Holster cases are often the choice of those who need to be able to get at their phone at a moment's notice. Incase's $40 Leather Folio for iPhone is a horizontally-oriented holster case for your iPhone, and while it may not be the quickest draw on the block, it's still a pretty nice case.
Available in both brown and black, the Leather Folio is—unsurprisingly—made primarily of leather; Nappa leather, to be precise. The top flap of the case is covered with washed canvas (on the brown model) or ballistic nylon (on the black model), and the interior is lined with suede to prevent the case from scratching your iPhone's exterior. Two small, Velcro fasteners keep the case securely closed. The case has very few openings: the sides are held together with small, stitched straps of leather, but they're arranged to leave the speaker, microphone, and headphone jack accessible no matter which way you put the phone in the case. You can get to the Sleep/Wake button as well, though it's sometimes partially obscured by one of the straps. (This design also makes it a bit too easy to hit the Sleep/Wake button by accident, especially when you're removing the phone from the case—for example, when you're answering the phone.) There's also a notch at the bottom to let you push the phone out of the case easily, and the back features a solidly-attached belt clip. On the other hand, you won't be able to get to the phone's volume controls or ringer switch when it's in the case.
There are similar cases out there, and while the Incase version is a bit on the more-expensive side, I appreciate the attention given to accessibility. The case is also well-made: the leather is pleasant to the touch, the Velcro works well, and the belt clip is sturdy. The leather is also thick enough, and padded enough, to keep the iPhone from coming to harm if you accidentally drop it while in the case, although the opening on the bottom does mean there's the possibility, though small, for the exposed part of the iPhone to be scratched.
Overall, the Leather Folio is an excellent case for those looking for a simple, elegant, leather holster. Of course, if you prefer a vertical orientation, you'll want to look elsewhere. And, like all holsters, the Folio keeps the iPhone safe only when the phone is in the case, so if you're looking for a more permanent form of protection, holster cases probably aren't what you want.
Agent 18, purveyor of fine cases for the iPod, has thrown their hat into the iPhone ring with a number of models for Apple's handset. Among them is the DiamondVest, a $25 silicone skin billed as featuring a "rugged design."
The DiamondVest comes only in black; it's easy to slip onto the phone, as it's just one piece of silicone with a large opening for the iPhone's touch screen. You'll also find holes in the case for the Ring/Silent switch, Wake/Sleep button, headphone jack, dock-connector port, microphone, and speaker. On the back is a small opening for the iPhone's camera lens, and on the left side are two raised bumps that let you easily find and use the phone's volume controls. Another raised nub on the front of the case sits right over the Home button.
One nice touch of the DiamondVest is that it's covered with a pattern of diamond-shaped bumps that mimics "diamond plate" metal. As with the metal, the design makes it easier to grip the case, reducing the chances that the whole shebang will slip out of your hand. The silicone is pleasantly thick—enough that I wouldn't worry about everyday bumps and scratches—but it doesn't add much bulk; the encased iPhone is still thin enough to slip in your pocket.
The major shortcoming of the DiamondVest, however, is that it doesn't protect the iPhone's touchscreen, which is potentially the most sensitive part of the phone. This makes it easy to use the MultiTouch interface, but if you're concerned with protecting the screen from scratches or other damage, the DiamondVest may not be precisely what you're looking for; several similar cases from other vendors include a clear, protective film for the screen. If the lack of such protection doesn't bother you, the DiamondVest is a solid offering in the silicone-skin market.
Sure, tracking your expenses on your iPhone could be pretty handy: after all, oftentimes you're out and about when you're buying things, and keeping track of receipts to enter them later can be a pain. But how much is such functionality worth to you?
Intuit's betting on you be willing to pay at least $3/month. The personal finance software company is launching a web-based iPhone-friendly version of its popular Quicken app on January 8. The move is attempt for Quicken to younger consumers—like, hey, me—who presumably find keeping track of their expenses a total buzz-kill—especially when we could totally be listening to music or watching movies, dude.
The iPhone-friendly version will have fewer versions than Quicken's current online component, and will be optimized for the iPhone's interface, but it will let users balance their checkbooks and track their transactions. That's right, the future can be yours—for just $36 a year. Just don't forget to log that cost into Quicken when you get it.
[via The Consumerist]
Not terribly long ago I provided instructions for jailbreaking an iPhone that had been upgraded to iPhone software version 1.1.2. In short order the comments area was choked with questions regarding iPhones that shipped with 1.1.2. Could they also be jailbroken?
Seems likely to me, thought I, but am I or am I not the kind of guy who's willing to put a few bucks on the line to find out for sure? Turns out I am. I purchased a new iPhone the other day to see exactly how easy it is to jailbreak it without also signing up for another AT&T account (after all, how many iPhones does one person need?). The procedure is not that difficult, but it requires a few extra steps not required of an iPhone that has been updated.
I could regurgitate what I've previously written and then include those extra steps but, quite honestly, I think you'll gain the greatest benefit from visiting modmyifone.com to view its Getting Started iPhone Modding OS X guide. It's a clearly illustrated, three-page guide that takes you from a boxed iPhone running iPhone software version 1.1.2 to an activated and jailbroken 1.1.2 iPhone. For all intents and purposes, what you wind up with is an 8GB iPod touch that bears a camera and speaker.
(By activated I mean only that the iPhone won't bug you to activate it as, after you've followed this procedure, iTunes and the iPhone will believe that it's activated. Of course it isn't so you can't use it to make calls unless you really activate it.)
I performed the operation on a MacBook Pro running Mac OS X 10.5.1 (Leopard) and iTunes 7.5. Worked like a charm.
The usual disclaimers: If you muck it up, you're on your own. I performed the operation successfully twice but you may not be so lucky. Also note that this procedure will not unlock your iPhone for the purposes of using a different carrier. This procedure is useful only for installing third-party applications on your phone.
Now that we've seen the iPhone released in the promised European markets, it's time to begin discussing the rest of Apple's plans for global domination. They've promised to expand into Asia in 2008; there have already been some whispers about their negotiations in China.
Now, there's word that Apple's in negotiations with two separate providers in Japan: the largest provider, NTT DoCoMo, and the third largest, Softbank. As with the situations in the US and elsewhere, Apple is apparently demanding a share of the money from subscribers, a request that the providers are not eager to oblige.
NTT DoCoMo controls over half of the mobile market in Japan, which boasts 100 million mobile users. While they may not be thrilled about sharing money with Apple, some see Jobs's negotiations with Softbank as an attempt to make NTT DoCoMo play ball.
Oh, phone unlocking: why must you be so contentious? Last week, we caught whiff of a suggestion that the unlocked iPhones being sold in France, while able to accept any French provider SIM card, might be locked to only cards from that country, and thus wouldn't work with providers elsewhere in the world.
Now we're hearing contradicting reports; iLounge says they've got word from Orange spokesman Louis-Michel Aymard rubbishing the earlier news.
“Once legally (through Orange Customer Service) unlocked, the iPhone will operate with any SIM card, including foreign ones. But some applications like ‘Visual Voice Mail’ may not work abroad,” [Aymard said].It's shaping up to be a case of il a dit, elle a dit, n'est-ce pas? If any of our readers have experiences trying unlocked French iPhones elsewhere, let us know what you've found.
Finally, our long national nightmare is over. For so long we've been forced into either buying our ringtones on iTunes at the outrrrrageous price of $1.99, using third-party apps like Ambrosia's iToner, or other clever loopholes, to load our iPhone up with custom ringtones. But with the update to Garage Band 4.1.1, Apple's finally made it possible for users to create their own custom ringtone.
The Garage Band update adds a a new item to the program's Share menu, "Send Ringtone to iTunes." When run, it compresses your composition down to a MPEG4 file and sends it over to iTunes where, unsurprisingly, it shows up in your Ringtones tab. A quick sync with the iPhone and, as Steve Jobs himself would say, boom: free, custom ringtone. One catch: as with the ringtone workaround, it has to be 40 seconds or less (Garage Band will give you a warning, otherwise). When you sync your iPhone, your new custom ringtone will appear—as if by magic—in the "Custom" section of Settings -> Sounds -> Ringtone.
The ringtone strategy was perhaps the most disheartening move that Apple had made in recent months, and it's good to see that they're providing an end-run around having to shell out more money to the record companies and cell phone providers.
[via The Mothership]
Remember the unlocked iPhones Apple was forced to sell—for legal reasons—in France? Turns out that all may not be quite as rosy with them as was previously thought. According to the folks over at iPhone Atlas, while the phones do not have a SIM card lock, meaning that you can use them with any mobile service provider, they do have a "country lock," which restricts the phone to being used by a provider from the country of purchase—namely, in this case, La France.
To clarify: you can use your French-activated phone in other countries, just as you can use your US iPhone in other countries, as long as you don't mind paying roaming charges. While we haven't personally confirmed this, good old Wikipedia says that it's possible, and I can't say I'm surprised, given the extent to which Apple has gone to prevent the rampant unlocking of the phone.
So if you were considering spending the extra cash to snag a legit unlocked phone from France to use elsewhere, you may want to rethink that plan.
We could make a meal with all the complaints about features that Apple left off version 1 of the iPhone—okay, maybe a frozen pizza, if you consider that a meal—but third-party developers continue to be eager to fill in the gaps. I was somewhat perplexed as to why, despite having a camera, the iPhone can't record video. Not a deal-breaker for me, by any means, but more of a curiosity.
The developers at Monster and Friends has posted a proof of concept for video recording. When you launch this app on your iPhone (which will need to be jailbroken), it'll record five seconds of video at 10 frames per second and then play the clip back for you. Hardly enough to make your Oscar-winning feature film, but the final version should allow recording an unlimited length clip of 15-30+fps.
If you're interested in helping out, the team is looking for a little assistance with the application, so drop them a line at the site above.
[via Gizmodo]
