It’s Friday and it’s time for our weekly digest of tiny iPhone reviews, courtesy of iPhoneTiny.com, with some extra commentary exclusive to Cult of Mac.
Under review this week: Arkanoid, FlipTime 2.0, Shockwave, Squareball and Monster Pinball.
If Apple was in the paper business and Cupertino was in charge of designing the ubiquitous notepad, the result might have been similar to an Australian’s play on the fascination with everything ‘pod’. The ‘Notepod,’ which the cheeky makers – Inventive Labs – describes as “in a form reminiscent of a popular smart phone,” costs $17.95.
The circumspect description isn’t without reason. Apple is notoriously lawsuit-happy. Although, the 100-page Notepod can’t run apps or sync with iTunes, besides the gridded pages and the cardboard covers it does bear a striking physical resemblance to the iPhone.
Despite (or because of) a potential lawsuit, the people behind the Notepod have a ready market of iPhone owners looking for just the perfect low-tech companion product.
[Via Product and Gadget Lab]
Laura Brunow Miner took this nice series of snaps with her iPhone capturing the view from one bench in San Francisco’s Dolores Park.
Interesting to see how different the bench looks on foggy days, bright days, and with couples, old people and tattooed hipsters sitting on it.
Check out the gallery on her site, there are 27 park bench pics so far, it’s a good reminder of what you can do with a point-and-shoot cam in everyday settings.
If you’ve done a similar project with your iPhone, write in or let us know in the comments, we’d love to see ’em.
Via CBS 5
Want to hear some news even more shocking than Microsoft’s supposed me-too tablet? This tidbit should surely knock you back on your heels – there’s another case out for the iPhone. That’s right, it’s Friday and we have the weekend gadget roundup, including more deals on Time Capsules and Apple TVs.
For details on these and other Apple bargains (like a 17″ laptop sleeve), check out CoM’s Daily Deals page.
For a company with a hippie-influenced CEO famous for a six month sojourn in India in the early 1970s and widely reported to have had major personal revelations after dropping acid, Apple hasn’t had much of an environmental image over the years. Despite Al Gore’s presence on the company board, Apple didn’t perform free computer recycling until April 2006, far later than Dell and HP.
Apple’s reluctant environmental attitude has been changing, however. Steve Jobs personally made it clear in May 2007 that he intended to change all of that in a letter to the public that temporarily appeased Greenpeace. And now, the company is the first in the industry to provide full disclosure of its carbon footprint.
Anyone can look behind the curtain at Apple.com/environment. It’s pretty amazing. The first thing that jumps out at you is that Apple claims that it is responsible for pumping 10.2 million tons of carbon emissions into the atmosphere every year. That exceeds HP’s 8.4 million tons and dwarfs Dell’s 471,000. That would be horrifying, were it not for the fact that both HP and Dell specifically exclude the carbon impact of people using their products (and some manufacturing impact), which Apple says is 53 percent of its total.
The other major contributor, not surprisingly, is manufacturing, 38 percent of the footprint. I was personally surprised to see that transportation was only 5 percent of Apple’s total, given how many online sales it has for hardware and the fact that all of its product are manufactured in Asia. I imagine this figure would be significantly higher if Apple hadn’t so dramatically reduced the size of its packaging (and products) over the last several years.
All in all, I love this move. It’s about time Apple threw down the gauntlet and tried to lead its industry to places its competitors are uncomfortable going.
Via BusinessWeek
A redesigned iMac with a slimmer chassis, a lower price tag and possibly Blu-Ray is coming in the next few weeks, says AppleInsider.
Citing two sources, the new iMac is already rolling off production lines in Taiwan, says the website. It could be launched as early as next week, though early- to mid-October is likelier.
The new machine will likely be cheaper and sport a thinner industrial design, along the lines of Apple’s latest LED backlit Cinema Displays. It may also have Blu-Ray, AppleInsider suggests, though not very strongly.
“People familiar with Apple’s thinking have suggested in recent months one of these moves could see the company finally embrace Blu-ray — a technology once derided by Chief Executive Steve Jobs as a “bag of hurt” from a licensing perspective.”
CoM is betting against Blu-Ray. The format isn’t yet ready for prime time on computers. Until software and other media ships on Blu-Ray, it’s a format that makes sense only for movies on home theater systems.
If Apple does add Blu-Ray, it’s likely to be at a premium, AppleInsider says, suggesting Blu-Ray may be available as an option, which sounds reasonable. Customers wanting a Blu-Ray drive can pay extra for it.
Tech columnist Mike Elgan comes out swinging against the Microsoft tablet concept, codenamed Courier. It’s pure fantasy, says Elgan, and will NEVER be built.
“… you’ll never own a Microsoft Courier device,” he writes in his latest column. “It’s not real now. It’s not going to be real in the future. And even Microsoft does eventually make it real, it will fail in the market and you won’t buy one.”
As Elgan points out, the “leaked” photos and video of the device are pure CGI; Hollywood-style special effects that look great as mockup photos and demo videos, but may not be possible to build.
“Everything is awesome when it doesn’t have to actually be manufactured, sourced or developed at an affordable cost,” he writes. “It’s special effects wizardry, not software or hardware design.”
In edition, Elgan notes that a pen-based tablet is doomed to failure. He calls Microsoft’s repeated attempts to force pen-based devices on the market “crazy,” citing Windows for Pens in the 1990s, pen-based Tablet PC and Ultra Mobile PC, and Windows Mobile devices with pens. “I don’t think pens have any role in mass-market devices of the future — certainly nothing that could compete with an iPhone-like Apple Tablet,” he says. We agree – pens are a throwback. The future of multitouch tablets and PCs are finger-controlled.
Wacom today introduced a version of its Bamboo tablets with the familiar gesture and multi-touch features of the iPhone. Along with the traditional touch-sensitive pen, the tablets recognize nine gestures, including select and drag, double-click and navigate.
There are two version of the Bamboo: a Pen option is $70, while the Pen & Touch tablet is $100. The tablets have a 5.8 x 3.6-inch touch-sensitive area.
The Bamboo is bundled with Adobe’s Elements, which costs $80 by itself.
[Via Wacom and Gadget Lab]
In a strange city and need to find the nearest Hooters? A new iPhone app, Bionic Eye, has got you covered.
Designed for the iPhone 3GS, Bionic Eye is an augment reality app that overlays information about nearby points of interest over the iPhone’s camera. Hold the camera up to the building in front of you, and thanks the iPhone’s GPS and compass, the screen is overlaid with little virtual signs that say what’s inside. It also includes virtual signposts showing the way to the nearest subway station or Starbucks coffee shop.
A demo of the app surfaced in July, when the app was called “Nearest Subway” and pointed to nearby subway stations.
It’s now available in the App Store for $0.99. Versions are available for the U.S., U.K., France and Tokyo. And as well as public transit, the app points to a range of POIs, including fast food restaurants, WiFi hotspots, chain hotels and Apple stores.
The app covers all US cities and doesn’t need an active WiFi or 3G internet connection. More than 100,000 POIs are contained in the app’s 2.9MByte database. However, information about subways in the U.S. is restricted to New York, Washington, and Chicago (and you buy the info from within the application).
Bionic Eye — U.S.
Bionic Eye — U.K.
Bionic Eye — France
Bionic Eye — Tokyo
Hit the jump for a video of the app in action.
How far can marketers ride on the iPhone’s coattails? Quite a distance, if MovieWedge is any gauge. Marketed as the “best iPhone, iPod and portable media device holder/stand in the world!”, the $10 patent-pending product bears a striking resemblance to a 98-cent bean bag. But there has to be more to it, right? Well, yes – more marketing-speak.
The MovieWedge’s features include:
The company includes links to favorable press, including CrunchGear: “this is such a good idea.” What is more interesting is the reviews were written in March and mentioned MovieWedge would be available any day. Why the delay?
Nearly six months later, the second-coming of MovieWedge is appearing.
“It’s probably a little chunky for the minimalist traveler, but we like it anyway,” wrote Gadget Lab’s Charlie Sorrel. The Wired site noted MovieWedge offers a “plush lip” for devices plus that micro-fiber material that’s perfect to “quickly polish away greasy smears from grubby thumbs.”
But $10 to wipe your hands? “But, it’s a bean bag with branding,” noted Giz.
[Via Company Page, Gadget Lab and Gizmodo]
AT&T announced via its Facebook page that you will be able to send MMS from your device, sometime Friday. (Rather coyly, the message says “Late morning, Pacific Time.”)
You’ll have to download the carrier settings update (.ipcc) from iTunes before you can start clogging up the network with multimedia messages, though. The FB page will disclose all details when MMS launches.
Meh. The first gen Nokia smartphone I’ve got has MMS, I’ve probably used it less than five times in about three years.
So are you counting the seconds or couldn’t care less about MMS?
And, more importantly, what are you going to send and to whom?
Dublin launched a bike sharing scheme on Sept. 15. Sponsored by French ad giant JC Decaux, locals can pick up the bikes around town, then leave them at one of 40 stations. The first half hour is free.
The trouble? Firm Fusio thought it’d be nice to have an iPhone app, available gratis on iTunes, telling would-be cyclists which stations had bikes available and how many. The Dublinbikes app used a mashup of Google Maps and data from the official Dublinbikes Website.
JC Decaux sent a nastygram to Fusio threatening legal action, and the App was pulled Sept. 23 from iTunes.
The story sounds depressingly similar to StationStops, the app that ran into trouble with NY transport authorities by publishing available public schedules.
It may not be over yet, however: politician Paschal Donohoe, a declared iPhone user, called on Dublin City Council to intervene.
“The new bike scheme will depend on bikes being available, when and where people need them,” he said in a statement on his website. “A new application for iPhones provided this up-to-the minute information on where the bikes were located.”
“We should be encouraging innovation for the sake of the economy, not stamping it out.”
In the meantime, there are already a couple of mobile web alternatives to the killed bike sharing app.
Via Wap Review
Now that Apple has released a new version of its iPod touch, the floodgate of first- and second-generation units offer some good bargains. Today, we include two options – refurbished touch’s from the Apple Store and a MacMall deal. Weather you’re into leather or metal, we have an iPod/iPhone case for you. Plus, in our drive to offer you choices, today’s other lead-off hitters give you two discounts on Mac hardware or screen protectors.
For details on these and other products (like a portable solar charger), check out CoM’s Daily Deals page.
Every now and again, a game comes along that makes you feel like a ham-fisted idiot, as though you’re clawing at your iPhone or iPod touchscreen with all the grace of a lobotomised monkey wearing boxing gloves. But the game is so compelling and addictive, you play on anyway, getting killed approximately every ten seconds, going ARRRGGGHH and then having another go anyway. Eventually, you realise that it’s you, not the game. The game isn’t unfair—you’re just rubbish, and you need to learn how to improve, just like in the old days with the likes of Defender.
Squareball by Finn Ericson ($1.99/£1.19, App Store link) is one such game. The concept is simple: drag the levels left or right to ensure your ever-bouncing ball doesn’t disappear into a hole or hit red tiles, and collect all the green tiles before the timer runs out. With graphics akin to Atari’s Adventure in pseudo-3D and a fab soundtrack, this game’s had me addicted and loving it and hating it in equal measure since its day of release. Today, I interviewed its creator to find out how this retro-themed mix of Pong, Breakout and simplified Super Mario-style platformer came to be.
Earlier today, Gizmodo posted a pair of pictures of what are presumed to be the fruits of Microsoft’s Project Pink — long-rumored to be the so-called ZunePhone. The merits of the designs have already been debated endlessly online (most people seem to like the one above, called “True” “Pure” and are puzzled about the one below, “Turtle”). For what it’s worth, they seem perfectly fine to me and could even make a pretty big splash if they come to Verizon, have a great OS, a decent app library, and Xbox-linked games; as I’ve said before, it’s not about the product, it’s about the platform and the network.
But since this is a Mac blog, I’m not going to spend a long time analyzing what Project Pink might or might not mean. I’m more interested in how this major leak, likely months before official announcement or release, shows just how difficult it is to handle the innovation thing the way Apple does: in secret, on time, and with big impact.
Consider what we knew about the iPhone prior to its release: That Apple would make a phone. Maybe. That’s it. Honestly, I wasn’t sure there actually was an iPhone until Steve announced it at MacWorld. We’d seen a million renderings from designers, none of which turned out to be even close to what Apple released. Compare that to what we knew about the Google G1: EVERYTHING. With the Pink phones, we now know virtually everything about the industrial design and the hardware, we know the OS, and we have a sense of the UI.
This doesn’t happen because Apple’s competitors are incompetent — far from it. It’s just the fact that in the media environment we have today, it’s almost impossible to keep secret anything that people want to know about. One slip-up by any of thousands of people can send your top-secret project out to the world. We don’t know the source of the Pink leak — it could literally be anyone — a Microsoftie, a Sharp employee, someone at the ODM, someone at the ad agency, someone at the PR agency, or even an embargoed journalist gone rogue. It’s incredibly hard to trace, and even harder to prevent from happening in the first place.
And this is why Apple’s ability to create, sustain, and often exceed hype is such a remarkable thing. There have been leaks at times, but nothing this big, ever. Instead, Apple manages to stoke the rumor fires just enough that we all have some notion of what it might make next — we’re all convinced that Apple’s making a tablet — but none of us have any idea of what the actual thing will be. We don’t even know which operating system such a tablet will run.
Maintaining that mystique requires incredible loyalty from your employees, extreme paranoia, and even an unwillingness to let any of your partners touch or see the final devices. It’s obviously so hard that Apple doesn’t even try to do it for incremental or non-surprising products, which could explain how all those case manufacturers leaked the nano with the video camera all those weeks ago.
It’s the stumbles of Apple’s competitors that remind me just how special Steve Jobs and team are when they’re at the top of their game. The reason the entire tech media corps went insane for the iPhone was that it was a great product and a huge surprise at once.
And in the connected age, that’s just as hard as a solid multitouch implementation.
Changes to accounting rules will allow Apple to record revenue from sales of the iPhone and Apple TV at the time of sale, rather than spreading it over 24 months, Dow Jones newswire is reporting.
Financial experts predict the rule change will add significant revenue to Apple’s quarterly results, and haveupped their stock targets accordingly. CNBC’s Jim Cramer, for example, predicts Apple’s stock will hit $264 a share, in part because of the rule change (it’s trading at about $188).
Apple currently spreads revenue from iPhone and Apple TV sales over two years, like a subscription. As a result, blockbuster sales quarters for the iPhone — like this summer’s release of the iPhone 3GS — aren’t reflected in the company’s quarterly revenue statements.
Apple uses subscription accounting for the iPhone and Apple TV because it allows the company to update the devices with new software without charging customers for new features. Apple does not do this for its iPods, which is why customers are charged nominal fees for software upgrades.
Apple lobbied the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) for a change in the accounting rules. The changes were widely expected.
Apple’s shares are up about 2 percent in midday Wednesday trading.
Turn at the right corner. Look behind you. Is that TomTom in the rear-view mirror?
Those probably aren’t instructions most of us will hear from our GPS units, but they might have been in the minds of Kensington when it released a “cost-effective” alternative to competing systems. The windshield or vent car mount also “acoustically increases speaker volume without additional battery drain on the iPhone,” the company claimed Wednesday.
The mount is placed either on an auto’s windshield or in a vent. How can volume increase without using any power? The keyword in the last paragraph may be “acoustically.” We’ve all experienced the great acoustics in a tiled bathroom or the cathedral ceilings of a church. Maybe Kensington’s discovered an electronic voice bounce better when backed by a windshield or a hollow vent? Who know, no details were provided.
But what is evident is that Kensington is taking a slap at TomTom. In August, the FCC released photos of TomTom’s Car Kit, including a GPS mount that can reportedly be positioned either vertically or horizontally . The kit also includes a SIRFstar GPS chipset and Bluetooth.
Kensington’s acoustically updated GPS mount goes on sale in November, including at all Apple stores.
[Via iClarified and Kensington]
There are a number of ways to bring your iPod or iPhone along for the ride, but playing tunes in your auto usually requires an FM link with iffy quality. Griffin Technology, however, smooths out the bumps by teaming its iTrip audio hardware with a retro interface thanks to a bit of free software from the App Store.
To get past the problem of finding a transmission-free FM frequency, the iTrip ($50) scans for the best signal, then automatically sends your iPhone or iPod to the spot. The iTrip also features an LCD display for the current frequency, plus will offer in-dash readouts of the current track for cars with RDS (Radio Data Systems). RDS-capable autos can receive inaudible information (such as traffic reports) alongside FM content sent by RDS broadcasts. The iTrip is rounded out with a mini USB port that can connect to your iPhone, making on-the-go recharging a snap.
Along with the hardware, Griffin is offering a free iPhone application, complete with a display of a large retro-style dial for precise tuning.
Griffin isn’t alone in the FM iPhone market. Belkin also offers its TuneBase FM product.
[Via Griffin and Gadget Lab]
In an embarrassing turn of events, Palm has gotten the smackdown from a USB industry group over a software hack that enables Palm’s Pre smartphone to sync with iTunes.
When Palm released the Pre earlier this year, the company cleverly spoofed Apple’s unique USB identifier to fool iTunes into thinking the Pre was an Apple device, allowing it to sync songs and playlists. It was a sneaky but daring move for Palm, ensuring the Pre was compatible with the market-leading music software.
But Apple repeatedly disabled the hack with a series of iTunes updates, so Palm sent a letter to the USB Implementers Forum, an industry group that oversees the USB standard, claiming Apple is “hampering competition.”
But in a response to Apple and Palm on Tuesday, the group sided with Apple, saying Palm’s spoofing of Apple’s ID likely violates USB-IF policy.
“Under the Policy, Palm may only use the single Vendor ID issued to Palm for Palm’s usage,” “the group said in a letter obtained by Digital Daily.
“Usage of any other company’s Vendor ID is specifically precluded. Palm’s expressed intent to use Apple’s VID appears to violate the attached policy,” the letter continued.
Embarrassing. Clearly not the response Palm was hoping for.
The USB Forum asked Palm to clarify its position and respond within seven days. Palm told Digital Daily it is reviewing the Forum’s letter and will “respond as appropriate.”
This prototype iPhone nav system mounts on standard bike helmets to help get cyclists where they’re going. Devised by Tokyo iPhone app developers Ubiquitous Entertainment, it runs on an original app that in addition to using the iPhone’s compass and GPS maps can also receive push notifications from Twitter (via TwitBird Pro) or phone calls with A2DP.
The head mounted device (HMD) is retractable, and as you might expect, the screen is a little jiggly during ride. Test cyclist Sho checked out the map while stopped or at traffic lights, not while pedaling. The HMD was so light it was secured with scotch tape; in later trials the iPhone was stuck in a pocket to avoid potential tumbles from the helmet.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1AzailvJB0
As an urban biker sick of pulling out maps or trying to check Google maps on my phone, I love this idea, though I would stick to keeping the phone in a pocket to avoid worry about someone snatching it and the perils of sudden showers.
Via Make
Version 8 of Adobe’s popular Photoshop Elements photo-editing software is coming to the Mac in October, adding several new intelligent photo fixes, such as Photomerge Exposure, previewing a range of adjustments and one-click fixes for skin, skies and teeth.
Photoshop Elements 8 adds about a dozen new photo editing features or enhancements, including the ability to share photos via iPhone.
Known as “Photoshop Lite,” Elements brings a lot of the power of Adobe’s flagship editing suite to non-professionals, thanks to its stripped-down interface and well-implemented help options.
“We’ve simplified the editing process, without taking away any of the power, and incorporated smart tools with built-in intelligence to bring once difficult tasks, within reach of everyone,” said Adobe executive Doug Mack in a statement.
Guided Edit for example, new in version 8, walks the user through both basic editing operations like removing scratches and blemishes, and artistic effects like line drawing.
Another new smart fix, Photomerge Exposure, combines two shots — one with flash, the other with flash off — into a single, well-lit photo. See above.
Photoshop Elements was first released for the Mac in 2006 and has gained a slew of new features and enhancements in meantime. Here’s what’s new in version 8, and the list of comparison features between versions.
The $99 software (or $79 pre-order after a $20 rebate) is compatible with Snow Leopard. It requires Mac OS X 10.4.11 or better.
Nicole posted about the somewhat crazed Microsoft Windows party video earlier today. Just when you think Microsoft advertising and marketing can’t get any worse, it does.
Funny as the original is, Fraser Speirs suggested on Twitter: “I bet that Win7 party video would be an internet sensation if someone just beeped out all the references to Windows 7.”
As if by magic, Panic‘s Cabel Sasser duly obliged, with his own take on the Windows 7 Party video. Watch it below.
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyas7BrbUFY
If you’ve wanted a MacBook for so long, but have held off waiting for the right moment, wait no longer, because we lead off today’s caravan of Apple bargains with deals on MacBooks, MacBook Airs and two offers on MacBook Pro laptops. Of coursem no hardware extravaganza would be complete without a deal of Time Capsules.
For details on these and other items (such as the Gogo iPod and iPhone case), check out CoM’s Daily Deals page.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oWWt_L-qeo
To help launch Windows 7, Microsoft is enlisting PC people to hold house parties to promote the new operating system.
For the October 22 launch date, Microsoft enthusiasts around the world just got selected to show off their new software at home with parties, sort of Tupperware style.
Naturally, the company has a few ideas of how these launch parties should go. A short sample party agenda, from the above talking heads: first, have a drink and mingle. Then shoot 20 or so photos. “Then when everyone was settled, I showed them my favorite features from the new Windows 7.”
“It only took like 10 minutes. Everyone just crowded around the computer in the kitchen.”
Andrew Coates, developer evangelist for Microsoft, told the Sydney Morning Herald the idea behind Windows 7 was to bring back the “sense of mastery” to software users.
“We have done a lot of work around why people weren’t feeling comfortable with software any more. People felt like they weren’t in control.”
Party hosts also have “a good chance” of winning a Windows PC worth $750, according to Microsoft.
“In a lot of ways, you’re just throwing a house party with Windows 7 as an honored guest,” says one of the actors in the video. “Sounds easy and it is.”
Whatever they’re smoking in the Microsoft marketing department, I’ll have some.
Via Sidney Morning Herald, hat tip to CoM reader Brett McCurdy.
What it is: Tab Toolkit is a sophisticated guitar practice and education app from Agile Partners, makers of the handy Guitar Toolkit app that came out in 2008. Tab Toolkit lets users read and listen to real-time guitar tablature files, scrolling through songs at the correct tempo, showing both traditional and tablature notation and superimposing fingering notation updated in real-time on a virtual fretboard or piano keyboard.
Why it’s cool: Tab Toolkit is an app for serious guitarists willing to invest $10 in something that will make tab charts come alive on the go. That said, the app is cool because it shows the user exactly where to finger guitar parts as a synthesized version of a song is playing in real time through the iPhone or iPod Touch speakers or headphones. Songs can be stopped and started, scrolled forward and back, and the sound output can be muted to allow users to concentrate on their own playing. The fretboard can even be flipped to accommodate left-handed players.
Tab files can be a bit of a rare beast to come by, with the most useful files optimized for Mac being those created and readable by GuitarPro software, which runs $59.
Online libraries such as GPro Tab offer free sharing of user-generated GuitarPro tabs, which can be a great way to get started in the rich world of online instrument practice and education. Tab Toolkit supports text files and PDF files as well, but the genius behind the app is best appreciated with a GuitarPro tab.
The app supports multitrack parts, so users can learn two different guitar parts to a song, for example, or the bass part, the keyboard part, or even the vocal. Tempos can be speeded up or slowed down, and getting tabs from a user’s computer on to the iPhone are a snap over a wireless network connection – from the web onto the phone they are just as easy using the embedded Safari browser.
This reviewer doesn’t have too many $10 apps on his iPhone, but as a musician, I can say without reservation that Agile Partners have created an incredibly useful, well-thought-out app that performs – so far – flawlessly.
Where to get it: Tab Toolkit went live in the iTunes App Store on Tuesday; it sells for $9.99
