iBlog, iEverything

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IPPAWARDS | 8th Annual iPhone Photography Awards™ » 2014 Winners

This iPhone Photography awards contest just gets better and better each and every year.

Head over to the IPPAWARDS website to see all of the photo in hires.

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Watch Apple's WWDC Keynote Set The Stage For Best Product Pipeline In 25 Years

In a recent interview with Re/code Eddy Cue said...

"Later this year, we’ve got the best product pipeline that I’ve seen in my 25 years at Apple"  -- Re/code

In retrospect that statement was well planned considering not a single word was to be uttered about new hardware at this years WWDC which took place earlier this week.  Instead Apple focused on developers which is what the conference is supposed to be all about, even launching a new programming code that took developers and the media by surprise.

"According to Apple, Swift will provide a number of significant speed advantages to developers."  -- Tech Crunch

Watch the complete Keynote video here...

If you add it all up it seems that a strong foundation has been laid for a really great 2014 product cycle coming from Apple if Eddie Cue's statement is even half True.  Watch the full video interview  with Eddie Cue and Iovine over at Re/code.  And you can find 10 Useful Features of iOS8 over at 9to5Mac.

Should be a nice fall for gadgets if you are an Apple fan.

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Exclusive from @markgurman on iOS8 Split Screen iPad Multitasking

Mark always to come through with yet to be released iOS features prior to WWDC.  This Split Screen Multi-Tasking feature could be a nice edition to a rumored larger iPad.

"These people say that the feature will allow iPad users to run and interact with two iPad applications at once. Up until now, each iPad application either developed by Apple or available on the App Store is only usable individually in a full-screen view."  -- 9to5Mac, Mark Gurman

Interesting to see how beneficial this feature would really be.  Probably more beneficial in a work environment since that is where most of the demand is for multiple tasks.  Seems to me that it would make more sense with a larger iPad and multiple user login to separate work and play.  Read the detailed article on 9to5Mac.

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Mini Mobile Robot Smartphone Printer Fits In Your Palm

Every once in a while something really cool comes along on Kickstarter...

"Our printer is based on an omni-wheel system that allows it to accurately turn and drive in any direction. The printer was designed in a comprehensible manner in order to help the user place the printer properly at the top of the page and guarantee an accurate outcome. This version of the printer does not include stabilizing sensors."  -- Zuta Pocket Printer - Kickstarter

Upon writing this the little robot printer was nearing $270k of it's $400k goal.  You can read more and pre-order one for around $200 at the Kickstarter Zuta Project.

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A 55-Inch 4K TV for your Mac Pro only $999

Even if you don't have a the new Mac Pro this is a great deal on a flat panel 4K of this size for under a thousand dollars.

  "With just a $999 price tag, you'll get a 3D-ready, 55-inch 4K LED display. It can also upscale Blu-ray and DVD content. The smart TV has PVR functionality and runs Android 4.2 with access to Google Play. It doesn't lack in connectivity either, packing in four HDMI ports, Wi-Fi and Ethernet ports, a USB 3.0 and three USB 2.0 ports, as well as a microSD slot."  -- Tech Radar

Looks like this is only available for presale right now is Australia so those of us in the USA may be out of luck for the time being.  More at Tech Radar

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Still the Top Selling Smarthphone in the World. iPhone 5s

Not a huge surprise that the iPhone 5s took the top spot.  But the big surprise is that even with all of the talk about soft iPhone 5c sales guess which smartphone took the second spot?

"iPhones were in the top two positions with the 5s and 5c in first and second place. The 5s has also been the top selling smartphone worldwide since it was launched six months ago. "  -- Chuck Jones, Forbes

These stats are based on actual Mobile Phone Sales and not shipments and accessories so it should be a very accurate indicator of actual sales transactions.  If you want more detail on the iPhone domination for 2014 read the full article at Forbes.

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Lensbaby Sweetspot. A Sweet Blur Lens for iPhone 5/5s

Funny, I was messaging the other day with Craig Strong, Founder of Lensbaby.  He has been perfecting these blur lenses for SLR cameras for over a decade now and was asking about some of our products.  My response (after researching his company) was that he should release a lens for the iPhone.  Looks like he was way ahead of me.

"We at Lensbaby have been helping DSLR-owning photographers see and document their worlds in unique and creative ways for the past 10 years. Professional photographer Craig Strong, our Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer, featured in our video above, has been leading the charge. These days, we know more and more people (including us!) are using their mobile phones to capture their everyday life. For years, our customers have been asking "When are you going to make a Lensbaby for mobile phones?" The answer is now, with a little help from you. "  -- Lensbaby on Kickstarter

There are a few "Early Bird Deals" left as we speak but they wont last for long.  Lensbaby has passed the 30% of goal point in only a couple of hours and should do very well with this project.  Even if you miss the early deals you can still back the project and get one for around $50 at Lensbaby Kickstarter Project

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Great Camera Shootout - iPhone 5s vs. HTC One M8

From left iPhone 5s to right HTC One M8

"The iPhone 5s may not balance whites as well as the HTC One M8 but it's more consistent in producing images that are well lit and not over exposed. The HTC One struggles in bright settings and that's a much more noticeable problem. Winner: iPhone 5s."  -- Allyson Kazmucha, iMore

Put up against the latest, greatest smartphone camera on the market the mid product cycle iPhone 5s still rules the photosphere.  This is a very detailed shootout and a great comparison based on the use of stock applications and you can read the whole article at iMore.com

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Reasonable iPhone 6 or iPhone Air Concept

As we get into that 6-month window prior to the estimated September release for the new iPhone we should start to see concepts and even production parts coming to light.  This is one of the latest and looks pretty plausible.

"The design also returns us to the single rocker-style volume button we saw on early iPhones, rather than the two separate buttons seen on later ones."  -- Ben Lovejoy, 9to5Mac

No much else to be said here except that we are all expecting a larger and slightly thinner (not quite this thin) next gen iPhone sometime near the end of September with the usual new processor and maybe an improved camera & sapphire screen.  Full article at 9to5

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25% off on XiStera and Free Shipping thru April 8th.

Find discounts on all XiStera models thru April 8th here:  http://xizix.com/order-xistera/

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25% off on XiStera and Accessories thru the end of March.

Use the coupon code SPRING25 for a discount on all XiStera models and accessories thru the end of the month here:  http://xizix.com/order-xistera/

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Apple’s major first step into health & fitness tracking | 9to5Mac

"Apple’s interest in healthcare and fitness tracking will be displayed in an iOS application codenamed Healthbook"  -- Mark Gurman, 9to5Mac

9to5's Mark Gurman dives into the future app that has renowned engineers from throughout the health and fitness industry working in Cupertino, CA  these days.  The (more than just) rumored app appears to be taking a big leap by including new categories and data than we are not currently accustomed to on our smart phones and fitness devices.  Head over to the full article at 9to5 where Mark has taken the time to lay it out in great detail. 

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Pono Music - The Best 24 Hour Kickstarter since the Pebble Watch

After passing the million dollar mark in the first 24 hours, this one could smash all of the crowdfunding records.

"What is PonoMusic? "Pono" is Hawaiian for righteous. What righteous means to our founder Neil Young is honoring the artist’s intention, and the soul of music. That’s why he’s been on a quest, for a few years now, to revive the magic that has been squeezed out of digital music. In the process of making music more convenient – easier to download, and more portable – we have sacrificed the emotional impact that only higher quality music can deliver. However, the world has changed in the last 10 years – technology has solved some of the underlying problems that forced that tradeoff. You no longer have to choose between quality and convenience when listening to music – you can have both. This is the fundamental idea behind PonoMusic. "  -- Pono Music Kickstarter

Neil Young and Pono are on a mission to make music sound better.  Judging by the support of just about everyone in the music industry it looks like they may succeed. 

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Plausable 'iPhone Air' Concept

These renders were created by Sam Beckett and are very close to the predictions coming from bloggers that seem to get it right over the past couple of product cycles.

"With a thinner form factor, a smaller bezel and a larger screen, Beckett shows the concept iPhone Air device coming together in pieces in much the same way as the iPhone 5S did in its commercial last year. "  -- Mashable

And this video (also from Sam Beckett ) provides a better look at what Apple's iPhone 6 could look like.  Regardless of the form factor a new model is expected to debut by the end of the year.

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MagBak - World's Thinnest Mount for iPad

Magbak is the world's thinnest mount for iPad. It's so thin, no one would ever guess it's a mount. It inherently mounts to most metal surfaces without adding any significant bulk or thickness. For non-metal surfaces, we have created MagStick. It's a beautiful minimalist mounting solution.

  The project is live on Kickstarter now and is already withing striking distance of it's 15k goal.  Get one of your own from $34-$50 by visiting the MagBak project

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Apple CarPlay in a Ferrari FF [VIDEO]

Formerly "iOS in the car" Apple has just released CarPlay into the wild.  The system looks pretty well thought out for a first effort and it seems that quite a bit of thought has been put into function without the need for visual interaction.

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Apple Tops List of World's Most Admired Companies 2014

For the seventh year in a row Apple sit atop the list of the most admired companies in the world.

"The Most Admired list is the definitive report card on corporate reputations. Fortune started with about 1,400 companies: the Fortune 1,000—the 1,000 largest U.S. companies ranked by revenue and non-U.S. companies in Fortune’s Global 500 database with revenue of $10 billion or more. We then selected the 15 largest for each international industry and the 10 largest for each U.S. industry, surveying a total of 692 companies from 30 countries. "  -- CNN