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No Comment: Video game systems vs. non-iPad tablets
Marco Arment posted this graph today, which shows some relative sales numbers of what he calls "obscure game consoles" (which presumably just means those outside the Microsoft/Sony/Sega/Nintendo dominion) right up against tablets which aren't the iPad. It's true -- the numbers do kind of put things in perspective about just how well non-iPad tablets are selling. We will also say that the TurboGrafx 16 launched at a price of US$249.99 way back in 1989, and you can compare for yourself just how inflation has matched that up against these other tablets. But sure, other than that: no comment. [via Touch Arcade]
No Comment: Angry Birds in convenient bra form
From Etsy seller SceeneShoes comes the custom brassiere pictured above, which Technabob has dubbed "Angry Boobs." Featuring the red bird and a pig from Angry Birds, giving this US$35 creation as a gift will probably inspire either laughter or thrown objects, depending on how good a sport your significant other is. The bra is available in sizes from 34A to 38DD; if you ask me, SceeneShoes missed an opportunity by not using different birds for different cup sizes. And now the next time I see my wife I'm going to be hearing a high-pitched "Wheeeeee!" in my head, so thanks for that, SceeneShoes. Wow. I mean, really: no comment.
Angry customers respond to fake Apple Stores
A casual blog piece about a fake Apple Store in Kunming, China went viral this week and exposed a thriving underground retail industry based on false appearances. From the inside and out, these fake Apple stores look real, but they're not. And their customers who are just now discovering the truth about these stores are not too pleased. Take, for example, Ms. Wang who spent 14,000 yuan ($2,170) on an iPhone and a 13-inch Macbook from the fake Kunming store. She spent a lot of money and doesn't know if her notebook and a phone are fake. She never received a receipt and the store, not surprisingly, refuses to help. Ironically, these fake store owners are also upset. Up until now, they have been operating under the radar, but now the eyes of the world are upon them, scrutinizing what they do. Some are defending their practices, others just want the spotlight to go away. Now there's a hunt for more fake Apple Stores across the globe, as Reuters reports. Fake Apple Stores have been reported in Colombia, Costa Rica and Vietnam. It's a crazy situation. Thus far, Apple has remained silent. It'll be interesting to see how the company will respond to such blatant forgery.
No comment: Faux Apple Stores in China
It seems several completely unauthorized "Apple Stores" have been spotted in Kunming, China by the author of the blog BirdAbroad. While Apple's Q3 earnings call mentioned the exploding Asian market, Apple's official Apple Stores are only found in Beijing and Shanghai -- stores opened with much ballyhoo and attention to detail. These stores look almost identical to real Apple Stores, with blue-shirted employees wearing badges with Apple logos, and a spiral staircase. But they are not real, with a few tell-tale signs: the badges have no names and the stores have the words "Apple Store" on the signage, not just the glowing Apple logo. One is even labeled "Apple Stoer" -- a typo seen more often on unofficial Apple blogs (not including ours!) than Apple's retail establishments. Check out the post on BirdAbroad to see the pictures of the stores and the staff, and shake your head in disbelief. [via ifoAppleStore]
No Comment: Washington State borrows Bodega's icon, with a tweak
Eagle-eyed reader Jeff spotted this icon in use over on the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries website, and it looked a little familiar to him, as a user of a certain unofficial Mac App Store app that has been around even before Apple's software distribution solution. Minus the actual name, it does look kind of familiar, no? Jeff emailed the Bodega app folks, who told him that nope, "They absolutely do not have the rights to that icon," and that he was "free to start publicly shaming them." Hey, you didn't hear it from us! Come to think of it, though, that Calculator at the bottom of the page also looks a little familiar. Maybe someone over in WA is just a Mac app fan?
No Comment: iPad vs 300 Black Cats
iPad wrap manufacturers SlickWraps celebrated American Independence day in the most traditional manner. Blowing things up in order to sell their product. Cool pyrotechnics meeting capitalism, all in the pursuit of fun. Their video, which follows, shows the iPad (although not so much the Apple logo) walking away almost unscratched from a bag of splodey Black Cats. And to that, we say, "No Comment" -- although we do say "Again! Again! More boom!" Thanks to all the TUAW tipsters who passed this one on to us.
No Comment: Your life in 30-second intervals with Lifelapse
Whenever we get publicity info about a new iPhone app, my personal curmudgeon radar goes to high alert if the app in question is accompanied by a precious and fashionable custom accessory. There's something about that mix of software and paraphernalia that sets my teeth on edge a bit. That's partly why I'm less than enthused about Lifelapse, the new time-lapse photo app/lifelogging tool launching in the App Store today for US$0.99. The app was created by a team of Dutch developers/students, and the concept is pretty simple: the app takes a picture every 30 seconds, and then combines them into time-lapse videos like the one below (only on the 3GS or iPhone 4, the 3G & original iPhone lack the horsepower to create the video). Along with the app, however, Lifelapse is selling an adorable 'Lifepouch' neck lanyard into which you may tuck your iPhone, making it easy to keep snapping away while you stroll the streets/beaches/ruins/marketplace of Insert Exotic Locale Here. Never mind the obvious drawbacks of this plan: reduced battery life, hundreds of pictures you don't want, your friends abandoning you because you look like a complete tool. Here's the biggest problem: you are wearing your iPhone around your neck while you are strolling around Insert Exotic Locale Here, where you will rapidly be identified as both a) a tourist and b) the possessor of more money than sense. How many iPhones will be purloined from around unsuspecting necks before this pouch concept gets canned? The app should warn you on launch to make sure Find My iPhone is activated. I have no doubt that there are certain times and places where a timelapse travelogue would be a fun and interesting thing to create, and obviously a 99-cent app investment is not a major budgetary concern for most iPhone owners. This particular combination of app and accessory, though, strikes me as the perfect mix of self-absorption and poor environmental awareness -- which is why I'm filing it under No Comment. Lifelapse video of Lisbon below, illustrating that at least the wearer followed local advice to stay hydrated. Lifelapse recorded in Lisbon, Portugal from Lifelapse.
No Comment: A fruit-filled iPhone 5 that you can eat
We'd love to share another analyst's opinion about the rumored iPhone 5 and how it will launch in September, but this morning we're looking at another product launch. The folks from Top Fruit Produce gave us a different look at the hypothetical future handset. The team of creative fruit artists decided to re-create the upcoming iPhone handset using their favorite medium: bananas, oranges, apples and more. It's definitely reminiscent of an iPhone 4 and sports our favorite icons, including Messages and Fruit Ninja. It also includes blackberries -- which is more than enough to merit today's No Comment. [via Mashable]
No Comment: Summer fun goes app-crazy with iTowel
Clamura. Fishhook. Surfari, iCod and Ornery Gulls. What does every well-heeled Apple fan and beach bum need? An iTowel with the aforementioned "apps," of course. Check out the full size image here. The towel is the product of the Adventure House marketing communications firm. When it comes to its absorbency or ability to repel sand fleas, we've got no idea; but it's definitely deserving of today's No Comment.
No Comment: Windows Phone Dictionary app icon seems eerily familiar
Who really thinks about designing a dictionary icon? They all look alike, after all, so what would be the point of creating a brand new one for your Windows Phone third-party app? Better just to pick up the one everyone likes so well and use that. Yes, as Craig Hockenberry pointed out this morning, the Windows Phone Featured Apps page is sporting a Dictionary app icon (for what appears to be a third-party app, not a Microsoft published app) that is a pixel-for-pixel copy of the Mac OS X Dictionary icon. Who remembers 'Redmond, start your photocopiers' from WWDC in 2006? For something like this (no doubt unauthorized by Microsoft, but still hilarious), we've got to award it a solid No Comment.
No comment: WWDC wristbands
We're pretty sure that these are for WWDC attendees who will be at the annual beer bash tonight, and not meant to be attached to devices that are loaded with REDACTED (iOS 5)... Somebody at Apple has a very good sense of humor. Overheard at WWDC: "How do I know if I'm drunk enough to wear it?" "As long as you can still redactulate, you're fine..." Thanks to everyone who sent in a photo, especially @shnhrrsn who volunteered his arm for this photo shoot.
No Comment: Friskies makes iPad web games for cats
So it's come to this. Originally, discovering that cats liked to play with the iPad was just a matter of coincidence -- Felix just liked to bat around the Magic Piano, and that was fine. But pet food maker Friskies has blown that idea right out, releasing a line of three full web-based games for the iPad meant to be played entirely by cats. It's true. Cat Fishing!, Party Mix-Up! and Tasty Treasures Hunt! are all games accessible from that website and built in HTML 5 just for the iPad, and as you can tell from the video after the break, all three of them are designed to attract your cat's attention. With bright shapes that move around in a jerky yet lifelike manner and flashy graphics that respond to paw touches, your cat now has its own games to play on your iPad 2. Friskies even warns that while cat claws can't scratch the iPad's glass screen, certain plastic covers might get scratched, so be careful. What they don't warn about, however, is that you might lose all of your Angry Birds free time to a game-addicted kitty. Beyond that, we have no comment. [via Laughing Squid]
No comment: Steve Jobs in Carbonite
Did you ever wonder what happens when the reality distortion field meets Star Wars? You get these cool/cheesy/ready-for-cease-and-desist Steve Jobs in Carbonite iPhone skins and cases from Society6. Until the Apple lawyers get ahold of this and breathily note "I am altering our agreement. Pray I don't alter it further," you can order an iPhone skin for just US$15, a stretched canvas art print (which is apparently free if you believe the pricing on the site), or a full iPhone case for $35. Act now and get one of these collectibles before the lawyers strike back! And remember, when you tell Steve that you love him, he's only going to reply "I know."
No Comment: Dell exec dismisses iPad, can't count
Dell's global head of marketing Andy Lark spoke to CIO Australia this week, and he not only dissed Apple -- a company with a current market cap of $323.3 billion compared to Dell's measly $28.2 billion -- but also found some time to dream up some completely bogus specifications and pricing for the iPad. Lark started by stating that "Apple is great if you've got a lot of money and live on an island. It's not so great if you have to exist in a diverse, open, connected enterprise; simple things become quite complex." Ahem. That deserves a spot on our No Comment wall of confusion. Next, Lark stated that enterprises were not going to be jumping on iPad deployments, since "an iPad with a keyboard, a mouse and a case [means] you'll be at $1500 or $1600; that's double of what you're paying." Joshua Schnell at Macgasm pointed out that a 16 GB Wi-Fi iPad 2, Apple Wireless Keyboard, iPad Dock and iPad 2 Smart Cover price out at US$666 before taxes. Where the extra $900 - $1000 comes into play is a mystery, unless Dell is selling thousand-dollar mice. Moreover, apparently Lark has no idea that the iPad doesn't need a mouse. It uses a magical and revolutionary "touchscreen" for its user interface. In the annals of Dell executive history, this has to go down as a pretty impressive foot-in-mouth comment; it rivals Michael Dell's famous quote about Apple on October 6, 1997: "What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders." Looks like it's time for Andy to go back to school and learn a little bit about his competitors. It might also help to brush up on those math skills.
No Comment: Viewsonic ViewPad 10 press image shows a familiar OS
Good work, Viewsonic; you're now shipping the dual-boot 10" ViewPad tablet that features both Windows 7 and Android as OS choices. We at TUAW wish you every success with the product. You may, however, want to consider having a stern chat with the design team that's working on product photography. As pointed out by Erik Schwiebert, the "ViewPad 10 Front Hand" image you're sharing with press seems to have fallen through a dimensional portal. How else to explain the fact that it's running PowerPoint for Mac? Sad to say, but just because a tablet is dual-boot that doesn't mean it will run Mac OS X -- at least, not without a lot of extra help. Nothing like a classic Photoshop foul to merit our Shrove Tuesday honorable mention for No Comment.
No Comment: iPad used as protest sign
As if you needed yet another example of how there's no limitation to the uses people will find for the iPad, here's another one for you: 9to5 Mac points out this use of an iPad as a protest sign. In a recent Lithuanian protest, observers noted and recorded a video of one industrious person who made his own app -- or, possibly, just a video or web page -- to display his own protests in animated form upon an iPad. There's just never enough room on those giant poster boards to get your message across, so why not get their attention with flashing messages on an iPad taped to a piece of wood, right? Given, it's an expensive sign to make, but at least it gets the word out. Check out the full video after the break. This certainly deserves our Friday No Comment.
No Comment: Sesame Street's iPogo and the App for That song
If you had a smart pogo stick, wouldn't you want it to run apps? It just makes sense, in a strange sort of way. Thanks to Sesame Workshop and those lovable Muppets, here's your Tuesday No Comment. Click the image or Read More to see the video. [via Switched Tumblr, Laughing Squid & Minyanville]
No Comment: iPhone ear cushion
I remember the first time I made a call on my iPhone all the way back in 2007; I was truly smitten with Apple's revolution. However, during the second call, I realized that the sharp edge really was uncomfortable to my delicate, mirror-encrusted earlobes. Fast-forward to 2010, and the problem has only been exacerbated by the folks at Cupertino. Sure, iPhone 4 is a beauty to behold, but while it's easy on the eyes, it's certainly hard on the ears. Enter Yanko Design. The Earos ear cushion is truly one of the most elegant and striking solutions to the ear pain woes of the masses. Finally, we can answer a call on our beloved iPhones without wincing in pain as we bring it near our noggins. YD points out that ear discomfort is not the only symptom that they're curing. The Earos doubles as protection from ambient device heat as well as an ear shield for use in colder climates. As a no-charge bonus, the Earos can be flipped around and used as a display stand on flat surfaces. There is currently no word on pricing or availability, but you can guarantee that this will be in my stocking if they can release this in time for Christmas delivery -- even if it does qualify as a No Comment. [via AppAdvice]
No Comment: A diamond-encrusted iPhone 4
So, Apple's free bumper case wasn't enough for you? Do you want to encase your iPhone in something a little more ... erm, maybe "classy" isn't necessarily the word for this one. At any rate, as you can see above, customizer Stuart Hughes has enwrapped this iPhone 4 in over 500 diamonds (totaling over 100 karats), which are placed around the outside (that antenna gap has never looked so sparkly), on the Apple logo, and on the Home button. The back of the phone is plated in gold, and the unit comes in its own custom-made granite box. Total price: US$8 million. Apparently, two were made, and both were for an Australian businessman who wanted a little more bling on his iOS device. Was it worth it? No comment. [via Engadget]
No Comment: Denmark's Parliament members get free iPhones
It's true that the iPhone was previously banned from the floor of the Danish Folketing (Parliament) by its President Thor Pedersen. This was at least partially due to Member of Parliament Sophie Haestorp Andersen updating her Facebook page 59 times during a prolonged debate -- certainly more than is polite. Nevertheless, it was reported by Politiken.DK that last week all 179 Members of Parliament and an undisclosed number of the staff of 1,000 adminstrators have each been given a 16GB iPhone3GS. Folketing press secretary Peter Krab announced that after testing a number of mobile phones, it was decided that the iPhone best met the requirements of the Folketing, so they went with it. No one is willing to say how much it cost the Danish people who are currently taxed at a progressive rate that maxes out at 51.9% (one of the highest rates in the world). At a retail cost of 5500 Kroner (approx US $1022.21) without a contract, the potential cost was not lost on the Danes, who according to comments on a similar story posted on mobilsiden.dk were less than amused at not only the public squandering of money, but that the Folketing went for an older model instead of the current iPhone 4. To all of this, we say no comment.
