October 6th, 2008
Test drive: First checkpoint-friendly computer bag
Back in August TSA issued new guidelines for travelers with notebook computers that would, for the first time, allow passengers to keep them in their bags while passing through the x-ray scanner.
The TSA implemented its checkpoint-friendly bag policy on 16 August 2008 and to qualify as checkpoint-friendly it must have a designated notebook-only section that unfolds to lie flat on the x-ray machine. The notebook section can’t contain metal snaps, zippers, buckles or pockets.
I got a chance to test the world’s first checkpoint-friendly notebook bag, Tom Bihn’s CheckPoint Flyer briefcase. The Checkpoint Flyer sells for US$220 and comes with a number of exclusive features and world’s firsts, including:
- Modular, custom-fit laptop compartments. When you buy a new laptop, simply buy a new laptop compartment instead of buying a whole new bag.
- First to be sized for specifically MacBooks
- First to have pockets on all sides of the bag
- First to come in colors other than Solid Black
- First to be Made in USA (Seattle, to be exact.)
- First to have accessories and design that allow you to convert it from your everyday travel briefcase to an overnight air travel bag, complete with optional Packing Cubes to keep your clothes neat.
- First to have YKK splash-proof Uretek zippers.
See pictures of the designated notebook-only section and how it unfolds to lie flat after the jump…
October 6th, 2008
iPhone 2.2 features trickle out
- Ability to disable iPhone’s auto-correction (see screen shot)
- Support for Japanese emoji icons
- Support for Google Street View in Google Maps
It was previously reported that 2.2 would contain some UI tweaks including moving the Google search field in mobile Safari and larger category icons in the App Store and revised “Tell a Friend” and “Report a Problem” buttons.
Still no word if firmware 2.2 will include background push notification which was missing from beta 1 builds.
(Tip: MacRumors)
October 6th, 2008
Eight ways to track your portfolio on the iPhone
In case you haven’t been paying attention, U.S. financial markets are in a tailspin (Dow and AAPL both down 4 6+% today). Securities continue on their relentless roller coaster ride that could make veteran stock brokers lose their lunch.
If you’d like to stay more in touch with your financial portfolio there are a number of iPhone applications that can help you.
Apple includes a basic Stocks app on the iPhone based on the Yahoo! finance widget. It’s sufficient to check the major market indices and allows you to add your own holdings but it’s pretty basic. For example it can display changes in dollars or percentage, but not both.
Bloomberg Mobile 1.1 (iTunes link) is a free and powerful iPhone app that picks up where Stocks leaves off. It offers news, stock quotes, company descriptions, market leaders/laggers, price charts and market trends analysis. Version 1.1 adds more commodities, countries and shows progress for news downloaded in Wi-Fi mode.
If you don’t want to drop any (more) money on your portfolio there are other free Web-based tools that help. CNBC’s mobile Web site (mobile.cnbc.com) displays updated market quotes and their top news stories.
You can also use Mobile Safari to create a bookmark on the desktop for any security on any Web service by clicking on the little plus (+) sign in bottom tool bar. Google Finance is an excellent choice (i.e. www.google.com/search?q=AAPL) because it refreshes without reloading the page.
If you have an account with TD AMERITRADE you can track and trade stocks with iStockManager (iTunes link, free) and ipTrader (iTunes link, free).
TickerPicker (iTunes link, pictured) is a US$7.99 application that takes stock analysis to a new level by focusing on the technical aspects of stock trading. When viewing a stock it breaks it down into four charts showing price, moving average, volume, RSI (a technical analysis indicator that compares the days that a stock finishes up against when it finishes lower) and MACD (which uses different exponential moving averages to generate buy and sell indicators). It’s a tad expensive at US$8 and the fonts are small but the developer promises zooming and better visibility in the future.
AAPLPicker (iTunes link) is the AAPL-only version of TickerPicker (above) and will only set you back US$0.99. Track AAPL’s RSI, which many believe to be bearish when over 70 and bullish when under 30 and MACD which can be a buy signal when over the zero line.
If you’re more of a mutual fund investor then you should check out Fund Watch (iTunes link, US$7.99) which helps you monitor your funds and unit trust investments. After entering your portfolio information your funds historical prices are displayed and cached, increasing speed.
What do you use to monitor your portfolio on the iPhone?
October 6th, 2008
Apple manufactures 10M iPhones
About a month ago creative individuals determined that Apple has sold 8 million iPhones based on collected International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers. A joint project of AFB and Investor Village’s AAPL Sanity board have been collecting iPhone IMEI numbers and recording them on a big Google speadsheet. Based on the collected IMEI’s, Apple was on a pace to build its 10 millionth iPhone before the end of September.
Right on schedule, it appears that Apple has already surpassed analysts estimates and built more than 10 million iPhones. The latest IMEI data collected by AFB was 9,190,680 units created which would put 3G iPhone sales at 7.6 million units and total iPhone sales at over 10 million units.
Don’t expect a press release from Apple yet though, these are iPhone manufacturing numbers, not sales numbers. These calculations don’t take into effect Apple and AT&T store inventory, display/demo and replacement units.
Contribute to the project by entering the first five characters of your iPhone’s serial number and your IMEI number (minus the last two digits) at AFB and the Google speadsheet.
October 3rd, 2008
Apple releases iTunes 8.0.1; Apple TV 2.2
Apple released iTunes 8.0.1 yesterday. The 58.5MB update includes the following:
• Seamlessly plays the current song when creating a new Genius playlist.
• Improves syncing spoken menus to iPod nano.
• Addresses an issue of deleting HD TV episodes when downloading.
• Improves checking for updates from the App Store
• Improves accessibility with VoiceOver.
• Addresses problems syncing Genius results to iPod.
iTunes is available from the Apple download page or by launching Software Update if you already have it installed.
In other software news Apple also released an Apple TV software update (version 2.2) that adds the new Genius playlist feature from iTunes 8 and the last round of iPod to Apple TV. To use it, hold down the play/pause button while playing a song and you’ll see a dialog to “Start Genius,” or add to an on-the-go playlist (pictured).
Apple TV 2.2 also fixes a vulnerability that could allow a “maliciously crafted movie file may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution.” You can get the Apple TV 2.2 update from Settings > Update Software or just by waiting for the weekly software update check.
Have you found any new features in the updates?
(Apple TV picture: TUAW)
October 2nd, 2008
Track the Presidential election polls with your iPhone
While you may not be able to watch tonight’s V.P. debate on your iPhone, you can sure keep up with the polls. Poll Tracker ‘08 (iTunes link US$0.99) is an iPhone application that’s a dream for election junkies and politicos of all stripes.
Poll Tracker ‘08 is an iPhone application that follows all of the state-by-state election polling and display the total number of the electoral votes each candidate would have if the election were to be held today. It provides graphs and charts of the current polling in every state and historical pollings trends and voting patterns.
A main navigation button lists battleground states so you can quickly follow states with the closest races and national polling data from Gallup and Rassmussen gives you the big picture.
October 2nd, 2008
Watch tonight’s debate on your mobile; just not on the iPhone
If you are on the go tonight and don’t want to miss the Vice Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin you can watch it on your mobile phone. But only if it’s on Verizon.
If you’re a Verizon Wireless customer there are two ways you can watch tonight’s debate from St. Louis:
- V CAST video: CBS News coverage in real-time.
- V CAST Mobile TV stations including NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, FNC and CBS are expected to carry the debates live, with their usual news commentary teams.
Verizon Wireless will also be running Election Day Coverage on Nov. 4 on CBS News and NBC/MSNBC News.
What’s up iPhone?
October 2nd, 2008
Obama campaign unleashes iPhone app
The official Obama ‘08 iPhone application (iTunes link) was launched this morning and is designed to help people become more directly involved in the Illinois Senator’s presidential campaign.
The app has a Call Your Friends feature that organizes your contacts by key battleground states and adds a field for notes on who you called, who they are supporting and if they want a reminder call on election day. The information remains private doesn’t leave your phone although the total amount of calls made are tallied to track progress.
The application also make it easy to find your local campaign office using the iPhone’s location-based features and includes up-to-date news from the campaign, including video, photos, issues and talking points.
You can read about the application on the campaign website and on their blog entry about the launch. You can also read blog entries from the team project leads.
Loading …October 2nd, 2008
A great reason to jailbreak: tethering
Everyone probably remembers the mythical NetShare iPhone tethering app that was released briefly by NullRiver. It vanished from the App Store at the end of July when Apple pulled it without explanation. Apple and AT&T are rumored to be discussing tethering, but as of yet no plans have been announced.
Another iPhone tethering solution exists today – but you have to jailbreak your iPhone to get it. If you’re still reading and not scared of jailbreaking your iPhone, check out PDAnet for iPhone.
- JB your iPhone (I recommend QuickPwn 1.1 from the iPhone Dev Team)
- Launch Cydia and search for “PDAnet”
- Download and install it
Simple!
Launching PDAnet turns your iPhone into a Wi-Fi router/base station/access point which you can connect to from any computer (Mac or Windows). Then just surf wirelessly from your MacBook using the 3G network on the iPhone.
Some caveats. According to Rob Parker on Ep92 of the PowerPage Podcast (iTunes link) “you can literally watch the battery icon go down” while using PDAnet. Also, keep in mind that PDAnet is a JB application that isn’t exactly embraced by Apple. Expect them to make it difficult for PDAnet and get it while you can (wink, wink).
October 1st, 2008
Riding the AAPL seasaw
On Monday Apple shares shed 17.7 percent of their value closing at US$105.26 amid all the market turbulence. Some investors took advantage of the sharp decline as a buying opportunity and loaded up on AAPL at fire sale prices.
Although buying AAPL low paid off in the short term (AAPL closed Tuesday at US$113.71, up 8.45 points), that strategy isn’t necessarily paying off today. Apple is trading at around US$108-109, off about US$5 from the Tuesday close. Still better than US$105, but not by much.
While you shouldn’t be day trading unless you know what you’re doing, it’s important to keep an eye on the portfolio in light of the major swings in the financial markets.
(Note: I don’t hold any AAPL stock as stated in my disclosures.)
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Recent Entries
- Test drive: First checkpoint-friendly computer bag
- iPhone 2.2 features trickle out
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