Archives for July 2010

iPhone 4 Unlock Getting Closer

We have heard quite a bit about an iPhone 4 jailbreak. We hear that one has successfully been made and that the team are just waiting for Apple [AAPL] to release the next firmware update due out any time now.

Jailbreaking the iPhone 4 is only part of the story for some users though as some people also want to unlock their iPhone 4 so they can use it on other carriers.

Thankfully an unlock for the iPhone 4 has been made by iPhone Dev Team member planetbeing. The iPhone 4 unlock is being teased with just the image above and a video below showing it working on the Bell network in Canada. Some users will point out that AT&T locked iPhones already can roam Bell and this is correct. However, with the information coming from planetbeing, it is likely to be correct. [Read more…]

Sony NEX-VG10 HD Camcorder Announced

Sony has announced a new interchangeable lens HD camcorder that is based around a DSLR style camera. It is called the Sony NEX-VG10 and is capable of capturing video in HD.

The camera can capture at HD 1920 x 1080 in the AVCHD format. Video is captured at 60i (60 interlaced frames per second). Manual controls are found on the camera which include control for the shutter, iris, white balance and gain. Still images can also be captured manually if required.

The camera uses the same CMOS sensor and E-Mount lenses that the NEX-5 and NEX-3 digital SLR cameras use. When the NEX-VG10 ships late 2010 it will come with an 18-200mm F3.5-6.3 zoom lens. [Read more…]

Canon VIXIA HF M32 gets 64GB Flash Memory and Expandable to 2TB

Canon has announced a new VIXIA flash memory based camcorder called the Canon VIXIA HF M32 that comes with 64GB of internal flash memory and supports 32GB to 2TB SDXC memory cards for additional storage.

If maxing out the memory on the Canon HF M32, you get a huge amount of storage, up to 24 hours, that can be used to capture HD video.

The body of the HF M32 is lightweight. The lens on the system is a Genuine Canon HD Video Lens. Inside the camera capturing and processing image is a HD image sensor and a DIGIC DV III image processor. The screen is LCD and is touchscreen allowing you to easily navigate through menus. [Read more…]

iPhone 4 FaceTime Works on in-flight Wi-Fi

FaceTime currently works on the in-flight Wi-Fi service on American Airlines. A test call was made by Bill G, a TUAW reader, while flying over Arkansas.

The embedded video below shows the quality of the video call which is surprisingly good. The video portion of the call does flake out a little towards the end of the video, but overall the video was smooth and the audio went without problems throughout the duration of the test call. [Read more…]

Pencil iPad Stand Reloaded

Last week, Geeky Gadgets made an impressive pencil iPad stand that used a handful of pencils and rubber bands to prop up an iPad in landscape or portrait mode.

One of the websites readers decided to make the Pencil iPad Stand Reloaded which uses the same idea of using rubber bands to tie things together, but instead of pencils it uses aluminium rods cut to length that have their ends covered in Plasti Dip coating to protect the iPad getting scratched. [Read more…]

bitFUUL Magazine Issue 3 uses iPhone 3G for All Photos

bitFUUL is a free online magazine, downloadable in PDF for iBooks or other eReader users, that in the description is described as follows…

bitFUUL [bit fōōl] Magazine is a FREE online PDF publication that showcases various alternative forms of art and photography. Our growing base of contributors (from 20+ countries) provide us with the artwork, photography, poetry, music, illustrations, and other imaginative masterpieces that you see.

Issue #3 just launched and this issue was captured entirely by using the camera on an iPhone 3G. As well as only using captured images from the iPhone 3G, all of the images were edited on an iPhone 3G. [Read more…]

iPhone 4 Antenna Kit

Check out the iPhone 4 antenna kit that is designed to fix the problems with the iPhone 4 signal. The antenna kit attaches to the dock connector on your iPhone 4 and includes a lengthy cable with a long antenna attached.

By taking the antenna away from the phone allows for no drops at all in signal strength always ensuring you get to make calls when you want. [Read more…]

iPhone 4 gets Augmented Reality Football App

Augmented reality has been showing up more often this year. The idea behind it is that the camera on your iPhone or any other phone streams live video from the camera to the screen and the software augments the footage to include information to the user. The system can be used for satnav, driving safety and for fixing car engines to name a few things.

The latest version we have come across is called ARFootball. The ARFootball application is a game that you can play where you hold the phone down towards your feet and kick up a virtual football.

The game is simple in it’s idea and lets you juggle the ball between both feet. The application has different levels of difficulty along with two versions which include a free play mode and an arcade mode. [Read more…]

Spotify Preview Coming to Linux

The guys at Spotify have created a preview version of their popular software Spotify that brings the service to Linux users. The software it’s self is still a little behind other versions such as the one for PC due to it being an early preview build.

Features lacking in the new version include no support for local files and no visual advertising which restricts it’s use to premium subscribers only.

Andrea Sehr from Spotify said the following… [Read more…]

BMW Support iPod Out on iOS 4

When Apple [AAPL] announced iOS 4 they said a large number of enhancements had been included. These of course include multitasking as well as many other popular features that have been publicly known. Another one of the new features is called iPod Out which appears to have been overlooked somewhat. Thankfully, BMW has an all seeing eye and spotted the new feature allowing them to create quite a decent interface for their cars.

iPod Out is a function that enables an external screen to display and control music playback. Docking an iPhone running iOS 4 for example, could allow a car to have a screen installed and all the iPod controls appear on screen within the car.

BMW will be doing this with their BMW and Mini entertainment systems. The iPod Out function works on any iOS 4 device which includes the iPhone 3G, 3GS, 4 and iPod touch second and third generation. [Read more…]

DROID ERIS Update Landing July 16 OTA – Not Android 2.2

HTC DROID ERIS users can expect to start seeing an OTA (over the air) update notice starting July 16. The update will be rolled out over the following week and will bring a few new features to the old ERIS Android smartphone.

The downside here is that it’s not Android 2.2 that is being released. From what we see over on Droid Life, the update just brings a few enhancements to the smartphone which include improved audio, enhanced speed dial, improved text, video and picture messaging as well as some tweaks to some of the features. [Read more…]

Microsoft want to Study iPad Users

Microsoft [MSFT] is looking for iPad users to join them at the MS Campus so the company can study how people use the iPad. In particular the company is looking for students to watch for a couple of hours so they can study how students interact with the iPad and how they work with it.

The information comes from a Facebook event page which asks users to visit the MS campus between July 16 and July 21 for the study. Each user will be watched for two hours and in return, they will get some sort of MS gift which we are guessing is an older Zune. [Read more…]