As if there weren’t enough capacitive styli out there for the iPad, here’s another one from Kickstarter success Adonit (who make the Adonit Writer we previewed here in a Kickstarter Macworld story — review coming soon) called the Jot. Ah, but this one’s different.
So you’re finally leaving us, white MacBook. I guess this day was inevitable; can’t say I’m all that broken up about it. Heck, the sooner you move out, the better.
Feeling a little dazed by the pace of change these days? Perhaps a little wistful for simpler computing times gone by? Then feast your eyes on Wozniak’s Conundrum, a wonderful – and working – steampunk marriage of a 1991 era Macintosh and an 1897 Remington typewriter.
The Slim Case ($40) from modulR is a super sleek hardshell case for the iPad 2 that offers a ton of functionality. It’s designed for the home, for the car, for the office, and for everything in-between, with a number of attachments that make it the most comprehensive iPad case available.
The Grey Leather Sleeve for iPad ($33) from newcomer Case Factori is likely the most precisely average case we’ve ever reviewed. It does the job politely, and without fanfare. Or much personality.
The TRTL STAND iPhone 4 case ($30) is an eco-friendly case from TRTL BOT that, similar to its cousin the Minimalist 4, is made in the U.S. entirely from recycled plastic bottles. Not only does it aim to protect your device from scratches, scuffs, and scrapes, but it also boasts a built-in stand with a choice of three viewing angles.
It’s difficult to find stuff made on U.S. soil these days. Heck, sometimes it seems like nothing is made here. But that’s not true of the elite, exo-skeletal Rockform Rokbed iPhone 4 case ($80), intricately machined from a solid block of aluminum: It’s designed and manufactured in the good ol’ U.S.A. (and it’s not shy about saying so), in Orange County, California by one of the most unlikely outfits to make an iPhone case — the motorcycle fanatics at Two Brothers Racing.
Aviiq’s Portable Laptop Stand ($60) is very similar to the manufacturer’s other stand we reviewed a few weeks ago, the Portable Quick Stand. The big difference? You can actually use this one on your lap, and it’ll even work with an iPad. It’s also considerably more expensive.
Apple has released Thunderbolt Firmware Update 1.0 for Macs that ship with the new Thunderbolt interface.
“Dude, your laptop case is, like, totally sick, brah!”
I looked up. It was my waiter, every inch of him a bro. He looked like the kind of guy whose cocktail of choice was a pounder of vodka and Mountain Dew, who spelled extreme with triple x-es, who never met a problem he couldn’t jump a skateboard over. He wore an Offspring t-shirt and a wallet on a chain covered in stickers. His goatee looked like a mullet growing out of his face.
I looked down. The “sick” case in question was the BookBook Case by TwelveSouth ($80) — a case which was designed to make my 11-inch MacBook Air look like some dusty vellum tome plucked from an ancient library.
Here’s an interesting idea: Take a thoughtfully designed, well-rounded, high-tech Bluetooth headset and mate it to a dedicated iPhone app (called EarPrint) with a boatload of mostly useful functions, and — voila, the dazzling result would look exactly like the Sound ID 510 Bluetooth headset ($129).
We haven’t seen too many manufacturers come out with a weather-resistant iPhone bicycle mount (what, no iPhone users ride bicycles in Seattle? C’mon, people). Luckily, Bracketron just announced their All-Weather Soft Case Bike Mount. In this case, the name literally says it all.
Nailing down the design and functionality of a Bluetooth headset seems like it’d be a fairly easy task. Yet if you’ve ever been in the market for a new headset, you’ve probably noticed that their aren’t many models out there that offer great design and functionality at a fair price. Jabra’s Extreme Headset ($79) is here to the rescue to provide a great experience at a reasonable price.
Back in May when we reported excitedly from the launch presser for Pioneer’s new AppRadio car audio deck, we were told it’d hit store shelves by late June, and cost in the vicinity of $500. Well, it’s arrived, and Pioneer has added a few features to the free AppRadio app. Oh, and they’ve lopped $100 off the price — it’s now $399. Aren’t surprises great?
I’m willing to bet that more than a few of our readers already saunter around in Apple-logo t-shirts in their homes, sit down on barstools by sprawling, stark pine desks and work on setups almost identical to those neatly arranged stations at the local Apple Store. Which is, y’know, cool. But do they have one of these?
Review by Kelly Keltner
Despite the word “Droid” plastered everywhere, the new Motorola CommandOne Bluetooth headset ($100) has already become my friend. True, it’ll never learn to pronounce my name correctly, is misunderstood by some of my other friends and has questionable fashion sense. We remain friends, however, because it’s easy to understand and comfortably fits in my ear. It’s unlike most relationships, but it works for us.
Although BlueAnt focuses exclusively on Bluetooth communication gadgets (and now earphones), they aren’t as well recognized as some of the other names coming up in our review, and they don’t proffer up a ton of offerings. In fact, they currently only offer five; with the BlueAnt Q2 Headset ($100) positioned as their marquis headset.
Life doesn’t get any better than lining up tracks at a party, armed with an iPad and DJ tools like Griffin’s iRig and StompBox. Oh wait — it does!
Anyone playing around with an iPhone 4 for any length of time will have realized that its compactness, decent sensor-processor combo and the huge selection of editing apps available make the darn thing is a superb platform for making both films and still photographs — if you can work around some of the gadget’s limitations. In this case, Habbycam, a small Southern Camifornia-based company that supplies all manner of rigs to the film industry, came up with the Habbycam iGrip ($140) as a better way to hold and position the iPhone for extended shooting. We think it needs work.
Review by Kelly Keltner
Before encountering Altec Lansing’s women-specific Bliss Platinum earphones ($70), I had never considered the idea that my ears might be too feminine and precious to handle having a larger earpiece forcibly shoved into their delicate canals. Now I know that, like many things, most earpieces are made for men and we poor, sweet ladies must go about life making do with too-big things. Altec Lansing hopes to solve that issue by giving ultra-precious lady ears a much-needed rest from all the bigness with the Bliss Platinum.
We think it’s a little odd for a company that only makes Apple—related products to label one of said products with the words “Apple Edition.” But that’s what they’re calling the new, slightly different version of their marquis Juice Pack Air iPhone 4 backpack battery.
Since Apple started popping out the first mouse to be packaged with a personal computer with the Macintosh back in 1984, designers have been trying to find alternatives to the ubiquitous rodent. Apple itself seems to be out front in terms of interesting creations, experimenting on their mice with intriguing, if not always satisfying results. In this case, Smartfish, with their Whirl Mini laptop mouse ($50), have focused on perfecting the ergonomics of the mouse instead of trying to reinvent it. Did they pull it off?
Road Warriors are people, not simply animatronic robots — if you prick us, do we not bleed? If you lose our luggage, do we not get pissy? And people need tunage. That’s where Logitech’s S715i rechargeable speaker dock ($150) comes in. Sling it in a bag and it’ll provide the party out on the road while you’re furiously tapping at that TPS report or chilling post-deadline — and it’ll look hot doing it. Just don’t expect much when the party goes ballistic, because the bass simply can’t keep up.
Our heads are spinning with all the new little features that are packed into iOS 5. Our heads also might be spinning from the new “LED Flash for Alerts” feature found under the Accessibility settings which we just enabled. While it currently only works on the iPhone 4, this neat little feature enables your phone to send out a few pulses of light from the LED Flash every time you get a new Text or Phone call.
