Playing guitar is hard enough, right? Now imagine trying to play guitar on an iPhone. Pocket Guitar, believe it or not, allows you to strum in up to three types of guitar setups: distortion, acoustic and electric bass. It looks unbelievably cool and intuitive. There are a few YouTube videos floating around. No doubt you’ll have to Jailbreak, but maybe that’ll change with the SDK kit released this month.
I own an iPhone. I put my iPhone on my desk. It doesn’t look cool, and it’s no easy feat bending over a desk to use it (ok, I could pick it up, but this is cooler). PED 3 not only shows the iPhone off in all its glory, but it also allows you to rotate between landscape and profile model without removing it. Looks like the iPhone is held in place by 7 adjustable legs and rubber feet. Easy access, and showing off all in one! Works with the iPod Touch as well.
Tubestick Hybrid, by Equinux, enables you to receive and record terrestrial HDTV and NTSC television programing on your Apple computer. Even cooler you can view the recorded material on your iPhone or iPod touch (part of the TubeToGo feature which costs extra). Believe me I’m skeptical about the iPod Touch and iPhone capability. Included in the package is an antenna to receive the signals and Equinux’s proprietary software. Plug the antenna into your computer and launch the software and you’re in business. I should note that the antenna’s USB plug is designed such that it won’t intrude on the Macbook’s other inputs. Using the software you can record, watch and view upcoming shows. Through their web based application you can also set your computer to record shows. If you’re so inclined, you can also chat with other watching the same shows. In order to watch shows on your iPod Touch or iPhone you’ll need to publish your recordings to an FTP or .Mac account and access them through the web based application (aka TubeToGo) - be interesting to see how the quality is. Available at Amazon and other major retailers come February for $129.95 with a one month trial of TubeToGo.
Last week (I think it was last week - it’s all a blur now) I updated my iPhone firmware to 1.1.3. Although it didn’t commit any irreperable harm or damage to my phone unlike some, it sure did screw things up until I did a clean install - I actually made the Apple Genius bar do it so I could get a new one if that didn’t resolve my issues. Fortunately, and I may be speaking too soon, is has resolved my iPhone’s querky behavior.
Problems I experienced after 1.1.3 was installed (picture for melodrama affect only):
50% drop in battery life
Couldn’t consistently make outgoing calls
Folks couldn’t reach me and would get ‘dead air’ or my voicemail instantaneously
The iPhone’s screen would randomly light up when sitting idly with no one touching it
Occasionally, when recieving calls or text messages, it would flicker on and off but emit no locking noise
Wouldn’t find the stored and password saved WiFi SSID
I was almost jumping for joy when I read that Netflix will begin to offer over 6,000 movies streaming (via your computer) if you pay $8.99 or more for their DVD rental service. The jumping never happened, though. Why? I use a Macbook and the harsh reality of NonApple friendly Netflix streaming sunk in. Finally Netflix posted this explanation (I would’ve posted the link but looks like you can only access it if you have an account):
Apple does not license their DRM solution to third parties, which has made this more difficult, but we are working with the studios and content owners to gain approval for other solutions. As soon as a studio-approved DRM for the Mac is available to us, whether from Apple or another source, we will move quickly to provide a movie viewer that enables you to watch movies from Netflix instantly on your Mac.
In the meantime, you can use your account to watch instantly on any compatible PC, and Intel-based Macintosh computers can watch movies instantly using Boot Camp, Parallels, or Fusion to run Windows.
The good news is that MacRumors is reporting that Netflix plans to resolve this issue sometime in ‘08. No actual hard date set yet. Too bad I deleted my copy of XP.
First and foremost, let me be honest and say the Macbook Air review isn’t available just yet. But what I can promise is that PCMag will have a review here very shortly. How soon I don’t know, but they’ve got their hands on the Macbook Air as the pictures you see here detail.
Apple’s got Valentine fever already. Starting today you can pick up a pink iPod Nano (8GB Video/Gen3) for $199. As usual, graving is included. Colorware released pink versions of ‘Gen1′ Nanos August 2006.
Sleek and sexy hardly begin to describe the new Apple Macbook Air. You won’t find an optical drive, and inputs are limited to one USB input, a mini DVI, and an audio out. To install new applications by CD/DVD Apple developed a ‘wireless optical drive’, which basically utilizes another computer’s drive on the network. It sports Apple’s standard ‘magsafe port’ for plug-in power. From the pics featured on Apple.com it appears some what recessed to better blend with the Macbook Air’s aesthetics. Keyboard is black and matches that of the regular Macbooks, as does the screen’s size, although this one rocks an LED screen, which should enable longer battery life. Also included, is an oversized trackpad which will enable iPhone like interaction: pinch, swipes or rotate or zoom in on text, etc. The real joy is in the size of the computer: 0.16 to 0.76 x 12.8 x 8.94 inches – that’s almost paper thin by computer standards – and a mere 3 lbs. Course there are sacrifices in chip set speed: 1.6GHz or 1.8GHZ Core 2 Duos respective to monetary investment. That’s up to .4 GHz slower then the fastest Macbook. If you do blow our wad (of cash) on the more expensive of the Macbook Airs, then you’ll end up with a 64GB solid-state drive (you can get one the lower model at an additional $1000). 2GB is standard memory and 802.11N is included. You can also order an external drive for $99. Ships in 2-3 weeks and starts at $1,799.
Did you by the iPhone before the rumored Q1 ‘08 release of the iPhone with GPS and much more? Well, if you’re sick of holding your breath, or just need directions ASAP, then a quick drive down loco (as in crazy in Spanish) lane will assist you on your merry ole way. How so you ask? Well, Aving’s got the scoop and it’s the Loco GPS. It’ll launch February ‘08, cost $89 and expect the eagerly lost to knock down local Apple stores to nab one. I can already hear the toilet flushing on my iPhone’s battery life. Oh well, at least I’ll be able to find a place to stop and charge it.
Note: You’ll need to hack (i.e. Jailbreak) your phone to get it to work. WEAK!
For the price of $4.99 you can now relive your torrid past of endless hours of Sonic The (adorable) Hedgehog on your iPod. It’s a port of the original Sega game and - I didn’t know this - you can even play it on the new Nanos (as if it weren’t hard enough to see what’s going on already). I am sure it’s a horrible experience with no replay value. At best you’ll get to show off to your friends…if you graduated high-school in the late 90s.
I own an iPhone. I put my iPhone on my desk. It doesn’t look cool, and it’s no easy feat bending over a desk to use it (ok, I could pick it up, but this is cooler). PED 3 not only shows the iPhone off in all its glory, but it also allows you to rotate between landscape and profile model without removing it. Looks like the iPhone is held in place by 7 adjustable legs and rubber feet. Easy access, and showing off all in one! Works with the iPod Touch as well.
I was almost jumping for joy when I read that Netflix will begin to offer over 6,000 movies streaming (via your computer) if you pay $8.99 or more for their DVD rental service. The jumping never happened, though. Why? I use a Macbook and the harsh reality of NonApple friendly Netflix streaming sunk in. Finally Netflix posted this explanation (I would’ve posted the link but looks like you can only access it if you have an account):
