No one really likes slapping a case on their iPhone — no matter how pretty or how protective that case may be. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll try to find the thinnest, lightest iPhone case on the market in an effort to preserve Apple’s sleek and sexy design. Mod-3 feels exactly the same way, and they’ve designed the Radius, a new iPhone 5 case that’s so minimalistic you’ll hardly notice it.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – The venerable MacBook Pro has a number of workstation options available to it, but the MacBook Air tends to get short shrift in the B2B accessories market.
The LandingZone wants to change that, and they’re showing off a simple, attractive pair of docking stations that not only make it easy to “check in” to your workstation, but give the MacBook Air a wealth of new USB ports and security benefits.
Here’s a new free puzzle game for young and old alike. It’s called Quento, and it’s colorful, addictive, and more difficult than it looks.
Rumors surrounding an upcoming low-cost iPhone have really taken off this week, with The Wall Street Journal reporting on Tuesday that the device could make its debut before the end of 2013. Now Bloomberg is corroborating that with information from its own sources, who say Apple is already discussing the device with at least one of the major U.S. carriers. They also claim that the handset will cost between $99 and $149 when it launches.
Wireless speakers are often the best way to enjoy the music you have stored on your smartphone or tablet, but like other electronics, there are some places you wouldn’t want to take them — such as the beach or the lake. Filling them with sand and water will kill them incredibly quickly.
That’s not a worry with the NUU Splash, however, because it’s both dust and water resistant.
If you’re a former BlackBerry user who’s just bought your first iPhone, and you’re struggling to adapt to its virtual on-screen keyboard, then check out the Spike SmartType from SoloMatrix. On show at this year’s CES in Las Vegas, and coming to iPhone 4/4S and iPhone 5, the Spike is a new case that slaps a physical QWERTY keyboard right across your handset’s display. You can fold it away when it’s not in use, and you never need to worry about charging it.
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Lego is showing off a new version of its popular Mindstorms robotics kit at CES that adds some incredible new technology. The third generation Lego kit includes support for mobile devices, meaning that you can now control your Lego creations with your iPhone.
As Mindstorms continues to evolve, the technology in them improves as well. The heart of the EV3 is powered by Linux, which allows the creator to program the creation remotely from your iOS device.
Lego plans to make the Mindstorms EV3 available sometime in the second half of 2013, with a retail price of $349.99 It seems like just yesterday that Legos were just plastic bricks…
A day after AT&T announced its “best-ever” quarter for smartphone sales, rival operator Verizon Wireless is doing exactly the same thing. The carrier has announced that it expects to have reached a record 9.8 million sales during the fourth quarter of 2012, and it’s attributing that success to the popularity of the iPhone.
I haven’t really paid much attention to Mountain Lion’s new Power Nap feature, until I learned that it will keep my Mac safer, as Power Nap allows Find My Mac to run while it’s sleeping. A stolen Macbook can be run on battery power, so if you want to make it so that it’s more likely to continue running Power Nap, even when the Mac is unplugged, you have to enable it.
Power Nap also lets Time Machine back up hourly while asleep and runs Software Updates once per day. It will also keep all the iCloud stuff we all use synced up and ready to go, including email, calendars, notes, contacts, and reminders.
In case you don’t have this little gem running on your Mac, here’s how to check if it is, and enable it if it isn’t.
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Fitness technology company Fitbit has unveiled a new product this year at CES that they call the Fitbit Flex, a bluetooth wristband. As with many other products announced at this year’s CES, the Fitbit Flex works with an iOS app over Bluetooth 4.0 to keep your fitness data up to date.
The Fitbit Flex companion app tracks your activities, and keeps a record of how many steps you’ve taken, the distance you’ve traveled, how many calories you’ve burned, as well as the quality of your sleep.
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Fisher-Price is showing off a new iPad case along with some apps at CES that are perfect for any child. The Create and Learn Apptivity case, as it’s called, is a rugged, kid friendly case made for use by children. It not only securely holds the iPad, protecting the entire unit, but also has an integrated handle and stylus connected to the case.
T-Mobile USA will finally start selling the iPhone and enforce its plan to eliminate subsidies in “three to four months,” according to the company’s chief executive, John Legere. It will be the first time T-Mobile has offered in the iPhone in the United States since the handset was first released launched in 2007.
High-end hifi people Naim announced a stylish new audio playback gadget designed to make listening to computer-based music as good as possible. Needless to say, you have to shell out serious money for this kind of serious sound.
If you’re into iOS but don’t know how to turn that passion into revenue, then the latest Cult of Mac Deals offer will be just what the doctor ordered. With The Master iOS Programming Course, you’ll be able to turn your iOS passion into a new lucrative hobby – and for just $47 to boot!
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – When Steve Jobs first unveiled the 9.7 inch iPad back in 2010, he made a specific point of telling how many endless hours, how many prototypes had been rejected determining the perfect size for an onscreen keyboard. 9.7 inches, he claimed, was the minimum device that you could accurately and comfortable type on. Any smaller tablet, he later elaborated, was a “tweener” you would need sandpaper to whittle down your fingers to type upon.
For Steve Isaac, CEO of Touchfire, those words are a challenge. If anything smaller than an iPad is a “tweener,” how can you enable a satisfactory typing experience on the 7.85 inch iPad mini? And Isaac thinks he’s got an answer.
Apple has released yet another seed for OS X 10.8.3 today, Build 12D50, to developers in the Mac Dev Center. This is the fourth seed since the original 10.8.3 beta back in November.
Retail giant Walmart announced today that it will be offering a prepaid iPhone in its stores starting January 11th. The iPhone will run on a $45 to $60 per month no contract, unlimited talk, text and data plan from the Straight Talk reseller, exclusively through Walmart.
Walmart is also offering a no interest fixed-monthly payment financing plan for the iPhone, if purchased with the Walmart credit card. Yes, you will be able to finance an iPhone 5 with unlimited talk, text, and data through Walmart (assuming approved credit) and Straight Talk ( a TracFone brand) for a whopping $70 a month. No word on how much you’ll actually be paying for the device after the financing has completed, though. This is a zero percent financing deal, so the $25 will never go up, and will end once the full cost of the iPhone is paid off.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – I honestly believed I’d seen pretty much everything in iPhone cases. I’m existentially bored with them, like if Camus wrote about tech writers.
So it was notable to me as I walked through the iLounge Pavillion today that a small booth of cases actually caught my eye and for just a second, made me go, “Hey, I haven’t seen that before.” The cases are by Huckleberry; called Chara-Cases, they turn your iPhone 4, iPhone 5 or iPod touch into the equivalent of a big, colorful action figure.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – I tried a Lightning-equipped battery case out today, and it was great. If you were doubting Apple’s decision to swap out its hideous 30-pin connector for the svelte new Lightning, then one smooth-sliding click of UNU’s case will put you straight.
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If you’ve ever wanted to feel your music while you listen to it, look no further than CES iMusic Body Rhythm, a new product being shown off at CES. Cult Of Mac’s Buster Heine went hands on with the product to rock out to some Justin Bieber tunes and see how it works.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – There’s nothing that isn’t Bluetooth-powered at CES. We saw a Bluetooth-enabled fork the other day, and today, we saw a pack of Bluetooth-enabled stickers. Really.
Unlike the stickers of Hello Kitty and She-Ra: The Princess Of Power that Buster and I shrewishly compete to collect, however, the Stick ‘N’ Find Bluetooth stickers are actually pretty useful, although worth every penny as much to collect.
T-Mobile recently announced that it has finally entered a partnership with Apple, meaning the iPhone should be sold on T-Mobile sometime later this year. While the iPhone isn’t officially sold on T-Mobile quite yet, that hasn’t kept iPhone owners from joining T-Mobile’s ranks. The nation’s fourth largest carrier says that it has been adding 100,000 iPhone activations each month, and T-Mobile now serves 1.9 million iPhones total.
Since you can’t yet buy an iPhone with a contract when you walk in a T-Mobile store, these numbers mean that a signifiant number of customers are bringing over unlocked iPhones from other carriers.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – I, like many of you, love my Olloclip. And while I don’t often use an iPhone case, when I do, I hate having to peel it off just to pop on the super-convenient accessory lens.
Thankfully, Olloclip has weathered the ordeal that was the iPhone 5 launch, and is now back to making cool new stuff. The latest is a case with a slide-open corner for use with the Olloclip. But it packs some really clever extra gimmicks.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – Jabra makes some nice stuff, but the last time I played with a pair of Jabra’s headphones I really felt like doing this to them. If I had, they would have broken; the new Jabra are probably better, and they have a nigh-indestructible headband to boot.
LAS VEGAS, CES 2013 – I have an unhealthy love affair with LEGOs. They’re beautiful and fun, but also expensive. Have you seen how much it costs to build a replicate R2D2 and B-Wing fighter to put in your bedroom.
Smallworks isn’t helping me any either. They’re making iPhone cases that let you play with LEGOs right on your iPhone and morph it into any creation you can dream up.