The kind folks over at Element Case have hooked TiPb up for the holidays! That’s right, they were generous enough to drop off a pack of custom tricked-out iPhone cases not just for us to review — but for us to give away to you, the best dang blog readers, forum posters, and podcast listeners on the interwebs.
These aren’t just any cases, mind you. These are the hardcore high-end rigs of cases. Jeremy’s already gotten his hands all over them (and took some time out of his hectic holiday schedule to snap the pics above and below) and he says they’re well made and built for gaming, with the special bonus of making sure you don’t cover up the speaker when holding them (nice touch!).
Thanks to everyone at Element Case for hooking us up, and stay tuned for your chance to take one of these custom TiPb cases home for the new year!
(To check out their whole selection, head on over to the Element Case Shop).
Jennifer from our sibling site, TreoCentral, has already posted her video first impressions of the iPhone 3G, and now she’s back with her full, final review. Did she hate it’s lack of the Qwerty keyboard Treo made famous? Did she break out the glue stick in an attempt to actually paste something? Or, gripes aside, did she enjoy it for what it does well, killer Apps and fantastic web browsing and media playback?
Go check out her review, and let us know what you think!
Meanwhile, I’m finally — finally — back with the iPhone 3G this week, and wow does it look like I missed a lot of great apps and developments over the last month. So, I’ve started a TiPb iPhone forum thread where you can help me catch up — and get another chance to win an iPhone 3G!
The Marware Sportsuit Convertible for iPhone 3G is available and can be purchased in the TiPb Store for $34.95. If you are looking for an armband case for your iPhone, this might just be it! Let’s see how it measures up after the break!
Confession: the US broadcast news networks I get up here in the frozen north come mostly from Vermont with a side of Northern New York. So, lo and behold, I caught part of the Burlington CBS station’s teaser last night, and the big news? They’re finally getting the iPhone 3G!
It means dozens of new jobs in Vermont and that the heavily-hyped iPhone will soon be here in Vermont. [...] AT&T officials say their products and services will be available at ten former Unicel locations in mid-January. They will honor current contracts for up to a year.
Is that the last state in the Union to get with the iPhone? Anyone else still missing out?
No iPhone Live! this week, but in it’s place we come at you a day early and whole panel broader. Join us Tuesday, December 23rd at 8pm EST for Smartphone Round Robin Live! featuring:
AndroidCentral.com’s Casey Chan, Crackberry.com’s Kevin Michaluk, TheiPhoneBlog.com’s Rene Ritchie, and stepping up for both TreoCentral.com and WMExperts.com, our editor-in-chief, Dieter Bohn!
We’ll be discussion the Google Android G1, BlackBerry Bold, iPhone 3G, Palm Treo Pro, and HTC Fuze and taking your chat questions live!
In the game you play a “guitar” or a “drum set” along with songs. There are a total of 17 different songs, some of which are fairly recent, but also include songs such as “Smoke on the Water.” Each song can be played within three different difficulties and of course on each instrument.
Ok, in case you have been missing all of the iPhone 3G unlock talk lately, the Dev-Team yesterday previewed their unlock software for all of us to see.
It will be available to anyone who wants it (and is still running the original base band!) on New Years Eve. Until then let the video above fill your craving! Enjoy!
Black and white. Night and day. Left and right. BlackBerry Bold and iPhone 3G. For the penultimate Round Robin, I set aside my multi-touch no Qwerty for Kevin’s touch-less Cadillac of Querty’s.
And…? I loved it and hated it. How utterly appropriate. Not to be too tale of two-cities about it, but it was both the best of the Round Robin devices for me and the worst. Google’s Android G1 tried to do everything but beta’d all of it (give them time though!). The HTC Fuze tried to shellack over Windows Mobile to make it more like the iPhone and — in terms of usability — tripped and fell all over itself in the attempt. The Palm Treo Pro, while unabashedly Windows Mobile, was still a touch screen, allowing for some level of direct comparison, and proving just how far behind Windows Mobile’s interface has fallen.
But the BlackBerry Bold is a different beast entirely. Direct comparison is impossible. A pager vs. a music player, all grown up and bedecked in smartphone tech. Both devices can do similar things, but their strengths are almost polar opposites, as are the approaches they take in delivering them.
Kevin’s already written 7500 words on that, however, requiring few if any from me. So rather than rehash, or duplicate what the previous Round Robin editors have said better before me, I’m going to change it up a bit (yes, again) and look at things from a different perspective. And I’ll do it after the break!
A week ago we linked to a story that brought fresh iPhone Nano rumors to the foreground. Today those rumors are picking up a tiny bit of speed. Seems the folks who brought us leaked iPhone 3G and 4th gen iPod Nano cases are listing an iPhone Nano case.
Of course, an iPhone Nano presents certain problems. Would Apple just stuff a standard 320×480 iPhone screen into a tighter package, like the iPod Nano? (Or BlackBerry Bold for that matter). They’d need to do something to avoid fracturing the mobile WiFi platform they’ve taken so much trouble to establish. And capacitive touch screens, for all their responsiveness, require beefy enough targets to hit with a finger. Would certain features be cut that just couldn’t scale down effectively? Or would this truly be phone-and-iPod only (see mock up, above), leaving the “breakthrough internet device” space for the full featured, full sized model?
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Could just be the lack of Macworld hype making the intertubes all crazy. Macrumors, for their part, says:
To add more uncertainty into the mix, we’ve heard that some of Apple’s initial plans for Macworld may have been delayed. So, even if an iPhone Nano was originally in the works, we’re not sure when we’d actually see one.
At a special event, on Apple’s schedule, on Apple’s terms, with Steve Jobs on a stage maybe?
It’s been awhile since we’ve heard anything from Pinger, creators of a service that allows you to trade voicemails like they were emails. Their previous offering was interesting but not ultimately useful for most people. Their new offering, a clever iPhone application (iTunes link) that combines a social media aggregator, a dialer, and an IM client is interesting and likely useful for most people. For me, it addresses my #1 gripe about the iPhone. It’s also free.
