In my humble opinion, the iPhone 4 looks great, and if it didn’t have the reported problems, I wouldn’t see any reason to cover it with a case. But the reality is different, so I protect my investment with some sort of a case or screen. There are plenty of case choices–some are thick, some thin; some tacky, some slippery; some feel expensive, and some feel and look cheap. What’s important, I feel, is the thickness of the case, how it feels in my hand, and maybe its appearance. Personally, I like a super-thin case so I doesn’t add to the bulkiness and weight of the phone in my pocket, and a slightly sticky/tacky feel so that the phone feels secure in my hand.
For this quick hands-on I focused on iFrogz Luxe Original case because it’s most likely the case you will find at an AT&T store. The case is two parts, top and bottom, and I simply snap the two halves together over the iPhone 4. On the back is a “belly button” locking mechanism that prevents the two halves from coming apart. The case is colorful and fun-looking (comes in teal/black, black/black, red/black, blue/black, fuchsia/black, and gun metal/black), fairly thin, and feels good in my hand. The case is made from a polycarbonate material so it feels slightly tacky but not sticky. It communicates a secure feel in my hand and is quite comfortable.
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There seems to be a problem with iTunes that, as far as I can tell, Apple is not addressing – at least not publicly. According to many users complaining in the iTunes support forums, and my own experience, Apple is not accepting some people’s credit cards and debit cards as payments for apps, music or what have you. The problem seems to be sporadic, which is probably why there is no official response on Apple’s forums.
Here is what happens. I go to iTunes and edit my credit card information in my account settings. In my case I entered the number from the Wells Fargo Business Visa/Debit card, which I have been using as a debit and Visa card for the last 8 years.
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Pile Driver
Usually I am not compelled to review iPhone apps but I just had to talk about BOINK because it’s so… well… amusing? Say you’re bored with birthday, housewarming, game or pharm theme parties, and you also happen to be an iPhone fanboy or fangirl, then you better get your bits to the App store and download BOINK from MEDL Mobile. It’s a new iPhone app that uses BUMP technology to check sexual compatibility between two people. Set your sexual preferences from various categories such as type of kissing, foreplay, oral, sex style, positions, and fetishes, then BUMP your iPhone with another BOINK phone and you will be notified if you should quickly run away from the person or take them to the nearest motel. User preferences stay completely private. The app simply tells both parties how likely they are to enjoy a sexual hook-up and not — incompatible because one of you likes fast-sloppy-aggressive tonguing, followed by drunk sex in public while wearing leather.
Setting up BOINK preferences is very entertaining and can even be educational. Browsing the Positions category for example, I quickly figured out that “The Jockey” is not just a dude that rides race horses. And Rusty Bike Pump has nothing to do with a bike but will require some stretching before you attempt the position. Thankfully there are diagrams with short set of instructions for positions that are not so “mainstream”.
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Plenty has been said and published about Netbooks and their place in the everyday work life. What I wanted to know is what it’s like to use one on daily basis, not for a few days but for a few months. Can a Netbook replace a traditional laptop? So I called ASUS, who practically invented the Netbook category, and they send me an ASUS Eee PC 1008HA. If you’re into specs then scroll down to see them.
Eee PC 1008HA, also known as the Seashell, is a much different design from many other Netbooks on the market. It’s a slim, curved, tapered and lightened chassis that’s just an inch in thickness at its largest point. It’s got a high gloss finish and overall just a sexy-looking machine, making it one of the best looking Netbooks I’ve seen. Most other Netbooks look well… boring compared to 1008HA. Opening the machine reveals a different trackpad than what I am used. The trackpad is dimpled and has some two-fingered zoom in and out gestures. I could do scrolling by dragging my finger along the right side of the trackpad – this is not apparent thought at first but discovered quickly due to a simple habit. Asus also managed to cram a decent size keyboard into the Seashell and I really appreciated the full sized right Shift key. You probably don’t know you want that until you don’t have it. However, one of my biggest disappointments was the glossy finish which seems to cover itself in finger prints. Technically it’s not a huge issue but I did find myself keeping one of those clothes that I clean my sunglasses with to periodically restore the original shine to the Seashell.
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Do you remember the good old days, back in the late 90’s, when it was fun to sit around and laugh at people who talked about Internet-connected everything? ”The Internet-connected toaster!” you’d shout, and your friends would laugh. If you were all geeks. Just hypothetically speaking.
Well, it’s 2010 now, and we just expect everything to have Internet features at the least, and iPhone connectivity is a big plus. Enter Withings, with their WiFi-enabled, body-fat-percentage-detecting, iPhone accessible bathroom scale ($159 direct). Yes, a bathroom scale with an IP address.
I’ve been using the Withings scale for about six weeks. On the whole, it’s performed well, and I would give it a qualified recommendation. It is certainly better, fancier, and more helpful than the generic digital scale I had before. But there are quirks, both technical and psychological.
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There are plenty enough reviews of the MacBook Pro that talk about gigahertz (2.26, in this case), memory (2GB), and tech specs like the LED backlit display. Like most actual users, I’m much less interested in that stuff than I am in how well it works as a daily driver laptop. Also, like many people who are considering purchasing a MacBook, this was my first experience with Apple laptops. I’ve been a Windows guy for a long time and I was curious to see if the MacBook would be an adequate replacement for my Windows laptop.
The build quality and industrial design is first rate, as you’d expect from Apple. The unibody aluminum construction makes this thing feel solid, and details like the tiny beveling on the edges makes for a very elegant, very well designed feel. More than once, I found myself stopping my work for a moment to examine an edge or the way a USB port was cut from the aluminum. It’s really nice work, and brings out the design geek in anyone.
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As the novelty of netbooks wears off and they become commodities with market-dictated standard features, the focus shifts from whether a particular machine is innovative or affordable to whether it does a good job of just being a netbook. I’m happy to report that Lenovo’s S10-2 is a good choice for a traveler’s netbook.
I found this out first hand by traveling with the S10-2 on a six week trip that took me from the urban center of Amman, through the Sinai desert, cruising up the Nile on a felucca, and then through various rural and urban parts of Morocco, Turkey, and Croatia, among more common destinations like Budapest and London. The S10-2 not only survived the trip, it excelled. Its small form factor, long battery life, and durability convinced me that my days of deciding between traveling with a full fledged laptop or relying on Internet cafes are over. Netbooks are it, from here on out.
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