Phonofone III: A No-Power iPhone Amplifier

phonophone-3.jpgBose, Altec Lansing, Logitech, and all the other high-quality iPhone speaker manufacturers better watch out; there’s competition in town, and this one doesn’t even need power to impress. The Phonofone III ($195 CAD) looks like a gramophone from the future. Just like the smaller, less elegant-looking Bone Horn Stand ($25), the Phonofone amplifies the volume emitted from your iPhone’s internal speaker without any electronics. 

Though the Bone Horn only magnifies the sound to 13 decibels, the Phonofone III amplifies the speaker roughly 4x, or about 60 decibels. And, unlike the Bone Horn’s silicone body, the Phonofone is handmade from ceramic. If you think it looks heavy, you’re wrong; the Phonofone weighs only 1.75 lbs. 

This is the third model in the Phonofone series from Canadian designers Science and Sons. According to TreeHugger.com, the first Phonophone was released three years ago. It had a larger body and an even heftier price of $875. You can see the Phonofone I and Phonofone II at Scienceandsons.com.

This is the first batch to be released, and there are only 50 pieces to be sold at the moment. If you’d like a Phonofone by Christmas, make sure to get your order in before December 5.

Some may think it’s too much to spend on a 230 (with shipping) iPhone speaker that has no other features besides making your music louder. For example, for about the same price you can get the Altec Lansing Mix iMT800 iPod dock for $199 down from its $299.95 list price at Amazon. This is a PCMag Editors’ Choice due to its tremendous power, built-in subwoofer, user-adjustable EQ, two aux inputs and cable for additional MP3 players, and its FM tuner. 

Just think, you can get all that for the price of a really, really cool-looking iPhone “speaker.” So, the question is, do you choose beauty, over bells and whistles? Let us know what you would pick in the comments below.

iPhone App Determines Ugliness of Babies

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I’ve long said that there’s nothing in this world sadder than an ugly baby. For plenty of people, those first few years are the only chance to look the least bit presentable. Ugly babies really have it rough from the start, however. So perhaps Dapper Gentlemen is doing us all a favor with the introduction of the Ugly Baby Meter for the iPhone.

This could be just the thing doting parents need to help prepare their ugly spawn for a life time of difficulty and disappointment. The app was developed by the same team that gave the world the gift of Ugly Meter. This version is targeted specifically toward “babies and small children,” rating their cuteness on a scale of one to 10.

The app features a real-time face tracker and offers “one-liners,” based on the resulting score. It’s compatible with the iPhone 3, 3G, 3Gs, and iPod touch with cameras. It’ll run you $0.99 in the app store, but may well be worth it for the lifetime’s peace of mind (or crippling depression) it provides.

Add Flash to Your Old iPhone

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Have iPhone 4 envy? Your older model will never be as cool as the shiniest, newest version, but at least there’s one thing you can do to help soup the thing up. The iFlash plugs into your iPhone or iPod’s dock connector. It offers 10cd of light, to help you take better shots with your phone.

The iFlash has an on/off button and is powered by the phone itself. There’s also a string on the thing, so you can let it dangle from your phone, when not in use.

The iFlash is a bit pricey, at $39.95, and, let’s be honest, is a bit less exciting than it could be, given the addition of a flash on the latest version of the iPhone. But if you’ve got $40 and demand sharp phone pictures, you can pick one up today.

Griffin Intros LightBoard, an iPad Accessory for Kids

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The gadget kings at Griffin have just introduced LightBoard, an interactive children’s accessory for the iPad. A combo of case and app, it creates a kid-safe arts activity center while simultaneously protecting the parent’s iPad. The iPad is surrounded in a shatter-resistant polycarbonate shell with openings for the speakers and headphone jack. A built-in polycarbonate screen shield protects scratches.

The case is built to work with the LightBoard Trace app, a free download. With the app, the iPad serves up more than 35 different coloring activities and figures for the child. Slide a piece of paper in the frame, launch the app, and the paper is backlit with traceable drawings. The case comes with a black washable felt-tip marker. You can pick up the LightBoard for $39.99.

Snow White Apple Laptop Decal: Cheap Holiday Gift for a Geek

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Are you the kind of person who always has their face glued to their laptop? Were you too busy reading up on the latest rumors of iPad 2 or Digg’s inevitable decline that you didn’t even realize what time of year it is? Well, snap out of it, geek face! It’s Christmastime! And you better start showing some season’s spirits!

Or else!

Luckily, the fine people at ImageLab3 are here to help you celebrate the holidays (within the parameters of ironic geek chic) with their Snow White Christmas Apple decal for your laptop.

This December, proclaim a tech-infused Noel to the world with the iconic visage of beloved little person wrangler, Snow White as she prepares to chomp down on the iconic Apple trademark while wearing a colorful Santa cap.

A-friggin-dorable!

Afraid to mark your laptop with too much holiday joy? No worries, the decal (15″ MacBook: $14.99; 11″ MacBook Air: $9.99 — plus $2.00 shipping) can be removed easily once the 26th comes around.

Christmas Snow White is the latest seasonal installment of ImageLab’s line of Snow White Apple Decals (available for a variety of Apple products and models) including: regular, geek, emo, and sexy.  

Cyber Monday Apple Deals

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Apple isn’t quite going so far as relieving its Black Friday deals (which featured a number of discounts on products like the iPad, Macbook, and iMac), but the company is offering up a handful of deals on accessories, in celebration of Cyber Monday. The list includes headphones, speaker docks, cases, and various other accessories.

Check out some of the deals, after the jump.

Apple Store Black Friday Deals: iPads, iMacs, iPods

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Now that you’ve finished sleeping off that turkey coma, it’s time to participate in that most truly American of activities: buying lots of stuff that you can’t possibly afford.

Apple is almost certain to have some amazing sales numbers this holiday, thanks in no small part to 2010’s runaway success of the iPad, which has made its way to the top of countless shopping shopping lists.

As is its tradition, the company is marking Black Friday with that rarest of things: a genuine discount on Apple products. Apple has done a pretty good job keeping quiet about the deals thus far. The company sent out a teaser to customers, but otherwise kept quiet.

The Black Friday discounts are in place, and it looks like a pretty solid spread, with deals on iPads, iMacs, iPods, Macbooks,software, and accessories galore. Check out some of the better deals after the jump.

Great Gift: Apple or Lenovo Keyboard

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Whether you spent $199 or $1,199 for your latest PC, are you really happy with the keyboard? I added an Apple wired keyboard ($49 in Apple stores) on my PC for a year (it installs automatically), liked the key feel, and disliked that Apple keyboards don’t have a print-screen key, something I use a lot, and the occasional static shock touching the keyboard deck on winter days. I switched to the Lenovo ThinkPad USB Keyboard with TrackPoint with its equally wonderful key feel, a Trackpoint pointing device (you can disable it if you don’t like it), and that print-screen key. Understand that the Thinkpad keys are full size but the keyboard is compact, so there’s no separate numeric keypad. Do your fingers a favor and get a real keyboard.

iPad Tops Wish Lists For Kids 6-12

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I’m trying to imagine what I might have done with an iPad at age six–it most likely would have involved crushing a lot of action figures with the thing. Naturally, kids today are for more savvy than in the primitive 1980s when I grew up. According to a new study from Nielsen, Apple’s tablet is the most requested gift for kids aged six to 12.

According to Nieslen’s numbers, 31-percent of children aged six to 12 are “interested in buying” an iPad in the next six months. Again, I’m not sure what allowances are like these days, but I image most of the kids who fall within that bracket are going to need a little extra help from the parents.

Number two on the list is the generic “computer,” followed by the iPod touch. Gaming consoles don’t even enter into it until the number four spot, the Nintendo DS, which is followed by the PS 3. Also on the list: the iPhone, Nintendo 3DS, Wii, PlayStation Move, Blu-Ray player, and Xbox 360.

The aforementioned generic computer topped the list for those surveyed above the age of 13. Also in the top five: television set, non-iPhone smartphone, the iPad (at 18 percent), and a Blu-ray player.

Oprah Loves the iPad, Netflix, Sony 3DTV

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Oprah? Total tech junkie. There are a number of gadgets dotting the queen of daytime’s lift of “favorite things.” At the top of the list is Apple’s iPad, which Winfrey told her audience is “the best invention of the century so far.”

As is her custom, Oprah gave the tablet away to customarily overzealous audience members. The free iPads were also stocked with a Scrabble app and a digital copy of O Magazine.

“Words cannot describe what I feel for this magnificent device,” she told the audience “Thanks to my iPad, I now read about four newspapers a day. I write my column for O magazine on the iPad way before the deadline because I love writing on it so much.”

Also on her list this year was a Sony BRAVIA LX900 3D HDTV ($3,600), a Nikon D3100 Digital SLR Camera ($700), and a five-year subscription to Netflix, which, as we all know, is worth more now than it was a few weeks ago.

The biggest prize prize? That fleet of 2012 VW Beetles.