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iPhone 101: Switching sound off (or down)
Today's iPhone 101 is all about audio volume. You may think that the volume toggle and the mute switch on the side of your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch are the beginning and end of noise control, but it turns out there's more to the iOS sound story. You can get some volume management by plugging in a pair of headphones; that mutes the main speaker but also redirects your primary output to the headphones. When placed on your desk, you still may hear tiny bits of sound from the ear pieces. Having headphones connected does not affect the sounds from system alarms or incoming phone calls -- those still hit the main speaker. The mute switch on the side of the iPhone will generally cut off all outward ringing, audio alerts and other noisy bits, with one notable and newsworthy exception: alarms that have been set will still be played audibly, regardless of the mute switch position. Most consider this a reasonable and long-standing UX compromise by cellphone makers (if not, the alarms would be critically unreliable; many people would simply forget to unmute their phones at night before bed), but there are plenty of dissenters. Here are other ways you can limit your device's volume. Adjust the Ringer and Alerts volume. In Settings > Sounds, you'll find a separate Ringers and Alerts volume slider, which you can adjust to your liking. If you set this too low, your alarm settings in the Clock app may not wake you up and you may miss incoming calls. An optional Change with Buttons toggle links your alerts/ringer volume to the hardware controls on the side of your device. Two further options offer an alternative to your ringer. Select Settings > Sounds > Vibrate on Ring to transform alerts to vibrations. Enabling General > Accessibility > LED Flash for Alerts lets you "hear" your incoming calls with your eyes. This option adds a visual alert with your phone's camera flash (which could be made more visible with some additional case technology). Adjust the Siri volume. Stray touches on your phone or new iPad Home button may invoke Siri by mistake, and the double-chirp that starts a Siri session. Siri uses its own volume settings, separate from normal speaker output, alerts, and ringers. To mute Siri, press and hold the Home button to launch Siri -- with the Siri microphone icon visible, use the hardware controls to adjust the volume down. Alert Sounds. If you have the patience, you can currently disable notification alert sounds on an app-by-app basis in Settings > Notification > App Name > Sounds. Choose your ringtones, text tones, and other normal alerts in Settings > Sounds. Volume Limit. Although this isn't an outward audio feature, many parents choose to set a cap on the music playback volume for a child's iPhone or iPod touch to prevent hearing damage. The limit setting (and an optional lock password) can be found in Settings > Music > Volume Limit. Do Not Disturb. iOS 6 will introduce a Do Not Disturb feature in Settings that will disable updates arriving in your notification center and incoming phone calls. You'll be able to adjust the settings to allow incoming calls from selected people and/or a repeat-call override for emergencies. TUAW's 101 series (Mac 101, iPhone 101 and iPad 101) all aim to help novice users get the most out of their Apple gear. Got a suggestion for a 101 topic or a question you want answered by Aunt TUAW? Drop us a line. #next_pages_container { width: 5px; hight: 5px; position: absolute; top: -100px; left: -100px; z-index: 2147483647 !important; }
Crapgadget CES, round six: 4D Vibestar vibrating lumbar speaker system
Combining two of our favorite things, massages and LOUD noises. Feel the sound... in your lower-back.
NES controller gains a Rumble Pak, DIYer gains a dedicated following
Ah, the Rumble Pak. It was arguably the must-have accessory for the Nintendo 64, and had it been around during the time of R.B.I. Baseball, we're certain it would've went over well. One Andy Goetz decided that he'd be interested in reshaping history a bit, and spent 20-some-odd hours building a rumble device for his NES controller as a deadline loomed. He ended up submitting it in Oregon State University's Engineering Expo, and while it seems that they can't actually control when the rumble happens, at least your youngster will likely believe that he / she is doing something right while they're being humiliated by CPU racers in Excitebike. Cruel? Maybe. But totally practical.
iLuv iPhone dock includes "bed shaker"
The iLuv iMM178 shares a lot in common with many iPod docks available in the market today: Play and charge your iPhone or iPod -- check. Alarm clock scheduling based on full-week, weekdays and weekends -- check. Alarm clock with customizable sounds -- check. Alarm clock that vibrates to wake you up -- wait, did I read that wrong, or did that say that this alarm clock will vibrate to wake me up? That's right, folks. The iLuv iMM178 (couldn't they have thought of a more friendly name?) is equipped with a corded "bed shaker" that, as its name suggests, will vibrate in tandem with your alarm. As the iLuv iMM178 wakes you up to The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations," it can also literally give you some good vibrations of its own with its bed shaker. iLuv suggests that the bed shaker be placed underneath your pillow. In addition to these niceties, the iLuv iMM178 also plays FM radio, and has a time sync feature that reconciles time between it and your iPhone or iPod. iLuv's website lists the iMM178 at US$99.99, where it's available for purchase. Alternatively, you can improve your sleep habits with Sleep Cycle (available for $0.99), a bio-alarm clock iPhone app that analyzes your sleep patterns and wakes you when you are in the lightest sleep phase.
XCM introduces Rumble Joystick and KO Adapter for PlayStation 3
Hot on the heels of XCM's Dominator joystick comes an even more irresistible iteration, making those that took the plunge in January inevitably jealous. The newfangled Rumble Joystick for PlayStation 3 isn't terribly different from the original... save for the fact that this one shakes, rattles and rolls, of course. Described as the world's first PS3 joystick to rumble natively, this bugger also packs four memory buttons for programming all sorts of sick, twisted macros alongside independent Rapid Fire and Turbo buttons. Moving on, we've got the all new XO Adapter for PS3, which adds support for macros, Rapid Fire and Turbo to any vanilla Dual Shock or SIXAXIS controller. There's no mention of pricing for either, but we suspect that'll change in the near future (like, real soon, given that they'll be shipping in under a month).Read - Rumble Joystick for PS3Read - XO Adapter for PS3
Fast & Furious Blu-ray Trilogy reviewed, D-BOX shines
The new Fast & Furious, not to be confused with the old Fast & Furious, is all set to become the first major theatrical release with D-BOX baked in. And as TheHDRoom points out, these movies were just born to be felt as well as watched. When reviewing the trilogy on Blu-ray, they found these discs immediately among their favorite D-BOX discs. More specifically, they noted that the sensation was strong and engrossing throughout, especially when cars were changing gears -- though they did confess that Tokyo Drift suffered from jolts that were just too faint to really enjoy. Of course, you'd have to be the world's biggest F&F fan to let this trio of flicks convince you to pick up one of those pricey D-BOX motion chairs, but if you're leaning that way, give the read link a look beforehand.
D-BOX deal brings Motion Code rumblings to Universal Blu-ray Discs
We'll be completely honest -- we had every idea that D-BOX would just fade away into the sunset just a few short months after we initially heard about it. Au Contraire! In just the past week, we've seen the outfit -- which is responsible for a rumbling Motion Code technology that enables you to "feel" the motions of the movie you're watching -- venture into the wide world of gaming and now into Universal's heart. Starting with the December 23-bound Death Race, D-BOX Motion Code will be available on select Universal Studios Home Entertainment Blu-ray Discs, and if we were still placing bets, we'd now say this is probably just the first of many big studio licensing agreements to come.
Researchers considering syncing soccer matches with mobile vibrations
Call us cynical, but we just can't see this one working out it. A team of researchers from Umeå University in Sweden are reportedly looking to sync up events on a soccer field to vibrations in a cellphone, essentially enabling you to keep track of the action without having to focus your eyes / ears on the handset. The proposed system could send vibrations to the phone that would act as a way of communicating possession, ball placement and (of course) gooooooooaaallllls, but obviously a few obstacles still stand in the way. For starters, buzzing your mobile through an entire tilt would do a number on the battery life, and even though you could "feel" the action, it would still require a great deal of attention. In all honesty, we'd say this whole system probably has more promise off the pitch than on, but then again, we call football soccer, so what do we know?[Via UnwiredView]
SHAPE Servcies "Massage Vibra" converts phone into personal massager
SHAPE Services Massage Vibra software uses your handset's vibrate function to help to rid you of your aches and pains. Featuring massage programs for just about any part of the body -- arms, chest, back, neck and so forth -- the MIDP 2.0 software even has a wizard mode replete with text instructions and graphical illustrations. The list of supported devices can be found on the SHAPE Services site, but for $3 it seems like a novel bit 'o software that may well be the solution to what ails ya.[Via Just Another Mobile Phone Blog]
Rice University turns skeleton into a data network
We've seen plenty of ideas and even a patent related to the employment of human skin in the transport of data. We've also seen our fair share of bone conducting audio products come to market in the last few years. Now in a synthesis of the two, scientists at Rice University have developed a technique whereby rattles to the skeleton can transmit information to gadgets and medical devices strapped on (or inside of) your meat sack. Their approach has resulted in "amazingly few errors" even when using low-powered vibrations. Great, soon our handshakes will transfer both biological and software-related viruses? Oh boy.[Thanks, Geetu]
iPhone details uncovered in Sales Training Workbook
Here's some dirt that's sure to heat up the iPhone debates over the next 20 days. According to alleged scans from the "iPhone Sales Training Workbook," we're seeing a vast array of features that we were already fully aware of, but here's the skinny on what you may have not known until now: No one-touch dialing (two touches at a minimum) Vibrate mode is included Voice dialing is not mentioned as a feature, though it's not specifically excluded either Users can have a voice conversation whilst browsing the web "when WiFi access is available" iPhone users will not be able to conduct IM conversations with instant messaging users Emailing videos and pictures are a go, MMS is not supported MEdia Mail won't be used for ringtone and answertone downloads MEdia Net, MobiTV, and Cellular Video are (unsurprisingly) not available for the iPhone iTunes will sync iPhone with the Address Book on Macs or Outlook/Outlook Expess on PCs No GPS or TeleNav support, sorry Google hopefuls Of note, it seems that AT&T and / or Apple has conjured up a few canned, customer responses that point out the obvious shortcomings of Apple's handset, so do click on to see what you're up against.Update: It's worth pointing out that only 15 of at least 33 pages have been published so far.
Good Vibrations shoes pack built-in rumble feature
Now that you're packing a cellphone with a vibrating touchscreen, have glasses that rattle your brain if you try to get a bit of shut-eye, and nod your head to the beat of your rumbling headphones, why not put a little shake in your shoes, too? The cleverly named Good Vibrations might sport a website that was probably built in Marky Mark's heyday, but the kicks it sells claim to be therapeutic in nature. The thick-soled shoes feature a non-stick grip, on / off switch, and a rechargeable battery that reportedly provides around five hours of feet shakin' therapy. Designed to massage away the aches and pains throughout the day rather than after the damage is done, these unisex slip-ons are constructed with Spandex, lined with suede, and just might cause fits of laughter if you're the ticklish type. The Good Vibrations shoes are strangely available in just four sizes, leaving most of you with a bit too much (or too little) room inside, but for just about 60 bucks, the fun factor here is probably enough to put aside the fact that they aren't likely to fit.[Via AmericanInventorSpot]
Takaratomy Kotoridayori Humming Bird keeps up the office jive
As if we haven't given you enough devious toys to convert your mundane workplace into World War III, here's one to bring back the peace when cooperation becomes essential to everyone's job again. Japan-based Takaratomy, better known as a Tomy here in the States, has crafted a unique solar-powered desk adornment that should keep you occupied (or get you on edge, one) while toiling away in your cubical. The Kotoridayori (Humming Bird) purportedly belts out various tunes while being powered by those incandescent lights, and throws a few extra tweets in the mix whenever it senses "vibrations." Additionally, it sports a built-in battery to keep things humming (ahem) along when you end up working 'round the clock, and should fit in just about any pocket if you're looking to carry it home. Available in blue, orange, or green, this wee pet should remain novel for about, oh, 20 seconds or so before completely enraging even the most patient office mate, but even if someone ejects it from the premises, you're only out $25.[Via ShinyShiny]
Tactile display could convey signals on soldiers' backs
Although glitzy, stat-filled jerseys are certainly sufficient ways to get information off your chest (ahem), a new vibrating vest could give "body language" an entirely new meaning. Joining the air-conditioned and insulating renditions, this snazzy vest features a "tactile display" on the back, which is created by 16 small vibrating motors that are connected to an internal wireless control unit. The jacket "writes symbols and messages on its wearer's back," and while the actual writing resembles Braille more than text, it can supposedly be used to "send important commands to soldiers or firefighters, warning them of imminent danger when ordinary radios cannot be used." Commands are beamed to the vests via a wirelessly-enabled computer, and can stealthily inform platoons to stop, look in a specific direction, run, or slow down. The US Army is partially funding the research, as it hopes to investigate different ways to communicate when hand signals and / or radio transmissions aren't effective. During initial testing, results have shown nearly flawless interpretation by participants, and while we're not exactly sure when we can expect rumble-equipped gear to grace our armed forces, the problem of "excess noise from the motors" has to be quelled before hitting the battlefield.[Via BoingBoing]
Typo: vibration function cited in PS3's NBA 2K7 booklet
Keen eyes have spotted this careless passage published in the PlayStation 3 version of the NBA 2K7 instruction booklet: "Once you start feeling your heart rate pumping (via controller vibration), you'll be ready to begin! Shooting free throws in 24/7: NEXT is just like shooting free throws in a normal quick game" (page 15). The rumble citation is an amusing relic of pre-Sixaxis days when the manual's authors must have assumed (or were told) the final PS3 controller would feature a standard vibration function. Guess 2K Games didn't bother to hire a knowledgeable copy editor.Please, let's not assume this means PS3 games have 'hidden' vibration features. A typo's a typo. And PS3 launch titles won't be a'rumblin.[Thanks, Xenokai]
BeCell's VSG160G vibrating headphones
While we're still not sold on the whole idea of vibrating headphones, it seems that BeCell certainly is, partnering with Tylenol to release its VSG160G head-shaking 'phones. Just kidding about the Tylenol part, obviously, although you may want to stock up if you're planning on using these suckers for the full twelve hours the company promises they'll last. Unlike some other similar headphones, BeCell's set simply uses some heavy bass to rock your noggin' instead of built-in motors and, thankfully, include a vibration control setting on the cord for when things get a little too intense. Unfortunately, it looks like we're gonna have to wait a bit longer to find out how much these'll cost or when they'll be available; in the meantime, we suggest hitting your head against a wall to warm up.[Via CrunchGear]
RWC's ITN-VR10 vibrating headphones
Sure, it's nice to feel that rumble from the game controller, but wouldn't it be better if your ears were doing the ringing after a crushing EA Sports-induced blow to the head, instead of your hands? Why not try on a pair of these itan ITN-VR10 headphones from RWC then, which vibrate in your ear (like a mosquito?) in reaction to what they perceive to be a large, booming force. These buds feature a standard 3.5-millimeter mini-jack for connecting to your favorite handheld game console and will last about 15-hours off battery. Available in Japan starting June 26 for about ¥3,980 or $35.[Via Impress]
Immersion offers to teach Sony's DualShake to dance
Immersion Corporation is a thorn on Sony's side -- in September of 2004 they won a lawsuit against Sony, arguing that the videogame giant had used their "haptic" (read: rumble) technology without consent. Sony is appealing the verdict, which requires that they pay $90 million to Immersion and prohibits Sony from selling games and controllers that specifically used Immerison's technology, including the PS2 DualShock controller. Coincidentally (or perhaps not), Sony unveiled at this year's E3 that the PS3 controller, which we are dubbing the DualShake for its motion-sensor properties, would lack a rumble feature. Immersion President Victor Viegas has offered to work with Sony to add rumble to the PlayStation 3 controller, adding that they have "numerous solutions" that they have offered Sony. The catch? Sony has to drop the appeal and accept the court decision from 2004. Sony's line of reasoning has been, publicly, that they had to drop the rumble feature to make way for its last-minute inclusion of motion-sensor technology. However, as many have noted, the controller now feels flimsy, and the inclusion of rumble technology seems very viable. Its absence is a step backwards for the console, and we hope that somehow (by hook or by crook), Sony backs down and includes haptic technology with their final product.
New PS3 controller loses DualShock vibration
According to Sony's latest press release, the new PlayStation 3 controller -- or the 'DualShake' -- will not feature DualShock (vibration) support. It should be noted that the Wii controller will vibrate rumble. Here's the official explanation:"Pursuant to the introduction of this new six-axis sensing system, the vibration feature that is currently available on DUALSHOCK and DUALSHOCK 2 controllers for PlayStation and PlayStation 2, will be removed from the new PS3 controller as vibration itself interferes with information detected by the sensor."Might we also add that this is a convenient way for Sony to distance itself from the troubles surrounding the DualShock technology?[Via Sony news release; included in press kit distributed at E3 keynote]
