reviews

Protection. That’s all you can ask for in an iPhone case. And most manufacturers deliver on that. But add fine craftsmanship and an elegant design and you have something special. The iPhone Smart Case and Travel Case from Waterfield Designs are perfect examples of elegant, durable cases.

The first thing you will notice when you see and hold these cases is the feel. It’s textured exterior and rubberized sides give you a firm grip on the case. The inside is lined with “ultra-suede” and the fit is super snug. Not snug like “oh my god, I’m going to break this thing trying to pull it out”. It’s snug like, despite the lack of a velcro flap or buttoned enclosure, it will not fall out of the sleeve if you turn it upside down.

The stitching is all down on the inside of the case creating a nice seamless look and the coloring of the fabric has a metallic side to it almost looking like the colors of a snake. Really cool. I enjoyed this case because of its sophisticated look. It looked really professional when I put… more...

While the iPhone case scene has been dismal and has yet to fully expand there are even fewer cases set out of the price range of a normal consumer most notably the Vaja iVolution Holster for iPhone.

Ilounge however has a hands on with Vaja iVolution Holster for iPhone and while it seems simplistic competing with the likes of Speck’s Holster Pro it does have a seemingly outrageous price for a simple holster. It’s $80 and up for the base price for the lady’s version and $55 plus for the regular holster, a lot higher than the normal $30-$40 iPod and iPhone users are accustomed to pay for accessories.

While the holster looks nice its price would be the main drawback for consumers. Also we’ve become to used to paying for iPhone or iPod branded products so I’d like to remind everyone that just because it says its made for iPhone doesn’t mean a cheap 4 dollar case won’t do the same thing (if you shop smart that is).

Vaja iVolution Lady Holster For iPhone and Vaja iVolution Holster For iPhone.

I heard the hype. Things like, “You gotta get the Jawbone, man, it’s the best.” and “I heard it is made of military grade materials.” But I still needed to see and hear it for myself.

I’m here to tell you. The Jawbone definitely lives up to its hype. Let me summarize my findings before I get into specifics: The Jawbone offers the best sound quality, the best comfort, and the best styling of any Bluetooth headset that I have ever tested. It is worth every penny. Now for some details.

The Packaging
When you see the packaging of the Jawbone, you know right away that there was the same type of care in the overall aesthetic to this product that you come to expect from products from…err…Apple. So what product could be better to compliment your iPhone? The Jawbone comes in a tall, clear plastic case displaying the headset as if it was a work of art in a museum. Open up the case and you discover a user manual and 2 clearly marked boxes: one that houses other earbud shapes and earloop sizes and the other housing cables and recharging… more...

Apple latest update to the iPhone, 1.0.1 has brought additional updates besides a fix to Safari regarding a statement that it could be hacked.

Walt Mossberg points out 3 features that have not been documented by Apple and are quoted below.

In the Favorites list in the Phone module, the iPhone’s equivalent of a speed-dial list, you can now have 50 entries instead of 20. This matches the capacity of the quick-dial list on the Palm OS version of the Treo.

In the email module, you can now automatically BCC yourself on every message you send, allowing you to get a copy without revealing to the sender that you are doing so. In the original iPhone software build, this option (in the Settings menu under “Mail”) only allowed you to CC yourself, which told the sender you were getting a copy and cluttered the address fields.

The iPhone can now play music through many previously incompatible car adapters and other external speakers originally designed for the iPod. In the first software build, the phone wasn’t recognized as a music source by some of these devices, which get the music through the… more...

iPhone apps are cropping up everywhere now. But without being able to download and install these widgets it is tought o keep track of all your favorites.

With iPhone Apps Manager, you can bookmark one site on your iPhone Safari browser and the program saves all your favorite apps in one convenient package via a Safari cookie.

You can also easily add new apps, delete unwanted ones, sort your favorites, and key in new app urls right in the application. This is a great way to stay organized and to keep your bookmark list short.

I was pretty bummed when I heard that iChat was, in fact, not coming pre-installed with the first-gen iPhone. Although in the back of my mind, the idea of iChatting up with my peeps on my phone brought me back to the 2 times I actually ran MSN Messenger on my Motorola Q. 30 minutes later, my battery ran out.

So I was very excited to hear about FlickIM, the brand spanking new application that brings AIM chatting to your iPhone. FlickIM allows you to chat it up right on your iPhone. But the developers didn’t just rest on AIM compatibility. They also built in some pretty cool media sharing options including the ability to AIM YouTube videos and Movie Trailers to stream on a buddy’s iPhone.

Although some were complaining about difficulty connecting to the server, my iPhone loaded it pretty quickly. It’s actually a pretty nifty application that even stores incoming messages that wait for you when you reconnect.

Check it out here! Or read about updates from their blog.

As we wrote earlier this week, there is a rumor of an iPhone software release which would include a Disk Mode feature. We have no idea when that release will come nor do we know if it will ever come. (Again, rumor). What we do know is there is a new application called iPhoneDrive which will allow you to use your iPhone in Disk Mode right now.

iPhoneDrive lets you use your iPhone for file storage, ensuring that you always have your important data with you. Now it’s fast and easy to copy any kind of file to or from your iPhone.

You can download a 7 day demo for free now or buy a license for $9.95. I have downloaded this demo and it works fine. Of course, the real desire would be to have access to the folder structure of the iPhone files or to be able to view files saved via iPhoneDrive on your iPhone. Unfortunately, none of those features are available.

My advice? Download the demo. But wait until you absolutely need it. It would suck to buy a license on friday only to… more...

Product Name: Incase Leather Fitted Sleeve For iPhone
Web Site: http://goincase.com/
Rating: 5 stars
Price: $34.95 via apple.com

The iPhone’s slick design is unmatched by any other phone but there arises a need for protection and for some it’s a difficult decision. Do I protect my iPhone knowing it will always be in the same condition I originally bought it in but it’ll always be covered? Or do I run the risk of my iPhone being damaged yet I can still enjoy its design? Luckily, the Incase Leather Fitted Sleeve for iPhone is a solution to both of these problems.

Fitting
The most important part of any case is the level of snugness it provides. Will your iPhone be held by an iron grip or delicately held in a loose case. Many solutions for protecting your iPhone that I have seen are either snap on cases such as Contour’s
iSee or Belkin’s Remix Acrylic Case. Others come in the form of rubber or silicon sleeves and I have not had a good experience with either.

Plastic cases conform either too much or too little… more...

I guess it’s a lot like the whole Mac vs. PC thing. Some people just don’t get it. They don’t get that something is so far superior to anything out there. They use feature-lists to judge the ability of a device. Even if some of us never use those features.

So it is with Tom Yager over at Infoworld. You know you are in for a good one when the subtitle of a review is, “Apple’s and AT&T’s high-price gadget is a heartbreaking triumph of greed over genius”. I mean, really.

So, let’s break it down, Tom. And we will ignore the fact that you don’t write well. Choppy sentences and all.

1. Tom says the iPhone needs a stylus option. Why? “iPhone’s display is touch-sensitive to the extreme. It is designed for fingertips, not for styli. Most stylus-sensitive mobile devices also respond to the touch of a finger, but the stylus comes in handy as a proxy for a mouse, which most Web 2.0 applications expect.” I have no idea what he means by host Web 2.0 applications expecting a stylus. I thought most people got them to them from the web using a mouse. My bad.