Category: iPhone

How to Convert PDFs to ePub for Apple’s iBooks

Apple’s iBooks app can read both PDF and ePub documents, but there are times when you’ll want to convert your PDFs to ePub. Why? Because the ePub format is easier to read on smaller mobile devices, as the text is flowable, you can increase/decrease the font size, and you can highlight text and write notes.

To convert from PDF to ePub, you’ll need to download the free application called Calibre (available for Windows, Mac, and Linux).

How to Convert PDF to ePub using Calibre:

1. Open Calibre. During the initial setup, you’ll be asked for the type of device you’ll be using. Choose Apple, then iPhone/iTouch + Stanza (don’t worry, you won’t have to use Stanza to read the ePub docs):


Continue reading…

Review: Case-Mate Vroom for iPhone 4

The Case-Mate Vroom ($15) for iPhone 4 is an affordable silicone rubber case that sports a masculine tire-tread pattern on its back. While we weren’t impressed with the previous version of the Vroom for the 3G thanks to a loose fit, the iPhone 4 version has improved enough for us to drastically change our opinion. We love the Vroom’s excellent protection at a cheap price, the improved grip, and as a remedy for the iPhone 4’s antenna attenuation problem.

As mentioned, our biggest issue with the previous Vroom was a loose fit that would cause the iPhone to slip out of the case during everyday use. It was so bad, we couldn’t give the case a recommendation. The issue has now been mostly fixed, as the corners fit much tighter, helping to prevent the case from slipping off easily, although there is still a little bit of looseness we’d like to see corrected.


Continue reading…

Review: Klipsch Image S4i Headphones for iPhone

The Klipsch Image S4i ($99) are stylish, bass-heavy headphones that have an Apple-friendly three-button control/microphone dongle and which deliver excellent sound reduction. Packaged with a nice set of accessories, the S4is are a step up from Apple’s default headphones as well as similarly priced rivals.

For a pair of mid-tier priced headphones, the Klipsch S4i deliver the audio goods, besting even some more expensive headphones. The S4i’s strongest audio characteristic is an impressive level of bass that can be felt as well as heard. Lovers of hip hop and bass-driven music will be more than satisfied with the S4i’s.
Continue reading…

iPhone Tip: Label Your Folders With Emoji

Label Folders With Emoji

Emoji can be used for more than just text messages. The iPhone lets you use them to label folders. Why not use an image of a hamburger to label a folder of your favorite food apps? It’s easy. Here’s how.

1. Activate emoji on the iPhone. It’s easier than ever (click here for step-by-step instructions).

2. Create a new folder, or hold your finger down on an existing one until it starts wiggling then tap the folder.

3. Tap the text area where the name of the folder goes. When the iPhone’s touchscreen keyboard comes up, switch to the emoji keyboard by tapping the globe icon until it appears. Search for an appropriate emoji and type it in.

This iPhone tip was inspired by a similar one discovered by iPhone J.D.

Folders labeled with emoji

Basics: How to Activate FaceTime on the iPhone

If you’re trying to use the FaceTime feature on your new iPhone 4 and find that there are no on-screen buttons to tap or any way to access it, it’s likely not available because you restored your new iPhone 4 with a backup of your previous iPhone, which for some bizarre reason disables FaceTime. You’ll need to reactivate it in the iPhone’s Settings (new iPhone 4 owners who don’t restore from a backup have FaceTime accessible by default).

To activate FaceTime, you must go into the iPhone’s Settings, scroll down and tap Phone, then slide the FaceTime slider to On, like thus:

After it’s activated, you can make a FaceTime call by selecting one of your contacts and tapping the FaceTime button (see image below. FaceTime requires the other person to have an iPhone 4 or newer and FaceTime activated, and that you both be on a Wi-Fi network). You can also make a normal phone call, then switch over to FaceTime in the middle of it by tapping the FaceTime button. This might be a better way to instigate a FaceTime call, as you can get the caller’s permission first (not everyone is ready to be on camera at a moment’s notice).

Be sure to check out more of our iPhone Tips.

Review: FantasyMonster (Best of iPhone Apps)

FantasyMonster ($3.99) is an app for accessing your Yahoo! Fantasy teams (supports baseball, football, basketball, and hockey) on the iPhone, and the best toward that purpose we’ve seen yet. There are other Yahoo! Fantasy iPhone apps available, including MyFantasyTeams and the official Yahoo apps for Fantasy Baseball and Fantasy Football, but FantasyMonster is the best of the bunch by a long shot in terms of usability and legibility. A free lite version is available as well.

While other fantasy apps are adequate enough to check your weekly scores, they aren’t good for serious editing of your team. Tasks such as complex lineup changes or scanning and picking up free agents is frustrating to the point of being undoable.

But FantasyMonster utilizes drop-down menus and vertical scrolling to make it easier and more comfortable to parse information. While viewing statistics on the iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen can never be as comfortable as a larger desktop screen, FantasyMonster handles the necessary compromises well. In short, it makes editing fantasy teams viable on the iPhone for the first time.

I’ve always liked the drag-and-drop interface of the official Yahoo Fantasy sites, and FantasyMonster uses it too, allowing you to drag and drop players into qualifying starting positions or to the bench. It’s pretty surprising that Yahoo’s official apps lack this feature, but FantasyMonster has it. Drag-and-drop makes lineup changes so much quicker than the html-based checkbox method used in other apps.

Stats are quite legible—the app doesn’t try to squeeze everything onto the iPhone’s small screen at once (a flaw of the Yahoo apps). Instead, FantasyMonster utilizes side scrolling so you can comfortably swipe through and view a player’s complete stats.

News headlines are shown in a scannable list form, and tapping on them reveals the entire article in a drop-down, which you can tap again to collapse. Player news, MLB headlines, injuries, and scores can be viewed in this way. It seems the developer has studied good iPhone design techniques and has implemented them into the app.

Another area where all the other fantasy sports apps failed was with the process of scanning and adding free agents. Any fantasy player knows that free agents and the waiver wire is the most important part of fantasy sports. FantasyMonster, with its readable text and stats, is the first app with a usable interface for scanning, sorting, and adding free-agent players.

There are a few things we wished the app handled better. One particular annoyance is how it displays messages (or doesn’t) with the loss of an Internet connection. In one particular instance while viewing player news, a lost data signal meant an error screen taking over the entire screen. I could no longer read player news, despite the fact the info had already downloaded. Likewise, while trying to log in, the app asked me to reenter my login information, while the real problem was that there was no Internet connection.

Conclusion

FantasyMonster is the most usable app we’ve seen for managing your Yahoo! Fantasy sports teams on the iPhone. It offers solutions for the limitations of the iPhone’s small screen and makes editing your team, parsing lots of stats, and picking up free agents doable for the first time.

FantasyMonster is a $3.99 download in the iTunes App Store.

How to Use an iPhone Without a Data Plan (Voice Only)

You can save a lot of money by not using a data plan with your iPhone. But there’s only one problem: AT&T doesn’t offer a voice-only plan for the iPhone. There is a solution. It requires two things:

  1. An unlocked iPhone.
  2. A prepaid sim card from a T-Mobile store.

Step 1. Buying a Prepaid T-Mobile Sim Card:

To use a voice-only plan with the iPhone 3G, 3GS, or first-gen iPhone, you’re going to need a T-Mobile sim card (iPhone 4 requires a mini-sim). Check to make sure T-Mobile has service in your area.

The easiest way to get a prepaid T-Mobile sim card is to go to a T-Mobile retail store and simply tell them what you want. Make sure to bring some form of ID. You can even tell them that you’re going to put the sim card in a unlocked iPhone, as many T-Mobile customers use unlocked iPhones (a T-Mobile cashier even once admitted to me he used an unlocked iPhone).

Cost

The cost of getting started with a prepaid T-Mobile voice-only sim card is as cheap as $22.05 (includes an activation fee) that comes with 30-60 minutes. The prepaid card (called Pay As You Go) can then be refilled as you go, no monthly fees! The current prices for T-Mobile’s minutes are:

  • $10 for 30 minutes
  • $25 for 130 minutes
  • $50 for 400 minutes
  • $100 for 1000 minutes

Text messages under the Pay As You Go plan are $0.05 to receive and $0.10 to send. There are also monthly plans and pay-by-the-day plans available as well. T-Mobile’s official prepaid plans website has more info. Here’s where you can buy a prepaid T-Mobile SIM card to stick in your iPhone. And here’s where you can activate it.

Step 2. Jailbreak and Unlock the iPhone

The process of jailbreaking and unlocking your iPhone can be easy, but finding the right information and software for the job is often difficult. Why? Because every time Apple updates the iPhone software, someone must figure out how to jailbreak and unlock it all over again. This often requires new jailbreak/unlocking software for each version. There are also many schemes and scams out there that cloud Google search results and make your task of finding the correct software more difficult. If you want to save yourself the trouble, you can purchase unlocked iPhones off of eBay, but be prepared to spend some money.

We’ll get to some tips on how to jailbreak and unlock your iPhone in a second, but first, a quick definition of the terminology:

Jailbreak: Changing the iPhone’s software so that you can put non-Apple-approved software on it and change the way the iPhone software looks and behaves.

Unlock: Changing the iPhone’s software so it can be used with a carrier other than AT&T (in the US).

Jailbreaking and Unlocking Tips

Because jailbreaking and unlocking can require different methods each time Apple updates its software, it’s important to get good instructions. iClarified.com is one of the best sites for getting step-by-step instructions.

Tips:

  • Don’t ever pay for jailbreaking or unlocking software.
  • Make sure to run through the comments on any website to confirm that the software indeed works. If the site doesn’t have comments, don’t use the software/instructions.
  • Google the terms jailbreak and/or unlock and the version of the iPhone OS to find the correct jailbreaking/unlocking software. For example, search for iPhone Jailbreak 3.1.3 and iPhone 3.1.3 unlock to unlock iPhone OS 3.1.3.
  • To find out the version of the iPhone OS, go to the iPhone Settings–>General—>About and look at the number next to Version.
  • Read up on the dangers of jailbreaking your iPhone, including possible security issues.
  • iClarified.com is a great site for step-by-step jailbreaking instructions.
  • Jailbreaking and unlocking are two separate processes. Some software does both for you, but oftentimes you must use different software for each.
  • Some jailbreaking software, like Spirit, only jailbreaks and does not unlock the iPhone for use on other carriers
  • After a successful jailbreak and unlock, do not accept Apple’s iPhone OS software updates, else your unlock will stop working.

iPhone 4: What Is a Gyroscope?

Apple is making a fuss over the new front-facing camera on the iPhone 4 by featuring it prominently in early promotional materials. But personally, I think the addition of a gyroscope to the iPhone is much more interesting, important, and useful.

But what exactly is a gyroscope? It’s actually difficult to explain how it works, but the video below does a great job of it:

And Steve Jobs had a nice game demo showing how it will change iPhone gaming (appears toward the end of this clip):

Even the Nintendo Wii’s Wiimote didn’t originally ship with a gyroscope. It wasn’t until the recent WiiMotion Plus Wiimote addon did it get the full spatial-tracking capabilities that combining a gyroscope with an accelerometer brings. And the Wiimote’s gyroscope is only 2-axis, the iPhone’s is 3-axis.

And just think, the addition of the gyroscope could make it possible for the iPhone to function as a WiiMotion-like controller for a new Apple TV with gaming capabilities. A new Apple TV with an App Store and downloadable games would be a bold move into console gaming by Apple.

Case Review: IvySkin Quattro T1 for iPhone 3G/3GS

Occasionally we come across an iPhone case where we wonder whether the manufacturer ever used their own product, or even an iPhone for that matter. The IvySkin Quattro T1 case ($20) for the iPhone 3G/3GS is such a case, for it suffers from a few baffling design flaws that make the case unusable, most notably how it completely covers the ringer switch, removing the ability to silence your phone.

The ringer switch is covered, removing its functionality.

The silicone case comes with another major annoyance in the form of two small clear pieces of plastic that you fit into grooves to cover up the iPhone’s earpiece and Apple logo on the back. It would seem their purpose is for protection, but why not mold them into the case? Instead, they fit loosely and constantly slide and fall out. It’s a boneheaded design.

Clear plastic pieces fit awkwardly and lost easily.

Continue reading…

Case Review: Case-Mate Barely There Acrylic for iPhone 3G/3GS

The Case-Mate Barely There ($10) is an inexpensive, thin hard-shell case for the iPhone 3G/3GS that so closely matches the gloss and smooth feel of a naked iPhone, it appears as if there is no case at all. It’s a well-designed and well-built case whose main flaw is that it doesn’t offer much in the area of protection. But in terms of maintaining the original look and feel of the iPhone, it’s the best we’ve seen to date.

The Barely There’s main strength is its looks. If you don’t want to mess up the iPhone’s original appearance but still want at least some measure of protection (mostly from scratches), the Barely There is one of your better choices. Its glossy exterior looks exactly like the iPhone’s, right down to the amount of reflection that can be seen on its surface. People will have to look closely to note that you have a case. The only giveaways are the rim of the porthole around the Apple logo and the imprinted Case-mate logo (which matches the color of the rest of the case).

The case offers excellent accessibility for the iPhone’s ports, buttons, and switches. The only negative in this area is, like with all cases, you can’t dock it with Apple’s official iPhone dock (but it can fit into universal docks).

While some cases (mostly silicone cases) attempt to protect ports and buttons by covering them or using plugs, the Barely There ulitizes wide cutouts to give full and comfortable access. This, of course, has the side effect of leaving the areas unprotected.

In terms of protection for the front of the case, there is none besides the free clear film screen protectors that are included. The rim of the case lays flush with screen of the iPhone. If you run your finger across the screen of the iPhone, you won’t feel the edge of the case, which is nice for typing and game playing, not so nice if you iPhone happens to land on the ground screen first.

The case’s glossy exterior unfortunately does nothing to improve the grip of the iPhone. If you’re prone to the iPhone slipping out of your hand, the Barely There won’t improve the situation any.

Conclusion

The Case-Mate Barely There case maintains the original look and feel of the iPhone more than any iPhone case we’ve seen. However, the tradeoff for its slim glossy profile is the lack of additional protection. Overall, the case is well-designed and well-built, and we rate it a 7.9 out of 10, recommended for those looking for an inconspicuous case.

Pros:

  • Matches iPhone’s exterior almost exactly
  • Lives up to the “barely there” name
  • Recreates the look and feel of a naked iPhone
  • Accessible ports and buttons

Cons:

  • No shock absorption
  • Docks only with universal docks
  • Doesn’t improve grip