Accessories

iPhone Bacon Case. Yes, I Said Bacon Case

I am always amazed at how creative people can be. I mean, there are some people out there saying "I'm gonna create the first iPhone bacon case", and they actually do it. That's what German website Dawanda came up with and the good news is it can be yours for the price of 25 Euros.

Doesn't it look real? More pictures after the jump.

iPhone Video Projector Coming Soon… This Time It’s Official!

We've had our share of rumors and hopes about a mini projector to work with your iPhone or iPod Touch but it seems that something is officially on its way. Engadget reports that Texas Instruments' DLP Pico Projector will launch on December 1st for sale in Apple Stores in Japan. The miniature projector allows you to display a 60-inch 480x320 video image from up to 8.5 feet away.

David Pogue of the NY Times reviewed the device and seems to love it:

You’d have to be a jaded gizmophile indeed not to be impressed the first time you turn on this tiny, shiny black box. In the center of the short end, there’s a very bright light-emitting-diode lamp. Inside, there’s a miniaturized Texas Instruments digital-light-processing (D.L.P.) chip, similar in principle to the ones that drive some full-size HDTV sets. Together, they produce an astonishingly bright, clear, vivid video or still image. That’s right -- from a projector you’ve pulled from your jeans pocket.

The DLP Pico Projector will be priced at about $500 in Japan and there is no word of when this long-awaited device will be available in the US.

iPhone Bluetooth Making Progress

According to an iSpazio article there has been a significant breakthrough on unlocking the iPhone bluetooth. What does unlocking the iPhone bluetooth mean? It means that the iPhone will be able to detect other phones, and the other phones will be able to detect the iPhone.

According to the article, an iSpazio user named MeDevil, has been working on a project called The iPhone Bluetooth Project, to unlock the iPhone's bluetooth. So far they have made significant progress by an application developed by MeDevil, and the terminal. Using this application they were able to find two other devices a Sony Ericsson phone and an Hackintosh phone, from the iPhone.

MeDevil has provided images.

iPhone 3G Gets External Keyboard

If you've been complaining about the lack of external keyboard on the iPhone, rejoice! Well, don't rejoice too much as this hack is very close to being useless but I guess what's interesting is that some people spend time on that kind of stuff.

It seems that the person behind this hack is running some type of Ruby code on a jailbroken iPhone and plugged and external keyboard via USB. You can see the final result in this boring video.

DIY iPhone Alarm Clock Stand

In the DIY series, we had the paperclip iPhone stand, the iPhone binder clip dock, and now we have the iPhone alarm clock stand. Nathan Barry, the creator of this cheap alternative to an iPhone stand, used the plastic packaging that the iPhone 3G came in and used a sharp carving knife to craft it. Nathan says:

I'd been after a nice looking digital clock for the bedroom for ages, so I was pleased with the 'Digital Clock' app from the iPhone App Store. It's quite customizable (colour, brightness and digit style) and auto-rotates. Only problem is you have to leave it on all night - which used to drain the battery almost flat, until I discovered the 'Airplane Mode'!

You can see his pictures on Flickr, here and here.

iGPS360 module ready for order

Orange Gadgets, the folks behind the still awaited iControlPad, announced today on their blog that their iGPS360 add-on module for iPhone and iPod Touch is available for order for $75.

This state of the art module, as Orange Gadgets calls it, is supposed to bring full GPS capability for your iPhone and iPod touch. We have yet to see a video demo of this accessory. There is no word about it but I assume this will be available for jailbroken iPhones and iTouches only.

Looking at the company's website and blog, I wouldn't feel safe to pre-order this product, but maybe I'm just too carefull... From Orange Gadgets' blog:

The current expected ship date for the module is 10/22/2008 (which is still subject to change depending on the arrivals of the housings). Keep in mind that not all 1000 modules will be ready by that date as they come out of production bit by bit. So please be patient after you place your order. We will send you a confirmation email once your order is packed and ready to ship.

If you want one, hurry up as they have only 1,000 in prod right now... Would you feel safe pre-ordering from an unknown company anyways? Let us know in the comments.

Learn Something New Everyday

So maybe I'm an idiot, and if I am, then Sebastien will be sure to let me know. But I had no idea the iPhone headphones were so versatile. I knew that you could click and double click your way through songs, but I had no idea that 3 quick clicks would take you back a song. This is very handy for when you can't access your iPhone's GUI right away (jogging, squished in an an airplane seat).

The folks over at macosxhints.com said this was just added in 2.1, so I can't be that far out of it.

Also another interesting fact about the wonderful iPhone headphones, (these are always good ice breakers at awkward get togethers) , they are compatiple with the new macbook line Apple launched today. They will be able to control iTunes via the "clicker" and offer another input with its built in microphone.

Underestimating the Power of an iPhone/Netbook Combination

It's all over the web that OLO Computers is going to launch a netbook that allows the iPhone to be inserted into the keyboard to be used as a touch pad. I've seen some sites say that it will be iPhone powered and other sites say that the MAC OS on the display is confusing. There are all sorts of doomsday warning point to past integration efforts.  But what if these expectations are making it too complicated? What if they are just creating a netbook that just leverages your iPhone.  I mean that the computer is a Netbook in its own right, but just has a great iPhone docking mechanism that could trigger all sorts of automatic connections between the two.

Things that would be cool would be:

Allow me to automatically tether my netbook to my iPhone so I could use it to wireless connect to the internet anywhere. I can do this now, but what if they made it automatic upon docking? Use it as a plug and play drive so I can access the data on my iPhone. Use it sync my iPhone with iTunes. Use it as a secondary interface. Besides using it as a touch panel, I could have game controls or hot keys or specialty buttons on my iPhone screen that interact with the software on my Netbook. Use it with all sorts of client apps that allow you to expand the functionality of an iPhone App.  For example, I use a health app to track my workouts, when I dock it, that app is available with visualization features (charting and reporting) and import/export functionality on the Netbook. Can you think of any other ideas?

Best Buy reduces price of Apple A/V Connection Kit

Best Buy just reduced the price of this kit from $99.99 to $49.99. According to the ad it is compatible with:

Compatible with iPod, iPod nano, iPod mini, iPod shuffle, iPod with color display, iPod photo, iPod video, iPod classic, iPod touch and iPhone

Note:  This works for Audio out for the iPhone and iTouch but doesn't support Video out.

It includes an A/V Cable, universal dock, dock adapters, remote, and USB Power Adapter.

Don’t overlook those iPhone earbuds

If you are like me, you look at the iPhone earbuds and leave them in the box.  The ones I got with my previous iPods were pretty non-descript and very basic.

It wasn't until i started reading the manual (ughh) that I realized that these earbuds are not the typical iPod headphones. They come with a special switch/microphone that lies between the earbuds and the place where the two separate wires join together. You can use this switch to do all sorts of things. And it even works when the iPhone is locked.

When you are listening to music:

Click once to pause, and again to play. Click twice quickly to skip to the next track

If you get a call while the headset is plugged in, you can hear the ringtone through both the iPhone speaker and the headset. HERE IS THE COOLEST PART. If you are listening to music when the phone rings, The music pauses itself and then resumes when you hang up.

When the phone rings:

Click once to pick up the call. The microphone allows you to talk with just the headphones on. You can also reject the call. Press and hold for about two seconds, then let go. When you let go, two low beeps confirm you declined the call. (you can also do this by pressing the on/off button at the top of the phone)

When you are already on a call:

Click once to end a call

When you are already on a call, and you get a second call:

Click once to switch to an incoming or on-hold call and put the current call on hold. Click again to switch back to the first call. Press and hold for about two seconds, then let go to switch to an incoming call and hang up the first call. When you let go, two low beeps confirm you ended the first call.

DIY iPhone Binder Clip Dock

If you liked what I posted earlier this week on how to make an iPhone stand with a paperclip, you will appreciate this video found on Make on how to make an iPhone dock, using binder clips. It doesn't look really easy to do but the result is pretty good. If you try this at home, please send us pictures!