iPhone

Gaudy French millionaires drool over Yubz solid gold phone

The Yubz telephone makes the argument that even iPhones can't escape irony's tacky, far-reaching arm. For $50 and the cost of shipping from France, you can own this ridiculous handset that plugs into your iPhone and lets you pretend you're Donald Trump in the early 1970s.

It'll be out in mid-November on the Yubz Web site, but if you simply can't wait until they inevitably show up in your local mall's Spencer Gifts, they're also available for preorder.

Finally, if a solid gold telephone triggers your gag reflexes as much as it does … Read more

Apple gambling on Papermaster's leadership skills

Apple knew full well that Mark Papermaster would have to learn his new role as iPod and iPhone chief "on the job" when it hired him.

Papermaster's former employer, IBM, filed a lawsuit against him last week, claiming that he broke the terms of a noncompete contract with IBM in accepting a high-profile job with Apple. InformationWeek spotted Papermaster's formal response Friday morning, in which he declares that the two companies are not competitors and that his experience at IBM is not the primary reason why Apple sought his services.

The court filings reveal the interesting … Read more

Samsung captures lead in U.S. wireless market

Correction, 2:38 p.m. PST: This story initially gave an incorrect name for the firm that released the report. It is Strategy Analytics.

Samsung Electronics became the top mobile phone provider in the U.S. during the third quarter, unseating longtime rival Motorola, according to a report Friday by Strategy Analytics.

Samsung grabbed 22.4 percent of the market share based on U.S. shipments in the quarter, compared with Motorola, which was slightly more than 1 percentage point away, and LG Electronics which was a close third.

Samsung and LG, which have been rapidly closing the gap on … Read more

The 404 223: Where Wilson gets serviced for his birthday

Happy birthday Wilson! You're officially the oldest 24-year-old we know! To help celebrate we get a call from The 404 unofficial sound man, voice actor and eBay impulse buyer Jamey Lewis. How's that for getting your AC unit serviced? 404 fans around the world show their love for the Tangster with with tons of calls from the public. In the news, Will Smith and Spielberg team up for an action movie remake and Wal-Mart rewards shoppers for splurging on a PS3.

Dan the Mantern here. Wilson wants me to thank all the fans who left him a voicemail today. Between you and me, he's still a little misty. In case you were wondering, he plans to celebrate karaoke-style. Free ear plugs available upon request.

Remember folks, you still have this weekend to submit original box art for Little Big Planet and MotorStorm and enter to win a copy of the game. And if you don't show up in the chat room for next Friday's show with snowboarding legend Shaun White, I swear, Wilson will come to your house with a karaoke machine filled with Chinese pop songs and a sound system loud enough to shatter every glass window on your block. Friday, November 14th, Shaun White, The 404, Bacardi Cola, do it!

EPISODE 223 Download today's podcast Read more

Get all your notes on iPhone

Though intended as a complementary application to Evernote's multimedia note-syncing system, Evernote for iPhone fares well enough as a stand-alone application. You'll still need to register for a free or premium account, but after that, creating text, photo, and audio notes is a simple operation.

Evernote saves your media on its servers and then delivers all your uploaded notes to any access point, including the Evernote desktop manager, any Web browser, and now your iPhone or iPod Touch. Evernote's optical character recognition service is one selling point for all accounts. While tests found the OCR fairly accurate, … Read more

Peer inside the box

Musical curiosity is no dangerous thing with Pandora's iPhone app for music discovery, except that you'll soon be hooked. Take the Web radio engine's original concept of suggesting music by comparing the rhythms of a song you might like with one you already do and add to it a sleek interface, ratings icons, and quick links to bookmark the song or artist, or buy the track from iTunes. Add an explanation of why the bots picked your song to the ability to view the song progress, create a new station from a song or artist, and send … Read more

Podcast Downloads coming in iPhone OS 2.2--from Apple

The German blog Schimanke.com has posted some screenshots from the beta version of the iPhone 2.2 firmware. The images reveal more information about the new release, including details about new iTunes and App Store features. These features only appeared within the last week and have not been fully implemented on the iTunes-infrastructure side.

The screenshots show that Apple will be adding delivery options for over-the-air downloads of additional media, including video and audio podcasts. The 10 MB download size limit will be in place when the iPhone is on a cellular network.

We've already reported about the … Read more

Apple's iPhone wins J.D. Power award

A survey conducted by J.D. Power and Associates found Apple's iPhone generated the highest amount of customer satisfaction among smartphone-using businesspeople.

The survey of almost 1,400 respondents, which was conducted during August and September, ranked the iPhone first on a scale that asked respondents to rate the smartphones for ease of operation, operating system, physical design, handset features, and battery aspects. Apple's favorite gadget scored 778 points out of a possible 1,000 points, beating Research In Motion and Samsung.

The iPhone received perfect rankings in four of the five categories, with the exception of "… Read more

AT&T confirms tethering coming to iPhone in 2009

AT&T Mobility chief Ralph de la Vega confirmed on Thursday that iPhone 3G users will be able to use their phones as wireless modems at some point next year.

De la Vega made the comments during a conversation with TechCrunch's Michael Arrington at the Web 2.0 Summit on Thursday. "Tethering" an iPhone to a laptop, and using the iPhone's mobile data connection to get online, is a service that iPhone users have wanted for some time but that AT&T was reluctant to provide, perhaps because it feared that a huge influx of trafficRead more

Your MacBook is too classy to be wrapped in neoprene

While everyone else is rushing out to their local Apple store to buy a mass-produced, cookie cutter case for their new MacBooks and Pros, try to resist the urge and instead look around for something a bit more unique, like the newest "Held" MacBook cases from Hard Graft.

Although they're definitely gender neutral, I personally think this case looks like it was pulled directly off the set of a 1960s James Bond flick. It's actually designed to mimic the look of a leather shoulder holster pressed against a fine wool suit; the entire sleeve is wrapped in a thick heather gray felt with ivory herringbone elastic straps that keep your laptop safe and secure. Of course, all the Hard Graft distinctions are in place as well, including their signature external pocket made from dyed European cow leather and matching pull tab inside.

The Hard Graft Shop Window also features cases for your phone (several brands and styles are represented), iPod, Moleskine, eBook, and car keys. Even a foldable mouse pad is available through the site, and at a very affordable price.

iPhone cases are only $60 and the "Held" case for your Apple laptops starts at $115--not bad, considering Hard Graft strives to only use sustainable materials built independently in Austria in a "medieval Schloss surrounded by vineyards and apricot orchards." No joke, that's what it says on the page! And best of all, imagine how proud you'll feel when you break this baby out at the airport next to a sea of sheep staring drearily at their cookie cutter neoprene laptop cases. More pictures after the jump.… Read more