I really like quirky accessories for the mainstream gadgets that we all know and sometimes love. The iPhone is a device that tends to spawn all sorts of quirky accessories like the latest sticker for the back of the phone spied over on Laughing Squid.
The sticker adheres to the back of the iPhone 4 and makes your phone look like that Polaroid instant camera your mom had back in the day. I know we all remember that camera. What this sticker really needs is an app to go with it that makes that noise the Polaroid instant made when you hit the shutter button.
The sticker looks cool and has another use as well, it should prevent the glass back of your iPhone 4 from being scratched with use. This thing doesn’t appear to fit the 3G or 3GS devices with the rounded design and it leaves the flash and lens on the iPhone 4 uncovered.
Trust us — no one on the Engadget staff wants to know what their blood pressure is right about now. For those trapped in the hurricane that is CES, there’s probably no better product to have laying around than this… but only if you’re looking to confirm your suspicions about being in a high-stress career. Withings, the company best known for its connected scales, has just revealed the planet’s first iPhone-connected blood pressure monitor, with an aim to make measuring vitals as easy as pie for iOS users. The idea is fairly simple: just plug the arm band into your iPad, iPod touch or iPhone, dial up the gratis app and start the process. All of the data is logged on the user’s secure online space, and there’s even a secure sharing feature that’ll beam your abnormally high rates right to your frightened physician. It’ll go on sale tomorrow around the globe, with the asking price set at $129 / €129.
Whoa, Nelly! ThinkFlood won’t like this… not one bit. If you’ll recall, the RedEye universal remote dongle was well received, as a simple 3.5mm adapter added IR beaming to Apple’s slate of iDevices. But now, Mashed Pixel has taken the integration one step further, seamlessly embedding an Infrared emitter into a case. Simply pop the Surc around your iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS or iPhone 4, download the (free) accompanying app and start programming. Before long, you’ll be dictating your home entertainment setup sans any external accessories, and heck, you may even improve your phone’s reception all the while. The only downside to this approach compared to ThinkFlood’s is that the iPad is obviously not supported, and once you upgrade to the iPhone 5, your trusty IR case becomes a glorified paperweight. If you’re kosher with that, though, you can get your pre-order in now for $69.95, with initial shipments expected to make their way out in Q1 2011.
If you dive and use your smartphone a lot you are asking for trouble and in many states and cities that can actually get you a ticket. You should be using a hands free device for calls and if you use that smartphone for navigation, you probably want a holder of some sort for the phone too.
A new holding clip has surfaced called GoSmart Clip. The thing has a design that should work with any smartphone, though the iPhone is what you see in the company’s photos and materials. GoSmart says that the Clip will work with smartphones between 4″ to 5″ tall and under 0.75″ thick. The company does say you need to remove any cases before using it.
The GoSmart clip is designed with a strap that wraps around the top portion of your steering wheel. It has a leather pad that actually sits against your wheel to help keep it from marring your wheel. The biggest problem I see is that the GoSmart Clip will block the speedo and tach on my car and probably on several others as well. You can pick it up in red or black colors for $25.95 and you can get two of them for $39.95. They will ship on December 1.
We’ve never been on the volunteer cheerleading squad for FM transmitters; in our experience, they’re downright useless in cities or other areas that actually have a large amount of radio stations nearby. But we’ll hand it to New Potato Technologies — this may be the slickest implementation yet. The newly announced TuneLink Auto looks like a typical cigarette adapter charger at first glance, but within, there’s technology that accepts audio over Bluetooth and then sends it out over FM. This prevents users from having to connect a dongle of any kind to their iPad, iPod touch or iPhone, but the built-in USB port is actually capable of charging all three should you choose. There’s even a 3.5mm output jack for channeling the tunes to a 3.5mm input on your head unit, and the (necessary) accompanying iDevice app should hit the App Store soon for absolutely nothing. The hardware itself is available now from New Potato for $99.99, and it’ll hit “select retail locations” in a fortnight or so for the same amount.
As the everlasting debate rages on, and brains continue to / not to melt with every passing phone call, Casemate’s taking no chances whatsoever. By collaborating with Pong — a company that makes its ends by “protecting users of cellular telephones from the potentially harmful effects of radiation exposure” — the Bounce was born. For all intents and purposes, it’s a simplistic form-fitting iPhone 4 case (BlackBerry models are en route), available in a foursome of hues and tested to reduce normal cellphone radiation (SAR) by at least 60 percent. Purportedly, the case can redirect your phone’s electromagnetic energy away from your head… right into the brain of some lucky chap sitting next to you on the subway. But hey, at least it serves another purpose: solving that blasted iPhone 4 reception issue. Two birds, one $49.99 dent in your credit card. Propaganda vid is just past the break.
I missed the viral part of this video last week, but it’s funny nonetheless. The video on YouTube was of an actor that was supposed to be a student from MIT that had developed a hardware device for the iPhone hat turned the thing into a stun gun. The Stun Fone product was apparently picked up by all sorts of major outlets like CBS News, the Wall Street Journal and more.
I can say from the writer’s side of being tricked, that sort of thing can really piss off a writer. Some publications take geeks covering things that turn out to be fake very seriously, people can end up in trouble, and then there is the inevitable post to readers to tell them you were fooled. I have learned to loathe April over the years because companies tend to start posting fake products two weeks before and for the entire month after.
The fake product has supposed to make the iPhone into a 90,000 volt stun gun that could shock someone without really hurting them. The point of the campaign was to illustrate the power of a single idea according to the company behind it. All I can say is after getting fooled some outlets might be leery of anything that the company shows off in the future even if it is legitimate. Still, the product was interesting even if it was an utter lie. Check out the video below.
Truth be told, it’s exactly what the world needed. More 3D gimmickry… on the iPhone and iPod touch, no less. With over 125 million of those two devices in circulation, Hasbro’s betting that a new accessory will have a greater-than-average chance at taking off next Spring, with the My3D goggles set to put the View back in ViewMaster. Purportedly, the toy firm is expected to fully reveal the device to investors later today, with it being “aimed at both children and adults” and offering a 3D viewing experience on games, virtual travel, augmented reality apps and entertainment content. The device itself resembles a set of binoculars, and just as the aforementioned ViewMaster, there’s a slot where you place your iPod touch or iPhone. Users will have to browse the App Store for compatible My3D content, with some of it to be offered up gratis. We’re guessing more than a few curious consumers will bite at just $30, but how hard would it have been to get this thing onto store shelves next month? A holiday opportunity missed, Hasbro.
You might be familiar with the iPhone app from developer App Ninjas called Swipe. It allows the user to do credit card processing on the iPhone. The developer of the app has offered up a new hardware credit card scanner that is Apple-approved called Swiper for iPhone.
The credit card Swiper is designed like half of a case that the iPhone slips down into. The magnetic card reader on the bottom of the case is where the user would actually swipe a credit card. Using the app and the Swiper the user can process credit cards wherever they may be when the app is tied to a merchant account.
The seller will also save some money using the hardware Swiper rather than a just punching the credit card numbers into the Swipe for iPhone app. Swiped credit cards have a lower fee to sellers than typed in numbers. The Swiper will be offered as a white label solution.
Ten One Design unveiled its Pogo Stylus back not long after the original iPhone came out. There were many folks that wanted a stylus with the touchscreen, but your average stylus won’t work with the iPhone. Ten One designed a stylus that will work with any iPhone or the iPad and the company is now unveiling the latest version of the pogo Stylus with a special clip designed specifically for use with the iPhone 4.
The new stylus is just like the older stylus, the new cool is the clip. The clip will attach to the iPhone 4 with or without a silicone sleeve on the device or an Apple bumper. When you want to stand the iPhone 4 up to watch video or other content the clip can be easily removed.
Once removed, a slot in the clip will prop the iPhone 4 up in portrait or landscape mode. It will be perfect for making FaceTime calls or watching video in landscape mode. The new Pogo with the fancy clip can be purchased now in several colors for $14.95.
You might be familiar with the iPhone app from developer 
