Hasta La Gadget!

Oscium should have called its iPad oscilloscope kit the iScilloscope

When I saw the Oscium iMSO-104 oscilloscope, I smacked my forehead with my open palm and cried “Of course!” What could be more sensible than taking a bulky, expensive piece of hardware and shrinking it down to fit in an iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch?

The iMSO-104 is a combination of a free app and a hardware kit which attaches via dock connector. With these two parts, you have a mixed signal oscilloscope. This isn’t an oscilloscope which plays it coy, one day flirting with you and the next refusing your calls. The mixed signals in this case are digital and analog. You get one analog input and four digital, and you can choose to display the signals from any or all on the screen together.

Using the computing power and display of your iDevice means that, according to Oscium, this is the world’s smallest oscilloscope. That’s neat and all, but it would be a waste if the iPad’s touch screen wasn’t used.

Happily, it is. Swipe up and down to change the analog input level. Pinch to zoom the axes in and out, and tap and drag to move the input readouts just where you want them.

The app is free to try out, and can be grabbed from the App Store right now. The iMSO-104 kit is just shy of $300, and the first batch — due to ship April 29th — has already sold out. More should be coming soon.

iMSO-104 oscilloscope [Oscium via Slashgear]

iMSO app [iTunes]

See Also:

• MAME on an Oscilloscope: Runs Star Wars Arcade Game
• Oscilloscope
• DIY Oscilloscope is Awesomely Affordable

Mobee’s Magic Bar charges Apple’s keyboard and trackpad, wirelessly

The biggest failing of Apple’s Bluetooth trackpad and keyboards is that they aren’t rechargeable. Instead, you have to keep them fed with a constant diet of AA cells. Low-discharge rechargeables do the trick, but if you have any regular NiMH cells around, they tend not to last so well for such low drainage purposes.

I also use a Magic Trackpad on either side of an aluminum Bluetooth keyboard, which means I get through the alkalines at a fair clip.

Enter the Magic Bar (of course) from Mobee. It’s a wireless charger for your Apple keyboard or Magic Trackpad. The Magic Bar comes in two parts. First is a double-AA sized battery pack, and second is the dock cradle. The cradle connects to the computer or other power source via USB, and has a channel into which the cylindrical rear section of your chosen input device snugly fits for charging.

It sounds ideal.

Then we take a closer look at the specs. A pair of regular AAs will last you for months. The battery pack that comes with the Magic Bar gives just ten days of life on a six-hour charge, thanks — presumably — to a reduction in battery size to accommodate the charging circuitry. This is the same problem as befalls Mobee’s other product, a charger for the Magic Mouse.

The Magic Bar will be available to order on May 15th. The price is still unannounced, but as a guide the Magic Mouse version — which is a lot smaller — costs €50, or $72.

The Magic Bar [Mobee]

The fake Smart Cover manages to wake the iPad 2, but things go downhill from there

Note to Chinese knockoff manufacturers: If you’re going to make a fake iPad Smart Cover this bad, at least sell it for less than $33 — at $39, Apple’s own case only costs $6 more.

This hilarious (and long: the first minute contains everything you need to see) video shows the folks at MIC Gadget comparing the knockoff with the real thing. It certainly looks the part, but in use, things quickly go wrong:

As the magnetic hinge approaches the iPad’s left side, the two are supposed to leap together like long-separated lovers. The knockoff doesn’t even manage a weak hug. Instead, it just falls apart — literally. The entire hinge section just drops to the floor.

And according to the reviewer, Chris Chang, it also smells bad. How bad? So bad that even Chang’s dog isn’t interested in sniffing it.

The cover does have one functioning part. Over on the right side, it contains the same 15 magnets as the Apple original, which means it will at least unlock the screen when you open it.

Maybe some of this would be forgivable if the thing cost $5 or $10, but at almost full price it becomes an unintentionally hilarious joke.

Finally, A Smart Cover Knockoff! [MIC Gadget]

See Also:

• New iPhone Knockoffs Are Nearly Indistinguishable From Original …
• Chinese iPhone Knockoffs Described With Hilarious Engrish
• Hot Out of China's Knock-Off Oven: iPad Clones
• Hack Puts Smart Cover on Old, Fat iPads
• IFixit Smart Cover Teardown: Contains Magnets. Lots of Magnets …
• iPad 2 Cover Is Smart, All Right — If You're Steve Jobs

Apple patents aren’t normally worth the pixels it takes to write about them — any half-smart company will patent any and every idea its employees have, just in case. But this USB 3.0 / Thunderbolt hybrid dock connector looks like it might be pretty serious.

The current dock connector is horrible. Unless you can see the tiny symbol printed in light gray on one side, you’ll end up jamming it in backwards half the time. It is also big. Back when those big white iPods were the latest thing, this wasn’t a problem. Now, though, the slot is nearly as wide as the iPod Nano itself.

The patent, filed way back in 2009, has just been published. It shows a smaller connector which can carry “one or more new high-speed communication standards, such as USB 3.0 and DisplayPort.” I doubt that it will actually use USB 3.0. Much more likely is a Thunderbolt plug, which uses the above-mentioned (mini) DisplayPort interface.

The cable would carry power, USB, serial data, audio, video and display data. It also looks pretty similar, internally at least, to the current connector. Then again, patent drawings are notoriously bad.

I’d expect the transition to begin once the entire Mac lineup has a Thunderbolt interface, and the Thunderbolt has started to arrive on PCs. I’d also expect some backwards compatibility, or at least two cables (or an adapter) in iDevice boxes so people with stone-age USB-only computers can still charge and sync their iPods.

Reduced size multi-pin male plug connector [Free Patents Online via Apple Insider]

See Also:

• Apple Files Patent for a Smart Bike
• Apple Patent Details GPS-equipped Nike+ Shoes
• Apple Patent Watch: Monitor Docking Station

Aviiq’s Smart Case adds thickness and ugliness to your beautiful iPad 2

Miss the thickness and ugly back of your old iPad 1? Then we have good news. By simply adding Apple’s Smart Cover to the front, and Aviiq’s Smart Case to the back, you can inch a little bit closer to the classic, retro, old-school 13.4mm of the original iPad.

I kid, but I also think that it kind of misses the point of the slimline iPad 2 to swaddle it in cases and covers. If you simply must keep your iPad scratch-free, despite the fact that you’ll never actually see it’s blemish-free body, then you can snap on one of Aviiq’s candy-colored shells.

These have a gray plastic rim and an anodized aluminum backplate, and come in the same colors as Apple’s Smart Cover. They’ll add a modest 1.5mm to the thickness, and come with a two-year warranty, which is precisely one more year than you’ll need, as your beautiful, skinny art object will look as ugly as a lump of chum when Apple debuts the svelte iPad 3 next year, whereupon you’ll be obliged to “upgrade” again.

The Smart Case is $50, and is available for pre-order right now.

Smart Case product page [Aviiq. Thanks, Pedro!]

See Also:

• Speck PixelSkin HD Apes Smart Cover Design
• Hack Puts Smart Cover on Old, Fat iPads
• IFixit Smart Cover Teardown: Contains Magnets. Lots of Magnets …
• iPad 2 Cover Is Smart, All Right — If You're Steve Jobs
• Hands-On with Aviiq's Beautiful, Expensive Folding Notebook Stand …