Tag Archives: iPhone
Crave Ep. 121: Wake up to a dancing iPhone
Wake up to a dancing iPhone, Ep. 121
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This week on Crave, we take a look at Tim-e, an iPhone dock that wakes you up in the most annoying ways possible. We salute Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield on making space travel cool again and demonstrate Petswitch, which lets you put your face on your cat’s visage.
Crave stories:
- Having made the ISS cool again, Hadfield returns to Earth
- Dream Chaser space plane to begin NASA flight tests … [Read more]
Related Links:
Chris Hadfield sings Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ in ISS farewell
Having made the ISS cool again, Hadfield returns to Earth
Dream Chaser space plane to begin NASA flight tests
Petswitch: Give a pet your own face
Wringing out a space station washcloth makes water clingy
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Not just another pretty face: Apple’s iPhone 5S to see big internal overhaul
iPhone robot is an alarm clock with attitude
Tim-e can wake you up with interactive games, music, or snarky comments.
(Credit: Kickstarter)
For the snooze kings and queens of the world, an even more annoying alarm clock is a must. Well, here’s a droid with a “hilarious personality” that looks like it needs a good kick.
Tim-e is an iPhone dock with arms and legs. It wriggles and dances and is generally annoying. But that’s the whole point.
The subject of a Kickstarter campaign that’s aiming for $ 150,000, Tim-e (pronounced “Timmy”) uses your iPhone screen as an animated face.
In the promo video below, it has a blue, animated mug and puts on a snarky routine. It recalls the genie from Disney’s “Aladdin.”
Related stories
- Smartpet turns your iPhone into a cartoon pooch
- Romo the smartphone robot raises $ 1.5M, seeks world domination
- Turn your iPhone into a humanoid robot
While charg… [Read more]
Related Links:
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BBM Hitting iPhone and Android This Summer
Today CEO Thorsten Heins announced that BBM would be a multi-platform messaging service. The BBM messaging service will land on the iPhone and Android this summer with the messaging and groups features. BBM voice, screen sharing, video and channels will …
Gadget Lab
Apple sued over faulty power button on iPhone 4
A Florida woman is seeking more than $ 5 million from Apple on behalf of thousands of iPhone owners who allegedly bought phones with defective power buttons that would not lock or turn off.
In a class action suit filed in San Jose, California, Debra Hilton claims that Apple knew about a defect in a flex cable that controls the on-off button, but chose to stay quiet about it so as to sell more phones.
As evidence, she points to Apple discussion forums viewed by hundreds of thousands of visitors on which users complain of “wiggly” power buttons. Hilton also points to a fix-it video on YouTube and comments by a self-described iPhone repairman who says the power button defect is prevalent on the iPhone 4 which went on sale in 2010.
Apple did not immediately return a request for comment.
The lawsuit claims that the defect typically arises shortly after one year at which point the warranty has expired, forcing consumers to pay $ 149 for repairs.
Hilton is suing under the RICO statute, a federal racketeering law that has become a vehicle for national class actions. The lawsuit also accuses Apple of violating California’s unfair competition laws.
You can read the complaint for yourself here:
Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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- Mobile Q2: Smartphone growth surges; iPad’s rule continues
- Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
- Mobile App Developer Survey: Profiles, Platforms and Monetization
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Just one month in, T-Mobile raises its $99 iPhone 5 down payment
Remember that $ 99-down-for-an-iPhone-5 plan T-Mobile advertised as part of its game-changing new approach to the U.S. mobile market? Well, that’s over. As of Monday, if you walk into a T-Mobile store to buy a new iPhone 5, you’ll be paying $ 149 up front instead.
TMoNews first reported the price increase, and notes that nowhere did T-Mobile make it clear at the time that the $ 99 down payment was only a temporary or introductory pricing.
The iPhone 5 pricing was part of what made T-Mobile’s big new “no-contract” phones push so attractive. From our coverage in March:
T-Mobile will finance the iPhone 5 for a down payment of $ 99.99 and payments of $ 20 each month for 24 months. That works out to $ 580, which is actually cheaper than the unsubsidized, unlocked device price of $ 650 Apple charges today.
Part of that plan included “eliminating subsidies” that end up chaining U.S. wireless customers to carriers via expensive two-year plans. We don’t know how much T-Mobile has to pay Apple for each device. It’s possible the pricing change could have been planned all along, or it could be that T-Mobile realized after a month that it can’t afford to keep subsidizing smartphones that much.
A T-Mobile representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But no matter what the reasoning is, the cheapest T-Mobile iPhone 5 won’t have a total cost of $ 579 anymore, but will jump up to $ 629, including the $ 20 monthly payments for 24 months. There’s nothing illegal about that. But if T-Mobile did intend that this was temporary pricing, the fine print must have been really small. And that’s disappointing.
The carrier’s posture since it first announced changes to its business model has been concentrated on being different and to standing out from its fellow U.S. carriers. But this pricing change comes off like nothing more than an advertising bait and switch. And there’s nothing different about a U.S. wireless carrier that gives its customers reasons to complain.
Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.
- A look back at mobile in the third quarter
- Defining the mobile wallet: what it is, why it matters
- Confused about the wireless markets? Here’s a breakdown
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iPhone 5 sees faster data speeds on T-Mobile after hacked carrier update
Are you using an iPhone 5 on T-Mobile? Are you in an area with re-farmed 1900MHz HSPA+ spectrum? Well rejoice! Some enterprising folks over at TmoNews have hacked Apple’s carrier update for T-Mobile to boost data speeds on the 1900MHz (PCS) HSPA+ band. Better yet, this tweak applies to both T-Mobile’s iPhone 5 and the AT&T / unlocked versions — no jailbreak required. White the official carrier update enabled LTE for the iPhone 5 on T-Mobile, it also decreased data speeds on re-farmed PCS HSPA+ spectrum for many users. The hacked file makes a number of adjustments: it enables Release 9 for dual-carrier HSPA+ and sets the band preference to “auto” from AWS. Follow the source link below for more details and step-by-step instructions.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Apple
Source: TmoNews
Tech21 Impact Shield for GALAXY S 4 and iPhone 5 Review
This week we’ve had the opportunity to have a look at Tech21′s Impact Shield smartphone screen protector technology in the form of it’s iPhone 5 and Samsung GALAXY S 4 iterations. This product works with three layers of shielding, each of them working with slightly different features for an overall 80 percent lessening of impact by objects aimed at your smartphone’s screen.
While in the past working with screen protectors that are anything thicker than a simple super-thin layer of plastic, it’s been a toss-up whether or not they’d do what they said they would, here Tech21 appears to come through. The final product does appear disperse impact and protect the screen while touch sensitivity remains.
NOTE: As a special experiment / treat, we’re recorded the hands-on of this product’s application process with Google Glass. The photo at the head of this article also comes straight #throughglass, is it were. Take heed – this video also appears in an expanded Google Glass in action review of the wearable technology’s abilities, specifically its camera.
The technology inside this screen protector is what Tech21 describes as their most advanced implementation of display shielding yet. The first layer works to spread the impact force of whatever’s aimed at your device’s screen. The third (closest to the screen) layer is a soft base, further absorbing the impact force of a blow.
The middle layer is the most interesting – or at least the most interestingly titled. Here we’ve got the BulletShield impact protection layer using BASF absorption polymer technology. BASF is also known as “The Chemical Company” and is, not coincidentally, the largest chemical company in the world. This layer provides non-yellowing UV protection with absorption polymer also used in bulletproof glazing.
Thus far this shielding has held up every bit as well as the other Tech21 products we’ve tested, including the orange goo you’ll remember from some months ago. Have a peek at a demo we received at the hands of Tech21′s CEO with a hammer, Tech21 Impactology excellence, and a human hand. You’ll certainly not regret having done so.
Also note that this multi-layer screen protector system is out there in the wild for your pocket in several iterations right this minute. For $ 29.99 MSRP you’ll find the Tech21 Impact Shield for the Samsung Galaxy S III, Samsung GALAXY S 4, Apple iPhone 5, and Samsung Galaxy Note II as well. We’ll keep you updated on the spread of this shield to other devices soon as well – stay tuned!
Tech21 Impact Shield for GALAXY S 4 and iPhone 5 Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
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SlashGear
Key Apple partner boosts workforce by 40% to prep for low-cost iPhone production
BGR
Why iPhone Accessory Makers Love Bluetooth
A lot goes into an accessory maker’s decision on how its item will connect to a mobile device, and many accessory makers are finding the answer in Bluetooth.
Gadget Lab
