iPhone Life - Best Apps, Top Tips, Great Gear

In episode 201, David and Donna unpack everything from Apple’s biggest announcement in years. Aside from the usual software features for the iPhone, Mac, iPad, and Apple Watch, Apple threw its hat in the ring with its first AR/VR headset, the Vision Pro, and released three new M2 Macs. Should you buy the new headset or wait? Is AR the future? Listen in and find out!

Apple has announced its long-awaited mixed reality headset at this year's World Wide Developers Conference. The headset, which is essentially a lightweight and specialized Mac that you strap to your face, represents Apple’s entry into the world of virtual and augmented reality, which, despite much potential, has remained a niche market dominated by gamers. Apple hopes to bring that world mainstream the same way that they made personal computers mainstream with the Mac, and smartphones with the introduction of the iPhone. Whether they will succeed remains to be seen, since the device will not reach audiences until 2024, and even then comes at a steep retail price of $3,499 that puts it out of reach of most. Nevertheless, the Vision Pro represents Apple’s first new product type since the launch of the Apple Watch in 2015, and many expect it could, like the iPhone and the Mac, change the world.

Over at DPReview, answering a question (thread HERE), I've elaborated on playing back both 1080i60 and 60p videos created by the new, highly recommended and popular Panasonic FZ150 camera so that this info can also be included in my forthcoming iOS Multimedia bible. As the info can be of interest to people before the Multimedia bible is finally published (which takes at least one additional week or two), I dedicate a separate article to the question. (Note that this article applies to all other cameras producing MTS, M2TS or TS – and not MOV / MP4! - files.)

I've dedicated several articles (latest one HERE) to converting videos into MP4 (M4V / MOV) files so that they can be played back by the H.264 decoder of even older-generation iDevices. In the current one, I elaborate on how how you can play the output files with the built-in, stock Videos application. This article also belong to my Multimedia article series, in which I plan to publish a “Streaming multimedia over your local Wi-Fi” in the next few days and, then, finally, the real Multimedia bible.

I have a second-generation Apple TV set-top box, and really enjoy using AirPlay to stream movies from my iPad to my 42-inch HDTV. It's fun how simple it is. If you have an iOS device and Apple TV on the same WiFi network, you simply start playing a video and tap a button that gives you the option of playing the movie on your TV instead of your iPad. If you need to go out and want to continue watching the movie, you simply toggle back to the iPad and continue watching.

In order not to have to update it much, I've been waiting for the (new) iPad (3) and postponing the publication of both updates of my previous major PDF reader / Web browser roundups and also new, iPad-specific articles like multimedia playback. Now that the iPad 3 is here, I, at last, start publishing all these articles, starting with the long-promised video player roundup.

Before it gets published (which will take at least a day or two, as I still want to add stuff like network share support and video output to external monitors / AirPlay clients), however, I publish a quick article comparing the

So far, I've preferred using my high-end 17” Macbook Pro for watching full HD (1920*1080) videos as the screen is able to natively, without downsizing the picture, play back the content. With the new, high-resolution, Retina iPad, playing back even Full HD video has become much more desirable than even on a high-end  Macbook Pro: far better screen quality (vastly superior IPS technology vs. TN film, even if the latter is of pretty good quality), no fan noise, no need to connect it to the wall plug (playing back even the most demanding 1080p H.264 videos at max brightness only decreases battery charge by about 18% an hour and doesn't really heat up the iPad 3), mobility, no annoying overheating etc.

As you wander around Macworld, you see many variations on a theme.  Vendor after vendor with iPhone caes in every configuration possible were there. You saw several vendors selling the new gloves that work on the iPhone or iPod touch screen at several booths.  App vendors were everywhere. But I came upon one booth that was selling some new and innovative items which made them stand out from the rest. The company was XSKN.

 A company called WildCharge are releasing the first wireless charging system for both the iPhone and iPod touch. The system consists of a special charging skin for the iPhone / iPod touch that you place on a charging pad without the need for cables or fuss. The skin for the iPod touch is available today. However, the iPhone charging skin will not be available until early July.

 

Here is a what WildCharge has to say:

Let's continue my MWC report series (previous (first) part HERE) with the stuff that makes a camera & smartphone freak like me salivate: some serious (and I do mean serious!) camera tests. Note that, as there were no really-really groundbreaking iOS announcements at MWC (as opposed to the announcements and new models of almost all other major manufacturers), I'll only cover iOS later. My exclusive stuff, measurements and new tablets, smartphones  first, even if they aren't made by Apple.

If you are a Tumblr fan, and looking for an app that makes it easy to follow your favorite photo blogs (or find new ones), TumbleOn might be just what you have been looking for. In similar fashion to reader apps like Pulse, TumblOn leverages the smooth side-scrolling features of the iPad touch screen to make it easy to browse your favorite feeds. The app also provides handy quick-pick services that help you drill down on the best blog content, and even reblog it on your own tumblelog site.

(Note: in the meantime, the app received full iPad / iOS 5 support - see the latest update!) If you've been reading my articles since the Windows Mobile days, you may remember my thorough elaboration of the then-current file transfer methods over Bluetooth. (See e.g.

Not everyone wants to keep their iPad or similar tablet in a case. The iPad 2 is wonderfully thin and to put it in a case is almost sacrilegious. Apple's Smart Cover is a nice enhancement but it doesn't always help you keep a good grip on the iPad. In fact, some users have found out the hard way that the iPad 2 can fall to the ground if you grab it by the Smart Cover!

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