There are all manner of iPhone camera hacks and attachments out there, but nothing as quite as home-brew as this macro-lens hack. Armed with a dead camera’s lens package, a bit of tape, and some paper-clip creativity, Colin Devroe conjured up this iPhone macro-lens camera attachment from scratch. The macro-lens hack purportedly takes decent up-close…
Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 to use microSD memory card after all; Windows Mobile 6.5 back in the mix?
Now that’s a refreshing change of pace from Sony Ericsson. It seems that Sony Ericsson updated their XPERIA X1 specification sheet to reflect the use of microSD expansion cards. Last time I mentioned the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 superphone, I said that I’d take the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 with that horrible, proprietary MemoryStick memory…
Apple trying to patent iPhone UI pinch
“Trying” bring the keyword here. You see, in order to score a patent from the USPTO (a process that can four years or more), the patent seeker has to demonstrate “a new and useful process, machine or a composition of matter.” Does the iPhone’s multi-touch pinching gesture qualify as a useful process? Well, “It seems…
iPhone contracts may be illegal in Australia – Apple may be forced to sell unlocked iPhones in Australia
Apple wants iPhone customers to not only buy their handset locked to an exclusive wireless operator’s network, but Apple has been forced to re-evaluate their business model when it released the iPhone in France. Telecom regulations in France required that Apple and Orange sell unlocked versions of the iPhone if the pair wanted to launch…
LinkedIn goes mobile; iPhone optimized version available
Social networks aren’t going away anytime soon – and the mobile space is the next frontier. Following on Facebook’s mobile version launch recently, the professional social network LinkedIn has announced that they have gone mobile. The LinkedIn mobile site is available at http://m.linkedin.com/ – and if you use your iPhone to visit the mobile version,…
Tattoo-based mobile phone concept is powered by blood, is crazy cool
If you’re a fan of body-art, then you might like the idea of being able to interact with your tattoos – to the point of using your tattoos to place phone calls (even video calls). At the Greener Gadgets Design Competition, Jim Mielke demonstrated his subcutaneous (that’s “under the skin” in non-biological speak) mobile phone…
Sprint’s Samsung Ace gets reviewed
Sprint just announced their Samsung ACE as another world-traveling handset to add to their global-phone lineup. Engadget Mobile has had some time to play with the Sprint Samsung ACE and came away satisfied. The Samsung ACE isn’t a whole new take on the QWERTY-keyboard toting Windows Mobile 6.0 Standard idea, but is rather a Sprint-branded…
Another iPhone usability study – InUse says that iPhone is easy to use, most preferred
To beat this particular cat to death, research firm InUse has just published another iPhone usability report. The iPhone’s user-interface (which defines the user experience) is the most unique and arguably the most attractive on the market, but just how does it fare against the top competitors? Quite well, quite well indeed. InUse pitted the…
Samsung takes on Nokia’s Ovi
Nokia isn’t the only handset manufacturer that wants to keep making money of its customers after the initial hardware purchase. Samsung announced at Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona that they intend to pursue an Internet-based services model, much like Nokia’s Ovi. The new strategy would unite all of Samsung’s premium web-services under one roof…
iPhone makes a cameo appearance at 80th Annual Academy Awards – Oscar loves the iPhone too
Did you catch the “Oscars” last night? With nearly a billion (that’s billion with a capital “B”) viewers, the 80th Annual Academy Awards was no doubt a huge opportunity for Apple to get even more coverage for the iPhone. Last night we saw “No Country for Old Men” go home with a handful of awards…