February 2012 Archives

A new iPhone accessory has just come onto the market, allowing users to transform their handset into a laser gun!

The Laser Blaster, made by Hasbro, incorporates a slot allowing it to fit onto an iPhone or iPod Touch, and are on sale for $40 per unit.

Using the free Lazer Tag app and the phone's inbuilt camera, gamers can keep track of who's been shot and how many lives they have left via the devices screen - doing away with the need for clunky chest targets. 

Apple has announced its cloud based computing service, iCloud, has amassed over 85 million subscribers in just three months.

The personal cloud service allows users to sync multiple devices; meaning a photo captured on an iPhone can be pushed into the library of the users Macbook, and an app downloaded to an iPad will appear simultaneously on a synced iPhone.

Apple's iCloud service joins the likes of Microsoft SkyDrive and the hugely successful DropBox platform, but goes one step further in simplifying the process of content sharing. In response the success of the new service, Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, commented: "I see it as a fundamental shift, recognizing that people had numerous devices, and they wanted the bulk of their content in the cloud, and easily accessible from all of the devices."

A London based college is offering a 5 week educational course in iPhoneography, or 'An Introduction to Photography with the iPhone'.

Students will learn how to master a range of techniques using sophisticated apps to capture and process images. In an interview with Kensington and Chelsea Chronicle, course tutor Richard Gray commented: I developed the course after discovering there were a lot of people who had an iPhone who didn't really know how to use the camera. With the right apps and skills, the iPhone can be a powerful creative tool."

In response to criticism suggesting the iPhoneography course was just an Apple sponsored PR stunt, Mr Gray went on to argue that while it may not be the first choice for professional photographers, apps designed to get the most out of iPhone cameras makes photography reachable for the masses, adding "making photography accessible should be celebrated, not scorned".

A canny new headphone prototype that can detect which ear they are in has been developed by Japanese based researchers. 

The ingenious design uses proximity sensors to differentiate if the earbuds are in the left or right ear and plays back audio accordingly. Researchers at the Igarashi Design Interface Project have also discovered a way to distinguish if two people are sharing headphones, and can play back a mono mix through each earbud.

The new headphone design is currently being registered for patents, and although there are no plans for mass production at the moment, the expected price per unit could be as little as $1 per set. A promotional video can be seen here.

Spy shots of an iPod Nano prototype featuring what looks to be a rear facing camera have emerged on Japanese blog Apple.pro.

It wouldn't be the first time the iPod Nano has been fitted with a camera, according to cnet.com. A previous model incorporated a camera that would allow users to shoot video, but it was removed when the company introduced the touchscreen model.

Confirmation of the new technology has not yet been confirmed by Apple, and iPod fans will have to be patient as a release date for the newest models are yet to be announced.

More rumours surround technology giant Apple than any other technology company out there, and the last 24 hours have been no exception. Leaks regarding two of company's most iconic products, the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 are now in widespread circulation.

First up is a release date for the much anticipated iPhone 5 - which, according to recent reports, will get its official debut on the 10^th June during Apple's Worldwide Development Conference.

In other news, the Boy Gadget Report website has gathered intelligence regarding an iPad 3 prototype - which is rumoured to feature a quad-core A6 processor, and will come with 4G LTE support.