Roadie-approved iPhone case provides ultimate protection

Filed under: Accessories, iPhone

So, you don't think that the OtterBox 2600 PDA case will provide enough protection for your iPhone? What you need is something like those incredible cases that roadies use to protect instruments and gear.

TUAW reader Stuart tipped us off to such a case, designed and built by a friend who creates cases for bands. While this isn't the most practical iPhone case, it certainly provides a huge amount of protection. It'll also show a certain amount of panache to carry one of these Brady Cases around, flipping open the latches whenever you need an iPhone fix.

If you're interested in ordering a similar case for your iPhone, you can use this contact form to see if Brady Cases will build a custom one for you. Note that this case is not currently listed on the company's web site as a product offered for sale.

Roadie-approved iPhone case provides ultimate protection originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Roadie-approved iPhone case provides ultimate protection originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Sync Down?

Google Sync, the nifty ActiveSync-powered service that lets iPhone and iPod touch users get instant, “push” access to their Gmail, Google Contacts, and Google Calendar seems to be suffering a bit lately. According to Google:

As many of you have noticed, Google Sync is having some difficulties due to an extended problem with one of our datacenters. This has been going on over the weekend, but it’s got significantly worse today, so I’m just letting everyone know what’s happening.

None of your information has been lost, and you will still be able to get your data through Sync, but you will find that Push isn’t working very well. This is because we’re batching up fetch requests to be able to cope with the traffic we’re seeing while this problem is ongoing. As soon as we’ve got the problem fixed, push should seamlessly start working properly again.

We’re working flat out to get this fixed, but unfortunately we don’t have an ETA at the moment. We’re doing everything we can to improve the situation in the meantime, and I’ll post here again when I have more news.

Finally, I want to apologise to everyone – we’re feeling your pain too, and we will get this sorted out as soon as we can.

If you’re having problems with your Google Sync, let us know!

[DailyMobile.se via WMExperts]

Google Sync Down? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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TigerText iPhone App Lets You Self-Destruct Your Text Messages

Nuance announces medical dictation apps, SDK

Nuance Communications announced on Monday a series of smartphone applications and an SDK based on its popular Dragon NaturallySpeaking recognition technology.

Jailbreaking in the iPhone 3.0 era

Apple's iPhone OS 3.0 firmware unlocked many capabilities, but users seek more from their iPhones through jailbroken apps.

TiPb Countdown to iPad Give-Away!

TiPb is giving away an iPad!

It’s officially March now and Apple still hasn’t announced the exact day we’ll be able to get our hands on their magical new device, the iPad! So, to help us countdown to the big day, we’re running a little give-away. Actually, an iPad sized give-away! Every week from now until the iPad is officially released, the TiPb Store is going to give away awesome iPhone accessories, and every time you enter the give away of the week, you get another entry into our big iPad give away as well. And don’t worry, we’ll clearly tag every qualifying weekly give-away with “iPad Give-Away Qualifier” so you can be extra certain you’re all nice and entered.

If that’s too complicated, let us simplify — enter as many TiPb give aways as you can and you’ll have the best chance possible at the iPad. Clear?

The first qualifying give-away will be posted tomorrow, but you may just want to head on over and subscribe to our TiPb YouTube channel now, if you know what we mean…

Full iPad give-away details after the break!

Them iPad Give-Away Details

• Grand prize is one (1) $499 US Apple Store gift certificate towards purchase of a 16GB Wi-Fi iPad.
• Only one entry per weekly give away.
• Contest starts now and ends… when the iPad is released!
• Not open to Smartphone Experts employees or contractors

TiPb Countdown to iPad Give-Away! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Apple Preparing to Add HDMI to Macs?

Mockup of Mac mini with HDMI port in place of existing DVI port
AppleInsider reports that Apple is preparing to introduce HDMI connectivity into some its new Macs later this year, bringing increased compatibility with home theater syst...

Apple removes some adult apps, Photoshop 1.0 for iPhone, video calling in 3.2 SDK

Apple has removed some adult apps that have had complaints from users. Among the apps removed were one that animates parts of people in pictures and one for a porn star's fans. Photoshop is one of the most popular photo editing applications around. A version of the app is already on ...

Review: Dawn of the Dead for iPhone

Zach Snyders' 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead had its fans and its critics. New developer Byte Mark won't have the benefit of such a controversy: Dawn of the Dead for the iPhone—as the developers’ name suggests—bites.

Rayman 2: The Great Escape now in App Store!

For those of us with fond memories of the Sony PlayStation and Sega Saturn comes Rayman 2. Yes, one of our favorite Mario 64 clones has made it to the iPhone [$6.99 - iTunes link].

Rayman has to escape the evil clutches of pirates that have taken over your world. Rayman plays in a 3D environment running, jumping and shooting energy to take down foes and restore peace to the world.

From the little time I have played with the title, the graphics and frame-rate are great, as well as the music. Controls are fine but could benefit from a sliding directional pad as I often found my thumb moving out of control range.  However, I am getting used to it. If you are looking for some old-school 3D action platforming, check out Rayman 2 and let us know what you think!

Rayman 2: The Great Escape now in App Store! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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iPad Supplies to Be Constrained at Launch Due to Production Issues? [Updated]

Digital Daily reports on a new research note from analyst Peter Misek at Canaccord Adams claiming that availability of Apple's iPad tablet device may be limited at its launch later this month, citing a "manufacturing bottleneck" at partner Ho...

iPad Supplies to Be Constrained at Launch Due to Production Issues?

Digital Daily reports on a new research note from analyst Peter Misek at Canaccord Adams claiming that availability of Apple's iPad tablet device may be limited at its launch later this month, citing a "manufacturing bottleneck" at partner Ho...

O2 announces new Apple iPhone tariffs

O2 has launched a range of new mobile and mobile boadband tariffs including new sim only for iPhone with inclusive Visual Voicemail.

Manufacturing Problems to Lead to Constrained iPad Supplies, Launch Delay?

Digital Daily is reporting that, according to Canaccord Adams analyst Peter Misek, Apple might be facing manufacturing problems that will lead to constrained supplies of the iPad, or even a delay in its launch:

“We have … heard that the upcoming iPad launch may be somewhat limited as a manufacturing bottleneck has impacted production of Apple’s newest device. An unspecified production problem at the iPad’s manufacturer, Hon Hai Precision, will likely limit the launch region to the US and the number of units available to roughly 300K in the month of March, far lower than the company’s initial estimate of 1,000K units. The delay in production ramp will likely impact Apple’s April unit estimate of 800K as well. It is also possible that, given the limited number of units available in March, the launch will be delayed for a month.”

Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook runs Apple’s supply chain with more precision than an aluminum unibody chassis, however, so would a problem this large really be allowed to happen? DIgital Daily claims it’s a “big if” as to whether or not Misek is correct. Best case he isn’t. Worst case, despite Apple’s still current claim of the iPad shipping in late March, we may only see it in April.

Does this affect your odds of buying one either way?

Manufacturing Problems to Lead to Constrained iPad Supplies, Launch Delay? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Conde Nast Firming Up Plans for iPad Applications

The New York Times reports that magazine publisher Condé Nast is firming up plans to bring its content to Apple's iPad, rolling out dedicated versions of a number of its high-profile titles beginning in A...

Regarding Apple A4 Using iPhone 3GS Cortex A8 Processor

The interwebs are once again lit up with speculation about the iPad’s new Apple A4 chipset, this time because Ars Technica is saying that instead of the next-generation multicore ARM Cortex A9 unveiled at CES 2010, the iPad is using a variation of the last-generation AR Cortex A8 that powers the 2009 iPhone 3GS.

This is based on 1) Apple being secretive about the chipset and not bragging like other companies would 2) “multiple sources who are certain for different reasons that this is indeed the case.”

First things first. Apple being secretive proves nothing. Apple is secretive about everything, and they’ve said before they don’t discuss chipsets because they don’t think it matters to consumer electronics users (and, hey, Apple is secretive). They didn’t talk at all about the iPhone 3GS chipset — all they said is it was twice as fast. We only know that it uses an ARM Cortex A8 because people bought it and tore it apart to find out.

As to the multiple sources, if one of the “different reasons” is direct knowledge of the chipset, then they could be exactly right. If not, then… eh, maybe, but we’re back to waiting for the iPad to ship and people to tear it down.

In the interest of being complete, however, Ars speculates that if the iPad is indeed running the Cortex A8, this might be what’s making it so fast:

it turns out that the the A4 is a 1GHz custom SoC with a single Cortex A8 core and a PowerVR SGX GPU. The fact that A4 uses a single A8 core hasn’t been made public, but I’ve heard from multiple sources who are certain for different reasons that this is indeed the case. (I wish I could be more specific, but I can’t.)

In all, the A4 is quite comparable to the other Cortex A8-based SoCs that are coming onto the market, except that the A4 has even less hardware. The iPad doesn’t have much in the way of I/O, so the A4 itself can do away with the I/O that it doesn’t need. In contrast, the typical Cortex A8-based SoC has more I/O hardware than a mobile phone can use, because you never know what customers will need which interface types.

Ars, like Venture Beat, also thinks Apple’s PA Semi team may not be involved in the iPad because they’re working on a variant for the 4th generation iPhone. Either way, they believe software will ultimately be more important than hardware — which is something Apple’s been saying for a while now.

So, do we care if the iPad has an ARM Cortex A8 rather than a Cortex A9? Do we want Apple pushing the hardware, or are we happy with them prioritizing software?

Regarding Apple A4 Using iPhone 3GS Cortex A8 Processor is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Review: Viva il Re board game app asks to be crowned

Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review

The iPhone might be the most amazing computer you can slip into your jeans, but there are some things it just doesn't do very well. For example, you can't really get into a bluffing match against the machine, at least not with the iPhone/iPod touch app Viva il Re ($1.99). Here's what we mean.

Viva il Re (which means "Long live the King" in Italian) is a well-designed board game by Stefano Luperto that has been beautifully ported to the iPhone by by Pro-netics S.p.A. The object is to score points and hopefully get one of your characters to become the new king, because the old king has decided to retire (can kings do that?). With the retirement announcement, "the pirouette for succession begins!" according to the official game setup. Each player is secretly hoping one of their six characters manages to reach the top, out of 13 total.

When you play the board game version of Viva il Re, called King Me!, the reasonably slow pace of the game and the face-to-face interaction means that there is time to develop guesses about which characters each player is hoping will take the throne. While the app looks almost exactly like the tabletop version and most of the functionally is the same, it's just not as much fun to compete against bots as it is to outwit other people. Continue reading and see if you agree.

Continue reading Review: Viva il Re board game app asks to be crowned

Review: Viva il Re board game app asks to be crowned originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Review: Viva il Re board game app asks to be crowned originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Review: Wyse PocketCloud for iPhone

Anyone who wants to control their desktop from their iPhone or iPod touch must contend with the limited screen space on their mobile device. This app tackles that problem with a flash of ingenuity, optimizing screen space without significant sacrifices in usability.

Encouraged by iPhone market, Nuance announces new medical apps

Filed under: Enterprise, Hardware, Odds and ends, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad

Dragon Dictation and Dragon Search from Nuance Communications were definite crowd-pleasers, so today the company is announcing specialized medical versions of the apps for physicians and medical professionals.

The first app is Dragon Medical Mobile Dictation. It is designed to allow clinicians to dictate patient notes, emails and text messages instead of typing them on a mobile device. The idea is to let medical professionals dictate and capture information in real time with a smartphone, without having to return to a desktop or laptop computer. The product is expected to be available before the end of the year.

Nuance is also announcing Dragon Medical Mobile Search, a variation of Dragon Search that will allow medical staff to search a variety of medical websites completely by voice using an iPhone. The app is expected to be released by April 30.

Finally, Nuance is unveiling Dragon Medical Mobile Recorder, a voice capture app that will allow clinicians to conduct on-the-go dictation using a smartphone. Once the sound is recorded, the file is forwarded through Nuance's background speech recognition technology and into a transcription where a high quality draft is created, then returned for review and sign off. The Dragon Medical Recorder is due before the end of this year.

Nuance estimates that by the end of next year, 81% of physicians will be using smartphones. More interesting is that the company research shows the iPhone breaking away from the pack of other smartphones to be the preferred device in the medical enterprise. According to the Nuance research, the Blackberry is still the leading smartphone among physicians, but the iPhone growth is explosive and almost doubled in use by physicians between 2008 and 2009. In a July survey of Medical Students it was found that 45% owned an iPhone or an iPod touch. Of those who did not own a smartphone, 60% planned to buy an iPhone or iPod touch within a year.

That has to be good news for Apple, and I would expect Steve Jobs and colleagues to continue to push the iPhone into the enterprise in the coming months.

For Nuance Communications, it's a further endorsement of Apple products. Earlier this month Nuance bought MacSpeech, the company that produces MacSpeech Dictate. The application uses the Dragon speech recognition engine. Nuance also provided the voice recognition that powers the popular Siri app for the iPhone, that lets users do searches with natural language queries.

Peter Durlach, the Senior V.P. of marketing and Strategy for Nuance, told me the company is also taking a close look at the Apple iPad for use by medical professionals. The company will see if the form factor works for doctors and nurses, and Durlach says he expects the iPad to be an important part of future Nuance solutions.

Encouraged by iPhone market, Nuance announces new medical apps originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Encouraged by iPhone market, Nuance announces new medical apps originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TiPb Apps 3.1 — Appigo Todo for iPhone (Macworld 2010)

Live from Macworld 2010, Leanna and Rene talk with Calvin Gaisford and Boyd Timothy of Appigo about Todo [$9.99 - iTunes link] for the iPhone, and their plans for the iPad.

Watch along and let us know what you think!

TiPb Apps 3.1 — Appigo Todo for iPhone (Macworld 2010) is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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