What Makes ZAGG Different
Gadget Reviews December 27th, 2011
Here at GumballTech, we are huge fans of the company ZAGG, they make great products for a large range of consumer electronics. Their designers and engineers are constantly pumping out exciting and innovative products that address and solve problems that other companies either ignore or aren’t even aware of. Not only do ZAGG’s products solve problems, they do it with style. They are the Dyson Vacuums of the gadget accessory world. Their recent super popular ZaggMate for the iPad is proof enough. So we asked them to guest post for us and tell us exactly what makes them different and what inspires them. Their response is inside.
“In the last few years there has been a veritable flood of Apple related accessories. With Apple consistently developing newer, sleeker devices, and a legion of dedicated users, this shouldn’t be too surprising. Between the iPhone, iPod, iPad, and their entire range of computers, they have generated a huge and loyal following – and a lot of them are looking to accessorize.
Of course, it wasn’t just about making your iPod pretty. When we got started at ZAGG the first thing we saw was not the demand to add shiny things to their devices, but to protect those sleek designs from inadvertent damage. Our custom invisibleSHIELDs were able to fill that demand, but we knew we couldn’t stop there. If a flood is big enough, anyone can get sucked under, and we knew that we were going to have to work hard to stay on top of this market.
Shields and Skins
Our main, flagship product has always been the invisibleSHIELD. When you have just paid a lot of money for the most recent device, the last thing you want is for that nice, clear screen to get scratched by your keys, or damaged when it accidentally slides out of your hands. A number of companies have developed some kind of shield or skin to protect your devices, but not all of them use the same material that the military employs to protect their helicopter blades from high speed damage.
At ZAGG, we don’t go in for a one-size-must-be-modified-to-fit-all approach. We custom design these skins for thousands of different devices. You won’t have to force our iPad skins to match the new dimensions of the iPad 2, and our iPhone 4 skin will effectively protect your new phone on the front and back. We provide everything you need to quickly and correctly apply the protective or designer skins to the right device.
We offer more than just “a nice fit,” though. ZAGG’s exclusive Nano-Memory technology lets us squeeze the most possible coverage onto a device that still lets it function properly. This is a subtle texture on the surface of the film that provides durability and self-healing qualities.
Staying Ahead
If you get hit by a flood, you’re pretty much sunk. You have to stay ahead of it to stay alive. So at ZAGG we started branching out from the shields and skins to provide a number of different accessories for this growing market. Most recently we have been showing off our ZAGGmate iPad case. When the iPad was initially released last year, it revolutionized the tablet PC industry. Until then, there had been a few attempts to market this kind of mobile computer, but nothing took off like the iPad. Of course, that nice, large screen was going to be a magnet for scratches and smudges.
A lot of companies immediately released specialized iPad for protection and safe transportation. We wanted to go a step further, though, and add usability to that mix.
We addressed the protection and transportation issues by making our case out of aircraft grade aluminum and military-grade high-density padding. For usability, we added a full keyboard. Typing anything longer than an email on a touch screen can be a pretty trying endeavor, but this case makes it easy. The ZAGGmate lets you view your iPad in either portrait or landscape mode, and the support hinge offers 10 different viewing angles. We really just wanted to make it easy to use the iPad the way you want to.”
The ZaggMate has gone on to be a roaring success from getting a spot on Oprah to winning best of show at Macworld. It’s one of our very favorite cases for the iPad on the market at this time. We can’t wait to see what the geniuses in the ZAGG labs come out with next!
Legal Siri Port “Spire” Released on Cydia!
Other December 27th, 2011
Ever since the release of “Siri” back in November on the iPhone 4S, hackers and developers have been trying to come up with a legal solution to port Siri on to older devices.
A new jailbreak installer called “Spire” has just been released on Cydia. The developers behind this port is Chpwn and Ryan Petrich.
According to Chpwn’s blog:
Spire is my (along with Ryan Petrich) new tool for installing Siri on previously unsupported, but jailbroken, devices. Spire is a small download, but while installing it will download Siri itself (directly from Apple). Spire is available in Cydia right now — go get it! This will use about 100 MB of data, so please connect to Wi-Fi before installing.
However, Spire is not a complete solution. Apple still requires authorization to use Siri, so information from an iPhone 4S is still required. To insert this information, Spire allows you to enter your own proxy server address. By using this (ancient) SiriProxy fork, you can setup a proxy using your own iPhone 4S to insert the needed information reasonably easily. Other solutions for proxying Siri will be listed here as they are developed — perhaps that sort of proxy might be included in the main SiriProxyrepository.
Spire uses a new method to obtain the files necessary for Siri, so it doesn’t have thecopyright issues encountered by previous attempts. Similarly, rather than directing all traffic through a specific proxy server (and the associated privacy issues), Spire allows you to specify your own proxy server.
Of course, one will need a 4S in order to get Siri fully working. This is the UI that you are downloading from Cydia and will not work without the 4S authorization keys.
Chpwn talks about using the SiriProxyFork method to obtain your own proxy server address to gain authorization from Apple to use Siri on older devices. He also explains that there will be other ways to obtain this in the future instead of the very tedious method once they are developed.
One of the biggest strengths about this port is that it is finally legal. Spire uses a method to obtain files required to run Siri without infringing copyright.
iPad 3 Home Buttons leaks in China!
Other December 27th, 2011
According to 9to5mac, iPad 3 home buttons has been leaked around China. In comparison with the iPad 2 home buttons, the iPad 3 would bring some design changes.
In the image above, some minor differences are noticeable such as The iPad 3 home button’s icon (the square) seems to be relatively thicker than the iPad 2′s. Now, you may wonder what these changes have anything to do with the overall design of the next generation iPad.
- The iPad 3 will come in both black and white just like the iPad 2 if these are the legitimate home buttons that are being used in the final product.
- The home buttons represents that the iPad 3 is not in their final stages of production.
- The iPad 3 will come with the home button as there were some rumors of Apple replacing them with “Multitasking Gestures”.
The iPad 3 home button internal’s tells us another story as well. The internals of the iPad 3 home buttons is smaller than the iPad 2′s. Apple could be saving space for other things. The next generation iPad is said to 1mm thicker to accommodate the rumored iPad Retina Display.
RunKeeper Pro Has a Big Surprise – Techy Runners Rejoice
Free Apps, iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch, RunKeeper Pro, Running December 26th, 2011
At the beginning of the year app darling of the running community, RunKeeper Pro, announced that for the month of January all those wishful resolution makers could download the app for free. Today, the plans changed a bit for the company as explained in a blog posted earlier today. Learn about it after the jump..
As the end of January approaches, we have been blown away by the response to this little promotion- millions of new users, lots of existing users making the upgrade and active usage on an ongoing basis more than double what it was before. This means more people getting fit, more people using RunKeeper to do so and a much larger chunk of our userbase benefiting from all of the great functionality that the RunKeeper Pro application offers!
In short, they never thought their app would hit true mainstream. They’re flattered and shocked and a change in pace (ah hem) seems in order.
Based on what we have learned in the last month, and based on our long-term goal of building the biggest most engaged community of users that we can (who get the best fitness results in the process), it became clear what we needed to do. We are pleased to announce that, as of today,RunKeeper Pro will continue to be a FREE download!
That’s right! One of the best running apps out there is now free indefinitely. So go run around for a minute and celebrate, but be sure to download the Runkeeper app first so you can track it all.
So, what’s next for this now uber-successful app? They’ve got a bright future ahead of them which includes possibly an API and other goodies that will treat their community with the thanks they deserve for making RunKeeper Pro the huge success it has been.
Tags: apps
Apple releases Final Cut Pro X, Motion 5, and Compressor 4!
Other December 26th, 2011
Apple just released their long awaited Final Cut Pro X along with it’s companions, Motion 5, and Compressor 4! Click the “Read More” button to find out more on this release!
Apple today announces the very long awaited, Final Cut Pro X. This professional video editing software was completely redesigned from scratch and is now on the Mac App Store for only $299 (Mac App Store Direct Link). Along side, Apple also updates their Motion 5 for $49 (Direct Link) and Compressor 4 for $49 as well (Direct Link).
Apple’s Press Release:
Apple Revolutionizes Video Editing With Final Cut Pro X
CUPERTINO, California—June 21, 2011—Apple® today announced Final Cut Pro® X, a revolutionary new version of the world’s most popular Pro video editing software which completely reinvents video editing with a Magnetic Timeline that lets you edit on a flexible, trackless canvas; Content Auto-Analysis that categorizes your content upon import by shot type, media and people; and background rendering that allows you to work without interruption. Built on a modern 64-bit architecture, Final Cut Pro X is available from the Mac® App Store™ for $299.99.
“Final Cut Pro X is the biggest advance in Pro video editing since the original Final Cut Pro,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “We have shown it to many of the world’s best Pro editors, and their jaws have dropped.”
“I’m blown away by what Apple has done with Final Cut Pro,” said Angus Wall, Academy Award-winning film editor. “Final Cut Pro X is incredibly modern and fast, but most importantly it lets you focus on telling your story in the most creative way, while it actively manages all of the technical details.”
At the heart of Final Cut Pro X is the Magnetic Timeline, a trackless approach to editing your footage that lets you add and arrange clips wherever you want them, while other clips instantly slide out of the way. You can use Clip Connections to link primary story clips to other elements like titles and sound effects, so they stay in perfect sync when you move them. You can even combine related story elements into a Compound Clip that can be edited as a single clip. The groundbreaking new Auditions feature lets you swap between a collection of clips to instantly compare alternate takes.
Content Auto-Analysis scans your media on import and tags your content with useful information. Final Cut Pro X then uses that information to dynamically organize your clips into Smart Collections, so you can easily find the clips you want by close up, medium and wide shots as well as media type and the number of people in the shot. You can also tag parts of clips with Range-based keywords to add custom search criteria to your media.
Completely rebuilt from the ground up, Final Cut Pro X is a 64-bit app that takes full advantage of the latest Mac hardware and software so you never have to wait for the next edit, even if you’re working with 4K video. Final Cut Pro X uses multi-threaded processing and the GPU on your graphics card for blazing fast background rendering and superb real-time playback performance. Additionally, a ColorSync-managed color pipeline ensures color consistency from import to output.
Final Cut Pro X also includes powerful tools for audio editing and color correction, and is complemented by two companion apps, Motion 5 for professional motion graphics and Compressor 4 for advanced media encoding, available from the Mac App Store for $49.99 each.
Pricing & Availability
Final Cut Pro X is available today for $299.99 from the Mac App Store. Motion 5 and Compressor 4 are available today for $49.99 each from the Mac App Store. Full system requirements and more information on Final Cut Pro X can be found at www.apple.com/finalcutpro.
Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.
