Art of the iPhone

Basics: How to Activate Caps Lock on the iPhone and iPad

The iPhone’s keyboard has a Caps Lock feature, but you may have to first activate it in the iPhone’s Settings to use it. To test if Caps Lock activated, first try double tapping the shift key (the key with the up arrow, see image above) on the touchscreen keyboard—the key will turn blue to tell you Caps Lock is activated. If it doesn’t turn blue, you’ll need to go into the iPhone’s Settings to enable it. Just follow the step-by-step instructions below.

Video Instructions:

Text:

1. Open Settings:

2. Tap General:

General in iPhone Settings

3. Scroll down and tap Keyboard:

4. Slide the tab for Enable Caps Lock to On:

Now, when you double tap the shift key on the iPhone/iPad’s keyboard (the key with the up arrow), Caps Lock will be activated. To turn off Caps Lock, tap the key again.

The 9 Most Useful iPhone/iPad Links of the Week

1. The New Launch Center Pro App, Explained (Video)

There’s been much ado about the new Launch Center Pro app ($2.99), too bad it’s hard to understand just what exactly the app does or how you’ll benefit. App Advice’s lovable pixie Robin Rhys put together this nice video showing some nice examples of how to set it up and use it to save yourself some time (in a nutshell, it saves you lots of taps over time). I’m still not sure I’m sold, but it does seem like something Apple should build into the iPhone.

Here’s Robin’s tutorial video:

2. How to Properly Clean Your iPhone/iPad

Allyson Kazmucha of iMore tells you how to properly clean the screen, reiterating Apple’s own advice in saying to use a microfiber cloth or other gentle, non-abrasive material in order to protect the oleophobic coating. Never spray liquids directly onto the iPhone itself, and avoid liquids with ammonia, alcohol, or bleach.

3. The Best Browsers for the iPhone and iPad

Thorin Klosowski of LifeHacker compares 4 browser apps: Safari, Chrome, Dolphin, and Atomic. Safari wins by default (pun intended), but Thorin’s surprise pick is Atomic, which is by the far the most powerful browser app with the most options (even though it’s a little on the ugly side.) Atomic has Ad block, Dropbox support, ability to download files, easy switching to private browsing, etc. Atomic comes in a free version and a $1 verison.

4. Cool New App: Weather Neue, a Free, Minimalist Weather App

There have been a lot of interesting weather apps the past few weeks. This week’s is a free one. Aldrin Calimlim over at AppAdvice takes a brief look at Weather Neue (free), a minimalist weather app that I think would look great running on an old iPhone doubling as a desktop clock. Last week, there was the beautiful WTHR app ($0.99), similar in its stark beauty.

5. Waze Is Blowing Up!

Waze (free) is a great little app, and I’m so glad to hear it’s becoming more popular (it’s grown from 10 million to 20 million users in 6 months!) and thus more useful. It’s a free navigation and traffic app that relies on its users to supply useful info like traffic jams, speed cams, etc. It even recently added user-reported gas prices and gas discounts. Even Apple has taken notice, as it’s reportedly using some of Waze’s data in its upcoming Maps app refresh. Such a fun little app, just remember to keep your eyes on the road.

6. Five iPhone Apps for Better Photos and Video

Nina Frazier of Mashable has some good suggestions for iPhone camera apps. I admit sticking to the plain old Camera app when I really should teach myself to use one of these more powerful alternatives.

7. Free App Alert! 30/30, a Productivity App

30/30 (free) is a cool timer/productivity app with an incredibly easy-to-use interface. With a few taps, set up a list of timers like works like this: work 30 minutes, take a break for 10, back to work for 15, then yoga for 20. The app will alert you for each step and keep you on track. Perfect for anyone who tends to get lost in activities when they really should take a break. There are many alternative uses I can think of for the app, too, like using the multiple timers for cooking.

8. Pandora Is No Longer an Eyesore

Pandora has always been an eyesore in both its web and app versions. The most recent update brought a fresh new look and these changes:

• Visual refresh and design enhancements
• Full lyrics for the songs we play
• Artist biographies
• Detailed track features from the Music Genome Project
• Song history: rate, bookmark, or buy previously played tracks
• Explicit lyrics controls
• Start a new station directly from the Now Playing screen
• Simplified sign-in and registration screens
• Reduced battery usage

9. Check Out These Great New Free iPhone/iPad Games

With free iOS games being taken to the next level in quality, Nintendo’s Game Boy franchise really is dead. Check out the list below of recent new free games in the App Store. They are all freemium, but you don’t have to spend any money to play. The two new Temple Run clones are even better than the original (see the last 2 games on the list). Freemium maybe can’t support epic console-quality games, but it sure works for mobile.

The 5 Best Free Grocery List Apps for iPhone

When it comes to grocery lists, some people may ask, why use a specially designed app instead of, say, the iPhone’s Notes app, or a good To-Do app, or even a piece of paper? Here are a few reasons:

  • A grocery list app will save you time, lots of time, typing in grocery items via autocompletion tools that pull from a special database of food names.
  • A history of old grocery lists stored in the app can help you remember what to buy.
  • List sharing via iCloud (such as maintaining a single master list between multiple people/devices) or email (“Honey, remember the milk!”)
  • You’re more likely to always have the iPhone on you to record spur-of-the-moment ideas.

I’ve sorted through 13 free grocery-list apps I found in the App Store, and below are the 5 best. All 5 will get the job done, but I’ve included 3 Editor’s Picks, each for a specific purpose.

1. Grocery IQ (Editor’s Pick for Best Overall)

Grocery IQ (free) is the most-popular and most-used grocery-list app, and my top choice for best all-around app. GroceryIQ has been around for a while and has added a lot of new bells and whistles along the way. It also has the largest food-name database, which is continually updated. Some of its features are:

  • A huge database of food names and brands to aid list creation.
  • Support for multiple lists.
  • A barcode scanner to scan foods you have in the fridge to quickly add to your list (I use this a lot).
  • Voice dictation in case you don’t want to type (works on older iPhones too)
  • The ability to sort items in list by the order of the aisle they are in at your local grocery (you can create aisles from your grocery store).
  • Share lists by email.
  • Sync a single list across multiple devices and users.
  • Coupons that you can email for printing or print out directly from iPhone via AirPrint.

GroceryIQ has it all, and it’s fast. If I have any complaints, it’s that it’s kind of ugly and it suffers a little from feature bloat. But GroceryIQ is the app I use to create grocery lists and has been for years. If you have a family with multiple people shopping for it, the fact that you can maintain and sync a single master grocery list across multiple iPhones and iPads is a huge plus.

2. GrocerEaze (Editor’s Choice for Tracking Costs)

GrocerEaze (free) is for the serious grocery shopper who wants to track costs and stick to a budget. The app’s best feature is the ability to add prices to items in the database and add up total costs for each list. And here’s the cool thing: you can have prices for different stores. For example, if steak costs $7.99 at Store A, and $6.99 at Store B, you can add both into the database and select a price depending on what store you’re shopping at. Features include:

  • Database of food names and drop-down list as you type for fast grocery list creation.
  • The ability to add new foods, prices, and photos to food database.
  • Budget and spend tracking (with ability to add tax rates for individual items!).
  • Multiple shopping lists.
  • The ability to create meal plans.
  • Browsing of recipes and ability to add ingredients to list.
  • Sharing of lists via email.

GrocerEaze is for the serious grocery shopper keeping a tight rein on food costs. To get the full benefit of this app, users should not mind tapping away at home and in the store to enter in data. Another cool feature is the email sharing that adds a twist. Not only can you email someone a basic grocery list you made, but the app also automatically attaches a file that can be opened and viewed by another GrocerEaze app. Slick!

3. GrocerySmart (Editor’s Choice for Easiest to Use)

Grocery Smart (free) is the best looking of the apps listed here, and its interface is the easiest to use. Here are the app’s features:

  • A database of food names to make list creation easier.
  • Support for multiple grocery lists.
  • Barcode scanner to scan foods in the fridge/cupboard for quick entry.
  • Built-in loyalty card support for a limited number of grocery stores (enter in your card’s number and it creates a scannable barcode that matches your loyalty card).
  • Ability to sync with an online account, create lists online, and sync back to iPhone.
  • Share lists by email.

Overall, Grocery Smart is fast and slick, with the easiest to use interface of all the apps listed here.

4. AnyList

AnyList (free) is another simple app, and its interface probably the least cluttered. The main annoyance with this app is that it requires you to set up an account to use. But it’s only a one-step process, and after that creating a grocery list is a breeze. Its features include:

  • Database of food names for quick list creation.
  • Support for multiple grocery lists.
  • Sync a single list across multiple devices and users
  • Recipe database and easier adding of the recipe’s ingredients to shopping list.

AnyList is a simple app, and quick and easy to use. My only two complaints are the forced account sign up, and that there’s too much spacing around each list item—only 3 list items fit on the screen at a time. But if you’re looking for a simple interface, AnyList is it.

5. Grocery Mate

Grocery Mate (free) is one of the more customizable apps on this list. And it’s pretty good-looking as long as you ignore the iAd at the bottom of the screen. It also offers cost-tracking features. If the previously mentioned GrocerEaze is too much for you, Grocery Mate is the simpler cost-tracking choice. Features include:

  • Database of grocery items and drop-down list that makes list creation quick and easy.
  • Create multiple lists.
  • Share lists via email.
  • Ability to add prices to food items.
  • Maintain history of grocery costs.
  • Create account, create lists on web, sync back to iPhone.
  • Customizable look: wood, metallic, leather (default)

My favorite features of Grocery Mate are the ability to get rid of the food categories in list view, which I feel visually clutters up the app, and the easy way to share lists via email in app. The customizable skins are also neat, although one of them (the wood skin) requires you to share via Facebook in order to unlock it (cheesy!).

11 Things You Can Do With Apple’s New Podcasts App You Couldn’t Before

The best thing about Apple’s new Podcasts app (free) is that it adds functionality to the iPhone that wasn’t there before. Managing podcasts was one of the last few things you still needed iTunes running on a computer to do. But no longer. Here are 11 things the Podcasts app lets you do on the iPhone and iPad that you couldn’t before.

1. Subscribe to podcasts on the iPhone/iPad

Previously you could browse, stream, and even download podcasts on the iPhone, but you couldn’t subscribe to a podcast. That had to be done using iTunes on a computer. But subscriptions can now be established on the iPhone. Subscribing, however, doesn’t mean your podcasts automatically download. That is a separate function you can also set up in the new app (see the next item in this list). Subscribing simply means the podcast will appear in your list of podcasts for quick and easy access, sort of like the Favorites feature in the iPhone’s Phone app.

2. Set up automatic podcast downloads on the iPhone/iPad

When a new episode of a podcast becomes available, it will automatically download in the background the next time you plug in your iPhone/iPad for charging.

3. View all your podcasts in an easy-to-browse tile view

The Podcasts app introduces a beautiful tile view that displays all your podcasts by album art. There is also a button to switch to a list view that not only lists all your podcasts, but displays the number of unplayed episodes for each podcast next to the name.

4. View a single chronological list of unplayed podcast episodes on the iPhone/iPad

This is one of my favorite new features. Going for a 5-hour drive and want to catch up on all your unlistened-to podcasts? Simple navigate to this list and hit the play button. Your unplayed podcasts will play one after another. Pressing the skip button skips to the next one.

5. Skip ahead 30 seconds to avoid commercials

Most podcasts these days rely on hosts reciting product pitches (“sign up for Audible and get a free audiobook!”) to pay the bills. Well, Podcasts’ new 30 seconds skip-ahead button is out to destroy that revenue model, muhaha! OK, it likely won’t do that no more than TiVO destroyed television commercials, but still, this is a nice feature for when those commercials become annoying or go on too long.

6. Skip backward 10 seconds

Previously, you could only skip backwards 30 seconds in podcasts. The Podcasts app changes that to 10 seconds. Which is better? I like 10 seconds because I usually tap this button to re-listen to something someone said a few seconds ago, not 30 seconds ago.

7. Play video podcasts at 1.5x, 2.0x, and 0.5x speeds

Previously, video podcasts had one viewing speed. Now, there are 4. That’s even 1 more than audio podcasts get (0.5x, 1x, 2x). I wouldn’t mind seeing that 1.5x speed for audio podcasts as well.

8. Set how many podcast episodes the iPhone/iPad keeps at a time

You likely don’t want an old podcast episode from 2009 taking up space on your iPhone. Podcasts lets you determine how many episodes are stored before they are automatically deleted.

9. Share a link to a podcast via Twitter or Text Message (and soon Facebook)

Previously you could share a link to a podcast only by email using the Music app. Now you can tweet your favorite podcasts using the Podcasts app. And I’m sure Facebook will appear with iOS 6.

10. Browse top podcasts with a swipe of your finger

The Podcasts app introduces a slick (but currently slow and buggy) radio-dial interface to browse the top podcasts in various categories. It’s cool looking but I have problems with it every time I use it. If you want to enjoy this app, I suggest avoiding using this feature.

11. Set a sleep timer for podcasts without using the Clock app

The iPhone has always had a sleep timer buried in the Clock app, but now you no longer have to leave the app you’re in to set it. The Podcasts app’s sleep timer can be found in the the new retro reel-to-reel tape player view. To access it, swipe up on the album art while playing a podcast, the reel-to-reel tape player will appear along with a sleep timer button.

The 12 Most Useful iPhone/iPad Links of the Week

1. You Can Now Buy a Virgin Mobile Prepaid iPhone

Virgin Mobile joins Cricket in selling a prepaid iPhone. Virgin is the better deal, with cheaper plans and a better network, according to USA Today’s Rob Pegoraro. Prepaid carriers don’t require a credit check to buy the iPhone like Verizon and AT&T, so it opens things up for more customers. The Virgin iPhone is available direct from Virgin’s website and at Best Buy and Radioshack. Virgin is also opening 10 retail stores in Chicago to get back into the cell phone huckstering business.

2. The Top 10 Airline Apps

Brian Kelly at the awesome The Points Guy blog (a blog about stretching credit card reward points for super-cheap travel) lists and briefly reviews his top 10 apps from airlines. JetBlue’s app is his #1 because it offers a ton of features, including notifications for flight times, TV and radio schedules for in-flight entertainment, and just about everything else you’d want from an airline app. If you’re going to do some air travel soon, this is a good list to read through to get an idea of features. Also, can I plug our 50 Best Travel Apps list? Thank you.

3. Review: WTHR, a Beautiful New Weather App

Chris Herbert of MacStories likes the cool new WTHR ($0.99) app. The app offers a 7-day forecast and only two interface buttons to tap. Minimalist design geeks rejoice, even a sunny day can now be viewed in a Dieter Rams esque, stark, bleak but beautiful, function-as-form design aesthetic.

4. Griffin Introduces Kiosk for iPad

The Griffin Kiosk ($199, $299) is a new way to put the iPad on display in public. Businesses and marketers will likely love this, more so when Guided Access from iOS 6 arrives. The Griffin Kiosk locks down the iPad. You can even bolt the Kiosk to the floor or table. And a built-in power cord means the iPad won’t run out of juice.

5. Review: Wahoo Bluetooth 4.0 Heart Rate Sensor

If you’re a serious runner/athlete/nerd, you might want to check out the new Bluetooth 4.0 Wahoo Heart Rate monitor. I reviewed a Wahoo Heart Rate sensor for iPhone last year and thought it was pretty cool. This new Bluetooth 4.0 version uses less power but it’s only compatible with the iPhone 4S or newer devices. Nick Guy of iLounge says he couldn’t get it to work with the popular Runkeeper app (which it’s supposed to), but I’m sure that will be fixed pronto.

6. Review of Apple’s New PodCast App

Allyson Kazmucha of iMore says to ignore Apple’s new Podcasts app and instead use Instacast ($1.99) or other podcast-management apps (I personally prefer Stitcher Radio, a podcast management app that is free). Kazmucha rightly complains that Podcast doesn’t sync your subscriptions between your iPhone and iPad even though Apple is spending billions on iCloud. What’s up with that, Apple? Instacast offers synching and notifications for when new podcast episodes appear, and they don’t even have a $100 billion sitting in the bank.

7. Updated Gmail App Gets Notifications, Permanent Login, and Send From Alternate Email Address Features

The recent update to the official Google Gmail app (download) has it creeping closer to becoming a real alternative to the iPhone’s Mail app (the last feature lacking is support for multiple accounts). But if you only have one email and its Gmail, this app is could replace Mail. The latest update adds support for iOS notifications for when you receive an email (banners, alerts and lock screen options). They also made said notifications appear faster (they say 5 times faster, whatever that means). They also fixed the login so that you stay logged in until you sign out (this was the really annoying part about the app and why I didn’t use it).

8. Review: Martha Stewart Craft Studio app

Lisa Caplan of Appoliscious says to hurry up and grab the Martha Stewart CraftStudio iPad app (download) while it’s still free (regular $4.99). You can make really good-looking greeting cards, invitations and scrapbook pages digitally, and print them out via the Snapfish printing service if you so desire.

9. Johnny Carson: King of Late Night Documentary free to watch in PBS iPad app

John Gruber of Daring Fireball recommends people watch the new documentary Johnny Carson: King of Late Night, which is $9.99 in iTunes but free for a limited in the PBS for iPad app (free). It can be found in American Masters in the app. Man, I love the PBS app, I mentioned it in my recent list of Apps that Stream Free TV Shows and Movies. It’s amazing how much great free content is out there if you don’t insist in watching the latest and greatest thing. Anyway, Johnny Carson is great, and I’m just old enough to have watched him as a kid. Best late-night talk-show host ever. Easily the most likable.

10. Review: Spotify vs Pandora

Spotify now mimics Pandora by offering free personalized radio stations where you can like or dislike songs and the app learns your musical tastes. So should you switch from Pandora? Of course not. Michael Gowan of TechHive compares and contrasts both apps and decides that Pandora wins easily. I agree, Pandora’s interface is singularly designed for this purpose. The Spotify app buries its radio functionality. Still, if you already subscribe to Spotify, the radio stations are a great music-discovery tool.

11. New York Times Subscribers Can Now Read Using Flipboard

Is this a hint at the future of newspapers? Will general all-purpose reading apps like Flipboard become the Comcasts and Time Warners of print media? Pay $20 a month and get all the newspapers and magazines in the US! I’m in.

12. Free Stereophile iPad App Recommends High-End Audio Equipment

Mel Martin of TUAW points to a new app frm Stereophile (download). I guess Stereophile is some kind of bible for audiophiles. The app lists and rates 700 pieces of stereo equipment and links to reviews. The design of the app is not so great (no landscape view, for example), but it has great information, for free. Man, I love information.

4 Reasons Why I Sadly Won’t Be Using the Chrome Browser App on the iPhone/iPad

I love and use the desktop computer version of the Google Chrome browser on a daily basis, so I was really excited to see the iPhone/iPad version appear in the App Store. The Google Chrome app (free) is currently #1 in downloads and averages 4.5 stars in user reviews. But like so many alternative iOS browsers before it, I’ve quickly abandoned it, and no matter how longingly I stare at Chrome’s universal search/address bar, I just can’t come to love the Chrome app. Here are the four main reasons why:

1. No Reader button. If I’m reading an article on the web nowadays, I’m tapping Safari’s Reader button to optimize the page for reading on the iPhone/iPad. Sadly, there is nothing like the Reader feature for Chrome. Double tap to zoom? Reverse pinch? Never again!

2. Links from apps won’t open in the Chrome app. It’s not Chrome’s fault, but Apple has crossed its arms and won’t let any other browser be the default. So any web link inside an app that gives you the option to “launch in browser” will always launch Safari, not Chrome. This makes bookmarking and other personal link management a chore. What am I supposed to do, switch between Safari and Chrome each time I want to bookmark something? Ain’t gonna happen, friends.

3. Web clips on the iPhone’s home screen won’t open in Chrome. I’ve got a few websites bookmarked to my home screen, like ESPN.com. And I use the iPhone’s Spotlight search to quickly launch those websites. But where do they launch? In Safari.

4. It’s slower. Chrome renders javascript slower because Apple won’t let other apps access its special Nitro Javascript engine, the fastest gun in the West when it comes to loading javascript, partner. On a desktop computer, I wouldn’t care so much, but on a smartphone, speed matters.

Basics: How to Make the iPhone Vibrate in Silent Mode

The iPhone can vibrate when you receive a phone call, text message, or notification even if the iPhone is in silent mode (when the ringer switch is set to mute). Turning on vibrate is simple and is done in the iPhone’s Settings. Below are step-by-step instructions for how to turn on vibrate in silent mode in both video and text format:

Video:

Text:

1. Tap the Settings icon:

2. Tap Sounds:

3. Under Silent, swipe Vibrate tab to On:

And that’s it. The iPhone should now vibrate to let you know there is a call, text message, and notification when the ringer switch is set to off.

Note there is a second Vibrate option further down in the Sound settings. Turning on this option will make the iPhone vibrate alongside playing the ringtone (in other words, when the iPhone’s ringer switch is set to on and a ringtone plays when you receive a call or text message). It will cause quite a racket, but it is also more likely to get your attention when a call comes in.

Apple Releases Podcast App Into App Store

Apple has released an app called Podcasts (free) into the App Store that is basically a standalone app for podcasts in iTunes. It’s been rumored that Apple will be breaking up the many-headed monster that is iTunes into smaller apps, and this seems like an early indication of that happening.

With the app, you can stream and/or subscribe to podcasts, and browse around using top lists and categories. There is also a cool radio-like feature where you swipe your finger across a simulated radio dial (which looks really cool, great design) to listen to the top podcasts for a variety of categories. The categories of podcasts (tech, video games, automotive, etc) serve as the “radio stations.” Another cool feature is that subscribed podcasts automatically download when they become available, essentially removing the need for iTunes desktop software for downloading podcasts. < Podcasts is a universal app for iPhone and iPad.

App Description:

Podcasts app is the easiest way to discover, subscribe to and play your favorite podcasts on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Explore hundreds of thousands of free audio and video podcasts from the Podcasts Catalog, and play the most popular podcasts, organized for you by topic, with the all-new Top Stations feature.

Features:

• Enjoy all of your audio and video podcasts in a single app
• Explore hundreds of thousands of podcasts including shows in over 40 languages
• Try the innovative new Top Stations feature to find new podcast series in a variety of topics, including arts, business, comedy, music, news, sports, and more.
• Browse by Audio or Video podcasts, or see what’s most popular in Top Charts
• Tap subscribe for your favorites and automatically receive new episodes for free as they become available
• Stream episodes or download to listen while offline
• Skip forward and back using simple playback controls
• Turn on Sleep Timer to automatically stop playing a podcast while listening in bed
• Share your favorite episodes with friends using Twitter, Messages and Mail
• Optionally sync your favorite episodes from iTunes on your Mac or PC
• Sync your episode playback for seamless transition between devices

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Weekly iPad/iPhone App Provides Sales Circulars for All the Major Stores

One of the reasons people still buy a Sunday newspaper is for the huge pile of weekly store circulars that come with it. Weekly for iPad (and iPhone) by Twicular gives you access to those circulars for over 100,000 stores with no need to toss them out when you’re finished. It’s a pretty sweet app that can save a lot of hassle.

I’ve been trying it out that past few weeks, and can report that Weekly had the updated weekly circulars for every store located near me, even my grocery store. Kohl’s, Target, K-Mart, Home Depot, Jewel (my grocery), etc, were all there. Another thing that impressed me is that app sometimes had multiple circulars that appeared in different local newspapers for the same week, but which had different info and formatting. The circulars also downloaded fairly quickly.

You can zoom in and out of the ads. The image resolution is fine for reading, but of course, the more you zoom in the blurrier they get (the text is still readable though). If you want to clarify the information for a product, you can tap on it and a pop-up will appear providing more data. It’s clear that the developers are working with a service that scans the circulars and adds info for the pop-ups.

The other great feature is that the app lets you use GPS to locate all the stores near you, so you don’t have to enter in an address, etc. You can save products as a shopping list and then email that shopping list to yourself to remember what to buy in the stores.

My only complaint about Weekly is that it doesn’t save the ads for offline viewing (although you can save specific items in the ads for offline viewing). But for the ads themselves, you have to download them each time you want to view them. Hopefully they’ll add offline viewing as a feature in the future.

As mentioned, they support over 100,000 stores, but here’s a list of a few stores from the app description: Macy’s, JCPenney, Best Buy, Sears, Kohl’s, Jo-Ann Stores, Dillard’s, Old Navy, Toys R Us, Babies R Us, Pet Smart, Sports Authority, Staples, Aaron’s, Lowe’s, ACE Hardware, True Value Hardware, Home Depot, GNC, Wal-Mart, Target, CVS/pharmacy, Walgreens, Family Dollar, RadioShack, Save-A-Lot, Kmart, RiteAid, Aldi, Office Depot, Michaels, SAFEWAY, OfficeMax, Albertson’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Big 5 Sporting Goods etc.

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Mophie’s New Juice Pack Pro Battery Case for iPhone 4 & 4S Goes Beyond Military Specifications for Protection

If there’s been one complaint about the popular Mophie Juice Pack battery cases for the iPhone, it’s that they don’t offer much protection. The new Mophie Juice Pack Pro ($130) changes that. The Juice Pack Pro has an “an impact resistant design that exceeds military specifications (MIL-STD 810G),” according to the company.

The case is water-tight and protects against drops, sand, dust, shock, vibrations, and other abuse you can throw at it. The case completely covers the iPhone, including the screen (similar to the Otterbox Defender), but still allows you to use all of the iPhone’s features. Even the speaker and microphones work with the case on. You can even plug in the iPhone to your computer and iTunes with the case still on for synching and charging. Oh yes, and the case can completely recharge your iPhone, too.

The Mophie Juice Pack Pro has a 2500 mAh battery and comes with a belt clip attachment, 4 LED lights that indicate battery status, side switch for standby mode, and a micro-USB charging cord.

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