Toyota Avalon gets wireless charging station for iPod and iPhone

Posted in Automotive by Conner Flynn on August 23rd, 2010

Do you love being wireless? Of course, we all do. That’s why you might want to consider the Toyota Avalon as your next major vehicle purchase. Forget MPG and all that. The only factor to consider is that it comes with a built-in wireless charging station for both the iPod and iPhone.

You can thank designer Barry Hutzel of Bazza Design and Fulton Innovation’s engineers. This automotive charging station will dock your smartphone and iPod at the same time so you can always be connected.

(i)Pawn iPhone game uses real playing pieces

Posted in iPhone Accessories by Conner Flynn on August 23rd, 2010

If the (i)Pawn app really works as demonstrated, it might be a great way to play board games on your iPhone in the future. Similar to an iPhone stylus, the (i)Pawn pieces can interact with the touchscreen, giving you a more immersive experience while playing a game with your iPhone. Like, say candyland, or chutes and ladders.

It could be just a clever ruse, but even if it is, this is a great concept. Pretty cool.

Pinball Magic turns your iPhone into a Pinball Machine

Posted in iPhone Accessories by Conner Flynn on August 22nd, 2010

You can play pinball on your iPhone, but it isn’t really pinball unless you are playing with an actual pinball table, so in order to make things more realistic, at least in miniature, New Potato just released their newest accessory for the iPhone/iPod Touch called Pinball Magic.

It transforms your iPhone into a real pinball machine table. The Pinball Magic accessory comes with flipper buttons, a ball-launching plunger, LED-lit animated backbox, and foldable legs for travel. Just pop your iPhone/iPod Touch into the 30-Pin connector and play away.

iPhone gets some R2-D2 action too

Posted in iPhone Accessories by Conner Flynn on August 18th, 2010

We wish we knew, but sadly no one is sure when the R2-D2 version of the Droid 2 is going on sale, so in the meantime keep using your 3G or 3GS iPhone for a little longer, so you can use this R2-D2 case.

It may not be as cool as the R2 version of the Droid 2, but it gets the job done for a cheaper price. You can pre-order it now for just $30. Awesome right?

Human Touch massage chair gets iPhone control

Posted in Apple by Shane McGlaun on August 9th, 2010

There is an app for just about everything you might want to do. That world of apps has gotten bigger now with an app that can actually give you a massage. A new massage chair from Human Touch has been unveiled.

The chair is the 9500 and it can be controlled completely from the iPhone or iPad. The chair uses an app that lets the user completely customize and save their own massage programs.

Apple iOS 4 security breach gives complete access to your iPhone

Posted in Apple by Conner Flynn on August 3rd, 2010

Apple fanboys have long gloated about the “fact” that Apple users are safe and secure compared to PC users. It’s utter nonsense of course and here’s further proof. Owners of the iPhone, iPod touch or iPad need to be careful. Visiting a web page and loading a simple PDF file might actually set off a security bug that affects all iOS 4-powered devices.

All it requires is for the user to visit a web address using Safari, and the site will automatically load a simple PDF document that holds a font which hides a special program. When the IOS 4-powered device you are using displays the PDF file, the font will begin the stack overflow condition that allows embedded code in the font to gain full control of your device.

Most BlackBerry users plan to defect to iPhone or Android

Posted in BlackBerry by Conner Flynn on August 2nd, 2010

Nielsen put out some interesting smartphone numbers today. There’s the usual market share numbers that put Google, RIM, and Apple at 27 percent, 33 percent, and 23 percent in sales to new smartphone subscribers. But more interesting are the numbers having to do with brand loyalty.

Those numbers don’t look good for BlackBerry. Here’s how it breaks down. 89 percent of iPhone owners plan on getting another iPhone, while 71 percent of Android buyers plan to re-buy, but only 42 percent of BlackBerry owners plan to stick around.

Citibank iPhone app ‘Accidentally Saved Personal Information’

Posted in iPhone by Conner Flynn on July 26th, 2010

You are not always as safe as you think you are. Citibank revealed that it’s U.S. iPhone app accidentally saved personal information including account numbers. At least the company did the right thing and owned up to this security flaw.

In fact, they have already rolled out an updated iPhone app that patches the problems. According to Citibank, this flaw only affected users of their mobile banking app. Credit card customers who use Citibank’s services via a separate iPhone application were believed to be safe.

Samsung mocks Apple

Posted in Samsung by Conner Flynn on July 23rd, 2010

Samsung just couldn’t resist taking a shot at Apple over the whole Death Grip issue. As Apple is beginning to process the iPhone 4 bumper case refunds today, Samsung UK took a moment to gloat and have some fun by posting a Galaxy S ad.

The ad references the Death Grip and reminds users that the Galaxy S has strong cellular reception. Apple fanboys won’t like it, but it’s pretty funny. Nice one Samsung.

Apple delays white iPhone again

Posted in iPhone by Conner Flynn on July 23rd, 2010

Steve Jobs can’t be happy about this. Apple has another iPhone 4 problem. This time, the elusive white iPhone strikes again, by being delayed again. All we know is that it will arrive sometime “later this year.”

Here is their statement: “White models of Apple’s new iPhone® 4 have continued to be more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected, and as a result they will not be available until later this year. The availability of the more popular iPhone 4 black models is not affected.”

LG can’t meet demand for iPhone and iPad screens from Apple

Posted in Apple by Shane McGlaun on July 23rd, 2010

I think that anyone who has tried to buy a new Apple product like the iPad or iPhone on launch day and the days and weeks thereafter knows that shortages are common. The main reason for shortages of Apple products like these is that Apple can’t get enough screens.

LG Display builds the screens for many of the Apple products including the iPad and iPhone. LG has stated that it will not be able to meet the demand that Apple has for screens.

Slot Machine iPhone Dock

Posted in iPhone by Conner Flynn on July 19th, 2010

Jackpot Slots is both an iPhone app and a dock. Seems like it is perfect for the grandma in your life who gambles. That’s right, your iPhone can now become a tiny one armed bandit.

As is often the case with gambling, you will lose more than you make. The Jackpot Slots dock costs $40, so you are out that much right from the start. It includes the eponymous app which gives you access to several different slot games “of varying levels of difficulty.”

Firefox Home on your iPhone

Posted in Firefox by Conner Flynn on July 16th, 2010

There’s no mobile version of Firefox for the iPhone yet, but the Firefox Home app lets you sync your desktop browsing session to your iPhone and browse it via Safari while you’re on the go. It’s not a real browser like Firefox, but we weren’t even sure that Apple would give the go ahead to Firefox Home.

Luckily they did. The app is available in the App Store, and there are instructions on Mozilla’s blog to get you started. Anyone interested in this one?

TextHook Stroller Smartphone Holder

Posted in iPhone Accessories by Conner Flynn on July 15th, 2010

So you need to make a choice between holding your infant and holding your phone, but it’s not socially acceptable to let your kid crawl around on the sidewalk while you answer texts. The $25.99 TextHook Stroller Smartphone Holder is the answer.

It allows you to wheel your baby around in a stroller, while your smartphone remains right in front of you at all times, just waiting for a thief to come by and rip it right off.

Apple engineer warned Jobs about iPhone antenna early on

Posted in iPhone Accessories by Conner Flynn on July 15th, 2010

Now we have more drama in the Apple antenna saga. Bloomberg says that someone “familiar with the matter” claims Apple’s own antenna expert, Ruben Caballero, told Apple management that the iPhone 4 antenna design could cause problems and dropped calls.

Caballero is a senior engineer for Apple who holds many antenna patents under his belt. We don’t know the whole story but it is the latest twist to this sorted tale and suggests that Steve Jobs had been alerted to this problem during the design phase.