Apple pulls those deflection videos from their site
As noted by Tech Crunch, Apple has pulled all those beautifully shot “But their phones do it too!” comparison videos Apple was using to show how common the iPhone 4’s drop in reception is when held “in a certain way”.
I don’t know why, but I decided to go over to the Canadian Apple site and grab all the videos before they disappear from that site too. I guess since they are being pulled they feel more special, like collectors items – sort of like how Michael Jackson’s album sales soared after he died. Maybe I’ll sell a DVD of them on eBay and retire.
Guess what I’m humming?
Yes, even I, the king of the iPhone 4 bitching, must admit to getting a bit burned out on bashing Apple over the iPhone reception issue. In fact, I was more than willing to put on my happy fanboy mask, pretend the iPhone works as advertised, and call it a lesson learned. But when I see someone put forth actual effort into an iPhone 4-bashing song, especially one with a catchy chorus, then I feel I just have to share. So here is faithful Macenstein reader Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff’s opus, “The Antennagate Song “. Enjoy.
One of us…
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader Matthew for the vid!
We’re giving away 25 iANGLE’s!
Up for grabs today are 25 iANGLE’s from the good folks over at… iANGLE. That’s right. TWENTY-FIVE. That means each and every one of my 23 readers can win one, and I’d STILL have two to play with!
So, what IS an iANGLE, you might ask? Well, quite frankly, it’s a double-threat. It’s a combination iPod touch/iPhone 2G/3G/3G S stand AND a handy, tangle-free place to store your earbuds, and if you have have an iPod touch or iPhone (as long as it’s not an iPhone 4) you need one! (And so do 24 of your friends, so spread the word).
To Enter: If you’re anything like me, odds are you’ve bought an embarrassing number of Apple products over the years, and could probably use all 25 of these things. So to enter, leave a comment telling us How many Apple devices with Dock Connectors do you own? This goes all the way back to the original iPod, the mini, the nano, the touch, the iPhone, and the iPad. Open to US and Canadian readers only, 25 winners will be picked randomly. Contest ends 7 days from now. Good luck!
4 Reasons Why an Apple-Branded Tivo/DVR Would Probably Suck
Yesterday’s rumor du jour was that Apple will be partnering with Tivo for an upcoming update to the Apple TV which will finally bring DVR capabilities to Apple’s “hobby”. Given that I am in the market for a new DVR, on the surface this would be welcome news for me, as an Apple=branded DVR would likely fit in perfectly with my Mac-Centric entertainment system. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that an Apple-branded DVR would likely suck. Here’s why.
Above: Tivo’s remote may look cheesy compared to Apple’s, but it works great and actually feels good in your hand.
The remote would suck
Tivo has long been applauded for its remote (at least until the Premiere model). Its many buttons made navigating around the interface a breeze, and put most of what you would wish to access quickly at your fingertips without the need to for deep menu searching. Apple on the other hand, has an almost equally long history of having the most pathetic remote ever created. The Apple TV remote is almost identical to the one that (used to) ship with Macs back in the day, and its minimalist design, while futuristic-looking, would certainly not work with a real DVR. Apple would likely make Read more
Fans choose iPads over paper at Comic-Con
Above: “Fire” is the one on the left (Pic by Adam Hughes).
Can anything TRULY be considered “geeky” when you’re at Comic-Con? Well, I’m not sure, but if so, then this has to come close. You know how at comic conventions people will stand in line for hours waiting to have an original piece of comic art drawn for them by some prominent comic book artist? No? Well they do. Myself included. I can recall one such depressing outing at a Ramada Inn or some such hell hole back in 1990 or so, and paying Erik Larsen (who was Marvel at the time, just having taken over Spider-Man from McFarlane) to draw me a picture of Fire (from DC’s Fire and Ice) comics simply because she was SOOOO hot and he was the best artist who bothered to show up to that event. Hey, I was 12. Not that I wouldn’t do the same thing today. I think he basically drew Mary Jane Watson with green hair, which was fine with me, as she was also SOOOO hot.
Anyway, while paying to have someone draw you some original comic art (from a series they don’t even draw) is geeky enough, at least you can sell it one day right? (Humor me). Well, Jim Lee, one of the truly great comic artists of our time, posted the following tweet yesterday, which I think shows just how far things have come.
That’s right, people are now bringing their iPads to Comic conventions to have Jim draw various comic characters on them. And while it certainly will be harder for this fan to sell his original masterpiece in the future (and no doubt retire on the profits, as I planned to do with Erik Larsen’s drawing at the age of 12) it isn’t QUITE as odd as it might sound. As you may recall, Jim’s been posting various SketchBook Pro for iPad sketches to his Twitter for a few months now, which means this guy’s iPad is now going to increase in value ASTRONOMICALLY! Jim, if you’re reading this, can you please send me a picture of Fire for my iPad? She is SOOOO hot and I don’t have Erik Larsen’s contact info. Thanks.
Seriously, I just noticed this
Yeah, I don’t RTFM, so sue me. And if you don’t either, then maybe you didn’t notice you could do this in iOS 4 either.
One of the things I was missing most in iOS 4 is that in the “old days” or iOS 3 is that you could double click the HOME button on the iPhone to bring up the iPod’s music players controller when inside another app. This was a nice time saver and a necessity before iOS4’s multi-tasking allowed you to pick up (more or less) where you left off in an app. However, while double-tapping the Home Button in iOS 4 brings up the list of recently used apps, including the iPod, having to click on the iPod, then skip a track or fast forward or such, then switch back to the app was still a step back from the ease of use I had before.
However, I just finally realized this trick today, and figured I’d share it at the risk of everyone telling me they’ve know about it forever. That’s right, I’m willing to take the geek ego hit if it helps just one of you.
So here it is. Say you’re inside an app, listening to a podcast or something, and you want to skip an ad, but don’t want to exit the game. Just double tap the HOME button to bring up the list of running/paused/whatever they call them apps…
Now you can pause, or skip, or hold down and fast forward through a commercial without leaving your game. When done, just tap back anywhere in the game to resume. It’s pretty sweet, and I wish someone told me about it a few weeks ago.
======UPDATE =======
Geez guys, let me have it why don’t you.
Well, I still say there will be SOMEONE who didn’t know about this – probably an 80 year old former librarian or something who wins an iPhone 4 in a church raffle. And to her I say, “You’re welcome, Edna. ”
- The Doc
Warning: NOT dishwasher/microwave safe
As if we needed further proof that the Japanese will go through any length to incorporate gadgets into their life, faithful Macenstein Jeff points us to one Sushi connoisseur who has created the ultimate high-tech Sushi plate.
Ok, actually it’s an iPad, but the dude’s actually eating REAL Sushi off it, complete with dipping sauce. Read more
Darth Vader vs AppleCare
We all know Darth Vader invented the original iPod, so it’s no wonder that he’s an iPhone 4 owner as well.
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader Jeff for the link!
via tuaw
LEGO my iPad
Sorry about that rather uninspired post title, I really couldn’t think of anything more clever at the moment… But let’s not let that take away anything from Flickr user jmenomeno’s amazing achievement of creating a scale model of an iPad using only LEGOs.
As you can see, the use of LEGOs keeps him from approaching “retina display”-like accuracy in the screen, but as someone who has spent more time than they should playing with LEGOs, I can tell you it ain’t as easy as it looks to recreate an app icon using only 4 LEGO nubs. The iMovie icon in particular is pretty kick ass.
