Chill Out & About with Cardboard Coolers

Sometimes it’s nice to keep things chilled without lugging around a cooler. Cascade’s Cardboard Cooler Boxes ($15) are a new green alternative to the styrofoam options we’ve all used before (which are probably still sitting in mint condition on the garbage heap they were dumped on, right next to the Twinkies). Each box is composed of 70% recycled cardboard and features a NorShield waterproof coating for enhanced durability. On the cooling front, these boxes pretty much match the performance of other disposable coolers and can maintain a temperature of 41° F for 36 hours straight using two bags of ice. Having the french word for cold stamped in giant block letters across the box, unfortunately, won’t help your cool factor at all.

Titanium iPhone Case by Case-Mate

With all the complaints we heard after the iPhone 4 launched with its signal-squeezing metal frame, it's surprising that anyone would think of wrapping it in yet another layer of metal. Yet here we are, staring at the Case-Mate Titanium iPhone Case ($300). This precision-machined case is made from a single piece of titanium and matches the curves of the iPhone 4 perfectly — the fit is so tight, in fact, that minor assembly is required. Bet you can't say that about your current rubber case.

Everything You Need to Know about Apple i0S5

IPhone, iPad, and iPod touch owners will receive a ton of new features in iOS 5. The bad news is that the latest and greatest mobile operating system won’t be available until fall of this year for consumers. On the up side, we’ve made getting a knowledgeable head start on what’s to come super easy. So hit up the next page to check out the highlights of what was announced. We’ve even ranked them to sort out just the nifty stuff from the ground breaking — with the best saved for last.

Game Center

If you’re big into competitive mobile gaming, Apple’s game center has now made it easier to see how your skills compare with friends, and even friends of friends. To further fuel your gaming addiction, you can now also purchase games inside game center, and see a list of recommended titles you’d probably like based on your previous activity. So much for free time.

Newsstand

Just like the iBooks store, Newstand makes reading your favorite magazine subscriptions better on iOS devices — minus the surely attendant trying to shill you breath mints.

Twitter

Sharing activities and exploits, pointless or not, is now integrated into the core of iOS 5. Sign in once, and tweet images and much more without having to open the dedicated Twitter app on your phone. Communicating just got even lazier.

Reminders

Apple now has a to do list app of their very own. What’s cool about this version is that certain activities can be triggered based on where you are, so your phone won’t bother annoying you about doing the dishes if you’re still stuck at the office.

New Mail App

The iOS mail app has finally received some much needed love. Search now looks at your entire inbox and can parse through the bodies of email as well as the subject line, sender, and date. Users can create folders and flag email accordingly too, helping neat-freaks stay on top of their growing inboxes. Other nice touches include a new sweep gesture to jump to the inbox on the iPad, and a split screen keyboard mode for thumb typers who refuse to assimilate.

Wireless iPad Screen Mirroring

Apple released a special cord when the iPad 2 was announced which let tablet owners mirror their tablet screen on a larger TV. Now iPad owners can do the same thing, sans wires — making TV-based web browsers even more irrelevant.

Notification Center

Apple took a few cues from Android and the iOS jailbreaking community to totally revamp how updates and alerts are showcased in iOS. Just pull down the top status bar to view all notifications in an easy to read list. Swipe across items in the list to go directly to that app. Forget about those annoying in your face blurbs overtaking your screen every time someone sends you a text, or challenges you in scrabble too. Now, all messages appear in a small top drawer, leaving your screen free to stay focused on what you were doing. The lock screen displays updates as well, so there’s no need to unlock your phone just to learn that your latest high score was owned.

Safari

Apple has tweaked the iOS version of Safari to work more like its bigger desktop brother. New features include the introduction of tabbed browsing (huzzah!), and a reading list feature which converts complex web-based articles into an ad-free reading experience all on one page. It’s also useful for bookmarking things for later, on your mobile devices or your desktop.

iMessage

The bells are tolling for the end text message packages. iMessage takes all of the exclusive and snoopy qualities Blackberry owners loved about BBM (Blackberry Messenger) and brings it to all iOS devices. As a special app, iPhone, iPod, and iPad owners can send texts, photos, and videos to one another over 3G or Wifi. Users can also view when a message is delivered, read, or is in the process of responding to a message. Yup, it’s just another excuse for Apple fans to become even more cultish.

Camera App Improvements

Users can now jump immediately to their camera app by tapping a new button on the lock screen — you don’t even have to type in your password. The camera shutter can also be triggered by pushing the volume knob, making it easier to snap photos. Red-eye reduction, auto focus lock, and easy photo cropping are all readily available too — making quick edits easy. So forget blaming those missed opportunities to capture great and embarrassing moments on your sluggish smartphone.

PC Free

Say adios to the days of syncing your iPhone, iPad, or iPod via a wire. We’ve been waiting for a while, and now everything from iOS software updates, to backups, to transferring songs from your iTunes library can be done over a Wifi connection. Essentially, you no longer need a personal computer to get the most out of Apple’s portable devices. Cue Steve Jobs laughing maniacally.

iCloud

Apple saved the best for last when it came to feature announcements. iCloud is a new service that’s designed to help managing various files across your growing pile of devices a thoughtless process. To quote Apple, “”iCloud stores your content in the cloud and wirelessly pushes it to all your devices.” More specifically, the iCloud service is connected to nine apps including Pages, Numbers, Keynote, Calendar, Contacts, Apps, iBooks, Photos, and iTunes. Users will receive 5 GB of space — apps, books, and photos don’t count to that total. Users can store the last 30 days worth of images or up to 1,000 photos in a separate Photo Stream allotment.  

Gramophone iPod Station

In a playful nod to the past, Pottery Barn has brought to market this retro docking station.  It feature the flared brass horn of a turn-of-the-century gramophone.  It comes with an AC adaptor and a set of 5 universal docks.

Seagate GoFlex Satellite

Sure, your computer needs external storage — but what about your iPad? The Seagate GoFlex Satellite ($200) is ready to provide your nearly port-less portable with a healthy 500GB of storage, thanks to a built-in Wi-Fi connection that can provide up to three devices with simultaneous access to movies, music, and other media, for up to five hours per charge of its internal battery. Of course, there's also a USB 3.0 port for connecting to a Mac or PC. 

Google takes aim at iTunes with new service

Google is testing a new Music Beta service that is gearing up to take on the iconic iTunes.  Google's new service allows you to access your complete music library (Up to 20,000 songs) anywhere and anytime via their cloud-based service. 

According to Google, here are some of the services you get from the new service:

You can get to your personal music collection at home or on the go. Listen from the web or any enabled device with the Music app available from Android Market. Not online? No problem. The songs you’ve recently played will automatically be available offline. You can also select the specific albums, artists and playlists you want to have available when you’re not connected.

Spend more time listening to your music and less time managing it. Once your music is online, it’s always available. Playlists are automatically kept in sync, and you don’t have to worry about cables, file transfers, or running out of storage space.

Upload your personal music collection to a single library, even if it’s scattered across multiple computers. You can upload music files from any folder or add your iTunes® library and all of your playlists. And when you add new music to your computer, it can be automatically added to your music collection online.

You can request an invite to try the service HERE.

IPhone 5 Expected to Ship in Fall

Apple is expected to ship the iPhone 5 this fall according to new reports, meaning the iPhone 4 will need to hold its ground against the competition for an unprecedented amount of time between refreshes.

A series of reports today support the rumor that a new iPhone will not be launched at Apple's developer conference in June, as it been every year since the first-generation debuted in 2007. 

The idea that the iPhone 4 still has legs is supported by reports that new panels for the phone are still being produced, and sales of the still popular smartphone, which accounted for more than 40 percent of Apple sales for the last quarter of 2010, are remaining steady.

The iPhone 5 is rumored look similar to its predecessor but feature a faster processor, a better antenna, an expanded screen, and a much improved 8-megapixel camera.

AT&T to purchase T-Mobile

AT&T will buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion in cash and stock, easily making AT&T the nation's largest wireless carrier, ahead of top-ranked competitor Verizon Wireless and reducing the number of major national wireless carriers from four to three.  Consumer groups are sure to object because of concerns over market consolidation and less competition, but some analysts said the deal makes sense and won't lead to higher prices. Rumors circulated last year that T-Mobile was expected to be sold, possibly to third-place Sprint, so AT&T's emergence was somewhat of a surprise.

The deal, announced on today by both AT&T and T-Mobile's parent Deutsche Telekom, has been approved by the boards of both companies. Under the deal, Deutsche Telekom would receive an 8% equity stake in AT&T and a board seat.  The transaction is expected to close in 12 months, the companies said.  AT&T said the deal will add T-Mobile's 34 million customers to AT&T's 95.5 million total subscriber base (at the end of 2010), enabling a quicker expansion of 4G LTE wireless networks to the entire subscriber group of about 130 million. By comparison, Verizon had 94.1 million subscribers at the end of 2010 , although Verizon and AT&T count them somewhat differently.

LifeProof iPhone Case

Do you drop your iPhone every time you turns a corner, and then manages to kick it into a puddle full of dirty rain water?   If so, then that puny bumper your iPrecious is wrapped in sure isn’t going to do you any good. The LifeProof iPhone Case ($70), however, has all four proofs: water, shock, dirt and snow, down pat. With an unobtrusive, fully-sealed form (think: ruggedized version of Apple’s bumper) the case adds just 1.5mm of depth to the slim iPhone profile and is designed to military specifications against shock, water and dust. The LifeProof case even has 2 meter water resistance (or, the shower), double AR-coated optical glass and soon, an optional waterproof headphone adapter. Maybe now you can manage to actually get two years of life from your phone between replacements.

iPad2 v Motorola Xoom: Which is Better?

The comparisons between the Motorola Xoom and The Apple iPad 2 were inevitable. So which is the better tablet?

That all depends. You have to keep in mind that each device is totally different in its own way.  

The Apple iPad 2 comes with its Apple A5 chip, 1GHz dual-core CPU processor compared with the Motorola Xoom’s Tegra 2, 1GHz dual-core CPU which is also amazing hardware. 

When it comes to the OS, we cant deny that the Android 3.0 Honeycomb is the winner compared to the iOS 4.3. For those who loves taking pictures, the motorola xoom is the winner with its 5MP rear, 2MP front, 720p video compated to the VGA front, 720p video rear of the Apple iPad 2. 

When it comes to the price, Apple is the winner.


Finally, there is no questioning the fact that Apple's iPad 2 will be a commercial success after having having owned the tablet market for a full year, it'd be ridiculous if it weren't.  Brand name recognition and interface familiarity go a long way, and Apple has mastered the are tof making its products almost painfully simple to use.  However, for users who want more robust features, choices, and customization potential, though, the Xoom tablet and its Android operating system are light years ahead. 

2011 Mac Book Pro

With a raft of updates including the ultra-fast Thunderbolt I/O port technology (a snub at USB 3.0), the new MacBook Pros hardly qualify as an average mid-cycle refresh. The 15″ and 17″ MacBook Pros ($1,799-$2,499) are endowed with up to 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processors with Intel Turbo Boost 2.0 technology capable of cranking up to 3.4GHz – making these latest variants up to 2x faster than their predecessors. On the graphics end, AMD Radeon processors with 256MB-1GB of RAM yield up to 3x faster graphics for blazing Call of Duty or Photoshop sessions. Not to be left out the updated 13″ MacBook Pro ($1,199-$1,499) also jumps to a dual-core Intel Core i5 or i7 processor with 2.3GHz-2.7GHz speeds and Intel HD graphics. Along with the 10GBps hybrid Thunderbolt/MiniDisplay port, Apple has also added a full-screen HD video widescreen FaceTime camera, up to 8GB of RAM and a choice of hard drives ranging from 256MB to 750GB and 128MB-512MB solid-state drives. One thing that hasn’t changed: the inevitable arghs from recent buyers.

Solar Powered iPhone Battery

If you can still see the sun where you live, you could be charging your iPhone with its power thanks to the Eton Mobius ($TBA). This battery pack/case/solar charger is custom cut to fit your iPhone 4, and features a battery large enough to double your iPhone's runtime, a rear-mounted monocrystal solar panel, open access to all ports and controls, and a jeans-friendly form factor that won't necessitate bringing a bag along with you.

Finally, Verizon to get iPhone

After months of speculation,Verizon Wireless will start carrying the Apple iPhone 4 on February 10th.  The 16GB model goes for $199.99 and the 32GB model goes for $299.99 – both with a two year agreeement.  What's new about the Verizon iPhone is that it can become a "mobile hotspot" to power up to five laptops, iPads or other devices wirelessly.

Cool New Stands for Your Headphones

The curved shape of on- or over-ear headphones makes them comfortable to wear, but also makes them a pain to display. Omega Headphone Stands ($180) solve this problem by offering a simple Omega-shaped stand, formed from a single piece of wood, coated in matte clear lacquer, and available in cherry, maple, walnut, or zebrano finishes. As a bonus, it should help in keeping your cord untangled, but we know you're really just worried about keeping your Beats out where everyone can seem 'em.

The Ultimate IPod Speaker

Philips brings you an elegant speaker dock for your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPod Classic. The Fidelio Speaker dock features special PureDigital sound processing technology for great sounding tunes anywhere in your house. Output comes in at 2×15 W stereo sound with 5 band EQ, and the dock has a proximity sensor for illuminating the backlit controls when you’re close, and turning them off when you walk away. The Fidelio is yours for $199.99.

Sound Asleep? Really?

The Sound Asleep Comfort Pillow with Built-In speaker currently on sale at Bed Bath & Beyond for $30 bucks is for those who like to fall asleep to music.  Oh My!

Gift Ideas: Stainless Steel Condom Dispenser

Keep your prophylactis within arm's reach without looking like a sex addict with this Stainless Steel Condom Dispenser  ($42).  An extended slot on top allows for easy access -- leaving one hand free for... whatever -- and lets you see what you're grabbing.

Hot new billfold from Leffot

That pile of bills in your pockets says one thing, but if they are crumpled into a heaping pile, well, that says another. But traditional money clips aren't very good at their job, really — they're gaudy and can rip a bill better than hold it — and rubber bands are better suited for back alleys than the board room.

Now Leffot introduces the slimmed-down wallet which is as simple in function as it is refined in design. Available for $95-120 at Leffot.com 

 

Apolis Smartphone Wallet

Provide optimal protection for your smart phone with the Transit Issue Smartphone Wallet ($68 US).  The phone case has billfold slots that will hold your cash and cards.  Your phone will remain completely functional while in the case and you are able to quickly remove it.   

The Verizon iPhone “Rumor” Getting Stronger

A new rumor by the Wall Street Journal  is reviving what people have been awaiting for some time now, the end of the marriage between Apple and AT&T.

The Journal reports, "Apple Inc. plans to begin mass producing a new iPhone by the end of 2010 that would allow Verizon Wireless to sell the smartphone early next year, said people briefed by Apple.

The new iPhone would be similar in design to the iPhone4 currently sold by AT&T Inc. but would be based on an alternative wireless technology called CDMA used by Verizon, these people said."  The phone would go on sale sometime in the first quarter of next year.

Now that everyone who has AT&T has purchased the phone, it’s only right they look for some greener pastures.