Velocity Micro takes on iPad with $299 Android tablet

Video relay calling breakthrough uses FaceTime to help the deaf

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Video relay calling breakthrough uses FaceTime to help the deaf originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Video relay calling breakthrough uses FaceTime to help the deaf originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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iOS 4 features: Keyboards and Emoji

One of the huge advantages of iOS 4’s virtual keyboard is that, for people who write in multiple languages, changing from English to Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese, or other non-Roman options involves a simple Settings change. This is helpful for language students and business travelers alike. It can also be fun, especially when it comes to things like Japanese Emoji (think emoticons gone wild).

Kyle sent this our way:

When turning on the japanese romaji keyboard, if you return to the keyboards menu you will be given a new option “edit user dictionary” where you can add a new word/Yama (if I remember that right) to the auto-correct dictionary and I assume the spell-check as well.

After tinkering for a bit, I saw the Chinese Pinyin keyboards work as well for the dictionary. Now, while meandering through the Japanese keyboard, I saw this “^_^” key under the ‘123′ tab. Tap it and you’ll be given a gigantic list of ‘emoticons’ if you will and some of which include symbols like those of a character map.

I HIGHLY recommend you see these as some are a bit funny looking and it really makes you think why Apple would put these on here, and why so many?

We’re guessing it’s because iPhone is popular in Japan, Emoji are popular in Japan, and Apple’s using the latter to increase the former. If any Japanese readers have a better theory, let us know!

More pics after the break, and more on iOS 4 in our walkthrough…

iOS 4 features: Keyboards and Emoji is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Otterbox Commuter for iPhone 3GS – accessory review

Otterbox Commuter Case for iPhone 3GS strikes the perfect balance between convenience and protection. If you’re rocking Apple’s other big smartphone release this year, the $99 iPhone 3GS (or the unlocked iPhone 3GS, depending on where you live), or still lucky enough to have a 16GB or 32GB iPhone 3GS from last year, this case should be on your radar. (It also fits the iPhone 3G.)

Confession: I thought I’d hate it when it first arrived. I don’t know why exactly, maybe it was fear of layers bulk, uncertainty about dual color schemes, dunno, but I was not looking forward to testing out the Otterbox Commuter. Then I put it on.

AD&D analogy time — If skins are the chainmail of the case world and the Otterbox Defender is the full plate armor (yes, even the pink one), the Commuter is the in-between, plate-mail option. It’s strong but still a but flexible, solid and secure but still snug and light.

Like plate-mail it comes in two layers, the silicone that you slip on first, and that has covers for the 3.5mm headset jack and 30-pin dock connector, and the plastic shell that goes over it. Together they provide protection against scrapes and scuffs and minor impacts.

The Otterbox Commuter also comes in a ton of colors — yellow, white, blue, green, brown, burgundy, and black. (Yes, I’ll spare you the strained surcoat analogy).

Again, not as big as the Defender, not as thin as a skin, I found myself leaving it on even after my typical week-long review period was over. Since I’ve been carrying an iPhone 4 around as well, maybe I was a little more concerned about my iPhone 3GS getting damaged, maybe I started to like the look, or maybe I wanted my fellow SPE editors to think I had an imaginary, super-secret iPhone 5 prototype hidden in a fancy camo case (I’ll never tell!)

But leave it on I did.

If you’re looking for a combination of protection and convenience, something strong but still light, check out the Otterbox Commuter Case for iPhone 3GS available now from the TiPb iPhone 3GS accessory store.

Pros

• Good level of protection, including minor impact
• Covers headset jack and dock port
• Includes screen protector

Cons

• Dual layers means slightly more bulk

Otterbox Commuter for iPhone 3GS – accessory review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Apple SVP of iOS Software, Scott Forstall, has Twitter account

Apple’s Senior Vice President of iOS Software, Scott Forstall has joined Twitter. His account is verified, so it’s him and Twitter was told and knows it’s him, but he’s yet post any tweets.

Still, when Techcrunch caught wind of it last night, he had 3 followers (4 when I saw it) and as of this post he has 12,650ish. He’s only following one person back — that’s right, he’s with Coco.

Why join Twitter at all and why now? Theories range from elaborate antenna-issue distraction conspiracies to Apple testing Twitter integration with iOS. Or maybe he was just waiting for @geohot to leave?

[@forstall via TechCrunch]

Apple SVP of iOS Software, Scott Forstall, has Twitter account is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog

Android-based iPad knock-off gets hands-on

Phil from Android Central — whom I adore down to his robotic little socks — just loves to torture me by sending over links to stuff like Android-based iPad knock-offs that get a hands-on courtesy of one of his readers.

So what we’ve got here is a Chinese Android MID. It has four buttons — the home button on the front (like the iPad’s), menu and the volume rocker, and a power button.

It has a pair of speakers, one microphone, one microSD card slot, and one USB port.

The tablet has 1GB of internal storage. Not sure about RAM or ROM. It’s built on Android 1.6. the kernel version is 2.6.29-00236-g4f8dbbb-dirty, and the Build number is 1.7.2. It has no market, but it has an “Apps Store.”

Check out the link below for a photo gallery. Go on, I dare you.

(Hopefully when real Android tablets hit the market they’ll be a little more differentiated than this…)

[Android Central]

Android-based iPad knock-off gets hands-on is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog