iPhone

An Augmented Reality Made With Hand-Drawn Cartoons and an iPhone

Prolific doodler Marty Cooper carries around animation cels, a marker, and some Wite-Out as he wanders the city, creating whimsical scenes that turn mundane background imagery into charming mini-stories. And he painstakingly captures them on his iPhone to create the animated world of Aug(De)Mented Reality. http://mcgnarcal.tumblr.com/ These grin-inducing little vignettes defy rigid definition: are they…

Your Phone Will Break Before These Fortified Charging Cables Do

It’s widely assumed that printer manufacturers make all of their money from expensive replacement ink cartridges, not the hardware. Perhaps the same can be said for smartphone makers, given how often their USB charging cables break. But you can put an end to constant replacements with these MOS Spring cables that are reinforced six ways…

Google search for iOS just got updated with Siri-style voice searching—including follow-up questions like “what’s the weather like?” followed by “how about this weekend?”. It also features custom alerts to keep you updated on your favorite sites, blogs, and more. Download it here for free. [iTunes via 9to5mac]

Of Course an Apple Engineer Has an iPhone Business Card

You’d assume that if any company on Earth had a well-designed business card, it would be Apple. But apparently one of their engineers still felt they could create something that left an even better first impression, so they designed this incredibly unique business card made from an actual iPhone glass sourced straight from Foxconn. The…

The iPhone Camera May Be In for a Revamp With Help from a Lumia Engineer

Today we learned that Ari Partinen, former Lumia Photography Lead over at Nokia, was hired away by Apple. The move could indicate that Apple is pouring resources into developing a next-generation iPhone camera. Partinen was with Nokia since 2007, through the rollout of the 41 megapixel 808 PureView camera and subsequent incorporation of the technology…

Siri Exploit Lets Anyone Skip the Lockscreen to Text or Call Contacts

The iPhone lockscreen has never been completely secure. Past exploits allowed random people to access your photos or to make callswith a few choreographed swipes. The latest, however, can grant access to your full contact list through Siri and let a stranger call, text, or email anyone they want from your number. Discovered by Egyptian…

Boosted iPhone Battery Life, Retina iPad Minis, Cheap Storage

Been complaining about your iPhone’s battery life? Today’s the day to do something about it. Get the uNu DX iPhone 5/5S MFi Battery Case for 50 bucks. It comes in multiple colors, greatly improves battery life while staying slim, and has a stack of great reviews to its name. [Groupon] It’s a good day to…

A Remote Control for Your Smartphone Camera, Built Right Into a Case

A remote shutter release for your smartphone’s camera can help you get better photos, but they’re not terribly useful unless you’ve got one with you when it’s time to take one. iLuv’s new Selfy offers a clever solution to the problem of carrying one around everywhere by building one right into a case. Selfy’s remote…

26 Inspiring Instagrams

Love it or hate it, Instagram is the photographic platform of our era (mixed with a bit of Facebook and Snapchat, of course). Here are 26 reasons why maybe that’s not such a bad thing after all. Winner: ByWard Market Shooting this last Thursday at ByWard Market in Ottawa, I was in trip with few…

Why Smartphones Are About to Get Tacky as Hell

If you haven’t seen Samsung’s new teaser for its Galaxy S5 “Crystal Collection,” shield your eyes now—this thing has enough reflective power to blind the sun. And judging by the shape of the smartphone market, phones dripping with crystals will soon be the status quo. Get ready for an army of handsets that shine so…

Apple Will Fix Your iPhone 5’s Sleep Button for Free—If You Qualify

Is your iPhone’s sleep/wake button finicky? You might be in luck. On Friday, Apple announced a new program to fix a small number of iPhone 5s with faulty buttons. Just input your phone’s serial number on this page to see if you qualify. And if you do, be prepared to be without your phone for…

An iPhone App Knows How You Feel By Checking Your Pulse

The Morpholio Project‘s latest development uses an iPhone’s camera and flash as an impromptu pulse monitor, measuring your visceral reaction to the things you’re seeing. It’s like a lie detector for your aesthetic taste, and Morpholio’s Toru Hasegawa let me play with it. The Morpholio Project is a collaboration of architects and academics focused on…

iCracked: The Screen Repair Service That Comes to You Is Fantastic

There comes a time in every phone’s life when its screen cracks. The are three ways to deal with it: You could live with it, to teach yourself a lesson, you could get in line for a replacement at the Apple Store, or you could call the on-demand screen repair service iCracked. You should probably…

Bloomberg: iOS 8 Will Have Shazam’s Song Identification Baked In

Can’t name that tune? No worry: Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is partnering with Shazam to embed song identification software right into its forthcoming iOS 8. The news agency reports that two of its sources believe Apple is “planning to unveil a song-discovery feature in an update of its iOS mobile software that will let…

A Simple Silicone Sleeve Turns Your iPhone Into a Game Boy

The touchscreen generation might not know any better, but those of us who grew up with Game Boys know that physical control pads and buttons will always trump on-screen alternatives. Entire this slide-on silicone sleeve, called the G-PAD, that turns your smartphone into an even better handheld gaming machine. Created by Aws Jan who’s currently…

Before the iPhone Launched, Android Didn’t Support Touchscreens

It’s virtually impossible to imagine now, but back when the iPhone was launched in 2007, Google wasn’t planning to make Android for touchscreen devices. Revealed in court documents that form part of the current Apple-Samsung legal argument, a Google report explains that Android “was designed with the presence of discrete physical buttons as an assumption.…

Mophie Space Pack Review: All the iPhone Storage You Need (Plus Bulk)

Mophie invented the battery charging iPhone case eons ago, saving legions of email addicts from mid-day phone death. With its new Space Pack case, Mophie hopes to once again give iPhone users something they’ve never had before: Extra storage space. What is it? A 1700 mAh battery case for iPhone 5/5S that doubles as an…

The Most Elegant iPhone Speaker Is Just A Single Piece Of Blown Glass

Here is a sleek way to showcase your iPhone’s looks and sounds. There are no wires or buttons or even plastic in this passive amp—just a single piece of glass, handcrafted to exacting proportions, that can wrap a room in sound. “My Phone Amp” is the work of glass artist Aric Snee. He blows the…

Reuters: Larger iPhone 6 Screens to Enter Production by May

Rumors of larger iPhones have been swirling around for some time now, and the WSJ recently suggested that two would arrive some time this year. Now, a Reuters report suggests that those rumored larger screens may go into production as soon as May. https://gizmodo.com/report-apple-working-on-two-big-iphones-for-whatever-1461762060 Reuters reports cite supply chain sources who claim that Apple is…

How a 2005 Steve Jobs Ultimatum Turned Into the iPhone We Know

Way back in 2005, Apple engineer Greg Christie was toying around with ideas for a touchscreen telephone. Then, Jobs gave him an ultimatum: show serious progress in two weeks, or someone else gets the project. There’s nothing like a threat to sharpen one’s focus—and Jobs’ demand for ” bigger ideas and bigger concepts” really did.…