In the two weeks preceding every major Apple product launch, the buy-back companies start circling, trying to convince you to sell your old iPhones and iPads to them instead of the competition. This year’s iPhone 5S and 5C launch is no exception, and even Apple is rumored to be starting a buy-back program.

Gazelle is one of the oldest “recyclers” of used iOS devices, and we have recommended the service before. This year, though, their service is getting even better, because they are allowing now offering a price-lock guarantee.

You know how when the iPhone first came out and people were all complaining about how you couldn’t take out the battery? I know, right? The market swiftly moved in to solve the “problem” by supplying battery packs that could be added only when you needed them, and without rebooting the phone to swap them, and in whichever sizes you needed.

Now we have come full circle, as they say, with the Mojo Refuel for iPhone 5. It’s an external battery pack which — get this — has its own removable battery.

Put your hands down on your keyboard. Now pick them up and rotate them as if you’re about to hold an iPad in landscape mode. Now imagine that you’re gripping a keyboard, and that the keys of that keyboard are around the back of the slab in your hand, running vertically under your fingers.

That’s how the TREWGrip was designed.

One of the best new features in iOS 7 is the revamped Photos app, which organizes your pictures for you, creating a timeline of events based on places. Eventiles for iPhone does something very similar, only it also chooses your best photos, and captions the resulting photosets — which it generates automatically.

It’s pretty rad.

The second piece of Sony news today (along with the neat new NEX 5T) is the Alpha A3000, an SLR-style mirrorless camera for the crazy, crazy low price of $400. Take that, entry-level Canon Rebel bodies.

Good morning folks, and welcome to the latest episode of [_____] is the new [_____]. Today we’re taking a look at Sony’s brand new NEX–5T mirrorless camera, which proves that [Wi-Fi] is the new [large sensor]. Or that [NFC] is the new [Wi-Fi]. Or something.

Apple may release iOS 7 to the public the same day as its accompanying iPhone event on Tuesday, September 10th. In the past, Apple has released the final GM build of the next iOS to developers on the day of the event and then waited about a week to push the update out to everyone. This year could be different.

An email sent out from Nuance to developers in its voice recognition program suggests that iOS 7 will indeed drop on the 10th. And the fact that Nuance powers Siri lends credence to the date.

Jabra made a big show of introducing their Sport Bluetooth music/phone earbuds at CES this year, even bringing in triathlete celeb and Ironman champ Craig Alexander to flaunt the buds while he sweat away the miles on a stationary bike. Unfortunately, the Sport has been plagued by reports of abysmal Bluetooth connectivity (possibly due to range) and poor fit ever since it shipped.

Jabra’s response is their new Sport Wireless+, the successor to the Sport, which Jabra says has made everything better.

We’re only two weeks away from the official unveiling of the iPhone 5C, but some eBay geniuses scammers are trying to make some quick Gs off desperate Apple fans hungry for a prototype scoop.

An eBay listing for a genuine iPhone 5C Rear Shell started out at $20 but has quickly received 70 bids, with the latest totaling over $13,600. With the insane amount of iPhone 5C leaks dropping over the past few months, we imagine it’s probably real. But what those clueless fanboys don’t know is they could save $13,584 and get one for $16.

Update: The listing has been removed, citing “the item is no longer available.”

Source: eBay

When the paid version of the very fine Feedly RSS aggregation service, Feedly Pro, was announced at the beginning of this month, the only option available was the Life Membership, at a fairly affordable $99.00.

Today, though, we just noticed that Feedly Pro’s monthly and annual subscriptions are available for purchase, at $5.00 and $45.00, respectively.

Following up on the Department of Justice’s revised proposed punishment from Apple’s e-book antitrust case, Apple’s lawyers filed a response this morning claiming the DOJ is trying to give Amazon an unfair advantage on e-books.

Defense attorney Orin Synder said that the DOJ’s 12-page proposal is just trying to find a remedy that will give Amazon a competitive advantage again. Synder had the following to say regarding the DOJ’s proposal that Apple allow App Store developers  to sell e-books through their apps without Apple taking a cut:

Apple is currently testing its own iPhone trade-in program in select Apple stores ahead of a September launch, according to multiple reports. Rumors of an Apple trade-in program first started earlier this summer with a public launch expected in late June, but Apple decided to delay the date to sometime next month.

The launch of the program will likely be tied to the unveiling of the new iPhone hardware Apple plans to show off on September 10th.

During Apple’s last earnings call, Tim Cook said that “our activations in Russia set a record last quarter as the highest-ever quarter.” Like China and other countries where the normal methods of selling phones are different than here in the states, Russia is full of growth potential for Apple.

A new report from TechCrunch claims that Apple executives are visiting the country this week to meet with retailers. One can only assume that the main topic of discussion will be how to market and sell the iPhone more effectively. Apple is expected to ship a cheaper iPhone 5C this fall, which would be hugely attractive in markets like Russia that don’t operate under carrier subsidies.

Russia is the largest internet market in Europe right now, and it is also the fastest growing European country for mobile usage. It makes sense for Apple to be focusing on expansion there. Visit the source link below to read more about the hurdles Apple faces in the Russian market.

Source: TechCrunch

Image: Vedomosti

If you’re a fan of famous action director John Woo, you’ll be as excited as we were when we heard that he’s working on an iOS game, Bloodstroke, in development with Moonshark Games (Stan Lee’s Verticus, Neil Gaiman’s Wayward Manor) and to be published by Chillingo.

AppAdvice reports that the game will be an on-rails top-down action game that tasks players with protecting and escorting their in-game employer through hazardous level after level.

Next-gen iPhone parts have been leaking like crazy this summer. There’s a new component or shell leak nearly every day now. Two new iPhone models, the 5C and 5S, are expected to come out this fall, and a new hands-on video compares the devices side by side.

AppAdvice is claiming its video shows “what may be Apple’s iPhone 5S and 5C,” but at this point it’s a pretty safe bet that what is shown is legit. The iPhone 5 is also included for comparison’s sake. We’ve seen the blue iPhone 5C shell before, and the gold champagne 5C has been the most annoying relentless Apple rumor for the past few weeks.

Every once in a while, I’m listening to a song via the Music app on my iPhone, or (lately) listening to iTunes Radio on my iPad through a bluetooth speaker in the house, when I want to quickly figure out what’s playing, or maybe mess with the controls, skip a song, or something like that.

Typically, I’d double click the Home button to get a basic controller to pause or skip a song, or click into the home screen, find the Music app, launch it, then tap the Now Playing button, and then make any adjustments.

Now, however, with iOS 7 beta’s new Control Center, you can tap right through to the Now Playing song with a swipe and a tap. Here’s how.

An iPhone or iPad dock is a very nice thing to have for keeping one’s desktop regimented and tidy, but they have drawbacks.

For one, a dock that you buy for one generation of iPhone might not work if Apple changes the handset design in the next generation. In addition, iPhone and iPad docks tend not to be cross-compatible, so if you have a dock that fits your iPhone, you usually can’t force an iPad into it, and vice versa. And then, of course, there’s the case problem. Docks and cases tend not to play well together, but most of us like to use a case to protect our devices. That means we usually go without a dock.

Twelve South’s latest product, the HiRise for iPhone and iPad mini, is a combination dock and stand that very cleverly finds a way around all of these problems. We love using it, but putting it together? That’s another story.

This morning we were treated to some leaked images of an alleged graphite-colored iPhone 5S, but now Sonny Dickson has a new set of leaked next-generation iPad mini back housings to feast our eyes on.

The shells looks similar to ones we posted earlier this month. Based on the cases it looks like the iPad mini 2 will predictably have the same form factor as the original iPad mini with the option for 4G service or Wi-Fi only. The rear shell also sports the new embedded Apple logo, but is void of any other info, like whether it will really have a Retina display.

Here are some close-ups:

Glu Games (Gun Bros, Contract Killer, Death Dome) has a certain reputation for violent free to play games, but the San Francisco-based developer has quite a variety of game genres to its credit, including fantasy and city-building games.

Zombies Ate My Friends is another free to play game, sure, but it has a charm about it that helps cynics like me look the other way when it comes to the typical mechanics associated with the business model. The artwork is pleasing to the eye and there is a sense of whimsy to every aspect of the game, from dialog to undead-smashing weaponry (there’s a ukulele!), that elevates Zombies Ate My Friends from “yet another cash grab” to “worth a download and your valuable time.”

Google may have won a lot of new admirers thanks to its fancy Glass headwear, but Siri isn’t impressed one bit. In fact, if you try to talk to Siri about Google Glass she will just give you the cold shoulder.

A recently discovered easter egg in Siri spits back frustrated responses when you use the Glass prompt, “Okay Glass.”

Here are some of Siri’s other responses:

48,000 people are about to descend on Black Rock City, Nevada to join in the Burning Man festival experiment. There’s going to be art galore, crazy events, weird costumes for days, and the brutal Black Rock Desert meting out its hellish punishments on each and every Burner.

Making the trip to BRC is easy, but surviving is entirely different, so we’ve found eight great apps that will help you get out of the desert alive:

Every time I see someone wearing over-ear headphones out in public, I can’t help but think of the scene in the “Starsky & Hutch” film where Ben Stiller is running along the beach listening to “Old Days” by Chicago. There’s something odd about over-ear headphones being worn not only in that situation – but really in any public situation. To me, earbuds or in-ear headphones work best in public. And that’s not because of sound quality. It’s because they are a lot more discreet.

That said, if you’re up to wearing over-ear headphones anytime and anywhere, then Cult of Mac Deals is offering Hammo Stereo Headphones for 43% off the regular price for a limited time.

When last we heard about Apple’s 64-bit aspirations, a notable CPU designer was saying that Apple couldn’t outrun Moore’s Law, and that the earliest Cupertino would manage to swing a 64-bit A7 processor was by 2014.

According to a new report by Fox News reporter Clayton Morris, though, Cupertino might have been juicing. A 64-bit A7 processor could be included in the iPhone 5S.

It used to be a no-brainer to enable the Apache web server included with Mac OS X. You’d hop into the System Preferences, fire up the Sharing preference pane, and then you’d be good to go.

Starting in Mountain Lion, however, Apple hasn’t given a user-friendly checkbox as in previous OS X releases. Instead you need a little bit of Terminal magic.

Here’s how to enable and start the Web Service in OS X Mountain Lion.

You know what everyone should do if they have an Apple TV? Install Plex, the incredible media server that can stream any digital media file on your Mac to your Apple TV, no jailbreak required.

I’m dead serious: Plex is awesome, and installing it on my Mac has been a total game changer in regards to the way I watch media in my own house. From my Apple TV, my MacBook Air, my iPad or my iPhone, I can stream my entire video library anywhere with no hassle.