Before the iPhone 4 came out the App Store was chock full of various flashlight apps for iPhone and iPod Touch. Each one claimed to have some unique feature, making it better than all the rest, but in truth, they were all pretty useless. This was mostly down to one thing. They all rely on your device’s screen to provide the illumination. I tried a few of them, as I often go to bed after my wife, I need to find my way around without switching on the main light. So, I tried them, and quite frankly you get as much light from just taking your iPhone off standby, or loading up a web page. Why pay up to a dollar for an app that does nothing different to what your display can already do? Utterly pointless. Plus I could have had better light if I’d just bleached my teeth and smiled widely.

If you can't use this, you shouldn't have a phone...

With the iPhone 4 came the LED flash on the rear, and then the dawn of the first actually useful flashlight app. ‘Flashlight +’ has been on my phone for weeks now, and has saved me on many an occasion. The software links with the LED on your iPh4 and switches it on, or off with the touch of a large, unmissable virtual switch on your Retina display. If that’s not enough for you, then it also has a strobe function with an on-screen fader to increase or decrease speed. It’s also a handy app in the unlikely event of an emergency, or getting lost at night. It’s third function S-O-S, flashes the appropriate Morse code to alert anyone nearby that you are in peril.

The app costs 99 cents and is available on iTunes (link here). It’s compatible with iPhone 4 and the 4th generation iPod Touch. Personally, I think it’s well worth it. The light is bright, and ridiculously easy to use. Give it a go and let me know what you think below.

When it comes to portable power, Mophie is THE It thing. Others have tried to duplicate its magic — of offering a go-anywhere case that practically doubles the phone’s battery life — but it takes more than just cramming a power pack into a hardshell to take down a market leader like Mophie. It still leads the rest in this accessory category.

And folks, the company’s latest Juice Pack Air is looking good. Real good.

Yes, it’s still bigger than a standard iPhone 4 case, but believe me, all it takes is experiencing a dying phone during a critical moment just once, and you’ll get why this is such a great idea. And, let me tell you, this one shows a lot of improvement over previous models.

The Mophie Juice Pack for the original iPhone (left, center); Mophie Juick Pack Air for Iphone 3G/3GS (right)

Those huge, unwieldy cases have definitely gone on a diet, showing of a svelter, sexier profile, decked out in black/silver. And though it may be slimmer, it’s still beefy where power is concerned. This Juice Pack Air reportedly offers up to six more hours of talk time (over 3G), 36 extra hours of playback and nine more hours of video play.

And the best part? It ships NOW. At $79.95, this is one of those rare things in life that is actually worth the extra coinage.

To learn more about this item, check out the press release below or hit up Mophie directly at the official website.

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mophie Reveals First Look at Next Generation of juice pack

iPhone 4-compatible rechargeable external battery now available

SANTA ANA, Calif., Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ — mophie™ today revealed the 7th generation of its juice pack line, delivering on-the-go power to the iPhone 4 via its light-weight and ultra-thin external rechargeable battery case. The new juice pack air is the first of several products planned for 2010 and joins the juice pack legacy line of award-winning designs. The juice pack virtually doubles the battery life of the iPhone and its soft touch hardware also provides protection from device bumps, bangs and drops.

“mophie’s passion is creating intelligent products that help Apple fans interact with their device in new ways,” says Ross Howe, Vice President of Business Development at mophie. “With the release of the next generation form factor, it is only natural that we provide its users the extended battery life and protection that Apple fans have come to expect from mophie.”

The juice pack air for iPhone 4 is now available for purchase on www.mophie.com for $79.95. Key features and benefits include:

* juice pack Legacy – With more than one million juice pack units sold to-date, mophie cases have been made for every iPhone and iPod touch form factor since the devices’ debut and was the first-ever “Works with iPhone” battery case. The juice pack air for the iPhone 4 provides the very best of seven generations of product development and design.

* Battery Extender and Case in One – the juice pack air for iPhone 4 combines rechargeable external battery power concealed inside of a protective form-fitting case. It offers the full protection of a hard-shell case with an ultra-thin, light-weight, low-profile design.

* Twice the Power – the juice pack air for iPhone 4 virtually doubles the power available to rock, talk, surf and send. A full charged case gives users:

• Up to an additional 6 hours on 3G, up to 12 hours on 2G, of Talk Time
• Up to an additional 36 hours of Audio Playback
• Up to an additional 9 hours of Video Playback

* Advanced Battery Technology – Highly condensed lithium polymer battery delivers an incredible amount of juice in a small form factor and features built in overcharge, short circuit and temperature protection.

* Efficient Electronics – Embedded electronics results in no signal interference with the iPhone 4.

* Acoustic Sound Enhancement – The case design acts as a virtual speaker box, redirecting sound from the bottom of the iPhone 4 to the front, resulting in a richer, fuller sound quality.

* 4 Light LED Battery Status Indicator – An integrated LED status indicator tells you exactly how much “juice” is left and also displays how much time remains during the charging process.

* Quick Speed – 500 milliamps fast charge technology, with an advanced battery for added safety, as well as 1500 mAh capacity.

* Soft-Touch Finish – Sleek design includes a new, soft-touch, rubberized finish and silver band that mirrors the aesthetic of the iPhone itself.

* Pass-through USB – Included USB cable enables you to simultaneously charge and sync your iPhone 4 to iTunes without having to remove it from the juice pack air.

The mophie juice pack air for iPhone 4 is now available in black/silver at www.mophie.com for $79.95. For additional information regarding the mophie juice pack suite of products, please visit http://www.mophie.com

If you’re an iMovie app user, you’ve got a new update on deck with iMovie 1.1 today. Apple’s not only given it iPod Touch 4G support, it also added performance and reliability enhancements as well as a few other features. Users can now:

• split clips and loop music when vid goes on past the end of the soundtrack.
• scrub for clip previews in the Video Browser
• view in-app Tips
• view the latest pics at the top of the Photo Library
• see a Mute badge on clips with the audio off/disabled

iMovie 1.1 is a free update for current users who bought the $5 app, and is compatible with the iPhone 4 and 4th-gen iPod Touch with iOS 4.1. It’s available now, so if you want it, be sure to snag it from the App Store.

For more, hit up this link.

The latest on the “iPhone to Tmo” gossip comes from none other than Wired.com editor Chris Anderson.

The tech journo tweeted yesterday about a very casual encounter with a T-mobile manager, who offhandedly mentioned that the carrier’s iPhone offering this year won’t be the iPhone 4, but rather, the 3GS.

Wait, back up. A Tmo staffer talking about an iPhone offering like it’s a done deal, while chewing the fat with none other than big tech figure Chris Anderson? This may be second-hand (or now third- or fourth-hand) gossip, but at least it’s not some anonymous tipster’s school chum who got the leak from his girlfriend’s T-mobile-employed father.

Still, it’s not Chris who’s actually confirming that this is going to happen, but merely relating what he was told. And it could just be hot air that some carrier rep was blowing off to impress a big-time tech dude. But the fact that he specifically mentioned it was the 3GS, and not the iPhone 4, is kind of interesting. (And sort of believable.)

Not to lend any more credence to this rumor than it deserves, but this does spark an interesting question: Could you see yourself snagging an iPhone on Magenta, even if means it’s the last-generation model? Would you grab that SIM card, and do a little hackery to stuff it inside an iPhone 4? Or would you do stick with AT&T, regardless of whoever else might pick up the device? Let us know below.

Via: TmoNews, 9to5Mac

Last week saw the unveiling of the brand new, spangly range of Apple media players. The headline act obviously was the iPod Touch. It was loaded up with some awe-inspiring features. Packed with a Retina Display, HD video recording, a mic and front-facing camera, it was enough to make iPod loyalists wet themselves, just a tiny bit. To be completely honest, I didn’t expect Cupertino to slap a Retina Display on the gizmo. I thought they’d at least leave it for another year, but no, Apple decided that music lovers (who couldn’t get an iPhone 4 for whatever reason) needed to have the same specs.

I am not happy. It’s not the device itself that I’m displeased with; in fact, I think it’s great. It’s quite easily the best portable media player around. But I despise it sheerly out of envy. I got the iPhone 4 on launch day, falling in love with the HD camera, FaceTime and high resolution screen. It goes without saying that along with this hefty smartphone came a hefty price. There’s the initial cost of the handset plus the monthly plan commitments. Now Steve Jobs tells me that, had I waited, I could’ve paid just $200 flat and gotten pretty much the same tech, minus some storage and a cellular network. That’s a non issue, at least for me. I’d happily use Skype or FaceTime to make up for it, for the sake of a few hundred dollars’ savings.

What Cupertino is basically saying is, “If you want an iPod Touch that makes phone calls, you’re gonna have to fork out $ (insert your plan costs here) every month for a minimum of two years, thank you very much.” Now I’m ticked. I was admittedly a little smug about iPod Touches before, and self-satisfied with my choice of device. Making calls on a Touch wasn’t practical, as it had no built-in mic, nor did it have a camera. And in my subjective opinion, the latest iPhone 4 was simply better looking than all its predecessors in the iPhone or Touch categories. For me, it was always worth the extra expense, and it was even more this year — that is, before the new iPods were announced. Now I really don’t see where all my money is going anymore.

The sales person may as well have just shot me in the foot the moment I signed that two year plan.

They say jealousy is a bad thing, and whoever “they” are, they’re probably right. The new iPod Touch is a stunning device, which is why I hate it. I’m quite convinced I’ll end up getting one… and selling my iPhone. I mean, really, is there a good reason to keep the iPhone 4 now? Why not just throw all that money saved from the monthly fee toward a 64 GB Touch option. (The fact that the Touch can come with this much storage both adds salt in the wound and tempts me to no end.)

Is anyone else struggling with this too? Do you feel ripped off like I do? Or are you happy that your beautiful, sleek device has been practically matched by its MP3 player cousin? Touch fans, you must be delighted no? Comment below or Tweet @TiP_Cam

According to the iPhone DEV Team, if you’re sporting a jailbroken iPhone, you need to stay strong and not give in to the temptation of iOS 4.1. If you don’t, you will lose your jailbreak — and you won’t be able to get it back, at least for now. Possibly forever. Here’s what they said:

There’s currently no known way to revert your baseband — if you update your baseband you’ll lose the ultrasn0w unlock, possible forever. Please stay away from this 4.1 release until a safe jailbreak procedure (which also preserves ultrasn0w) is developed and released.

Whenever a new software update comes out, it’s always a good idea to wait until there’s a new jailbreak for it before loading it up. But the Dev-Team’s urgency this time around (and that “possibly forever” comment) may warrant some extra caution this time around. But they are working on it, and after they’ve had more time to play with this update, they’ll know better what they can or can’t do.

Like always, there’s no way to know when a new jailbreak could come. It could be super-fast, or it could take weeks or months. But if you care anything about losing the jailbreak, then this is the time to exercise patience.

Via: Geek.com, iPhone Dev-Team blog

Proximity sensor victim? Game Center enthusiast? Now’s your chance to check out the fixes and new features firsthand. Just grab that handset and plug it into iTunes to get the latest Apple software update. Again, it’s compatible with the iPhone (3G*, 3GS, and 4) and iPod Touch (2nd, 3rd, and 4th-gen). (Sorry first-generation device owners.)

Of course, as always, if you have a jailbroken device, you’ll want to think twice before snagging this, at least until the iPhone Dev-Team gives the “all clear” sign with a new jailbreak. (And whether that will happen is in question.)

As for the rest of you, if you’re not at all reluctant to grab this, report back and share your impressions of this piece of newness.

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*Sadly, it seems the iPhone 3G isn’t getting any Game Center goodness, though :-(

It looks like Nike is throwing in the towel with its Nike+ pack and has instead decided to go for a more direct route. The old app relied on a buggy sensor inside a special Nike shoe (which was sold separately). The new Nike+ GPS lets you track your jogging runs without having to purchase the entire Nike+ iPod pack. (That alone saves you an easy $30.)

The new app makes use of the built-in GPS sensor and accelerometer on the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 to track your speed, distance, time and calories burned. According to Nike, the app will still work even when the GPS signal is lost (though I’m guessing you probably need to have it running to start, so it can initially locate you). If “social” is the hot buzzword, then Nike’s hopped all over that too: Users can upload data to Nikeplus.com to share progress, set goals and even accept challenges (like running longer distances or doing a previously recorded run at a faster pace). The verbal words of encouragement and “powersong” features are like icing on the cake.

iPod Touch owners can also use the app to track distance and speed, though the lack of GPS means it won’t be able to map out the course.

If Nike isn’t your thing, there are still some pretty good alternatives in the App store like Runkeeper Pro and Run Tracker. But they lack the Nikeplus app’s social networking capabilities, so the $1.99 pricetag makes Nike+ GPS a good deal in my book. Check out the description on iTunes and if you give it a whirl then let us know how you like it.

Via: Intomobile

When it comes to Verizon and Apple, it’s been quite an interesting history: First there were rumors that Apple went to Verizon, offering the iPhone for the CDMA network. Big Red subsequently turned them down based on device control. (Apple wasn’t going to give that control up to anyone, so they went to good old Cingular with the offer, which later became AT&T.)

Then a year or so later, Verizon started to take some punches at Apple’s device with its “Droid Does” campaign. The ads focused on the popular Droid smartphone doing things that you couldn’t do with the iPhone. There was also the pretty controversial “There’s a map for that” campaign, which played on Apple’s “There’s an App for that” commercials while pointing out AT&T’s comparative lack of 3G coverage.

Now we’ve got another jab at the iPhone with Motorola’s Droid 2 (also on Verizon). A new full-page newspaper ad simply states, “Flash websites? There’s a phone for that.” Since the Droid 2 comes with the Android 2.2 OS, it is capable of running Flash using Adobe’s Android application (which has been available for Nexus One’s for nearly 4 months).

Flash has probably been the #1 controversy created by Apple’s smartphone since Steve Jobs first (and ahs repeatedly since) banned the technology from iOS devices. Some say that the lack of Flash has iPhone users missing out on at least 80% of the web content available on a desktop computer.

I say the problem’s been overblown. Yes, there are a lot of videos that require Flash, but it’s not that hard to recode video into the HTML5 standard to make it viewable on the iPhone. (There’s even an app submitted and in review for the App Store that claims to do this on the fly.) On the user side, the big things we’re missing without Adobe’s technology are the games and ads, ads, ads. I really wish I had access to play these simple games, but I really don’t miss the blaring, animated advertisements.

Also worth noting is that native Flash support slows down webpage loading. I have been using Flash on a Nexus One for a while now, and it doesn’t really add much to the web browsing experience. Sometimes I even have to turn it off, so I don’t have to sit around waiting for Flash content to load. And when it comes to load speeds, faster internet doesn’t necessarily fix the problem. Much of the content goes through the phone’s processor, so even if the data connection and speeds are fast, you may still have sluggish performance. (I have been browsing the internet on Tmo’s new “Like 4G” internet connection, and it hasn’t changed a bit.)

What say you guys? Do you still consider Flash the essence of the Internet, or can you live without it? (And for you jailbreakers, if you still want the real thing on your iPhone, there’s always Frash.)

Via: Electronista

When the iPhone first came out, it was a pretty big jump from what phones were like at the time. It was considered a huge touchscreen (with a huge lack of buttons, except for home, volume and power). Most people fell immediately in love. But others just couldn’t get past the fact that it lacked any form of a physical keyboard.

Most took it upon themselves to let their imaginations run wild, and whenever that time of the year came for a new iPhone, there would be endless numbers of rendered mock ups showing the Apple device with a keyboard. If you were one of those who pined for a hardware QWERTY, then your dreams may have just come true. It may not be built in, but it’s possibly the next best thing.

This weekend Nuu showed off an interesting accessory at this weekend’s IFA show in Berlin — The Nuu Mini Key for the iPhone 4. (It’s a nice little keyboard that actually reminds me of the one on T-Mobile’s yet-to-be released G2, but without the staggered keys.) It connects to your device via Bluetooth, to let you hammer out those long, drawn-out emails that otherwise would be a pain to type up on a display alone.

Right now it’s just a prototype, and the design could change a lot before we seen the finished result. But I wouldn’t mind seeing the accessory in stores just as it is now. Surprisingly the keyboard doesn’t look like it adds that much bulk, at least according to the pictures, and that’s definitely one thing I want to avoid.

From the images, people are supposing that it opens like a clamshell keyboard, but from what I can see, this looks more to me like a slide out keyboard that angles up. None of the pics seem to offer definite proof of which type of design it really is. What do you think? If you can shed some light on the subject, weigh in below at the comments.

Via: MobileMag
Photo: Via Engadget