The Apps

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This Week's iPhone News On Giz

• An Exploded iPhone Is a Major Frat Party Buzzkill...Or Is It?

• Apple Sued For iPhone Patent Infringement, Again

• The New Mobile Twitter Site Is Actually, Um, Nice

• Droid Commercial Paints iPhone as "Digitally Clueless Beauty Pageant Queen"

• Wolfram Alpha Is Tired Of People Not Paying $50 Dollars For Their iPhone App

• New Mercedes iPhone App: Hands On

• iPhone Orchestra Hacks Touchscreen, GPS and Accelerometer to Create "Music"

• Just a Cheap iPhone/iPod Adapter USB Hub

• Mirror's Edge Coming to the iPhone In January

• iPhone Fitted With SLR Lens (It Was Bound to Happen)

• Top 5 Assclowns Laughing at the iPhone Back in 2007

• RedEye Makes Your iPhone a Universal Remote Control

• Stolen Belgian iPhones Traced to Russian Black Market

• Where Is My iPhone Videochat, Apple?

This list is in no way definitive. If you've spotted a great app that hit the store this week, give us a heads up or, better yet, your firsthand impressions in the comments. And for even more apps: see our previous weekly roundups here, and check out our Favorite iPhone Apps Directory. Have a great weekend, everybody!

I was at a fraternity house hanging out one night. One of my friends had his iPhone plugged into the speakers so we could have music. We had the usual speaker system, a receiver and some speakers. I was standing near the receiver when All the sudden the iphone cut off and started to smoke. The room filled up with what must have been hazardous smoke. After picking up the iPhone that was still extremely hot, the entire battery had been ejected from the phone and was sitting on the floor. The house smelled like burning electronics for the rest of the night and the iPhone left a square-ish burn mark on the table it was sitting on.

Fortunately, it sounds like the cloud of acrid, poisonous fumes proved to be only a minor inconvenience for the partygoers. Who knows? It might have even enhanced some of their experiences. [Thanks Bobby!]

The suit bears a lot of the stamps of hollow patent trollery, from the outside-the-industry plaintiff company to the oddly late filing. (The iPhone has been out for a couple years now, and it's had a camera the whole time.) But these guys aren't bullshitting: they have a history of winning similar suits against major camera maufacturers, including Sony, which paid them $25m in 2001, and Canon, which paid them $34m in damages in 2003. They've entered into licensing agreements with "many" of the companies they've sued, which include the likes of Samsung, Nokia and Nikon. So, what's their secret? Patents like this:
Digital cameras, have you ever heard of them?

To have a patent as fundamental as this—among others, including a patent on digital shutter buttons, and one for storage and display methods for digital images—awarded in the early 90s and upheld by the courts is nothing to scoff at. When this thing finally kicks off—the scheduling conference isn't until January, so it'll probably be a few months before we see fireworks—it'll be one to watch, since companies who land in court with Apple have a tendency to—one sec—DIE HORRIBLY. There. [LoopinSight, specific patent list here]

It's currently most optimized for WebKit browsers—iPhone, Android, webOS and Symbian—but BlackBerrys work too. It's built entirely using Twitter's own APIs, hence the announcement post's title, "Takeout Dogfood." (Why not ice cream?) For now, you'll have to go to mobile.twitter.com to use it, but they'll eventually be transitioning m.twitter.com over to the new site as they work out all the kinks. And so far, it's pretty impressive, even if it does feel a tad slower than I'd like at the moment.

[Twitter, Twitter]

I have a Droid, and like it a lot, but I'm a little concerned that these ads are alienating buyers by making the phone seem a lot more complex and threatening than it really is. To a first-time buyer, smartphones are a pretty intimidating purchase, and while I understand the impulse to differentiate the Droid from the cute-as-a-button, simple-as-can-be iPhone commercials, the Droid commercials may be going too far in the opposite direction with the whole DROID SMASH aesthetic. But that's just me, and, well, I bought one anyway—what do you guys think? [YouTube]

TUAW noticed a not-so-subtle change to the Wolfram Alpha's mobile site, which now prompts stingy iPhone jerks to just download the app already. Luckily you can kill the prompt, but then you're left with an unoptimized version of the search engine, which is a chore to use on a mobile device.

So, Wolfram isn't moving as many copies of their app as they expected (Dozens! You'll see!) and it's totally within their rights to, you know, make money. But instead of taking away the free, slightly-less-capable alternative, why not just make the paid, slightly-more-capable app remotely affordable? What's the problem with that?

Oh. [TUAW]

The Price:

$160

The Verdict:

Expensive, but worth it.

How do we justify a $160 scale when normal scales are $20 at Target? Think about when the last time your parents replaced their bathroom scale. Was it before you were born? Was it never? $160 isn't too much when you spread it out over a lifetime.

But even if you you just look at the features, the Withings scale is worth it. On the "weighing you" side, it reports your weight in pounds, kilos or the weird British stone, plus calculates out your fat mass and BMI.

The top of the scale is made out of, in their words, "tempered glass slab, covered with a layer of metal", which looks and feels classy. The whole thing feels modern—again, the complete opposite of a normal filthy bathroom scale.

After the Withings weighs you, it'll send all three data points online, to their free website, where it charts and graphs it for you. You can even have different users in your family, each with their own separate data graphs. And (this is probably something you won't use) it'll post your weight updates to Twitter, if you want. It's not mandatory.

And here, for example, is a kid being tracked as she gets older—not a person devolving into a serious eating disorder.

And if you have an iPhone/iTouch, you can access your chart via the free app as well, in case you want to show off to your friends how much weight you're losing.

In essence, the Withings makes for the perfect holiday gift. It's pricey enough to not make you look cheap, yet it still conveys the "I think you're fat" message that's inherent in giving someone a scale. [Withings]

Internet connectivity and functionality is impressive for a scale

Works great as a scale

Slightly expensive

THAT'S MY FAVORITE SHOW TOO!! WHY ISN'T IT ON ITUNES??

Sorry for shouting. I won't do that again. I'll try not to spit, either, but I can make no promises there. I mean, I'll most certainly make earnest attempts, but I really don't want to mislead you. My saliva is not something that I can wield with 100% proficiency, and I want this meeting to be built on trust. Mutual trust.

Anyway, my reason for showing at your door. Frankly, I wanted to know what your house smelled like. No, that's not my primary reason for being here. I view it as a sort of side quest that justified a face-to-face meeting rather than a more conventional email. And no, it's not nearly as creepy as your face is implying. My inquiry was a point of academic interest. Everyone's house smells different, an amalgamation of personal scent, furniture, general upkeep, pets and preference for food. And let me just say, I thought it'd smell like this. You know, kind of blue. Yes, I know blue is a color. I guess I mean, fresh, clean, but maybe even a bit sterile. Not in a bad way, mind you. And the hint of tempeh in the air is really quite welcoming.

OK, OK, I realize that I've gone on for a while here, and at any second, Nigel Lythgoe is going to unpause on your DVR and it's going to sound really loud because both our ears have adjusted to the room's noise without a television blaring—no Apple TV, btw? But that's neither here nor there. My pitch is this:

Sell every iPhone with an accompanying Arduino tank. Like this one. Boom.

The main screen for the iPhone version of the app (the Blackberry version is boring) looks just like a Mercedes key fob and, essentially, works the same way. Unlock/lock the car or even locate it.

The locate feature use's the car's GPS and the phone's GPS to provide instructions for how to get back to your car. And in case you're worried the wife is going to find you riding dirty, the system overrides if you're more than a mile away from the car. Philander in peace, Tiger.

Don't want the kids getting their grubby hands on your M-Class? Lock the ungrateful rats out.

The "mbrace" system isn't OnStar, Mercedes will tell you, but it's OnStar. Access all those features without having to crash your car from your phone.

Screw up your CLK because you were too busy playing on your iPhone and left the parking brake on? The system will locate the nearest dealer to help fix your car and take a million dollars off your hands.

Forget the Mercedes dealership with a staff you actually like? You can find your selling, local or preferred dealer.

You must be moderately wealthy to live by all these Mercedes dealerships.

Developed by Hughes Telematics, this is rolling out on all new models and requires a monthly subscription.

It's $10, but it's an RPG, which supposedly implies more gameplay hours than non-RPGs. Even when you're not actually playing the game, you can level up your guys by listening to the music that's bound to each character, giving you an added bonus to use your iPhone/iTouch more. [iTunes (Full Version) and iTUnes (Lite) via Kotaku]

Each iPhone has been programmed to deliver a different sound when each function is used. The touchscreen, microphone, GPS, compass, wireless sensor and accelerometer have all been tinkered with, so Georg Essl, the lecturer/computer scientist/musician can turn the cacophony into something resembling music. We say "something" very loosely, as you can see from the video here. [Facebook via 9to5Mac]

The idea is to put it in your pocket, and the accelerometer will detect your movements and play the appropriate Mario sound effect. Jump, and it'll make the distinctive Mario jump sound; crouch, and it'll make the "worp worp worp" sound as if you're entering a green pipe. Also included are brick hits and Goomba-stomping, among other noises, tunes and a few choice Mario catchphrases. It's available now (hopefully) for a buck. [iRwego via CNET]

Google Might Build Super-Green Power Plants

Google's been investing in solar, wind and geothermal companies for a while, so it's not particularly surprising that the company is thinking about going a step further and directly financing some green power plants. This could be a move that could push other companies to delve deeper into greener energy tech, so all the more power to Google. Good God, did I just make a pun out of that? [Wired]

Apple Tablet to Be "Shockingly" Cheap

On the latest episode of Diggnation, Internet and television personality Alex Albrecht remarked that he was shocked about 'how cheap the price point" of the Apple tablet would be. No word on how exactly he got his information or just how cheap it needs to be to shock him. [Apple Insider]

Computers Don't Really Save Hospitals Any Money

Harvard did a study to see if using computers saves hospitals money or increases administrative efficiency. The answer to both questions was a resounding "no," but I don't think that should be a surprise. Using computers in an environment like that requires maintenance and training, which naturally cost both money and time. What surprised me about the study is that it didn't look at what effect the use of computers had on actual patient services. Does it make a difference there? [All Things D]

Photo by tahitianlime

TweetBookz Made My Inner Bookworm Crawl Into a Hole

Alright, I confess: I like books and I'm a bit of a dorky geek which means that nearly any new combination of geek and lit tends to appeal to me. Except when it goes oh-so-very-wrong like these TweetBookz.

The idea behind TweetBookz is that you pay about $30 to have a bunch of your tweets made into a nicely bound book. Initially I thought that this could be neat, but then I looked at my own tweets. I somehow don't think I or anyone else would want a book full of messages to creepy people or days of the week.

But maybe I'm just a bit of a lazy, boring Twitter user. [TweetBookz via Wired]

Guy Wins Beard Contest With a Hairy Bird Cage

Jason was particularly excited about this old clip of a beard contest of some sort. I was just plain terrified.

Samurai Mario Battles Bowser and a Dinosaur

I'm not entirely certain what possessed someone to make this illustration of Mario attempting to battle a dinosaur and Bowser while dressed as an ancient samurai, but I like it. [Geekologie]

Ikea Makes an iPhone App

Good news for those who want to deck out their rooms with Ikea items, but need to see the entire catalog on their iPhone before shopping: There's an app for that. [Fresh Home]

I'll Tell You About The Audi E-Tron as Soon as I Stop Drooling

Ok, I don't think I can stop drooling long enough to type, so I'll keep it brief: Wowza. This is the Audi E-Tron which was shown off as a concept at prior car show. She's still got the 3,320 lb-ft of torque we were teased about, but now she's been photographed some more and she looks oh-so-very-nice. Check out the bright-pumpkin-orange car-shaped eyecandy over at Jalopnik. [Jalopnik]

And that someone just happens to be Etsy user iconpillow. Actually, he has quite a few pillow designs outside of iPhone icons that might make a great gift for someone who enjoys both gadgets and naps—including Facebook and Firefox. [Etsy via Geeky Gadgets]

If you don't have any idea what I'm talking about, here's Mirror's Edge in a nutshell: Parkour, with bullets. Which is an unusually hearty mix! The few early screens show what looks like a 3D sidescroller/platformer, which means that the iPhone version is a sort of hybrid game, somewhere between the original and the fantastic 2D Flash version that EA posted for free. Either way: awesome.

Especially since this is one of the few types of games that could actually benefit from the iPhone's tilt-based controls, as opposed to most franchise translations, which see every last ounce of joy sucks from their essence by that cursed accelerometer, and that god-forsken panel of glass. [Kotaku]

ILM Research Engineer Bhautik Joshi disassembled his iPhone only to stuff in part of his DVD player, the laser pickup, which houses three miniature magnifying lenses. These lenses are what made it possible for the iPhone to accept the light/images beaming through the 18-55mm lens, which was carefully positioned through PVC pipe, duct tape and cursing.

The results?
(iPhone left, modded version right)

The Phone-O-Scope doesn't take especially superb images, and it's a bit clumsy to handle. On the other hand, it's fun to shoot with and produces very analog (almost Holga-like) results.

We're just glad someone did it, finally, so we didn't need to duct tape our iPhone to our dSLR Flight of the Conchords style. [captin nod via MAKE via OhGizmo!]

I mean, the Logitech Harmony 900 costs $400, and even the Harmony 700 is $150.

Being touchscreen-based, you can tailor buttons to your lounge room kit, and group multiple devices into single macro "actions". There's also basic use of multi-touch (two finger swipes for volume, for instance), and you can control additional RedEye units that may be setup in different rooms.

The kit works with any iPhone or iPod touch, but doesn't yet support Bluetooth or Bang and Olufsen devices.

I gotta admit, the RedEye actually seems pretty cool. If the price comes down just a teeny bit, it may become a must-have iPhone accessory. [RedEye]

Apple didn't approve of the use of a private API in Pointy Heads Software's Knocking Live Video app, which allows iPhone users to stream live video to each other over 3G and Wi-Fi. After pleading to Steve Jobs to reconsider their verdict, Apple got back to developer Brian Meehan the next morning, promising that his request was being taken seriously.

Three hours later, with the order reportedly coming "directly from the top," the Knocking Live Video was available on the App Store, where you can download it for free now. Until Apple sticks a forward-facing camera on the iPhone, it's not ideal for video chat, but as Jesus pointed out in his rant yesterday, Apple's likely biding its time until it can smell the video chat competition.

Meehan's gone public with his story, telling Ars Technica that "Apple told me they are listening, and truly care about their developers and getting it right," giving hope to developers railing against them on the Apple Rejected Me hate-site, and hope for anyone wishing to use a private API in an app. With Apple loosening its grip in this instance, we could be seeing a lot more interesting apps launching soon. [Ars Technica]