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Peel doesn't need any extra hardware to make your iPhone a Dish and DirecTV remote
The ability to turn iPhones into remote controls is something Peel has done before, but this time out it's doing things slightly different. With its new iOS app, Peel now lets you use your iPhone, iPod touch and/or iPad as a smart remote for Dish Network and DirecTV boxes, without the need for additional hardware -- which was the case with the Fruit, a $99 peripheral the startup introduced about three years ago. Peel's iOS application isn't just a remote, however; it also comes with discovery features that bring you personalized recommendations on stuff you should watch. In addition to that, Peel acts as a TV guide too, allowing you to easily find shows or movies even if you're not a Dish or DirecTV subscriber. Peel Smart Remote and TV Guide is compatible with the Dish Hopper and Hopper with Sling (excluding some models), as well as any WiFi-equipped DirecTV box.
HTC One hands-on: design and hardware
The HTC One made quite an entrance in London and New York today with a slick-looking design and re-imagined Android user experience. It's a significant departure from last year's One X -- our favorite handset of 2012 -- and represents the company's most important product to date. The HTC One is positioned to become a true global flagship, a phone that's available unmolested on all carriers worldwide, a device that really competes with the Galaxies and iPhones of the world. We spent some time with the HTC One to understand the direction the company is taking with this handset. Join us after the break for our hands-on video and detailed hardware impressions, then go read our software and camera posts as well. %Gallery-179196%
FreedomPop's $99 WiMax iPod touch case promises an iPhone without the bills (video)
FreedomPop's free-"4G"-for-all plans are clearer now that it's started taking pre-orders on its $99 iPod touch sleeve. The free data allocation has been halved to 500MB, with each additional gigabyte costing $10, with the company offering bulk discounts to heavy users. Marketing VP Tony Miller also told TechCrunch that the iPod sleeve wasn't a high priority until public clamor forced a shift in its plans, but said that an Android-compliant version of its gear was "on the roadmap." There's video after the jump.
Peel AllPlay TV unites media sources for Android fans, puts them in harmony with Google TV
It's been a awhile since we caught up with Peel, but the company has certainly been putting its time to good use with a big update to its Android app at Google I/O. A new AllPlay TV component acts primarily as a companion for Google TV, pooling together listings of the disparate sources of conventional and streaming TV without having to break out the awkward remote until absolutely necessary. Live TV, DVR recordings and Netflix all sit side by side; if the season premiere of a show is coming up and last season's finale remains tragically unwatched, Peel will be the cue to record the new airing and hit Netflix for the catch-up. Peel warns that AllPlay TV won't be part and parcel of the app until July -- as compensation, it's promising that the release will bring Android 2.3 users into the fold, and a parallel version is coming to iPhone and iPod touch owners in the next few months.
Peel to test real-time polling of TV shows
Remember Peel? The pear-shaped IR blaster and accompanying remote control app was given the TUAW review treatment last July by our very own Victor Agreda, Jr. The company has announced that starting this week, they'll be testing a real-time polling feature in the app. Not surprisingly, the polling feature will be tested on this week's episode of American Idol. The way the polling will work is that you'll have the opportunity to "cheer" or "boo" performances by clicking buttons on your iPhone. Don't like what Steven Tyler or J-Lo have to say about a performer? No problem -- you'll be able to boo them as well (or cheer for them if you're so inclined). The company wants to expand polling to other shows as well -- think of sports or political events. Peel is also putting iTunes "buy" buttons next to the photos of your favorite would-be stars, although they're not getting a cut of sales made through the app. If you are one of the few who have purchased a Peel and happen to be an "Idol" fan, be sure to try the new feature out this week. [Photo credit: Peel]
Which universal remote for iOS should you choose?
This week I ran in-depth reviews of three iOS-based universal remote systems. Each uses a separate remote unit, as opposed to dongle-based IR blasters like the Ri remote and others. We'll take a look at those other IR remotes another time. The question is, of the Peel, UnityRemote and Beacon, which one should you choose? As usual, it depends upon your needs. The basic universal remote If all you need is a working universal remote, your best bet is the UnityRemote from Gear4. While it lacks the bells and whistles of Peel's guide and Beacon's customization, I found it "just works" and is better at controlling your devices than the others. UnityRemote tries to make sure it gathers discrete on/off codes, for example, walking you through a testing sequence upon setup. The relative simplicity of the UnityRemote is a good thing for the average user, I believe, and its small footprint and advanced settings menu will appeal to home theater enthusiasts as well. Plus, the advantage of a native iPad app can't be understated -- the iPad is a natural living room companion, probably more than your iPhone would be, and UnityRemote really shines on the larger screen real estate. The TV junkie If you watch a lot of TV but not necessarily the same thing every day, preferring to "zone out" on some TV whenever you get the chance, take a look at Peel. You will have to put up with a more complicated setup than the others, but you won't have to activate the remote every few hours, and the way Peel handles show discovery is unparalleled thus far. That said, you can always use the Peel app by itself. The hardware won't work well in large homes or if your router is far from your TV, and I found that as a universal it was lacking several controls one might need. If you want to tune to a specific channel or program a recording, for example, it falls down completely. But it does allow you to set reminders for shows, and that's a plus -- but the remote hardware isn't needed for reminders. Still, if you aren't bothered by the cost of a somewhat limited remote hardware solutions, Peel is worth a look. The home theater power user If you want the ultimate combination of guide, customization and affordable hardware, Griffin's Beacon is a good choice. While there's work yet to do on the Beacon, the combination of Netflix support, Roku control, and universal remote can't be beat. Plus, the Dijit app allows more customization than any other remote on the market (including those dongle-based remotes), making it a pleasure for those of you with complicated setups. Actions and gestures are icing on the power user cake, so there's very little you will find Beacon can't do. Beacon does use more batteries than the others, and lacks some of the advanced tuning features found in UnityRemote, but Beacon hopes to avoid that by providing updates to the app and hardware so that everything "just works." For now, the product is early in its lifecycle and I expect it will only get better. Plus, as the lowest cost solution of all the remote with the most flexibility, I'd say it is overall the best bargain of the bunch. That's a good thing if you've already maxed out your credit cards buying all that AV gear for your home theater! Conclusion There's no such things as "one size fits all" when it comes to technology. Each remote had quirks and flaws that could be deal killers for you personally. I recommend downloading all the associated apps first and trying them out before you buy the hardware. Since the interface you'll be using will be on your iOS device, you'll want to spend some quality time ensuring buttons are comfortable to you, and all the additional features are things you'll use. When you do buy a remote, look for a retailer with a generous return policy as these are all first generation products prone to issues anyway. If you don't like it, you'll want to return it. If you have suggestions for other universal remote solutions, leave us those in the comments.
Peel: first look at one of four iOS remotes for your TV
With so many new iOS-centric AV remotes coming out, we're tackling them for review one by one. Each has a different approach to delivering on the "true universal remote" promise, and each has its own advantages and drawbacks. The Peel is a two-part solution for your living room entertainment: there's a free app, and a hardware IR blaster. You can use the Peel app by itself, but the hardware (which costs $99 and can be found in Apple Stores) adds the ability to control your AV equipment from within the app. My expectation for the Peel remote was for it to become my universal remote, complete with nifty app that easily allows me to find something good on TV. Unfortunately, the Peel isn't great hardware. You'll need other gear, and still keep your original remotes handy. But as a TV show discovery app, and as a way to mine the data of what is on at a certain moment by genre or personal preferences, it excels. Read on for a full report on how Peel works, and what you can or can't expect from this young company. %Gallery-128217% Hardware At first, I was taken aback by the product setup. While the packaging is clever, the Peel isn't just something you plop down on your coffee table. There are 3 components to a Peel setup: the Wire, the Fruit and your iOS device running the app. The Wire (cable) This is about the size of a small, round pencil case and has a LED which glows green (if ready) or blue (if simply powered up). You have to plug the wire into your house power and into a spare Ethernet port on your home router. Peel doesn't use Bluetooth; it uses ZigBee, a Wi-Fi protocol designed for short range communications. Sure, Bluetooth is similar, but there's a problem with Bluetooth devices (which I'll discuss later this week in detail); they power down after a while to save battery. With the Wire plugged in and using ZigBee, the remote is very responsive provided you're less than 30 feet from it. The effective range of the Wire, and thus your entire Peel setup, is important. If you keep your router far away from your TV, you will encounter issues. In my case, once my iPhone moved more than 33 feet away, it had trouble picking up the Wire. The Wire sends a signal to the Fruit, and the Fruit is the IR blaster which actually tells your components to do things. The Fruit This is the pear-shaped infrared blaster unit which sends remote signals to your components. It is powered by a C battery and was at 1.6 volts after a month of testing. It's built quite well, and the beige top comes off to reveal a clip on cover for the battery. Peel says they'll produce different tops for the unit to match your style. The Fruit should ideally be close to the Wire as well, and mine was 26 feet away. The Fruit must be within line of sight of your components, as it will need to send IR signals to each device. In my case that meant perching the Fruit on an edge of an old side table to point at my TV, etc. while remaining as close as possible to my somewhat distant Wire in the den. The app will tell you that the Fruit and the Wire should be no more than 25 feet from each other, and that's a problem for me. If you live in a small apartment or you happen to keep your wireless router close to your television, you may not ever have an issue with your Peel. In my case, I live in a long house with only one floor. My Airport base station is located centrally in my den, and my TV setup is in the adjacent living room. As stated, the Fruit was 26 feet from the wire but I found I sometimes had to pick up the Fruit and move it within just a few feet of the Wire to re-associate the two. This is bad. It was true of two Peel units as well, despite Peel's insistence that I could theoretically be further away (it just wasn't recommended, a rep told me). In fact, today I tried once again to use the Peel remote and it failed completely. I was eventually able to get the Fruit and the Wire talking (as best I can tell as there are no indicator lights on the Fruit), but the Fruit was unable to even power on my TV -- either it wasn't receiving signals or it wasn't sending IR blasts. There's very little real troubleshooting you can do, sadly, and with 3 components to worry about, the simple act of turning on the TV can become a half-hour troubleshooting not-so-fun affair. Peel app Here is where the Peel approach really shines. I thought my Peel would be a universal remote, capable of controlling all my devices to the last button. Having seen Griffin's Beacon at CES, my expectations were high. However, Peel's purpose is not to provide a button-happy remote unit. Instead, Peel wants to help you find TV shows that you want to watch and do it with minimal effort. Show "tiles" by genre and the detail screen TV Discovery Typically, if you want to watch "something" that's on live, you have to pore through a giant grid (depending on how many channels you subscribe to), be it a printed TV listing or an onscreen program guide. Peel does something very different, instead choosing to sort shows by genre and presenting you with what's on at that moment by category. For example, I customized the Peel app to show me what comedies were on when I checked TV shows. You can customize what you see in each of the major categories, and I re-ordered the default to show Comedy, Animation and Sci-Fi first, followed by all the rest (and there's just about everything). The major categories, represented by buttons on a bar at the bottom of the screen of the app, are Top Picks (basically what's on at that moment, but typically less than a dozen based on your preferences), TV Shows, Movies, Sports and a handy search function. When tapping on a show's icon from the grid view, you go into a bit more detail before you tune to that show. A single screen highlights the show, a description, what channel it is on, and there's a button to turn to that channel immediately. In addition to these basic functions are buttons to "cut" a program (sort of like a thumbs-down on Pandora), favorite a show, set a reminder (which you can tie to a specific calendar) and a button to Tweet or post to Facebook. I found the Peel method for finding "something to watch" very effective. Since you tend to want to shut off your brain when plopping down on the couch to watch TV, having to think less about what you'd like to watch is incredibly handy. I cannot stress enough how great it is to not have to poke around a giant grid of tiny text to find something on. While I found a few bugs in previous versions of the app, a recent update has cleared up most of the issues, which were largely pages loading with no data. The remote control and search screens Integration with Hardware If everything works, the Peel app works adequately well. Peel seems to think you will be staring, mouth agape, at your TV so they emphasize how all you have to do is swipe up or down to change the volume. You see, they are quite proud of the fact that they presume you will not want to look at your remote while engrossed in the latest "Sixteen and Pregnant" marathon. Of course, never mind you have to turn on your iOS device, unlock it, and you'll inevitably have a bright light in your hand as you swipe, thus somewhat taking you out of the experience... But no matter, it does an OK job of making large fingers worry less about hitting a target on a small screen. As I said before, this is not going to be your universal remote. If you want to pull up the guide on your DVR, or change a recording or access menus or do anything more than the most basic functions on your components you will be sorely disappointed. Actually, you'll just have to keep your other remotes handy. Peel is all about you mindlessly gazing at the TV for hours on end, not much else. As a remote, the Peel isn't that great anyway. It's cool if you want to tune to a show, but I found an odd lag when adjusting volume, perhaps the primary use of the app once you're in a show. Turning volume up or down yielded frequent pauses, making it less than smooth. You can swipe left or right to rewind or fast-forward (on your DVR or DVD/Blu-ray), or tap to pause/play. I like this idea, but again, the notion that you won't look down at your iPhone while controlling components is a bit silly. Of course you will. Bright light, dark room. Anyway, you can jump back to a previous channel, remove a channel from your lineup and mute. There's a record button, but my DVR (from longtime manufacturer Scientific Atlanta) requires a few more clicks to activate a recording, which means you will need to tap another button to access the 4-way controller screen. The playback screen gives you a Menu button, an OK button and the typical 4-way controller found on most DVR remotes. There's a handy Exit button and DVR button as well. Settings and Customization You can set up different Peels for different rooms (you won't have to use any additional cables for the router, luckily, but they will all be restricted by the 25-foot range), check the Peel Fruit battery level (the graphics never worked and the voltage reading never changed, so I don't think that really works), and customize your preferences. One cool thing about adding additional locations is that you can set up the Peel for a bar, providing quick help for bartenders to locate the game you'd like to watch (this tip from the Peel blog). For your preferences, you can re-arrange the preset order for each category, and that is extremely handy. If you largely watch comedy, you'll put Comedy at the top of the list for TV Shows. There's a "basic info" you can input for your age and gender, but you can opt out. The only advantage here is supposedly yielding better show recommendations, especially if you behave as the average matching age-and-gender person would. There are the requisite Facebook and Twitter logins as well, meaning you can spam all your buddies while you watch that Golden Girls marathon on Lifetime. Here you'll also find the settings for your reminders -- which calendar they should go to and how long before you are alerted. Lastly, there's a button to completely reset the Peel app, erasing all customization and settings. Setup When you first setup the app it'll ask you if you want to use the Peel as a remote or just a TV discovery app. If you simply use it without the hardware, it'll walk you through re-ordering the genres for TV and sports, then ask your age and gender. If you use the hardware, the app will first instruct you to plug in the Wire. Then, you'll need to type in a code found next to the battery compartment on the Fruit. Finally, you'll get a screen telling you the Fruit and the Wire should be less than 25 feet away from each other, and the Fruit and your components should be less than 15 feet away. With that out of the way you'll start the slow, arduous process of setting up the IR functions for the Fruit. That means going through a list of manufacturers for each component and testing which codes work. After this you'll go through the software setup as described earlier. Then, you'll be prompted about channel control. Peel asks if you use a cable box with or without a DVR or just the TV. In my case, I have DVR. Then it wants to know if you control volume via TV or a stereo. In my case, I use the TV. Peel gets a little wacky for TV input, however. Instead of just giving you a darn Input button (and inching ever closer to being a universal remote), there's a clunky setup procedure that sends input codes to your TV, iterating through them until you are on TV. Unfortunately this has no real practical purpose, as the remote has no way of knowing what input you might happen to be on when you decide to watch TV. So without a proper Input button on the remote app itself, this step is largely extraneous and annoying. Setup is relatively painless, provided you have everything close to each other and the iPhone can find the Fruit. Mine just quit working, possibly because the battery was 1.6 volts (although it was working fine the week before). Unfortunately, there's very little help in the hardware when troubleshooting, and the unit I purchased (not the demo, the one I got in an Apple Store) also exhibited the same behavior! Now I'm basically stuck with a $99 paperweight. Except it won't weigh down paper without the C battery. Conclusion I bought a Peel in an Apple Store thinking it was a universal remote. When I found out it would only change channels and adjust volume (in the earlier version of the app there wasn't even a record button), I was pretty upset paying $99 for something that couldn't do anything more than what a $10 remote from Big Lots could do. However, I found that the way Peel presents TV discovery is really quite excellent. If you just want to watch something funny, or if you're scrambling to see what kid shows are on, there are few apps like Peel. So the software is great. The hardware? Not so much. I'm left to try and eBay my Peel and happily return the demo unit. Considering the distance between my router, the Fruit and where I'm sitting could add up to over 35 feet, there's little reason for me to use the thing. Plus, after encountering difficulty re-associating the remote after a week not using the device, I'm not sure I can recommend this to even the smallest apartment dweller. I guess if you have a daily habit of plopping in front of the TV but never have a specific show in mind, and you live in a tiny space, the Peel would be great for you. Otherwise? Well, there are other universal remotes on the market -- and we'll be looking at them shortly. Keep the Peel app around for finding stuff, but ignore paying for the hardware. The rest of this week we'll look at more hardware: the UnityRemote (seen at CES), the Beacon (also seen at CES) and the dark horse contender, the Ri universal remote. Stay tuned! Update: We're going to save the Ri universal for another round which will include remotes that plug in to your iOS device in some way.
Virgin Mobile announces new Broadband2Go plan, doles out 500MB for $20
Having an exclusive plan all to yourself deserves bragging rights -- just ask Virgin Mobile's ZTE Peel. When introduced last month, the Peel came with a brand-new monthly option that offered 500MB of data for $20, earning the envy of its broadband brethren. Starting today, Virgin Mobile is changing course to offer this plan on the network's other Broadband2Go devices, the Ovation MC 760 USB and MiFi 2200. What's a bit puzzling here is that this new plan will be simultaneously offered next to Walmart's deal -- which doubles the capacity to 1GB for the same monthly fee. Confused? Us too. Anyway, if you're still interested, look for the new plan to go live at 10 AM ET.
Peel iOS remote raises $16 million in funding
We've posted about the Peel universal IR remote before. It's an interesting setup using a third-party unit that looks almost like a pear, designed to fit right into your living room wirelessly. It connects to an iOS app and turns your iDevice into a universal remote for any other units you might happen to have. In addition to the slick design, there's a nice bit of TV browsing functionality included. It's a remote designed not only to help you control your TV, but also give you an idea of what you actually want to do with it. It's that kind of overall thinking that got the unit into Apple Stores, and now the hard work has paid off. Peel has picked up a round of funding to the tune of over US$16 million. There have been a few other ways to connect the iPhone up to IR remotes (the Redeye has been another popular solution), but this is the biggest vote of confidence we've seen in such a device yet. Peel certainly isn't quite a mainstream device, but this funding is definitely a leg up. There's been a trend toward using smartphones to interact with and control other devices, and Peel looks to be in exactly the right place to take advantage. If nothing else, hopefully this will help Peel get some units out the door; Amazon currently lists the product as shipping "within 1 to 2 months." $16 million should help out with that.
ZTE Peel 3200 joins Virgin Mobile's broadband bargain bin
If you own an iPod Touch, you know that finding a wifi hotspot in the outside world is more precious than gold. How much would it be worth to have such a treasure with you all of the time? Virgin Mobile thinks it's worth $100, the cost of the quietly-launched ZTE Peel 3200. If the name sounds familiar, that's because Sprint has been offering the 3G mobile-hotspot-in-a-case since November. The only difference between the two -- aside from the logos -- is the number that follows the dollar sign. Compared to Sprint's $80 offering, Virgin's model tragically demands a larger share of your wallet than its twin brother, and only offers one prepaid plan of 500 MB per month for $20. That's not too shabby if you're a casual user looking for a bargain, but it certainly isn't ideal for those of us data guzzlers who voraciously download every Engadget podcast. And we almost forgot the important part: the Peel will only fit on second and third-gen iPod Touch models, so take a quick glance at your device to make sure it's compatible before you click that "buy now" button. [Thanks, Eli]
Galaxy Prevail leaked along with other Boost and Virgin Mobile updates
A few hours ago -- mere days before a joint Samsung and Boost Mobile event scheduled April 5th in New York City -- we received a 19-page document from Sprint's Prepaid Group outlining the updates and devices coming to Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile this month. The piece de resistance in this document is the Galaxy Prevail, a Samsung phone that's been rumored for a couple weeks now. Details are scarce, but spec-wise it looks like a low-end Android smartphone with a 3.2-inch touchscreen and a 2 megapixel camera. As such, it's similar to the Galaxy Gio, but with a CDMA radio and a downgraded shooter. The Galaxy Prevail will be Boost Mobile's first CDMA Android smartphone and will be priced at $180. Boost Mobile will also begin volume sales of the Samsung Factor, a simple clamshell phone costing $50, and will offer new international flat-rate packages starting April 11th. The document also highlights a couple of devices for Virgin Mobile that are already available from parent company Sprint: the Samsung Restore, a QWERTY slider that will sell for $80, and the ZTE Peel 3200, an iPod touch case with built-in 3G hotspot that will retail for $100. We don't have any details on availability other than "April", but you can take a look at the leaked document in our gallery below. %Gallery-120277% [Thanks, anonymous tipster]
Peel works as universal remote and TV service on your iPhone
I sure thought we'd covered Peel here before, but I guess not (maybe I was thinking of that iPod touch add-on -- the "Apple" name certainly invites lots of fruit imagery). Either way, it's worth mentioning that the interesting Peel TV solution for the iPhone is now available for purchase. For US$99, you get the Peel "fruit" unit that sits wirelessly by your television and transmits to it with infrared. And then you can also download the free app that works as a universal remote and watches what you watch, providing recommendations based on what you pull up and allowing you to connect to friends sxsw tuawin order to share channels and information. The whole thing seems pretty intriguing -- RedEye has done pretty well with using the iPhone as an IR remote, and adding an extra social layer and recommendations to that seems like an excellent idea (assuming the interface is usable). RedEye's mini solution is a little cheaper, at $49, but that's really only the remote function, not any of the extras you'd get with Peel. We'll have to see how this works -- certainly it seems like lots of accessory makers are starting to tap into smartphones, both at home and in places like your car. Something like Peel, done intuitively and right, could provide just enough functionality over your standard TV remotes to finally clean the gadgets off that coffee table for good. Peel is sponsoring a TechCrunch/CrunchGear/TUAW meetup at SXSW next Monday, so we'll have a chance to try it hands-on. If you're in Austin you can learn more about the meetup here.
Peel universal remote adapter for iOS now available, $99 buys you expensive Fruit
You know your product name is clever when not one but two companies go for it. Such is the name "Peel." This offering we're talking about is not the sort that turns an iPod into an iPhone, rather it's the kind that turns an iPhone into a universal remote -- though it'll work with all the other iOS devices too. It's a combination app and hardware that we've been tracking since last year, and now it's up for order. The iOS app talks to a goofy shaped IR blaster, called the Fruit, which costs $99. The combination turns your mobile device into a Harmony-hunting universal remote, but a smarter one that not only knows how to turn on your TV but also how to tune it to the latest episode of Glee, apparently, since every promo shot seems to feature some bit of gleekery. The app is free now and the Fruit is up for purchase -- though it's currently showing as back ordered. Let's hope it doesn't spoil.
Second-gen Apple Peel 520 caught on video doing GPRS, looking like an iPhone 4
Last year's Apple Peel 520 turned your iPod touch into an iPhone -- mostly, accepting a SIM card and allowing you to send and receive calls, texts, and even throwing a little extra battery life your way. Now we're looking at the next generation device and, which certainly looks a lot more sleek and less bulky than the previous model -- from a distance it could be confused for an iPhone 4. This version also allows the use of GPRS data, as you can see demonstrated in the video below. No mention of price or availability just yet, but review units are said to en route to other news sites, so hold that phone -- or iPod as it were. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Peel turns your iPhone into a universal remote -- using a wireless external IR blaster
The idea of using an iPhone or iPod touch as a universal remote has been tossed around for years, but it's always required either a finicky external dongle or an extravagantly expensive home automation rig. Instead, we've been treated to a host of single-device remote apps for everything from FiOS, DirecTV, Comcast, and Dish Network DVRs to the Apple TV to the Boxee Box to... well, you name it. A little company called Peel has a dramatically different idea, though -- it's launching the Peel Universal Control system, which is designed to take your iPhone or iPod touch head-to-head with universal remote heavyweights like Logitech's Harmony system. The company is made up of a bunch of former Apple engineers, and their solution is extremely novel: instead of attaching a dongle to the iPhone itself, they're controlling your A/V rack using a pear-sized (and Yves Behar-designed) wireless IR blaster that's supposed to live quietly on your coffee table. The blaster (called the Peel Fruit) connects over ZigBee to a tiny network adapter (the Peel Cable, also designed by Behar) that attaches directly to an open Ethernet port on your WiFi router -- a two-part hardware setup that seems fussy, but is designed to obviate the need for software configuration during installation, and allows the IR blaster to run for nine months on a single C battery. %Gallery-109522% %Gallery-109524%
Sprint ZTE Peel officially announced, adds a little 3G to your iPod touch
As expected, Sprint's just announced the ZTE Peel for the iPod touch will arrive on November 14th. The $79 slider case for Apple's media player features a built-in mobile WiFi hotspot, essentially turning your iPod into a bulky iPhone without a native phone or SMS app. Of course, you'll still be stuck paying Sprint for a $29/mo data plan, but you'll be able to connect up to two devices to the Peel's WiFi as well, so that's a plus. Another big plus: since the iPod thinks it's on WiFi, you'll be able to use FaceTime on the road -- something we've tried using a MiFi with pretty decent results. Of course, you'll be saddled with a big fat case around your oh-so-slim iPod, and we can't imagine why the Peel is limited to WEP when it comes to security, but we'll definitely applaud Sprint for attitude when it comes to iOS devices on its network-- now just kick out a 4G Peel and we'll be all set. PR after the break.
Sprint to launch Peel case for iPod touch on Sunday
The rumors have come to fruition: Sprint will launch the ZTE Peel case for the iPod touch on November 14th. According to documents acquired by the Boy Genius Report, the device will cost US$79.99 and require a $30 month-to-month plan. Customers will get a 1GB data allowance per month, with overage charges of $0.05 per megabyte. The ZTE Peel is an iPod touch case that's also a mobile hotspot. When it place, it provides 3G access to the iPod touch (2nd and 3rd generation) plus one other device. Why not the 4th generation touch? Well, the camera is in the wrong spot, for starters. Unlike the similar Apple Peel 520, Sprint's ZTE Peel won't allow you to send or receive text messages or phone calls. Still, it should answer what GigaOM calls "If Only Moments" that iPod touch users are familiar with. Now the App Store and iTunes Store are always available, and Internet-dependent apps are almost always an option. If you pick one up, let us know how it goes. It's certainly an interesting piece of hardware.
Sprint's ZTE Peel embracing your iPod touch sans contract on November 14th?
Still clinging on to your iPod touch in the hope that Sprint will one day launch an iPhone? Well, it's rather early to make a call, but news has it that we may get the next best thing very soon. According to our buddies over at BGR, the ZTE Peel that we saw a little while back is apparently hitting Sprint on November 14th, which is merely a week from today. Sadly, no one knows yet how much this 3G router case (read: no phone functionality) will cost, but both BGR and our own sources have confirmed that it'll be available on a contract-free 1GB data plan for $29.99 per month. Meanwhile, you may consider the Apple Peel 520 that can actually turn your jailbroken iPod touch into a phone, or grab yourself an Overdrive and duct tape for some hot WiMAX Skype action. [Thanks, Delon H.]
Apple Peel 520 up for preorder, from the man who brought you the MicroSIMCutter
"Dear Sir or Madam," the email began, and we almost deleted it at once, but then we realized the gentleman who wrote that line was hawking the Yosion Apple Peel 520. A quick visit to his website did nothing to allay our lingering suspicions -- it appeared to be a hastily-cobbled cash-in through and through -- but still, the prospect of an iPod touch case with cellular capabilities sorely tempted our wallet. We evaded the siren call and left Peel520.net without attempting a purchase, but noticed on our way out several references to the practically identical website for the MicroSIMCutter. Google tells us their owners are one and the same, so if you bought one of those sim-cutting devices (not to be confused with the Cut My Sim) and got your product as promised, we suppose you're liable to get a good deal here. But if you have qualms, well -- wait for Go Solar to formally bring the product to market, or else steer clear.
Apple patent app hints at iPod-based phones, Peel 520 turns shades of green, red, blue and yellow
Looking for that elusive CDMA iPhone? You won't find it here -- but you might hear about a device Apple's trying to patent that could enable it one day. This spring, Cupertino filed an application for an "accessory transceiver" clearly intended to bring mobile calling, data and the requisite APIs to the likes of the iPod touch, not wholly unlike a certain Chinese case you might have heard of. What's more, the patent filing clearly states that this accessory isn't limited to MIDs and PMPs, but could be applied to "any type of mobile computing and/or communication device without limitation," including the iPhone itself... and specifically calls out CDMA as a possibility "because mobile telephone network quality and contract plans can vary" on GSM. Fancy that! To be clear, patent filings typically try to speak as broadly as possible to assist lawsuits down the road, and as you're probably aware a patent doesn't mean an intent to bring a device to market. Still, we have to wonder whether these veiled jabs mean Jobs and company hit upon a workaround for that AT&T exclusivity deal, and what ZTE might do if Apple puts such a device on sale. Oh, and speaking of the Apple Peel 520 cellular case for the iPod touch, MIC Gadget's reporting that it now comes in eight colors at least as far as a Chinese launch is concerned. Think you'll buy one?
