Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family, iPhone, App Store

For my shot at iPhone favorites I’m going with three apps I find myself returning to over and over.

Zenbe Lists (iTunes link) - this is the third-party app I find myself using most often. It’s basically a TO DO list manager, but with a big difference: online syncing. The Zenbe iPhone application interfaces with the online lists that you can manage from your desktop at lists.zenbe.com (free account required). But unlike some other iPhone apps that are front-ends for online services, Zenbe on the iPhone caches all your data locally. That means that you can access and edit your lists even when you can’t get online (e.g. on a plane) and then sync when you get back online. With the absence of notes syncing on the iPhone I end up putting all kinds of things into Zenbe: shopping lists, travel info (flight schedules, etc.), various ideas that come to me on the go, and much more (free).

Moonlight Mahjong (iTunes link) - games are naturally a matter of personal taste, but this 3D implementation of mahjong on the iPhone is first class. It utilizes the standard iPhone gestures for zooming and panning, as well as automatically recognizes device orientation. The full version includes 19 different tile layouts for a very reasonable $4.99; there’s also a free lite version (iTunes link), which will give you a good taste the gameplay but is limited to 3 tile layouts. Moonlight Mahjong does not include sound, but that makes it perfect for listening to your own tunes, which I much prefer.

Pandora (iTunes link) - Pandora has long been my favorite streaming music site, so much so that I run the dedicated Pandora client PandoraJam on my Mac. So I was thrilled when the iPhone version was released with full access to your custom stations. Unfortunately, Pandora is facing problems these days so there’s no telling how long the service will remain up. But for the time being Pandora is my go to app for streaming music (free).

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

NVIDIA might be on a huge GPUs-as-CPUs kick right now, but rumors of the company developing a straight-up x86-compatible CPU are as old as the hills, and it looks like they’re back for another round. This time it’s the Inquirer doing the mongering, with whispers of a release at Nvision next week — we’ve got to state that we doubt it, especially given how much trash NVIDIA’s talked about Intel and Intel CPUs recently, but we’ll certainly be watching this one.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Most unboxings don’t require a forklift and crowbar. Then again, most of us aren’t unboxing Microsoft’s 125-kg (275-pound) Surface computer — so big that one recipient quipped, “That’s a big-ass box.” How apropos. The recipient is Australian marketing agency Amnesia, making this the first international shipment of Surface we’ve heard about. That’s good news as the platform seems to finally be taking off.

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Filed under: iPod Family, iPhone, App Store

When it comes to the iPhone, it’s really really difficult to narrow my app love down to just three picks. So with apologies in advance for all those astounding applications that didn’t make this cut, let me jump in with three choices that I simply don’t live without on my (jailbroken) iPhone:

Cydia. When Jay Freeman’s Cydia first debuted, I was hesitant to use it. It sucked up the root partition space like a sponge and its interface was, at best, preliminary. And now, in 2.0, Cydia owns me. It’s simply fabulous. From its command-line Unix support to its fully overhauled interface to its extremely workable update system, Cydia provides a powerful software distribution system, perfect for modern smartphones and a great competitor to AppStore.

Boss Prefs. Boss Prefs offers a wonderful services application. It lets me enable and disable services such as EDGE, Bluetooth and SSH from a central application. Because I only intermittently subscribe to data plans, Boss Prefs ensures that I won’t accidentally begin downloading a la carte data that starts at about $500 million (or so) per kilobyte. It also lets me enable and disable my mail accounts, so the iPhone works perfectly for whichever mode I’m in: intrepid TUAW blogger at big or private Soccer Mom on the go.

Othello. Othello is my current fidget-game-on-the-go. When I’m stuck waiting somewhere for a few minutes, I pull out Hongtao Guo’s perfect take on Othello. With three playing levels, optional sound and a really nicely designed interface, Othello provides the perfect time waster. There are other free versions of Othello under various names on AppStore but I particularly like this implementation. Even though I wish it would put me directly into the game board rather than the welcome screen, that’s my only criticism of a lovely, free application that’s a great deal of fun.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Medis has been making promises about its portable fuel cell for the masses since way back in 2005, but it looks like it’s now finally actually available on the internet, and will soon be available at a Best Buy possibly near you (if it isn’t already). $30 will get you the basic starter kit, which includes the PowerPack itself, a power cable, a standard mini USB connector, and connectors for LG, Palm Treo, and “New Nokia” phones. According to Medis, a single PowerPack will provide enough juice for about 30 hours of speak time, or 60 to 80 hours of playback from your MP3 player, after which you’ll have to ditch (and recycle) the pack and get a replacement for $20. If that sounds like the solution you’ve been waiting for, you can hit up the link below and get your order in.

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Filed under: Cellphones, Misc. Gadgets

KDDI’s au design project has churned out plenty of interesting cellphone concepts over the years, and it looks like its latest batch is no exception, with it enlisting the help of Yamaha to develop some cellphones that double as musical instruments. That includes the self-explanatory “Strings for fingers” and “Sticks in the air” concepts pictured above, as well as the “Box to play” synth / scratch pad combo, the “Key to touch” foldable keyboard, the “Trio in your hand” scratch pad / sampler, and the “Band in my pocket” device, which accommodates a number of accessories to create instruments ranging from a harmonica to a trumpet. What’s more, unlike some concept devices, KDDI actually had some working prototypes to show off, which you can check out in action in the video after the break (be sure to dig into the links below for some more pics and videos as well).

[Via textually.org, Trends in Japan]

Continue reading KDDI’s au design project creates cellphones that double as instruments

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Good news, open source fans — copyleft licenses just got a huge boost from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which ruled last week that the open source Artistic License is valid and enforceable, and that violating the terms of the license constitutes copyright infringement. (You might be familiar with the Artistic License — it’s what governs Perl.) That’s a huge deal, as it’s the first open source license to get put to the test — while traditional EULAs have been upheld for years, open licenses hadn’t been directly litigated like this yet, and it means that similar licenses like the GPL and Creative Commons now stand on firmer ground. As you’d anticipate, OSS advocates like Lawrence Lessig and the Open Source Initiative are all pretty pumped about the ruling, with Lessig calling it “huge and important news.” We’d concur wholeheartedly, but here’s some food for thought while you celebrate in the comments: if you’re okay with FOSS software developers enforcing open-source license agreements, are you also okay with commercial software developers enforcing their own EULA restrictions? We have the ability to think of one in particular that seems to have people pretty ticked off.

Read - InformationWeek article
Read - Lessig blog post

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Wireless

This one’s a bit morbid, but the technology behind it all is actually quite interesting. Japan’s own Nichiryoku has evidently created a unique urn retrieval system that enables family members with deceased loved ones to return to a reverent storage facility, swipe an RFID card, and watch their late mother / father / etc. emerge from the underground for viewing. Aside from saving space and money, this also provides mourning kin with a sense of security, as we’re told that the urns are kept where even minor acts of God won’t disturb them. Check out a demonstrative video just after the break.

[Via CScout]

Continue reading RFID-activated retrieval system brings urns up for viewing

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

It’s one thing to see competition unnecessarily push more and more megapixels into palm-sized cameras, but this game of leapfrog is one we have the ability to actually get behind. A pair of giant solar plants will soon be installed in San Luis Obispo County in California, covering 12.5 square miles and promising to generate around 800 megawatts of power. OptiSolar will be responsible for laying enough panels to generate 550 megawatts, while SunPower — the same company associated with the 14 megawatt installation at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada (pictured) — will provide the other 250. The energy will eventually be sold to Pacific Gas & Electric, though any sort of pricing arrangements are strictly under wraps for now. C’mon Nevada, you gonna let the Golden State do you like that?

[Via Slashdot]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

NASA has delayed plans to send an unmanned robotic spacecraft to the Moon — and the pause in action will cost $7 million a month, say reports. According to various news outlets, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was set to blast off for the Big Cheese this December, but officials have decided a February 27th launch will provide the team with more wiggle room. The $491 million device is being sent skyward to circle the Moon’s poles and map a safe touchdown spot for actual humans, set to journey up onto the Lunar surface sometime in 2020. In addition to the Orbiter, the space agency plans to launch an impactor probe into one of the Moon’s poles in search of water ice. It should be a blast.

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