TUNED UP™
The cool people over at Fred and Friends have developed a new iPhone cover designed to look like a cassette tape. How retro?! You can now use state of the art technology and look like you're stuck in the 80s.
Fred!
Yet another use for the iPhone
The appleblog reports plans for an upcoming dock which offers gaming ability. You put the iPhone in the dock. When connected, the four controllers are used to allow multiplayer gamming. The dock connects to a TV so all four players can easily view what they're playing.
Part of me thinks, "hey it's a stinkin' phone. I have a Nintendo Wii for gaming." Then again the other part of me reminds me that I use my iPhone more for email, tweeting, and other things then for actual phone conversations.
Read the appleblog entry for details...
Fred!!
Scandal!
I've been using a navigation program. And, by using it...I mean I have been evaluating it. Why is this a scandal? Because I complain about people using such devices. My sister classified me as an "Old Coot" for thinking a road atlas works just as well. I still stand by my statement.
Enter waze. A free open source navigation system. I'm fascinated by the program. It is using the "crowd" to build the program and improve its directions. Yelp is a very popular website destination for people looking to learn where to eat or stay based on information left by previous consumers. Similarly, Waze operates y by monitoring where you go, and how long it takes 
to get there. It improves its estimates with more use. It also generates traffic alerts based on your movement. It is by no means perfect, but gets better with time.
It is interesting to me (and by now you know I'm map geek) to see where traffic messages are coming from and if I should hit some traffic I will be able to share that information with others (although there rarely are traffic concerns in my neck of the woods.) So, there I'm actually toying around with a gps/navigation program. Who knew it would come to this? The program is available for iPhones and in beta testing for Blackberry. Check it out and let me know what you think.
Fred!
MLB.app
Love it, Love it, Love it. That's all I have to say about the MLB application available for iPhone and iPod Touch operating systems. As mentioned in a previous post, the Mets radio broadcasts are not readily available in the Syracuse market (at least, until the sun sets and then I can grab WFAN.)
As a replacement to catching baseball action on XM, which I canceled my subscription last year, I purchased the MLB app for 15 dollars. This allows me to view box scores, up to the minute game updates, and audio streaming of every game for the entire season. In most cases they have the home and away broadcasts. I love listening to baseball games, even if it isn't my home team. I have access to any and all games whenever they are played. Who knew this would be available on a cell-phone? It's amazing.
Having this app has made listening to baseball more accessible than XM. I can now cut the grass while listening to the game. I can be in the car and hear the game during the day! I can listen to a little bit of the game while I'm on my lunch break at work.
I give the MLB.app an A++
Fred!
Now featuring an iPhone™
I have joined the club. I'm in the not-so-exclusive club of owning an iPhone. I have owned the smart phone for about a month now. My brother Pete recently also purchased one, and now all the Vigeant siblings own one. Margot started it as the first adopter. I must say, this is an obsession. It is an incredible device. I'm especially fond of being able to now listen to WRVO wherever I am with its ability to stream radio stations anywhere. Michele is thrilled by this prospect as well!
Fred!
iPod Touch Advertisement
I talked about this new iPod television advertisement in one of my last classes:
It's a fun, fast paced commercial, with upbeat (and catchy) music. This advertisement is similar to most Apple commercials with a white background and a fairly simple and clutter-free design.
I compared this advertisement in class with most other iPhone commercials, which are a little more downbeat and straightforward. It's interesting since both of these products are fairly similar...the iPod Touch is missing the phone component, otherwise it's much the same thing.
Yet, with the design of these advertisements, it appears as though Apple targets the iPod to younger folks who want music and games (hence the upbeat music and fast paced design), while the iPhone is marketed to professionals with a calm commercial.
One example of an iPhone commercial...
Fred!
Your iPhone or iPod Touch as a doormat.
A doormat for the ultimate iPhone nut. Meninos features this Unlock Doormat for a cool 50 dollars. If that isn't enough, add an iPhone icon set of coasters for 60 dollars. A little too much for me, but cool idea either way.
Hmm...maybe I should make some last minute changes to the wedding gift registry? Okay, maybe not. Something tells me Michele would not be as interested.
Fred!