Even though every iPhone 4 user is getting a free iPhone 4 case personally signed by Steve Jobs himself (Note: They’re not really signed), case makers are rushing to create even more fantastic new iPhone 4 cases. Griffin is adding to its lineup with three new models. The Elan Frame (shown here) is an attractive frame that protects the phone’s sides while leaving the front and back open. It comes in black ($29.99), platinum ($34.99), and graphite ($34.99).
The FlexGrip is a slim shell that makes the iPhone 4 a bit easier to hold onto. It comes in black and clear ($19.99), with blue and pink models coming soon. Finally, the AeroSport ($29.99) is a Lycra armband for working out. It’s cut wide to stay in place better. A hidden pocket lets you stash a key or some money. All three cases are available now.
Welcome to Engadget’s Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we’re here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we have mobile phones in our sights — and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month.
Back in our day, the only “mobile phone” at school was the one that broke off the dorm wall after our roommates got a little too rowdy, but nowadays, a capable, high-power handset is quickly becoming a must-have for students of all ages. Regardless of your budget, your parent’s budget, or your little one’s budget, we’ve got options that should help with studying, gaming, music, and maybe even the occasional call home.
Apple has a new toy. It’s a materials company called Liquidmetal, and everybody’s talking! Problem is, nobody seems too sure what they’re talking about. So, Liquidmetal: What is this stuff? And what does Apple want with it? More »
Can’t say we’ve heard of the Pleco Chinese Dictionary app prior to today even though it’s been around for two full version releases. Of course, we’ve seen plenty of Google Goggle-like smartphone apps that can snap pictures and then convert the image to text using optical character recognition (OCR) — something that can be incredibly useful when important stacks of business cards. Pleco 2.2, however, is one of the first apps we’ve seen that can translate text in real time using the live image presented on your phone’s camera display. The new feature, targeted for release in September, requires iOS 4 and should work with either the iPhone 4 or older 3GS. Sure, you might not need this app every day, but it might just be the difference between ordering chop suey or a thousand-year old egg garnished with a side of stinky tofu. See it in action after the break.
Apple has pulled Camera+ from the App Store. Its only sin: Allow iPhone customers to press the volume button to take photos. But why are they taking away a feature that everyone has been demanding since the JesusPhone was introduced? More »
It’s not as cut-and-dry as last night’s declaration that a new Retina Display-equipped iPod Touch is due in the next few weeks, but our man John Gruber just put up a lengthy post on the long-rumored CDMA iPhone for Verizon in which he says the mythical handset is codenamed “N92” and has reached “engineering verification test” (EVT) status. According to Gruber, that’s just one step below “design verification test,” which is what that stolen iPhone 4 prototype was — meaning the CDMA iPhone is apparently just two hops away from production. Mix in persistent rumors of large CDMA chipset orders these past few weeks and a dash of AT&T hinting that exclusivity might be over, and it’s sounding like ol’ N92 could well arrive in January as first reported by Bloomberg — perhaps at Verizon’s CES press conference. In Gruber’s words, “the CDMA iPhone is no longer a cold storage, keep-it-alive-just-in-case-we-need-it project.”
Now, Gruber is very careful to say that none of this is a sure thing, and that Apple’s CDMA work could have nothing to do with Verizon specifically; it could be for Sprint, or for various international CDMA carriers. What’s more, we definitely have our doubts about a CES announcement — we’re expecting to hear a lot about Verizon’s LTE plans at the keynote, and it would certainly be an odd capstone to launch an incredibly high-profile CDMA device at the same time. (Not to mention Apple’s historic aversion to sharing the spotlight with others at CES.) Even still, we’ve definitely been hearing noise about a CDMA Verizon iPhone from all manner of sources for months now — if this is ever going to happen, we’d say this is the last time it’s going to make any sense before both Verizon and AT&T start to get serious about 4G.
If you’re looking for an iPhone 4 case that looks industrial and can keep your iPhone safe from harm, the Stainless Steel iPhone 4 Case may be perfect for you. The steel shell is cut from multiple pieces of sheet metal and attached with soft pins that keep your iPhone secure inside. The case also has a flip-top screen protector that rotates 180 degrees over the top of the phone and onto the back when you’re using it, and then back in place covering the display when the phone isn’t in use. The case even has a rubber band on the lid that you can use to store credit cards or bills.
Since the case doesn’t have sides and instead is made of two pieces of metal fastened together with rubberized pins, all of the buttons on the top and sides of the iPhone are open for use. The dock connector and speakers on the bottom are open as well. The backplate has a hole cut out for the camera and flash, and the front has spaces cut out for the speakers and home button. If the industrial look is something you can’t resist, one can be yours for $95.00 US. Pre-orders are open now, and the case will begin shipping on August 16th.
From the outside of its white box, labeled “Phone no. 4,” it’s clear to see that the Air Phone 4 is trying awfully hard to be an iPhone 4. But then we already knew that. How does it compare to the real thing in the real world? Not well, according to intrepid reviewer Stuart Ashen. The external metal surface (which you might be familiar with) is here actually plastic, so you don’t have to worry about dropped calls if you fondle it the wrong way, but the phone is said to have awful signal regardless — despite showing full bars even when missing a SIM. Ashen concludes the thing is an “astonishing bit of copycat work” held back by “the worst touchscreen ever.” (Yeah, it’s resistive.) Oh, and that Facetime app we spotted before? It “doesn’t seem to work properly,” about the kindest thing that can be said about this junker. If you’d like to see the full (and thoroughly entertaining) review, it’s embedded for you right after the break.
Not only does a “death grip” cut into your phone’s ability to connect, it also increases the amount of radio-frequency radiation it’s pumping out.
Now you can see exactly how much more radiation your head is absorbing, with an app that estimates the RF output of your smartphone, in real time.
Israeli mobile-software company Tawkon released a video Monday that shows its app measuring the impact a “death grip” can have on a mobile device’s radiation. Using the app, an iPhone 4, BlackBerry Bold, and Google Nexus One all show a significant increase in RF radiation when held tightly in the user’s palm.
That’s to be expected: Whenever a cellphone has difficulty connecting with a cell tower, it increases its RF output in order to maintain the connection. Anything that interferes with that connection — be it a death grip, stepping into an elevator, or locating yourself in a low-signal area — will increase any phone’s RF output.
So is Tawkon suggesting that the infamous “death grip” can actually be detrimental to the user’s health?
“Tawkon doesn’t advocate that the death grip is necessarily unsafe, because final answers on the health ramifications of mobile phone usage won’t be known for decades, until researchers have had that time to track long-term usage and impact,” Tawkon co-founder Amit Lubovsky told Wired. ”However, recent studies do indicate a health impact of mobile phone radiation on mobile phone users, especially on people whose usage is termed excessive and cumulative. Until the long-term studies are concluded (decades from now), Tawkon believes consumers should have the right and ability to minimize their exposure to mobile phone radiation.”
Most ongoing studies cannot yet draw a causal link between cellphone usage and physical disorders, and Tawkon should know, since the company follows many of these studies.
The World Health Organization’s Interphone study, released in May, could draw no causal link between glioma or meningioma and cellphone use. However, it noted, “There were suggestions of an increased risk of glioma, and much less so meningioma, in the highest decile of cumulative call time, in subjects who reported usual phone use on the same side of the head as their tumor and, for glioma, for tumors in the temporal lobe.”
Currently, the group ranks the Motorola Droid, iPhone 3GS, Google Nexus One, BlackBerry Bold 9700 and Samsung Instinct HD as the top five most radio-emissive phones. All of them, however, fall within the FCC’s acceptable SAR (specific absorption rate) limit of 1.6 watts per kilogram (1.6 W/kg).
The Tawkon application gets all its information about the phone’s radiation from the cellular protocol stack that manages the baseband modem.
“We use this information in the form of different RF parameters extracted from the device itself,” Lubovsky said. “We then take into consideration the proximity of the phone to the user –for example if the phone is held against the user’s ear or on the user’s lap– to help determine the actual exposure level at any given time.”
“As part of the production procedure we have, each device goes through a long calibration process in an RF lab prior to its release to make sure that our measurements meet the actual values,” he continued.
Tawkon is available only on the BlackBerry platform via App World, Mobihand and Handango, but not on Android or iOS as shown in the video.
“It works on the iPhone, but we’re waiting for Apple approval to make it publicly available,” Lubovsky said. “Android is expected to launch very soon.”
We may never know the truth about the ousting of Mark Papermaster, Apple’s VP in charge of the iPhone and a direct report to Steve Jobs. However, a report in the Wall Street Journal co-authored by Yukari Iwatani Kane — widely considered to be Apple’s favorite go-to source when it wants to control a story in the press — is as close as we’re likely ever going to get, from Apple’s perspective anyway. Citing several anonymous sources familiar with Papermaster’s downfall, the WSJ says the following:
Mr. Papermaster had lost the confidence of Mr. Jobs months ago and hasn’t been part of the decision-making process for some time, these people said. They added that Mr. Papermaster didn’t appear to have the type of creative thinking expected at Apple and wasn’t used to Apple’s corporate culture, where even senior executives are expected to keep on top of the smallest details of their areas of responsibility and often have to handle many tasks directly, as opposed to delegating them.
In other words, it wasn’t just about the iPhone 4’s antenna. In fact, the WSJ claims that Jobs knew about the risks of the antenna design as much as a year ago and it was his decision, not Papermaster’s, to move forward with its development. Whatever the real story is, we’re sure that Steve, visibly agitated at having to host an antennagate press conference, wasn’t too pleased at having stood in front of the media promising an “end of July” ship date for the already delayed white iPhone 4 only to delay it again just a few days later. Straw, meet camel.
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If you’re looking for an iPhone 4 case that looks industrial and can keep your iPhone safe from harm, the 
