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News, Reviews, & Opinion
Walmart Announces Availability of iPhone 3G
PR: Bentonville, Ark., Dec. 26, 2008 - Walmart is excited to
announce the availability of the iPhone 3G at nearly 2,500 Walmart
stores beginning Sunday, December 28, 2008.
The retailer will offer the black 8 GB iPhone 3G model with the
every day price of $197 and the 16 GB black or white model for $297,
with a new two-year service agreement from AT&T or qualified
upgrade. As America's price leader, Walmart's price match policy also
allows stores to match the price of any local competitor's advertised
store price on the same item within the same promotional period.
"We are delighted to bring customers this groundbreaking mobile
technology," said Gary Severson, senior vice president, Entertainment,
Walmart. "Our electronics associates have been preparing for many weeks
for the arrival of iPhone 3G. We are excited to now help new customers
learn more about the features and services that make the iPhone
unique."
The new iPhone 3G combines all the revolutionary features of iPhone
plus 3G networking that is twice as fast*, built-in GPS for expanded
location-based mobile services, and iPhone 2.2 software which includes
support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and runs over 10,000 third
party applications available through the new App Store.
Customers can find more information and assistance at the Apple
iPhone 3G kiosks located at the Walmart Connection Center in the Home
Entertainment department. Electronics associates are ready to assist
customers with purchase questions, demonstrations and activation.
*Based on 3G and EDGE testing. Actual speeds vary by site
conditions.
Link:
Walmart
Why Wal-Mart Is Key to iPhone Domination
CNET's Don
Reisinger says:
"As the world's largest retailer (and company), Wal-Mart commands a
significant amount of respect. In fact, I think the company is the most
important retailer to any company in any industry, let alone Apple and
the tech industry.
"But Friday's announcement that the iPhone will be coming to
Wal-Mart store shelves on Sunday has changed the face of the cell phone
industry. In effect, it means that Apple, one of the most important
hardware companies in the space, will see its popular mobile phone be
made available to millions of more customers. It also means that
Research In Motion and every other company in the market that's trying
desperately to compete with Apple simply won't be able to do
it...."
Link: Why
Wal-Mart Is Key to iPhone Domination
Can Apple Make Wal-Mart Cool?
The
Motley Fool's Rick Aristotle Munarriz says:
"It's official. Wal-Mart will begin selling Apple's 3G iPhones over
the weekend. The popular smartphone will be available at the country's
leading retailer on Sunday....
"Will sales of the iconic phone be brisk? Probably not. Since the
iPhones are tethered to costly two-year AT&T data plans, they are
likely out of reach for the typical Wal-Mart shopper. The real allure
here is that Wal-Mart will earn plenty of style points.
Link:
Can Apple Make Wal-Mart Cool?
Large Form iPod touch in Fall '09?
TechCrunch's
Michael Arrington says:
"We've got this from three independent sources close to Apple:
expect a large screen iPod touch device to be released in the Fall of
'09, with a 7 or 9 inch screen. Prototypes have been seen and handled
by one of our sources, and Apple is talking to OEMs in Asia now about
mass production."
Link:
Large Form iPod touch to Launch in Fall '09?
iPhone Not a Netbook, But 7" or 9" iPod touch Could
Be
Laptop Mag's
K. T. Bradford says:
"First it was rumored that Apple would showcase a netbook at
microSD, but that seemed to be all based on analyst speculation that
they would have to. Apple never feels they have to do anything, though.
I'm more hopeful that the TechCrunch rumor of a large-form iPod touch
are true. They claim someone they know has touched a prototype, and
considering Steve Jobs contention that an iPhone is like a netbook, it
seems pretty likely that this is the direction Apple could go instead
of a mini MacBook...."
Link:
iPhone Still Not a Netbook, But 7-9-inch iPod touch Could Be
Touch Screens a 'Huge Mistake'
PCMag's Sascha
Segan says:
"'If Apple does it, it must be right.' That's the refrain of
lemming-like mobile companies, all desperately trying to follow the
iPhone's touch-screen lead. The touch-screen fad isn't just in mobile,
of course; as you read here on PCMag.com often, it seems that everyone
is thinking of throwing away their keyboards and mice for big glass
panels that go bump in the night.
"Huge mistake.
"The problem isn't touch screens; touch screens have existed for
years. It's the pernicious idea that touch-screen-only interfaces will
gobble up all other input devices. It's painful to watch folks at
Microsoft's mobile division throw away all their non-touch-screen
devices and obsessively chase the iPhone, for instance. Because touch
screens - at least the way they work today - are actually less tactile
than keyboards...."
Link: Why I Hate Touch
Screens
iPhone Trounces BlackBerry Storm in Satisfaction
Rating Survey
Computerworld's Gregg Keizer reports:
"First reactions from buyers of Research in Motion's newest
BlackBerry Storm smart phone have been 'lukewarm,' and nowhere near the
satisfaction ratings of Apple's iPhone, a market research analyst said
Tuesday.
"'It's not that the BlackBerry Storm is a bad phone,' said Paul
Carton, research director at ChangeWave Research. 'It's just that the
initial launch has glitches which have resulted in a mediocre
satisfaction rating, while consumers are already trained to expect the
very highest standards from their BlackBerries.'"
Link:
iPhone Trounces BlackBerry Storm in Satisfaction Rating Survey
Is the iPhone Really a Bad Phone?
Cult of Mac's
Lonnie Lazar says:
"Writing Monday for the eWeek blog, AppleWatch, Joe Wilcox gave the
iPhone a D in telephony and a C for battery life, saying he simply
could not recommend the device as a phone. Despite singing the praises
of Apple's mobile platform he gave it an overall grade of B- and seemed
mighty pleased to announce that everyone in his family has rejected the
iPhone in favor of an iPod touch + some other cell phone.
"I find Wilcox's assessment curious and wonder how many of the other
8 - 10 million iPhone owners feel their device is so disappointing from
the telephony and usability standpoints that they'd actually prefer to
carry two devices around instead of one. Follow me after the jump to
learn what Wilcox thinks is so bad about iPhone and where my own
assessment takes me in response."
Link: Is the
iPhone Really a Bad Phone?
Speaker Made from Old iPods
HackedGadgets' Alan Parekh says:
"Jordan Horwich wanted to have some unique speakers. He sure pulled
it off when he took some iPod shells and stuffed them with some
speakers and electronics which now look right at home beside his Apple
laptop...."
Link: Speaker
Made from Old iPods
Free Music-on-the-go Coming to Mobile Devices
The Canadian
Press reports:
"If streaming music on your computer for free appeals to you,
consider this: in the near future, you might be able to do the same
thing on your smartphone or other portable device.
"A growing number of companies are rushing to offer free streaming
music on their websites. Just type in the name of a song and it starts
playing. No need to buy it beforehand or rip it from your CD
library.
"The idea is fine as long as you're attached to a computer. The next
frontier, however, is making that same music widely available on
handheld devices like the iPhone and BlackBerry...."
Link:
Free Music-on-the-go Coming to Mobile Devices
Apps & Services
Macvide iPod Converter 2.1: Video mp4 Conversion
is Easy
Macvide announces iPod Converter 2.1, their video to iPod mp4
conversion utility for Mac OS X. Developed specifically for Mac users,
iPod Converter allows conversion of video files to mp4 iPod video. All
of the most popular formats are supported, and helps bridge the gap
between many video standards. iPod Converter offers an easy-to-use
interface that guides the user through the conversion process.
MacVide announces iPod Converter 2.1, their video to mp4 conversion
utility for Mac OS X. With a focus on ease-of-use, iPod Converter
allows conversion of the most popular video files to mp4 iPod video. It
fully integrates the process into the Mac experience by allowing human
interaction on the content during conversion.
All of the most popular formats are supported, including MOV, 3GP,
MPEG, AVI and helps bridge the gap between many video standards. iPod
Converter is a great tool for using with Apple's iTunes.
MacVide iPod Converter provides powerful functions to set different
settings for your video files. It allows you to select crop video area,
the bit rate, frame rate, video resolution. Video preview with
"rangebar" allows you to choose the exact video footage you want,
anywhere between the first and last frames. With MacVide iPod Converter
you will able to convert your entire movie to .MP4 and watch it
anywhere and anytime. It's very easy to use and it supports most
portable MP4 devices.
New in version 2.1:
- Enhanced support for AppleScript and Automator actions.
Feature highlights include:
- Input format supported: all popular Video formats including AVI,
WMV, MOV, MPG, ASF, DivX, etc.
- Playback on multiple players including iPod, iPhone, PSP and Apple
TV, Creative Zen, Archos, etc.
- Crop your video area to remove the black video sides.
- Powerful video/audio output settings
- Allows to set video resolution and frame rate
- Allows to set video and audio bitrate.
- Customizable dimensions for exported video
- Auto Determination of Movie length
- Enhanced support for AppleScript and Automator actions.
- User can control Movie over Capturing
Minimum Requirements:
- Mac OS X Version 10.4 Tiger or 10.5 Leopard
- Universal Binary for PowerPC and Intel
- 19.4 MB Hard Drive space
iPod Converter 2.1 is available for only $29.95 for a Single
License, and may be downloaded directly from the MacVide website.
Link: MacVide iPod
Converter
ShapeWriter Publishes Award Winning Software on
iPhone
PR: Available for download, ShapeWriter Inc launches its
revolutionary text entry products on Windows Mobile, Android, and
Windows XP/Vista. The company also simultaneously announces major
upgrades to its popular WritingPad 1.0 software on iPhone. Now called
ShapeWriter 2.0, this enhanced version is available at the Apple iTunes
App Store.
ShapeWriter's award winning technology elevates touch screen devices
to new levels of usability. Instead of "hunting and pecking" letters,
single gestures on a touch keyboard produce an entire word. For
example: a stroke that roughly connects the w, o, r and d keys is
recognized by ShapeWriter's intelligent algorithms as the word "word".
Experienced users can write much faster on ShapeWriter than on a
conventional keyboard. All ShapeWriter products run in real time on
mobile devices and feature advanced editing, automatic formatting and
capitalization, error tolerance, misspelling correction, and gesture
commands.
ShapeWriter 1.0 on Android, a winner of Google's Android Developer
Challenge, has been specifically customized for T-Mobile's G1. It
supports note taking, email, SMS and a fun practice game.
ShapeWriter 1.0 on Windows Mobile is a systemwide input method
supporting all standard software applications on Windows Mobile and
Pocket PC 2003. It works on phones from manufacturers such as HTC,
Samsung, and Sony Ericsson.
ShapeWriter 1.0 on Windows XP/Vista is suited for Tablet PCs, HP
Touch Smart computers, UMPCs, and any PC connected with a Wacom
tablet.
ShapeWriter 2.0 is a major upgrade from WritingPad 1.0, named by
Time.com as one of iPhone's top 11 must have applications. Version 2.0
incorporates many new features requested by early users.
ShapeWriter is a breakthrough text input technology developed for
nearly a decade by scientists at IBM Almaden Research Center. Under the
code name SHARK, its early version was made publicly available from IBM
AlphaWorks in 2004 and received enthusiastic reviews from technology
critics and the media such as The New York Times, BBC News, San Jose
Mercury News, New Scientist, and the Economist.
Link: ShapeWriter (available through the
Apple App Store)
Accessories
Earbud Yo-Yo Organizes the Ear Buds You Already
Own
PR: Finally a Simple solution to tangled ear buds. Covington
Creations Introduces the Earbud Yo-Yo on January 6, 2009 at the
Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Covington Enters Earbud Yo-Yo
in the CNET Best of CES Awards
On January 6th
at CES Unveiled, Covington Creations will introduce the Earbud Yo-Yo,
its latest gadget, to the media. CES Unveiled is a venue designed to
bring consumer products companies in direct contact with the media
attending and covering the events of the Consumer Electronics Show. It
is a venue for the media to see the newest and latest products before
the show opens.
The Company has entered this gadget in the CNET Best of CES Awards
and will display this product in the South Hall 4 of the Las Vegas
Convention Center on January 8-11th.
The Earbud Yo-Yo is an audio cable organizer invented by Julie
Johnson Barkley to organize the earbuds supplied with iPod's, MP3
Players and Smart Phones. When asked about her invention she said,
"Earbuds are wonderful audio accessories that are absolutely essential
to listen to music or to view movies, but everyone knows the earbuds
are difficult to stow when not in use because they tangle easily."
It is this tangling and untangling process that frustrated Julie to
the point where she was motivated to find a solution. She invented the
Earbud Yo-Yo as her solution to the problem of stowing the earbuds. In
her words, "the Earbud Yo-Yo is finally a simple solution to tangled
earbuds."
Covington Creations LLC, located in Houston, Texas has an exclusive
license to manufacture and sell the Earbud Yo-Yo. The Company has inked
a deal with Grand Dynasty Industrial Co. of Taipei, Taiwan to make and
package the Earbud Yo-Yo. Regarding sales, the Company expects to
receive the first shipment of Earbud Yo-Yo's in early January 2009 and
it is also in discussions with several product distribution companies
regarding fulfillment.
Link: The
Earbud Yo-Yo
