Crank Tunes, Open Beers with iPod Case

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Talk about convenience. The Be A HeadCase iPhone Bottle and Can Opener Case lets you open a Bud as you listen to some tunes. It’s also the first case that includes a free iPhone app. The bottle opener is made from stainless steel, while the case is made from hard ABS plastic with a smooth anti-scratch and slip-resistant coating. You can get it in black or pink, for the iPhone 3/3GS or 4. Don’t worry, BlackBerry fans: a version for your phones is coming soon.

While the case sells for $24.99, you can take $4.99 off the purchase price when you use code PRWEB499. You’ll also get a download code for an iPhone app called HeadCase. The app lets you be the life of the party (not really) with funny recorded sounds and a counter that shows the number of beverages you’ve opened. 

TomTom App for iPhone hits version 1.5, adds further iPhone 4 support and ‘navigate-to-photo’

TomTom was quick off the mark with multitasking in its iPhone app — and it’s hard to think of an app other than Pandora that benefits more from its inclusion — but TomTom isn’t stopping there. The new 1.5 version adds enhanced graphics to match the new iPhone 4 screen resolution, along with “faster, more-responsive navigation” on that handset. Not good enough for you? Try the new navigate-to-photo feature, a not-a-gimmick-at-all addition that allows you to select a geotagged photo as your destination instead of messing around with pesky addresses and facts. The update is free for existing users, newcomers will have to shell out $50 for the US version.

TomTom App for iPhone hits version 1.5, adds further iPhone 4 support and ‘navigate-to-photo’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Oct 2010 06:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TUAW  |  sourceTomTom for iPhone (App Store)  | Email this | Comments

RIM promises to soothe BlackBerry app developers’ woes, says ‘we’re so there’

There’s no question that the BlackBerry App World hasn’t been quite the runaway success RIM hoped it would be, but the company is far from ready to throw in the towel, and it’s now promising some new measures to woo new developers and make the lives of current ones a bit easier. Some of those initiatives have already been rolled out — like new payment options — while others including a free analytics service will become available to developers in the coming weeks and months. As RIM’s head of application development, Alan Brenner, explains to The Wall Street Journal, RIM has been working for the past two years to make BlackBerrys more developer friendly, and he now says that “we’re so there.” They may not be quite as close as they think, however, as the WSJ also spoke to a number of developers who used words like “horrible” to describe the current state of things, while leading mobile game developer PopCap Games even went so far as to say that “RIM today is not really on our radar.”

RIM promises to soothe BlackBerry app developers’ woes, says ‘we’re so there’ originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 16 Oct 2010 04:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

Lego’s MINDroid Android app remotely controls Mindstorms NXT robots

Hardcore hobbyists have been controlling their Mindstorms NXT creations with all sorts of paraphernalia for years, but now Lego itself is stepping in to lend a hand. The new MINDroid app just splashed down in the Android Market, and it enables Android 2.1 (or greater) handsets to dictate Mindstorms NXT robots over Bluetooth. According to Lego, tilting / turning the phone can make the robot move forward, turn to the sides, and by pressing an action button on the phone’s screen, activate the ‘Action’ motor. Given that the download will cost you absolutely nothing, what are you waiting for? Your robot army awaits your commands.

Lego’s MINDroid Android app remotely controls Mindstorms NXT robots originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 12 Oct 2010 12:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink GigaOM  |  sourceLego  | Email this | Comments

News publishers looking to the Galaxy Tab and BlackBerry PlayBook for refuge as well

In case you were worried that it was just Apple love that got major news outlets on the iPad so quickly, you should know that the general sense of desperation (or is it their never ending sense of adventure?) pervading the likes of the The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and USA Today has them building apps for the Galaxy Tab as well. The news comes courtesy of The Wall Street Journal, and has yet to be announced officially by the parties involved — though we have a hard time doubting any of it. It makes sense, of course: the big cost is producing content for a tablet form factor, not building the reader app, and the Galaxy Tab naturally won’t be the last of its Android kind. The WSJ and The Financial Times are also apparently some possible gets for RIM’s PlayBook, though less is known about those deals. On the Tab, The New York Times is supposed to be pre-loaded with some carrier’s versions of the device, and its app will be free until January of next year when The Times starts charging for its website.

News publishers looking to the Galaxy Tab and BlackBerry PlayBook for refuge as well originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 13:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceThe Wall Street Journal  | Email this | Comments

Verizon rolls out FiOS on Demand app for Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile

There’s still no word on that promised, live TV-enabled iPad app, but Verizon has just rolled out its FiOS on Demand app for Android, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile 6.5, which will let you buy, rent and watch so-called Flex View movies right on your phone. As we’d heard earlier, the number of officially supported devices is somewhat limited to start with — including the Droid X, Droid 2, and Storm 2, to name a couple — but Verizon notes that the list is expanding, and to check back often. Of course, you won’t simply be limited to watching the movies on your phone; you can also transfer them from your phone to your PC, and view them on any combination of up to four devices in addition to a FiOS TV set-top box.

[Thanks, Nate]

Verizon rolls out FiOS on Demand app for Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 18:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink AppBrain  |  sourceVerizon Flex View  | Email this | Comments

Western Digital debuts My Book Live NAS / media streamer, revamped My Photos app

The My Book Live definitely doesn’t mark Western Digital’s first foray into the world of connected storage, but the devil’s in the details on this one. The company’s newly released network drive falls into the budget-friendly My Book line, but promises access to files at up 100Mbps, or triple the speed of standard USB 2.0 units. Additionally, Apple Time Machine support comes baked in from the factory, and there’s also an integrated DLNA-compatible media server that can stream photos, videos and audio through any number of devices (WD TV Live Plus HD, Xbox 360, your Blu-ray player, a PlayStation 3, etc.). It’ll also double (triple?) as an iTunes music server, and when paired with the company’s refreshed WD Photos app — which is now optimized for iPad and iPhone 4 — users can flip through their photo albums remotely. The My Book Live is now available for $169.99 (1TB) / $229.99 (2TB), and the aforementioned app can be sucked down as we speak from the action-packed App Store.

Western Digital debuts My Book Live NAS / media streamer, revamped My Photos app originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Oct 2010 09:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceWestern Digital (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments

Netflix brings video out support to iPhone 4, fourth gen iPod touch

Netflix already added video out support to its iPad app a few months ago, and it’s now finally brought the same functionality to iPhone and iPod touch users as well. Unfortunately, it’s not quite bringing all iPhone and iPod touch users up to speed, as the app will only support video out on the iPhone 4 and fourth generation iPod touch. If that doesn’t pose a problem for you, however, you can grab the updated app for free right now from your favorite source of iPhone apps.

Netflix brings video out support to iPhone 4, fourth gen iPod touch originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 13:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink iLounge  |  sourceiTunes Preview  | Email this | Comments

Qualcomm launches augmented reality SDK in beta form, ready to rock your Android devices

By now you would’ve come across at least a handful of inspiring augmented reality apps (with a few exceptions, perhaps), and if you fancy having a go at coding one yourself, Qualcomm may be able to assist. Today, the giant chip maker is pushing out a beta release of its Android AR SDK, which has produced interesting demos like the digital photo frame concept showcased in London last month, as well as the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots game pictured above. In fact, Mattel’s so confident with the latter app that it’s planning on commercializing it, so who knows — you could be the next Peter Molyneux of the AR scene, or at least a winner of up to $125,000 from Qualcomm’s AR Developer Challenge. More details in the press release after the break.

Continue reading Qualcomm launches augmented reality SDK in beta form, ready to rock your Android devices

Qualcomm launches augmented reality SDK in beta form, ready to rock your Android devices originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 06:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Community  |  sourceQualcomm  | Email this | Comments

Skype app arrives in Android Market, WiFi-only in the US

Finally, at long last, after so much waiting, Skype has made its debut as a full-fledged Android app. There are no Verizon-related limitations anymore, but Android Police reports that calling through the app is only available via WiFi, you can’t use your mobile’s data connection — not yet, anyway. Another note they make is that Skype is using quite a few processing cycles to do its job, so much so that it introduced crackling on a call carried out with the EVO. You’ll need to have Android 2.1 installed to run this thing, but if you do, why aren’t you downloading it already? Let us know how your own ‘droid fares in the comments below.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

P.S. — Skype’s press release and video after the break have confirmed that 3G Skype calls will be available to all outside the US. Wow. Also, Skype’s acknowledged there are some incompatibilities with Samsung Galaxy S phones and is working to iron those out.

Continue reading Skype app arrives in Android Market, WiFi-only in the US

Skype app arrives in Android Market, WiFi-only in the US originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 05:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Android Police  |  sourceSkype Blog  | Email this | Comments