iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

I rarely used the Shuffle feature in iTunes or on my iOS devices because I didn't think there was a way to exclude the songs I didn't want to hear. Then I discovered the "Skip When Shuffling" tag. Here's how you exclude songs from Shuffle:

  1. Select the tracks you want to exclude in the list view.
  2. Open the Items Information dialog box (Command-I on the Mac; Control-I on the PC).
  3. Click on the "Skip when Shuffling" checkbox and hit "OK." (No more "Clair De Lune" sandwiched between "Smells Like Teen Spirit" and "Sunday, Bloody Sunday.")

Review it and change the genre associated with a specific album or song by following these steps. In this example, I'm changing the genre of the Bob Dylan album, "Christmas In the Heart" from "Holiday" to "Folk" (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4: Use the "Genre" drop-down to change genres for multiple albums.

You can change the status of an existing Contact to FaceTime or Voice Call from within the Phone app. Open Phone, go to the Favorites tab, tap on the + (plus) button, and select a name from the Contacts list. A pop-up appears that will allow you to make the listing a FaceTime or Voice Call item.Note that you can do this with any contact listing, even those that do not have a phone number or a phone with FaceTime capabilities. Be sure to check about this before you try to add them. Also, if you're trying to FaceTime with an iPod touch user, you can only do this if they have a Wi-Fi connection to the Internet.

Global Navigation Systems, (a.k.a. GNS) has created and sells a plug and play Bluetooth GPS receiver for IOS devices. It’s called the GNS 5870 MFI. (MFI stands for Made for iPhone). I’m not a stranger to testing out and using GPS systems but this is the first one I have used for my Apple product, so I am excited to work with it. Even though I have some knowledge of GPS, I am by no means an expert in this area. There are two things I look for though. One, a quick satellite lock, and two, it just needs to work.

There is no jail breaking required. I’m testing this out on my Wi-Fi only iPad. The Nav App I am using is Co-pilot.

iPhone Scanner Mount

By Tracy Sebastian






I found this innovative & clever product for the iPhone. It's a mount to use your iPhone's camera as a scanner. Why didn't I think of this?

$15 plus shipping.

From website: http://www.ponoko.com/design-your-own/products/scandock-for-iphone-2703

Dexim is known for their chargers and cases for the iPhone, but their upcoming iPad case is something special. A number of case makers have integrated Bluetooth keyboards into their design but the result is a case that is too bulky for everyday use or too constraining when typing for a long stretch. The Dexim case, which will be shipping soon, does indeed combine a case with a Bluetooth keyboard but the keyboard is held in place by strong magnets. You can simply remove it to have a more streamlined case or use the keyboard in a more comfortable position. The Dexim iPad case looks to be the best of both worlds.

Trimming tracks in iTunes

By Bryan Schmiedeler

Sometimes a music file contains material at the beginning or the end that you don't want to hear, like crowd noises, an extended drum solo, or my pet peeve—10 minutes of silence. Fortunately, you can tell iTunes when to start and stop playing a song. Follow these steps:

The "Options" tab in "Get Info" lets you trim songs.

As an avid fan of the quality programming found on the Food Network, I was ecstatic to find that the TV giant had released an app for the iPhone and iPad that would allow me to access their vast library of recipes while working away in my own kitchen. The app is excellent in almost every way one could hope for, but it does have a few quirks that keep it from being as great as it could be. 

 

Wondering what to get that special someone?  You know, the guy who has everything?  Well, you can be pretty sure he doesn't have a JackBack because they just became available for pre-order!  JackBacks are custom wood replacement backs for your iPhone 4, available in cherry, maple, walnut or mahogany.  You can have your JackBack laser etched with a custom design for only $10 more than the $89 base price for a truly unique gift.

Today's batch of press releases brings yet another app for my in-progress article on creative uses of the iPhone camera. Money Scan x2 ($0.99) is an app that helps you detect counterfeit money. What will they think of next? The description says that it works with all currencies. It appears to simply magnify and illuminate the currency, rather than itself detecting counterfeit bills.

If you're shopping and wonder whether the item you're considering could be more cheaply purchased via Amazon, a new app helps you do just that. Price Check by Amazon (free) lets you search for the product you have in mind in four different ways: you can say the name of the product, use the iPhone's camera to read the bar code, take a photo of the item, or enter the name of the product. The app uses the same voice recognition technology that powers the popular Dragon NaturallySpeaking. (iPhone 4 and 3GS only)

On November 26th you’ll be treated to a new distance running game in the form of Dino Rush, and I have to say that the game does a decent job of setting itself apart from similar games.  You play a little dinosaur that has a series of missions to complete, but it just so happens that you’re always hungry.  To keep your strength up you must consume all the fruit you can find, as well as avoid all the other nasty dinosaurs and things like quicksand and lava.  You’ll receive various power ups like a spiked helmet, fruit magnet and super-dinosaur suit that will help you in your quest (and are often imperative to your survival).

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