I honestly can’t tell if this is cool or not
Every once in a while I see something that I can’t tell whether I want it because it’s cool, or just because I want everything.
Behold the upcoming Desk Phone Dock for iPhone, a new iPhone dock that promises to turn your iPhone into… a landline?
That’s right, if you’re looking for a way to charge your iPhone AND remove all of its portability, this might be the accessory for you.
Actually all kidding aside this could be pretty cool, as these days more and more people like the idea of dropping their landlines in favor of the mobile phones, yet talking for extended periods of time on the smaller handsets can be painful, and forget about trying to do the “hold the phone with the shoulder and type” thing. The Desk Dock for IPhone could solve those problems, while adding two stereo speakers, microphone, volume control, instant Mute, USB and AC power dual sources.
Of course you could just use the earbuds you already have for free, but where’s the geek factor in that?
[via wootmag]
You know you’re an Apple fanboy when…
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Awesomeness, Humor, iPhone, video
…your 3 year-old can flawlessly recite over 2 minutes straight from the iPhone tutorial video (with sound effects!)
(Click here to check the kid’s accuracy)
[via geeksix]
Review: Epson WorkForce 610 All-in-One Printer
Over my many years as a computer nerd, remarkably I have never had a printer physically BREAK before. That of course doesn’t mean I haven’t bought my fair share of printers, however my buying decisions were for the most part forced upon me by “progress”. For example, when I bought my first Bondi blue iMac which only had USB ports (no old school printer compatibility), or the time my printer got so old that the manufacturer stopped making ink that would work in it… or the fact that with each Apple OS update (and further dwindling market share during the 90’s) Apple kept breaking printer driver support to the point where the manufacturer got tired of rewriting print drivers. In fact the only time I ever looked at one of my perfectly functional printers and decided I NEEDED to upgrade was when I got my first digital camera and wanted to start printing out “photo quality” prints myself to save money (and I was wrong on both counts).
Well, things have certainly changed since OS X. Somehow both my Epson Stylus and HP Photosmart printers have managed to not only still work flawlessly for over 7 years, but both companies have foolishly kept producing compatible ink for my machines, and the print drivers somehow continue to make it though each OS X upgrade unscathed. And while some say being content with what you have is the path of true happiness, it can also mean you miss out on a ton of cool new stuff, which is what I found out when reviewing the Epson Workforce 610 Wireless Color Inkjet All-in-One Printer
The 610 is my first foray into all-in-one printers (and a Wireless one to boot!), as I have traditionally not been a fan of combining my electronics. It all started with a CD “boom box” I bought as a kid that had THREE tape decks, one of which detached and could be used as a walkman. Within 2 weeks all 3 tape decks chewed up tapes, AND the CD player skipped. From that day forward I decided to buy dedicated gadgets that did one thing, and did it well. But a look around my crowded office showed me a printer, a scanner, and a spot where a fax machine once stood (unlike my printers, I think I have had 3 fax machines in my lifetime, and maybe sent a total of 3 faxes. Those things are the Pintos of the office world). Sure, conventional wisdom would have you thinking, if it ain’t broke, why spend money? But if you saw my office… let’s just say I apparently need every flat surface I own for the piling of large amounts of CRAP, and if I can combine my scanner, printer and fax into one square footprint of table space, I will have more room for that crap.
Setup
Setup was relatively painless for me, because I had my wife do it. I know this will come off as sexist, but given the wireless nature of the printer, I figured Read more
Is ThinkSecret’s Nick DePlume looking to make a Mac Rumor comeback?
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Mac Celebs, Rampant Speculation, Rumors
ThinkSecret’s Nick DePlume, apparently at a very unpopular cafe.
It was just over two years ago that the infamous Mac Rumor site ThinkSecret was forced by Apple legal to shut its doors, presumably forever. However, it appears that TS founder Nick Ciarelli (aka Nick DePlume) now finds HIMSELF in the middle of a rumor – namely that he might be trying to get back into the Mac rumoring game. At least according to the popular Portuguese Mac site espacomac.com.
It seems the site’s founder, Ricardo Saraiva, was contacted this weekend by DePlume with regards to the Tiwtter account name “ThinkSecret, which Saraiva owns.
So what do we think? Is Nick looking to use the ThinkSecret twitter name to get his formidable rumor-mongering toe back into the Apple pool? Or is he simply being nostalgic? He does seem to be throwing the royal “we” around quite a bit in that e-mail, and reaffirms that “they” own the ThinkSecret name, somewhat implying it is still an active property.
One thing’s for sure, Nick hasn’t lost his edge. Saraiva claims it should not have been easy for Nick to find his e-mail address, yet it was apparently not a problem for DePlume.
The first video I’m going to play on my iPad
OK, I admit it, this has nothing to do with Apple, I’ve just been looking for an excuse to post this video.
iPad game pricing is gonna suck
Filed under: Cynicism, Games, Not Cool, Opinion, iPad, iPhone
Macrumors managed to get a peek at the iPad app store main page and was able to snag the following pic showing some of the upcoming prices on the new iPad-specific “HD” games.
Now, admittedly I have not played any of these games, but from the screen shots I’ve seen I have not seen a whole worth paying 5 times (or more) for any of the games I already play on the iPhone. I suppose developers think people are used to paying more for something with the words HD in the title, so they’re going to come out of the gate at least TRYING to charge more for the iPad versions of their games, but I must say seeing this screenshot has given me yet another reason to double think an iPad purchase.
I certainly support developers making money from their efforts, but if I am going to be re-buying a game I already own (and quite frankly in my mind, only recently bought), basically only to get a slightly higher-resolution version of the game so it looks nice on a larger screen, I’m not sure I’ll be laying down $5 for the likes of Flight Control (despite its Crack-like addictive qualities). In speaking with developers, it appears the process of porting a game from the iPhone to the iPad is FAR from a total rewrite, so this large a price increase seems a tad on the high side.
Perhaps developers are trying to make up for under-pricing their games on the iPhone originally, and odds are these games might sell well initially to those people who blindly pre-ordered iPads and will be desperate to get some sort of content on them, but I think it would be wise for these developers to remember many of the most successful games on the iTunes charts are priced UNDER $3, and have made their developers millions. Of course there’s always the chance these “enhanced” games have a ton of new bells and whistles in them, but for the most part they simply appear to be reformatted for the larger screen, and quite frankly a game like Flight Control does not need bells or whistles – it’s the simplicity of the game that helps it be so addictive.
I suppose time will tell how the iPad pricing eventually shakes out and whether there is any real added value in the iPad games to justify their cost. The initial batch of iPhone games started out priced about 50% higher than the average now as well, so there is some hope, and odds are there will be weekend sales and the like on iPad games just as there are for the iPhone versions, so reasonable prices may be had for those patient and vigilant enough to watch for them, but for the moment I’m not loving the HD prices.
Applegirl002 sings her way into our hearts
Filed under: Awesomeness, Geek Love, Girls, iPhone, video
Meet Applegirl002, or as I like to call her, “The Future Bride of Macenstein”. Sure, I’m already happily married, but let’s face it, it’s only a matter of time before she leaves me, and any woman with 3 iPhones who can sing like Beyonce is someone I can really see spending the rest of my life with.
Maybe I’m blinded by love, but I think she has a really nice voice, and I can easily see her as the opening act for the new Journey band, filling in for Beyonce in her band when she decides to go solo (well, even more solo). Applegirl002 also has a Lady Gaga video (via TUAW) and although the video is worth watching because she looks quite a bit hotter with her hair down, I think her Beyonce impression is where her future lies.
If she’s taking requests, I’d like to see “All The Single Ladies” set to iPhones.
Steve not returning your e-mails? Ask El Jobso!
With the recent flurry of short and sweet e-mail responses from everyone’s favorite Apple CEO, odds are Steve’s inbox is now flooded with inane questions of all sorts, thus severely limiting your chances of getting a reply. In fact, believe it or not, even my recent e-mail to Steve went unanswered. But luckily for all of us, there is now El Jobso, a virtual Steve that will answer all your questions instantly, and it’s about as verbose as the real deal. Here are some sample responses I received:
Can i get a free iPad? I don’t need a 3G one, WiFi is cool.
No.
Sent from my iPad.
Why should I buy an iPad?
Yes, I do hate Eric Schmidt.
Sent from my iSlate (checking out an old prototype).
Will the new iPhone OS be released alongside the iPad?
I’m on a horse.
Sent from Phil’s Blackberry.
Why don’t you buy a smaller shirt?
I’m sending Katie C. after you. You’ll regret you asked that.
Sent from Mars.
When is the NEXT iPad with coming out? The one with the Camera?
It sounds like you’re just looking for someone to get mad at other than yourself.
Steve.
Sent from my wife’s iPod touch.
Will I be able to use the iPad to manufacture weapons of mass destruction?
Good artists copy, great artists steal.
Sent from my iSlate (checking out an old prototype).
There’s a good reason why these answers are so dead-on. The site was created by Andrea Nepori, who famously received a REAL reply from Steve of “Yep” when asking if the current selection of eBooks would work on the iPad.
Feed my Twitter Ego
I just logged in to Twitter and saw I am about 50 followers shy of 1000, and while I’m not usually one to get caught up in the numbers game, 951 is just a really stupid number. So if you aren’t already following me, please help me reach my meaningless goal which meant nothing to me 5 minutes ago and yet now is an all consuming obsession. Thanks.
Who would want to miss out on gems like this?
Review: Embarrass yourself thin with the Withings Body Scale
These days it seems there are only two things that will motivate Americans to lose weight – Money, and Embarrassment. Money (as in a reality TV show) or Embarrassment (like wanting to look good at a wedding or class reunion for people you haven’t seen in 20 years). Well, I’m happy to say I am not quite fat enough for someone to actually pay to watch me lose weight, so I decided to try the embarrassment thing. Unfortunately, being a geek with no friends, I had no upcoming social engagements or planned run-ins with high-school nemesis’ to motivate me, but what I DID have is nearly 1000 nameless Twitter followers who I figured I could count on to make fun of me if I didn’t lose weight. And that’s where Withings’ new WiFi/Twitter enabled Body Fat Scale comes in. After all, what could be more motivational than knowing that my current weight was about to be broadcast to the entire interweb?!
The Withings scale comes in a very Apple-like packaging – in fact I was tempted to use it to send out fake iTablet unboxing pictures back when I first got it (this was pre-iPad of course).
On the surface the Withings scale is simply a nice looking digital scale, but it has a couple cool things that set it apart from the competition. First, it uses Bioelectric Impedance Analysis (BIA) to calculate your Body Mass (both fat and lean mass). Basically it sends an electric current through your body (via your bare feet) to somehow get a rough idea (and by rough, I mean rough) of you current BMI. In my tests, my body fat numbers would Read more
