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All posts tagged "iphone"


Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Attention Smartphone Gamers, This Xappr is for You!

Posted by Jeff Campbell in "Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad" @ 05:00 AM

http://www.imore.com/2012/02/03/xap...-dream-machine/

"Xappr is a gun accessory for your iPhone that'll instantly appeal to everyone from fans of the original Duck Hunt on Ninteno to the latest Halo or Call of Duty FPS shooters."

Awesome concept for smartphone games that are first person shooters. You can preorder yours here, and they are expected to run about $30.00 USD when it is launched this summer. Yes, this is made to use with any smartphone, be it iPhone, Android or Windows Phones.


Saturday, January 28, 2012

Flygrip Will Ease Your One Handed Fears

Posted by Jeff Campbell in "Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad" @ 03:00 AM

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/01/fl...e-handed-usage/

"So you're walking with your iPhone in one hand, and a Starbucks latte in the other, and granted it is possible to use the iPhone in one hand, it could prove to be "fatal" since one hand tends to offer less support compared to two, and we all know that heart wrenching feeling when your brand new gadget slips out of your hand and onto the hard pavement."

Basically very simple, as all this does is attach to the iPhone case or the iPhone itself and you slide your fingers in and can start using your iPhone one handed without fear of dropping it. I can also be attached to the back of your iPad, or any other tablet for that matter. As you can see from the photos, it doesn't have to be an Apple product to work. Three sizes (small, medium and large) depending on the finger size and you can get them for $29.95 USD each from the Flygrip store located here. That seems a bit spendy to me, and I think I would rather just spend that on a better case. What are your thoughts?


Friday, September 23, 2011

Get a NASA Ringtone for Your Phone, Be It Android or iPhone or ...

Posted by Jeff Campbell in "Apple Software (iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad)" @ 10:00 AM

http://www.businessinsider.com/nasa...+Alley+Insider)

"Space geeks take note -- NASA has just released several audio samples of famous moments in space history for use as ringtones on your smartphone."

Head on over to this site and see the list of all the ringtones available, including sounds from shuttle missions as well as Apollo and Mercury missions. Once you get the one you like, they also offer a handy walk through guide for putting them on your iPhone. If you have an Android, the best way to do it is to get the NASA Android app here.


Friday, July 8, 2011

Windows Phone (Almost) Document Sync, (or “I Just Want to Work, Not Workaround…”)

Posted by Todd Allcock in "Windows Phone Talk" @ 09:00 AM

Back when the iPhone was introduced to the world to the sort of fanfare and adulation not seen since the Beatles appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show, I was one of the few scratching my head trying to figure out what I was missing that everyone else was seeing. Here was a slick looking smartphone with a brilliant user interface; I got that - it just didn't seem all that, well, smart. The only way to get your office documents on it (at least originally) was via email, and I didn't relish the idea of frantically emailing myself every document I might possibly need to reference on a business trip before leaving.

So, I smugly stuck by my old-school Windows Mobile phones; you know, the ugly beasts with the styluses, file managers, and actual PC document sync capabilities, figuring the the iPhone would cater to the iPod generation, and the business people would stick with devices that actually worked like miniature computers, and paid little attention to the hassles of managing files on an iPhone. However, when my wife finally dumped her Windows Mobile phones and started using an iPhone, suddenly I was forced to become an expert in the "iPhone Workaround" field, kludging and cajoling the iPhone into bending to my will. Read more...


Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Exomount, The Only Mount You Will Need

Posted by Jeff Campbell in "Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad" @ 01:00 AM

http://www.exogear.com/products-exo...unt-holder.html

"A simple car mount that won't fall mid-drive is all anyone really needs. Still, there's something to be said for one that can stick firmly to almost any surface."

ExoGear sells the mount for $29.95 USD, and it is pretty versatile as you can see from the photo above. Granted, all the photos show an iPhone 4 but if you visit their site you will see that it will work with any device up to a 5-inch screen (thinking tablet here). They even have it adapted to use as an iPad holder or stand by flipping the suction cup around. A one size fits all mount if you will and the price certainly is affordable.


Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Verizon Expands LTE Wireless Network

Posted by Jeff Campbell in "The Competition" @ 11:16 AM

http://www.macworld.com/article/160...l#lsrc.rss_main

"Verizon Wireless announced 19 more cities that will get its faster LTE wireless network service starting Thursday, bringing the total to 74 metropolitan areas."

19 new locations across the country, including Sacramento, CA, Hartford, Conn, Boise, ID and many more. You can get the full list here in case you are wondering if your city made the cut. This just adds fuel to the competitive fires so to speak as AT&T is going to launch their own LTE 4G network this summer in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas Houston and San Antonio, while Sprint is rumored to be in the planning process to add LTE to it's 4G network. This can't come soon enough for me, with data speeds up to 10 Mbps it certainly will leave 3G in the dust.


Friday, June 10, 2011

In New Survey Developers Pick Android Over iPhone

Posted by Karey Westfall in "Android News" @ 10:00 AM

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile...prefer-android/

"A new survey from Vision Mobile and Bluevia finds that Android is the most popular mobile platform amongst developers, with 67 percent of mobile developers indicating they're developing for Android in 2011-that's an 8 percent improvement over 2010."

We have a winner, folks! A new survey just released from Vision Mobile and Bluevia found that Android is the most popular platform for developers! But not far behind is development for iPhone. Does this mean that Android is slated to be the market leader in years to come?


Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Does Your Smartphone Distract You From Ads on TV?

Posted by Jeff Campbell in "Apple iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad" @ 01:00 AM

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2011/05/...t-people-tv-ads

"While Apple might be pretty good at creating TV ads, the company's iPhone is something of a problem for television advertisers. According to a recent study, the iPhone (and other smart phones) are one of the major distractions people encounter when watching TV."

Anything that is "aiding in avoidance" is troubling to the advertising industry per AdAge. So when they decided to do a study and find out exactly how much distraction do smartphones cause television viewers. They didn't like the results. During a 30 minute show, 94% of viewers were distracted at some point, and smartphones accounted for 60% of these distractions. I can totally see this as I do exactly the same thing. How about you, does your smartphone distract you from those pesky ads on TV?


Friday, April 8, 2011

Survey: Who Would Buy a Windows Phone?

Posted by Danny Simmons in "Windows Phone Talk" @ 08:30 AM

http://www.businessinsider.com/smar...e-survey-2011-4

"We'd love to learn more about your smartphone purchasing thoughts. Do you have a smartphone now? Will you buy one soon? Which kind? And why? Please fill out our survey below. We'll publish the results in a few days."

Take a moment to share your thoughts at this surevey here. BusinessInsider wants to know what Smartphone you plan on buying next. Let's make our Windows Phone presence made known...


Friday, March 11, 2011

WP7 Survives Pwn2OWn Event Unscathed

Posted by Nelson Ocampo in "Windows Phone News" @ 08:00 PM

http://www.computerworld.com/s/arti...82&pageNumber=1

"Apple's iPhone 4 and RIM's BlackBerry Torch 9800 both succumbed to hackers today at Pwn2Own, but two other smartphones running Android and Windows Phone 7 were unchallenged, the contest's sponsor said."

Yes, we're aware that having nobody trying to hack a Windows Phone 7 device sure helped.

What we can take from this is that Windows Phone 7 devices aren't exactly easy to exploit. That's not to say that it can't be done. I'm sure it can. But it wasn't easy enough for someone to figure out in the few short months that the operating system has been released.

It's only a matter of time before hackers do figure out an exploit. But hopefully Microsoft will have updates to close exploits as soon as they are discovered.

One advantage I will say that may be in Microsoft's favor is that they have been very open to working with home brew developers. These developers often are the ones discovering exploits.

Imagine that. Embracing hackers to increase security.


WP7 Just 60 Apps Away From 10,000 Marketplace Apps, Hits That Milestone Faster Than iPhone or Android

Posted by Danny Simmons in "Windows Phone Software" @ 11:30 AM

http://wmpoweruser.com/60-apps-away...one-or-android/

"The excitement is palpable as the number of apps in the Windows Phone 7 marketplace edge towards 5 figures. WindowsPhoneapplists.com reports nearly 1200 applications have been added in the last 2 weeks, which is an acceleration on the usual 1000, and should guarantee we pass over the 10,000 mark today."

This is quite an accomplishment, and definitely bodes well for the future of Windows Phone. Only 4 1/2 months since it was released to the public, and developers have showered us with great applications faster than we could have imagined. I think the smartphone war is going to heat up significantly over the next year or two.


Wednesday, March 2, 2011

MobileSync Pro - Sync, Share, Backup, and Protect

Posted by Danny Simmons in "Windows Phone Software" @ 11:00 AM

http://www.mobilesyncpro.com/

"Retina-X Studios, LLC announced today the release of MobileSync Pro, a cross-platform mobile phone freeware for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone and Windows smartphones. MobileSync Pro is the most versatile and feature-rich mobile software utility yet to come out from Retina-X Studios, which has bundled a 4-in-1 solution by incorporating backup, theft-protection and file sharing solutions, besides its key function as an all-purpose sync solution."

Most mobile phones have built-in synchronization for your contacts, email, calendar, etc. But what happens if you want to change platforms. How do you move your data if you want to ditch your iPhone to try out Windows Phone 7? Or move from BalckBerry to Android? In most cases this would not be an easy process. MobileSync Pro is a free application that can do this for you. It also adds the capability of sharing your data with others. They offer 200 MB of free storage. They are also currently working to offer support for Windows Phone 7 and other platforms that should be finalized in the coming weeks. Curious? Check them out here.


Monday, January 31, 2011

Windows Phone 7 Theme on an iPhone: Clever!

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Windows Phone Talk" @ 01:54 PM

http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2011/01...cause-they-can/

Feeling a bit bored with your iPhone? Looking longingly at the interface of Windows Phone 7, wishing you could get a piece of that? Well now you can - if you're willing to jailbreak your iPhone and install this theme. Clever developers can do some impressive stuff, can't they?


Sunday, November 28, 2010

Apple's Find My iPhone Now Free

Posted by Ed Hansberry in "Windows Phone Competition" @ 10:00 AM

http://gizmodo.com/5696097/ios-42-c...ming-today-soon

Last year Apple launched its Find My iPhone feature that works similarly to the MyPhone but up until now it has been part of the $99 annual fee for the MobileMe service.

Once again, Apple is leading the way and will get credit for their visionary leadership. Oh, wait. Microsoft's MyPhone has been free from the start. Well, it doesn't matter. Now is obviously the right time to make the service free. The world wasn't ready for that in 2009.

Tags: iphone, myphone

Monday, November 15, 2010

ComputerWorld's Review Of Windows Phone 7 Crushing

Posted by Ed Hansberry in "Windows Phone Talk" @ 12:00 PM

http://www.computerworld.com/s/arti..._Apple_iPhone_4

ComputerWorld has written a review of Windows Phone 7 pitting it against the iPhone in a number of categories.

?

It didn't fare so well, but consider that this is a 1.0 release vs a 4.x release for the iPhone. The success of Microsoft's platform is dependant on these deficiencies being overcome through a series of updates in the future.

Tags: review, iphone

Thursday, November 4, 2010

How Smartphone Users See Each Other

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Windows Phone Competition" @ 01:31 PM

http://www.csectioncomics.com/2010/...blackberry.html

Check out the rest of the comic here - funny stuff! No, there's no Windows Phone user yet, but that's not surprising right?


Thursday, October 28, 2010

Maximum PC Camera Showdown Pits Phones Against Each Other!

Posted by Jon Westfall in "Android Articles, Resources & Developer" @ 12:00 PM

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/fe...ameras_put_test

"Let's face it: here at Maximum PC, we're all about competition. It's in our blood. From CPUs to video cards to motherboards to sandwich shops, we live to pit like products (or foodstuffs) against one another. In fact, we recently published an all out showdown between four warring phones and mobile platforms in our quarterly Maximum Tech issue which we're sure you read. That story (as many of our published stories sometimes do) encouraged us to dig a little deeper, and perform a little more testing. The cameras attached to these complex microcomputers are becoming increasingly powerful-many, in fact, are fully capable of taking very sharp and professional looking photos. But are these phones capable of holding their own against more sophisticated equipment? And which phone does it best?"

The above shot, despite being of cute little Android robots, was taken with an iPhone 4. The article it came from, over at Maximum PC pits many of the top phones against each other specifically in the area of camera quality. Thinking of buying a phone and the camera is a big factor? Then take a look and be informed!


Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Windows Update for Windows Phone: This is What You've Been Waiting For

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Windows Phone Talk" @ 04:53 PM

It's a story I need not go into too many details about: anyone who's owned a PDA or phone running Windows Mobile, from the first Pocket PC to the latest Windows Phone 6.5, knows the horrors of device ROM updates. Whether it's a new ROM image designed to fix bugs and enhance performance, or a whole new OS, as buyers of these devices we've always been at the mercy of the device manufacturer and/or the wireless carriers. Who amongst us hasn't raised a fist in anger at being denied a vital software update that would fix a problem with our device? This is how the entire underground ROM scene was born - out of frustration and desperation.

Or, if you were "lucky" enough to have an update offered for your phone, you'd have the pleasure of re-installing and re-configuring everything on your phone; often a process that would take hours. Microsoft's broken model, combined with OEM/carrier refusal to offer updates likely drove more customers away from buying a second Windows Phone than any other factor. We could only look on with envy as our iPhone-using kin happily docked their phones, got an update, and were using it minutes later.

Well, envy begone! Windows Phone 7 solves this pain point once and for all - witness my interview with Andrew Brown, Program Manager for Windows Phone Update, and be amazed...

WPT: Let's start with the best news I've heard about Windows phone 7: how will device updates work now? What will the update mechanism be?

Brown: Like many other things in Windows Phone 7, we're taking a different approach to updates than we have in the past with Windows Mobile. To start with, we're going to leverage the world-class infrastructure we already have with Microsoft Update today and use that to deliver updates directly to Windows Phone 7 phones - no more worries about figuring out where to go to download an update. We're also making it much easier on our partners (OEMs and Mobile Operators) by establishing a single, consistent update process that they can take advantage of, meaning they don't have to be responsible for their own individual update creation and delivery like they've had to do in the past. So it's really a win for everyone.

We've also built in a notification that pops up right on the phone that tells you when an update is available. When you see that, you connect your phone via USB cable to a computer running the Zune client software. At that point it's literally just one click and the update is downloaded and transferred to the phone, a restore point is created, and the update is installed, all done automatically. Read more...


Monday, July 19, 2010

It Isn't An iPhone Clone... WP7 Hits The Web

Posted by Jon Westfall in "Windows Phone News" @ 07:00 AM

http://gizmodo.com/5590327/windows-...t=Google+Reader

"I think Microsoft created an OS that was completely different from all other competitors, and thats was not not an easy task. The whole concept is different. I like it."

The quote and the title come from commenter vinod1978 at Gizmodo, where they have one of several Windows Phone 7 first-looks that you'll see posted around the net (and on here) today. Windows Phone 7 is making a splash out there, and by and large I think comments pointing out it's uniqueness and new way of doing things are a positive sign. Somehow Microsoft has built something no one else has. Let's hope they can capitalize on it.


Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Windows Mobile Lost a 'Whole Generation' Says Ballmer

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Windows Phone Talk" @ 05:00 PM

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/0..._table_apology/

"Steve Ballmer has delivered a mea culpa to Microsoft's partners for its slip-ups against Apple and Google on tablets and smart phones. Ballmer told Microsoft's annual Worldwide Partner Conference that Windows Mobile missed a "whole generation of users" and promised Windows Phone 7 will set things right."

Dear Microsoft,

I generally feel a lot of love for you as a company, but it's sure frustrating watching you miss the boat again and again. Remember when you laughed at the iPhone? Yeah, exactly, no one is laughing now. The hype around the iPad had been building for years - didn't someone in your organization (other than the Courier team) realize that this whole slate computing thing wasn't going to just be empty hype? Read more...


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