already awesome CloudConvert will now turn any RAW file into any regular image format, in the cloud, and save it back to the cloud for you.
According to Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White earlier this year, Apple’s busy working on an “iRing" finger ring we’ll use to control our Apple devices with. The suggestion was so preposterous that even the usually poker-faced Tim Cook cracked a joke about it.
The reality is that much of the “digital hub” functionality that an iRing would have brought will likely be carried out by the iWatch when it finally surfaces. For those who really wanted this rumor to be true, however, never fear: several companies have created their own third-party iRings to bring this rumor to life.
Remember those Topeka Capital Markets reports from last year about how, by this time, we’d all be using finger rings to control our newly launched Apple televisions?
While those predictions may not have come to fruition just yet, music technology company IK Multimedia is launching an iRing of its own that will allow people to perform specific tasks on their iOS devices using gestures.