Hasta La Gadget!

It’s time for a camera that will blow you kawaii Japanese culture-loving brain apart, ready for iOS on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch right this minute: Otaku Camera! This app uses your device’s camera to create fabulously wild photographs that look like their right out of a manga, complete with paperization filters that make sure your subjects look more like they were drawn than they were swiped from real life. This app is able to not just take photos from your gallery and edit them, but take photos with your main camera, showing you a preview of what you’re capturing in real time!

We had a brief chat with the folks that developed this app, Tokyo Otaku Mode Inc., and have been given a full list of the sayings that appear on the photo covers as well. Just so you’re not worried that they’re blowing up your best friends with swear words, we’ve made sure you’re safe. Of course if you understand Japanese, you already know what’s going on – but just in case you don’t, know this: they’re all essentially representations of sounds, rather than words. No worries!

This app works perfectly well on the legacy generations as well as the current generation of Apple mobile devices. It works particularly well with the iPhone 5, that being where the sample images you see above and below are coming from. Also note – and fun fact – the Kanye West image you see rocking out with a power wave comes from the Kanye West concert that Samsung put on near the end of this October – fun stuff!

You can download the official Otaku Camera app from the iTunes App Store right this minute for your Apple iDevice for free! The way these developers make their cash is with a few advertisements – and they don’t get in the way of the action, so no worries there either! Let us know how you like the app and be sure to send in your examples!

Also be sure to check out our ever-expanding archive of iOS App Reviews to see what’s awesome for your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch – all night long.

Otaku Camera for iOS Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple’s iPhone 5 is a popular grey market item, and the proximity of Hong Kong to mainland China makes it a particularly popular choice for stocking up on Apple hardware to be resold in the latter country. Now, there’s been a huge bust by Hong Kong Customs, according to a report by MIC Gadget. A truck containing 227 iPhone 5s, 22 iPads and a number of other electronics was caught yesterday trying to smuggle the goods into China.

The shipment contained roughly 1 million HKD in iPhones (around $129,000 U.S.), some of which were hidden within the actually dash of the truck itself. MIC Gadget notes that the use of a truck with a huge shipment like this is a relatively new development in Chinese smuggling operations, since before tightening security it was more common to just have individuals cross the border with much smaller, separate stashes of grey market Apple goods.

The iPhone 5 has yet to officially go on sale in China, which is likely only driving up demand for the device, though grey market channels remain popular for Apple’s hardware even after it hits store shelves officially in China, because shoppers are often interested in getting the smartphone off contract, which allows them to use it with China Mobile, for instance. And a recent report suggested that about half of the one million iPads sold in China during Q2 2011 were from the grey market. That’s because pricing outside China vs. pricing within the country allows grey market importers to collect a tidy profit and still undersell traditional channels.

The iPhone 5 is commanding very high prices, according to stories from near the device’s launch. It was reportedly selling for around 3,000 HKD more than retail, or nearly $400 at launch. That kind of market has resulted in Apple implementing special measures in China to try to curb the problem, but so far, that’s not really having much effect on stemming the tide of illegal goods crossing the border.

If what we’re hearing today is true, Apple may very well be changing the set-in-stone update cycle for their iPhone hardware with no less than 6 months sitting between the iPhone 5 and its follow-up device, the iPhone 5S. This next-generation device has no real details attached to it, instead with the publication Commercial Times having its sources appearing reliable to DigiTimes, a group with manufacturing news that’s incorrect as often as it is accurate. Nevertheless the original source has it that the certification processes for “related parts and components” for the iPhone 5S have been spotted.

This report is joined by word that Apple will begin initial production volumes of the iPhone 5S at 50,000-100,000 units, with the iPhone 5S to be released inside the first quarter of 2013. This update schedule would follow Apple’s release of the 4th generation iPad, released less than a year after the iPad 3rd generation device. That broke tradition because of the Lightning port it came integrated with, or so some thought, this allowing the whole Apple mobile universe to be one in the same as far as docking goes.

With the new iPad 4th generation device and the iPad mini breaking tradition both at once, it’s not impossible for Apple to be bringing on an iPhone 5S much quicker than any other iPhone’s been refreshed. It’s not going to make iPhone 5 customers happy if it is true, though, but it’s not just because of that that we doubt it.

Instead its the obviousness of the truth that makes this release so dubious. The iPhone 5 will almost certainly have a next-generation iPhone 5S coming after it. It just makes sense, given the iPhones that’ve come before it. A release just 6 months after the iPhone 5 is not impossible, but the idea that Apple would start updating every 6 months is a bit hard to swallow.

iPhone 5S rumor points to major update cycle change is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Friday is here once again, but before you get too terribly sloshed, be sure you read through our recap of the day’s big news! Today we heard that Judge Lucy Koh will examine claims of misconduct on the part of the jury foreman in the Samsung vs. Apple patent trial, and Apple is actually being dragged back to court for a dispute over FaceTime in the iPhone 5 and iPad mini. Speaking of the iPad mini, Apple confirmed today that the LTE iPad minis should be shipping out in the next five days, and the company announced that it will be donating $2.5 million to the Hurricane Sandy recovery effort on behalf of its employees.

Earlier in the day, we learned that ASUS was handing out vouchers to consumers in Europe who bought the 16GB Nexus 7 right before its price drop, and then later on Google announced that it will be offering a “price protection program,” for 16GB Nexus 7 purchasers as well. The Nokia Lumia 920T leaked today, and it seems that China Telecom may be getting the iPhone 5 before long. Six companies may be facing fines for alleged CRT price fixing, and after learning a ton about Grand Theft Auto V yesterday, a leak today gave us all new information.

Google said today that it will begin focusing more on mobile than desktop, and Apple was named the most innovative company of the year by Booz and Co. There will be a new Windows 8 security update landing on November 13, and some users are already reporting issues with their Microsoft Surface touch covers. US video game sales were down 25% in October, and today Zynga revealed that it has acquired November Software, even though that purchase happened back in spring.

Angry Birds Star Wars rose to the top of the iOS charts in record time, and BioWare wants your suggestions for its next Mass Effect game. We learned today that climate change might mean a bleak future for the world’s coffee beans, and that the Motorola DROID RAZR M will soon be getting an upgrade to Jelly Bean from Verizon. Finally tonight, we compare the the Nokia Lumia 920 to the HTC Windows Phone 8X in a head-to-head battle, we take a closer look at the FanVision displays used during NASCAR races, and Chris Burns has a new interview with NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, we hope you enjoy the weekend ahead!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: November 9, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s time again for the hardcore excellence of Spigen SGP with their newest in all-glass screen protectors for mobile devices – here with the GLAS.tR for the iPhone 5. This screen protector takes the protection of your iPhone 5′s front-facing display more than just a little seriously – making sure that not only to do you get the most hardcore glass protection with a super 8H hardness rating, but round edges as well. The R in the title of this product stands for “rounded”, a noted improvement on the edges of this protector compared to previous releases from Spigen.

Here you’ve got a protector that works with cases on the back if you want, but is now completely ready to be a fabulous addition to your iPhone 5 on its own as well – if that’s what you want, of course. When we used the previous version for the iPhone 4S, things got a little bit sharp – not dangerous, but ever so slightly odd feeling. Here with rounded edges the whole protector through, we’ve got a solid-feeling experience, and ever so smooth.

This unit is 0.4mm thick and made with chemically treated glass that makes is oleophobic – this is supposed to prevent fingerprints, but mostly makes for a slight less fingerprint-y experience on the whole. Application was absolutely easy and the package brings cleaning wipes if you need them as well as a sqee-gee – though you CAN apply it all without them, no worries. This unit also comes already adhesive coated, so no need for odd sprays of any kind.

Without GLAS.tR

With GLAS.tR

You have a hole in the glass for your speaker up top and a hole at the bottom for your home button. The home button will be a bit lower in your iPhone experience, which actually makes for a unique and oddly enticing situation, but you also get some home button pillow stickers you can use to raise it back up if you like. Two blacks, two whites, a terrifying lime/yellow and a cute pink, too. Match with your case!

If you do come in contact with a force that’s strong enough to break the glass, you’ll find that the unit’s Anti-Shatter Film has your back. The Glas.tR will turn into a bit of a folded-up monster of death, but you wont be hurt, and your iPhone 5 will still be fresh and undamaged as ever. This unit will cost you a cool $34.99 in the Spigen SGP store and is available right this minute.

Spigen SGP GLAS.tR for iPhone 5 Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.