SETA Stand Is Minimal, Elegant Smart And Cheap.

The SETA smartphone stand is another one of those post-Lighting iPhone “docks” which don’t actually let you dock the phone. The 30 pin dock connector was bad in many ways but it did at least give us docks into which we could dump our devices and let them charge.

The SETA pretty much ignores the dock part and just proves a handsome, minimalist spot on your desk to park your phone. And it also provides a neat way to control your charging cable.

Launching today ($19-$25) on Kickstarter, the stand is an angle of aluminum with a nano-coated pad. This pad sticks to the back of any flat phone, not just the iPhone, and lets you set it at any angle. The pad works over and over (I have a PadPivot stand which uses the same kind of material) and can be “recharged” by de-linting it with a piece of scotch or gaffer tape.

There’s also a t-shaped hole in the stand, through which you can thread even the bulkiest of proprietary connectors and have them held securely until you need them. Sure, it’s a pain to have to plug the cable in yourself, but that’s the price we pay for the otherwise fantastic Lightning connector.

If I was in the market for a dock I’d probably buy this one. It’s cheap, looks great and will continue to work with whatever iPhones Apple comes up with in the future (as long as they have flat backs). As a hard-working gadget reviewer, though, my desk is already littered with docks and stands crying out “Use me!” every minute of every day (this makes it pretty hard to sleep unless I drape a blanket over them), so I’m out of the game here.

Source: Cult of Mac.

Best Buy giving $150 credit towards iPhone 5 to 4/4S owners this Saturday only.

iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S users, this sounds like a great deal. Are you looking to buy an iPhone 5? But don’t like the cost? This Saturday only, June 1st, head on over to your local Best Buy and you can trade in your 4/4S for a $150 credit towards a new iPhone 5. Of course, there are a few strings attached. For one, this $150 credit must be used on an iPhone 5. You must also sign a new 2 year contract with AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint. Best Buy has lowered prices by $50 on the 16GB iPhone 5, making this device free using this deal. This is interesting timing for this to begin, almost as if the company is clearing its inventory…but why would this be? Rumors are putting the new iPhone (or iPhones) in August/July, so it could be preparing for a launch in the next few months. Nevertheless, this is a great deal for current iPhone 4/4S users. It’s definitely a steal.

Source: TodaysiPhone.

Just Mobile delivers AluPocket and AluDisc, two new high-design accessories.

Erich Huang and the team at Just Mobile don’t seem to be getting any rest these days. The company is well-known for its line of well built aluminum accessories for Apple products, and it was only about a month ago that TUAW reviewed the HeadStand headphone stand, AluCup dock for iPhone, and the AluFrame iPhone 5 bumper. Today the company announced two new products — the AluPocket for iPhone (US$29.95) and AluDisc ($69.95).

The AluPocket (see image above) is a stylish aluminum and plastic wall mount for iPhone that attaches to a wall using 3M glue-free tape. At the bottom of the round pocket-shaped mount is a recess for a Lightning or 30-pin connector, and the front of the AluPocket has a vertical slot into which a charging cable can be placed.

The AluDisc is a new take on an old idea — years ago, I purchased a similar turntable device for one of the old white plastic iMacs from Rain Design called the i360. Just Mobile has taken the concept of an iMac/Cinema Display turntable, slimmed it down considerably, and made it a solid match with the latest design meme from Apple.

We’ll be reviewing both of these accessories in the near future; in the meantime, check out Just Mobile’s site for more details.

Source: TUAW.

Tim Cook says Apple has already acquired nine companies in 2013.

During his appearance at All Things D last night, Tim Cook mentioned that Apple in 2013 is acquiring companies at a faster clip than in years past. In previous years, Cook noted, Apple acquired an average of six companies per year. Not even six months into 2013, Cook explained Apple has already acquired nine companies.

Of course, Cook stressed that Apple isn’t going to announce all of its acquisitions, but rather just the ones it has to. This certainly makes sense given Apple’s penchant for surgical acquisitions. For a company as secretive as Apple, having each and every acquisition made public would undoubtedly shed light on Apple’s future software ambitions, and perhaps, product roadmap.

While on the topic of acquisitions, Cook reiterated a point he’s made in the past; namely that he isn’t opposed to the idea of a large-scale acquisition, but would only feel comfortable pulling the trigger if the targeted company would help further Apple’s product goals.

We’re always looking; I think we’ll do more of these in the future. We aren’t currently looking at a big one, but we aren’t opposed to doing that if it made sense. We ask: “Would it help us make a great product, and would the culture fit at Apple?”

As a point of interest, you might recall that Apple in late 2009 did attempt to buy out Dropbox.

On the flip side, Cook confirmed that Apple did not make a bid to acquire the popular navigation app Waze.

As for Apple’s nine acquisitions thus far in 2013, the only one that has been made public was its reported $20 million deal to acquire the “indoor GPS” company WiFiSLAM back in March.

Source: TUAW.

Mac version of Rdio app gets the same love as the iOS one.

Rdio today launched a revamp of its Mac app, giving it the same minimalist user-interface as theiOS version, with album art taking center stage …

The big new feature is the now-playing view. Click the little three line list icon at bottom right and the whole app becomes a giant album cover, along with a listing of the tracks on the current album (or playlist). At the bottom of that list you can see what’s coming up next in your queue.

Rdio is a Spotify competitor without the ad-supported free subscription tier. You pay either $4.99/month for desktop and web access, or $9.99/month to add mobile streaming too, with family packages also available. There is a 14-day free trial.

You can download the new app here.

Source: 9to5Mac.

Second Gear teases new app… using Passbook!

The fine folks over at Second Gear have a couple of exciting announcements this week: A new product, and a new service for developers. What makes these announcements particularly interesting is their use of Passbook.

The minds that brought you the iOS markdown editor, Elements and the @JustinBieber fanclub on Twitter¹, have launched a website promoting the new app that allows people to register their username early and install a Passbook pass, or Pit Pass, on their device for the upcoming app. The Pit Pass is currently a little sparse on information but be sure to check out the barcode. Second Gear’s plan is to gradually fill in the pass, allowing users to gradually acquire more bits about the app leading up to its announcement and release.

Alongside the release of the Pit Pass has come an announcement of the PitPass.io. PitPass.io will provide a Passbook backend that will allow developers to leverage Passbook as a promotional tool for their apps and services, the way that Second Gear is using it for their upcoming app now. While it’s not yet available, developers can sign up to be notified when the PitPass.io service officially launches.

Many users enjoy Passbook with major businesses like Starbucks, Target and United Airlines, but there’s still a large pool of users who don’t yet make use of Passbook. Second Gear’s implementation of Passbook as a promotional tool is an intriguing new spin on the service that could generate more interest and use among consumers.

Source: Second Gear

Source: iMore.

iTunes Movie Trailers app updated with video quality selection and Fandango ticket purchasing.

Apple’s iTunes Movie Trailers app for iPhone and iPad has been updated with the ability to switch between standard and high definition video during playback, while also adding the ability to purchase tickets through the Fandango app.

Users will now see a small icon on the left-hand side of the playback controls, which, when tapped, allows users to change the video quality they see. This allows users with lower-resolution devices to watch trailers more quickly, without having to wait for a larger video to load. Speaking of loading, Apple has made some speed improvements to the app, with trailers now taking less time to start playing.

The In Theaters section of the app now includes the ability to redirect users to the Fandango app in order to purchase movie tickets. While the app has long included movie showtimes for local theaters, this update takes that one step further. In the timeline display, find the correct showtime for you movie and tap the corresponding blue dot to make the “Get Tickets” button popup. Tap the button to be redirected to the Fandango app’s ticket purchasing screen for that movie at that time.

The update is currently available on the App Store, so go get it and tell us what you think.

• Free – Download Now

Source: iMore.

iPad App Detects Pages Turning On A Real Life Paper Book.

This is the Bridging Book, and it “bridges” the gap between reality and virtual reality by combining an iPad app with an actual paper book. The concept is simple and yet looks to be very effective, if the smiles on the kid in the video are anything to go by: The iPad detects page turns made in the book using magnets. Yes, frikkin’ magnets.

Each page has a magnet in its corner, and the app uses the iPad’s compass (aka. magnetometer) to detect turns. From there it’s just a matter of serving up a complimentary page on the screen, either a copy of the actual page with added technological extras (or “textras,” if you will), or an extension to the page, or something seemingly completely unrelated to our adult eyes but likely very sensible when viewed through the eyes of a child (not literally viewed through the eyes of a child. That’s both illegal and messy, as I found out once when I was tasked with “looking after” my nephews).

As a child of 1970s England, my only entertainment was from books, TV and burning ants with the sun and a magnifying glass. Given that the ant population could’t keep up with my extermination regime, and that kids TV in the 70s lasted for about 40 minutes a day, I spent a lot of time in books borrowed from the mobile library that visited our street once a fortnight (UK english for “two weeks,” or “fourteen nights.”)

However, even a book lover like me would have been instantly entranced by the accompanying iPad, and probably have given up on stupid paper altogether. Which – finally – leads me to think that this concept design is aimed at nostalgic adults rather than curious children.

Source: Cult of Mac.

Tanga’s $7 Lightning/30-pin/Micro-USB 4-in-1 Charging cable does the job it’s paid to do.

Charging/Synching iPhone 4, iPhone 5 and Nexus 4 simultaneously from one USB port

I bought the Lightning/30-pin/MicroUSB 4-in-1 USB cable adapter last time it made the rounds (for slightly more money ) and it is again available on Tanga.com for $7.

Tanga took about 2-3 days on delivery and it comes in a sealed plastic package similar to Apple’s own products. Taking it out of the plastic, it feels a little lighter than Apple’s own cables which is especially noteworthy since this is a ‘three-headed’ monster’ cable. Each lead is under a foot long which can be an advantage or disadvantage, depending on your needs. I like short cables personally.

How well does it work? Plug and play! All three cables ‘just work’ as they say, on Apple/Android phones. Although on the surface, this looks similar to Apple’s cables, the fit isn’t quite as good. I found plugging in 30-pin and lightning cables were a little snug the first time around.  MicroUSB fits like any other adapter I’ve used. At only $7, this clearly isn’t an Apple MFI-certified cable.

It isn’t all glory however. Because you are limited to the power output of your USB Port, you can’t plug in just any device to this cable and get three separate charges. Plug in an iPad (even a mini) and you can only charge two devices (though USB synching doesn’t seem to be affected). Plugging in a third will knock out power to all three and I’m pretty sure you aren’t going to get the quick charge your iPad deserves.  I however use it with lots of success to charge my iPad and myZagg (big sale today btw!)/Logitech keyboards simultaneously from 1 USB port. It is also great for cars where you have a limited amount of ports.

The 4-in-1 USB to Lightning/30-pin/Micro-USB cable is available for $3.99+$2.99 shipping today only from Tanga.com

For those wondering, the 4th port is ingeniously on the other side of the Apple 30-Pin adapter and it is a very similar Samsung tablet adapter if one of those should come into your life. I tried it and it works as well, though the same power caveats as the iPad apply above.

Source:  9to5Mac.

Mutator, A Plug-In Mute Switch For Your iPhone, iPad, iPod.

The Mutator is a hardware mute switch for your iPhone. What’s that you say? You already have a hardware mute switch on your iPhone? Well, yes you do. But – as the poor fellow who caused Mahlergate found out – mute doesn’t always mean “mute”.

When you slide the iPhone’s mute switch, it silences most hints, but it won’t silence any alarms or alerts you have set. This is usually a good thing: I don’t want to miss a plane (plane rides are the only time I set an alarm, being a work-from-bed blogger). Nor will it silence music that you play by pressing play: that’s the kind of thing Windows computers do, the kind of thing that has me hurling them out of the nearest window minutes after switching them on.

The Mutator, on the other hand, silences everything. And it does so by blockage up the headphone port.

Stick a pair of headphones into the iPhone and sound is channeled through it. Stick in a jack plug without a pair of headphones attached and al goes silent. The twist (literally) here is that when your turn the Mutator through 90 degrees, it disengages and lets sound resume. That makes it like an on/off knob for the phone.

Sounds which would normally still come from the speaker even when the iPhone has headphones attached will still play, but between this and the actual “mute”
switch, you should be good.

Source:  TC–55F.