The iTorch, a portable iPhone charger that lights the way

By Jim Gresham on Apr 10, 2013

Since my visit to CES 2013, a quest for a backup portable iPhone charger began. Running around the world’s largest trade show peddling for power was pretty ugly. New Trent was kind enough to send one over for review and it fitted the bill for my charging woes. A simple, travel size device, the iTorch IMP52D provided a full charge in just under 2 hours for my iPhone 5… Read More

 

Apple’s Lightning to Micro USB Adapter hits US online store

By Christian Zibreg on Nov 2, 2012

Apple’s been an avid supported of USB for years. With USB 3.0, not so much – at least not until first Mac notebooks with USB 3.0 support began rolling out of assembly lines last year. The company, however, never adopted the industry-standard Micro USB connector. Instead, and much to the horror of the multi-billion dollar accessory biz, it chose to replace its own bulky, decade-old proprietary 30-pin dock connector with Lightning, another proprietary connector similar in size to micro USB (there’s a reasonable explanation for that).

So, if you fancy connecting your Lightning-enabled mobile devices to micro USB cables and chargers to sync and charge, Apple comes to the rescue with its official Lightning to Micro USB Adapter. Originally released in Europe in September due to regulations mandating that all mobile phones be charged via commonplace micro USB adapters, it’s now finally available to U.S. customers. How much? Just $20. I know, don’t start… Read More

 

Engineer explains why Apple went with Lightning instead of Micro USB

By Cody Lee on Sep 14, 2012

Among the many changes found in the iPhone 5 is the new Lightning dock connector. For months we’ve been expecting Apple to replace the aging 30-pin port in its new handset, and it did.

The change has caused a bit of controversy, because folks don’t understand why it was necessary, and they don’t know why Apple didn’t go with the more popular Micro USB connector.

As it turns out, Micro USB isn’t smart enough… Read More

 

AViiQ Ready Clips brings tangle proof USB cables for your iPhone

By Jim Gresham on Jul 12, 2012

Simply, I hate tangled cables. The most worthless item in your bag is a knotted-up bunch of charging cables and, if you’ve really got a bird’s nest, it can take forever to untangle. Thankfully, everyone at AViiQ shares the common tangled-disaster-pain that ravages the world of technology and decided to do something about it. Ready Clips are here as the antidote and they fit quite nicely in a travel bag… Read More

 

Apple Unveils New Micro-USB Adapter for European iPhones

By Cody Lee on Oct 4, 2011

Apple has been rumored to be working on a micro-USB cable for quite some time now. Last year, the Cupertino company agreed to comply with a European campaign to standardize cell phone chargers, but it has yet to ante up.

Well amongst the onslaught of announcements today, Apple made good on its promise. The company quietly rolled out a micro-USB adapter for its standard 30-pin dock connector, which enables the two interfaces to work together… Read More

 

Purported Apple Branded Micro USB Cable Surfaces

By Cody Lee on Aug 30, 2011

If you take a look around at all of the latest handsets from other manufacturers, you’ll notice they all have one thing in common — the charging port. It seems most mobile phone-makers have settled on the micro-USB cable as a standard.

Apple, however, has continued to go with its proprietary 30-pin connector for all of its mobile gadgets. But a recent report from German-based blog iPhone-ticker suggests that that could all change this Fall… Read More

 

How to Watch Live ESPN3, Amazon VOD, And More With a Jailbroken Apple TV 2

By Jeff Benjamin on Aug 23, 2011

Yep, that’s a picture of a live football match running on my Apple TV 2. Interested in the ability to watch live sports, stream movies from Amazon VOD and Hulu? Then you’ve come to the right place.

In our third and final tutorial in our Apple TV jailbreak series, we show you how to cut the cable cord completely, and gain access to all sorts of streaming goodies, courtesy of that tiny black miracle box.

If you’ve already taken the steps to jailbreak your Apple TV with Seas0nPass, and install aTV Flash (black), then check inside for the final piece of the puzzle — installing XBMC and streaming content from a PlayOn instance running from your Mac or PC… Read More

 

How to Install aTV Flash Black on the Apple TV 2

By Jeff Benjamin on Aug 22, 2011

If you’ve successfully followed our previous jailbreak tutorial for the Apple TV 2, you’re likely thinking, “now what?”

A jailbroken Apple TV on its own isn’t much to look at. In fact, there’s no way to discern a stock Apple TV from a jailbroken Apple TV with the naked eye.

Fortuantely, the folks at FireCore have created an insanely easy way to tap the power of a jailbroken Apple TV using an application called aTV Flash Black.

aTV Flash Black is an app available for Mac or Windows users, that adds a new ‘Maintenance’ menu to your Apple TV. Think of it as Cydia for the Apple TV. If your Apple TV is jailbroken, and you’re wondering what to do next, check out the following video tutorial that shows you how to install aTV Flash blackRead More

 

How to Jailbreak the Apple TV 2 With Seas0nPass

By Jeff Benjamin on Aug 22, 2011

Are you a part of the recent cable cutter movement? Have you ditched your satellite service in favor of Boxee, an HTPC, or an Apple TV? Well if so, this series of Apple TV tutorials is definitely for you!

Eventually, I’m going to show you how to watch Amazon VOD, Hulu, and yes, even live ESPN games on your Apple TV 2. The first step in accomplishing this feat is to, yep, you guessed it, jailbreak your Apple TV.

Folks, it really can’t get any easier than this tutorial. In it, I show you how to untether jailbreak your Apple TV 2 with Seas0nPass. Check inside for the full step-by-step video tutorial… Read More