Hasta La Gadget!

We make a large investment in our phones, not only are we invested monetarily, but these phones hold important information that we need to go on about our daily lives, and then, one day, we jump out of the car at our favorite Italian restaurant and wham! the phone lands on its face, on the hard concrete sidewalk, and despite the cute and bejeweled phone case, the screen shatters into a million pieces and I instantly no longer feel like spaghetti and meatballs followed by a cannoli, I just want to cry.

Well, I have a new phone and a new plan for it, I’m checking out Rhino Shield, a custom formulated, patent pending, impact resistant screen protector. Forget about Gorilla Glass 2, Rhino Shield is able to take on at least 5 times the impact energy and it’s still highly transparent, and incredibly thin (.029 cm) and can protect your precious touch screen from all kinds of unexpected perils, without changing how the screen looks, reacts, or feels.

Rhino Shield is actually layers of protection, all in one thin and effective super screen protecting sandwich. Rhino Shield protects the screen from those annoying fingerprint and oil smudges (you know, the ones you wipe off on your pants, don’t lie, I’ve seen you do it) and it protects your phone from scratches, and best of all, it helps to absorb the impact if you happen to drop your phone face first on the ground at Mama Luigi’s.

Rhino Shield, by Evolutive LABS was founded by some students from the University of Cambridge and was funded as a successful Kickstarter project back in April 2012, and now you can protect your own phone with it, starting at only around  25 bucks. Rhino Shield is available for most iPhones, the Blackberry and HTC, please check bitemyapple.co to see if there’s one for you.
[ Rhino Shield – Don’t go Anywhere without Protection copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]

Google may have a new version of Google Maps to be excited about, but it’s also goodbye to some old features along the way, with the search giant announcing plans to retire Latitude and hopefully shift users to Google+ instead. Latitude has a month left to live and is in fact completely absent from the new version of Google Maps, but users won’t be able to avoid the shutdown by bypassing the upgrade since Google is axing server-side support – and Latitude friends lists – too. Meanwhile, offline mapping for Google Maps has been buried away as a bizarre “Easter egg” in the newest version.

Whereas before, Google Maps supported easy offline caching of a section of a map through the settings, now that option has been removed. Instead, Google says, offline support is being treated as a non-official feature in v.7 for Android; according to Abby DeBellis, Google Maps community manager, you’ll need to turn it on in a different, hidden way.

You can “pre-load an area of the map you need offline simply by going to that area in the app and typing “OK Maps” in the search box (or speaking “OK Maps” into your Android device)” DeBellis says. “That area will then be pre-loaded to your device cache and accessible when you don’t have a connection. Just return to that area of the map, and it will be available to you.”

It’s unclear why Google opted to remove the more readily-accessed support for offline caching, though a general reluctance to see users turn off data might be one reason. Having a persistent data connection means Google can serve up more promotional offers, for instance, which are now embedded right into the map itself.

For Latitude, meanwhile, it’s an attempt to shift users of the location-tracking service to Google+. Location sharing is supported in the Google+ Android app now, and will be enabled in the iOS app soon, Google says; any Latitude widgets you’re using will stop showing your location as of August 9.

“We’ll delete your list of friends on Latitude. You won’t be able to see or manage friends. Any existing friends will no longer see your location in Google Maps for mobile on Android, Latitude for iPhone, the public badge, the iGoogle Gadget, and the Latitude website at maps.google.com/latitude, if you continue to use these products” Google

More concerning, perhaps, if you’ve made good use of Latitude so far, is the fact that Google won’t be allowing any of the friend data built up in the service to be exported. If you’ve had Location History enabled then you’ll at least be able to suck out the list of places you’ve been using Google Takeout.

Third-party apps and services that currently use the Latitude API will lose access to users’ location too, though they’ll be allowed to keep their databases of positioning data.

Google kills Latitude and buries Google Maps offline is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Onkyo is going to release 2 new models of their CD receiver systems on August 3 – Bluetooth compliant “X-U3″ and Lightning dock built-in “X-U3LT”.

“X-U3″ allows you to play music in Bluetooth compliant devices such as iPod/iPhone/iPad, smartphone, tablet etc wirelessly via Bluetooth. “X-U3LT” has a lightning connecter compliant dock so that you can connect a device with a lightning connecter such as iPhone5 directly to “X-U3LT” and enjoy music.

X-U3

Price: ¥34,800
Color: white, black
Audio output/input terminals: Analog terminal, headphone, sub-woorder pre-out
Size: main unit 215x100x270mm, speaker unit 130x203x173mm
Weight: main unit 2.4kg, speaker unit 1.9kg

X-U3LT

Price: ¥34,800
Color: white, brown
Audio output/input terminals: Analog terminal, headphone
Size: main unit 215x100x270mm, speaker unit 130x210x172mm
Weight: main unit 2.5kg, speaker unit 1.6kg

Apple has petitioned the International Trade Commission to overturn a fast-approaching US ban on the iPad 2 and iPhone 4, which would see imports of the firm’s older phones and tablets barred in under four weeks time. The ruling, granted to Samsung back in June but not enacted for 60 days, would “sweep away an entire segment of Apple’s product offerings” Apple argued in a motion filed on Monday with the ITC, not to mention potentially damaging the company’s carrier partners, it’s suggested.

As Apple sees it, although the impacted devices – the most recent of which include the second-gen iPad and the iPhone 4 – have all been superseded by newer phones and tablets, they still represent an entry-level option which could have introduced new customers to the brand. The iPad 2G 3G and iPhone 4 present “the opportunity to gain new smartphone and tablet customers who otherwise would have purchases these entry-level Apple devices” the company points out.

It’s not only Apple which is at risk, the company’s lawyers claim. Carriers – redacted in the published version of the motion, but presumably AT&T and T-Mobile – will also be at a disadvantage, especially against their CDMA rivals.

“The products subject to the Commission’s orders have been purchased by [REDACTED]. They remain very popular and are strong sellers for the GSM carriers” Apple writes. “As noted above, the GSM carriers will be placed at a competitive disadvantage against their CDMA competitors because the Orders will prevent them from offering these popular, entry-level devices.”

As Apple sees it, the 3G GMS patent at the center of Samsung’s successful import ban request is likely to be overturned. An import ban would be premature, then, the company says. “Under the unique circumstances presented in this case,” Apple writes, “a stay of the Orders is warranted to maintain the status quo until the Federal Circuit decides Apple’s appeal.”

Unlikely is that President Barack Obama will weigh in, and overrule the ITC ban, as is the only other way to avoid the embargo beyond the appeals process.

Unsurprisingly, Samsung has been keen to see the ban enacted. “We believe the ITC’s final determination has confirmed Apple’s history of free-riding on Samsung’s technological innovations” a company spokesperson said back when the ITC first reached its decision.

VIA GigaOm

iPhone and iPad ban must be overturned Apple argues is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Onkyo is going to release a speaker system “GX-70HD2″ with new 11w＋11W amplifier in early August. It has 10cm OMF cone woofer and 2cm balanced dome tweeter built-in.

2 colors (black or white) are available. The price is ¥15,800.

Size: R 123×203×225mm, 2.9kg　/ L 123x225x184, 1.7kg
Impedance:　10kΩ
Max.output: 11W＋11W (4Ω)
Frequency range: 48Hz〜100kHz
Output/input terminals: analog input x 2, sub-woofer output, headphone output terminal