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| Wednesday March 17, 2010. 09:45 PM |
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Though Kings Of Leon Revenge preserves the exact same gameplay concept as its most recent predecessors, presenting you with one screen and three possible tapping positions?four during end-of-difficulty-level challenges?fine-tuning has made this particular title just a little more approachable than some of its predecessors. Tapulous?s prior games had you tap along to songs as dots crossed a tapping line, shake the iPhone or iPod touch?
DICE Electronics has introduced its new G2 Cradle for the iPod and iPhone. Designed for in-car use, the G2 features a pass-through Dock Connector port for connecting the cradle to a car integration kit, charger, or rear-seat entertainment system, a black and brushed aluminum design, six included interchangeable cradles for the iPod classic, first-, second-, and third-generation iPod touch, iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPhone 3GS, a ball mount for adjusting?
It's the second iPad case we've received and the first to arrive in packaging: Hard Candy Cases' Bubble Sleeve for iPad ($50) is a ballistic nylon and soft microfiber case with bubble-shaped bumps on both sides, a grid-textured cushion for the iPad's screen inside, and double zippers to seal everything closed. Unique to HardCandy's design is a set of four rubber corner grips for the iPad that can be moved with Velcro to properly accommodate the final?
Electric Pocket has released the iPhone version of its popular BugMe digital ink note and reminder app. BugMe allows users to jot free-form notes using their finger or a stylus, share their notes and set scheduled reminders for them. Users can choose from one of four background colors or specify their own photo for each note. Notes can be shared via Twitter or e-mail, saved directly to the device?s photo album or even saved as tiny sticky-note?
Apple has updated its iTunes Connect online iPhone application submission service to allow developers to schedule pricing changes to their apps, according to one iPhone developer. In an update to his Twitter account, Amro Mousa, a developer for return7, states that ?iPhone devs can now schedule sales in iTunes Connect,? with an accompanying screenshot showing the new options within the iTunes Connect interface. Developers can access the?
Navigon has released three new regional versions of its popular MobileNavigator app. Dubbed NAVIGON MyRegion, the new apps provide the same features as the full version but limit map information to regional areas of the United States. Three versions are presently available: U.S. Central, U.S. East and U.S. West; each currently sells for $25 and includes the ability to add the other regions via in-app purchase for $13 each. The MyRegion apps also include?
Apple has launched a number of new enhancements to its iWork.com beta Web-based document sharing service, including improved access on iPod touch, iPhone, and iPad devices. Mac Rumors reports that an email sent out to iWork.com users touts a redesigned user interface, which includes ?a redesigned Sign In and Shared Documents page for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch [that] makes it easy to access your documents while on the go. The new interface?
Apple has banned protective screen film from its retail and online stores, iLounge has confirmed with several separate companies, a policy that will affect both cases and individual film packages beginning in May. In communications with vendors that have been ongoing for ?some time now,? according to one company, Apple has said that it will remove both film-only solutions from its stores, as well as any case or other accessory that includes?
In recognition of Saint Patrick?s Day, today?s classic image from our iPhones Around the World archive shows an original iPhone overlooking the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, Ireland. We?re looking for your great iPhone and iPod images to add to our galleries! Springtime shots and anything else you might be able to contribute would be appreciated! So get out there, take some pictures featuring your favorite iPod or iPhone and maybe your?
At the end of February, we looked at Griffin?s Video Display Adapter, a generically named, seemingly simple $40 adapter that converted a MacBook?s Mini DisplayPort video connector into an HDMI video connector. Soon thereafter, TeleAdapt contacted us with its own alternative, the Mini DisplayPort + USB Audio to HDMI Adapter shown here, which also sells for $40?only $3 more than the virtually identical-looking version sold by Monoprice.?
Wearable, Inc. has introduced its new AirStash wireless flash drive with built-in media server. Airstash is a small device featuring a USB port on one end and an SD/SDHC card slot on the other. Once a card is inserted, users can fill the card with media from their desktop or laptop PCs, and then use the AirStash?s built-in Wi-Fi media server to access the content from any Wi-Fi-capable device with a web browser. Notably, the device?s?
We?re going to use this review to do a little something different with Ped3-U than with its predecessors, in hopes of communicating clearly both to readers and to Thought Out what?s gone right and wrong with the Ped product line over time. First, as a positive starting point, we?ll note that Ped3-U is a bona fide good idea: believe it or not, simplifying the now well-established iPod and iPhone holder design down to a comparatively?
Konami Digital Entertainment has released Frogger Inferno for the iPhone and iPod touch. In Frogger Inferno, players employ the familiar dodge-and-run tactics from the original game to guide Frogger across a busy highway to his home marsh. As an additional twist, however, Frogger Inferno now leaves a trail of fire behind him, requiring players to get Frogger home without the ability to double-back along their path. Additional features include Facebook?
A disgruntled iPod shuffle owner has filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple over failing iPod shuffle controls. The Wrap reports that Stephen Vale, of Manhattan Beach, CA, claims that when working out, perspiration would travel down his earphone cord and into the control module, causing the iPod to ?fail.? Vale at first took his shuffle to a nearby Apple retail store, and was given a replacement cord, which subsequently failed in the?
NASA has released an update to its official NASA App introducing support for sharing information on Facebook and Twitter. Version 1.2 supports Facebook Connect to allow users to share images, videos, tweets and mission information on their Facebook profile and also integrates its own full Twitter client for not only posting but also retweeting, replying and direct messaging from within the app. Other new features include the addition of the NASAImages.org?
Sophiestication Software has released Articles, a new application for browsing and searching Wikipedia on the iPhone and iPod touch. Articles presents Wikipedia content in an iPhone optimized format and includes several advanced UI features such as the ability to quickly scroll through articles by chapter, adjust text size via pinch-and-zoom gestures and lock screen orientation using a pull-down gesture. Articles allows users to search by title or?
Welcome to this week?s gaming edition of iPhone Gems! Today, we look briefly at three recent releases: the puzzle game Cubetrix 3D, the billiards game Pool Pro Online 3, and an interactive version of the Where?s Waldo? book series subtitled The Fantastic Journey. All three of these games are worthy of recommending to readers who are interested in the genres they represent, but for different reasons; Cubetrix 3D is the best overall of the?
Orbino has unveiled its new Padova Case for the Apple iPad. This form-fitting flip-style case is hand-stitched with waxed thread and constructed from fine leather and exotic animal skins. Features include a brushed metal Home button cover, a protective front cover with magnetic closure that flips open to serve as a vertical or horizontal stand, cutouts for the volume buttons, screen rotation lock switch, speakers, and headphone jack, and compatibility?
ALK Technologies has released the latest update to its CoPilot Live North America application, providing updated street maps of the U.S. and Canada, integrated local search and Facebook integration. The included local search, previously only available as a $20 in-app purchase, allows users to quickly locate products, services and stores directly from within the application. The update promises improved guidance and a more realistic display at complex?
According to a recent smartphone brand loyalty survey conducted by Crowd Science, 39% of BlackBerry users would buy an iPhone if purchasing a smartphone ?tomorrow.? 34% of BlackBerry users would purchase an Android device, while 92% of iPhone owners and 87% of Android owners would definitely/probably repurchase another iPhone or Android device, respectively. iPhone and Android owners showed similar brand loyalty in the recommendation?
PayPal has released a major update to its mobile iPhone application. Along with a complete redesign, PayPal 2.0 now adds support for withdrawing funds and requesting money as well as an integrated tip calculator for splitting restaurant bills and requesting everyone?s share via PayPal. Users can also use the app to collect contributions from a group for events, gifts or causes and can now configure bill reminders with Push Notifications. The?
Electronic Arts has released an update to The Sims 3, adding support for new expansion packs and transferring Sims into future Sims games. The update includes support for a new ?prank pack? that can be purchased from the in-game store to allow players to play pranks on their fellow Sims, and additional theme packs are also available via in-app purchase. Each pack sells for $1 and push notifications can now be enabled to notify users when?
PRS Cables has introduced its new Guitarbud cable solution for the iPhone, second-, and third-generation iPod touch. The Guitarbud is a three-way cable that features a standard 1/4? guitar plug on one end, a 3.5mm female headphone port on one end, and a headphone plug on the other, allowing users to connect a guitar to the iPhone or iPod touch while preserving the ability to hear their music through their headphones. The cable works with?
Nearly 10,000 Microsoft employees, or roughly 10% of the company?s global work force, are iPhone users, according to a new report. Citing two people who heard estimates from senior Microsoft executives, the Wall Street Journal reports that nearly 10,000 iPhone users were accessing the Microsoft employee email system in 2009, despite a change to the company?s corporate cellphone policy that only reimburses service fees for employees using?
That brings us to the Microlab MD332 ($120), which originally arrived at such a suspiciously low $100 asking price that we said in our First Look that ?it?s hard to believe what comes in the package.? The MD332 is a 16 1/2? wide, 6 1/8? tall, 10 3/4? deep box that looks like it could have come from the same family as Griffin?s Amplify, XtremeMac?s Tango X2, or Grace Digital?s GDI-iDock5.?
Daniel Tello, a Venezuelan blogger and analyst, estimates that Apple saw as many as 120,000 iPad pre-orders on Friday. Tello, who goes by the screen name Deagol, bases his number on tracking of order numbers submitted by members of an Apple-focused board on the site InvestorVillage, compared against his estimates of Apple?s average online daily order volume. Fortune reports that Tello is expecting iPad sales to continue over the next few weeks?
Mobile advertising network Mobclix has released a new iPad-specific software development kit to enable developers to integrate advertising into their iPad apps. The new SDK allows developers to integrate video and rich media ads into their apps in four different sizes: 468x60, 300x250, 120x600 and 728x90, with more options to come. The Mobclix iPad SDK is available for download from the Mobclix Developer Dashboard (free registration required). [via?
When Apple announced the video camera-equipped iPhone 3GS last June, original iPhone and iPhone 3G owners quickly lamented the lack of video recording in their handsets. While it had been possible to record video on either device using solutions developed for jailbroken phones, there was no suitable alternative for ?law abiding? iPhone users. But late last year, Apple began allowing apps into the App Store that enabled the original iPhone?
According to a change in his Linkedin status, Richard DeVaul, founder and president of AWare Technologies, has taken a job as a Senior Prototype Engineer at Apple. Computerworld reports that DeVaul has a Ph.D. in Media Arts & Sciences from MIT, where he focused on ?new human-computer interaction techniques for wearable, mobile, and portable applications.? DeVaul?s dissertation was on a head-up display called ?The Memory?
Dan Dobberpuhl, founder and CEO of P.A. Semi, has left Apple to join several other former P.A. Semi employees at a new start-up. Citing multiple anonymous sources, Cnet reports that Dobberpuhl?s departure from Apple was not recent, and may have happened as early as fall 2009. ?He was the CEO at PA Semi and leader of the team, and one of the guys that was driving the whole thing,? said Linley Gwennap, a chip analyst at the Linley?
An Apple support document has revealed that should an iPad need service due to a failing battery, Apple will simply replace the iPad for a $99 service fee. The document states, ?If your iPad requires service due to the battery?s diminished ability to hold an electrical charge, Apple will replace your iPad for a service fee,? noting that damaged iPads and/or iPads suffering from component failures will not be eligible for Battery?
An Apple support document has revealed that should an iPad need service due to a failing battery, Apple will simply replace the iPad for a $99 service fee. The document states, ?If your iPad requires service due to the battery?s diminished ability to hold an electrical charge, Apple will replace your iPad for a service fee,? noting that damaged iPads and/or iPads suffering from component failures will not be eligible for Battery?
One of the accessories is from New Potato Technologies and is called FLPR ($80). It?s a tiny black plastic dongle that connects to the bottom of any iPod touch or iPhone, even when the device is inside of a case?so long as the case has a Dock Connector-exposing hole at the bottom large enough to accommodate its just-slightly-larger than Apple cable-sized body. The other is the Universal Remote Case for iPhone 3G/3GS ($60) from PowerA/BDA.?
One of the accessories is from New Potato Technologies and is called FLPR ($80). It?s a tiny black plastic dongle that connects to the bottom of any iPod touch or iPhone, even when the device is inside of a case?so long as the case has a Dock Connector-exposing hole at the bottom large enough to accommodate its just-slightly-larger than Apple cable-sized body. The other is the Universal Remote Case for iPhone 3G/3GS ($60) from PowerA/BDA.?
Simplify Media, developer of the Simplify Music and Simplify Photo iPhone applications announced Friday that it will no longer be offering its current software to new users and that it has removed the Simplify iPhone apps from the App Store. Simplify Media was best known for its applications that allowed iPhone and iPod touch users to stream music and view photos from their computer over a Wi-Fi or 3G connection, even while away from home. In a post?
Apple has begun to hand out promotional iPad cards at its retail stores that suggests the company is preparing for a sell-out of launch day iPad reservations. The card offers instructions on how to reserve an iPad for pickup, telling customers to visit apple.com/ipad/reserve, select the store they wish to pick it up from, and choose their iPad model?16, 32, or 64GB. It then states that Apple will send the customer ?an email with?
Ngmoco has released a new version of its popular first-person shooter. Eliminate:CO-OP provides a new multiplayer game mode where users can team up with their friends for cooperative game play against computer-generated battle drones. The new game builds on the original Eliminate Pro, providing ten new multiplayer environments, the ability to collect items and credits from demolished battle drones and an enhanced global matchmaking system for quickly?
TomTom International has released an update to its series of turn-by-turn GPS navigation applications for the iPhone and iPod touch. The latest version allows users to subscribe to real-time traffic notifications via an in-app purchase and adds support for Google local search to find points of interest. The update also adds new maps, automatic music fading during voice instructions, automatic day and night modes and the ability to add locations from?
In late January, Apple announced the iPad?a tablet computer anticipated roughly as much as the first iPhone?and last week, it opened iPad pre-orders solely to customers in the United States. Questionable reports initially suggested production-related hardware shortages and predicted first-day pre-order sell-outs, both implying that on-the-fence potential iPad customers would be left waiting for a delayed second shipment if they didn?t?
This week's Ask iLounge topics: Syncing iPod with new iTunes library, Excluding selected playlists from sync, Sharing iTunes content on multiple iPhones, iPad and iTunes sync options, Shuffle playlists on iPod classic, Creating iPhone ringtones
In addition to the disclosure in Apple?s just-published FCC filings for the iPad that there are two Wi-Fi antennas per model, a separate Apple document has disclosed a previously unknown difference in the dimensions of the Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi + 3G models. According to the document, the Wi-Fi + 3G model is 0.3mm taller and 0.1mm wider than the Wi-Fi only model, in part apparently due to the 3G model?s top antenna panel. This is in addition?
Don?t forget to get your entry in for our Schlage LiNK Giveaway. In our Giveaway of the Month for March, iLounge and Schlage are giving away five Schlage LiNK Starter Kits with Wireless Keypad Deadbolts, which are compatible with the Schlage LiNK iPhone app. To enter, simply fill out and submit the form on the giveaway page?the giveaway will end on March 31, 2010 at 11:59PM Pacific Time. Good luck!
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Both the iPad with Wi-Fi and iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G have appeared on the Federal Communications Commission?s website. While the documents that are available ? the user manual, external photos, and other materials are still being withheld at Apple?s request ? provide little in the way of important new information, there are several small discoveries to be made within. Both models of the iPad sport two Wi-Fi antennas, one that?
When the pre-order floodgates opened today for the iPad, in rushed waves of pundits ready to tell you which iPad you should purchase. We?re not going to offer advice of that sort for one major reason?we?re not quite sure yet that we should be advising any reader to go out and buy an iPad right away. This is, after all, the first-generation version of a major new product line for Apple, fraught with all the sort of question marks?
One point worth making up front: though there are actually three different versions of Remix in our photographs, we?re only reviewing the $100 Remote version, which includes both a microphone and a three-button Apple-authorized remote control that adds in-line volume and play/pause buttons to iPods and iPhones released at or after September 2008. A base model called just Remix ($80) omits both the remote and the microphone, and a version?
Belkin has introduced three new sleeve-style cases for the Apple iPad. The Vue Sleeve is made from neoprene and features a reinforced panel for screen protection, quilted lining, a transparent, expandable outer pocket for accessories, and zip closures on both the main iPad compartment and the exterior pocket. Also made of neoprene, the Max Sleeve features a pleated design that expands to fit more items inside, quilted lining, a reinforced panel for?
With over 2,500 votes from iLounge readers, our latest poll??Should Apple remove sexual content from the App Store???has ended. Readers could say they wanted the content removed from store, wanted it available, but moved into a specific ?adult? section, left as it is, or state that they didn?t have an opinion on the matter. An overwhelming majority of readers?65%?thought that Apple should allow?
Worldly Developments, creator of the Plancast.com social networking site has released an iPhone app for users of its service. Plancast.com is a social networking service designed to allow users to share information about where they are planning to be in the future, as opposed to where they currently are. The new Plancast application allows users to create new plans and share them with their friends directly from their iPhone or iPod touch. Users can?
In a week that continues to see an expansion of location-based social networking apps, Hot Potato Media has released an update to its Hot Potato Mobile application. Designed for users of the hotpotato.com social networking service, Hot Potato Mobile allows users to share social experiences specifically focused on live events. The latest update adds integration with Twitter hashtags and Foursquare locations, including the ability for users to automatically?
The latest edition of iPodweek, our weekly newsletter covering all things iLounge, is coming later today. iPodweek is a weekly summary of the best news, reviews, and feature articles we?ve published, and it also features giveaways and iPod accessory discount offers from various companies. There?s still plenty of time to sign up and receive this week?s edition ? just use the simple form below to submit your email address, if you haven?t?
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