Posts Tagged ‘iphone’

iPhone Accessories

Monday, May 3rd, 2010

Last month I got rid of our land-line at home and got an iPhone. I totally love it. I can make phone calls, update my blogs, check email, watch baseball games and play chess and scrabble with my friends. Right after I got it, I was told I needed a protective case and screen shield. No problem, right? Wrong. Since i never owned a cell phone or an iPod, I had never really noticed just how many products are made for these devices—not to mention how expensive they can be. There are so many different kinds and colors and styles and materials and protectors and protector protectors and holsters and cables and chargers and stands and speakers and headphones…I was completely overwhelmed. After many trips to many stores and a few hours of internet research, I finally chose a case, a screen protector and some ear-buds that actually stay in my ears. I still cannot believe how much stuff there is for these devices.

Anyway, during my research, I ran across some cool and free do-it-yourself iPhone stands. Enjoy.

iPhone paper stand / dock (comes with a printable template)

iPhone Binderclip Dock

Lego rotating iPhone dock

Credit Card iPhone Stand (not shown but cool)

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Posted in Design Love, Etc. | 4 Comments »

Let’s all just relax a little bit…

Thursday, April 29th, 2010

This has been a hot button for a little while now, but if you still haven’t heard, here is a synopses of the prototype iPhone shenanigan…

  • Employee leaves new iPhone at a bar
  • Dudes finds said iPhone
  • Dude calls Apple, they say they don’t know what he’s talking about
  • Dude decides to make a buck off it, since he can’t really return it
  • Gizmodo.com buys said iPhone for $5K
  • Apple flips out, demands return of iPhone
  • Search warrent issued and Gizmodo.com reviewer gets his door busted in
  • Dude who found the iPhone at the bar also gets his place raided by the tech police

Click through to read my response and watch John Stewart’s reaction as well.
(more…)

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Posted in Code Logic | 2 Comments »

Latest and greatest iPhone apps…

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

In my “research” over the last week, I’ve found a couple new iPhone apps that really caught my eye. Go forth and download!

Line2: In an effort to compete with and improve upon Google Voice, Line2 adds a second line to your phone, making it easier to separate personal and business call. Google Voice allows calls to be routed to multiple phones, but leaves the deciding of whether it’s business or personal up to the receiver. This particular app is also compatible with Android phones but is fairly pricey ($0.99 for a 30 day trial, then $14.95 per month after that). Click here to read more and watch the video tutorial.

Digg: The much anticipated app for Digg (social news website that allows users to submit, or “Digg”, any piece of content on the Web and then the most “Dugg” pieces appear on the front page of the site) was unveiled yesterday in the UK. Until now, there has been no native app for Digg, but only an iPhone optimized mobile site. The exact US release date is not known yet, but here is an inside peek at what the interface will look like:

Fisher Price Apps: Fisher Price has released three new apps aimed specifically at 2-4 year olds. They are “Chatter Telephone”, “See n’ Say”, and “Little People Farm”. Personally, I’m not sold on the idea of toddlers toting iPhones, but I suppose there are some instances that would require a child to be occupied by an app for 10 minutes or so (see: doctor’s office waiting room).

So, there you have it: the latest, greatest iPhone apps (for this week, at least). Enjoy!

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Posted in Etc. | No Comments »

Google Goggles

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

This makes me want to trade in the iPhone for a Droid. Not likely, but still an option.

I am continually amazed by the technology breakthroughs that keep appearing for mobile. For me, this begs the question: “is it easier to use an app like Google Goggles or is is simpler to search through the standard browser?” Yes, apps like this are nifty, but are they more efficient? How much does a weak cell signal affect the apps performance in the long run? I look forward to the coming months to see if apps like these are truly a tool to make life simpler, or if they are just put in place to sell the Droid over the iPhone… this remains to be seen.

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Posted in Etc. | 1 Comment »

Waiter, there’s Augmented Reality in my iPhone!

Monday, September 28th, 2009

robotvisionJustin, with his Android phone, will shrug his Google-loving shoulders and say “who cares?”, but I’m excited. My iPhone just got a new App this morning called Robotvision, a piece of Augmented Reality technology that overlays real-time business and restaurant information, as well as other fun stuff, onto my phone’s 3GS camera view.

I hold my iPhone up, look for, say, Bars and Restaurants within a mile, and BAM! Flags showing the nearest options hover in front of me. Tap on a restaurant to get the address, driving directions through the map app, or to call with the oft-forgotten phone functionality that my gadget possesses. Tap to search bing and get a summary of their hours, ratings, photos of the place, etc. Lay the iPhone down and a map view appears, all of the tagged locations raining down in pin drop formation.

I can also see all of the nearest Tweets and Flickr photos with a click of a button. Less useful, but novel and fun.

This is a preview of the Augmented Reality of our future. Human vision? Bah! It’s time for Robotvision.

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Posted in Zoom Creates News | 1 Comment »

Reality is SO boring.

Monday, August 31st, 2009

reality01It seems that reality just isn’t cutting it anymore. We humans want to supersize reality, layer more and more stuff on top of reality to really trick it out. Innovative folks out there have been working to develop Augmented Reality technology since 1992, creating applications that blend our real physical world with computer-generated virtual imagery, and the results are pretty darn interesting.

There are some new mobile applications out there that help you, among other things, find subway stops, restaurants, identify landmarks, navigate the roads, identify someone’s face and pull up all of their online profile information, or pull up all of the wikipedia entries about your surroundings. If it can be layered on top of reality, someone’s figuring out how to do it.

For instance, take a look at this Yelp! app that uses the camera and GPS on your iPhone to tell you instant information about the restaurants around you.

This Top 6 countdown of hot mobile Augmented Reality apps explains where we are today and gives you a taste of the future possibilities of this technology.

And here’s a great example of an Augmented Reality digital hologram, used by GE to promote their Smart Grid technologies. You print off a special page and hold it in front of your web cam to view the hologram.

Lastly, this video shows an iPhone app that uses Augmented Reality to teach kids spelling. Watch out, children of the future!

Despite its early 90′s origins, which in Computerland makes Augmented Reality practically ancient, the possibilities of this technology are still nascent. The applications and graphics still feel a bit primitive (though, admittedly, in a futuristic way), and the overall consensus among techno geeks everywhere is that we’re just taking the first steps in what will be a huge leap forward for reality as we know it.

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Posted in Zoom Creates News | No Comments »