Photographer skins his iPhone 4 as a Leica M9
San Francisco photographer, Joey Celis ( @joeyjoeyjoey ) has turned his iPhone 4 into a Leica M9 with this ingenious skin. I had to look this up, not being a photography geek, but the M9 is “the world’s most compact full-format digital camera system” according to Leica. So, I would imagine that this skin would be highly sought after by every iPhone-4-using Leica fan.
With this skin, the photographic “business end” of the iPhone 4 is quite convincing as the compact M9 at a passing glance and can actually take pictures…although, not from the Leica’s lens. If you follow along with Celis’ iPhone 4 Leica M9 conversion photo set on Flickr, you’ll see how it looks in the wild as well as its humble beginnings as a Photoshop document.
While, at first, Celis had no plans to produce the skin for sale, response has been so positive that he posted this along with the picture you see above hinting that ordering information would be on the way soon:
Been getting lots of emails on when I’ll be taking orders for the Leica M9 skin and I think I finally settled on how I would like to release this and it will be in the form of donations to NF1 .
I’ll post information here and here once I skin the other phone.
Stay tuned and thanks for the support!
- Neurofibromatosis [↩]
Mover Lite …transfer pics and contacts between iPhone, iPad and Mac
Mover Lite is the FREE version of Infinite Labs’ Mover+.1
The app runs on the iPhone, iPad or iPod touch and allows you to transfer contacts and photos between your iDevices over wifi. With a 99¢ add-on to the Lite app, you can also transfer those files to your desktop Mac running Mover Connect.
If you want to be able to transfer files between your devices when they’re not connected to wifi, Mover+ allows for connectivity and transfer over Bluetooth for $1.99.
I’ve found that the app runs very well between two devices, but can get a bit confused when you have three devices, like a Mac, an iPad and an iPhone, all connected as I show in the video. It works, but confusion is a possibility.
Mover has come in handy for me many times when I just wanted to transfer a photo and I don’t want to have to go through the trouble of emailing it to myself or some other such procedure.
No Flash? No problem—click here!»As mentioned in the video, the iPad stand I’m using is the BookArc for iPad from Twelve South. It’s a nice sturdy metal stand that securely holds the iPad in either landscape or portrait2 orientations. It sells for around $45.
- I’m actually using Mover+ in the video, but I’m pushing Mover Lite here since it’s the FREE introductory app [↩]
- or even diagonal, if that’s how you roll [↩]
NetFlix instant streaming movies to your iPhone …awesomeness?
The Mac web, or more specifically, the iPhone web is buzzing about Netflix for iPhone today. This is huge for NetFlix subscribers who find themselves in need of on-demand entertainment as it allows them to instantly watch movies and TV shows from the service’s vast selection of titles streamed from their servers directly to the iPhone’s screen.
Since I’m in Canada and still awaiting the arrival of the promised NetFlix service, I have to go by second-hand accounts. Mel Martin from TUAW says…
The new iPhone version has excellent image quality, supports fast forwarding and rewinding of the video stream, and like other incarnations of Netflix, allows you to pick up where you left off if you stop a movie and restart it. As Netflix members will appreciate, you can pause a movie you are watching on a Netflix device at home, and start the movie on the iPhone app and it will resume at the same place.
GeekSugar has a very helpful word of warning: make sure you use the app when you’re connected to wifi or expect a huge cell phone bill.
Like I said, I can’t try the app—I wish I could. Just based on the buzz and the strong potential for a service like this in the marketplace, I have to assume this is awesomeness.
EpicWin!
This is new. I don’t mean that in a “it just came out” sort of way…though it basically did. I mean, I have tried a lot of productivity, task management, to do list and GTD1 applications in my time and this is the first time I’ve tried one that actually hides within the disguise of an RPG.2
EpicWin! is an iPhone app that allows you to assign yourself tasks, schedule repeating chores and set priorities like any other task management app, but it does so by rewarding task completion with XP3 and “loot.” Your tasks are categorized as feats of strength, stamina, intellect, social or spirit and you can set the priority by the amount of “Epicness” the task is worth upon completion.
You start EpicWin by creating your character: choose its race, its name and then you send it out on quests…like “Do the laundry”…”Mow the lawn”…or “Pick up the dry cleaning” As you complete those tasks your character levels up and acquires treasures which your friends on Twitter and Facebook can receive announcements about if you wish.
It’s a really imaginative idea and I hope the folks at SuperMono develop it further. I’d like to see them offer an online database for you to store your tasks and your progress like Remember The Milk and the ability to compete and share progress with other EpicWinners. Maybe they could allow multiple players to share a task together as an EpicWin epic quest!
The app sells for $2.99 US for the iPhone. What do you use to get things done?
No Flash? No problem—click here!»- Getting Things Done
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- Role Playing Game …get to know your acronyms!! [↩]
- Experience Points [↩]
Xtand and LogMeIn Ignition
I give credit to my buddy Brent Flink ( @indivisual ) for showing me LogMeIn and it’s super cool (and somewhat overpriced at $29.99 US) iPhone/iPad app LogMeIn Ignition.
LogMeIn is a web-based VNC service that allows you to install its free software on your Mac (or PC) and not only access, but control that computer from a supported web browser. Unfortunately, though Mobile Safari on the iPad and iPhone is one of those supported browsers, when you try to control the cursor within LogMeIn’s web-based VNC, you only end up controlling the view of the screen in the browser.
So, in order to control your Mac at home from your iPad in a coffee shop, you first need to have signed up for a FREE LogMeIn account, installed and activated the software on your Mac. Then you can share your Mac through LogMeIn. Now, when you launch LogMeIn Ignition on your iPad or iPhone, you can control your home computer from the road.
My favorite thing I’ve done with LogMeIn is use it to help me send files to clients that I couldn’t keep with me on my iPhone or iPad. While controlling my home Mac, I save the file to my Dropbox folder. This sets Dropbox to work making that file available to me online via the FREE Dropbox App on my iPad or iPhone. I still don’t actually have the file on those devices, but I can get a link to where it has been stored online by Dropbox that I can paste in an email on my iPhone and send it to my client. Problem solved.
No Flash? No problem—click here!»My little joke at the start of the video below made use of a very cool iPhone stand called the Xtand.1 It’s a nice iMac-like stand that will hold the iPhone 3G, 3GS or 4. It sells for about $39.99 US2
As I mentioned at the end of the video, there is another service called TeamViewer that offers many of the same features of LogMeIn but offers FREE lite versions of its apps for iPhone and iPad …though its full-featured apps sell for $99.99 US for the iPhone version and $139.99 US for the iPad version. Suddenly, $29.99 US doesn’t seem so bad to me.
- I’m actually not sure if I’m supposed to pronounce it “EKS-tand” or “ztand”…clearly I chose “EKS-tand” [↩]
- the one I used in the video is available for $35.99 CDN if you can get to MacStation in Abbotsford before they sell it
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BlindType offers more coherent drunk texting
As demonstrated in this video, BlindType is some sort of keyboard replacement for the iPad, iPhone and presumably the iPod touch (neither are actually available at the moment but we are told to follow @BlindType on Twitter for updates) that allows flawless gibberish interpretation even when every character is wrong. It can apparently even deduce what you where trying to type even if you miss the keyboard entirely as long as you remain consistent in how far off you are and stick to the proper key layout. They call this adjusting to your “perceived keyboard” and it is some form of black magic.
I can imagine this technology coming in handy for those who might like to drunk text their ex-girlfriends. Finally those unintelligible keystrokes will be properly interpreted!
I’m skeptical that BlindType can really be as good as this video suggests. I’m also curious to see if the folks creating this technology have an equally slick solution for getting my BlindTyped text into the apps that I use every day.
What do you think of this witchcraft? Leave a comment below!
DJay from Algoriddim
DJay from Algoriddim is very cool DJ software for your Mac. It sells for $49.99 US and has an iPhone App that allows you to control it remotely over wifi for $4.99 US (djay Remote – algoriddim).
The app itself features iTunes integration (it will grab you iTunes Library and playlist—any of the music you have can then be analyzed for its tempo for easy matching), Automixing 1 (DJay will grab song after song out of your iTunes playlists and mix them while you get your dance on), Tempo Matching (put any two songs together and DJay will slow down or speed up to match the tempos), as well as Scratching, Mixing and Looping.
In the mini video below, I use my nonexistent DJ’ing skillz to mix the 2 versions of “Still Alive” off The Orange Box (Original Soundtrack) into a duet between GLaDOS and @JonathanCoulton. For those musically challenged folks like myself, I recommend songs that already match.
Today’s Mac Awesomeness selection comes from a tweet posted by @leohayden2 Be sure to check out the video below and leave a comment.
- Note: Real DJ’ing is an art form performed by talented musicians. The true sound of a brilliant mix cannot be automated. [↩]
- he doesn’t even know I’ve given him a shout out like this, so if you see this and you know him, let him know for me, okay? [↩]
Rising Card Magic App for iPhone
A while back, I wrote a story on various magic tricks you can do with your iPhone, iPad or iPod. Shortly after I posted it, someone let me know that I had missed on. Namely, Rising Card by theory11.com.
Today, I set about rectifying the error of omission by recording this mini video with the help of @davesalter84 (on camera) and Loran from MacStation in Abbotsford, BC.
Rising Card is a simple trick to do and is very convincing. You have your participant name any card, it doesn’t matter which. Then bring out your iPhone and hand it to the participant to launch the app themselves. You don’t even have to be in the room as the participant shakes the iPhone and witnesses their chosen card rising magically from the deck on the iPhone screen.
Rising Card sells for $2.99 US and is brought to you by a professional magic effect supplier—theory11.com.
No Flash? No problem—click here!»Your iPhone and your iPad team up to help you take sneaky reconnaissance photos
EZ Cam is a sneaky little app for the iPhone and iPad1 … and when I say “for the iPhone and iPad,” I mean it because you’ll need both.
MobAc Design came up with this $2.99 US app (EZ Cam Lite also available) that brings Remote Camera Sharing to the iDevices. You simply launch the app and make a wireless connection between any two devices using Bluetooth, WiFi, or 3G. From there, both devices can see a camera’s-eye-view in real time. Once your target is in sight, snap a picture using the controls on the iPad and the photo is taken on the iPhone and instantly transferred to the iPad for viewing.
Imagine, since this is a Bluetooth, WiFi or 3G connection being made between the devices, you can be in a totally different place than the iPhone, lying in wait with your iPad and be in full control of the camera… which is going to come in handy when you need to take that quick picture of the guy who finds your iPhone laying around all by itself and takes it for himself.
I wonder if Gary Powell was testing EZ Cam when he left that prototype iPhone 4 unattended.
- or iPod touch [↩]
Yowza!! Mobile Coupons: What it is, why it’s awesome and what stores need to know
I am firmly convinced that what you currently call your cell phone will soon be the preferred method for paying and saving at the “cash” register and mobile coupons are going to play a big part in that.
A mobile coupon is like any other coupon you’d use at a store except that it resides on the screen of your cell phone or mobile device. It uses no paper and costs nothing to print or share. It’s potentially viral savings for the consumer and viral marketing for the merchant. You can get mobile coupons a number of way such as through merchant’s email newsletters, Facebook promotions or as a reward for filling out online surveys.
The next stage up from mobile coupons is location-based mobile coupons. This is where Yowza!! Mobile Coupons comes in and where I have to give full disclosure: I helped co-create Yowza!! and still own an ever-so-small share in its success.
Yowza!! is a FREE app for the iPhone and iPod touch and via WHERE, its deals are also accessible from other devices (Android, Blackberry and Palm at the moment). The app uses the GPS in the phone to find US merchants in the Yowza!! database who are offering deals, sales and announcements in your area right now… anywhere from 1 to 50 miles on a dial you can set.
Redeeming the deals is dead easy—3 steps:
- Search for deals being offered in your area and go to the Yowza!! merchant of your choice
- Choose the deal you want to use and select the items off the store shelves
- Redeem the deal. Bring your Yowza!! phone to the register with your purchases and the cashier with enter in the coupon code or scan the barcode right off the screen.
After you’ve used a coupon you can track your savings and taunt your friends or followers on Facebook or Twitter right from the app. You can even “save” your favorite stores and Yowza!! Mobile Coupons will use the iPhone’s optional push notifications to let you know when they have added a new deal.
Yowza!! Mobile Coupons is also a great way to find stores, restaurants and services you never knew where in your area—and if you hold your phone sideways, it will even show you a map!
Save money, yes, but you can also make money too.
The savings Yowza!! offers is obvious, but did you know that Yowza!! Mobile Coupons can make you money? Yes, they have an affiliate program. So, for anyone who says there aren’t enough stores around them offering deals, not only can you do something about that—you can profit by it!
Do you own a store? Sign up!!
If you run a brick-and-mortar store, restaurant or service1 and would like to offer deals on Yowza!! Mobile Coupons, you can sign yourself up and be posting deals and reaching thousands of Yowza!! users within minutes. Using Yowza!! as a merchant is dead easy too and offers great usage statistics to help you better meet your customer’s needs and make sales.
It’s been a long time since technology has actually offered something that brought people in to brick-and-mortar stores to spend money. Since Amazon started, there has been the constant threat of online competitors—they offer better prices and better selection and deliver to your door…but you do have to wait. With mobile coupons, and specifically location-based ones like Yowza!!, a store can gain the edge of convenience that is acquired by letting the consumer know that if you want that pair of shoes, you can get them 1 mile away from where you’re standing right now, get a discount and walk home in them today…or you can order online, wait for them to ship and see if they fit when they arrive.
Coupons vs. announcements and the element of surprise
By monitoring the conversation online via Twitter and other social media, I have noticed a common complaint with Yowza!! is that there aren’t enough coupons and that the offers don’t change as much as we consumers would like. It isn’t widely known, but Yowza!! doesn’t create the coupons or even negotiate them with the stores—the coupons are composed and entered by the stores themselves. So to solve this problem, the change has to come in the way merchants and restauranteurs think of coupons. Mobile coupons are like little tweets with savings attached—they’ve got to be interesting and they have to keep being updated.
One shift that needs to take place in the mobile coupon marketplace is for stores to actually offer coupons—saving redeemable only through the use of the app. Too many stores use Yowza!! and other coupon apps to broadcast sales and events, but they don’t seem to ever post coupons. Some even say “We don’t do coupons.” They join coupon app services because they are extremely inexpensive exposure but it has been their store’s long standing policy that they don’t offer coupons of any kind—they never have. I think this is something that stores and restaurants need to seriously reconsider with the introduction and consumer adoption of mobile coupons.
Also it’s important for merchants to be aware that, though some offers are the type we are going to want to be available all the time—the classic 10% off any item in the store coupon—we also crave variety and surprise. Give us a reason to come back to your Yowza!! listing by changing things up every so often.
This is something we, as consumers want—we want to use this app—and we will quickly go to a competing merchant to take advantage of their offer if we’re not given something compelling to bring us to your register.2
The economy sucks and it’s time to change your strategy. The customer is king, they will wield their power with their wallet and use mobile coupons as their trusty financial advisor. Get on their good side.
Awesome?
What really makes Yowza!! Mobile Coupons and, indeed, all mobile coupon apps awesome, is that it does away with the costly printing of flyers and the need to run newspaper advertisements. More than that, it does away with the need for us to clip, organize and remember to bring these coupons with us because now they are all automatically organized according to where the we are and they are already on the one device that we feel absolutely naked without—our cell phone. For merchants, it affords them an inexpensive way to bring people into their stores and customize and adjust advertising campaigns in mid-flight.
This is the way business is going, I know it, but it’s not there yet and it is mostly on the shoulders of the merchants to step up to the plate and really play this game. I have no doubt that, just as there are a horde of of social media gurus out there selling strategies to make sales through Twitter and Facebook, there will soon be Mobile Coupon Mavens who will show stores how to really make the most of these apps and offer us consumers some really compelling ways to save money.
What are your thoughts on Yowza!! and mobile coupons on the iPhone? Awesome or not?
