By David Ponce

You might be tempted to wonder why you’d ever need a radiation detector, let alone one that works with your iPhone. But that probably means you don’t live in Japan where it would seem normal to be worried over radiation poisoning following this year’s terrifying Fukushima meltdown. Big name iPhone accessory maker Scosche is releasing the RDTX, a portable Geiger counter that works with the iPhone or iPod Touch. It’s already calibrated and has a ton of features:

Easy-to-use interface clearly indicates radiation levels.

Displays detailed measurements for the advanced user.

Place map markers to report radiation levels.

Deliver precise radiation reports to keep you and your family safe

The Pro version of the RDTX has already been released in Japan for $330, though this version promises to be much less expensive. Initial availability will go entirely to Japan, though we have no information for the rest of the world at the moment.

[ Portable Geiger Counter for iPhone ] VIA [ DVice ]

By David Ponce

By now, most certainly you’ve heard. On Wednesday, October 5th 2011, Steve Jobs lost the fight to what is likely complications from his pancreatic cancer. He was 56.

In a whisper, the world lost one of its brightest lights.

Rivers of ink will flow and miles of digital reel will roll; his legacy cemented and documented with the tears and grief of the legion that admired him. The legion whose lives changed forever because of him. And I’m proud to contribute with my tiny drop of respect, inconsequential though it may be. Others will take care to remind us of the tangible impact Steve has had on the marketplace, on culture. I won’t. I’ll just say that Steve was more than a leader, a market changer and a technological luminary. Steve was everything we hope to be, embodied: the perfectionist in us, the aesthete in us, the innovator in us, the rebel in us, the dreamer in us, the non-conformist in us. The world lost him at his prime and that’s the true tragedy.

Let me then finish this little eulogy with my favorite quotes of his.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. … Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice.”

“It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”

“My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better.”

“That’s been one of my mantras — focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”

“I’ll always stay connected with Apple. I hope that throughout my life I’ll sort of have the thread of my life and the thread of Apple weave in and out of each other, like a tapestry. There may be a few years when I’m not there, but I’ll always come back.”

Rest in peace, Steve.

By Andrew Liszewski

As much as we’d like to hope they’ll be, every single Apple PR event can’t be a game changer. And today the world breathed a somewhat disappointed sigh when Apple’s public faces unveiled a marginal update to the current iPhone 4. The mythical iPhone 5 that’s been spotted roaming the woods in Washington, and hanging with Salman Rushdie in dark corners of pubs, was no where to be seen. What took its place was the also speculated iPhone 4S, which like the iPhone 3GS, has a host of marginal updates that will probably have most iPhone 4 users upgrading anyways.

On the inside it’s packing a dual-core A5 chip which Apple claims is twice as powerful as the iPhone 4′s brains. With seven times the graphical prowess, while still being power-efficient for a slightly longer battery life. The notorious iPhone 4 antenna problem has supposedly also been resolved, adopting the case design of the Verizon model. But the 4S is now also a world phone with both GSM and CDMA hardware inside, making them easier to sell from a trunk the world over.

The camera on the iPhone 4S has also received a notable bump, with an 8MP sensor and an f/2.4 aperture making it better suited to shooting in low light conditions. On the video side the iPhone 4S now records in 1080P as well. Combined with the imminent release of iOS 5 next week, and cool new tricks like being able to launch the camera from the lock screen, the iPhone 4S is probably going to continue to be tough competition to dedicated point and shoots.

Last, but certainly not least, is a new feature that’s going to be exclusive to the iPhone 4S, all but ensuring we’re all going to upgrade. Siri is billed as an “intelligent assistant” that’s able to perform a host of iOS related tasks by simply asking her too. Want to know the weather? You can actually ask several different ways, instead of having to regurgitate a small selection of specific phrases. And Siri seems far more capable than the iPhone’s current voice command functionality, allowing you to make calls, set appointments, even text people, just by asking. So hopefully I can finally get my personal assistant off the payroll. (He was actually just an old Thundercats action figure that should have no trouble finding other work. So don’t worry.)

The iPhone 4S will be available starting October 14 in 16, 32 and 64GB capacities for $199, $299 and $399 respectively. (After signing your life away to your local provider.)

[ iPhone 4S ]

By David Ponce

Well this has got to be the first time we’re featuring a deal on a product from Apple. The iMac is usually a fairly pricey item, but of course that drops once the newer generation comes out. This particular Core i3 3.2GHz model (the MC510LL/A to be exact) is not current, therefore is seeing a nice $100 price drop. So for $1,299 you get a 27-inch all-in-one from the boys in Cupertino. Shipped for free, of course.

[ $100 Off On Apple iMac ] VIA [ LogicBuy ]

By David Ponce

This is a first for Apple: you can now stream the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ upcoming album,I’m With You, for free, right now, on the iTunes Music Store. I’m listening to it as I type. While there isn’t a whole lot of information to go by on why Apple is doing this (is there ever?), it could be a sign of things to come. The pressure is mounting on the boys in Cupertino to offer a service similar to Spotify, Rdio or Pandora, where users pay a flat monthly fee and stream as much music as they want. Certainly with the announcement of iCloud a while back one can envision a strategy that includes such a service.

In any case, the album is pretty good. It’s a 1h track, meaning you can’t skip around to specific songs, but whatever. Oh, and this isn’t for the iPhone.

VIA [ TUAW ]

By Andrew Liszewski

You might recall that not too long ago M.I.C. gadget was marketing a Steve Jobs figurine, complete with an iPhone in his hand, that Apple kindly asked them to stop selling. So it’s not surprising that trying to hunt down the company behind this remarkably detailed, 1/6 scale 12-inch version of Steve is no easy task. I’ve found mentions of the figure, which features a detailed head sculpt of Mr. Jobs (or Wes Craven) on various toy blogs and forums, but everyone seems pretty mum about who’s actually producing it. Obviously they want to be able to get their hands on one before Apple’s legal team puts the smack down on it.

For just $160 (appropriately priced for the Apple community) the figure comes accurately dressed with New Balance 992 sneakers, a black turtleneck and blue jeans. As well as a slew of accessories including an iMac with Magic Mouse and keyboard, an iPhone 4, an iPad 2 and a desk and chair. Oh, and one more thing… that price doesn’t include shipping.

[ ToyHaven - This is a Job for Steve! ] VIA [ Coudal ]

(Photos property of the Wired Gadget Lab)

By Andrew Liszewski

If you aren’t holed up in a log cabin without internet access today, and have at least a passing interest in technology, you’re probably already aware that Apple’s 2001 WWDC keynote just wrapped up. And while we don’t cover software that often, we do like it when firmware updates make an existing device even better. And the new iOS 5 looks to do just that. The biggest update, that users will be able to get their hands on later this year, is a completely revamped notification system. Current iPhone users know that getting a txt message or notification in the middle of playing a game or watching a movie can be rather annoying and jarring. But under iOS 5 those notifications will make a subtle appearance at the top of your screen, allowing you to see more on a central Notification Screen page with a swipe, or just ignore them and they’ll disappear momentarily.

Twitter is also now tightly integrated into iOS, allowing you to sign in on the Settings page (independently of the official Twitter app) so that you can post content from various iOS apps without having to jump around or copy and paste items. And speaking of apps, Safari is now getting tabbed navigation which is an extremely welcome addition. And the simple Camera app now seems a lot more like the third-party Camera+ with AE/AF lock, basic photo editing like cropping, rotating and red-eye reduction, pinch to zoom on the viewfinder and FINALLY, using the Volume+ hardware button as a shutter. Sorry, Red Pop…

Other updates that caught our eye include a new split keyboard for the iPad that makes it easier to thumb type when holding the device in two hands. Reminders which lets you create lists and to-dos which will probably see Simplenote’s popularity drop dramatically. And a new iMessage app that uses Apple’s new messaging service so it works between all iOS devices including the iPad and the iPod Touch. Like BBM it also provides delivery and read receipts, real-time ‘typing’ updates, group messages and of course the ability to share multimedia content like photos. And last but certainly not least, updating and syncing will finally be facilitated over wi-fi if you don’t want to keep tethering your device to your PC, or don’t have one to tether to in the first place.

[ Wired Gadget Lab - Live Blog WWDC 2011: iOS 5 Enters the “Post-PC World” ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Apple held an iPad event today and unveiled what will truly be the future of tablet cases. As Mr. Jobs pointed out, the case they had originally designed for the iPad did a great job at protecting it while being functional, but tended to hide the iPad’s great design aesthetics. So their new Smart Cover is as minimal as it can get while still protecting the iPad’s screen. The secret, like with everything awesome in the world, is magnets, which hold the cover and its hinge in place, ensuring it’s always aligned properly. And when you roll back the cover it automatically wakes the iPad, no button presses needed. Pretty amazing if you ask me!

Oh… also… apparently there was an iPad 2 announced today as well that’s now powered by a considerably faster dual-core A5 processor, has a set of front and back HD-video capable cameras for Facetiming, has managed to shed a bit of thickness and weight and is slated to hit stores (in the US at least) on March 11th in black and mythical white for the same price as the original iPad. Not necessarily a must-have upgrade, UNLESS you want to use that Smart Cover since I doubt it’s compatible with the iPad 1.

[ Apple Smart Cover & Apple iPad 2 ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The sizable and extremely usable trackpad on Apple’s MacBooks means most users won’t ever have to even consider using a mouse with them. And with the introduction of their external ‘Magic’ Trackpad last year, iMac users can enjoy a similar experience. But if you want using your iMac to feel as close to using your MacBook as possible, and are willing to cough up $135+ in addition to the cost of Apple’s Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad, head on over to thodio who will happily take your money in exchange for their MacDec dock.

Machined from 15mm thick nut or teak wood, or transparent acrylic, the MacDec has the same general shape of a 15-inch MacBook Pro, and uses 8 powerful neodymium magnets to securely hold the Wireless Keyboard and Magic Trackpad in place. It’s also got a set of 4 clear rubber feet on the underside to keep the whole thing from sliding around on your desk or on your lap, and ranges in price from ~$135 (€99) for the wood versions, to ~$163 (€119) for the acrylic. And hopefully you’re not just paying for a first year 3D animation student’s render.

[ thodio MacDec ]