Your iPhone Phone Case and accessory experts. Our blog specializes in iPhone cases, covers and screen protectors while providing you with up to date information on the Apple iPhone.
This is a hands on review brought to you by the great reviewers at CNET from the New York City car show on the Hyundai Sonata. This great feature is predicted to find it's way to over 23 Million vehicles by the end of the decade with many aftermarket suppliers such as Pioneer developing the software into their existing units for older vehicles. From maps, to messages all of these features will be accessible hands free on your dashboard by the smooth and lovely voice of Siri.
Many apps are currently in development and being tested by apple for both durability and first and foremost, road safety.
I know that it might look like a medieval torture device, but what you see here is the gTool: Panel Press. It’s a specially designed tool created for the sole purpose of straightening out bent iPhones. No I’m not kidding. Shortly after the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus became available, we started hearing about them bending from being sat on while carried in back pants pockets. iPhones have aluminum back casings that are not designed to withstand 100’s of pounds of pressure which can happen when you sit down on the phone.
The Panel Press can straighten out the frame by applying force in the opposite direction. If you need to unbend your iPhone, this tool will help, but it’s going to set you back a whopping $299.99! My advice is to NOT carry your phone in your back pocket and if you do, don’t sit down on it. There you go, $299.99 saved, crisis averted, you’re welcome.
There has been a lot of controversy regarding the new iPhones due to numerous reports of the phones bending. This is an issue that a handful of iPhone 5 users had experienced in the past so it is definitely not new per se. However some are arguing that the issue has been overblown and while Apple has offered the media a look at their testing facility, we’re sure some are still a little doubtful.
Well the folks at Consumer Reports have decided to put the new iPhones to test themselves and have included other phones as a form of comparison. The test that they used involved using an Instron compression testing machine which basically pushes down on the middle of the phone with varying degrees of force.
The phones used in the test include the iPhone 5s, new iPhones, the LG G3, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, and the HTC One M8. According to their finding, it seems that the HTC One M8 and iPhone 6 were the weakest of the bunch and deformed at 70 pounds of force. This was followed by the iPhone 6 Plus which deformed at 90 pounds, followed by the LG G3 at 130 pounds, and the Galaxy Note 3 which was the sturdiest at 150 pounds.
According to Consumer Reports, they conclude by saying, “While not the strongest phones on the market, fears of a serious structural design flaw in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus seem overblown.”
How to Determine if the Used iPhone You Bought Is Stolen
Fortunately, Apple has released a new Activation Lock Status checker on iCloud.com for used buyers. All you have to do is enter the phone's serial or IMEI numbers (which can be found under the about tab in iPhones' general settings) into this form:
Enter phone's serial number, which opens this screen:
If you enter the information of a device with Activation Lock on, the tool will tell you to contact the previous owner — if you know the legitimate owner — and it provides instructions for owners on how to clear a phone for reuse. This lock feature was first introduced with iOS 7. Activation Lock automatically turns on when you use the Find My iPhone feature, which allows you to pinpoint the location of an iOS device remotely.
Note that the iCloud tool doesn't seem to be compatible with mobile Safari, so be sure to have another means to access the Activation Lock Status tool if you're meeting someone to pick up the iOS device. Otherwise, the tool is a useful way to make sure you aren't buying a useless Apple product. This information is provided to you by Rex Santus through Mashable.com.
Apple Pay has been described as the “sleeper hit” of this week’s special event in Cupertino, California. That may turn out to be true, but not anytime soon.
The new mobile payments system will work at 220,000 stores in the United States when it launches in October. That may sound like a lot, but it’s really not.
This represents just 2.4 percent of the roughly 7 million to 9 million merchants in the U.S. that accept credit cards. The reason is that 97.6 percent of businesses do not have point-of-sale systems that work with near field communication, or NFC, according to Time.
In order for these businesses to utilize Apple Pay, they’ll have to update their checkout process. Otherwise, Apple’s quest to become a leader in mobile payments could be stymied. That, plus the fact that most remain hesitant about using their mobile device to make credit and debit card purchases.
So which businesses are planning on using Apple Pay? Here’s the list, as of Sept. 12:
Apple
Babies R Us
Bloomingdale’s,
Disney Store
Walt Disney World Resort
Duane Reade
Macy’s
McDonald’s
Nike
Panera Bread
Petco
Sephora
Staples
Subway
Toys R Us
Unleashed
Walgreens
Whole Foods Market
You will be able to use Apple Pay to make purchases through the follow apps:
Disney Store
Groupon
Instacart
MLB.com
OpenTable
Panera Bread
Sephora
Starbucks
Target
Tickets.com
Uber
Apple Pay supports credit and debit cards from the three major payment networks, American Express, MasterCard and Visa, issued by Bank of America, Capital One Bank, Chase, Citibank, and Wells Fargo. Discover is expected to join the lineup too.
Banks coming soon include: Barclaycard, Navy Federal Credit Union, PNC, USAA, and US Bank.
Apple Pay works on the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and Apple Watch.
As most of the consumers of Apple products have their sites set on the latest and greatest isomething, the rest of the mobile industry has their eyes on the revolutionary Apple Pay system. As the world is constantly on guard against theft and security using their mobile devices, Apple has figured a way to lock the safe tight and uses this technology in their Apple Pay system which is exclusive to their devices. Apple isn't the first company to offer a mobile wallet, but if it works well, Apple Pay could change the way we shop. CNET's Sumi Das explains what sets Apple's mobile-payment service apart from the rest of the pack.
The new seamless iPhone 6 design is simply breathtaking. Where functionality and form combine, this unique design is not only comfortable to hold and operate but also stunning in comparison to the bulky and squared off devices which smother the current market. Yesterdays reveal showcased the many powerful features of the new IOS 8 processor but one thing is instantly noticed.....this phone is beautiful.
Thursday, September 4, 2014
iPhone ATM PIN code hackHow to protect yourself
The new FLIR Phone case is taking the world by storm as a handheld portable infrared thermal imaging device. This phone case has numerous great uses and has given numerous consumers and businesses and edge by eliminating the need for bulky thermal equipment.
However, this has also fallen into the hands of hackers and thieves and the video above teaches you how to protect yourself against these intrusions.
With all of Apple's recent developments surrounding the new iPhone it seems that many have obsessed themselves with Sapphire Glass, Screen resolutions, and more. Truth be told....Apple is lightyears ahead of their competition with this unbelieveable device. This review is brought to you by Mark Sullivan of Venture Beat.
All the conversation about the NFC (near field communication) chip in the iPhone 6 has so far centered around enabling mobile payments. But that’s not all we should be talking about.
NFC is a technology standard that specifies a set of radio frequencies used by two devices in close physical proximity to exchange files and data. VentureBeat reported in June that an NFC chip will (finally) be included in the iPhone 6, which will be unveiled September 9. The chip will be made by NXP, our source says.
More recent reports cite sources saying that Apple is also partnering with MasterCard, Visa, and American Express — companies that have already sold their (NFC-compatible) payment technology to merchants. But even with Apple enabling payments on the phone, there’s no guarantee that merchants will get behind the technology. In fact, some merchants have already come out against it.
However, if mobile payments don’t take off right away, there will still be a couple of cards for Apple to play. As it turns out, mobile payments may be the least interesting thing the NFC radio in the iPhone 6 does:
NFC chips have three modes: “card emulation” (for payments and ticketing), “peer-to-peer,” and “reader/writer.” The second two open up some interesting possibilities for device pairing, data sharing, and NFC tag scanning.
Peer-to-peer mode
Peer-to-peer mode allows one device to quickly pair with another powered device to exchange files or data. The data can be exchanged via NFC or by Bluetooth Low Energy, which the iPhone 6 also supports.
For instance, a phone with an NFC chip could pair with Bluetooth headphones or wireless speakers with an NFC chip inside — like Beats speakers, for instance.
Right now, Beats has two products that have an NFC chip inside — the Pill speaker and the Pill XL speaker. (Beats also has a line of wireless headphones, but a Beats spokeswoman points out that NFC chips are presently not being built into them.)
As iPhone users don’t know, users just tap the their phones against the Beats device to instantly pair. People who use Android or Windows phones can already tap to connect with those devices. And pairing using NFC is far easier than the multi-step process of Bluetooth pairing, which can be frustrating and time-consuming … and sometimes doesn’t work at all.
Now that Apple has acquired Beats, it would be embarrassing for Apple not to include what Beats already calls the “tap to pair” functionality in the iPhone 6.
A VentureBeat source with knowledge of Apple’s plans said earlier this summer that Apple has been working on the Beats pairing function but was unsure if the function would ultimately be included in the iPhone 6.
“If there is an NFC chip in the phone, it would certainly seem like a natural use case,” says Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart. “It would be a software tweak that they would do with their headphones division.”
“If they don’t do it right off the bat, I would certainly expect them to do so in the future,” Greengart says.
However, Gartner vice president and research director of mobile and client computing services Van L. Baker doesn’t believe the NFC chip will be included in the new iPhone.
“I almost hope they prove me wrong,” Baker says. He adds that if all the reports of an NFC chip in the new phone are true, it would make sense for Apple to include tap to pair with Beats products.
A more functional use of the peer-to-peer mode involves printing. Many printer manufacturers are now baking an NFC chip into their products. This would let iPhone 6 users tap a printer to send a document for printing.
It might also enable simpler file exchange between two iPhones. Today Apple has the AirDrop peer-to-peer file sharing feature in iOS 7, but that is a closed, proprietary technology that isn’t available to developers. An NFC approach might be more open to them.
NFC reader/writer mode
NFC’s reader/writer mode focuses on the NFC chip reading non-powered NFC “tags.”
For example, if an NFC tag is attached to a poster, an NFC smartphone can “tap” the tag to access the information stored there. The phone might then display a map to a store, product information, and even a link to a “buy” page.
In another example, a person could touch their iPhone 6 to a food package and instantly see its ingredients and nutrition information.
This could be a very useful for developers if they are allowed to leverage the NFC feature with their apps, and they surely would be. For example, a diet app could help the user track all the ingredients being ingested throughout the day, based on information gathered from NFC tags.
The tags are really no different than a tiny RFID chip, but they are cheap enough to be put into almost anything. This will likely become a permanent replacement to the QR code, which required using the camera. QR codes never caught on outside of nerd circles anyway.
Apple’s secret sauce
Mobile payments might not be a killer app in the U.S., but they are a very big deal in other markets.
A source told VentureBeat that one of the main reasons Apple is baking the NFC chip into the iPhone 6 is because the feature is crucial to selling in the Chinese market: In China, consumers are accustomed to using their phones to pay for public transportation — and the Chinese market is very important to Apple’s bottom line. Without NFC payments built in, iPhone 6 sales in China will suffer.
When we find out on September 9 what’s in the phone and what isn’t, it’s possible you’ll never hear Apple say the word “NFC” once during the presentation. You may hear special new Apple brand names affixed to magical new features enabled by the chip, like tap to connect and NFC tag reading. That’s just how Apple rolls.
There’s also a distinct possibility that Apple has dreamed up some cool NFC use cases that haven’t been thought of before.
Brought to you by Phonedog, this thorough test and review of these competing virtual butlers shows the strengths and weaknesses of both Apple and Windows Systems.
Both Siri and Cortana are advertised as having great personality and great functionality, so Cam decided to test them against each other. Comparing productivity, usefulness, sense of humor, personality and efficiency.
Siri has been around since 2011, when the iPhone 4s launched. Cortana is much younger, and yet it's surprising how good the new kid on the block is.
This great review is brought to you by Susie Ochs of Techhive.com and reviews three top selling battery cases for the iPhone. Many of these cases are designed for other makes and models and offer the security you need to give your mobile devices an extended using experience.
You know the feeling—that sinking feeling when you notice your phone is at 7 percent charged, and there’s just no way you’re going to make it to a power outlet for a while. You can turn the brightness down to barely visible, you can turn off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, heck you can even put that sucker in airplane mode, but it’s not going to save you. You’re stuck choosing between using your phone now, or trying to save that 7 percent to play some music on your bus ride home…which isn’t for hours.
You’re screwed.
I’m an old fart who sits at the same desk all day, surrounded by free USB ports and power strips studded with AC adapters, and my car is one big charging station too. But college students spend long days wandering around sprawling campuses where they might not stay put in one spot for more than a couple hours at a time. If anyone needs a good battery case, it’s a student. And while it’s a drag to pay triple-digit prices for an iPhone accessory, I found three battery cases for iPhone 5 and 5s that go beyond just juicing up your phone.
Otterbox Resurgence, for the school of hard knocks
I’ve shattered three iPhones. My husband has broken zero—his iPhones stay pristine, actually, because he keeps them safely ensconsed in the nigh-indestructibleOtterbox Defender. And every time I break another phone, my friends ask me, “Don’t you use an Otterbox?” while my husband is smart enough to keep quiet.
PHOTO: MICHAEL HOMNICK
You have to pry the front piece off the flat back part to get your phone out, and it's not a fun thing to do.
Be smart like him, not dumb like me. The Otterbox Resurgence isn’t cheap—it costs $100, but it beats paying to fix a shattered screen. Your screen stays uncovered, unlike the Defender, but the Resurgence curves around the front edge just enough to protect against most drops where the iPhone lands face-down—unless, say, your screen directly strikes the corner of a table on its journey to the ground. (Otterbox offers an “Alpha Glass” screen protector add-on for $30.)
Besides the Otterboxy protection, the Resurgence has two things going for it: a beefy 2000mAh battery, and some style. It comes in four colors—I like Teal Shimmer, and even the gray (sorry, Glacier) is nicer-looking compared to basic black. In our lab test, the battery was enough to bring a completely dead iPhone 5s back to 74 percent charged in 1 hour and 13 minutes. If you’re just topping off your iPhone, the Resurgence knows to stop charging when the phone hits 100 percent, which is very handy.
PHOTO: MICHAEL HOMNICK
The Resurgence in Glacier gray.
Its biggest drawback is that it’s really hard to take off. Every time I had to remove the case, I felt like I was going to break my phone in half. The Resurgence comprises two pieces that snap together, and having to pry the face piece off the sturdy battery that makes up the back is a nerve-wracking experience. (You can charge and sync your iPhone with the Resurgence case still on, but I need to access my phone’s Lightning port pretty frequently, to connect to my car stereo.) I also didn’t like the way the covered sleep and volume buttons felt, kind of mushy, without the satisfying metal clicks that you get from a naked iPhone.
Mophie Space Pack, like a backpack for your phone
Mophie’s Juice Pack line is pretty much the Kleenex of iPhone battery cases—you just say “Mophie” instead of “battery case” and everyone knows what you’re talking about. The special brilliance of the Space Pack is that it combines a Juice Pack with extra storage, like a built-in thumb drive. You’ll pay a premium, of course: the 16GB case is $150, 32GB is $180, and 64GB is $250. The 16GB version should be enough for most students, storage-wise, but doubling that for $30 isn’t a bad deal.
PHOTO: MICHAEL HOMNICK
The Space Pack's extra memory is a convenient way to keep your important files with you at all times.
To add files to your Space Pack, you connect it to your computer with a micro-USB cable, and then just drag files onto it like you would a flash drive. There’s no restriction on file type, but each file has to be 4GB or smaller. Then on the phone, a companion app called Space lets you access those files, and it automatically sorts them into folders for you based on file type: Photos, Videos, Music, Documents, and Other Files. A built-in player lets you listen to music and watch videos right in the Space app. You can view documents like PDFs and Word files in the Space app too, or use the Open With command to send them to a different app for editing.
MOPHIE
The beautiful, easy-to-use Space app lets you access the case's stored files.
This is a great way for college students to keep a backup of important coursework, or just extra movies and music that wouldn’t normally fit on your phone. The drag-and-drop syncing is so convenient, and you don’t have to worry about crowding your phone’s built-in storage or relying on iCloud or Dropbox to access your files. A thumb drive is a cheaper way to port files around, but with this, you can actually read those files when you're away from your computer.
PHOTO: MICHAEL HOMNICK
The Space Pack is a two-piece slider case, so it's easy to remove, and the lights show how much charge is left.
The Space Pack is easy to put on and take off too—the bottom part pops right off, exposing the Lightning port in case you need to plug something else in. The covered buttons are just as mushy as on the Otterbox, but the Space Pack is slightly slimmer. A switch on the back lets you control when the Space Pack recharges your phone, and four little LEDs make it easy to see how much charge you have left—info that’s also in the Space app.
In our tests, the 1700mAh Space Pack brought a dead iPhone 5s up to 70 percent in 1 hour, 18 minutes before croaking. The case itself recharged the fastest of the three reviewed here, going from dead to fully charged in 2 hours, 7 minutes, which is 30 minutes faster than the Resurgence.
Duracell PowerCase and PowerMat, your phone’s home base
I could probably misplace something in a phone booth. I lose stuff in my cubicle all the time, and it’s way smaller than a dorm room. So the thing I like most about using the PowerCase is having one spot to put it down every single time—the PowerMat wireless charging station. Another bonus is that the Lightning cable I used to charge my phone with is now just…an extra cable. You can never have enough extra Lightning cables.
PHOTO: MICHAEL HOMNICK
Look, Ma, no cables! OK, the one cable from the wall to the PowerMat.
This particular PowerCase and PowerMat combo is $120 at the Apple Store, only a small premium over the Otterbox. The case is easy to put on and off, and I love the big cutouts at the bottom—depending on the size of your favorite headphones’ connector, you might not even need to use an extension cable, which you definitely do with the other two cases. Cutouts for the iPhone’s sleep, volume, and mute controls avoid the mushy-button problem of the other two cases, too. A button on the back of the PowerCase controls charging and lights up LEDs to show you how much is left.
The square PowerMat stays plugged in to the wall, and then you can just drop the PowerCase on top. The P on the back of the case lines up with a P on the mat, but it can go in any orientation. It’s easy to get right every time, because hidden magnets help snap it into place as soon as you get anywhere close. You can choose to stick the PowerMat onto something with two adhesive strips, which helps it not lift up when you pick up your phone (since they’re stuck together with those magnets, after all). But even if you don’t use the adhesive, it’s still possible to pluck the iPhone off the charging pad one-handed, after just a little practice.
PHOTO: MICHAEL HOMNICK
The PowerCase is so nice to use that you might not mind how long wireless charging can take.
Using the PowerMat is convenient and charmingly futuristic—OK, OK, until you compare it with Android and Windows phones that have wireless charging built in. In our tests, the 2000mAh battery performed the best of these three, charging a dead iPhone 5s to 84 percent in 1 hour, 24 minutes. But using the PowerMat to fully charge the dead PowerCase also took four hours, compared to around two hours to charge the Space Pack (using a wall charger), and two and a half for the Otterbox. The PowerCase does have a micro-USB port under a little flap that you can use for wired charging and syncing away from the PowerMat.
Bottom line
These cases all performed well, so it comes down to choosing the feature to best suit your needs: If you just want a solid case with a battery and drop protection (not to mention a little color), the Otterbox is a good buy. I love how the well-made Space Pack fits the phone and carries tons of extra files. And the convenient PowerMat and the best battery performance are huge points for the PowerCase. Any of them has enough power to make sure your iPhone 5 or 5s can keep up with you.
Based on the popular 30-pin version, the Mikey includes line-in and USB pass through charging.
The perfect tool for mobile recording, Mikey Digital is an ultra-compact stereo microphone that connects directly to iPhone or iPad to capture pristine audio for video, voice or music using your favorite audio or video application. Featuring two custom-tuned condenser capsules, check out how Mikey Digital captures everything from live music to mobile podcasts to video and more!
A little less than two years after it introduced its first digital 30-pin attachable microphone for the iPhone and other iOS devices, Blue Microphones is finally bringing out a Lightning-based version that works natively with the iPhone 5 and later models such as the iPhone 5s and Retina iPad mini. The new Mikey Digital includes two condenser microphones -- identical to the ones used in its popular Yeti and Snowball microphones -- and thanks to its reversible Lightning connector is now able to pointed either forwards or backwards.
From the initial release notes, the $100 Lightning Mikey Digital carries over all the same features that made the 30-pin unit a hit with podcasters, mobile news reporters, concert-goers, iPhone videographers and musicians. The device can handle sound up to 130dB, and can be set to automatically protect recordings from distortion (or gain can be set manually as desired). It can tilt up to 230 degrees, features a clipping indicator to help users set ideal levels manually, and features a rare eighth-inch stereo line-in input for external mic sources, instruments or mixing boards for DJs.
The microphone itself contains a discrete mic preamp and CD-quality A/D converter, allowing users to record 44.1Khz/16-bit audio to the iOS device it is attached to. The previous 30-pin version worked with the iPhone 5 and later using Apple's own Lightning adapter, but having a native solution reduces bulk and increases portability. The unit weighs just three ounces, and measures 2.5 x 2.5 x 0.5 inches. It is recognized as the default mic input automatically for almost any recording application except the Phone app or FaceTime.
Mikey Digital also features a USB pass through connection so that users can charge the device while still using it, useful for long recording sessions. The microphone is available from Amazon and Sweetwater Sound now, and will be coming to Future Shop and Best Buy in Canada, Maplins in the UK and other authorized Blue retailers in the near future.
This very unique case design clips onto your iPhone and projects an extremely high resolution image. I have seen many of these devices and the clarity usually remains a difficult task to adjust.
Looking into the future, concept artists often equip their dream iPhones with built-in pico projectors. That feature probably isn't coming to an iPhone anytime soon, but Micron Technology's upcoming $99Pop Video pico projector accessory may be the next best thing.
The key feature here is the 30-pin connector that allows you to dock your iPhone or iPod, forming one compact unit. While some of the larger pico projectors like the BenQ Joybee GP2 have an integrated dock, the Pop Video is designed to be much more portable, fitting into a pocket when not in use.
Brookstone's competing Pocket Projector for iPhone 4 costs $229 (click to enlarge).Brookstone
Brookstone is offering up a similarly styled pico projector that's simply called the Pocket Projector for iPhone 4, but its native resolution is lower (640 x 360 pixels) than the Pop Video's (960 x 540 pixels) and the Brookstone accessory costs $229.
I've listed the Pop Video's main specs below, but some specs are missing and questions remain. For instance, I didn't see a listing for brightness -- the Brookstone unit is a 15 lumens projector, which just isn't all that bright.
I presume the Pop Video is somewhere in that range but no number is given (I'll add it to the post when I get it). The Micron projector also doesn't appear to have a built-in speaker like the Brookstone unit does but I haven't been able to verify that. I doubt Brookstone's integrated speaker is much better than the iPhone's internal speaker, but it's worth talking about sound with these tiny projectors because it's more important than you think. Putting up a big image on the wall with tiny sound just doesn't cut it.
Dimensions: 4.4 inches x 1.8 inches x .6 inch (HWD)
Playtime: Up to two hours with full battery charge
Charging: Micro-USB charging (1.2 compliant)
Charge time: About 4 hours
iOS version: 5.0 and greater
Compatible with iPhone 4/4S and gen-3 and 4 iPod Touch
Price: $99 (available for preorder now)
As for the light engine inside the Pop Video, Micron apparently uses something called FLCOS micro-display technology, which is cheaper to produce and allegedly more energy efficient. Chances are the Pop Video can project a passable image at fairly large sizes, but you'll need to project in a dark room for best results (as the manual states) and I don't expect to be wowed.
All that said, this is definitely a big step in the right direction for the pico projector market -- both in terms of price point and form factor. The killer app for these types of projectors has always been tighter integration with the iPhone (and other smartphones eventually) that makes it much easier to project without attaching any kluge cables. To that end, the projector is designed to be used with a free app that allows you to tweak the projector settings and more importantly, projector more content directly from your iPhone, including Web pages, Facebook, and videos downloaded from iTunes or iTunes U that are not MPEG 3 protected. At least that's what the description for the app claims.
When I get my hands on a unit I'll let you know just how good the image is. As I said, it's unclear when the Pop Video will ship, but hopefully it will be within the next few months, if not sooner.
The iPhone is great for taking videos and watching them if you’re by yourself. But if you wanted to share your videos with a group of people, you either have to play the “pass the phone around game” or upload them to a computer (which is still less than ideal). Hammacher has a solution with The iPhone Video Projector, an LED illuminated projection system that projects videos on a wall or screen up to 18 feet away. The system can project an image up to 110″ diagonal, which is huge!
But if you’re going to be sharing videos with a group of people you’re going to want bigger sound than what comes out of the iPhone’s tiny speaker. No worries because this projector system also has a pair of 3 watt drivers with an on-board dual 7 watt amplifier to give you crisp robust sound. The manual focus projector has a 30,000 hour lifespan on it’s 800 lumens LED bulb. Supports most iPhone and iPod touch models and includes a remote control. Buy it for $299 at Hammacher .
This review is brought to you by craziestgadgets.com
This video demonstrates one of the coolest pieces of technology to hit the shelves in a while. Although many companies have now duplicated this technology in any number of ways, Powermat was the originator in the US marketplace and has sold millions of devices. This video dissects the incredible device and shows you just what makes this great piece of technology tick.
Never one to disappoint, the folks at apple are always focused on simplicity matched with innovation and their new reversible lightning cable is nothing short of those standards. No more fumbling in the dark only to end up breaking your USB connection or even worse, snapping the delicate USB guides on your computer or device.
When the iPhone 6 arrives, likely in September at Apple’s upcoming special event, a lot of people will be looking for a larger screen as the core feature to get excited about. But one change that could actually have more of an impact in terms of daily use could be a new, rumored reversible USB-to-Lightning cable that has been leaked a couple of times this week.
As you can see, the pictures above do seem to be the real deal. Increased battery size on the iPhone 6 is natural as first of all the increased display size of the device will be more energy demanding.
Furthermore, given that the iPhone 6 is expected to feature several new features, a larger battery will help ensure that the phone’s power requirements are being met. These include an upgraded A8 SoC rumored to clock at 2 GHz, a first in Apple history.
Other improvements on the iPhone 6 include an NFC chip on the device which will enable users to make transactions through their smartphone without the need of plastic cards or cash. Not to mention that the iPhone 6 is expected to come with iOS 8 which itself includes several unprecedented features.
These include an improved health kit app, upgrade of need-sensitive features and third-party keyboards as well. How all of these coupled with the increased battery size translate into the battery life of the iPhone 6 is one thing that we can not know before the device is actually launched. So stay tuned for September folks.
The iPhone is one of the most popular and beautiful handsets money can buy, and by some strange twist of fortune, it's also the one that attracts the most bonkers case ideas around. Watch this video, if you dare.
Apple decided to order its suppliers to cease using benzene and n-hexane during the final assembly of iPhones, iPads, iPods, Mac computers and various accessories. Apple is also requiring its factories to test all substances to ensure that they don't contain benzene or n-hexane, even if the chemicals are not listed in the ingredients.
Benzene is linked to leukemia if not handled properly and n-hexane has been linked to nerve damage. The substances are often found in the solvents used in cleaning machines and electronic components.
Apple is still allowing the chemicals during early production phases of its products in production that primarily takes place at hundreds of other factories besides the ones responsible for the final assembly of the devices. Apple is also lowering the maximum amount of benzene and n-hexane in materials used during those phases of production as well.
A thorough four-month investigation at 22 factories found no evidence that benzene and n-hexane endangered the more than 500,000 people who work at the plants, according to Apple. No traces of the chemicals were detected at 18 of the factories and the amounts found at the other four factories fell within acceptable safety levels, the Cupertino, California, company said.
The iPhone 6 is a mysterious beast that many tech enthusiasts have gone to great lengths to try and acquire. This lucky YouTuber was lucky enough to get his hands on one and is now reaping the benefits of tons of traffic for many enthusiasts like yourself who all want a taste of what the latest and greatest of Apple has to offer.
Steve Jobs liked to court celebrities, but he did it quietly. He might give Sean Lennon a Mac, Bob Dylan an iPod or Barack Obama an iPad, but you wouldn't hear about it from Apple.
That may be about to change. According to Mark Gurman, a young reporter at 9to5Mac who has broken more stories about Apple’s “iWatch” than the rest of the pack combined, Apple is teaming up with a raft of sports celebrities to test — and perhaps market — what the Street and the tech press expect will be Apple’s next big thing.
Gurman mentions in particular L.A. Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant, L.A. Kings right wing Dustin Brown and a player from the Boston Red Sox to be named later. Bryant was a key spokesperson for Nike, which is winding down its FuelBand business, and he was spotted last month on Apple’s Cupertino campus, where he reportedly met with Apple design chief Jony Ive.
In a similar vein, Jimmy Iovine, the well-connected music producer who came to Apple, along with Dr. Dre, as part of the $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics, spoke at an industry conference in late May about having music stars “curate” playlists on a new Apple streaming music service. Iovine knows a lot about cashing in on celebrity, something he did regularly at Beats, using exclusive tracks from the likes of Robin Thicke, Britney Spears and Wil.i.am to promote his company’s brand.
Is Apple getting ready to play the celebrity game at a new un-Jobsian level?
To be sure, Jobs was still in charge when Apple launched Ping, a short-lived music sharing service that courted celebrities and promoted their presence. But even a Lady Gaga playlist couldn't save Ping.
This sounds like something different — a game played for higher stakes, on TV and on billboards. The kind of game Iovine played in the music business and Angela Ahrendts played at Burberry.
Some will surely see it as an another sign that Apple has lost its way. Others will see it as evidence that Apple has matured and is ready to try things Steve Jobs never would.
We’ll find out soon enough if they can do it with class.
Apple’s new iPhone may be just around the corner, with a Sept. 9 debut believed to be coming. And even if we blame Apple, more than any other tech company, for the drop in magazine readership, the magazine-killer still supports three print products to give us the scoop on everything a Mac lover could want to know — and then some.
MacLife
For publications that cater to Apple product devotees, MacLife is the most critical of the lot. Surprisingly, it’s got a slightly boring cover for the Mac audience of design gurus — the people who kept Apple alive before it wisely captured the teen market with iPods and iPhones. Perhaps that’s why we liked its column on iPhone addiction, another asking whether Apple Maps will ever get it together and news on wireless charging (Yes!).
Macworld
Macworld has long been the go-to publication for Mac fanatics, but compared with MacLife, it’s gotten a little staid. Both say the same thing. The “news” on topics like the Samsung-Apple infringement suit is so old it shouldn’t be taking up space. We did like the spread on “eye-catching” iPad cases and some forward-thinking ideas such as Mac-iPhone phone integration. Apparently, this is coming in “Yosemite” — the next generation of operating systems, which reminds us that everything innovative in America comes from the West Coast. And there’s a subtle advertisement for Twitter, which appears to be the first thing MacWorld writers look at in the morning.
iPhone + iPad Life
If those two magazines haven’t given you enough Mac news, there’s a special one just devoted to iPhones and iPads: iPhone + iPad Life. To prove that design and not reading is what it’s all about, there are even layouts on black paper with white ink. We’ve always loved that look — and it’s so expensive to print — but there’s simply too much of it, too close together, here. There’s a look at “Uber,” the app that provides an alternative to taxis and could be worth $10 billion. OK, it’s a tech version of hitchhiking, so we’re skeptical. Five pages of that are quickly followed by a two-page spread on Beats headphones, which all the Mac mags think is a mediocre, expensive product. So why did Apple buy it? “It wants to be cool,” says the magazine that is trying too hard for the same effect.
MaximumPC
For contrast, there’s MaximumPC. If the covers for MacWorld and MacLife were a tad boring, at least they had a minimalist chic. This one is cluttered, as if to remind the reader that the PC is one of the hardest-to-use products on the planet. Proving the case to this Mac lover, one of its main features is on the mouse — you know, the thing PC users still are stuck with. Apparently, they have new life as gaming products. In fact, judging from the articles in this magazine, the PC is all about gaming. Isn’t there an app for that?
Just when you thought some things couldn't get any pricier or more bling, Brikk takes us to yet another level with their 24kt gold iPhone 6's arriving weeks after the phones launch. Even though Apple CEO Tim Cook hasn't unveiled the new iPhone 6, accessory company Brikk is already taking pre-orders for its luxurious take on Apple's next big thing.
Aptly named The Lux iPhone 6, Brikk's new collection includes 14 models that are extravagant versions of the upcoming phone, featuring a unique range of exquisite fabrications.
The iPhone 6 will be disassembled by the Brikk team in a state-of-the-art laboratory located in Los Angeles before the "Lux" process begins, with buyers offered the option of coating the device in 24-carat yellow gold, 24-carat pink gold or pure platinum. The bling-obsessed can also add a carat of white diamonds to embellish the Apple logo on the phone back.
Prices range from $4,495 for the plated models, to $8,395 for the plated diamond logo models. All models are packaged in a custom metal box with a user manual and all accessories standard to the device. Each Lux iPhone 6 by Brikk comes with a diamond-embedded certificate of authenticity and an exclusive one-year warranty.
Brikk is taking pre-orders for the first batch of phones before the expected official launch of the iPhone 6 by the Apple Corporation in September. A $500 deposit is required for the pre-order program. The Lux phones are expected to ship out three to four weeks after the official release of the iPhone.
PHOTO: MICHAEL HOMNICK
PHOTO: MICHAEL HOMNICK
PHOTO: MICHAEL HOMNICK
MOPHIE
PHOTO: MICHAEL HOMNICK
PHOTO: MICHAEL HOMNICK
PHOTO: MICHAEL HOMNICK
