Posts tagged with "iPhone"

Kickstarter: iBamboo Speaker Is A Really Cool Eco-Friendly iPhone Speaker

We’ve talked about a number of really cool Kickstarter projects over the past few months and today we’ve found another one; iBamboo speaker. Using just a foot of bamboo it uses the natural resonance to amplify the sound coming from an iPhone to create an ‘electricity-free’ speaker.

Merging the latest high tech with the simple beauty of nature, iBamboo is a100% eco-friendly speaker made from a whole length of bamboo.

Brilliant in simplicity, the iBamboo speaker is literally a foot of bamboo that has only had minor modifications; a slot for the iPhone, a flattened out base (so it sits flat on a surface) and the two edges of the bamboo tapered to direct the sound forward.

These speakers combine the high-tech of the modern day with the simplicity and aesthetics of nature. Since bamboo is a natural material, no two iBamboos are alike. Every piece has the same functional parameters, but each one is unique in its appearance and beauty.

You can support the project on Kickstarter from $5 and if you pledge $25 or more you’ll be pre-ordering your own iBamboo speaker.  Jump the break for a video demonstration of the iBamboo speaker in action.

[Via Tree Hugger]
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Why the $100 gift card is better than an iPod

This year, Apple isn’t offering an iPod touch with the purchase of a new Mac. Instead, Apple is handing out a $100 gift card, advertising that the extra money is best spent on apps from the Mac App Store. You could argue that a $229 iPod touch is more valuable since you can resell it, but that ends up being a hassle as you have to buy the device upfront, mail in a rebate, and receive a check from Apple at a later date. Some might want the free iPod touch, but you could argue that a majority of senior high and college students already have one (or an iPhone), and wouldn’t benefit from an additional model. Apple no longer needs to make the iPod touch popular. By giving students a $100 gift card instead of offering a physical device, Apple is getting students to invest in the future. While the past decade was primarily about the iPod, this decade’s focus is shifting towards apps and Apple’s iCloud.

Apple is leveraging this year’s Back to School promotion to make the Mac App Store popular. While the credit can be spent in the App Store, iTunes Store, or the iBookstore, Apple wants you to load up your Mac with new software. In a matter of minutes, students can open their Macs, create an Apple ID, and download the entire iWork suite with little effort. Developers should be incredibly happy about this: Apple is giving potential customers money to spend on their applications. I would be coming out of my socks right now if I was the developer of Smartr or iStudiez Pro. This is a huge win-win for everyone involved. By handing out a $100 gift card, Apple accomplishes three things:

  1. Students have the opportunity to load up their Macs with paid software at no cost from the Mac App Store.
  2. Apple is aiding developers in the sales of their apps.
  3. Apple takes a 30% cut of each app downloaded.

By teaching students to purchase apps from the Mac App Store, Apple can lock new customers into their ecosystem, and get people used to the idea that software doesn’t come on a disc. Developers will be getting a lot of exposure during the duration of this program, although I think Apple will benefit again when the iWork suite will likely be the first thing students download. The beauty of handing students $100 worth of credit for apps, music, and books is that Apple will eventually make thirty percent of that credit back if students spend the entirety their cards in the Mac App Store or otherwise. Apple is investing in students to use their products, in developers to develop new apps on the Mac, and in their own ecosystem in one fell swoop. This is a great marketing strategy by Apple.

BBC Reporters Getting iPhone App to Broadcast Breaking News

Journalism.co.uk is reporting that the BCC in the United Kingdom is working on their own iPhone app that will let its reporters in the field record video, pictures and audio, and then incorporate the data directly into the BBC’s network.

The iPhone app is going to be available to BBC employees this month, giving their field reporters the ability to broadcast while on a 3G or WiFi network. This could be the perfect tool for those that report breaking stories and don’t have the professional A/V equipment with them at the exact moment.

The BCC sees mobile device use as a “logical extension of what [it] can do already” but this will be a great experiment to see how far they can take it.

Martin Turner, head of operations for news, said that “reporters have been using smart phones for a while now but it was never good quality… Now it is beginning to be a realistic possibility to use iPhones and other devices for live reporting, and in the end if you’ve got someone on the scene then you want to be able to use them.”

I can see how important this could be to reports on the scene of a breaking news story, a sporting event or an impromptu interview.

[via TNW]

Musicon Lets You Add Albums To Your Home Screen

In the weeks leading to Apple’s WWDC announcements, there was one possible feature of iOS 5 that was making the rounds of the Internet, meeting many people’s expectations for the new OS: the possibility to create shortcuts for anything on a device’s Home screen would have been an interesting option to, say, let users create a WiFi icon to quickly access Network settings without opening the dedicated app. Playing around with the concept of aliases and app-specific shortcuts, the theories surrounding iOS 5 pointed at Apple building such a functionality to reduce the time spent tapping and scrolling around. That, of course, didn’t happen, but it hasn’t stopped third-party developers from releasing their own solutions that take on this idea of “creating Home screen shortcuts”.

Musicon, a new iPhone app by developer Fabian Kreiser, enables you to create Home screen icons for music albums you have synced on your device or, if you’re rocking the latest iCloud features, bought on your computer and automatically pushed to your iPhone. Musicon works like this: it scans your music library (the one from iPod.app, or Music.app if you’re already on iOS 5) and fetches albums and album artworks. If music is playing from the native iOS app, a “Now Playing” button lets you control it – this app isn’t meant to be a music controller on its own, unlike Kreiser’s other iPhone app On Stage. In fact, if you have On Stage (which we reviewed here) installed on your device the app won’t show any advertisement.

Once you’ve found an album you like, select it, and hit the big “Install Webclip” button. The app will already display a preview of the icon that you’ll end up with in the Home screen in the upper section of the screen. As you hit the button, Musicon does its thing to create a shortcut: it takes you to the developer’s website to install a webclip on your device. That’s right, these shortcuts are nothing but links to a webpage that somehow takes you to Musicon after you tap on the icon. Music will start playing in the native iPod app, and Musicon will come in foreground with the playback control UI. Not the most elegant solution if you ask me, but it works and the Home screen icons shine on the Retina Display.

Musicon is free, but I wish I could pay to remove advertising without having to keep On Stage installed. The idea is pretty nice and I can see why some people would want to save a couple of albums for quick access on a daily basis – if you’re one of them, get Musicon here and start creating your own shortcuts.

Apple: Samsung “The Copyist” Is Attempting To Harass Us

There’s been some news on the Apple vs. Samsung patent battle today with some recent Apple filings coming to light where Apple alleges that Samsung is “attempt[ing] to harass” them and that Samsung’s demands are not made in good faith – even going so far as to label Samsung as “the copyist” in the documents. It comes after Samsung requested Apple to hand over the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 (or the most recent prototype) to Samsung’s lawyers, which itself was a response to Apple’s request for several Samsung products that hadn’t yet been released (although they were announced).

Samsung’s Motion to Compel is an improper attempt to harass Apple by demanding production of extremely sensitive trade secrets that have no relevance to Apple’s likelihood of success on its infringement claims or to a preliminary injunction motion.

This Friday (1:30 PM Pacific Time) Apple and Samsung will meet with their judge for the purpose of discussing Samsung’s request for expedited delivery (Samsung gaining access to the next generation iPhone and iPad). Apple’s recent filings are in preparation for this court session. FOSS Patents has given the filings a good look over and found some highlights.

As many had expected, Apple’s lawyers make the note that Samsung is asking for much more than what Apple asked given that the Samsung products, although unreleased, had been fully revealed and were available for pre-order. By contrast the next generation iPhone and iPad do not officially exist – in fact it notes in its filings that “Apple is widely recognised as one of the most secretive companies in the world”.

It also tackles the idea that whilst Samsung’s law firm may not leak the details of the iPhone 5 and iPad 3, it could use their knowledge of them to form future patent infringement theories for other companies it represents – which includes other major Android device makers including Samsung, Motorola and HTC.

It also puts the argument that since no future iPhone or iPad products are included in Apple’s complaint of Samsung products, there isn’t reason to show them. It also dismisses Samsung’s suggestion that future design changes “could indicate that Apple is not as consistent as it claims, and consequently Apple’s related rights could be weaker”. Be sure to head over to FOSS Patents if you want a more thorough review of the recent filing and if you want to remind yourself of what the lawsuit is about, be sure to head over to read This Is My Next’s excellent analysis.

[Via FOSS Patents]

Wednesday Could Bring Unlocked iPhones in the U.S. Starting at $649

After everyone got their part numbers straightened out, it appears that unlocked iPhone 4s could be hitting American soil on Wednesday, possibly opening up the freedom of choice between carriers and allowing US consumers to easily grab a SIM overseas without incurring expensive roaming fees. This is big news for the United States, where unlocked phones aren’t typically sold in stores (while you can buy a phone in full, you’ll still end up being locked into a carrier). International travelers from the U.S. will finally be able to hot swap SIMs overseas, but could this be the only benefit? T-Mobile and AT&T run on GSM, but aren’t completely compatible with each other (they work on different bands), and Verizon is on its own with CDMA. The iPhone 4 does currently have a capable GSM-CDMA Qualcomm MDM6600 inside, although Apple currently hasn’t utilized the dual-mode functionality.

MacRumors reports that the unlocked iPhones have shipped to Apple Stores, and they’ll be available on store shelves starting Wednesday. They’ll cost you $649 an $749 a pop for 16GB and 32GB models: consumers who pay up front will have the benefit of avoiding carrier lock-in.

[via MacRumors]