Category: iPhone

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I found the perfect smartphone car mount

airframe_iphone5
iPhone 5 mounted to the air vent via the Kenu Airframe and running Navigon North America turn-by-turn GPS App.

I have been searching for the perfect car mount for my iPhone 5. All the ones I’ve seen or used to date were either too big or too cumbersome. Let me first explain that I also want a mount that I can travel with and use in rental cars. Most mounts fall into four categories. They either attach to the windshield, dashboard, cup holder or air vent. While the air vent ones I’ve used fit the bill for the most part they usually don’t travel well because they are too delicate or have too many pieces or are simply too big. I like air vent mounts and dashboard mounts best as they position the phone at a comfortable eye level to minimize distraction.

The Kenu Airframe is exactly what I was looking for

Kenu-Airframe

1. It mounts my iPhone 5 on the air vent. 2. It accommodates most phones even with their cases on. 3. It’s easy to clip the phone onto it and remove it (spring loaded). 4. It rotates to either vertical or horizontal. 5. It works on just about any vent style (round, rectangle, horizontal vents or vertical vents). 6. It slides right onto the vent in 2 seconds. 7. It’s small and very easy to travel with.

It reminds me of my favorite smartphone tripod mount, the iStabilizer.

airframe_2_iphone5

You can order the Kenu Airframe here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=v0Vn22eRmxw

 

You’re gonna want one of these too

Get it here.

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FaceTime Over AT&T 4G Cellular For All In 2013 – Finally!

facetime-ATT-cellular

Last November I wrote a post about how AT&T was hinting at allowing those of us who were grandfathered in to unlimited data plans to be able to use FaceTime over cellular. It seemed like a pipe dream as the feature worked for a few, but not for most including me. Yesterday, I saw the news that AT&T was FINALLY going to allow all customers to use video calling features over 4G by the end of 2013. Just for the heck of it, I checked my settings and to my surprise it was already enabled! Just to be sure I turned off WiFi and attempted a FaceTime call over 4G. It worked!

I’m glad that AT&T finally came to their senses on this one. It didn’t make much sense that I could use Skype, Google+ Hangouts, etc, but not the built-in FaceTime. I’m on a corporate dataplan via my employer, however, if I had to buy my own plan I would have definitely considered other carriers. AT&T has restored a little (very small amount) of faith with this move. Thanks!

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Long and Short Lightning Cables

monoprice_black_lightning

Ever since I upgraded to the iPhone 5 and got an iPad mini I’ve been slowly but surely replacing my old 3o pin iDevice cables with newer Lightning cables. While the price of Apple’s Lightning cables are a bit on the expensive side, what bugs me more is being limited to a fixed 1m length. While 3rd party 30 pin iDevice cables are a dime a dozen and can be found in many different lengths and configurations, 3rd party Lightning cables are just now starting to become widely available. There were some really cheap knockoffs that appeared early on and as the saying goes you get what you pay for. I tried a few of the different cables and found that either they didn’t work at all, didn’t work reliably or stopped working after a while. One problem is that many of the cheap ones aren’t “reversible.” That’s one of the main benefits of Lighting cables is that there is no front/back up or down. You can plug it in either way and it just works. Many of the cheap ones only worked one way. I did find some 10 foot cheap 3rd party ones that worked properly. However, over time one by one they simply stopped working or started acting very flaky. I decided to wait until some of the trusted brands I’d used in the past. I wanted both shorter cables and longer ones than the 1m Lighting cables that Apple sells.

6 foot and 10 foot Lightning Cables

monoprice_lightningcables

One of my favorite sources for low price, quality cables and gear is Monoprice.com. Monoprice has listed both 6 foot and 10 foot Lightning cables for a while now, but they recently started shipping. Before these cables became available I was using USB extension cables to make my Apple cables longer, but I prefer to have a single cable that’s long enough. I bought a few of each length and as I expected they work perfectly. You can get them in either white or black here.

 

Very short Lightning Cables

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CableJive is known for selling a variety of different specialty cables and as I had hoped they just started selling pocket sized 12cm Lighting cables. This cables are short for a variety of different uses when you don’t want a long cable that you’d have to coil up. They are a bit pricey for the length, but they fit the bill for always having a Lightning cable for charging my devices, in my pocket.

Amazon has them here.

 

Lastly a lower priced 1m Lightning Cable

Amazon has their own brand of cables and they are offering a 1m Lighting Cable for less than Apple sells them for here. Monoprice also has some 1m cables cheaper too, here.

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How To Use Adobe Photoshop Touch for iPhone and Android

PStouchIcon

In this episode of the Adobe Creative Suite Podcast, Terry White shows how to use the New Adobe Photoshop Touch for phones to composite images, remove a background and add a logo before sending it to the desktop version of Photoshop layers and all.

You can get Photoshop Touch for iPhone here
iTunes

You can get Photoshop Touch for iPad here
iTunes

Yes you can also get it for Android here.

 

Are you missing out on my Bonus Content?

See more of my Adobe Creative Suite Videos on my Adobe Creative Suite Podcast and get the App below. It features EXCLUSIVE CONTENT that no one else gets to see. This episode has a BONUS CLIP that is available only in the App! My iOS App is a Universal App for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. I also have an Android version on the Amazon App Store:

Learn Adobe Creative Suite with Terry White - Wizzard Media

 

To make it even better, get one of these

Brushing with your finger is ok, but if you want more precision I highly recommend getting one of these Wacom Bamboo Styluses for touch screens.

You can get one here.



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Adobe Photoshop Touch for iPhone and Android Smartphones

Photoshop_touch_iphone5

Just in case you missed my post over at bestappsite.com, I wanted to give you a heads-up that Photoshop Touch has just been released for iPhone and Android Smartphones.

 Adobe Photoshop Touch for phone offers powerful new capabilities for smartphone users:

·         Enhance images using popular Photoshop features such as layers, selection tools, filters, tonal and color adjustments

·         Apply effects and add graphical text for endless creative possibilities

·         Edit images as large as 12 megapixels with layers

·         Combine images together quickly using the Scribble Selection feature, and easily refine your selection with the Refine Edge tool

·         Automatically sync images to Adobe Creative Cloud™ with free 2GB of storage

You can get Photoshop Touch for iPhone here
iTunes

You can get Photoshop Touch for iPad here
iTunes

Yes you can also get it for Android here.

 

To make it even better, get one of these

Brushing with your finger is ok, but if you want more precision I highly recommend getting one of these Wacom Bamboo Styluses for touch screens.

You can get one here.

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PlugBug World Can Charge your MacBook Pro and Your Mobile Devices Too

 

plugbug_world

As a frequent traveler I’m always looking for ways to charge my multiple devices with fewer chargers or taking up less outlets in a hotel room. I saw an ad for PlugBug and decided to order one and see if I liked it or not. The idea behind PlugBug is that it replaces the standard plug of your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air Adapter with one that has a USB (2.1 Amp) port built-in. This way you can charge both your laptop AND any USB power device at the same time. The concept is simple and it takes all of 2 seconds to install. I opted for the PlugBug World, which comes with all the necessary adapters to plug into various outlets around the globe. It works as advertised and although it’s “short” on the 85w MacBook Pro adapter, it doesn’t hender its use.

plugbug_1

How could it be better?

The 1st thing that I wasn’t crazy about was that it replaces the “extended cord” on the MacBook Pro adapter. I know that you can simply plug the adapter into the wall with or without a PlugBug, but I prefer using the optional extended cord that comes with the MacBooks so that I don’t take up so much space on a power strip and I get a longer cord.

plugbug_2

That’s a personal thing with me, but the product works as advertised. Although I CAN use the extended cord, it’s clear by the way it sticks up over the PlugBug that they didn’t design it to be used this way. While we’re at it, I’d also like to see TWO USB ports instead of just one. It would make it much more useful to me if I could use one plug to charge my MacBook, iPhone and iPad at the same time. So make it a little taller to accomodate the extended cord AND a second USB port and I’d “love” it.

You can get a PlugBug here or PlugBug World here.

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Two New Wacom Bamboo Styluses for Touch Screens

wacom_bamboo_stylus_iPad

In 2007 when the iPhone was introduced, I remember many of my colleagues and pundits saying things like “I just wish it had a stylus”. Of course Steve Jobs back then made fun of phones that required a stylus. Fast forward six years later and you definitely see people using most cellphones with their finger and NOT with styluses. Although I do use my finger with my iPhone and iPad there are times where a stylus is just better. The ones that come to mind are signing my signature and drawing/handwriting notes. My signature and handwriting are bad enough. I don’t need them to look any worse because I’m using my finger. I’ve been a fan of Wacom products for many years and felt that their Bamboo Stylus Solo was definitely one of the best! They’ve now added a couple more choices to the product line up.

The Bamboo Duo Stylus + Pen and the Bamboo Pocket Expandable Stylus

My favorite now is the New Bamboo Duo Stylus. Here you get two devices in one. You get a great stylus for your touch screens on one end and on the other end you get a regular ballpoint pen. GREAT! Fantastic and certainly the one that’s now always in my pocket. It also comes in different colors.

bamboo-duo

The next one is cool, just not my 1st choice. The Bamboo Pocket Stylus is actually retractable. Push it together or pull it to expand and you get a full sized stylus. It also has a cap that’d designed to plug-in to the headphone jack on your port as a way to carry it. I definitely couldn’t see doing this on my iPhone, but I could potentially see doing this with an iPad. I’d actually rather see a case that has a slot for a stylus. While it doesn’t come in different colors it does ship with silver, blue and red rings that you use to add a spice of color.

bamboo-pocket

The Bottom Line

There is no requirement to use a stylus with your smartphone or tablet. However, if you frustrated at times with the performance of your finger then you should probably invest in one. The Wacom Bamboo Styluses have a great feel to them both in hand on on screen.

You can get the Bamboo Duo Stylus + Pen here and the Bamboo Pocket Expandable Stylus here.

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Lightning to Micro USB Adapter

microUSB_to_lightning

One of the downsides of upgrading to a new iPhone 5, iPod touch, iPad mini or iPad 4th generation device is that the traditional 30 pin connector that we’ve known for years has been replaced with a smaller “Lightning” plug. Initially Apple introduced a 30 pin to Lightning adapter and cable adapter. However, shortly thereafter they also released this very small Lightning to Micro USB adapter. What I like about this one in particular is that Micro USB cables and chargers are everywhere! Every other smartphone being sold today charges via Micro USB. So does my bluetooth headset, Jambox speaker and a variety of other gear I carry. With this small fingernail sized adapter I can use any of my existing cables/chargers to charge my iPhone 5 or iPad mini.

In my opinion all of these adapters and cables are overpriced, but it appears that the knockoffs either don’t work or are very poorly made. Until I find a good knockoff, I’ll keep buying the Apple branded adapters. You can get the Lightning to Micro USB adapter here.

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My New “The iPhone Book” 6th Edition is Now in Stock!

iphonebook6e

Hot off the press! My new “The iPhone Book” 6th Edition, co-authored with my good friend Scott Kelby is now instock and available at Amazon.com right here.

The book covers iPhone 5, 4s and 4 as well as iOS 6.

Sound off in the comments as to why you want or need this book and I’ll pick at least one lucky winner on Monday and ship you a free one!

WINNER UPDATE

The two winners of my iPhone book are Jo Ann Johnson and Derek.

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Use a Nano SIM Cutter to Cut Your Micro SIM down for iPhone 5 or iPad mini

I remember when the iPhone 4 came out and it required a NEW SIM format (for GSM based iPhones). It required a Micro SIM. This wasn’t a problem if you were buying a new iPhone because it would have a new Micro SIM already installed. However, if you wanted to use a different SIM from another phone or carrier then chances are it was a full sized SIM that you would have to cut down to Micro SIM size. There were several good Micro SIM cutters on the market and I own a couple of them. I even traved with one in my suitcase in case I got to a country that I wanted to buy a pre-paid local SIM and needed to cut it down for my iPhone 4 or 4s. Once again we are faced with a new SIM format. Now the iPhone 5 and iPad mini uses a Nano SIM. This SIM is even smaller AND thinner than the Micro SIM. That of course poses a problem for those that want to move SIMs between devices. As to be expected there are now a few different Nano SIM cutters on the market. Some even come with sandpaper to sand the back of the SIM down to make it slightly thinner. I used one to cut down my AT&T Micro SIM down to Nano SIM size to use in my new iPad mini. My AT&T SIM is originally from my iPad 2 and is grandfathered in to an unlimited data plan. This is GREAT for streaming video on the road, so I wanted the ability to use this SIM in my iPad mini as well. Although this is not the cutter I used in the video, this is the one I’d recommend here.
Here’s a video on how the cut went: