Location-aware album gives Washington DC dynamically modified soundtrack

Musical duo Bluebrain has taken the guesswork out of listening to music — their latest album dictates where you can listen to it, what songs it plays, and when it plays them. Take that, playlists! The album, titled The National Mall, will be available only as an iPhone app and the band is calling it the first location-aware album. The app… er, album, uses your phone’s GPS to track one’s proximity to hundreds of tagged zones spread throughout the landmarks of the Washington DC National Mall, dynamically tweaking the rhythm, melody, instrumentation, and pace of the music as you go.

Despite this fancy smartphone integration, Bluebrain stresses that this is still an album, not a toy or augmented reality application. The experience is strictly location specific, no user input necessary, or available. Want to hear a new melody or arrangement? Walk to a different monument. The project’s location-specific nature means that fans outside of the DC area are out of luck for now. The band says two more GPS-powered albums are on the way — one designed for Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, and another spanning the entire length of California’s Highway 1. Music, measured in miles — neat, but Hwy. 1 manages just fine on its own, wouldn’t you say?

Location-aware album gives Washington DC dynamically modified soundtrack originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 10:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Fast Company  |  sourceBluebrain  | Email this | Comments

Creepy Bug Gives Some iPhones Unwanted FaceTime

Apple's iPhone 4 includes a front-facing camera for video conferencing. A few customers claim the camera is taking random photos when it's supposed to be inactive. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

A small number of iPhone 4 customers claim their phones’ front-facing cameras are snapping photos of them without their knowledge.

These inadvertently snapped photos later appear on the iPhone screen when they try to initiate a FaceTime video-conferencing call, about a dozen customers said in Apple’s support forums. For instance, one person said that FaceTime showed a picture of her in her office, even though she’d never used FaceTime at work.

The bug freezes the video call, requiring customers to retry until FaceTime properly loads.

One iPhone owner on Wednesday uploaded a video (below) demonstrating the bug. In the video, the iPhone 4 shows a still shot of the customer after he initiates a FaceTime call.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment. Wired.com staff was not able to replicate the glitch after several attempts on both iOS 4.3 and iOS 4.3.1, the versions of the operating system that reportedly suffer from the problem.

The glitch appears to affect a diminutive number of users, but it’s worth noting that Apple’s popular iPhone has fallen victim to several embarrassing security flaws in the past. In two instances, the iPhone’s security passcode was easily bypassed with a simple button sequence. Security researchers also discovered a memory-corruption bug that would allow a hacker to crash an iPhone with a text message and take control of it.

“Sounds like Apple has a potentially serious privacy leak,” said Jonathan Zdziarski, an iPhone-security researcher, regarding customers’ reports of the front-facing camera bug. “I guess the moral of the story is don’t let your iPhone see you naked.”

Wired.com is continuing to look into the issue. If you’re experiencing similar problems, or if you’ve found a solution, please post in the comments section.

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WatchESPN iOS app lets some people watch live sports wherever they want

WatchESPN App

Continuing the trend of tying streaming content to the ol’ ball and chain that is your pricy cable subscription, ESPN announced the launch of the WatchESPN App for the iPhone and the iPod Touch, with an iPad optimized version slated for release in May. Said App can be downloaded now and will allow you to “stay connected to live sports and shows from ESPN, wherever and whenever you want them” — assuming you’re a Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks or Verizon FiOS TV customer that is. The ability to watch three of the most popular cable networks while on the go, or anywhere in your house, is certainly nothing to scoff at, but many sports fans’ excitement will indeed be diminished until ESPN fulfills its promise to release apps for “other smartphones and tablets,” and of course the other big service providers like Comcast, DirecTV and Dish Network get with the program. For now you can live vicariously through us by clicking through to the gallery or watching the western style WatchESPN App commercial available via the source link.

Continue reading WatchESPN iOS app lets some people watch live sports wherever they want

WatchESPN iOS app lets some people watch live sports wherever they want originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 09:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceESPN PR, iTunes  | Email this | Comments

How Many Apps Is Too Many Apps? [Apps]

Looking back on it now, the first time I truly felt the need for a note-taking app was when I started researching note-taking apps. I was just looking for a simple tool to save ideas about upcoming articles or jot down an occasional to-do list. More »

Teens Buying iPhones in Big Numbers – Study

iphone 4 flat.jpg

Those crazy kids and their gadgets. According to a new study from the folks at analyst firm Piper Jaffray, the iPhone is the Justin Bieber of technology. Teens just can’t get enough of it. The study of 4,500 kids phone that 17 percent own an iPhone and a staggering 37 percent plan to buy one in the next six months.

Tablets are also something of hit with the kids–22 percent own one or live with someone who does, and 20 percent plan on getting a new on in the next six months. The number who own an MP3 player has dropped, meanwhile, from 90- to 80 percent–a  fact no doubt driven, at least in part, by the popularity of handsets like the iPhone.

Elgato updates EyeTV iOS app, does the AirPlay dance

If you’ve been longing to use your EyeTV HD to sling content from your AirPlay-enabled iOS device to your designated Apple TV 2 setup, listen up. Elgato has pushed an updated version of the EyeTV iOS app (version 1.2.3) that enables Apple’s wireless streaming technology to play nicely with your ATV2 or third-party AirPlay device. Remember, the app costs $4.99, but wouldn’t you rather watch Seinfeld reruns on the living room 74-incher? Yeah, us too.

Elgato updates EyeTV iOS app, does the AirPlay dance originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TUAW  |  sourceEyeTV  | Email this | Comments

ZoomReader for The Partially Sighted: Magnifies, Reads Text Aloud

ZoomReader not only magnifies text, it can read it aloud

The owner of the restaurant down the street from me has to hold the menu about an inch from his eyes to read it. I think he’d love this iPhone app. It’s called ZoomReader, and that’s exactly what it does: zoom and read.

Like the Eye Glasses app we covered way back in 2009, ZoomReader uses the iPhone’s camera and screen to magnify text. But thanks to the iPhone 4’s hi-res camera and display, and some rather clever options, it manages to be a lot more than just a neat gimmick.

Aim the camera at some small text — instructions, a medicine bottle label or a menu — and it can be magnified up to 4x, showing up crisp on the retina display. Colors of both paper and ink can be changed to make them easier to read. And then things get really interesting.

Hit the camera icon and it will snap the image in front of the lens, perform OCR (optical character recognition) and then read the result out loud using speech synthesis. You can control the app with your voice, too, if the icons are tricky for you to see.

Clearly this is useful just as a magnifier for those with poor eyesight. And if the OCR works well (quality can vary wildly in these things) then it could work even for the blind.

The app is in the App Store now, and costs a reasonable $20, a price that gives me some confidence that it contains a decent OCR engine.

ZoomReader product page [iTunes]

ZoomReader App Released for iPhone – the Ultimate Visual Assistance Tool [ZoomReader]

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GoPano Micro brings 360-degree video recording to the iPhone 4 (video)

We’ve seen still photos shot in the round, but wouldn’t it be nice to snag some panoramic moving pictures every once in a while too? Well, the folks at EyeSee360 certainly think so, which is why they’ve given the iPhone 4 some 360-degree video recording capability with the GoPano Micro. Comprised of a plastic case for your handset, a detachable 360-degree lens, and a GoPano app, the system lets iPhone fanboys do a circular pan with the swipe of a finger. That put you in the moviemaking mood? Well, you can’t get your hands on one just yet, but the venture has already reached its $20,000 funding goal, so those willing to invest $50 can head over to Kickstarter to reserve one of the first GoPano Micros off the production line. Before plunking down your hard-earned cash, however, check out all the full-circumference cinematic fun after the break.

Continue reading GoPano Micro brings 360-degree video recording to the iPhone 4 (video)

GoPano Micro brings 360-degree video recording to the iPhone 4 (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 22:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceKickstarter  | Email this | Comments

AT&T Raises Early Upgrade Fee On iPhone

 

att-logo-parental1.jpgAT&T has doubled the iPhone’s early upgrade fee by $50.00. This is on top of the end of contract fee that was already written up in the original contracts. It is safe to assume that this new fee will be in place for those who leave the contract for another phone service provider as well.

AT&T is also increasing the same amount for the Windows 7 phones. No word on if the increase will affect Android phone users. AT&T says the increase is a result of the rising cost of the smartphone market.

Via TG Daily

Survey: Verizon’s iPhone Gets Better Grades Than AT&T

Apple's iPhone 4 landed on the Verizon network in February. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

iPhone owners responding to a research firm’s survey reported a significantly higher percentage of overall dropped calls on the AT&T network than on Verizon.

ChangeWave polled roughly 1,300 iPhone customers on each of the networks, on how frequently they experienced a dropped call in the past 90 days.

AT&T iPhone customers reported an average of 4.8 percent of calls dropped, and Verizon iPhone customers reported a 1.8 percent average dropped-call rate.

Despite the differences in dropped-call rates, iPhone customers on both networks reported nearly equal satisfaction ratings: 82 percent of Verizon iPhone customers say they’re “Very satisfied,” versus 80 percent of AT&T customers reporting the same.

Wired.com’s tests in San Francisco also found that the iPhone experienced fewer dropped calls on the Verizon network than AT&T, but the differences were minor. Our tests also found that the iPhone on AT&T’s network is significantly faster with 3G transfer rates than Verizon’s.

The equal satisfaction rates are noteworthy, because they suggest that Verizon customers aren’t perturbed about slower bandwidth speeds. On the other hand, it’s not surprising that people would value reliability — having a connection at all — more than speed.

ChangeWave’s substantially higher dropped-call rate on AT&T is questionable, however, and should be taken with a grain of salt. Asking people to recall how many of their calls dropped over the past three months isn’t a very scientific method to measure a network’s reliability. Also worth noting is that the iPhone hasn’t even been on Verizon for 90 days; it’s been on the network for less than two months.

Independent wireless firm Metrico did a more comprehensive study on network performance. The company found that the Verizon iPhone was an average performer in voice quality, whereas the AT&T iPhone ranked low in call performance. Also, the AT&T iPhone was a top performer in download rates, whereas the Verizon iPhone ranked “below average” in data downloads.

On the subject of dropped-call rates, an AT&T spokesman claimed that AT&T’s dropped-call rate is about one tenth of 1 percent. A study performed by a third-party wireless firm corroborates that statistic.

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