Posts Tagged ‘Iphone’

Need a Portable Recharge for your 3DS?

Monday, March 28th, 2011

Wanna look like a nerd from the 80's but have a 3DS?

From ThinkGeek.com, this wristband contains a 1500 mAh lithium ion battery. Using four LED lights, the LEDs show you how much battery is left. Weighing an 82 grams, the wristband is very portable and cool looking for your nerdy friends.

If I were ever to pick up a 3DS, I would definitely buy this. In order to ‘increase your portable gameplay time’ for $35, I think this wristband would be worth it if it gains at least two hours.

Available for the iPhone, Nokia II (2mm) and I (3.5mm) phones, Mini USB, LG phones, Samsung i900, Sony Ericsson phones, Sony PSP, DS Lite & DSi: you have plenty of portable phones and gaming devices to use this with. Check ThinkGeek for the Universal Gadget Wrist Charger.

One of the best parts of road trips is quality time playing our favorite handheld games. (This is, of course, why you insist someone else drives the vehicle.) But the problem with long road trips is that you often exhaust the battery life of your gaming system before the point on the road trip where you really, really need it. Of course, we’re talking about mile 150 of 300, where the guy riding shotgun starts in on a political diatribe and the person sitting next to you begins to have intestinal upset from the food recently delivered through the driver’s side window. Where’s Mario now? Oh yeah, he’s dead until you can find an outlet. Are we there yet?

The Wrist Charger, or as we like to call it, Bracer of Battery Life +2, straps comfortably to your wrist and plugs in to just about any electronic device you like. It’ll power cell phones, mp3 players, gaming systems, or any device compatible with mini USB. Now you’ll have plenty of power to get through long days traveling (or long lines at the DMV, we’ve been there, too!). When you reach your destination, simply plug your bracer in and charge its battery back up so you’re ready with plenty of entertainment for the long trip home.

PS3 hacker ‘Geohot’ makes a run for it

Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011

Geohot makes a break for it!

(Ubergizmo) – Famed iPhone hacker turned PlayStation 3 hacker George Hotz a.k.a Geohot, has reportedly fled to South America from his New Jersey home in an attempt to escape Sony in their ongoing court battle over hacking the video game console.

According to VGHQ, Hotz has not been complying with Sony’s requests to hand over hardware related to his PS3 hacking. Devices such as his computer hard drives were supposed to be forked over to Sony for inspection untouched, with all potential hacking tools in tact. In Sony’s defense, it wanted to search for any names and contacts of any co-hackers that worked with Hotz to break the system’s security and allow unsigned code to run on the machine.

Since then, Sony has apparently learned that Hotz had deleted “integral components??? from his hard drives and that the hacker lied to the Court about not having a PlayStation Network account.

[Full article at Ubergizmo.com]

How I Pick Apps And Portable Games

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

Sometimes a screenshot doesn't do an app justice... other times, it doesn't tell the full story.

Between my iPod Touch and my Epic, I have pretty much every cool app and/or game I could care to have.

That isn’t to say I won’t be downloading more. I’ve been pretty fortunate on my choices of apps and I have yet to purchase one that isn’t something I use on a semi-regular basis. I’d like to say that it’s because I’m awesome (which I am) but in this case, I’ve actually had a little help.

I’m not the type to be taken in by a pretty screenshot or to make impulse purchases online. I typically go in armed with some form of information before I make a purchase. If you’ve had a few digital lemons in your purchase history, let me give you a few hints on how to avoid them in the future.

Your first source of information for app or game purchases for your portable device is most likely your friends and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. However, you have to consider the friend you’re talking to before making a purchase. Are they the type who like more flash in their apps than substance? Do they have 20 different soundboards that they use to torment you on long trips? If their taste is different from yours in another entertainment media (like TV or movies), you might want to think twice before taking their advice on an app they say is a “must download???.

The second place you might find advice on apps would be tech or gaming sites (*ahem* Like this one) which again isn’t a bad thing. Many of the sites I visit have entire articles dedicated to specific apps or might only mention something in passing in an article about a device. Again, you have to consider the source. Is the site you’re reading geared towards casual gamers and you consider yourself a hardcore gamer? Are you reading about a game on a site that typically reviews hardware? Have you ever purchased a game or app based on the advice of the site and had it be a flop for you? Make sure the opinions you’re reading match up with yours more often than not before acting on it.

Many people quote the reviews of the apps as the deciding point. But when I ask, they never go past the initial three or four reviews and typically don’t even read the reviews, instead choosing to rely on how many stars an app has been awarded by reviewers. This is what I like to refer to as a mistake…

There are, unfortunately, app creators who are not above using false accounts to promote and recommend their own apps. This can come in the form of using the accounts to push a sub-par review off of the front page or last three reviews in order to make their product look better. If you want the skinny on a particular app, take the time to fully read a few randomly chosen reviews from *all* of the reviews, not just the first three or four.

Lite and beta versions can often be downloaded to try out before you decide to purchase...

Keep in mind that a large majority of the apps out there have a “lite??? version, something you can download before you decide to purchase and see if you like it or not. It’s worth the few extra minutes to try on a pair of shoes before you just go and buy them, right? Same principle applies here.

Finally, I recommend a quick search on the company or persons that produce the app you’re looking at. If there’s any potential foul play or if the company has a track record of producing crappy, buggy apps, you’re going to find out pretty quick just by typing in their name in the search bar.

Remember, it might only be a buck here or a buck there but it adds up… and crap is crap no matter how pretty the bow on the package it’s presented in.

Gritskrieg – End of Line

Blast tie fighters out your window

Thursday, November 4th, 2010

There is a new Star Wars game heading to your iPhone this month that uses a very interesting backdrop called ‘augmented reality’. Augmented reality technology uses what’s around you, and lays graphics and infomation over it. So basically, your playing field for your game layout will be ‘wherever you are’. Although in this case we don’t believe that it will have influence over the game mechanics, it does make for some neat looking gameplay.

The game Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner is coming out this month for the iPhone, and it looks quite dashing for an iPhone game. Simply hold up your phone in front of you, and your surroundings suddenly become the scene for a bunch of invading Tie Fighters.

So in addition to your phone distracting your from your daily endeavors, you now need to alot more time fighting against the Empire. And we all can make time for that.

Story lead by Billy Holcomb aka Schlitzboy.

Why we want (and need) the new Windows Phones to succeed

Tuesday, October 12th, 2010

One of LG's initial offerings to the WP7 launch

I’m willing to bet that most our visitors out there own either an iPhone or one of the various Android phones on the market.  I’m also willing to bet that you’re already a fan of one or the other and wouldn’t consider changing to the other end of the spectrum.  But those of you who have swapped between the devices might notice a trend.

When the iPhone launched, I think we can all agree it considerably upped the ante in the smartphone market.  The same thing happened when the first few iterations of the Android mobile phones launched.  The trend some of you might be seeing is that there’s been a leveling out of the innovations that were coming out so fast and furious in the beginning from Apple and Google.  After all, in the consumer market, it’s quickly becoming only the two of them duking it out and if you’ve ever had the opportunity to mess around on the iPhone and then immediately after had access to an Android phone, I think you’ll agree that the race to innovate has quickly become one of who can do existing features better.

They are, of course, the major players in the market.  Some would argue that Nokia’s Symbian stands a chance (and the numbers might support the argument) but with the market share Apple and Google have managed to grab up in such a very short amount of time, the trend appears to indicate otherwise.  They’ve made their points, lines have been drawn in the sand, and each has their staunch supporters.  Lately, however, the experience of the two operating systems have began to take on similarities.  That isn’t to say that each isn’t still moving in their own direction but that each tends to see something the other can do and decides to add the functionality without making too many changes.  A case of “monkey see, monkey do???, if you will.

It’s my firm hope, and belief, that with the launch of the Microsoft Windows Phones that we may be looking at a much needed change.

Many would argue that Microsoft missed their chance in the smart phone market but looking at the offerings that will be available on November 8th and the functionality they provide, it may be too early to count them out just yet.  Incorporating aspects of the Xbox Live experience, a music service that is getting a lot more attention and respect, and a solid hardware platform, Microsoft might not only be getting a second shot at the much coveted business in the smart phone market but offering new opportunities for users who are feeling as if they’ve “been there, done that???.

I, for one, am willing to forgive and forget the fiasco that was the Kin and see what Microsoft has up its sleeve when the phones begin to hit the market in November.  I just hope they don’t pull the same marketing “oops??? as they did with their last ill-fated offering.

Gritskrieg – End of Line

Microsoft wants to bury the iPhone this month

Monday, October 4th, 2010

Just a hunch, but I'm sure iPhone has more HP's.

(Reuters) – Last month, a few hundred Microsoft Corp employees acted out their fantasy with a mock funeral for Apple Inc’s iPhone at its Redmond, Washington campus.

The bizarre gathering, which morphed into a spirited Michael Jackson “Thriller” dance routine, marked the completion of its Windows Phone 7 software, and showed how badly Microsoft wants to resurrect itself in the viciously competitive phone market.

The new software, which will be publicly unveiled on October 11 and expected on handsets in stores by November, is Microsoft’s last chance, some analysts say, to catch up with Apple and Google Inc’s Android smartphones, after squandering its strong market position in only a few years.

A group of smartphone manufacturers including Samsung and HTC Corp are expected to roll out Microsoft-based phones for the holiday season.

Whether they will be good enough to render the iPhone obsolete is the question.

“The product can’t be an also-ran that just does everything that is already out in the marketplace,” said Bryan Keane, an analyst for Alpine Mutual Funds, which holds Microsoft shares. “Right now, it isn’t apparent that Windows 7 is better than anything that’s out there, except that it might have a better tie-in to the actual Windows platform.”

By the admission of Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer, the company “missed a generation” with Windows Mobile, its last phone operating system, which floundered while the iPhone and Android roared past with sumptuous touch screens and a host of new applications.

Microsoft is now fourth in the fast-growing U.S. market for smartphone operating systems with a share of less than 12 percent, according to research firm comScore, behind BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion Ltd, Apple and Google.

Netflix app lands on iPhone today

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

(CNNMoney.com) – Netflix unveiled its long-awaited app for the iPhone on Thursday, sending the company’s shares almost 2% higher.

The free app lets Netflix members stream TV episodes and movies to their Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) iPhone or iPod Touch for no additional cost.

“Apple has changed the game for mobile devices,” Reed Hastings, Netflix co-founder and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

The shows can be streamed over both Wi-Fi and 3G networks, and they are organized based on members’ personal preferences, genres, new arrivals and individual instant queues.

Netflix (NFLX) shares were up 1.7% to $126.33 in afternoon trade on Thursday. The stock has been on steady upward streak this year, crossing $100 for the first time in April after the company reported a blowout first quarter.

“Netflix Android” was a trending Google search on Thursday, and Twitter users were also grumbling about when the app would be available for their Android phones.

But Netflix is already available beyond the standard television. Video game consoles such as the Nintendo Wii let users stream to their TVs, and an iPad app has been around since April.

[Read Full Article Here]

iPhone jailbreak now legal.

Thursday, July 29th, 2010

Legal Jailbreak - it even sounds bad.

(Yahoo) – Owners of iPhones and other smartphones are one step closer towards taking complete control of their gadgets, thanks to a new government ruling Monday on the practice of “jailbreaking.”

This weekend has seen a flurry of activity about digital rights, but the biggest news dropped Monday morning, when the FCC announced that it had made the controversial practice of “jailbreaking??? your iPhone — or any other cell phone — legal.

Jailbreaking — the practice of unlocking a phone (and particularly an iPhone) so it can be used on another network and/or run other applications than those approved by Apple — has technically been illegal for years. Most jailbroken phones are used on the U.S. T-Mobile network or on overseas carriers, or are used to run applications that Apple refuses to sell, such as Safari ad-blocking apps, alternate keyboard layouts, or programs that change the interface to the iPhone’s SMS system and the way its icons are laid out.

While technically illegal, no one has been sued or prosecuted for the practice. (Apple does seriously frown on the practice, and jailbreaking your phone will still void your warranty.) It’s estimated that more than a million iPhone owners have jailbroken their handsets.

Apple fought hard against the legalization, arguing that jailbreaking was a form of copyright violation. The FCC disagreed, saying that jailbreaking merely enhanced the inter-operability of the phone, and was thus legitimate under fair-use rules

Civil Suit against Apple, AT&T has okay to go forward

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Apple, I stood up for you back in May... Don't let me down.

Back at the beginning of May, I said it was my opinion that an anti-trust lawsuit against Apple wouldn’t get off the ground. Well, it would appear that a federal judge would disagree with me. Judge James Ware of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has said that the lawsuit accusing Apple and AT&T of monopoly abuse can move forward as a class action.

Now, while I was addressing the latest batch of accusations to have come about, this lawsuit was originally filed in late 2007 but is essentially the same allegations to have arisen in recent months. The lawsuit consolidates several lawsuits against the two companies and accuses them of restricting use of the iPhone to the AT&T network, absolutely controlling what apps can be run on the devices, as well driving up prices by entering into a five year exclusivity contract where the iPhone is only available for AT&T’s network.

Now, I will agree that some of the points in the lawsuit have some merit. For instance, why should Apple be able to tell me what I can and cannot run on their phone once I’ve coughed up the green for the phone? Why can’t I run whatever the hell I like on the phone, power intensive or not? Why do I have to agree to get everything for the iPhone from the App Store? These are just some of the questions I would ask if I were an iPhone user.

That’s not to say I’ve changed my earlier stance. I still firmly believe that with some minor modifications to the Terms of Use and the App Store guidelines that Apple couldn’t avoid a lawsuit completely. I still believe that Apple may not want their “playground??? to be modified but having seen what a jailbroken 3GS is capable of, I have to wonder why Jobs and company aren’t trying to hire some of the guys who are programming these apps and churning out a product that’s completely and utterly customizable.

It’s obvious, at least to me, that the exclusivity contract isn’t as bad of a deal as the lawsuit makes it sound. The accusation here is that Apple and AT&T entered into the contract secretly and that by doing so, have artificially inflated prices for cellular service plans. I’ll admit, AT&T’s pricing for their plans doesn’t seem like they’ve changed at all since the launch of the iPhone, even when competitors have started lowering their unlimited usage plans in order to attract new customer. But let’s face it, Apple was a newcomer to the market. It made sense to focus on producing a product for one specific network to make sure it could be done but why the hell did it have to be a five year contract?

Are AT&T and Apple guilty of cornering the market for smartphones? With 1.7 million iPhones sold within the first three days, I would have to say it’s a good indication that if it is what they intended, they’ve already partially succeeded. Should the iPhone be produced to work on other networks? I’d say yes to this as well because to me, it seems like common business sense. If the iPhone weren’t restricted to one network, I have no doubt that the iPhone would be the top ranked device based on sales.

And to add to the fire and the appearance of guilt, AT&T did away with their unlimited data plan right around the same time that the iPhone 4 launched. This would make it appear that they know damn well that they’re going to get some new customers out of the new device and they’re pushing to make as much money as they can from these new users.

Apple isn’t looking too innocent in all of this either. Problems with the iPhone 4’s signal based on how a person grips the phone and the subsequent responses from Steve Jobs first suggesting that people were holding the phone wrong and then pointing out that for 30 dollars users could purchase one of the bumper cases in order to avoid the problem seem like they, too, are seeking to make as much money as possible from new and existing users.

Again, I’m not changing my initial opinion but that opinion was based on the facts that were in place when I wrote the story…  I had no idea that two months later all of the money grabbing would occur.

Gritskrieg – End of Line

Google Chrome Browser: Five Fixes and Flash

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Google isn't taking sides in the Adobe Flash/HTML5 war...

Google’s not making any apologies for including Flash in the latest Chrome update. And they’re making it easy to turn off for those who prefer to run through the internet Flash-less. Then there’s the fact that they’ve included support for HTML5…  It would appear Google is decidedly neutral in regards to the way video is handled in their browser as both formats are enabled by default. In addition to the Flash enabled software, Google is including five fixes with the latest update, two of which directly deal with the way video is handled by Chrome.

But it doesn’t stop there. The recent upgrade to Android 2.2 (otherwise known as “Froyo???) includes Flash 10.1 and benchmarks have shown the software to be playing well with the Android operating system. It’s a good bet that the dual support will be included in Google’s impending OS version of Chrome and I’m going to go out on a limb and call this a good thing.

I don’t know about the rest of the world but I’d prefer to have the choice as to what content I am able to view and download when I’m going to drop cold, hard cash for a multimedia device. I don’t like the idea that the device I just dropped hundreds of dollars on will force me to choose one viewing format over another. If I prefer Flash, why can’t I make the choice to use it?

Apple may very well end up ruling the cellular world with the iPhone and may have created a new market with the iPad but I’m just not convinced by Steve Jobs’ rant that Flash is “too buggy and too power intensive??? to not at least want the option to use it on their devices.

There’s every reason in the world to believe that Google is capable of producing a functional and aesthetically pleasing desktop OS and by the simple fact that they’re building Flash support into their products, they may have just gained one more fan.

Gritskrieg – End of Line










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