iPod Touch

The September event is becoming quite an annual occurrence. Typically held at the Yerba Buena Center in San Francisco, the event usually sees new iPod models and today was no exception.

The iPod Touch has been brought into line with the iPhone 4, inheriting it’s A4 processor, retina display technology, HD Video camera and FaceTime. The screen now boasts an impressive 960-by-640 resolution (at 326PPI) and is sure to make the Touch the best portable media viewing devices on the market. Video recording again appears to borrow from it’s more expensive cousin, offering H.264 video at up to 720p, with 30 frames per second. The gyro we saw incorporated into the iPhone 4 for the first time makes its way into the iPod Touch too. The design has been tweaked and refined and overall the iPod Touch looks amazing! One to look out for and will make a perfect gift come Christmas or graduation time.

iPod Nano

A major surprise on the Nano front, because now, it really is Nano. Visually, it looks about half the size of the previous generation and now has a multi-touch screen for viewing your music and video. The design appears to be based on the Shuffle, with a built-in clip placed on the rear side for attaching to clothing. The new design sees strong influences from the 2nd Generation iPod Shuffle Interestingly, the previews seem to suggest the Nano is now running a heavily-stripped down version of iOs4 – or at least it has been designed to look that way. As usual, you can grab the Nano in a variety of colors but no longer has it’s own camera.

iPod Shuffle

The iPod Shuffle design has gone back to that of the 2nd Generation model, albeit with some minor alterations, such as a more rounded clip on the rear.

Apple TV

This is probably the biggest update. The TV is 80% smaller than previous models and finished in classy and striking gloss black. The TV is now so small, it will fit in the average hand or cramped media cupboard. The TV also boasts a built-in power supply, so long gone is that brick on your power cable. The TV is now running the powerful A4 processor chip and has an inbuilt 802.11n WiFi as well as a HDMI port, supporting upto 720P. You can now control the Apple TV with an iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad, which will make for easier channel switching. The TV is now all about renting (purchasing media appears to be no longer available) and items can be synced from Flickr, YouTube, NetFlix, MobileMe and even an iPad.

iTunes

A new version of iTunes and a new logo. The new logo certainly looks a lot snazzier and the accompanying features don’t dissapoint. iTunes has been integrated with ‘Ping’, a sort of hybrid of Twitter and FaceBook that allows artists to post new content on their Artist Profile page. It also allows you to follow other users and see what they are downloading, with the option to download the same content, aswell more Twitter like features such as posting text and images. It’s even built into the iPhone interface. Sounds neat.

Rating System Explained

The new ‘Verdict’ section contains the product name, a twitter length summary of our review and our rating, which works similar to exam gradings. The highest rank is an A+ ranging right through to F. An F is a product you should avoid.

A look at the ratings box

The ratings box follows on from a paragraph or two review of the product, known as the ‘Verdict’. Reading just this area will give you a pretty concise overview of the product, without reading the whole post.

How’s it look in practice?

The ‘Verdict’ sections marks the end of the review. Here we’ll write a 1 – 2 paragraph review of the whole article. This will then be followed by the rating overview.

No. A 3.5mm retractable jack cable? Absolutely! Step in the Cygnett Zip, an extend-able jack cable that is 81cm in length and 10 cm when retracted.

What makes the Cygnett Zip so clever? It’s unique, extending reel makes coiling the wire in out a synch – there’s no cable snagging here. The cables simply open out with a reassuring click to the desired length. When fully extended, the two jacks sit 81cm apart, meaning you can hook your iPhone or MacBook up to your surround system or car and then took them securely away from view. When fully retracted, the Zip is tiny and will fit in any camera bag or pocket, ready for it’s next use.

You simply can’t beat this gadget. Having such a cable offers up connectivity to practically every radio, surround sound system, tv and dvd player on this planet. Most car radios will have a 3.5mm jack now too, so you can simply hook your iPod up and enjoy stereo-quality sound wherever you are. This is a brilliant little device for taking on vacation or your travels and removes the need to carry clunky speaker systems around.

Our favorite use for the Zip has to be hooking our MacBook up to our 5.1 surround system, and enjoying our favorite TV shows straight from BBC iPlayer. Yes, jacking cables have been around for years but never have they been this cool before. This item is highly recommended and is great little device you’ll use daily!

For more information, visit: http://www.cygnett.com/products/connect_and_charge/zip.htm

The dock-IN-case (desk) is a solid block of machined aircraft-quality 6061 aluminum, available anodized in black, or as we have in it’s raw, machined silver excellence. The dock consists of a solid base unit, a 30pin dock iPod / iPhone connector, and an ample 36″ long usb cable.

Features

• Made to fit iPhones (3G/3GS) even when protected by skins and cases.

• The dock-IN-desk design is engineered to fit holes from 2.95″ to 3.35″ in diameter. It also ships with a strip of self-adhesive foam rubber which can be wrapped around the base of the dock to ensure a snug fit inside the desktop hole.

• The custom machined pocket assures that your iPhone will be properly supported. You don’t have to worry about an accidental bump or nudge damaging the iPhone’s USB connection.

• The base is made from solid aircraft-quality 6061 aluminum and anodized black. The pocket is machined to precise tolerances to fit your iPhone securely. The solid construction also gives the docking station a solid, substantial feel.

• Supplied with the USB cable and can be used with your AC power adapter to charge your phone or plugged straight into your computer to sync your phone. The 36″ long USB cable comes permanently pre-assembled into the base of the docking station. Silver docks are shipped with a white cable, black anodized docks are shipped with a black cable.

So that’s the tech stuff. Here’s our fitting guide and thoughts

Fitting

Fitting is repetitively simply, but you’ll need to drill a 3″ hole in your desk. As we were carrying out a new build on our desk, it was the ideal time to do this. We quickly calculated the correct position (i.e so it was comfortable and within reach) and asked a very handy joiner friend to drill the holes for us with a 3″ hole saw. At the same time, we also had some 2″ cable holes drilled behind our Macs. Then, simply run the USB cable to your Mac and your done installing. The result is a very clean, sleek looking dock – incorporated in your desk (so no messing about looking for lost cables).

The in-desk-dock by Made2Dock is impeccably machined. This is the extra large slot version, or the ‘thick’. This fits every case we’ve, from the QDOS JetSet to the larger SwitchEasy CapsuleRebel. The cone extending from the leading edge allows for operating the home button.

Another shot showing the dock lifted out of it’s home.

The rather rough edge we cut for the dock to sit in. The black band running around the lower lip is 3M tape supplied by Made2Dock to pack the dock in the hole, and prevent it from slipping. This gives it a very solid feel, but makes removing for cleaning a push.

The view from underneath. The bottom side is covered in a rubbery film, presumably to prevent scratching. The provided cable is plenty long, so long in fact it was able to run through our trunking, loop around and up through the cable hole behind our Mac. Alternatively, you could just run this into your AC mains charger.

Awesome machining and looks.

So we good, we bought two! These look amazing and work so well – every Mac owner needs these.

Arty…

It doesn’t just fit iPhones, but iPod touches, Nanos – basically most iPods should fit in this larger version.

Connecting then allows for operation as normal, including syncing, updates, charging – it’s a usb dock after all, with a very fancy dress.

If you want your desk to emulate Jean-Luc Picard’s desk, this is the gadget…

Connecting as normal

Our iPod Nano securely held in place, looking as good as ever.

Conclusion

The best dock we’ve reviewed bar none. It looks amazing, cleans your desk up and offers up an integrated functionality no other dock offers. No more searching for cables and docks in your gadget drawers make this a brilliant product. Highly recommended, with an AppleReviews A+ Recommendation!

For more information on the dock-IN-case (Desk) by made2dock, visit the made2dock page: http://made2dock.myshopify.com/products/dock-in-desk. This page also contains fitting details and sizing guides for cases.

- a super swish looking anti-tear, scratch proof skin for the iPhone 3G/S.

Features

• Revolutionary Ultra Durable Scratch Resistant Hydro Polymer material
• Super Strong tear resistant protection
• ‘Less is More’ clean design
• Total protection with headphone jack and connector
  protectors included

The Vulcan features a stylish, star-trek-esque V shape over the back, and a slightly raised SwitchEasy logo molded on the rear. These little style queues give it a super clean, futuristic appearance. There’s some very high quality production values employed by SwitchEasy. There’s not an ounce or hint of flashing on the skin anywhere.

We’re very impressed with the Vulcan’s all round protection for the iPhone. The Vulcan covers the power button and volume rocker. That’s a little more unusual in the case / skin scene – but having seen how SwitchEasy pull this off – we’re not sure why more cases don’t include protection for these elements. The skin still allows for flexibility – but acts as a barrier against grease, dust and spills.

The Vulcan packaging is very comprehensive.

The case comes with a small cardboard iPhone placed in the skin. Hidden within the iPhone packaging are some tasty little goodies…

The Vulcan has a simple texture and design and looks very stylish.

SwitchEasy have done a good job of offering up flexibility and protection.

The Vulcan sticks very closely to the contours and ports of the iPhone.

Inside the little iPhone packaging, you’ll find the following:

Headphone / dock connector port covers

A screen protector and applicator.

A micro-fiber cloth for cleaning.

The dock protector in place

The headphone protector in place

The Vulcan is a great, stylish little case by SwitchEasy. We’ve had it on our test phone for around 3 weeks now and found no major bug bears. Of course. we’ve dropped the phone a few times accidentally – and yet the Vulcan has protected our iPhone heroically. A great looking, stylish case – highly recommended!

The Vulcan is available directly from SwitchEasy, in a variety of different colors: http://www.switcheasy.com/products/Vulcan/Vulcan.php

and that laptop is just a little bit too cumbersome to take with you, but you need something more powerful than your phone.
Because the iPad fills this gap so well, there are several essentials for an iPad on the go that no traveling user should be without.

Incase Travel Kit Plus

Starting with bare basics, when you buy an iPad you invest in an expensive piece of advanced technology – so it makes sense to protect your investment. A case can serve many purposes; protecting your screen/back from scratches, adding functionality (such as holding documents or acting as a stand) or just to look stylish. Whatever you want from a case there’s one to suit you, but this case suits everyone on the move.
For those unfamiliar with Incase, they’re a great company that specialize in cases and kits for Apple products. The Travel Kit Plus (http://www.goincase.com/products/ detail/travel-kit-plus-cl57513) for the iPad is a big seller from them and it’s not hard to see why.
The case itself offers great protection, lining the iPad pouch with faux fur to avoid scratches – combined with it’s waterproof outer lining it’s the equivalent of a tank with a lovely comfy interior.
What really makes this case stand out though is the numerous pouches, pockets and compartments for everything from a charger to a keyboard to your ear buds. This alone really makes the case stand out as a superior travel case for your iPad. You’ll be happy on your travels with great peace of mind knowing your iPad is safe and scratch free, whilst at the same time you have all the accessories you want to bring.

Screen Protector and Anti-Glare

We all fret about our iPad’s precious screen and get a little uneasy when someones tapping away at it with dirty hands or sharp nails – that’s where a screen protector can ease your mind against using the iPad in dusty and similar environments. JAVOedge offer a product that not only helps protect the screen physically, it also lowers the amount of glare visible for when you’re lounging in the sun with your iPad in hand.

The screen protector is specifically designed for the iPad, fitting perfect from corner to corner and even comes with a bubble remover – as anyone who’s tried to fit protectors to an iPad or iPhone will know how stressful getting air bubbles out from underneath can be! The screen is also removable and reusable, combine that with the protection offered, anti-glare and lack of finger prints and you can’t argue for such a cheap price.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003FL2UAO?
ie=UTF8&tag=accration-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&cre ativeASIN=B003FL2UAO

Camera Connection Kit

Photos are the pinnacle of any good vacation away from home, we pose for plenty and take even more. That’s why the camera connection kit from Apple makes perfect sense to take abroad or even just use at home.
The kit comes with two adapters, USB and SD Card, meaning the connection kit can support virtually any digital camera. When you sync up your photos with your iPad, the photos app automatically launches and sorts your photos in to albums for you. What’s even more handy is when your iPad syncs up with your Mac – so do all the photos.
Word has it too that the USB connector also acts as a USB port for the iPad, meaning it can also be used for a keyboard, headset or just a thumb drive (which you can also import photos from!).

http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC531ZM/A

Car Charger

Simple and super cheap, a car charger is an ideal companion for a road trip around the country. The charger simply sits your cigarette lighter in your car, whether your car is foreign or domestic.
The iPad is brilliant for road trips, if you can only charge whilst stationary then you could find yourself pulled over for longer than you want. Using a cigarette lighter powered iPad charger on the road is convenient, time saving and allows you to not worry about pulling over to get your iPad it’s juice.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003L1IFJS?
ie=UTF8&tag=accration-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creative ASIN=B003L1IFJS

It is by far the best car stand we’ve tested. It offers great strength, flexibility and durability. The Xtand Go has many intelligent features, which we’ll cover in our review below…

Features

As usual, we’ll start with specs. The Xtand Go on paper looks like a competent and flexible stand. It offers up additional pads that can be used to secure the Xtand Go to a dashboard, or a generic device. Because these pads are universal in fitting (either as a dashboard or gadget mount) you get 4 or 5 in the pack. That’s a brilliant idea, as it allows you to use the stand in several cars or on a TomTom, an iPhone and Blackberry as you wish.

• Flexible mounting system
• X-mount for iPhone 3GS/ iPhone 3G
• Go Button mount for smart phones and sat-navs
• Pocket-sized and portable

The Xtand is made from a tough, durable plastic. At the top, you have an iPhone holder. This fits the iPhone perfectly – the phone is held very securely in place, ideal when you start hitting more bumpy roads. Not that it’s so strong you’ll never be able to release your iPhone from it’s grip, a molded tab situated on one car means removal of the iPhone is very simple and practical. In the above picture, you can see one of the Xtand’s mounting blocks. These slot into the stands base, but can easily be removed by pressing the small clips on the base.

The instructions have very easy to follow diagrams, rather than wordy directions.

The windscreen sucker. This is by the far the best qyality sucker I’ve tried by any aftermarket company. Most other designs usually fall off at least 3 times before they stick permently. Because the Xtand’s base is removable, it’s easily fit to the windscreen – with the sucker providing good even pressure. Application works the first time every time! Removing from your windsheild is a synch! Just twist the base ring anti clockwise a little, and peel off using the tab on the suckers surface!

The base is made of 3 separate blocks. Each block pivots from one edge, but also rotates 360 degrees. That means you’ll be bale to fit this stand pretty much anywhere and configure it to suit you and your vehicle. Even when the 3 blocks are fanned out , the base is still very sturdy with minimal wobble whilst traveling.

The 3 block system in action. Note the articulation in each segment. On the right most block, you can see on of the clips that facilitates quick release of either the stand from your car, or the device on the other end from the base.

The fully assembled stand, stands at around 3 or 4 inch tall with the top block tilted).

Here you can see the Xtand secured to a windshield. The sucker on the bottom works faultlessly. In this configuration there is literally zero movement whilst traveling on even the roughest roads. Note the suckers removal tab.

You can physically see the connection made here, it’s almost rock solid. The darker areas indicate where the rubber has sealed to the glass. It would probably secure more if we’d have applied a little pressure and cleaned our windscreen – but we wanted to give it a real world test, which it handled effortlessly.

Here we have TomTom iPhone edition at work, held perfectly in the corner of our windscreen. You can position the Xtand almost anywhere (as you’ll see shortly) so you can affix it in a location that suits your driving style and car. We like it to be well out of our line of view, close to our speedometer and rev counter. The top left tab is visible in this photo.

Positioned  in a non-distracting, safe manner. This sits well below the level of our steering wheel hump.

Here we see one of the stand mounts. These have an adhesive backing, and can be attached to generic devices, your dashboard, roof lining – anywhere they’ll stick. These can also be attached to your favorite case for super speedy iPhone placement.

In a preferable position on our dash. We love it placed here, as it’s in no way obstructing the drivers line of sight and can be quickly referenced without taking ones attention away from the road. We plan to mount it on the dash across several cars, and the pads are ideal for this as the mount is always in place.

Drivers eye view

We also prefer the dash mount for security reasons, it doesn’t leave that tell tale sucker mark on the window for thieves to see. Rather, you’re left with a discreet and uninteresting block on the dashboard.

Conclusion

The Xtand Go by Just Mobile is one serious piece of kit! If you ever use Sat Nav or your iPod in your car, this is an absolute must, but forget any other car stand – it has to be the Xtand Go. Available from a large number of stockists worldwide. Visit JustMobile for more information

Rain, Work men, robbers and lampposts – they all conspire against you and your costly Apple tech. It’s time for some serious protection. Fortunately Cygnett have got your back, with new Aerosphere laptop sleeve, designed for 13″ Macbook / Macbook Pro.

The Aerosphere is no ordinary laptop protector though! The sleeve encompasses a tough, foam exterior, and large padded nodules for extra protection. Internally, the sleeve is lined with a soft, fleece material.  The materials used have been carefully chosen to offer maximum protection in a stylish and compact laptop sleeve. The case is available in a lush chocolate brown, which adds a classy touch to the sleeve.

Nice touch, the zips are actually Cygnett logos!

The overall quality of the Aerosphere is second to none. Zips and liners are finished to high standard, there are literally no sharp edges that can scratch or catch your laptop (especially useful with expensive aluminum Macbook Pros).

• Padded laptop sleeve
• Funky bubble contoured exterior
• Super-soft fleece lined interior

All in all, this case is something I would be proud to be seen with in Starbucks, or knocking around town. It’s got plenty of grip and protection to boot. Your laptop will be 100% safe in this sleeve, giving protection against knocks, bumps and scrapes.

The piping around the edge looks neat and compliments the chocolate color

The soft fleece lining

The Cygnett Aerosphere is available in Gray, Brown, or Black / Orange for the 15″ Macbook Pro or 13″ Macbook / Pro. For more information: Cygnett

Let’s take a look at the gaggle of all new shiny Apple products

Mac Mini

Apple unveiled an all new, gorgeous Mac Mini. The new Mini has a slimmer chassis, with a fantastic looking, all-one outer aluminum shell. . On the underside, a small panel makes replacing and upgrading memory possible for a humble user. The rear side has a matte black plastic segment – housing all the necessary ports and connections. Crucially, there are two new features – a HDMI port and an SD card slot. Great news! There’s even an internal power supply, meaning the Mac Mini simply has one cable (without the big white block attached). That’s sure to finish off any minimalist desk.

The specs are a little less jaw-dropping. The mini now comes with either a 2.4 or 2.66 Ghz Core 2 Duo. By default, you’ll receive 2GB of DDR3 Ram. The GPU has had a little boost, Apple even claims the included nVidia 320M (256mb shared memory) is twice as fast as the previous 9400M. The included hard drive is a purposeful 320GB, though Apple do offer a premium upgrade to a 500GB.

All-in-all a modest but nice upgrade (with some suggesting perhaps the Mini would be dropped).

The 2.4 config mini is sold for $699. The Snow Leopard Server model carries a $999 price tag.

iPhone 4 Pre-order

The iPhone 4 has gone on pre-order around the world today. That means that full pricing of the devices has been released. The iPhone 4 is offered on a upgrade early basis in the US, with AT &T offering customers with contracts expiring before the end of 2010 the same deal as new customers, that is a 16GB iPhone 4 for $299 or the 32GB model or $100 more. The Apple site actually crashed shortly after the pre-orders went live, such was the demand. However, before you rush off to buy a white iPhone stop! The iPhone 4 in white appears to be unavailable on the UK Apple site, with Apple possibly giving priority to the more popular black version.

So, here’s some of the awesome new features

New Design

We’d all seen it (in fact Apple made reference to the leak in the keynote), but for those who live under a rock here’s a break down of the new design

• New screen is made of two glossy panels of aluminosilicate glass — the same type of glass used in the windshields of helicopters and high-speed trains. This is more resistant to scratching and is fully recyclable.
• CNC machined steel band (made from Apple’s own alloy) surrounding the iPhone edge acts as the mounting point for all components as well as both antennas. This design is very strong and allows for a much thinner iPhone. Apparently, it’s even Apple’s very own alloy. That’s cool!
• Apple A4 processor – the iPhone gets Apple’s own A4 chip used in the iPad. This is a very efficient processor both in performance and power consumption and handles capably new multi-tasking and video editing features.
• Gyro / accelerometer. iPhone 4 becomes the first phone with a built-in three-axis gyroscope. When paired with the accelerometer, it makes iPhone 4 capable of advanced motion sensing such as user acceleration, angular velocity, and rotation rate. Translation: More motion gestures and greater precision for an even better gaming experience.
• 2 mics and new speaker – While most phones have only one microphone, iPhone 4 has two. The main mic, located on the bottom next to the speakers, is for phone and FaceTime calls, voice commands, and memos. The second mic, built into the top near the headphone jack, is for making your phone and video calls better. It works with the main mic to suppress unwanted and distracting background sounds, such as music and loud conversations. This dual-mic noise suppression helps make every conversation a quiet one. Sounds very handy!
• All new power, vibrate & volume buttons (no volume rocker any longer). The vibrate switch looks a lot more sturdy too!

4x Denser Retina Display

the iPhone 4 features an all new, 3.5 inch, IPS Retina display which is super sharp (around 326 PPI) – at the point where the human eye can no longer distinguish individual pixels! That makes text and images super sharp, especially when combined with the 960-by-640-pixel resolution that is only 25% less than the iPads. This must surely be a screen that will make it’s way onto the iPad and set the standards for years to come when it moves to monitor size applications.

5MP Camera with LED flash

The rear camera has received an upgrade to 5 mega-pixels, with an LED flash. There is now also a front facing camera for use with FaceTime and for taking self-portraits.

HD Video / Editing

The video camera will now shoot movies at 720P (30 frames per second). The video is also compatible with the included LED flash light – and is focused simply by tapping. Once you’ve finished shooting amazing video, simply upload the video with a single click, or export to iMove iPhone edition. This version offers up simple video editing, such as Apple designed themes (5), titles, transitions and music tracks. iMovie will be available via the App store for a measly $4.99. The video from the camera looks quite amazing.

FaceTime

Video calling has finally made it’s way onto the iPhone. Albeit iPhone to iPhone, WiFi only video calling. Still, it all looks awesome, with Apple’s usual simplicity.

iAds

Going live on July 1st, iAds will bring big name advertisers to little league developers, netting them 60% revenue to fund their apps. Payments will be made via iTunes Connect as per app earnings. In only eight weeks, Jobs has attracted the likes of Disney, Nissan (who had a very impressive video / sign-up advert all in-app), Unilver, AT&T, JC Penny, Sears, Target, Best Buy and more.

iOS 4

OS 4.0 has become iOS 4. For more on the features of iOS 4, read here: http://applereviews.com/iphone-becomes-perfect/