iPhone4idiots

Have you ever taken a great photo on your iPhone or iPod and wish you could zoom in? Well, it only takes a few seconds and is easy as pie. Yes, I know the camera on the iPhone 4 has a decent zoom. Despite this, if you are like me and not a professional photographer you inevitably go through your camera roll and find a picture you like that would be better if you could zoom in on a certain area. The simple solution I saw the other day at TiPb is pinch to zoom the picture to bring it more into focus. Once you have the part you want filling the screen, take a screen shot by hitting the power and home buttons at the same time. Yes, it loses a bit of quality, but not much. This has been great for a few pictures of my kids. Bonus tip – this works for video as well. Ever film some event on your iPhone and wish you had a photo to text or email. Well just play the movie and pause it on a spot that would make a great picture. Take the screen shot and text. You can even zoom in and take another screen shot before you email or text. See the picture here. I filmed my boy sparring at karate. Being male I wanted a photo of him punching the other kid in the face (btw, you aren’t supposed to do that). Now I just need to photoshop the movie timeline off the top. Like this tip or know how to remove the timeline let me know in comments.

Being an iPhone fanboy its extremely rare that I get envious of anything about somebody else’s smartphone. Maybe the camera on the Evo, but that’s it. Until a week ago while sitting in the dentist office I saw someone typing at warp speed using an app called Swype. I quickly looked for the iPhone version and was surprised not to see one. Surprise turned to shock as I quickly learned there is no iPhone version and may have to wait awhile before getting what Guiness World Records has confirmed is the fastest way to text. Swype has a technology that allow you to swipe your finger across the glass keyboard from letter to letter without ever lifting it. You only lift your finger to start a new word and the accuracy is amazing! Spacing and capitalization are automatic. See this video for example. Continue Reading…

iOS 4.2 Golden Master (or iOS 4.2 GM) is in the hands of developers now and should be hitting iTunes for everyone to download within two weeks. This firmware update will be for iPhone, iPads and iPod Touches unifying all devices under one software! This is a major upgrade for the iPad while not so much for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Jailbreakers will want to wait unless they are fine with losing their jailbreak. For the important new features Continue Reading…

Just in time for Valentine’s Day I thought I’d do a review of Flowers, Just2Me $0.99. There is a free version of the app which is the same other than it includes ads and limits you to three downloads and one email per day. When you launch the app you are taken to the first picture which then rotates every few seconds. At anytime you can double tap to pause so you can look at the current picture longer and double tap again to proceed. All pictures can be pinched to zoom. Tapping once brings up the control panel where you can set the photo refresh interval. Continue Reading…

Breathalyzer 5000, Nerdtown $1.99, is one of the many blood alcohol content measuring apps out there. They all are about the same and of course only for fun as none of them really work. This app is the only one of those with voice support. It’s very simple and looks real enough to where you probably can fool a drunk person. Whether or not this will help you get their keys is another matter and depends on the person. When you launch the app you are taken to the screen seen here on the left. You tap “Begin Test” and quickly hand your iPhone to your buddy and the voice simulator speaks, “Being Blowing Now”. A few seconds later it says, “Test Complete” and then “Calculation in Progress”. Continue Reading…

Excuse Me, Thomas Schober $1.99, is an app for those not great at lying. Personally, I don’t have this problem, but it’s a little funny nonetheless. There are over 180 excuses listed in the app. When you launch the app you are taken to a screen that gives you buttons for excuse choices for being late, forgetting something, why you were wrong and getting out of something you don’t want to do. Continue Reading…

Apple has just released new firmware for the iPhone 3.1.3 (7E18), a minor OS update for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 3G, iPhone 2G, iPod touch G1, iPod touch G2, and iPod touch 3G. It includes a fix for the iPhone 3GS battery level reporting, fix for apps crashing with Japanese Keyboard and fix for apps crashing upon launch. None of this is very important which is a little surprising since its been awhile since the last firmware upgrade. A major firmware upgrade will occur on or before the newest iPhone is released this late Spring or early Summer. IMO, I wouldn’t upgrade your firmware yet as none of this seems like anything you’d want and if you have a jailbroken iPhone as always DO NOT UPGRADE your firmware until the dev team clears it. Unless you want to risk losing your jailbreak or unlock, just wait til its cleared. It wont’ be long

The Day I Was Born, Unusual Things $0.99, is a fun little app that gives you lots of information about the day you or your friends were born. I remember getting a baby gift when my son was born five years ago that was a framed paper with facts about that day. Well, this app does the same thing and includes a database of almost 100,000 events. When you launch the app you are taken to the screen seen with the typical options. However, a nice feature I haven’t seen in many apps is the clickwheel at the bottom for options. The main option is Begin which launches the app and takes you to the screen where you pick the date hit “Next” and you are taken to the screen here on the left. Options for the day include births, deaths, holidays and events. There are lots of data in these categories. Other options include elements, numerology, stones and chinese and western zodiac. Now I’ve never been into these later categories so I don’t have anything to say about their quality. The former categories do have lots of data. For example, see the picture here on the right. There are over 60 people listed as dead on the date I selected, January 22. These include Heath Ledger (the actor who played the Joker in Batman) in 2008 and German religious leader I’ve never heard of named Bernhard Knipperdolling in 1536.

Logo Creator, Laughingbird Software $1.99, gives you a simple way to create a logo for your company or blog right on your iPhone or iPod Touch. When you launch the app you are taken to the screen seen here on the left. When you tap “Create Logo” you are taken to a blank canvas where you can add objects and text. The app features over 30 templates that you can drag your elements to. Objects are scaleable by pinching as well.  It is simple to move objects or text around on the canvas or to move items to the back or foreground. Once finished you save the logo to your iPhone photos library where you can email it or use it for wallpaper. Continue Reading…

For anyone considering jailbreaking I thought I’d give a little update as a few things have changed over the past couple of months. First, to review there are basically two main jailbreaks/unlocks out there. Blackra1n/Blacksn0w by GeoHot (an incredibly smart kid) and redsn0w by the Dev team (a small group). Either one is well tested and works fine. Redsn0w works for all iPhones and 1st and 2nd generation iPod Touches and will soon work for 3rd generation iPod Touches. Also, redsn0w no longer requires you to point to a modified firmware file (recall the PwnageTool jailbreak required you to download an ipsw file, then run PwnageTool to modify it and then point to that file during the jailbreak). Thus, its even more idiot proof Both jailbreaks work on firmware 3.0 or the current firmware 3.1.2 so if you haven’t already updated your firmware I highly encourage you to do so. Continue Reading…