Oh! Gizmo

By Chris Scott Barr

There have been plenty of arguments saying that cell phones emit harmful radiation and will basically turn your brain into a pile of goo. I’m not really sure how much of this I believe, after all watching too much TV was supposed to have a similar effect when I was a kid. Anywho, if you’re worried about radiation from your iPhone, then look no further than the Pong case.

This special case is supposedly able to reduce intense ‘hotspot’ cell phone radiation by 85%. That leaves only 15% of the radiation, which should be easily thwarted by your tin foil hat. Alright, so maybe they do emit radiation and whatnot, but this case will set you back $60. Really, do you want to drop that much cash on a case that looks decent and may or may not have radiation-blocking powers?  I think I’ll spend my cash elsewhere.

[ PongResearch ] VIA [ CrunchGear ]

By Chris Scott Barr

One of the biggest features of the iPhone is also its biggest issue (to some people). I’m talking of course about the touchscreen. The screen is beautiful, and it gives you the ability to do so many things that just aren’t possible on your average non-touchscreen phone. Of course when it comes to typing, there is absolutely no form of tactile feedback, making things a little more difficult, even impossible if you’re not staring directly at it. So what’s the solution? A crack-pot accessory that gives you real buttons on your iPhone!

I’m really not sure what to think about this iTwinge. Mostly I can’t figure out if it’s stupid or just plain retarded. The accessory makes you sacrifice almost half of your screen to get a keyboard. Yeah, you might type a little faster, but whenever you want to use your phone for any other function, you’re going to have to remove the iTwinge and put it somewhere. Seriously, if you’re that concerned about tactile feedback, just go get a Blackberry or something. This hunk of junk will set you back $30, plus your dignity.

[ MobileMeChattronics ]VIA [ CoolestGadgets ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m not entirely sure why Mobile Mechatronics decided to name their iPhone tripod adapter the Blur, when that’s exactly what it’s designed to eliminate. It’s kind of like naming an anti-nausea medication Vomit, or a fire-extinguisher the Raging Inferno. But nevertheless, I like the idea. It basically gives the iPhone a standard tripod mount allowing it to be attached to everything from a monopod to a Steadicam in theory. (Though there’ll probably be balance issues.)

For just $14.99 you get the adapter which attaches to the bottom of the iPhone (presumably using the dock connector) a pocket-friendly though somewhat useless mini tripod and the Blur Tripod iPhone app which gives you a shutter timer, what sounds like an intervalometer and even a level. The app can also be purchased on its own for just $0.99.

[ Blur Tripod Adapter ] VIA [ Gear Diary ]

By Andrew Liszewski

The recession hit everybody pretty hard, and if you’re like us, you barely managed to scrape together enough money from between the couch cushions to replace your aging iPhone 3G with the 3GS. So where are you supposed to find the cash to buy a case in order to protect your investment? Well thankfully Case-Mate has come to the rescue with their specially designed iPhone 3G/3GS Recession Case.

Constructed from only the finest machine mass-produced cardboard (100% recycled) the case won’t protect your phone from liquids, fire or drops from extreme heights (7+ inches) but according to the Case-Mate site it will make you awesome and should last forever as long as you don’t destroy it. You can order one from the Case-Mate website for just $0.99, or opt for the ‘Bailout Bundle’ which is 10 Recession Cases for just $7.99.

[ Case-Mate iPhone Recession Case ] VIA [ Gear Diary ]

By Chris Scott Barr

I love my iPhone, and some days it feels like it can really do just about anything. That is, until I get a cool little text message from AT&T telling me that someone has sent me a picture message. I then have to open up Safari, copy and paste a code and password (it was barely even possible to do without a desktop in the days before the 3.0 firmware). All of this so I can see a picture of someone laughing, along with a message saying “lets see your fancy iPhone open this!” True story, someone with a crappy little free camera phone sent it to me. They just love the fact that their phone can do something my fancy-pants iPhone can’t. Well all of that is about to change.

Finally, AT&T has announced that the iPhone 3G and 3GS will be getting MMS on September 25th. A bit late from their projected “late summer” release of the feature I think, but I’ll still gladly take it just the same. So, who wants to take bets that AT&T has massive network outages on the 25th?

[ AT&T ] VIA [ MobileCrunch ]

By David Ponce

The iBand is made from a material produced by a company called d3o, which we’ve written about before> They make a flexible polymer that falls within the category of Non-Newtonian fluids. In a nutshell, these “fluids”, um, flow under normal conditions but harden quickly upon sudden impact. Some of you may have seen that Mythbusters episode where they run around barefoot on a mixture of cornstarch and water. This product is kind of like that. Only now you can have it as armor for your iPhone. Used normally, it’s like a rubber case but if you drop it it’ll harden instantly and provide up to 134% more impact protection than most other cases.

We’re not sure about price or availability but the product page is in the links below.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Dvice ]

By Chris Scott Barr

I haven’t jumped on the satellite radio bandwagon, mostly because I’m happy with just hooking up my iPhone and listening to my collection of tunes. However, for those that aren’t content to listen to their iTunes collection in the car, you might be interested in this XM SkyDock, which turns your iPhone into a Sirius XM Radio tuner.

This, combined with the corresponding app, gives you full access to all of Sirius XM’s lineup (unlike the regular Sirius XM app, which omits several key stations) from your iPhone. The SkyDock plugs into your car’s cigarette adapter to not only provide power to your phone, but it also allows it to transmit audio to your stereo through the car’s electrical system. This will work when playing music through iTunes, as well as Sirius XM. Another cool feature is iTunes tagging, which allows you to tag a song you hear so that it can be purchased through iTunes later.

The kit will be available sometime in the fall for $120, plus the cost of a Sirius XM subscription. Any iPhone or iPod Touch running 3.0 software will work.

[ Sirius ] VIA [ Cnet ]

By Andrew Liszewski

I know, another iPhone accessory? But before you move on to the next post hear me out, this one has some merit. As anyone with an iPhone knows, the battery life isn’t exactly stellar, which means it’s usually a good idea to have a charging cable on hand at all times. But because of the iPhone’s proprietary dock connector, that cable usually has to be the white one included with the phone. But the PocketDock Mini USB from SendStation is a small dongle that connects to the bottom of the iPhone and lets you use a regular mini-USB cable for charging and syncing. Sure you still have to carry a cable, but there’s a good chance you have other electronics that can use it too.

But there’s more! The PocketDock also gives you access to the iPhone’s line out connection letting you connect the phone to your home or car stereo with better sound than the headphone jack supposedly provides, while consuming slightly less battery power. $29.95 from SendStation’s online store.

[ SendStation PocketDock Line Out Mini USB ] VIA [ Wired Gadget Lab ]

By David Ponce

Well, you know, it’s not like everyone is running out of cash. Right? So there very may well be some of you out there interested in these handmade iPhone cases from a company called Sofbank.

The lacquer cases feature five different designs that pay aesthetic homage to the days of samurais and shoguns and come with elegant presentation cases with details regarding the crafting of the cases.

Yeah, and they also cost 99,800 yen or about $1,057. Pretty much everything from the links below is in Japanese, the kind that Google can’t handle since it’s an image, so maybe you can help out with details. Like, whether they’re available now, or whether they’ll even ship outside Japan.

In any case, hit the jump for another picture and links.

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