Hasta La Gadget!

You can make your iPhone match your MacBook with a glowing Apple logo. Image: iPatch

I find the mirrored Apple logo on the back of the iPhone 4 to be convenient for the occasional “Has my makeup melted?” or “Is there food in my teeth?” check. If it weren’t for that, I’d definitely be interested in a cool mod like this glowing Apple logo.

This iPhone 4 mod, from British iDevice repair service iPatch, sets the Apple logo on your phone aglow whenever the screen lights up, much as the logo on a MacBook lights up when opened. From the pictures, it looks pretty slick.

How iPatch accomplishes this is “a complete secret” and “very tricky to replicate,” says Andy Smith, the director of iPatch.

“It’s not something that could be done at home without specialist equipment,” he says.

The process takes a few hours. It uses your iPhone’s original rear case, so your phone isn’t any thicker when the mod is complete. You can choose the color of your glowing Apple, and it can be done to black or white iPhones.

This isn’t the first time the iPhone’s logo has been set ablaze. In 2008, a Russian iPhone hack achieved the same thing, using software that allowed you to adjust the intensity of the glow. Other notable appearance-altering iPhone mods include a solid Titanium 3GS backplate, a sleek (and cheap) brushed aluminum back cover for the iPhone 4 and an iPhone fitted with a QWERTY keyboard.

“Interest so far has been immense,” Smith says, citing about 40 tweet requests and countless phone calls and emails. “We tend to just do general repairs but this mod was spawned from another we were working on at the time.”

In case there’s any doubt, this mod definitely voids your warranty but Smith says it is reversible, should you have a change of heart at some point in the future.

The mod will run you between £50 and £100 if you’re in the U.K. (that’s around $150 U.S.). If you can’t hop across the pond to the company’s shop, you can mail your iPhone for modding.

Pricing for that shipping option hasn’t been released yet, but you can check the company’s Twitter account for updates.

via Cult of Mac

We know, we know — you’re anxiously awaiting the public launch of iTunes Match, but what if you’re one of those people? You know, the crowd that dips their toes into both Google and Apple offerings. It’s clearly not as blasphemous as you may have been led to believe, as the fine folks in Google’s mobile department have just produced an iOS-specific web app for Google Music Beta. For those who’ve forgotten, Music Beta was launched a few months back at Google I/O, giving audio archivists the chance to upload 20,000 of their favorite jams into the cloud; now, as you might imagine, it ain’t just Android users tapping into those libraries. Predictably, the Music Beta iOS web app enables iPhone, iPod touch and iPad users to login to their accounts and stream at will, and if you’re down to give it a go, the download link is just below — you’ll need to have been accepted previously into the beta, though.

We gave it a quick whirl on the iPad here at Engadget HQ, and it works beautifully. As you’d expect, the actual graphical elements are a bit lacking compared to the Android app, but all of the core functionality is there. Swiping left / right cruises through Artists, Albums, Songs, Playlists and Genres, and the track currently playing remains in a top bar regardless of what main window you’re in. The search function works as advertised, and on a basic cable connection our results populated within two seconds of getting the third letter down. All in all, it’s a fairly nice spread (see for yourself in the gallery below), but not quite as nice as we’re envisioning a dedicated app to be. Still holding out for one? Heh… we never said Google was that generous.

Google Music Beta crosses the aisle, launches for iOS via web app (hands-on) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 18:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If we’re going to spend $599 on a phone for our phone, it needs to offer unparalleled audio quality, absolutely seamless device integration, and a drop-dead gorgeous design. Invoxia, a new entrant to the world of VoIP telephony, claims to have created just that, with its NVX 610. The desktop unit uses an iPhone (or iPod touch or iPad) app as its control interface — the hardware itself includes only touch-sensitive volume, mute, speakerphone, and voicemail keys. With the exception of accessing your iOS device’s address book, however, all of the phone’s hardware is self-contained. Calls are processed using the built-in ARM Cortex-A8 processor, and can be made via Skype or any third-party SIP. You can also take incoming iPhone calls using the handset or speakerphone, but all outgoing calls are processed using VoIP, not your iPhone’s mobile network. We took a peek at the NVX 610 at IFA, and definitely liked what we saw. Jump past the break for our initial impressions, and a (somewhat noisy) intro video from Invoxia CEO Serge Renouard.

Continue reading Invoxia NVX 610 desktop VoIP phone for iPhone and iPad hands-on (video)

Invoxia NVX 610 desktop VoIP phone for iPhone and iPad hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Sep 2011 13:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A mock-up of what some believe the iPhone 5 to look like, based on case-design leaks.  Image source: MacRumors

You’d think Apple employees would be a little more careful with their precious prototypes after last year.

Apparently a next-gen iPhone prototype has gone missing, this time from San Francisco bar Cava 22, according to CNET. The device was reportedly lost in late July, and Apple scrambled to recover it over the following days. Instead of being bought by Gawker for five grand, this one sold on Craigslist for $200.

An eerily similar incident occurred with the iPhone 4 in April 2010. Redwood City, California, resident Brian J. Hogan found one at a local bar and sold it to Gawker-owned gadget site Gizmodo. Gizmodo staff involved were recently cleared of criminal wrongdoing, but Hogan was charged with two misdemeanors: misappropriation of lost property and possession of stolen property.

A few days after the latest device was initially lost, Apple representatives contacted San Francisco police, according to CNET. They claimed that the lost device was priceless and that they desperately hoped for its safe return back to 1 Infinite Loop.

There are no details as to what the missing phone looked like or what OS it was running, but Apple was able to trace its location back to a home in a nearby San Francisco neighborhood. The residents of the home, including a 22-year-old man who says he was at Cava 22 that night, denied knowledge of the device (even after being offered a cash reward from Apple). They gave permission for the police to search the house, but nothing was found.

Apple did not immediately return a phone call or e-mail request for comment from Wired.com.

Enrolled in the iOS developer program and interested in iTunes Match? Better point that browser towards Apple’s dev portal, as Cupertino’s just flipped the switch for its upcoming music laundering service. There you’ll find iTunes 10.5 beta 6.1 with iTunes Match which’ll let you sign up for a yearly $24.99 fee. Hopping on the bandwagon early has extra rewards too — early birds get three months (on top of their yearly sub) for free. A tipster also provided us with a screencap (after the break) of his iPod touch running the current iOS beta, which now magically has a toggle for the service under the Music section of the Settings app. Taking the plunge? Let us know how you fare in the comments.

[Thanks, Matt]

Continue reading iTunes Match goes live for iOS developers

iTunes Match goes live for iOS developers originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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