Author archive: Nicole Martinelli
Even if you don’t jailbreak, step on or otherwise open up you iPhone you can wear the innards on your chest.
No further details about who came up with the idea on the dedicated Exploded Phone site, but the café press page describes the T-shirt as “an exploded view of my brother’s taken-apart phone. He’s going to kill me!”
While it doesn’t have the look-at-me cry of the faux Apple logo light up tee, it has geek appeal in spades.
Costs $20 in a bunch of styles and colors.
Via The Next Web
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in Clothing, Cult of Mac | No Comments »
Disney art director Stéphane Kardos has created a fascinating series of quick sketches with his iPhone using the Brushes app, most of them with a slightly gritty urban feel miles away from Magic Kingdom style.
You can check more out on flickr where he intros the iPhone sketches by saying that they were done in five or ten minutes, less for the sunset ones.
As we reported before, iPhone art even if not yet ready for art galleries looks like it may be moving in that direction.
Via cyanatrendland
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in News | No Comments »
In 2007, British student Meredith Kercher was murdered in Italy, during a study abroad program in hill town Perugia.
About a year later, Rudy Guede was sentenced to 30 years for his part in the killing, for which Kercher’s roommate, American student Amanda “Foxy Knoxy” Knox and her boyfriend, Italian IT grad, Raffaele Sollecito, are still awaiting trial.
Guede’s appeal now before the Italian court hinges on an iPod.
During what has been hypothesized was some sort of late-night Halloween sex game where the 21-year-old Kercher was an unwilling participant, Guede maintains he was in the bathroom of the young women’s apartment.
While she was being killed with a knife, he was listening to music on iCarta, a toilet paper holder roll that doubles as an iPod dock.
Guede’s lawyers tried to head off what they thought might be viewed as a sort of Twinkie defense for the digital age in a statement to Italian media (below translation mine):
“It is nothing more than a confirmation of how some abnormal behaviors are apparently normal among young people today,” said laywers Valter Biscotti and Nicodemo Gentile. “Just as Facebook is their virtual world, they now listen to music everywhere, even in the bathroom. The marketing of such products implies a certain routine use.”
The statement was published today in Italian papers, without information on how the legal team might use or prove the bathroom listening alibi.
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in News, iPod, iPod Accessories | 2 Comments »
Props to Jordan Horwich who re-engineered a pair of old iPods into speakers.
He’s managed to take out the innards of what look like first gen iPods and replace them with a 2.25-inch speaker cone, volume control, Altoids Tin Speaker and a battery holder.
Bulky by today’s standards, getting a speaker into an old iPod still requires a good deal of fiddling. If you’re feeling up to the task, check out Horwich’s DIY detailed guide.
Horwich had to buy the old iPods to make his speakers (spending about $100 on the iPods and the equipment) but if you’re like me you might have one or two barely working ones in Mac limbo, though it may not look as good without a matching pair.
Via Slash Gear
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in Cult of Mac, iPod | 1 Comment »
The third season opening episode of Channel 4’s award-winning sitcom IT Crowd features a scene where clueless exec Douglas Reynholm performs the modern equivalent of fiddling while Rome Burns.
Instead of listening to talk about cutbacks, he’s busy with an iPod party with the all-female accounting department.
Exec 1 (Denholm): “You seem to lack a basic understanding of exactly how much trouble this company is in. We have a financial crisis here. And if you don’t mind me saying, your attitude seems incredibly cavalier.”
Reynholm “What? Can’t hear you, we’re having an iPod party.”
While the trademark white earbuds abound, there’s never a shot of an actual iPod.
Update: sharp-eyed CoM reader Mark spotted a pink shuffle on the hip of the accountant at far right.
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in News | 1 Comment »
Three men were charged with the murder of a store owner in Fairbanks, Alaska after buying an iPhone with the dead man’s credit cards.
According to court documents, the three men, two of them in the military and one discharged a year ago, allegedly killed 62-year-old Daniel Frederick, owner of Blondie’s military surplus, to hinder a military investigation.
Police tracked them down after they bought an iPhone at an AT&T Store.
One of the men paid for the high-tech phone using one of Frederick’s cards, but he added the phone to his existing account with the company, according to a criminal complaint filed in court.
It was the start of an electronics spending spree that included a computer and DVDs that court documents state totaled thousands of dollars.
Frederick’s body was later found in a wooded area. The 62-year-old man had been beaten and strangled.
Court papers say the men killed Frederick in what was described only as “a matter that military authorities were investigating.”
Via AP, News Miner
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in News, iPhone | 3 Comments »
Australian company Tropical Howie offers a range limited-edition neoprene cases that make you think about going on vacation as you head to work. Six styles include bright stripes (”swimwear”), one that looks like a beach towel and a paisley print (”market”) or Hong Kong taxi for adventures of a different sort.
There are 750 cases available in six styles, designed to fit 13-inch, 15-inch and 17-inch MacBooks, and at least one Mac fan gave them the thumbs up. Going by availability on the site, it looks like the 13-inch in most styles have sold only a few hundred, while some styles in larger sizes have less than 100 cases left.
At about $55 (AUD 79), setting yourself apart from the pack won’t set you back that much.
Via Daily Candy
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in News | No Comments »
Sloane Crosby, author of essays “I Was Told There’d be Cake” and maker of creepy dioramas, has a bewitched iPod.
When asked by the New York Times to name her iPod playlist (Marvin Gaye, Bon Iver, New Order) Sloane rants about her MP3 player, which apparently has a few issues:
The worst example of this technological tyranny has to be my iPod. Our relationship has gone from one of pleasurable convenience to a series of baroque rituals and infuriating modifications, of tricks and mysteries, of songs that my iPod considers playing (as evidenced by the flashing image of album art) but, thinking better of it, decides to supplant with Carla Bruni’s “Quelqu’un m’a dit” juuuust one more time instead.
My iPod may be possessed. It may be infuriating. It may be trying to tell me something.”
These things happen, I have a temperamental iPod, too. But it started acting up after falling under the subway tracks. A three-person rescue team fished it out, but alas, it has never been the same since. Maybe she isn’t telling us the whole story?
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in News | 3 Comments »
Atif Shamin, a Phd student in electronics at Carlton University in Canada, has figured out a way of reducing iPhone battery drain.
He’s replaced all the internal wires and PCBs of his iPhone with an antenna.
The swap allows a wireless connection between a micro-antenna embedded within the circuits of the chip.
“This has not been tried before — that the circuits are connected to the antenna wirelessly. They’ve been connected through wires and a bunch of other components. That’s where the power gets lost,” Shamim said in an article on the University website.
He estimates that his solution uses 12 times less power than the traditional, wired-transmitter module. That means more juice for the ever-expanding choice in apps.
“It’s a common problem. There are so many applications in the iPhone, it’s like a power-sucking machine,” said Shamim.
He’s filed for patents in the US and Canada, look out for details on his hack in an upcoming issue of Microwave Journal.
Via Make
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in iPhone, iPhone 3G | 6 Comments »
British-Sri Lankan rapper Maya “M.I.A.” Arulpragasm’s last album, Kala, was made on a Mac.
Her second album, called an “international block party” by Rolling Stone, Kala is full of ear-wormy music that includes samples of Pink Floyd, gun shots, digeridoo riffs, cash register ca-chings and kids on backing vocals. (Give a listen to “Mango Pickle”.)
She traveled with producer Dave Taylor to India, Australia, Jamaica and Trinidad to record it.
Taylor traveled with minimal equipment:
A MacBook Pro, Logic Studio, the Apogee Duet and a set of Adam S3A monitors.
Read the rest of this post »
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in Music | 4 Comments »
Although news satirists The Onion target Apple with a certain frequency, pull back the curtain and staffers are Apple users.
When asked by the Guardian to name their favorite piece of technology, both Onion staffers Will Graham (executive producer/director) and Julie Smith (general manager) said the iPhone.
The rest of the tech Q&A reads like a love letter to Apple, a few excerpts:
Mac or PC?
Will: our whole Onion organization is very fervently pro Mac, despite doing jokes about them. For creative people there is no comparison.
Do you think the iPhone will be obsolete in 10 years’ time?
Julie: Yes, I do. They’ll probably have the iPhone 36G by then.
What’s the most expensive piece of technology you’ve ever owned?
Julie: My Macbook Pro.
Will: I remember there was a thing my dad gave me as a Christmas gift that I thought was really cool, about eight or nine years ago – the Mac Talk…
What piece of technology would you most like to own?
Julie: I guess a robot. Or another iPhone.
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in Cult of Mac | 1 Comment »
Prolific Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach has made it into the digital age with a dedicated iPod.
The Bach Pod from Passionato packs 175 hours pre-loaded on an Apple 80 GB iPod classic. Recordings are from the opus collection Hänssler Edition Bachakademier released in 2000 on 172 CDs that was favorably reviewed but was later discontinued as a set. The Bach Pod costs about $700.
There’s still enough memory left over, 63GB, to add a few things and it also comes with three back-up DVDs as insurance against hiccups.
While some hardcore classic music fans will want to pick and choose who interprets the maestro — you can check out download samples here — it would make a great gift.
Via Gadgety News
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in Web, iPod | 3 Comments »
That aging isn’t for sissies has been obvious for awhile, but there’s a new crop of advice manuals about how walking the walk of youngsters works as an age-defying tactic.
Sparked in part by bestselling “How Not To Look Old” (which offers life-altering observations on how young women wear lip gloss, their mothers wear lipstick or, worse, lip liner), another expert is convinced that one way to take 15 years off your age in a job interview or at work is to know your way around Apple products:
Rule #5: Peruse your local Apple store. At least learn the difference between an iPod Classic, iPod Touch, and iPod Nano and you’re on your way. And buy a set of those identifiable white headphones to keep around, even if you don’t have the iPod to go with them. It’s all about perception.
So says Steven Vicussi, author of a book with such a long-winded title it could bring on dementia: “Bulletproof Your Job: 4 Simple Strategies to Ride Out the Rough Times and Come Out on Top at Work.”
So talk about Apple and you’ll be cooler, younger, hipper.
Reminds me of a friend, in her early 30s but a bit of a proud Luddite, who says things like “the email” (as in “I was on the email the other day”) and refers to her iPhone as “thingy.”
Let me know what you think in the comments…
Photo used under Creative Commons license, thanks to Irargerich on Flickr
Via Huffington Post
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in Cult of Mac, Top stories | 8 Comments »
These Danish-designed iPod Nano and iPod mini cases do double duty, covering your pod and giving you a notebook.
Called the iPod Pad, the leather case secures your iPod in foam and offers a 72-page note pad opposite. (It looks like the notepad might be refillable but unfortunately, google translate didn’t get me far enough to be 100% sure — though a kind Danish CoM reader had a better look and says the site doesn’t specify).
It comes in 10 different color combinations and looks like a Moleskine notebook, which might make it less attractive to thieves. Currently for third generation nanos, a 4G version will be ready by late January 2009.
They cost about $26 dollars (139DKK) from Scripta.
Via Geek Alerts
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in iPod, iPod Accessories | 6 Comments »
Philippe Starck, one of the most famous and prolific designers alive, has made these monumental iPod speakers.
Called Zikmu and designed for Parrot, these sleek, wireless “couture” speakers stand 2.5 feet tall with a docking station for an iPod or iPhone on top. Audio can also be streamed from a PC or Mac via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, and the speakers emit sound from both sides.
They’ll be in available in spring 2009 and cost $1,500.
Via MoCoLo
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in iPod, iPod Accessories, iPod Touch | 2 Comments »
If British tab The Sun is to be believed, 18-year-old Gavin Brooke stayed awake listening to an iPod as surgeons removed a brain tumor.
The teen had a tumor in a tricky place that surgeons didn’t want to damage, so the boy had to stay awake during surgery.
Brooke was given an anesthetic to numb the pain, but the head surgeon let him hook up his iPod Touch to give him something to do.
What was on the playlist?
The first tune Brook played on his iPod was “Apologize” by Timbaland Featuring One Republic, the rest were garage and R’n’B tracks that kept him occupied during the six-hour surgery. The iPod was plugged into the operating theater’s sound system and the volume was low enough so that Brooke could carry on conversation with the surgeons.
The tumor was removed and Brooke has since recovered.
Via The Sun
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in iPod, iPod Touch | 4 Comments »
One of the most depressing scenes in the already depressing “Sex and the City” movie is the one where Carrie Bradshaw gets left at the altar.
The groom, aka Big, hasn’t shown up. In a scene where all the stars especially look like they need a good night’s sleep and more calming carbs in their diets, Samantha holds an iPhone, set off against a fire-engine red dress.
Read the rest of this post »
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in iPhone | 6 Comments »
Hail the retro-futuristic flair of the Sonic Chair, which now comes in a version with a 20″ iMac already attached.
The German-designed seat, aims to make you feel like you’re sitting inside a giant speaker, hides cables away in the metal base and has an MP3 jack.
Available in 35 colors, no specs on price for the Mac version, though the original cost a ballistic €7,000 euros (that’s about $10,000).
Via Gizmodo UK
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in Cult of Mac, Quickies | 7 Comments »
A little bit old school, a little bit new school: the Record 001 app lets you work the image of a vinyl record with your fingers in a shout out to turntable days.
Digital DJs can backspin, pause and scratch like they would on a real record on an iPhone or iPod touch screen.
Record 001 has mixed reviews so far — the first release comes with just two oddball tracks “World Peace” and “The Fashion Song” — calling it a quirky demo app but not regretting the $1.99 price tag.
See if you don’t get a smile out of the video, though.
Via Make
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in Music, iPhone 3G, iPod Touch, iTunes | No Comments »
In a nod to Apple, the world’s first MP3 recording guitar is a sleek, all-white number called iDea.
You can record riffs as you play, along with vocals on a built-in condenser microphone or use the built-in MP3 player to add backing tracks. It holds up to 100 minutes of music.
A USB port lets you transfer your music to a Mac or PC. The iDea comes with pre-loaded tracks, plus six lessons and an amp. The whole shebang is controlled from the top side of the guitar, no word on whether there’s a left-handed version, too.
Tech-strummers Ovation created the guitar, it comes with a $600 price tag.
If you love the idea but are more of a Mac-loving DIYer, you may want to check out this hack Brian Green made by adding two iPod Touch devices to his guitar, calling it the iTouch guitar.
As he explains in the video:
“The ipod closest to the guitar pick ups is running Itouch Midi’s Martix app which I’m using to send midi to Ableton Live on my Macbook via wifi.”
Sounds complicated, but it’s a cool project.
Via Dvice
Posted by Nicole Martinelli in Music, iPod Touch | No Comments »
