February 16th, 2010 by admin

The iPhonegizmo team have been great fans of the “win a free iPad/iPhone” contests and have done several posts directing you to some pretty fun contests.

Now, of course, the time is ripe for a “win an iPad contest” and with the Twittershere proving to be such a popular medium for running contests its now often a simple matter of “follow and twit” to get a chance to win something. So we went looking and found - yep, there are several “follow and tweet” contests already up and running, with an iPad as the prize. Here is five to get you all started:

1) Follow Geeksugar on Twitter

Then tweet at geeksugar with the message: “To win an iPad, I’d _________. RT @geeksugar http://ow.ly/13czw #geekipad”. Tell them what you are willing to do to get an iPad (they are looking for funny/entertaining)

But hurry as this one ends today!

2) Follow @Shutterstock on Twitter and send out send out their required tweet:

“Congratulations @Shutterstock on your 10,000,000th image! Pick me for the iPad giveaway! http://bit.ly/ssipad”

3) This one requires a bit more input - but is more fun. To help get the news out about their new Groundhog Day video (view below) mail2web.com is running an online contest with an iPad as the major prize.

This is a trivia game run through Twitter - so have fun and good luck!

4) Mediarecruiter have an iPad up for grabs - to win you just have to be a friend or follower on facebook or twitter.

5) Logos Bible software also have an iPad up for grabs. To enter for a chance to win, simply follow Logos on Twitter and Tweet this:

(Remember to read contest rules before you do anything else).

Haven’t yet got yourself set up with a great Twitter app? Check out the iPhonegizmo recommended Twitter apps.

And, just for fun, you can also check out who’s Tweeting near you using Twitter maps by Bing. In fact, we can eaves drop on the chatter in any city we want. Checking out the Olympics chatter at Vancouver, for example, has been quite entertaining!

NB: Unfortunately, Twitter Maps is not available as an app for iPhones and uses flash - so you will have to use your computer to play with this app.

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January 5th, 2010 by admin

CES 2010 is about to hit the iwaves as hundreds of exhibitions go on show to reveal the latest round of consumer electronic wizardry, yet again. This is one of the big events of the year and well worth following. However, we suggest that, instead of doing it second-hand this year - through sites such as MacWorld - you follow the event direct on the CES site.

The organizers have really gone all out this year to make it easy for us to attend the event vicariously. One of the most popular search terms, for example, has been iPhone accessories. And there is plenty on offer in that category. Being kids at heart, we liked the game grip for iPhone that will be showcased there (  sneak view below):

Cool, hey? Now most of the accessories being showcased are things like cases, battery chargers etc. But, if you browse through you might find that super cool accessory that puts you at the front of the new adopters.

The iPhonegizmo team are always on the look out for the latest TV-on-iPhone developments. Easy peasy - we just typed “iPhone TV” into their search bar and got directed to the Apps and tech gadgets/dongles that are about to be released!

Take the new iPhone dongle produced by Mobidik. This device receives mobile TV broadcasts - such as NBC, CBS, Fox (see the biggies on the list in the pic to the right)  - and streams them to our iPhone via WiFi. But - you will have to wait for the release!  If you visit the imovee site now, you will be told that the App is available at the iTunes store - but it is not yet on offer there!

Lets hope that iTunes does actually time the release of the Apps  to coincide with those demoed at the show and that we don’t see a repeat of the fiasco over the iReshet TV App. That App was dramatically released at one of the 2009 Apple shows but failed to get delivered as promised and was delayed for months.

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December 3rd, 2009 by admin

Two hot new iPhone dongles are about to hit the market: Squareup - a small dongle that accepts credit card payments using the iPhone and Eneloop Stick Booster, a usb dongle that can power-up our iphones.

(…. dongles, squareups and eneloops! New stuff require new names and the new way is just to make them up!)

The Squareup is probably the hottest new dongle  as it has the potential to revolutionize the way we will pay for our goods. The dongle is in beta at present and so we won’t see it in widespread use till 2010 - but, trust us - this is gonna take off.  Because it offers a super easy way for retailers to accept credit card payments.

The dongle just plugs into the audio socket of the merchant’s iPhone.  As you can see in the above pic, the dongle is actually a credit card swiper. The squareup system allows the merchant to do a visual ID check with a photo sent to their iPhone. What adds to its appeal is that the system is paperless - receipts are sent by email! This new dongle  may mean that all those stores (and market stalls) that currently and annoyingly don’t accept credit cards, will now be able to with this easy to adopt system. 

And if its great concept is not enough to convince you this is gonna be the next big thing, then let us mention its pedigree: this thing was developed by Jack Dorsey, one of the founders of Twitter!

OK - next big Dongle is the Eneloop Stick Booster by Sanyo. It has just been released in Japan, but its not clear when it will be released to the ROW. The dongle requires two AA Eneloop batteries and has the ability to power up our iPhones for an extra 90 minutes.

If you want more - easy, just pack more batteries. These are pretty cool batteries, as well - as they can be recharged some 1500 times! Looks like the Stick will sell for around $35 (based on the yen price) and a set of 8 Eneloop AA batteries plus recharger also retails for around $35. Well worth it for the back up it offers - and a great stocking filler for Christmas (or would be, if we could get it!!)

PS: See our next post for the lowdown on pirating of Apps!

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July 3rd, 2009 by admin

The iPhonegoizmo team have been researching the fitness apps that have been bombarding us from iTunes (25 released in the last three days alone). More on the results in a later post.

We have been intrigued by the different hardware now being made available in wearable form (eg Sony) and got to wondering:

 Just what type of hardware are people willing to wear in their determination to get fit or have fun? Just how much oddness, or inconvenience is tolerable? 

After all, some of this hardware is quite geeky, we thought! So we decided to ask! Below are a number of images of various fitness/sports hardware being worn. Just select the option you WOULD be prepared to be caught dead in!

a) Work out at the gym with Sony W series Wearable WALKMAN MP3 Player?

 b) Go swimming with wearable waterproof H2O Audio iPod/headphone system?

c) Water sports with wearable waterproof iPhone system by H2O Audio?

d) Watch sports videos on the go with MyVu?

OK, now choose which, if any, you would be willing to be seen wearing?

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January 9th, 2008 by admin

Apple products are a generally beautiful. They are functional, technologically progressive, and… well, beautiful to behold. And to date other companies have not been tempted to put good advertising $ into the way their products look - at least, as far as they can.

But the success of iPhones may have finally demonstrated how much money there is to be made from ‘good design’ ! And Phillips has just thrown down the gauntlet. Just look at these little beauties:

They’re jewel encrusted earbuds, by the way!

Of course, Phillips are offering much more in their 2008 challenge than these delightful trinkets - BUT, the rest is very much in the “me too” basket. That is, most of the stuff they strutted at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show currently buzzing in Los vegas, look very much like copies of Apple designs rather than exciting new designs of their own (You can check out some of these at blogs.pcworld.com). So, NO, Phillips does not look set to raise the ante…

A pity, really!

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August 11th, 2007 by admin

I’ve just been playing with the javascript tool over at colorwarepc, and been designing a new “cool look” color scheme for my iPhone. You can do it too. Just follow the link and play with the colors (click the choices under “color options” in the right hand side bar)! Some changes are really cheap - but!! the full monty is exxy - but also sooo beautiful. Here is my iphone re-design - custom made by me:

These guys custom paint your iPhone to your specifications. So don’t worry about the one color iPhones are sold in: you can make your iPhone any color you want!

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