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Connectify Switchboard ditches original server plans, is available now for $90
Remember that Connectify Switchboard Insert Coin we featured just over a week ago? Well, we'd like to say we're sorry to hear it's been canceled -- but we're not. Why? Because a high amount of interest from people preferring to use their own computers as servers, has resulted in a change of plan. The result is that the product is available right away, and will no longer use cloud servers. This change means the need for investment has gone, evaporating the need for Kickstarter, too. This also means you can use the service as a private VPN, and always appear as if you're surfing from your home PC -- along with that speed-boosting channel bonding tech, of course. To sweeten the deal even further, if you purchase access to the beta program now ($90), then you'll get lifetime updates and support. After the beta, the price rises to $100. Better fire up that those internet connections, stat.
Rare iPhone prototype hits eBay, branded with 'deathstar' test logo (updated with video)
While our thoughts on all things iPhone may be focused elsewhere, an unusual Apple prototype of its fourth phone iteration has caught our attention on eBay. On the back, you can see the same curious logo spied on experimental hardware as far back as February 2010 and as 9to5Mac notes, it doesn't pack the screws along the bottom edge, making it ever so slightly different to the final model. The phone (model number N90AP) also runs Apple's software testing framework, Switchboard, which is still happily ticking along on this particular prototype. Bids start at $4,500, or there's a Buy It Now price of $10,000 -- if you must have this obscure slice of Apple history. (Update: We've been sent a quick video tour of the device-- it's after the break.)
OG iPad prototype with dual dock connectors hits eBay, teases us with convenience we never had
We're very used to Apple prototypes showing up on eBay. It's not often that we see unreleased iPads get the auction treatment, however, which makes a new listing that much more interesting. A 16GB WiFi version of the original iPad has popped up sporting a second dock connector on its side, a feature that we'd previously only spotted in Apple design patents. The advantage, of course, would be to keep the iPad powered and synced while it's playing a favorite movie in landscape mode. While we don't know how one aaps69 managed to get hands on the tablet, there's some clear signs that the seller didn't just carve an extra hole in the aluminum for kicks: the slate is running the familiar SwitchBoard tool that Apple uses for in-house diagnostics, and there's a raft of old and incomplete part details that suggest this particular iPad was never meant for store shelves. We'll likely never know why Apple left us in a land of solo dock connectors, but we'd take a peek at the source link before it's gone, as more recent Apple prototypes at auction tend to return to the source quickly.
