iPhone: Softbank 1-Seg TV Tuner

iPhone: Softbank 1-Seg TV Tuner

Author JoeDigital | 03.01.2009 | Category Consumer Electronics, Mac/Apple, Telecommunications

Watch movies and television on your iPhone!

Now you can watch television on your iPhone. Softbank recently relased its 1-Seg TV tuner, which allows integrating video directly to your screen. At US$108, the price isn’t as outrageous as you may have expected, but there are a couple fo quirks that you should be aware of.

First, don’t even think about watching a full length movie unles you have a power supply nerby. With the tuner connected, your iPhone doesn’t have but about 30 minutes of battery life. The tuner is great for filling in brief periods of time away from a wall outlet, but it isn’t going to be sutable for sustained usage.

An odd item with the Softbank TV Tuner is that it connects to your iPhone via syncronized cable connection, but the video is still transmitted via wi-fi. Keep this in mind, as you’ll have to be in range of a wi-fi connection for the device to work at all.

All in all, this is considered one of the best external add-ons available for the iPhone, and it’s sleek design in intended to mimic the iphone’s casing, adding acomplementary accessory.

Two iphone Apps For the Apple 3G

Author JoeDigital | 02.01.2009 | Category Consumer Electronics, Mac/Apple, World Wide Web

Onew of the biggest draws for the Apple iPhone 3G is its ability to download apps, customizing every iPhone for the needs of its owner. But what kind of apps are avilable, and why would you be interested?

MINT

This is a personal finances app that is both intuitive and fast.  You can track budgets, follow investments, and a host of other financial tasks, all from this one easy app. The cost is also very agreeable, at completely free.

Shapewriter 2.0 Pro

Click and drag on the touch keypad to spell out the letters in a word, and shapewriter will handle the details of printing them in the correct order. This program can add a great deal to your productivity at typing tasks. If you want to get the most out of it, pay the $10 registration, and unlock new features while removing annoying advertisements.

If you haven’t investigated the plethora of apps available for you iPhone yet, you’ve been leaving yourself in the dark. There are hundreds of apps out there, with functions that are entertaining and aesthetic, informational, and productive. What you do with your iPhone is emphasized by the types of apps you have available.

app store #1!

Author JoeDigital | 28.12.2008 | Category Mac/Apple

Who would’ve thought that this application would be number 1. some of you haven’t been visiting the app store or have been living in a cave for the past few months wouldn’t know about the ifartmobile application for the I phone. The 0.99 cent application available at the apple app store has been selling like hot cakes. Given below is the rise of the application from obscurity to the coveted number 1 spot.

12/14 - 841 units - #76 overall
12/15 - 1510 units - #39 overall
12/16 - 1797 units - #22 overall
12/17 - 2836 units - #15 overall
12/18 - 3086 units - #10 overall
12/19 - 3117 units - #9 overall
12/20 - 5497 units, - #4 overall
12/21 - 9760 units, #2 overall
12/22 - 13274 units, #1 overall

After apples 30% cut from the sales, the application makes about $9000.00 a day! This is especially interesting as developers are looking at new markets in this shrinking economy.

Turn IPod Into Iphone

Author JoeDigital | 12.12.2008 | Category Consumer Electronics, Mac/Apple

The iPod imitates a basic iPhone

The MP3 player can be transformed into a mobile phone with the help of a free application from Internet telephone company Truphone.

The Truphone application allows users with a Wi-Fi connection to make and receive phone calls via voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, with other iPod Touch owners, users of the Google Talk’s messaging service, and customers of Truphone’s Internet telephone service. The company said it expects to add the ability to handle landline calls.

The app creates a virtual keyboard on the second-generation iPod Touch to dial calls, and requires the addition of a headset and microphone.

However, Apple doesn’t appear to be too threatened by Truphone; the application is available for free download at Apple’s App Store.

While the app could work with any device with Wi-Fi access, the company said it has decided to focus on devices with connections to an application store.

“We’ve decided to focus on devices that are Wi-Fi-enabled and have an app store,” Truphone CEO Geraldine Wilson told the BBC. “For the consumer, there has to be an easy way of downloading an application.”

Other planned features include the ability to phone and instant-message Skype and MSN VoIP users, and to check and set Twitter and Facebook connections.

Logitech diNovo wireless keyboard

Author ColGlobe | 18.11.2008 | Category Computers, Mac/Apple

Logitech has a new wireless keyboard for Macs

Sometimes it’s tough working with a tiny keyboard because there’s less room for fingers to move freely – something that even a fairly seasoned typist would want. But this is something we always have no other choice but to live with simply because the laptops we bring around are built to be portable, which means small parts, including a keyboard.

But Logitech’s diNovo might be a sign of relief for all those Mac users who want that much needed finger room. It’s a typical Apple keyboard with the well known spacious and comfortable feel of typing, except that it’s cordless. That means it becomes a bit more portable because it doesn’t have a long wire to drag around it with. It also has one touch access to things like iTunes, Safari, Dashboard, and of course, mail.

At £69.99, the the Logitech diNovo comes with a battery with a three year life.

Apple iPhone 3G Issues

Author ColGlobe | 12.08.2008 | Category Consumer Electronics, Gadgets, Mac/Apple

It’s been a month now since Apple released the 3G, and the problems we were told would be ironed out shortly still continue.  Connectivity issues are the most prevalent, with many users of the smartphone still unable to make connections and bring out the full power of their latest high-priced toy.  One store was mentioned that had so many iPhone 3G returns in a single day that they had to withdraw money from the bank in order to make the requested refunds, while others have commented that the customers coming for returns nearly rivalled the iPhone’s eager devotees who waited in line only to be disappointed with the actual device.

And there are the compaints about available software.  Apparently, the iPhone has been released under the Open Apple architecture, meaning that if a third party hasn’t paid the dues to write software for the device, Apple reserves the right to make using their software difficult to impossible.  For many users, this problem will never come to light, but for power users the restrictions make the choices of available software unpalatable.

If you have purchased an Apple iPhone, we would like to hear from you.  Please take a moment to leave a comment, and tell us about your Apple iPhone 3G experience, whether it has been a good one or bad.

The Apple in Canada’s iPhone

Author JoeDigital | 11.07.2008 | Category Canada, Consumer Electronics, Gadgets, Mac/Apple

Today was the big day for Canadians and Apple’s iPhone.  For over a year, we’ve waited for iPhones to be available, and, even though it’s still surrounded by a lot of controversy, the time has come.

The uproar was that Rogers Wireless, the largest Canadian service provider, and the only authorized Canadian carrier of the Apple iPhone, planned to charge exceedingly high rates, and lock buyers into long service contracts.  Many people felt this was unfair, and protests and petitions were flying.

At the end, Rogers gave in somewhat, and the 3 year contract rates were dropped to $30/month, or less than a third of the original proposed pricing.  This came as a relief to many, but it may not have come soon enough for the tastes of consumers.  With limited crowds of anxious shoppers lining the sidewalks, most locations had less than 100 people queued for the latest in techno-gadgets.  But even those less than record-breaking numbers were enough to quickly exhaust the limited stocks available.  Before noon, most stores had sold of their stock on hand, and were issuing numbered tickets to those who had stood in line only to have the products sell out.

Only time will tell how the situation finally works out, but at least for now there are a lot of happy Canadian iPhone owners, and lot more happily awaiting the future delivery their newly purchased prize cell phones.

mininova’s Personal Torrent Bookmarks are an RSS Feed

Author ColGlobe | 10.07.2008 | Category Computers, Mac/Apple, Windows, World Wide Web

If you, like so many others, have become hooked on torrents, the mininova website has added something to make your days longer.  With personal bookmarks available to people logged in to the site, you can bookmark any torrent from work, your favorite HotSpot, or wherever, and it will be provided to you as an RSS feed for later use, say, when you’re on your computer instead of the one at work.  This allow you to mark a file you’d like to look at later, and have it available at your leisure without having to find it all over again.  uTorrent is pictured, but they say it works with most BitTorrent style torrent managers.