What better time than after the Holidays’ debauchery to talk about a cool new application that just might help get you back into a gym? Gym-Pact works like this: 1) You commit to go to the gym a certain number of times per week. 2) You also agree to put a certain amount of money at stake for each day you miss. 3) You get paid if you keep your goals with the money from those who didn’t! The amount of money you get isn’t set and depends on how much was collected from people who defaulted on their commitments on any given week. Your share gets bigger with a higher number of days at the gym, but not with the amounts you put at stake (these are for your personal motivation). Gym-Pact skims 3% off the top. You shouldn’t expect to get rich off this as 90% of users in an initial trial kept their goals, but even small amounts from 10% of users can add up over time.
There is an iPhone app with a check-in feature and 40,000 gyms in the database. If yours isn’t there, you can add it, though it has to be an actual fitness center and not a home or office gym. You also can’t just drop by the gym, check in and walk away; the app checks your location at regular intervals to make sure you stick around. And it appears to be a US only service at the moment, though we’ve contacted them to see if they have plans for expansion. No word yet. The app is free and available now.
If you don’t mind adding a little bulk to your iPhone, the Cord-On-Board case from CaseInity could make it much easier to get through the day without running out of juice. It simply features a specially modified charging cord that snaps right into the case. It’s all out of sight until you need it. Of course, you’re going to need an actual USB port as there’s no room to carry the little square transformer but there are computers everywhere these days, so you’ll be fine. Just ask yourself: when was the last time you carried your charging cable everywhere with you? (Ok, mister backpack, we don’t mean you…) At $25 on pre-order on Kickstarter, the Cord-On-Board case looks simple and useful. But it’ll only be made if CaseInity reaches their $20,000 funding goal. And it’s for iPhone 4 and 4S only.
We’re not big fans of companies segmenting their devices’ capabilities artificially in order to boost sales. Like when Apple puts Siri on the iPhone 4S when it runs just fine on older models. Or when Apple brings out multitasking gestures for the iPad but leaves the iPhone out of the equation. Well… we can’t really say that they might have done this last one to encourage people to buy an iPad as well as an iPhone; we don’t see anyone actually saying “gee, I really want to use these gestures but can’t on my phone, so yeah, I’ll buy an iPad.” But we find it frustrating nonetheless. So that’s why we’re happy to hear about this app, called Zephyr, that lets you swipe up to bring up the task bar (instead of double-tapping the home button) and swipe sideways to switch between active apps. I works nicely and is available on Cydia right now. Of course, this requires a jailbreak. But that’s ok, since the first untethered jailbreak for iOS 5.0.1 was finally released two days ago.
Check out the video after the jump to see how the app works.
It might be a little hard to get your hands on one of these at the moment, but if you’re lucky you can apparently buy a DIY modification kit for the iPhone that will give you a backplate with a luminous apple logo. You will have to do the installation yourself (or ask a friend of yours whose hands don’t feature 10 thumbs), though it appears easy enough. You just have to replace the stock backplate with this one, and also affix a light panel on the inside. It will light up when the screen turns on and stays on for 15 seconds after. It’s also lit when you’re talking on the phone, even if the screen is off.
Due to fears of Apple getting all legal on them, their main store has run out of stock. It does appear they’re still selling the kit through the Chinese taobao store, so you might be able to get one. It’s $42.
Say for a minute that there’s something, anything, interesting under water. And that you’ve got some desire to go record a high definition video of whatever that is. We say “get a hobby!” But you’re stubborn. So you have a few options. You can spend $300 for a GoPRO Hero2 rugged HD camera and dive up to 60m (200ft) underwater. Then you get to futz about with the camera hoping to get anything cinematic looking. Or you can spend almost twice as much (not quite true if you pre-order) on this rugged FourPro mount and dive half as deep (100ft). Sounds like a no-brainer, right? Well, the FourPro has a few advantages. First are the Teak handles that allow you some kind of control over your phone/camera, making for a potentially more stable shot. And these handles have threaded holes to accommodate lighting equipment. Lights! Who would have thought things could get dim 100ft under water?
Right now it’s just a project on Kickstarter, and as of writing it appears to be a non-starter. They’ve raised $800 from the $20,000 they need. For $400 you get the whole kit, which is lots, sure, but less than their expected $699 retail if it ever sees an actual marketplace.
Hit the jump for links and a video that features a guy giving a very Troy McClure introduction: “You may know me from…”
It’s hard to think of a better way to showcase augmented reality technology than by making use of it to undress models. Case in point is the latest marketing push by outerwear retailer Moosejaw. Last month they released an iPhone app that works in conjunction with their print magazine. Get the mag, download the app, and point your camera at select pages on the magazine. While the boring old dead tree reality would show you the models fully clothed, they’d appear in their skivvies on screen. From the video below, the technology works quite well. What seems to work even better is its effect on the company’s bottom line as they’ve seen a 37% increase in sales from the same period in November last year. Other retailers have tried similar products before but Moosejaw seems to have seen the largest impact on sales. What’s more, Gary Wohlfeill, the company’s creative director, said that although they’re pleased with the increased ROI, their ultimate goal was to delight their subscriber base and build long term loyalty.
The iLaunch Thunder looks just like the kind of thing that annoying co-worker that never gets any work done would get. Yes, the one that still gets promoted because his uncle plays golf with the boss. Yeah, him… Anyway, he’d probably buy this and spend an afternoon launching little foam missiles at you, just because you actually know what the heck you’re doing in this office and because he can and because you wish you hadn’t spent your college years reading OhGizmo! and flunked out and had to take this data entry gig and God you hate this job! He’d think he’s pretty clever because he can control the launcher with his iPhone. But you’ll have the last laugh, because you know that he spent $96 ($82 until December 15th) on this junk…
Ah, who are we kidding? You love your job and this toy is awesome! Now go be productive.
So that tiny speck in the middle of that table is an iPhone. It’s being docked to the BEHRINGER iNuke Boom, as much an object of fascination as one of complete insanity. This is how insane: it measures 4ft by 8ft, it’s speakers output 10,000W, it weighs 700lbs (!) and costs $30,000. Why does this exist? Well… we’re not quite following Behringer’s logic on this one:
BEHRINGER, award-winning innovator of affordable professional audio and music equipment, is excited to announce the launch of the Eurosound consumer electronics brand — concert quality sound at an amazing value. To celebrate the launch, BEHRINGER will unveil the iNuke Boom, the loudest iPod® and iPhone® dock you’ve ever heard at CES 2012. (our emphasis)
So to celebrate the launch of a value brand, they’ve unveiling this behemoth? Right. Makes perfect sense.
If you want to get into shooting HD videos of your own sporting adventures, you now have a new option. While the preferred method thus far was to purchase a GoPro rugged camera, the Optrix HD Sport is selling a special case for the iPhone 4 and 4S that will let you turn your own smartphone into something very similar. It completely waterproofs your phone while still allowing you to control it through a 0.5mm thick touchscreen membrane. The kit comes with industrial strength 3M tape so you can stick the base (comes with a curved and a flat one) to whatever you want. This means that for $80 you can do more of than what you could do with a $239 GoPro HD.
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