Apple Thoughts - News & Reviews on all things Apple

"How about a nice thick wooden case for that upcoming iPad? While it does double the width of the iPad and make it significantly more unwieldy, it does look nice. This is certainly a "case" of form over function. Har."

I can see using this, if I wanted to use my iPad for a picture frame, cycling through my iPhoto library. Other than that, not so much. They are going to sell for $79.95 USD and are from a company called Vers, which also sells iPhone cases made from wood.

The Gomadic chargers are very slick, and we recently did a Quick Look on the 2-in-1 Charger pictured above. If you aren't familiar, the system uses what they call "Tip Exchange" so all you need is one cable and a tip for each device, instead of having to carry around separate charging cables. They pretty much cover every device know to man, or at least it seems that way (the brand list is here).

Now the folks at Gomadic are being generous enough to give away four (4) of their 2-in-1 Charging cables as well as two tips to be chosen by each winner. Since Gomadic has such wide coverage on devices, this is a network-wide contest. To win, all you have to do is go to the Tip Exchange page and pick two of the charging tips you want to go with your 2-in-1 Charger. Post the two numbers along with a reply to this post and you are entered. You MUST post the two tip numbers in your reply or your entry won't be counted.

One post per person, and the contest closes on Friday the 19th of March at 12pm Pacific time, GMT -7. This contest is world-wide with Gomadic providing the shipping. Remember that all first posts in our system are held in moderation, so if this contest entry is your first post, please wait up to 48 hours before getting concerned if your post hasn't shown up yet - it will. Winners will be contacted via private forum message, so have email notifications turned on. Winners will have 72 hours to claim their prize.

The title of this really rings true, as this device works for ALL of my charging needs. The company, Gomadic, makes charging adapters but they do it with a twist. Instead of making a different cable for each device, they use what they call "Tip Exchange" so that you only have to buy one cable and the initial charging tip. Once you accumulate devices, instead of buying all new cables, just buy the tip you need and you are good to go. The cables are made by Gomadic and have a lifetime warranty on them (For the first thirty days after your purchase we replace or refund all Gomadic products no questions asked. After the thirty-day grace period has expired, we ask our customers to provide a brief explanation of the problem and if there is indeed some product defect, we're happy to replace any Gomadic product for as long as you own it.) as well as a high output of 1000mAh. On top of that, according to Gomadic, they use "advanced internal circuitry to protect from power surges, overcharging and short-circuiting." These chargers are also built to work anywhere in the world with their international adapter kit.

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"Social networking and user sharing are widespread across the Internet. So why shouldn't peripherals follow suit? Doxie, which was first introduced back in August, has now made its official debut, arriving at this week's Macworld Expo. Portable, cute (as in a pink heart embellishing the power button), and simple, this scanner can scan images directly to the online cloud."

Announced just prior to Macworld, this little scanner works with a variety of applications (the list is posted here and includes my favorite Evernote) to make sharing or saving documents simple. You can either save to one of your desktop programs, to an online service such as Flickr or use Doxie's free cloud service and get a link to share. It saves them in PDF, JPEG or PNG file format up to 600 dpi color or 200 dpi grayscale. $129.00 USD is the price and will be shipping out by the end of March. If you don't like the pink heart decorations, no worries as it also comes with six different skins. This seems like just the thing for you road warriors out there, any thoughts?

"We're still on the lookout for battery backup options to power recharge your iPhone, iPod touch or just about any USB mobile device. The market just got a bit larger with the introduction of the HyperMac line of batteries at Macworld."

The ones above, called the "Hypermac Mini" are currently on sale at the HyperMac website for $99.95 USD, a savings of $20.00 USD. These are rated at 7200 mAh and are supposedly able to give you enough capacity to charge your iPhone 6 times. They also claim the batteries will last for about 1,000 charges, and since they have inputs for USB, DC in and mini USB so you can also charge other devices. The other models are the Nano and Micro, rated at 1800 mAh and 3600 mAh respectively, with the Nano selling for $69.95 USD and the Micro selling for $89.95 USD.

"Joby, maker of those alien-looking, bendy camera tripods, has announced additions to its Gorillamobile line at the Macworld Expo. There a flexible set of legs for the iPod Touch, an updated iPhone camera app, and a new LED flashlight."

I have several of these and really like how they work. I really like the LED Flashlight they came out with that is pictured above. The free Gorillacam iPhone App was also updated so you get a 4x digital zoom, a tap-to-focus tool (3GS only) and it has added some anti-shake capability for those times when you shouldn't have had that last Red Bull. You can find out all about their products at Joby.com.

"You probably all know a music lover/headphone snob that looks at you with despair every time you pull out your stock iPhone headphones. Too often, it follows by him trying to sell you on the "We can hear the difference" cult while pushing his dirty $600 piece of plastic in your ears."

I'm a bit tone deaf myself, so I never wanted to spend much on a set of ear buds, opting to stick with the earphones that came with the iPhone, even though they never stayed in correctly. So when Apple came out with their in-ear headphones I immediately upgraded for about $80.00 USD. They sound fine to me, but in my business of having to wear a headset for hours on end for about 14 years, I'm not the go-to guy for a sound quality opinion. I'm more impressed with the fact that Apple's In-Ear Headphones stay in my ears. So if you can't stomach the $100.00 USD Bose version, you might like Apple's In-Ear version, I know I do. But don't use me as a roadmap for the sound quality, and if that is the most important aspect for you, then you may want to consider the Bose as well. The author seems to like them just fine.

"And let the accessorizing begin! Tom Bihn, maker of messenger bags and laptop bags, has already announced two bags that will fit the iPad."

One called the Cache is more like a sleeve, and the other called Ristretto is pictured above. Tom Bihn isn't the only one either, the folks at Magnetism have also jumped into the iPad case field offering a couple choices of their own, but instead of synthetic material they use clothing grade fabric and linings. Not to be outdone Belkin also has a line of iPad covers. I'm sure in the next month or two many more will jump into the fray for accessories for the iPad. But to tell you the truth, the cover that Apple came up with is pretty slick and will be hard to beat. 

"Japan-based Bird Electron has announced [JP] the Ezison 100 today, a quite unusual speaker for the iPhone (or iPod touch) that's supposed to turn those devices into some kind of electric guitar. The Ezison 100 is (hand)made in Japan, with Bird Electron saying they used mainly wood and acrylic fiber in the production process."

Here are some of the specs: 2W digital amp using three AAA batteries, weighing in at 650g and measuring 450x150x35mm. Turn yourself into a guitar hero with any number of apps in the iTunes app store. It's expected to go on sale in about a month at Bird Electronics website, for roughly $250.00 USD. Sorry no link but the site isn't accessible or working when I tried to check on it.

"Cable vendor CableJive has introduced the DuaLink, a USB dock-connector cable for iPods and iPhones that lets you charge and sync two devices simultaneously."

The cable has a two port USB hub inside the cable so that is how it's able to charge and sync two different devices at the same time, very clever and it runs $25.95 USD according to the CableJive website.

"Apple has just released a brand new European USB charger for its iPod/iPhone line. It looks way better than the current American one (which came to replace the defective original one) and will also nicely replace our old bulky European bricks."

I know it's only a charger but I really like the looks of this, very slick, and it has the "traditional 2 pins on one side and a full-featured female USB port on the other." Line up now! Well, if you are in Europe that is...

"Ever wish your MacBook was a little more, well, bookish? If so, you're in luck! The folks at Twelve South are putting the 'book' in 'MacBook' with the aptly named BookBook case."

At $79.95 USD for the 13-inch MacBook, it is a bit bulky for my tastes. But if you want a novelty cover that is unique, perhaps is what you are looking for. It doesn't really appeal to me, but to each his own. 

"There aren't many major iPod and iPhone accessory brands that haven't brought-or tried to bring-their product lines to consumers in the United States. The launch of Japanese brand Simplism here enables us to cross one more name off the ever-shrinking list; the company has developed a dominant position on store shelves in Japan, as we noticed during our most recent visit there in November, and now it is bringing a massive collection of its products to American customers."

These are fantastic looking cases, at least on the surface even though, per the article, there are some inconsistencies with the stitching and other design decisions. They also make charging accessories for a wide range of Apple products. Not sure yet on the availability, but you can see more examples and prices at a review iLounge did at the end of December. 

"Holiday spending has seen sales of Apple's Magic Mouse soar. According to a report by NPD and covered today by AppleInsider, last month saw a twofold increase in Apple's share of domestic mice sales. By the end of November, Apple had captured 10 percent of the market."

Image Credit: SlashGear

However, that doesn't mean the author is a fan of the Magic Mouse. How do I know? This partial quote, describing his user experience, pretty much sums up his feelings: "transforming my hand into a deformed claw of knotted knuckles and cramp." Makes you want to go out and buy one doesn't it? I still have the Mighty Mouse, Bluetooth version, and haven't decided if I want to get this one. I still may, based on a few minutes in an Apple Store when I played around with it and it does everything I needed it to do. One thing is for certain, it certainly seems to be popular and you can't dispute that it does have a great form factor.

Figure 1: First impressions? Nice packaging!

I've used several protective covers for my various iPhones since my first one back in 2007, so I'd say I have quite a bit of experience with them. Last week I was sent one to try out on my iPhone 3GS from XO Skins and I was pleasantly surprised by a few things. Just what exactly you may ask? Read on!.

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"The iPhone 3G and latest iPod models have created problems for Apple fans because their old docking accessories are not able to charge their new purchases. Scosche has a solution which will be on sale this month - the US$40 passPORT has a female pass-through connector that can snap into any iPod universal dock or in-car iPod integration system to support charging for the iPhone 3G, iPod nano 4th generation and iPod touch 2nd generation."

The Scosche passPORT, if it works as intended, will save carrying around so many charging cables, especially if you have a mixture of generations of iPods or iPhones like I do. It's available now at Amazon for roughly $22.00 USD

"Macessity has released a new product for its line of laptop accessories, the NX stand. The notebook stand features steel construction with an aluminum-color powder coat, with a design enabling users to stand their laptop vertically within a cushioned slot."

An option for you if you have an external display you want to use your laptop with, and need to conserve space. This retails for around $60.00 USD. I like the addition of the USB ports and the form factor is very nice.

All you have to do is subscribe to Matt's Macintosh YouTube video channel and you are entered, but only two days remaining so act fast if you want a chance to win a Magic Mouse.

"Take a look at the Viper Rush, a laptop bag released today. If the name alone doesn't get your adrenalin pumping, consider that this is a "work-in" case. It's for busy professionals who don't have time to remove their notebooks from their bags, thank you very much; just open the top and start computing."

I like the concept, all in one bag you don't even have to take the laptop out of to use. Sounds like it would be perfect for travelers or if you are limited in space where you work. Retails for $129.95 USD, more info at the Booq Bag site.

"Accessory maker Belkin has issued a special product recall, addressing some of the company's TuneBase car docks. Specifically affected are the TuneBase FM with ClearScan, the TuneBase FM with Hands-Free, and the TuneBase Direct with Hands-Free."

The model numbers are F8Z441, F8Z441ea, F8Z442, F8Z442ea, F8Z176 and F8Z176eaBLK. If you go to Belkin and fill out the web form, they will mail you a prepaid UPS label to use. Some of these products are heating up, and actually smoking when used.