News: iLounge Weekly arriving Monday, giveaway update
The latest edition of iLounge Weekly, our weekly newsletter covering all things iLounge, will be arriving in subscribers’ inboxes Monday morning. iLounge Weekly is a summary of the week’s best news, reviews, and feature articles we’ve published, and it also features giveaways and accessory discount offers from various companies. There’s still plenty of time to sign up and receive this week’s edition — just use the simple form…
Posted on 18 May 2012 | 11:30 pm
News: DataMan update adds per-app data usage tracking
XVision has released an update to DataMan, its real-time data usage tracking app for iOS devices. DataMan allows iPhone users to keep track of their Wi-Fi and cellular data usage. Users can view usage by date and time and location and even plot usage on a chart or a map and set alerts to be notified when data usage exceeds certain daily, weekly or monthly thresholds. Version 5.2 adds a new “App Watch” feature that allows users to track…
Posted on 18 May 2012 | 10:35 pm
Review: Hex Code Folio for iPad 2 + iPad (3rd-Gen)
The first thing we noticed about Code Folio is its atypical thickness. It’s not due to the flat cowhide cover, but rather the bulky soft-touch-coated plastic frame unlike any we’ve come across in the past. Measuring it at half an inch around the edges, the hold is secure, but we’re just not sure why Hex didn’t shave a few millimeters off of the bottom to slim it down. Overall it’s not an empirically bad thing, and it…
Posted on 18 May 2012 | 9:50 pm
News: National Geographic releases Look & Learn Animals
National Geographic has released a new educational iOS app, Look & Learn: Animals. Based on the popular early National Geographic learning books series, the app teaches preschoolers about animals and the alphabet through a collection of beautiful animal photography and sounds with three age-appropriate learning games. Children can play animal matching games and practice shape recognition, bounce animals around and try to imitate their sounds,…
Posted on 18 May 2012 | 9:25 pm
News: Art Authority updated with Retina Display graphics
Open Door Networks has released an update to Art Authority for iPad, its virtual art museum and library for the iPad, adding support for the third-generation iPad Retina Display. Art Authority provides users with access to a collection of more than 50,000 works from over 1,000 of the western world’s greatest artists, organized into virtual rooms by period. Users can browse works of art by period, choose a specific artist to view an exhibition…
Posted on 18 May 2012 | 9:05 pm
News: iSkin rolls out Fuze, Fuze SE for iPhone 4, 4S
iSkin has rolled out its new Fuze and Fuze SE cases for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S. Both the Fuze and Fuze SE are hybrid-style cases, featuring a soft inner core and a hard exterior, as well as push-through protection for the sleep/wake and volume buttons, a removable 30-pin port cover, and open access to all other ports, controls, and cameras. The Fuze offers a tro-tone color scheme of a matte black rear panel, a blue, pink, or grey front, and…
Posted on 18 May 2012 | 9:01 pm
News: Foodspotting adds new Place and Profile pages
Foodspotting has updated its iOS app with a new user interface based on extending the company’s general redesign from February. Foodspotting 3.5 introduces a new Place Page layout that provides personalized recommendations for a given venue along with reviews and details from Yelp, menus from Single Platform and the ability to make reservations via OpenTable. A new Profile Page allows users to see what dishes they have become an expert in, customize…
Posted on 18 May 2012 | 8:57 pm
Ask iLounge: Creating an iTunes Match library from an external hard drive
Q: I’m not sure where to begin here. I have not used iTunes or any Apple products before. I have my entire music collection stored on an external hard drive - about 80GB. Files are in one main folder, then sub-folders for each CD by artist name. I just downloaded and installed iTunes and subscribed to the iTunes Match feature, figuring there isn’t enough room for all of the music on my laptop’s hard drive. I thought that may be a…
Posted on 18 May 2012 | 8:33 pm
Review: Moshi Origo for iPad 2/iPad (3rd-Gen)
The silicone case is 100% FDA-grade hypoallergenic and contains no harmful chemicals such as Phthalates or BPA, which can be an important consideration, especially for those with young children. Inside, it’s lined with a honeycomb pattern designed to offer shock protection; there’s an obvious comparison to be made here to Incipio’s Hive. The outside is a different story though: the rubber is smooth rather than textured, and a wide…
Posted on 18 May 2012 | 7:41 pm
First Looks: Bowers & Wilkins P3 Headphones
British audio house Bowers & Wilkins has made some of the sexiest iPod, iPhone, and iPad accessories we've seen over the past several years -- generally at premium prices -- so its just-announced P3 Headphones ($200) will be a welcome sight for sore pocketbooks. With the same styling and general feature set as its gorgeous and incredibly comfortable P5 Headphones, P3 is smaller, less expensive, and stripped of the soft leather touches found in the…
Posted on 18 May 2012 | 7:28 pm
Review: Moshi Concerti for iPad 2/iPad (3rd-Gen)
From the outside, Concerti looks like a lot of other folios, with no real signs that it has a flipped orientation. The exterior of the black model is covered with a linen-textured plastic; purple and grey versions with microfiber exteriors are also available. There’s an elastic band to hold the case shut, and a metal Moshi logo badge along the open edge. Otherwise it’s quite plain from the outside, and there’s not even a camera opening.…
Posted on 18 May 2012 | 5:07 pm
News: IK Multimedia ships iRig Mix
IK Multimedia has announced that it is now shipping its iRig Mix DJ and audio mixer for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Recipient of an iLounge Best of Show award at the 2012 CES, the iRig Mix features full EQ adjustment, a crossfader, a headphone cue and a mic input, dual stereo inputs, standard RCA outputs, and a microUSB-based charger. It works in conjunction with the DJ Rig app to allow the iRig Mix to mix two audio sources from a single iOS…
Posted on 18 May 2012 | 4:45 pm
News: Jobs played ‘key role’ in developing next iPhone
Late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was deeply involved in the development of the next-generation iPhone, according to a new report. Citing multiple people with knowledge of Apple’s plans, Bloomberg reports that Apple will “overhaul” the look of the iPhone with the next-generation model. It also claims that Jobs worked closely on the phone, which is said to sport a larger screen than past models. Earlier this month, iLounge reported…
Posted on 18 May 2012 | 3:57 pm
Tip of the Day: Showing links to library in iTunes Ping listings
Ever notice how the Ping button in iTunes always tries to send you back into the iTunes Store? Ever wish it would show options to explore your own Library instead? If you’re on a Mac and can work the command line, you can make it do just that. Make sure you’ve quit iTunes, then launch Terminal, and type or paste in the following instruction: defaults write com.apple.iTunes invertStoreLinks -bool YES When you open iTunes back up, you’ll…
Posted on 17 May 2012 | 10:53 pm
News: gMusic adds ability to edit track info
IIS has released a minor update to gMusic adding the ability to update Google Music track information from directly within the app. gMusic is an unofficial app for Google Music allowing iOS users to access their Google cloud-based music libraries for both live and offline listening, also adding other features unavailable in Google’s own HTML5 web app, such as “Now Playing” lock screen integration. With gMusic 2.4 users can now edit…
Posted on 17 May 2012 | 10:34 pm
News: iTalk Recorder Premium adds SoundCloud support
Griffin Technology has updated iTalk Recorder Premium adding support for uploading records directly to SoundCloud for sharing. iTalk Recorder Premium is a full-featured voice recording app for the iPhone and iPod touch that allows users to quickly and easily record audio, including the ability to append to existing audio recordings and choose from three different quality levels. The application supports background recording allowing users to access…
Posted on 17 May 2012 | 10:30 pm
News: Ravensburger launches Scotland Yard for iOS
Ravensburger Digital has launched Scotland Yard, bringing the popular board game to the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. In Scotland Yard, players take on the role of one of five Scotland Yard detectives or the elusive Mister X. Detective players must work together to travel throughout London using a limited number of taxi, bus and underground tickets in an attempt to locate and capture Mister X, who must in turn attempt to evade capture by the detectives,…
Posted on 17 May 2012 | 10:21 pm
News: Apple’s NC data center to switch to renewable energy
Apple has announced that it plans to power its Maiden, NC data center using nothing but renewable energy. Reuters reports that Apple is building two solar array installations nearby, which will produce roughly 84 million kWh of energy annually, with a separate bio-gas fuel-cell plant to supply the rest of their energy needs. “I’m not aware of any other company producing energy onsite at this scale,” said Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer.…
Posted on 17 May 2012 | 10:01 pm
Review: Booq Folio for iPad 2/iPad (3rd-Gen)
The first Folio was a simple faux leather case that offered no stand functionality and really, not much else besides overall good looks. This new version is made of 100% natural fiber, with a grippy, rubbery material lining the inside. The texture of the outer material is rough—somewhat like canvas or hard denim—but not unpleasant, at least for some fingers. We found the bezel coverage to be kind of strange: rather than using consistently…
Posted on 17 May 2012 | 9:50 pm
Review: Camalen Vision for iPad (3rd-Gen)
Vision offers something of a spin on the normal folio-style case. Advertised specifically for the third-generation iPad, it looks a lot like many of the leather cases we’ve covered, and is lined with a soft material on the inside that looks and feels like suede, just as the outside appears to be genuine leather—Camalen only makes indirect references to the materials, describing the outside as coming in “rustic,” “floater,”…
Posted on 17 May 2012 | 9:41 pm