MWSF 2010: iV Plus, FloTV, Square Up and Wissair's DisplayDock Set
We're back on reporting about the apps and gadgets presented on the MWSF 2010. Now we'll talk about iV Plus - the solution to turn your iPhone into remote; FloTV - the service to watch TV in the USA; Square Up service to pay for everything you need only with your credit card and iPhone; and Wissair's USB DisplayDock Set will get the screen from your laptop to the HDTV-set wirelessly.
U-Socket turned to be out a very interesting solution, but FastMac was found to offer something more. The thing on the pictures below is called The iV Plus. It helps to manage a set of your home devices and consists of IR Remote, Battery Pack, Flash LED and case that wraps around the iPhone. FastMac will also provide free Universal Remote software to work with this creation. The iV Plus will be shipped expectedly in the second quarter of 2010 for $130.
MWSF 2010: Algoriddin’s djay 3, Frog Design apps, 4iThumbs, WebIS Informant
This time we talk about Algoriddin’s djay 3, new apps from Frog Design, 4iThumbs product and WebIS Pocket Informant organizer.
Algoriddin’s djay 3 is an excellent app with easy-to-use interface designed to allow you to mix and play music. The price is US 50$ in stores and on the website.
MWSF 2010: SHOWXX projector, MoodAgent, ScreenGuard Privacy, Verbatim drives
Microvision presented its laser pico projector SHOWXX, Moodagent creates a Genius like playlists, ScreenGuardz Privacy app can hide your information from the neighbour and Verbatim presented their new line of usb-drives with the size of a fingernail. Look further for the details.
Laser pico projector SHOWXX designed by Microvision was presented on the MWSF. It has a size of the iPhone and costs US 500$. The picture shown by the device is so small that only one person can see it. Moreover, the battery time is only 2 hours, which is obviously too short. We can only say the technology still needs to be improved so that it could be interesting for customers.
MWSF 2010: Box.net services, OWC SSD, HyperMac batteries, Blue Mikey Microphone
Box.net finally presented its services to iPhone users, Other World Computing created the fastest SSD on the market, HyperMac offers a new line of batteries for Apple devices, and Blue Mikey Microphone is a new recording sound solution for iPhone.
Box.net presented an iPhone app that connects to their services and allows quick accessing to all your stored files. Now you can also connect to the Box.net service with QuickOffice Connect Mobile Suite (US 9.99$). We can only imagine how comfortable it will be to use on iPad.
Other World Computing presented a few of their new products – USB 3.0 drive, new portable RAID array and (attention!) the fastest SSD on the market! It’s called OWC Mercury Extreme Enterprise SSD and loads Adobe CS4 applications in seconds, which looks really amazing compared to slow 5400 rpm hard disks.
MWSF 2010: MacSpeech Scribe, MusicSkins, Kanex adapter, CarMD
We're continuing to cover news from the MWSF 2010, and this time the talk will be about MacSpeech Scribe app, MusicSkins accesories, Kanex adapter and CarMD device.
MacSpeech is known for its MacSpeech Dictate program that allows user to speak to Mac and wind up with formatted text. At the MWSF company released MacSpeech Scribe (US 149$), which turns recorded audio into RTF-files (that are readable by any word processor). It doesn't create text with punctuation and you have to train the program by correcting its mistakes, but with the Nuance engine from the previous app it looks really impressive.
MusicSkins was also present at the MacWorld 2010. This time there were vinyl skins not only for Apple devices, but for any gadgets known (at least they say they add 5-10 devices to their roster per week). Company reps told us the accessories for the iPad are also ready to be printed, but before it’ll go to the market they want to make sure their production will work well and fit correctly to the device. At this moment skins for iPod and iPhone (US 15$) and for the Macbook (US 30$) are available.
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MWSF 2010: Capacitive Gloves, Electrorack products, TuneBug Shake, U-Socket
From now on sausages are not the only substitutes for human fingers; Electrorack presented an interesting rack enclosure for Xserves; Shake allows you to listen music without earphones; U-Socket solves a problem of USB-rechargable devices.
As you remember few days ago we wrote about sausages as the best substitutes of human fingers for iPhones. Well now it is not. Two companies at once presented their capacitive capable gloves that allow you to use iPhone even when it's cold. iTouch Gloves offered high end leather gloves (start with $99.95, on the left side) and Telefingers offered thinner, less stylish and cheaper solution (for only $15, on the right side).
That really looks like oversized Mac Pro, but indeed this is a rack enclosure for Xserves and RAID configuration presented by Electrorack. The latter also offers a variety of other server racking solutions.
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Apple doubles the size limit for apps downloaded over 3G data network
Apple decided to increase the limit of MB downloaded from the AppStore over 3G or cellular network. Previously applications could be bought if their size was less than or equal to 10 MB. Apps over this limit were available only through Wi-Fi. Many game and app creators deliberately whittle their software down to less than 10MB to make them more accessible to iPhone users.
This limit now has been doubled. Although it might not seem like a big difference for developers it is certainly a plus to both developers and end users.
f0recast released: find out if your iPhone is jailbreakable and unlockable
As expected iH8sn0w released f0recast, the application that allows us to know a lot of useful information about all we can do with our iPhone.
Just connect the iPhone with the cable to see what is version of the baseband or iBoot. The utility will also give valuable information if we can perform a jailbreak (tethered or untethered). It will also tell if the Phone is unlockable and will give a suggestion what unlock software can be used.
You can download it directly from
MuscleNerd just posted interesting comment on Twitter, saying that the application is inaccurate regarding to the iPhone 3GS. There might be a new update soon. For all other devices the application works just fine.
Apple granted patent on capacitive multitouch displays
US patent organization just granted Apple a patent filed back in 2004 on capacitive multitouch displays. Patent #7,663,607 describes a "transparent capacitive sensing medium configured to detect multiple touches or near touches that occur at the same time" by way of two sandwiched layers of conductive lines hooked up to an appropriate circuit, and also covers a specific type of multitouch display with a similar two-layer capacitive sensor made of glass.
There are other types of capacitive sensors on the market, but Apple's touchscreen is still the best. While the implications of this patent are still unclear, it's certainly gives hard times for many Apple's competitors.
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iPad Safari Video Walkthrough
9to5Mac has posted a quick 6-minute run-through of the iPad's browser features:
For those who haven't had a chance to play with the iPad Safari simulator (or the real thing) here's a quick 6-minute run-through of the iPad's browser features:
Video of Opera Mini Browser Running on the iPhone
Here is a video of Opera Mini for iPhone (Alpha version). Now the product is in complete beta, so this video is a bit outdated. However it still it gives some impression of what Opera Mini on iPhone looks like:
f0recast utility will determine if your iPhone is jailbreakable
iH8sn0w, through a new tweet, informs that his new utility f0recast will be released tonight.
There are many different iPhone and iPod Touch models and firmware versions for them. Each device has it's own bootrom, bootloader, iBoot and baseband versions that determine if user can perform jailbreak and unlock. So it is quite complicated for users to answer a simple question: "Is my device jailbreakable?". f0recast will solve this problem.
f0recast is a small Windows application that will able to give a straight answer if the iPhone or iPod touch is able to be jailbroken. Just connect your iPhone, launch the app and push a button.
f0recast is only an informational tool which determines if your device can or cannot be jailbreaked. It will NOT jailbreak your device.
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Hack the iPhone and get $10,000
The annual Pwn2Own hacking contest is coming up next month. During the event competitors will be given the chance to win cash prizes.
The competition will start on March 24 at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. This year, hackers will take on an iPhone 3GS, a Blackberry Bold 9700, an unspecified Nokia smartphone running the Symbian S60 platform and a Motorola, most likely a Droid, powered by Google 's Android. A successful hack must result in code execution with little to no user-interaction. Any exploited phone wins its attacker $10,000 in cash.
Opera showed their browser for iPhone
Opera had finally demonstrated new Opera Mini for the iPhone at the Mobile World Congress.
In comparison to the default iPhone browser it looks pretty quick - Opera Mini loads the New York Times like 5x faster than its rival. Its main disadvantage is that it lacks the all-important feature pinch-to-zoom, and the only alternative is a method of double-tapping the webpages. Generally, the iPhone owners will find that the usual silky smooth scrolling through favorite webpages and responsive interface are maintained at the very best.
Unlike other platforms, the iPhone variant actually remembers the website you happened to browse last - the feature that will obviously be favored by a legion of iPhone admirers.
Company says as soon as beta tag is removed the browser will be submitted for approval. And it is not obvious whether Apple approve it or not, because it maintains the option of rejecting any app that "duplicates functionality" of the apps Apple builds into the iPhone. Opera co-founder Jon von Tetzchner has his own point of view on this:
"Opera Mini is the world's most popualr mobile browser and users on the iPhone deserve a choice."
Steve Jobs Is Cooperating With His Biographers
There is a handful of people who have been trying to tell the story of Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple and one of the front-rank hi-tech innovators of modern era. A number of attempts to tell about this remarkable personality have either enjoyed very modest success or were vehemently repulsed.
It looks as if only Walter Isaacson, the author of two other best-selling biographies and former editor of Time magazine, could persuade Jobs to take part in the project. He says that the book will cover the most important stages of the Steve’s life, from his life in the notorious Silicon Valley through the years at Apple.
Though the Apple spokesmen do not comment on these rumors.