Boing Boing alum John Brownlee writes about an atrociously ugly Super Mario Bros. clone that hits players up for $500 worth of in-app purchases on the first screen.

I bet you’re itching to play it. Sadly, though, you can’t. Apple’s already yanked it from the App Store. You probably didn’t want to play it anyway, though: it has to be the most shamelessly abusive examples of in-app purchases that mortal mind can comprehend.

…

The amazing thing here isn’t that Apple banned it, it’s that they didn’t catch any of this to begin with! Especially considering the fact that the developer, Mario Casas, seems to reupload this exact same game to Apple — with the exact same in-app purchase scheme — every couple of months with a new name and new graphics, scamming players until he’s caught. And thus the cycle starts anew.

This Crappy Game Is The Most Shameless Abuse Of In-App Purchases You’ll Ever See

Amaze your friends and tantalize your neighbors with an incredible case for your iPhone that is over 7 feet tall and shoots multi-color sparks! You control it as it flies around your living room! See through your hand with its built-in X-ray eye, then take a secret picture like a real spy! Only you know its secret! Create a scene wherever you go as you leave everyone in stitches!

Toot Toot iPhone case

The Hand iPhone Case is totally impractical and not really a case. But it's absolutely fantastic! You can choose between an adult or child-sized hand. (via Gadget Lab)]]> http://boingboing.net/2013/03/13/hand-shaped-iphone-case.html/feed 23 http://boingboing.net/2013/03/07/googles-field-trip-an-ipho.html http://boingboing.net/2013/03/07/googles-field-trip-an-ipho.html#comments Thu, 07 Mar 2013 20:22:20 +0000 Mark Frauenfelder http://boingboing.net/?p=217237
Field Trip is a free iPhone app was developed in conjunction with our friends at Altas Obscura. I'm using it on an upcoming road trip from LA to Phoenix.

Field Trip, your guide to the cool, hidden, and unique things in the world around you is now on the iPhone! Field Trip runs in the background on your phone. When you get close to something interesting, it will notify you and if you have a headset or bluetooth connected, it can even read the info to you.

Field Trip can help you learn about everything from local history to the latest and best places to shop, eat, and have fun. You select the local feeds you like and the information pops up on your phone automatically, as you walk next to those places.

Field Trip for iOS (Via iDownLoadBlog)

I find that typing on an Android device is faster and much less annoying than typing on my iPhone. It's not even close.

This example also points out some of the philosophical differences that often allow Android to create a better experience for the user. Why is the iOS keyboard so stripped-down? Why can't the user customize the experience? Because Apple's gun-shy about adding features at the cost of simplicity and clarity. They're not wrong; it's a perfectly valid philosophy, and usually an effective one.

But sometimes, an Apple product's feature lands at the wrong side of the line that divides "simple" from "stripped down." The iPhone keyboard is stripped-down.

If you don't like how Android's stock keyboard behaves, you can dig into Settings and change it. If you still don't like it, you can install a third-party alternative. And if you think it's fine as-is, then you won't be distracted by the options. The customization panel is inside Settings, and the alternatives are over in the Google Play store.

But I'll be honest: the fact that the Samsung Galaxy S III doesn't suddenly go bip-BONG! and stick a purple microphone in my face when I'm mentally focused on what I'm writing is reason enough for me to prefer the Android keyboard.

Seriously, Apple. This is the single iOS quirk that makes me hate my iPhone. Every time it happens, it yanks me out of my task, and as I scowl and dismiss the microphone, I wonder if you folks put a lot of thought into this feature. "Press and hold to activate speech-to-text" needs to be a user-settable option.

Also, I wanted to mention that Andy has a terrifically entertaining podcast called The Ihnatko Alamanac, where he covers comics, technology, and other stuff that he expounds upon in colorful ways.

Why I switched from iPhone to Android

The main drawback with using the iPhone to shoot video is that you can’t put it on a tripod — you have to hold it in your hand or precariously lean it against something. The best iPhone mounting solution I’ve found so far is the Glif, a tiny hard-rubber clip with a metal 1/4″-­20 thread that attaches to any tripod mount. Simply slide the iPhone into the Glif’s slot and you’re ready to go. (The Glif was one of the first breakaway hits on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter, taking in almost $130,000 more than its $10,000 goal in late 2010.)

The Glif has one other function: it’s a “kickstand” that lets you use your iPhone as a mini-display on your desktop or airplane fold down tray.

If you want to use the Glif when you’re on the move, pay the extra $10 for the Glif Plus, which includes a separate plastic piece that locks your iPhone onto the Glif so there’s no chance of it falling off. - Mark

The Glif

The app also takes a GPS snapshot of where your wallet was at the moment of separation in case you didn't hear the alert. Tap a button within the app to make your wallet "ring" in case your looking for it around the house or in the dark. The technology works both ways, which means your wallet can beep to alert you that you're leaving your phone behind. Works with your iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, new iPad, iPad mini and the new iPod Touch.

Yesterday, I met with Scott Hawthorne (left) and Chris Herbert (right) of Phone Halo, the 5-person company that designed the TrackR. They demoed the TrackR and I was impressed with how well it works. At $19, it seems like a good deal. They said the battery life is 1.5 years.

Scott and Chris kindly left a sample unit with me, which I plan to start using. I'll review it after I've had it for a week or two.

The TrackR will be available in the US and internationally as soon as the FCC and CE approve it (it uses low-power Bluetooth). You can pre-order one on Indiegogo for an estimated April delivery.

This Cult of Mac video makes it look pretty easy to jailbreak your iPhone or iPad. What is a good reason to do it? If you have jailbroken your iOS device to do something cool that you couldn't have accomplished with a non-jailbroken device, please tell us about it in the comments.

Instead of giving six men hammers, they hired five men to open the cardboard box containing the 127 fake iPhones and one man to drive an excavator over the phones.

(Thanks, Joly MacFie!)

Here is a video of My Great Ghost, whose remix of "Music in 12 Parts" is the first track on the record, performing an entirely new track using the app.

More about the app:

The studio has built a REWORK app that includes interactive visualizations corresponding to 11 of the remix songs with visuals that range from futuristic three-dimensional landscapes to shattered multicolored crystals and vibrating sound waves. The app also includes an interactive “Glass Machine” that allows users to create their own music inspired by Philip Glass’ early works by simply sliding two discs around side-by-side, generating polyrhythmic counterpoints between the two melodies.

“This is a way for people who don’t have the experience of manipulating music material to see what it's like,” says Glass.

The app is available via the iTunes store here and more info can be found at the Snibbe Studio website here.

And for those in the NYC area: My Great Ghost is playing at the Studio at Webster Hall on Monday 1/21.

]]> http://boingboing.net/2013/01/17/my-great-ghost-glass-machin.html/feed 5 http://boingboing.net/2012/12/18/kingdom-rush-for-iphone-free-i.html http://boingboing.net/2012/12/18/kingdom-rush-for-iphone-free-i.html#comments Tue, 18 Dec 2012 14:40:07 +0000 Mark Frauenfelder http://boingboing.net/?p=200973

One of my favorite iOS games is Kingdom Rush, a medieval fantasy tower defense game. It's free to play on the Web. I talked about it on Jesse Thorn's Bullseye radio show here, and Jane and I reviewed it on Apps for Kids here. Here's what I said about the game in an earlier post:

The cartoonish art is very appealing, as are the monsters and towers. The goal of the game, like all tower defense games, is to prevent the invading hordes from making it through a gate to your kingdom at one end of the display. You do this by placing towers staffed with archers, knights, magicians, and cannoneers along the path that the monsters run down (the monsters appear from a trail emanating on the opposite side of the display). As you kill the monsters, you collect gold, which can be used to buy more towers. Even though there are a few more bells and whistles, it's a simple game -- but addictive.

For today only, the iPhone version is free (regularly $.99). There's an HD version, too, but that will set you back $2.99

Check out all the designs (including this one by yours truly) at Twig.

We got the puzzle years ago when it first came out, and the colors of the candies were dark brown, light brown, and pink. The dark brown and light brown pieces were hard to differentiate from one another, so I'm glad they switched to brown, cream, and turquoise (actually, turquoise is a weird color for a candy, but whatever).

I had forgotten about Chocolate Fix until today, when I found one of the pink pieces of candy in a desk drawer. It got me wondering if the puzzle had made its way to the iPhone and iPad. I checked and discovered that it had! Chocolate Fix turns out to be even better on the iPad than as a physical puzzle. The main reason is that pieces won't go missing, like they so often do with games and puzzles. (Of course, if you don't own an iOS device, then the physical game is a better option than buying an app that you can't play.) Interestingly, the colors of the pieces in the iOS version are brown, cream, and pink, which I find to be more attractive.

If you want to check it out, try the free version of Chocolate Fix first. The full version is $2.99.

Now, this thing doesn't come close to the output of powered speakers. Duh. But it does increase the volume quite a bit and layers the sound with a subtly echoey and organic vibe. But that isn't really the point. It's a wonderful curiosity at the intersection of nature, art, and technology. And it's beautiful to boot. Vomhof and Zinsmaster have launched a Kickstarter to bring their prototype design into full production. Pledge $60 and, if they hit their goal of $10,000, you'll receive your own Shellphone Loudspeaker early next year.

Shellphone Loudspeaker

It wasn't even clear from the spam where you might buy one.

Just in case you were wondering.]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/11/27/dear-sir-here-is-the-glow-case.html/feed 19 http://boingboing.net/2012/11/05/how-i-fixed-an-iphone-with-a-q.html http://boingboing.net/2012/11/05/how-i-fixed-an-iphone-with-a-q.html#comments Tue, 06 Nov 2012 01:37:14 +0000 Mark Frauenfelder http://boingboing.net/?p=192359 iPhone water damage speaker not working. The first result was a page on Saw Tun's blog called "How to fix the iPhone speaker problem (water damage)." He wrote:

Problem: The iPhone speaker works fine when headphones are plugged into it. However, as soon as the headphones are removed, there is no sound emitted from the iPhone. In other words, the iPhone speaker doesn’t work. My phone wouldn’t ring and I couldn’t hear any sound from the iPhone. This happened to my phone after it was water damaged.

Solution: Find a q-tip. Insert the q-tip into the headphone jack of the iPhone. Swivel the q-tip around for a bit and clean the inside of the headphone jack. Once I did this, the problem was magically fixed!

I had my doubts, but I tried it. It didn't work. I used another Q-tip. Still didn't work. But, the Q-tips smelled like oil and vinegar salad dressing. So I kept on sticking them into the jack. After the fifth or sixth Q-tip, Lana Del Rey started singing through the phone.

Thank you, Saw Tun!

The Nano SIM Cutter takes any regular or micro size and trims the excess off to provide you a precision cut nano SIM. It's simple, you insert your SIM card with the contacts facing downwards, push the SIM card all the way in, and push down on the lever. The cutter will provide you with a perfectly cut nano SIM card every time! These Nano SIM Cutters are built from hi-quality stainless steel to ensure high precision cutting.

Nano SIM Card Cutter (for iPhone 5) w/ 3 Nano SIM Card Adapter

Today, Glympse introduced a new version of the application, and it has interesting improvements.

Glympse Groups allows users to share and interact via common activities, such as sporting or industry events, meetings or social gatherings. Glympse reveals group members’ real-time locations on a map for a set amount of time, encouraging local interaction and social discovery.

Glympse allows users to automatically schedule location updates to everyone associated with a specific calendar event, virtually replacing the need for “Running Late” or “On my way” emails, texts or phone calls.

When Glympse first debuted, it made it fast and easy for users to “Share Your Where” with others, for a specified period of time without creating yet another network. Now, the new Glympse turns the tables and makes it just as easy to ask your friends, family, and colleagues, “Where are you?” With the new “Request a Glympse” feature, users simply send a request via text or email and recipients can instantly accept and start broadcasting their location for the given time period.

Get Glympse in the App Store and Google Play

Pussypus Case - Bamboo $49

Lockitron is an attachment you can place on the back of any deadbolt lock in your house that allows you to lock and unlock it remotely via your smartphone. Better than that, if you have your iPhone 5 in your pocket when you approach a Lockitron deadbolt, you don’t have to even have to use your iPhone because it will detect you via Bluetooth 4.0 and unlock automatically.

You can share access to your lock with friends and family so that if you’re not at your house and want to let them in you don’t have to worry about getting them an extra key. The sharing access feature makes it perfect for Airbnb customers.

Cult of Mac: Lockitron Wants To Replace Your House Keys With Your iPhone 5

A little gross, a little genius. iPhone Oil Paintings (by JK Keller via Gautam Ramdurai).]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/09/14/iphone-oil-paintings-anim.html/feed 9 http://boingboing.net/2012/09/06/how-to-turn-your-cars-a.html http://boingboing.net/2012/09/06/how-to-turn-your-cars-a.html#comments Thu, 06 Sep 2012 21:01:40 +0000 Mark Frauenfelder http://boingboing.net/?p=179828
Jason Torchinsky of Jalopnik shows how to turn your car’s ashtray into a smartphone dock

I hardly know anyone who still smokes and pretty much everyone I know has a little computer in the form of an iPhone or Android phone that's always with them. That means I should really think about some of the vestigial parts of my dashboard. Like the ashtray. Let's change the ashtray's function from supporting the disgusting habit of the 1970s (smoking) to the disgusting habit of the 2010s (constant smartphone use). Here's how to do it.

Oh, and since this will get pointed out, I may as well say this. After I came up with the ashtray-to-iPhone dock idea, I was feeling so smug I was having some shirts ordered that said "ME ARE A GENIUS." Then I decided to Google the smartphone dock/old ashtray idea. I'm not the first. I'm not even close. I cancelled the shirt order, but this just proves it's a solid idea. So, onward.

[Video Link] Burner is an iPhone application that lets you generate temporary phone numbers. This would come in handy, for example, if you are selling something on Craigslist, and you don't want to give out your permanent telephone number. The app costs $1.99, which gives you a "burner" number that's valid for 7 days, 20 talk minutes, or 60 texts, whichever comes first. You can buy additional credits in the app.

Burner - Disposable Phone Numbers

The current iPhone design, it turns out, was in the works since 2006—and was so influenced by Sony that they even put its logo on the mockups. Court filings in the ongoing legal battle between Apple and Samsung reveal an early concept by Apple designer Shin Nishibori which closely resembles the current-gen iPhones, complete with the silver band. [The Verge]

Early generations of production iPhone, however, went for a more organic look with a smoothly-curved back.

For reference, here is one of the many smartphone models that Sony (then in partnership with Ericsson) offered around 2006/7. It's remarkable because it clearly does have the same pedigree in mind, design-wise; it's just made of plastic and isn't very nice.

]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/07/27/early-iphone-mockups-show-sony.html/feed 27 http://boingboing.net/2012/07/25/gadget-to-shoot-360-panorami.html http://boingboing.net/2012/07/25/gadget-to-shoot-360-panorami.html#comments Wed, 25 Jul 2012 20:42:39 +0000 Mark Frauenfelder http://boingboing.net/?p=173148
The Kogeto DOT is a $49 gadget that lets iPhone users shoot 360° panoramic videos.

(Via Blame it on the Voices)

I recently had a chance to visit NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory with Miles O'Brien. At the NASA center in Pasadena, engineers are readying for the long-anticipated landing of the Mars Curiosity rover on Aug. 5. During our visit, we met with the team behind a cool new iOS app from JPL: NASA's Spacecraft 3D, an augmented reality application that allows users to "learn about and interact with a variety of spacecraft that are used to explore our solar system, study Earth, and observe the universe."

Using a printed AR Target and the camera on your mobile device, you can get up close with these robotic explorers, see how they move, and learn about the the engineering feats used to expand our knowledge and understanding of space. Spacecraft 3D will be updated over time to include more of the amazing spacecraft that act as our robotic eyes on the earth, the solar system and beyond!

The app is really a ton of fun. You can download it here for free, iPad and iPhone and iPod Touch. Here's the JPL press release announcing its release. ]]> http://boingboing.net/2012/07/20/spacecraft-3d-nifty-robotic-s.html/feed 3