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One iPhone in a very large crowd

Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone

In traditional photography, the time elapsed between the shutter snap and the careful, loupe & light table examination of the captured images for some unexpected surprise or Cartier-Bresson's "decisive moment" might be days or weeks. With photographer David Bergman's massive panorama of Tuesday's presidential inauguration, the challenge wasn't in waiting for the darkroom process to complete (although the Gigapan software did crank away on his MacBook Pro for over six hours to generate the 1,474 megapixel, 2 gigabyte master file); it was combing through the enormous image to discover those moments Bergman didn't even know he had photographed. Several commenters on Bergman's blog have already found themselves or family members in the crowd.

One moment that Bergman did discover quickly: a prominent attendee of the inauguration, 'bow-syncing' cellist Yo-Yo Ma, was caught in the panorama making an image of his own, using a familiar-looking smartphone. See the video zoom below for the context of Ma's snapshot in the larger image.

As digital imaging has replaced film photography for newsgathering and journalism, there have been counterexamples of newsworthy images that would have long been deleted except for the fact that they were shot on film instead of on memory cards. In this case, the image of Yo-Yo Ma and his phone wouldn't have been preserved, except that it was captured by chance and 'mined' out of the massive, frozen decisive moment.

Image & zoom video used with permission of the photographer; all rights reserved.

One iPhone in a very large crowd originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One iPhone in a very large crowd originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: RichardSolo 1800 for iPhone Battery Charger

The iPhone doesn’t have a user-changeable battery. To some that was a non-starter. To others, that was a call to action. Enter the iPhone external battery charger. We’ve seen them in several forms now, from built-in cases like the Mophie Juice Pack to plug-in units like the RichardSolo 1800 for iPhone.

TiPb had a chance to meet with the very gracious Richard Thalheimer at Macworld, who shared his enthusiasm for the RichardSolo 1800 and asked us to give it a try. Seeing as how, between email, twitter, blogging, texting, and calling, I was draining our iPhones near dry, I was more than happy to.

So how did it do? Read on after the break!

What’s in the Box

The RichardSolo 1800 for iPhone comes with the battery charger itself, which is shaped roughly like smaller, thinner version of the iPhone, and includes a locking dock connecter (yes!), charging light, and two buttons which activate the laser pointer and the LED flashlight.

Yep, it’s a multi-tasker, and while I haven’t yet found a use for the extra features, it is kind of reassuring to know they exist in case I ever need to find my keys in a dark room, or simply annoy a friend.

Also included is a retractable mini-USB to USB cable for charging with adapters for both an AC outlet and a car charger. Since the purpose of RichardSolo 1800 is to keep you juiced up on the go, it’s nice to have multiple options for charging the 1800 itself. However, while USB is a standard, I can’t help but think if the RichardSolo 1800 itself used a dock connector for charging, just like the iPhone, that AC adapter and car charger could do double duty charging the iPhone as well. (Note: you can work around this by plugging the iPhone into the RichardSolo, and the RichardSolo into the USB cable, so it’s a small niggle).

Lastly, the box includes braces for both the iPhone 3G and the original iPhone 2G. If you’re ever in a pinch and need to use your iPhone while charging it with the RichardSolo 1800, the brace will help keep everything more stable. It’s not as solid as a case-form external battery charger, of course, but if you’re careful, it’s usable enough.

How it Works

To charge the RichardSolo, you plug it into the retractable USB cable, and plug that into a handy USB socket — or into either of the adapters mentioned above. RichardSolo recommends you charge the 1800 for a minimum of 5 hours, twice, to get maximum initial capacity. That’s probably a fair indication of ongoing best practices as well.

Once the RichardSolo 1800 is charged, you plug it into the iPhone and move that charge on over! Thankfully, the 1800 will “lock” onto the iPhone dock, and requires you to pinch two buttons on the side to release it — a nice feature to prevent unintentional disconnection. Since the 1800 charges through a dock connector, you could theoretically use it to charge the iPod touch — or any other iPod — as well, though I personally haven’t tried that out yet.

From nearly dead to fully charged, it took somewhere between 1:30 and 1:45 to completely recharge my iPhone, and the 1800 still had power left to spare.

Final Thoughts

Is it unwieldily? Sure, hanging even a slim battery sized object off the bottom of your iPhone can be annoying, but what’s more annoying is running out of power halfway through a conference, nary a port or outlet in sight. So it comes down to a choice, something less obtrusive like the aforementioned Mophie Juice Pack, which only works on the iPhone 3G, or the RichardSolo 1800, which isn’t as elegant but can be used on all iPhones and iPods alike?

Pros

• Can charge any iPhone or iPod
• Slim profile makes it highly portable
• Includes USB, AC, and car charging options
• Built in flash and flippin’ laser beam!

Cons

• Dongle-like solution less ideal for using-while-charging

TiPb Rating

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Peggle coming to the iPhone in March

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Software, Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch

We actually heard this last year, straight from Apple, but here's confirmation: PopCap Games has told our sister site Joystiq that Peggle, the distractingly cute-looking yet extremely addictive puzzle shooter, is coming to the iPhone in March of this year. If you've played Peggle (or any of PopCap's games, really) you'll know why this is so exciting, and if you haven't yet played it, you'll be in for a treat.

Word of the game apparently sneaked out via Popcap's official Twitter account, and while it was originally deleted (someone decided they didn't want to talk about it yet), the company later confirmed the game and the month of release. Of course, the game is currently available on the classic iPod, but it'll be that much better with touch-screen goodness added in. Extreme Fever!

Peggle coming to the iPhone in March originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Peggle coming to the iPhone in March originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 24 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s Macintosh Turns 25 Years Old Today

"There wasn't a person in the room who didn't thin...