GadgetReview

Lose your car much?  iPhone applications that use the handset’s built-in GPS to mark a starting location are nothing new, but the Car Finder app not only stores your starting location, but uses the iPhone 3GS’ camera and compass to show you an ‘augmented reality’ of where your car is located.   Note that this app is only fully operational with the iPhone 3GS – it needs the compass.  You can grab it now for $0.99.

[via Cultofmac]

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Okay, admittedly, sometimes you really want just the right skin for your iPhone or iPod.  Your skin says a lot about who you are, how you feel about stuff, and junk.  And of course, you definitely want the coolest one you can find.  And maybe you can’t find a skin with your favorite supermodel on it, or with a sharp enough resolution image of the Klingon Empire’s sigil.

Now, you can make your own.  Thanks to the iaPeel (like eye appeal, only Apple style) you can print off gadget skins for your Apple portables in whatever format you want.

The iaPeel kit will set you back a mere $21, and comes with some basic design software and five skins that’ll work with your inkjet printer of choice.  Plus, you can make your Apple gear into total clotheshorses and make multiple skins, for different occasions or even days of the week.  Imagine the fun you’ll have with your friends when you whip out your iPhone and say, “This is my Thursday skin.”

Of course, if you actually do try that, you may not have friends much longer….

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So a strange development took place on Sunday–a Dutch hacker is currently holding what amounts to several jailbreaked Apple iPhones.

Just in case you’re wondering about the terminology here, a jailbroken phone is basically a hacked iPhone that allows you to install software from other sources besides Apple’s App Store.  The need for jailbreaking has fallen off somewhat in recent days, but there are still plenty of phones out there already that have been jailbroken.

But when you jailbreak an Apple iPhone, you force the resetting of a password that controls remote access to the general password coded in at the factory level.  Now, if you’re smart, you’ll quickly change that password to something you know well.  But a lot of people either got lazy or busy or just plain forgot, because they left their iPhones in the ORIGINAL PASSWORD SETTING.

And that’s where the Dutch hacker swung in.  He changed the passwords, effectively locking people out of their own phones until they pay him a ransom of five euros via PayPal.  Meanwhile, Apple considers jailbroken phones to have voided their warranties, so it’s pretty much either pay off the hacker or lose your phone until he’s arrested and forced to confess.

So if you’ve got a jailbroken Apple, you may want to switch that password around before the Dutch hacker gets you…if he hasn’t already.

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If you’ve ever had a Genius Bar appointment at the Apple Store, than you’ve surely noticed that an employee has checked you in using an iPod touch.  If you’ve also ever bought something like an iPhone you’ve noticed they use Windows CE-based handhelds to complete your transaction.  Not for much longer.

Soon enough all Apple Store Employees will be able to deal with all purchases, returns, iPhone activations, through debit/credit cards and cash while using an iPod touch.

A new case and proprietary software is on its way that fits the Touch and is capable of being a magnetic stripe reader, barcode scanner, and can accept signatures using a stylus.  All sounding pretty cool, will it have a positive effect on the customer service experience?

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While I’m confident that satellite radio is sure to fail that doesn’t mean that new and cool products for the service aren’t worth noting.  Starting today XM’s Skydock is available for purchase from a barrage of retailers including Amazon, who has it for about $95.  If you recall, the Skydock is essentially a glorified cigarette charger and turns any iPhone (or iPod Touch) running the XM iPhone app into a satellite radio, that is assuming that you’ve attached the magnetic antenna to your car’s roof.

Personally, I’d prefer an HD radio dock, which doesn’t require a hefty monthly subscription.

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For those of you that subscribe to the NetFlix-esque video game rental service, the GameFly GameCenter app is now available for free in the App Store.  More than just access to your queue, the GameFly GameCenter has a news feed, tons of user reviews, and instantly accessible “most popular” games list.

I’d go as far as to say that that even if you don’t belong to GameFly (it’s hard to get new releases but buying used games is the cheapest around), the app is still a cool alternative to the IGN app in terms of user reviews and news.

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TomTom’s Car Kit for the iPhone is now available for purchase at Apple’s online store.  But before you buy, consider the hefty price tag: $119.95.  And that doesn’t even include the necessary iPhone app, which costs an additional $99.  iLounge gave it a rating of ‘C’, which means it’s equitable in quality to the last US President, and that’s being generous, in the case of the President that is.

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For all you Verizon and Sprint MiFi users with an iPhone or iPod Touch, listen up.  There’s an app called Mi-Fi that lets you monitor your Mifi’s bandwidth, connected IPs, connection time and battery level.  I’m not sure how it jacks into this info, but I’m assuming it’s done over WiFi and doesn’t require any special tinkering.  I especially like that someone built an app for a product that isn’t available from AT&T, but rather their two competitors.

[via JKontherun]

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There aren’t too many iPhone apps out there that get me hot and bothered, let alone some DIY kit to go along with it.  But John Boile’s WiFi Router light dimmer, called Dimlit, has flipped the attention switch in my brain.

Attached to a WiFi router (aside from circuit boards and wiring) are 4 AC outlets.  Plug in any light and the router can control their voltage by using the accompanying iPhone app, which allows you to adjust the lights in variety of manners using a set of slider bars, tapping a button or waving the phone around in the air (accelerometer).  Hit the video below for a complete walk through, which includes the whitest dance party you’ll ever see.

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The Apple iPhone is beginning to scare me.  Seriously.  With all the various things you hear about cropping up, eventually I look for an iPhone to one day stand up on its own base and say, calmly, through its speaker: “Cogito, ergo I’m going to take over the world now”.

Or worse yet: “Welcome to Skynet”.

Anyway, another “hidden app” has apparently been discovered, and the crew at Apple don’t seem to be in a huge hurry to deny it, but it seems that iPhones everywhere are carrying the ability to receive FM broadcasts in their guts.  Yes, that’s right–your iPhone may just have a radio hidden inside it, and you never knew it.  The only thing that’s preventing you from using it right now is that Apple is busily “trying to reintegrate the Mobile iTunes Store purchases into the functionality of the program”.

I can’t help but think this might have been better for iPods than iPhones–why make people listen to their iPhone WHILE they’re listening to their iPod?  That’s just nuts…and largely unnecessary.

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