How Many Drops to Break an iPhone 4? One? Two-hoo? Three?

That said, that last drop landed in a different way than the first three, and it’s just as possible the test could have taken one drop or 100, depending on how it landed, but the video makes for some heart-rending viewing, especially if you’re one of those standing in line waiting for their own iPhone…

i-Got-Control IRB1 (Universal Remote) Needs to Get Better

i-Got-Control IRB1 is the third in a series of universal remote control hardware/app combinations I’m reviewing. Like the first two I tested, it can control most of your electronic entertainment devices — televisions, AV receivers, cable boxes, and such — as long as they use an infrared remote control. Compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch,…

TMO Interviews We-Envision: The Art of Software, Part I

TMO: Let’s start off with what your company does. Mr. Teece: Well, we’ve got a couple of companies. We-Envision.com is a partnership between my Project A and Open Door Networks. We develop software for the iPhone, the iPod touch and the iPad now. We-envision.com has over a hundred apps in the App Store, mostly for…

Grow Up, Turn Off Your Phone

Here’s the situation. I’m not an IT guy, but I am a technophile. I like cool technology, and I love well-designed products. But in our house, all computer activity stops at 8:30PM. Without that rule, we talk less and sleep worse. What would happen if we brought smartphones into the house? I’m not sure, but…

TMO Interviews Disney-ABC TV Group About the ABC Player

TMO: I thought that was a solid keynote. Have you been to a WWDC keynote before? Mr. Cheng: No, we’ve aways watched it afterwards, streamed. This is the first time we’ve been to one in person. It’s a lot of fun.Albert Cheng TMO: Tell us about the ABC app for the iPad. Mr. Cheng: First,…

A Luddite Reacts to iPhone 4

Why did I stay away from the iPhone, and what has me intrigued? In the wake of yeaterday’s keynote, I thought I’d share my thoughts. I’m already wired all the time. Some people might actually need a smartphone — traveling salespeople, for example. For everyone else, I’ve always thought that the real killer application for…

Tethering Plan Mars Otherwise Good AT&T Changes

AT&T today announced its new data plans for iPhones and iPads (as well as for all their other smartphones). A Mac Observer article summarizes the changes, with full details listed on an AT&T Web page. The new rules are good news overall — as they will save money for most iPhone and iPad users. But…

WWDC Tips for Newbies [UPDATED]

Update – June 3rd, 2013: I wrote this article, originally, in 2010, so it's just a tad out of date. The keynote this year is on June 10, so ignore the date below.  Steve Jobs is gone. Some of the minor details may have changed. But for anyone who's attending WWDC for the first time,…

Intego Reports Spyware Found in Some Free Mac Apps [Updated]

Intego’s OSX/OpenionSpy warning in VirusBarrier In addition to siphoning off personal information and user activity records, the spyware, dubbed OSX/OpinionSpy, monitors activity on all connected drives, opens network port 8254, relaunches itself if quit, and runs with root user-level control. It also adds code to Safari, Firefox and iChat to monitor user activity. The OSX/OpinionSpy…

Want to Get the Most Out of Your Remote? Check Out Remote Buddy!

Remote Buddy gives you the ability to control nearly any application using your Apple Remote. To get you started, it comes with Behaviors for over 100 applications, so you can start launching and controlling them immediately. If an application you’d like to control isn’t one of these, you can use the Behavior Construction Kit to…

NuVue iPad Privacy Shield Provides Problematic Protection

I was extremely interested in testing the NuVue Privacy Protector before my recent 10-day tour of user groups in the Mid-Atlantic region (Philadelphia PA, Princeton NJ, and Hershey PA). I’d be traveling by air, rail, and highway and I was looking forward to working on reviews and other “sensitive” writing assignments without exposing my writing…

Video on the iPad? Not a Problem

You’d think good old Josh would have had enough of Fox, but he went and gave them Dollhouse, his project after Firefly, to screw over, and they did. It lasted a bit longer than one season, but not much longer. In fact, Fox Broadcasting has a habit of killing off shows that could actually get…

iPad 3G In The House!

I ordered a 3G iPad about a month ago because I thought that there may be occasions where I will need to review an app that is iPad 3G specific. These would be apps that take advantage of 3G, of course, but also GPS, which only the iPad 3G model sports. I imaged turn-by-turn navigation…

Planet Earth, Discovery Channel and More

These memories have nothing to do with previous birthdays, I’ve had few parties celebrating the event and few things have happened on those days that were of such magnitude that they are forever etched into my grey matter. (There were three birthdays, however, that I’ll always remember; one where I went hang gliding, another where…

BodyGuardz for iPad Will Require Patience, Skill

BodyGuardz is a special, thin film material that protects the surface of your iPad. Unlike the well-known anti-reflective films for the iPhone that are difficult to handle and apply, this material can be specially managed with an accompanying liquid. Even so, the application process is tedious and time consuming. Shipping tubeTraditional sticky films we’ve applied…

tChess Pro is a Great Chess App for iPad

In an era of 99 cent Chess programs for the iPhone and iPad, there is one that clearly stands out above the rest. If you’re serious about either learning chess or playing a challenging opponent on these platforms, tChess Pro by Tom Kerrigan, even though it will cost you $8, is not only fabulous, but…

Poker on the Mac: Rush Poker on FullTilt is Fast, Furious, & Fun

BackgroundLet’s start with some background, though, as I do obsess about context. Up until now, there have been a few specific advantages of playing poker on your computer. You can play whenever you want, in whatever state of dress you can manage. You can play many, many more hands than you can live, which is…

Custom Hangman 1.03 For iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad

Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear…..  Oh wait, that was The Lone Ranger. But if you remember listening to The Lone Ranger on the radio or watching it on TV, then you remember when there were no computers, no iPhones, no iPads, no game players and you may have passed time…

AAPL Crosses $232 for New Record Ahead of iPad Launch

Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty told clients in a research note Monday morning that she expects Apple to sell 2.5 million iPads during its first quarter of availability, and more than six million during the current fiscal year, according to Marketwatch. She estimated that Apple’s bottom line benefits by 25 cents for every million units…

Will the iPad Become The Game Changer TV Portal?

It turns out that Viacom and Hulu are squabbling about the ad revenue split. Hulu put some nice spin on the situation, saying, “After a series of discussions with the team at Comedy Central, though, we ultimately were unable to secure the rights to extend these shows for a much longer period of time.” However,…

P-Flip: An iPhone Dock With A Twist, er, Flip

Many have complained that the problem would have been solved if Apple allowed us to swap out the battery. I’m not convinced. The more I use my iPhone the more I need to use it for important things. If the battery runs down during an important call I don’t want to stop the call to…

History: Today in History, Dinosaurs, Iapetus and More

I didn’t fair much better in junior or senior high school, either. More dates and events meant more sad grades. The stuff I wanted to know about, The Black Plague, The Crusades, Greek and Roman culture were glossed over. Even the things that were covered in some detail, like World Wars 1 and 2, were…

The Killer Surprises Waiting for Steve Ballmer

Computing, as we know it is going to change dramatically over the next decade. A slew of new technologies, appliance computing, better security models, Android, and mobile computing will fundamentally change the nature of our computer experiences. All of this new technology is being formulated by Apple and Google, and Microsoft, with questionable leadership, is…

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