Macenstein

Is the shuffle really an iPod?

I caught a little flack yesterday when I mentioned I don’t consider the iPod shuffle to be a “real” iPod. Many people correctly pointed out the term “iPod” is Apple’s to do with as they please, and they alone should be able to decide what does and does not qualify as an iPod. If they want to call an Xserve an “iPod”, then it’s an iPod. I’ll not argue that. What I am reacting to is Apple referring to the shuffle as an... Read More

Review: DLO Portable Speakers for iPhone

Apparently the magic number for accessory manufacturers is 5 million. As the iPhone quickly approaches this sales milestone, we’ve suddenly encountered an influx of iPhone-specific add-ons designed to help the iPhone realize its true potential. Since the iPhone was originally billed as a 3-in-one device, and one of those devices is an iPod, it only stands to reason that many of these accessories would be audio-related. Egg-shaped audio DLO’s Portable Speakers for... Read More

Rumor: iPhone firmware 1.1.4 imminent?

[UPDATE: This apparently was a hoax.] Faithful Macenstein reader max found something interesting on Tiny Code‘s website, namely the first official mention of iPhone firmware 1.1.4: Tiny Code no longer produces fixes or applications for firmware 1.1.3. We can’t say much, but we are working with Apple and with their SDK for the next firmware release and SDK applications and we shouldn’t be missed for long. We will no longer update our Installer.app repo for... Read More

The 3G iPhone: Do we have it all wrong?

Everyone “knows” Apple is making a 3G iPhone, right? I mean, it’s a given, a sure thing, easy money. In fact, many prospective iPhone users are putting off the purchase of the wunder phone until Apple announces the device. But what if there will never be a 3G iPhone? At least in the US. Macworld UK reports on AT&T’s future purchase of 12MHz of wireless spectrum in the 700MHz band that covers 60 per cent of the US. The deal has been approved by the... Read More

Review: The PED3 viewing stand for iPhone and iPod touch

It would appear that the iPhone has not only caught the attention of the media and consumers, but the accessory manufacturers as well. In addition to the usual gang of speakers, charging cables, and headsets, we are starting to see some unusual iPhone accessories appear on the scene. One such offering is the PED3 by THOUGHT OUT Company. The PED3 is essentially a video viewing stand for your iPhone or iPod touch, and while at first it may not seem like it should be, it actually... Read More

Apple bumps storage on iPhone and iPod touch

Above: looks like the Macbook Air is still Apple’s golden child, at the moment. Well, you might not know it from looking at Apple’s homepage, but two of Apple’s hottest items, the iPhone and iPod touch, both got upgrades today. Granted, they are simple storage bumps, but as faithful Macenstein reader ubertyrone points out, “you’d think that would be boom worthy”. Apple has added a 32 GB model to the iPod touch lineup (making an unusual 3 size... Read More

Apple choosing iTunes Movie Rentals over its Professional customers

Is QuickTime 7.4 the worst QuickTime update Apple has ever released? That’s a tough question. It certainly has produced the most problems for me personally. I have mentioned before that I am an Adobe After Effects user. It’s how I feed my family, and pay for my house. Having a working copy of After Effects is a close third behind food and water on my short list of things I need to survive. Unfortunately for me, and many other professional users, Apple’s newly... Read More

Newflash: Steve Jobs “brilliant”, “trim”, and “not very nice”

We’ve been on a video kick lately here at Macenstein, and while this video isn’t overly new, (in fact, it dates back to October) I found it somewhat fascinating for couple reasons. (iPhone users click here to watch the video) First, it provides a rare and very candid account of a person’s meeting with Steve Jobs. It seems like for every Violet Blue “Macworld brush-off story” you hear, there’s another Larry Tesler ‘When I wasn’t... Read More

Beautify your iPhone/iPod touch with the Macenstein WebClip Bookmark Iconâ„¢!

Faithful Macenstein reader Kelly pointed out that we suck (not just in general for a change, but in a very specific way). Kelly wanted to know why we hadn’t made a custom Macenstein WebClip Bookmark icon for the iPhone/iPod touch. We couldn’t think of a good answer, so we decided to make one! So be sure to bookmark us (again, since we assume we are already at the top of your iPhone’s home screen!) and enjoy our little Macenstein robot in all its rounded, glossy-squared... Read More

Schedule your DirecTV DVR from your iPhone

Why? Because you can! How many times have you been out on the road and suddenly remembered you forgot to set up your DirecTV HR20-700 model DVR to record a Pay Per View event? Probably too many times to count, am I right? Well, DirecTV hopes I am. Faithful Macenstein reader David Erlich tells us that DirecTV has launched a new mobile site which allows you to set up TV recordings and Pay Per View content on your home DVR from your mobile device, and the site apparently works great... Read More