Category: Apple

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iPhone 5s Review

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Having been an iPhone user since the 1st iPhone back in 2007, I’ve grown accustomed to Apple’s annual release cycle and the evolutionary nature of the iPhone updates. Apple typically does a redesign and new form factor with each major number iPhone 3g, 4, 5, etc. and under the hood update with the ones that come out in between such as the iPhone 3GS, 4s and now the 5s. Therefore I was not expecting any major changes in the 5s. Apple did most of the work on this model under the hood. As a matter of fact the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5 have the exact same form factor. iPhone 5 cases should fit perfectly on the 5s. However, under the hood the iPhone 5s sports a new A7 chip and 64bit processing. In layman terms the 5s is MUCH FASTER than all previous models of iPhone. Also as with all 32bit to 64bit transitions, the applications have to modified to take advantage of the new speed/pipeline. You’ll notice the new Apps in iOS 7 that are built-in will run faster. I was blown away by how fast Safari runs on the iPhone 5s. I may use it more than I used Chrome on the iPhone 5.

What’s New?

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Like I said above most of the work went into the inside of the iPhone 5s. On the outside you’ll have three new color choices: Gold, Silver and Space Gray. I had always gone with a Black iPhone and this time I was looking forward to getting the Gold one. However, Gold sold out instantly and by the time I got a chance to get mine it was Space Gray. The Home button is now a finger print scanner as well as a physical button. The little white iconic square on this button is gone now. The only other thing you’ll notice on the outside is the new dual LED flash near the camera on the back. More on that in a moment. I opted for the 64GB model as I was constantly running out of room with my 32GB iPhone 5. As a matter of fact I was looking to upgrade regardless of what the new features were just to get the higher capacity. I have over 400 Apps, thousands of photos and other content. On the inside you’ll find the speedy new A7 processor as well as the new M7 motion co-processor to offload a lot of graphic work and battery saving techniques from the main processor. Lastly the other major improvement is the iPhone 5s camera.

How’s the speed?

The speed is noticeable throughout the phone. You’ll feel the difference right away in all the built-in apps. However, third party apps will really need updates before they feel faster. Aside from third party apps, everything else seems instantaneous.

Does the fingerprint scanner really work?

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There were two things I was most interested in besides just having more capacity (64GB vs 32GB). The first one was the new camera and the other one was the new fingerprint scanner. When you set up your iPhone 5s you’ll be prompted to set up the built-in fingerprint scanner to recognize your fingerprint/thumbprint. You can configure up to 5 different finger/thumb prints. The process is very easy and it records your fingerprint at multiple angles so that you don’t have to place your finger/thumb on the sensor at the same spot each time. Once you have it set up, you will then be able to unlock your iPhone 5s just by holding your finger/thumb on the sensor for a couple of seconds. There’s no need to even swipe to unlock. You can also use your finger/thumb print for iTunes purchases. No need to enter your Apple ID password. I have to say that I’m really impressed with just how well it works. I had to record one of my prints over again, but after that it works every single time now. People ask me things like what if you have a cut on your finger? Or your finger is wet, dirty, etc? Keep in mind that you have up to 5 fingers to use. Lastly if all else fails you can simply enter your passcode. So to answer your question, does it really work? The answer is YES! It works great! Better than I expected and better than other fingerprint scanners I’ve used in the past.

How’s the new Camera?

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The iPhone is the most popular camera in the world! There are more images posted online that were captured with iPhone than any other camera. As a photographer I’m always taking pictures with my professional Nikon DSLR bodies. When I have my pro gear I use it. However, there are many more times that I’m out and about and the only camera I have with me is my iPhone. The camera on the iPhone 5 was already pretty good, so any improvements are/were welcome. The new iPhone 5s camera features a lower f/2.2 aperture. It has the same 8 megapixel resolution, but it also has larger pixels 1.5µ in size. While there are smartphones out there with more megapixels, most photographers know that more megapixels don’t automatically equal better quality. There are several factors and Apple gets it. The new f/2.2 aperture and larger pixels means better low light performance. Couple that with a industry first of a dual LED flash that flashes warmer or cooler depending on the lighting conditions of the room and you have the potential to have better photos from here on out. The new iPhone 5s camera also features both a burst mode (thanks to iOS 7, yes it works on the iPhone 5 as well) that can shoot up to 100 stills by simply holding down the shutter button and a new slow motion video capture feature.

Here’s a sample I captured using the slow motion feature:

The iPhone 5s comes in the same 3 capacities of 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB and is available on all the major carriers in the US starting at $299.

What are my favorite features in iOS 7?

Even if you’re not getting a new iPhone, you can still benefit from upgrading your current iOS device (if it meets the minimum specs) to iOS 7. See My 7 Favorite iOS 7 Features here.

The Bottom Line

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As with every iPhone review I do, at the end I tell you whether or not the new iPhone is worth the upgrade? You should be used to hearing this by now, but here goes. If you’re currently on an iPhone 5, especially if you’re under contract, you can probably sit this one out and wait for the iPhone 6. Yes the iPhone 5s is better than the iPhone 5, but not enough to spend more than you have to to upgrade. Now if you’re on a 4s on down, then yeah it’s time! The iPhone 5s is leaps and bounds better than the iPhone 4s or iPhone 4. You may also be wondering about the iPhone 5c. I have to admit that other than knowing that it comes in colors and it’s cheaper than the iPhone 5s, I really don’t know much about the 5c. I saw it and knew that it wasn’t for me so I didn’t spend any time checking the features of it.



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Use Any Smartphone on any iPod Dock

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I’ve reviewed several iPod music docks here over the years. Starting with the Bose SoundDock I’ve had an appreciation for these music devices to dock my iPods back in the day as well as my iPhones over the years. As a matter of fact I used to smile when I’d walk into a hotel room and see an iHome or other similar device on the nightstand. This meant that at a minimum I could dock my iPhone and charge it overnight even if I had no plans to listen to music via the dock’s speakers. Well those days are over, or at least I thought they were when I got an iPhone 5. Apple has aggressively phased out the 10+ year old 30 pin dock connector found on several of these music docks and in most modern cars. While Apple does sell Lightning Adapters to adapt older 30 pin connectors to the new Lightning connects found on the iPhone 5, newer iPods and current iPads. The problem is that compatibility can be hit or miss. Some may still play music, but not charge the device.

Enter the CableJive dockBoss 5

The dockBoss is an adapter for the older 30 pin based docks and on the other end is a standard USB port and 3mm audio-in jack. Instead of simply converting the older 30 pin connection to a Lightning connection, the dockBoss 5 converts to a standard USB port for power and a standard audio-in port for music. This means that not only can I use my iPhone 5 on any of these devices, but I can use my iPad or any other handheld device or smartphone. I now travel with a dockBoss 5 in my luggage. When I arrive to an iPod dock equipped room I just plug in the dockBoss and one of my regular USB-to-Lightning cables. Now my iPhone is charging without me have to search for a plug by the bed (some hotels still don’t get this need) and if I want to listen to music I can plug in the supplied audio cable that comes with the dockBoss 5 (as pictured above). If I don’t care to listen to music then it’s just a single cable connection. Also note that the dockBoss 5 includes both an audio cable and standard micro USB cable for connection to most other smartphones and other portable devices.

The Bottom Line

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Since Apple retired the 30 pin dock connector most portable music player manufacturers are now leaning towards bluetooth and wi-fi for connectivity for there new devices. However, if you’ve got an older music dock that works perfectly there’s probably no reason to throw it away! With the dockBoss 5 you can get more life out of it and make it compatible with other devices that it never worked with before.

Order the dockBoss 5 here.

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One of my NEW photo sharing workflows is powered by Adobe Revel

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Sometimes you can be so focused on what you do professionally that you totally overlook what’s out there for fun. Both Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 and Photoshop CC are at the heart of my day-to-day photography workflows. Many of you have heard me talk about Adobe Revel in the past. I had begun using it as my portfolio App on iPad. I loved that it sync’d my photos from Lightroom to the cloud and instantly to my iPhone and iPads. However, the one BIG THING that was missing from the iOS apps was a “slideshow” feature. Sure you could swipe the images, but you couldn’t simply hit play and let them run. The beautiful new redesign of Revel 2.0 changed all that. The app is gorgeous and has many new features that has me using it as my Portfolio app again. Let me share some of the other updates with you that you may have missed…

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What’s Adobe Revel?

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Adobe Revel is Adobe’s “consumer” based photo sharing service. It’s FREE to use for those with modest needs. With the FREE account you can upload an unlimited number of photos in the 1st 30 days after setting up your account and then 50 photos a month after that. If you “need” more than that you can go UNLIMITED for $5.99/month. Yes, that’s unlimited imports, no limits ever. Once you upload your images to Revel they are instantly available on your Mac, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch (Windows and Android is in the works, but no timeline for when they will be available). As with other services like Flickr. com, most will only need the FREE account, but if you want to handle a lot of photos each month you can go unlimited whenever you want.

Download Adobe Revel for Mac here:

Adobe Revel - Adobe

Download Adobe Revel for iPhone, iPad and IPod touch here:

Adobe Revel - Adobe

Why isn’t this a part of Creative Cloud?

Adobe Revel is on the consumer side of the house and the consumer offerings from Adobe (like Photoshop Elements) will remain separate from the professional offerings in Creative Cloud.

 

What do the Mac and iOS Apps let you do?

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In addition to uploading your photos, the Mac and iOS Revel Apps allow you to do non-destructive edits to your photos. Think of it as a Light version of the Lightroom develop module for consumers. It’s all slider based and like I said, 100% non-destructive. Once you make edits on one device those edits are automatically sync’d to all your other devices. This means that you always have the most up to date photos with you. You can also use the App to display your photos on screen or via AirPlay to say an Apple TV.

 

How does this work with Lightroom 4 and 5?

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Lightroom 4 had a Revel Publish Service built-in and Lightroom 5 has a plug-in that you can download for free that does the same thing. Get it here. When I sign in to the Revel Publish Service I see my Revel libraries and I can create collections (or better yet, Smart Collections) that represent my portfolios. This means that I can publish my best/favorite images from Lightroom directly to Adobe Revel. I have created a Smart Collection in the Revel Publish service for each of my portfolios. When I update the regular Lightroom collection with new images, all I have to do is hit the Publish button in the corresponding Revel Publish Service Collection and my images are uploaded and my iPhone, iPad and Mac are updated. This has been the easiest way for me to carry my “CURRENT” portfolios around with me on my various devices. Yes the images can be viewed offline too. Actually if it weren’t for the Lightroom tie in I wouldn’t be half as excited about Revel. Since all my photos live in Lightroom it’s the hub of all my photographic workflows.

 

You mentioned a NEW photo sharing workflow. What’s NEW?

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Everything I mentioned above is pretty much old news to Revel. The 2.0 iOS Apps and rate plan changes have been out for a while. What’s new is a couple NEW iPhone Apps. The 1st one is called Grouppix. I reviewed it here last week. When you and your friends download this FREE App, one of you can create a “shared” Album and invite the other to it. At that point anyone that has access to the album can upload pics to it and you all see them. This is GREAT for events such as parties, weddings, conferences, etc. Now everyone will have access to all the photos. That’s pretty cool, but what I didn’t realize right away is that those albums are powered by Revel! If you’re a Revel user those Grouppix shared albums show up in your Revel account. This also means that they show up in the Lightroom Publish Service. This makes it really really really easy for me to not only share photos I’ve taken with my iPhone, but also the ones I’ve taken with my DSLR. I can import my DSLR photos into Lightroom 5, select my picks, Develop them and add them to a Revel collection (Grouppix album), hit Publish and everyone that’s on the shared Grouppix album now has access to them. I did this last week during the Adobe Create Now Tour in APAC and it worked GREAT! If you’re into video there’s also a consumer based video editing app for iPhone called Video Bite. Yep it’s free too. It’s basic, but hey it lets you put clips together quickly and output a final movie right on your iPhone. Also did I mention that it’s free?

Get Adobe Grouppix for iPhone here:

Adobe Grouppix - Adobe

Get Adobe VideoBite for iPhone here:

Adobe® VideoBite - Adobe

 

Learn more about what Adobe Revel has to offer here.

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Thanks goes out to my now over 75,000 Subscribers on YouTube!

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I just wanted to take a moment to say THANK YOU for subscribing to my YouTube Channel. I just blew past the 75,000 mark and I’m thrilled that so many of you like my content. Having over 75,000 subscribers and over 13 Million Views is no small accomplishment and again thanks.

Hey if you’re in the subscribing/following kinda mood, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter (approaching 25,000 followers) and Like my Facebook Page (over 15,000 likes). Also add me to your Google+ Circles (over 25,000 have me in their circles) and follow me on Behance.

In other news

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My Learn the Adobe Creative Suite with Terry White App has now been rebranded to “Learn the Adobe Creative Cloud with Terry White” as well as some bug fixes. Be sure to download the update. (note – I did have one person tell me that he’s having issues with it on iPad 1. So if you have an iPad 1 you might want to hold off till I confirm).

Grab the app here:

Learn Adobe Creative Cloud with Terry White - Wizzard Media

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Scandock Turns Your Smartphone Into the Ultimate Document Scanner

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I have been using my iPhone to scan documents for a long time now. My App of choice is Scanner Pro. However, no matter what phone you have or which App you like, the problems of scanning documents are universal. You have to deal with lighting and positioning the document in just the right spot. Also if you’re scanning multiple pages chances are each one is going to be slightly off in terms of orientation, cropping, etc. due to not being able to hold the phone in the same spot for each page. Atiz, the makers of Scandock, want to solve this problem.

Scandock turns your smartphone into a document scanner

This combo hardware device and App will turn an ordinary iPhone or Android camera into a fast, efficient document scanner. I must admit that when I received my review unit that it was way more than I expected in terms of size, craftsmanship and design. I thought “whoa! They’re serious!” It took me about 5 minutes to put it together, plug it in and download the free Scandock App. Once I had the App, I placed a document on the bed and immediately noticed that they have a mat that’s designed to smooth out/hold down folded papers. I tapped the scan button on the App and like with any photo, it only takes a second and you’re on to the next page. Certainly faster than the fastest sheetfed scanners out there because it literally takes a second. It takes more time to position the paper than to do the scan. If you are scanning more than a few sheets then it will probably be on par with the time it takes to do it in a sheetfed scanner, but way faster than a flatbed scanner.

As you would expect, the App allows you to convert the document to PDF and share it. The one feature that blew me away was the multiple-doc feature. This feature allows you to place multiple items on the bed at once, such as several receipts or business cards, and it will auto-detect and scan each one as a separate document. I’ve not seen a smartphone App do that before. The built-in LED lights are the key to this device. By evenly lighting your documents you never have a shadow of YOU holding the phone over the document. There are trays for both iPhones and Android smartphones. You can even get it in Black or White.

The Bottom Line

Sounds great! Does everything that I would expect and more. What’s the downside? The only real downside to this solution is the asking price. At $499 (B.Y.O.D.) it will be out of reach for many and puts it in direct competition with other document scanners. Granted, other document scanners require a connection to a PC/Mac (which probably costs more than your smartphone) and perhaps the newer “Post PC” generation will see the benefit of this kind of solution.

You can learn more about Scandock here and order direct from the company.

Seeing is better; check out this video:

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I found the perfect smartphone car mount

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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

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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.

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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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Get the June Issue of Adobe Inspire Magazine on your iPad

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The June 2013 issue of Adobe Inspire Magazine is here! This month’s issue contains articles on Adobe Muse CC, Photoshop CC, the CSS Designer in Dreamweaver CC and more. There’s even an article and video from yours truly on Photoshop CC’s new Sharpening and Upsampling capabilities.

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Adobe Inspire is a FREE digital publication created with the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite (DPS) and you can get it here:

Adobe Inspire - Adobe

 

Don’t have an iPad?

You can also check out the web version here.

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Apple Adds HBO Go to Apple TV – Finally!

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Last night I saw the news that there was a software update to Apple TV that finally added HBO Go, as well as Watch ESPN, SkyNews, Quello, and Crunchieroll (anime). I stopped what I was doing and immediately did the update. As with all HBO Go devices and apps you will need to have an actual subscription to HBO through a compatible cable/satellite provider. I have Comcast Xfinity and it works.

Why on Apple TV?

If you have HBO already on your cable/satellite box then you might be wondering why you would want/need it on your Apple TV? That’s an easy one. At home I have Comcast/Xfinity and TiVo DVRs. Each TV has a box that can play HBO just like all the other channels. However, at my studio (a commercial building) Comcast doesn’t allow premium channels like HBO. I have Apple TVs at the studio and now I can have HBO on them. I’m a huge fan of Boardwalk Empire and often catch up on it while on the road or in studio. I have the HBO Go app on my iPad and now on my Apple TV. I can of course watch other HBO content, specials, concerts, etc. I also like the fact that they post episodes on HBO Go within about 10 minutes after they air live.

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While other set-top boxes like Xbox 360 had HBO Go I never figured out why it wasn’t available in Apple TV. My wait is finally over. Apple TV just keeps getting better with each update. Also the relatively low cost of entry makes it a no-brainer. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, I think HBO is missing out! More and more people I talk to are cutting or have cut the cable. However, many of these folks would gladly pay a low monthly cost to get HBO Go. It’s a shame that it has to be tied to a home cable/satellite provider.

You can get an Apple TV here on sale.

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

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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

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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

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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.