The Iphone Blog

Archive for October, 2009

Some people prefer earphones that blend in so much no one can tell they’re even being used, while others like their ear cans to stand out from the crowd. If you fall into the latter crowd, the Skullcandy Icon 2 headphones will probably be right up your alley. This on-ear model lists for $29.95 and features Skullcandy’s typical eye-catching design. The earphones offer a couple of fun and useful extras, but the sound quality won’t impress many users, and the fit may prove to be an issue for active pursuits.

Read the Skullcandy Icon 2 review.

Originally posted at iPod accessories

Go to Source

Boost your photography skills with Nikon's free iPhone app.

I’ve owned a dSLR camera for years, but it spends most of its time on Auto mode. That’s because I can’t wrap my brain around things like aperture priority, ISO, and f-stops.

Unsurprisingly, most of my shots bite. I’ve tried reading enlightening books like How to Do Everything with Your Digital Camera (nepotism alert: I know the author), but that doesn’t help me when, say, I’m standing on the soccer-field sidelines trying to capture my daughter as she scores a goal.

What I need is a simple, informative how-to guide that fits in my pocket. Enter Nikon Learn & Explore, a new iPhone app that teaches photography fundamentals and offers shooting techniques for common situations.

Actually, that’s just part of what you get from L&E. The app also offers a library of professional images you can browse, each with an accompanying Nikon World article that details shot composition, equipment, lighting, and all that.

The Learn section offers articles on image editing, shooting techniques, and fundamentals–many of which include both sample photos and how-to videos.

The Nikon World section provides features from the eponymous magazine, while the Glossary explains photography terms from A to Z. You can even mark individual articles and photos as Favorites for quick future access.

In short, this is a must-have app for novice shutterbugs and pro photographers alike (but more for the former). Best news of all: it’s free.

Go to Source

The world’s most crowded mobile phone market includes a new product, Apple’s iPhone is already lounched in China. China Unicom Ltd. Is official partner of apple company. It started selling iPhones equipped for third-generation service Friday night at 2,000 stores in areas as farflung as Tibet. Chinese news reports say Unicom hopes to sell 5 million in three years, but the company declined to confirm that.

Unicom’s first iPhones lack WiFi, a possible handicap with sophisticated, demanding Chinese buyers. The technology, a key part of the iPhone’s appeal, allows the phones in other markets to use free wireless networks in cafes and offices to download e-mail and the latest applications. Apple Inc. and Unicom also could face competition from an unusual source: unlocked iPhones brought in from abroad that have WiFi.

There are already an estimated 1.5 million to 2 million such phones using China Mobile 3G service that allows Internet access and other features. Unicom’s prices range from 4,999 yuan ($730) to 6,999 yuan ($1,025) for the high-end, 32-gigabyte iPhone 3GS. That is 20 percent above the 5,700 yuan ($835) charged by merchants at Chinese street markets for a 3GS with WiFi.

The iPhone’s awkward, delayed entry into China reflects the regulatory and technical hurdles of a fast-changing market where other global technology companies have struggled to establish themselves. Unicom’s iPhones lack WiFi because it was temporarily banned by Beijing, which was promoting a rival Chinese system, according to BDA. The ban was relaxed in May after manufacturing had begun.
China has more than 650 million mobile phone accounts, despite an average annual income of $3,000 per person. Some users trade in phones several times a year to get the latest features. China Unicom has 143 million mobile accounts, which would be an impressive figure in any other market but lags far behind China’s Mobile’s 508 million accounts.

Unicom, China Mobile and the third company, China Telecom Ltd., all emerged with mobile and fixed-line services. The lack of WiFi means Unicom iPhone customers will have to pay to connect to the phone network for every function. BDA’s Clark said that could alienate users if it leads to high monthly bills.

Reference:
http://cut.io/dpY9

Go to Source

As easy as it is for us to become entirely enamoured with our wonderful phones, it’s easy to forget that the iPhone is a luxury device, with a high operating cost, and still controls a relatively small portion of the market. Even if it does seem like everyone you know has one.

Globally, the iPhone has about 2.5% of the market share, says Strategy Analytics, which is a fraction of their 30% in the United States. While admittedly the iPhone is Apple’s only device, Nokia, Samsung and Motorola each have more than 20% of the world using their devices, and LG has 11%. Given these companies all produce a much wider variety of phones, both smart and not-so-smart, it would be interesting to see the numbers comparing individual smartphones.

[via 9to5Mac]

Go to Source

Want to know what’s happening in our iPhone community? With Halloween around the corner, our iPhone forums are more festive than usual and you can get involved in all the fun. All you need to do is become a registered member. Don’t worry, it’s free and takes only a minute. Join today!

Here’s a quick look at some buzzworthy discussion topics happening right now.

• The Official iPhone 3GS Video Thread
• Are you an Appoholic?
• Ringtone Help?
• Motorola Droid

Have a question about the iPhone? Need help? Looking to get feedback on a particular iPhone case or app?  Join today and you’ll have access to some of the most knowledgeable iPhone users on the Interwebs. Did we mention that it’s free to join? Remember to stop by and say hello in the Introductions forum. Be sure to take us along with you, as our forums offer two iPhone friendly versions, making it easier than ever to take view our iPhone forums on the go.

Go to Source

Just a week ago, the iPod celebrated its eighth birthday. It wasn’t long before defunct versions of  the now-museum piece took on new life as something else.
Here a dear, departed iPod (dock connector, circa 2003) gets new life as a clock thanks to the addition of a quartz drive movement. It runs on an AA [...]

Go to Source

The official iPhone launch in China was greeted with shorter lines than expected  due to lousy weather and because about a million early adopters have already bought them on the gray market.
People did stand in line, just not super long ones — check out the empty red ropes — and a persistent drizzle certainly didn’t [...]

Go to Source

Lee Clow, the man behind Apple’s groundbreaking 1997 “Think Different” campaign and chief creative officer of TBWA/Media Arts Lab announced he is stepping down.
Here the jeans and base-ball cap wearing Clow, now 66, is interviewed about the days he was the only ad guy not wearing a three-piece suit — by Alex Bogusky, the Mac-using [...]

Go to Source

Disney.com has launched free Disney.com App for iPhone and iPod touch on the App Store featuring areas dedicated to Characters, Music, Video and Games. Content in the app will be updated regularly, providing kids and families with instant access to the latest Disney news and entertainment.

The app allows users to photograph a movie poster to receive related video content or wallpaper images for a cellphone screen. In the future, the company reckons that the bonus content could be linked to location, established via GPS. This could mean special offers from local stores or cinemas.

The new Disney App will also offer innovative features including “Click2Life” which allows iPhone users to snap a picture of a Disney image on a television or poster to receive special content such as animated images or product offers.

Available for free download via the iTunes App Store, Disney.com requires iPhone OS 3.0 and an iPhone for the picture-taking feature.

Reference:
http://cut.io/dvw6

Go to Source

One’s a fluke, two’s a coincidence, and this makes three, so it’s a trend. Apple and AT&T are being hit again for missing the “Summer” deadline for rolling out MMS. I don’t think anyone thought rolling out the feature on September 25 counted as Summer, but some are taking deep umbrage, as MMS was supported by the device significantly earlier than AT&T enabled it.

Clyde Bernard Franklin of Alabama has filed suit against the two companies, though it’s still hazy over precisely what, except that he feels the companies misrepresented the phone’s capabilities.

[via TechCrunch]

Go to Source