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With each storybook app I read from Oceanhouse Media, I realize this San Diego based company is in a zone. All their apps are similar, but then the quality is so high that is a good thing. Dr. Seuss, Gertrude McFuzz, $1.99, is a little less colorful than most other storybooks, but has a better moral. Basically, be happy with the way you are and how you look. Continue Reading…

Netflix released app verison 1.1 today that finally supports streaming to your iPhone or iPod Touch! What’s better is that it works great over 3G just like on the iPad. The new version requires firmware 3.1.3 or higher. Why ATT is allowing this on their stressed network I’m not sure, but having streamed over an hour of video today over 3G I have to say its working great. Apparantly it uses some technology to switch between wifi and 3G connections, but I just turned wifi off to see how well it works over 3G. I highly encourage any Netflix subscribers to download this app. Now if you don’t have a Netflix account (like me as $8.99 per month is just too much) they have a one month free trial so you can check it out. If you are not on an unlimited data plan be very careful as streaming video uses a ton of Megabytes. The selection of movies is nice although you won’t find anything recent (like its gotta be at least 6 months old). There is a decent TV shows section as well (Dexter, Weeds, Futurama), but again you are only going to get previous seasons. Continue Reading…

WeeWorld’s WeeMee Avatar Creator, $0.99, is a simple yet robust app that quickly lets you create avatars. Once saved you can then easily add them to your profile in Twitter, Facebook or assign them to the contacts in your iPhone. There are over 300 items to help create your avatar: 44 hairstyles, 92 clothing items, 26 eyeware choices, 78 accessories (food items and tech stuff) and 15 backgrounds. There is a built in address book where you can assign avatars to appear when your contacts call your iPhone. Creating my first avatar took less than five minutes. What do you think? I like the iPhone in my left hand although a beer might be more appropriate in my right. Not sure why that isn’t an accessory option other than maybe WeeWorld or Apple wants it kid friendly. When you choose hair or clothing items there is a paintbucket that appears allowing you to adjust the color. Yes, I admit I have more grey than my avatar is showing. I guess I’m just vain. Once you are done creating the avatar you save it to the gallery where you can then upload it or return and add to it at a later date. I assume WeeWorld will continue to add more items and backgounds in future updates.

Last night Facebook released version 3.2 update for the iPhone. Open the App Store and you will see it available for Update. There are a number of big changes the elephant of which is Facebook Places which you’ll see right in the middle of the Home page after you Update the app. Places lets you see where your friends are and what they are up to. Sounds like Foursquare you say, we’ll it should as Facebook has partnered with Foursquare and Gowalla for this ambitious change. Like Foursquare you can check-in to places so your friends can see where you are in realtime. Curious if any of your friends are at a big sporting event, concert or airport? Well, Facebook Places will answer this question. A less publicized new feature is you can now see all recipients of inbox messages. Think of it as the cc line of an email. Facebook never had that ability in Messages until now. Thus, you can see if you are the only one receiving a message or if it was sent to two or two thousand of your friends. Be careful, a reply will go out to everyone, not just the sender. I’m sure people will make that mistake a lot! For more on Facebook Places and how to opt out so your friends can’t check you in and let everyone know where you are – Continue Reading…

Full disclosure, Nutshell was kind enough to send me the two cases you see pictured here. I’m very grateful as the majority of other iPhone accessory companies are wankers who don’t even respond to my emails. This New Zealand based company makes a quality product, but you should expect nothing less from the only country not to lose a game at the 2010 World Cup! Yes, I’m a soccer nerd and that’s a great trivia question. Both cases are New Zealand leather lined with ultrasuede and backed by a screen shield. The cases can be used for any iPhone or iPod Touch as both my 3G with American Flag skin and iPhone 4 fit snuggly into the case. These are hard core cases that protect your iDevice from everything other than water. A testimonial on their website is from a motorcycle rider who crashed and slid 30 feet across pavement. The case not only protected his cell phone, but a critical part of his anatomy as well! Continue Reading…

If you aren’t lucky enough to have an iPhone 4 yet then depending on your usage you might be draining your iPhone’s battery everyday. This is where the Mophie Juice Pack Air comes in handy. I got it for my trip to South Africa as I didn’t want to risk not having my iPhone available for calls, pictures, video or internet (Facebook and Twitter especially). What’s great about this product is not only does it give you extra battery life but it also acts as a case for your iPhone 3G or 3GS. You can get a Mophie Juice Pack Air in black, purple or white. The Mophie Juice Pack Air has two parts as you can see in the picture to the left. The larger lower section contains the battery and where the iPhone docks into the “case” and the upper segment which covers the top of your iPhone. You just slide your iPhone down onto the dock and then slide the top part over until it snaps into place. Once in the “case” your iPhone has a heavier more solid feel. Not the best for keeping in your pocket, but if you drop the device the Juice Pack will provide your iPhone with decent protection. Continue Reading…

So Apple released firmware 4.0.2 yesterday to patch the hole that comex used for jailbreakme.com. It had something to do with PDF files letting you write code to the iPhone. Thus, if someone wanted to spread a virus they could use the same “hole” unless it was fixed. In about 24 hours Saurik (the hippy genius behind Cydia) has written a patch for jailbreakers that does the same thing. Thus, you don’t have to worry about any virus every using this same vulnerability. Just open Cydia and search for and install PDF Patch (CVE-2010-1797). Don’t worry, it preserves your jailbreak and its free. What’s even better is that it works on all iPods, iPhones and iPads. Apple’s patch ignored 1st generation iPods and iPhones. Now while I can’t understand why people are holding onto these old devices the fact that Apple wouldn’t fix them as well is just poor customer service. They want you to buy new iPhones and iPods so badly they left older devices open to hacking. While I think this isn’t too likely, its better to be safe than sorry.Bottom line, if you have a jailbroken iPod, iPad or iPhone install this patch.

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OK, the title is a little misleading, but for many this is absolutely true. MyWi, $19.99, turns your jailbroken iPhone into a wireless router. The app works with all jailbroken iPhones (3G/3GS/4) and iPad on 3.1.2 or later firmware. You can get MyWi by downloading the RockApp in Cydia. Now the wifi speeds through your iPhone’s 3G connection vary greatly, but they are certainly fast enough to use (I always get at least 100kB/s). To learn more about MyWi, see a video demonstration and enter contest to win one of eight free bumpers. Continue Reading…

A rumor’s not a rumor that doesn’t die. The classic line from 1995’s The Usual Suspects has to apply to Verizon getting the iPhone. Just google “verizon iPhone” and you’ll see reports from CNN, USA Today, Mashable, Tech Cruch, PC World, CNet and more all speculating that Verizon will finally get the iPhone in January. While maybe its true this time I wouldn’t get my hopes up. Every article sites sources “close to the situation” or people “in the know”. What gives the rumors more juice this time is that supposedly Apple has ordered millions of CDMA chipsets from Qualcomm. CDMA is what Verizon runs on as opposed to GSM which is what ATT (and T-Mobile) use. You would think someone could verify an order of this size, but still no names. Time will tell and I’m sure it will happen eventually, but my attitude remains I’ll believe it when I see it in an Apple press release. Here’s an article for September 2008, saying the iPhone is coming to Verizon in 2009. I hope its true as it will certainly mean millions more iPhones being sold, but if it doesn’t happen all these news organizations will move on to the next story and the rumors like Keyser Söze, they’ll be gone.

Well that didn’t take long. Apple Stores are now blocking access to jailbreakme.com preventing people from jailbreaking their display iPhones and iPads. They are redirecting any attempt to goto jailbreakme.com to the company’s homepage using OpenDNS. That puts an end to the juvenile fun. As you can see in this video I couldn’t resist and jailbroke 4 iPhones at the Apple Store in Nashville adding a Royal Deluxe theme and using MIM to change ATT to Sprint and signing the banner with my name