Press Release: FlipSide MP3 Player for WinMo
FlipSide MP3 Player, Featuring “Swooshing” Album Art as Part of Acclaimed Visual Interface, Now Available for Windows Mobile
WYE VALLEY, UK (April 29, 2008) - FlipSide, the MP3 player from Electric Pocket that has had BlackBerry users buzzing, is now available to users of Windows Mobile devices such as the Treo 700xw, Mogul, Ace, and Blackjack. The feature that has made FlipSide such an instant hit among BlackBerry users is its iPhone-like interface that allows users to visually “swoosh” through their music quickly and easily.
Navigating through music and selecting tunes is a simple process with FlipSide: scroll through the Album Covers, or flick through them using your finger on the screen, then click on the navigation button to open up a vertical list of the tracks. The spacebar is used to start, pause and skip songs, while the navigation button is used to scroll either left or right to either fast forward or rewind within a song.
While FlipSide comes with the features expected of any MP3 player, the feature that gets the most buzz is the attractive user interface that makes FlipSide both visually enjoyable and very easy to use. Its ability to “swoosh” through the full-color cover art of an entire music collection within seconds using the navigation control button makes FlipSide stand-out as both a simple and fun MP3 player. FlipSide downloads and displays the cover art of each album and even links to FlipSide Extras to provide biographies of the artists, recommendations for similar artists and more.
FlipSide for Windows Mobile plays music stored on memory cards in MP3 & WMA formats. FlipSide retails for $19.95 and a free trial download is available now from the FlipSide website at http://flipside.fm
iPhone Games and Ringtones on September 5th?
There’s a lot of speculation about the Apple Event scheduled for September 5th. It’s widely expected that Apple will announce some new wide-screen iPods that will probably look a lot like iPhones. But many of us are also hoping that games and ringtones are going to be announced at the same event.
The latest version of iTunes has several internal links that refer to installing and removing games, and I seriously doubt if that would have been added to the software if not for something happening soon. There’s also a great deal of talk about being able to create a ringtone from any song purchased from iTunes, which would also be cool. I’d love to be able to edit the ringtone, however…
You can be sure that I’ll be watching anxiously next Wednesday to see what Apple announces!
Technorati Tags: Apple, iPhone, iPod
Two-way Video Conferencing for iPhone
Just when you think you’ve seen everything, then along come Glen and Ken Aspeslagh from Ecamm who have figured out a way to do 2-way videoconferencing with iPhones! See those little mirror-type things that the iPhones are sitting on? They’re called Huckleberry Mirrors and they’re an Ecamm product - you use ‘em to give your MacBook or MacBook Pro a view of something other than your ugly mug.
These guys then figured out how to snag a video image from the iPhone, send it over Wi-Fi to a web server, then nab the image from the server on the other side of the call. You basically need to start up a phone conversation with the other party and then fire up the application (and of course, the server…), and then you’re ready to rock and roll in handheld video. Now if Apple can only figure out a way to do this over AT&T’s 2.5G network, we’ll all feel the love.
Technorati Tags: Apple, iPhone, WiFi
iPhone: Will it blend?
Yes, it does! Not for the faint of heart…
Yet Another Sign That Steve Ballmer Is Clueless
Today’s Rocky Mountain News had a short article about Microsoft CEO’s keynote at the Worldwide Partner Conference in Denver this week. Of course Mr. Ballmer had this wonderful statement to make about the iPhone:
He gave passing reference to Apple’s new iPhone. He said that one thing Apple and Microsoft agree on is that mobile devices will become richer for consumers, and then he referred to the Apple phone as a “heavyweight operating system, blah blah blah.”
Is this man on drugs or what? What a dick.
Technorati Tags: iPhone, Microsoft, Steve Ballmer is a dick
iPhoneDrive
In my book “Take Control of Your iPod: Beyond the Music“, one of the big things I talk about is using the iPod as a backup drive. An iPhone is supposed to be an iPod, right? So how come Apple left out the capability to store files from your Mac on your iPhone?
Never fear, the Ecamm Network folks have just shipped iPhoneDrive ($9.95), a package that runs on Macs only and enables a disk mode so you can drag ‘n drop files onto your iPhone like there was no tomorrow! You need to install the application on any Mac that you’ll be moving data to/from, so you can’t just walk up to any old Mac and pull your files off. Since I currently use disk mode on my 4GB iPod nano to keep backups of special files that I use for the classes I teach, I’ll now be using iPhoneDrive and my iPhone to do this. That’s one less device, one less power brick, and one less cable I’ll have to carry on my trips.
Technorati Tags: iPhone, Software
Flickr Gallery of Aspen Grove Line Photos
Greetings! Yeah, I know it’s a few days late, but here is a Flickr Gallery of photos I took while standing in line at the Aspen Grove Lifestyle Center to buy an iPhone at the Apple Store there. Have fun!
Technorati Tags: Apple, iPhone
Whazzzzup?
So, a few people emailed me and wondered why I had been so silent over the past 22 hours. Here’s what happened:
1) At 6:00 PM after a countdown, the doors at the Apple Store flew open and we all walked (no running) into the place amid the applause of the employees. While we were standing in a short line, one of the employees entertained us with an iPhone.
2) At last, I was at the counter. I was asked if I wanted the 4 or 8 GB model, and upon replying 8 GB one was handed to me in a special black bag emblazoned with an iPhone picture. Niiiiice.
3) I was directed to an Apple employee with a handheld terminal who checked me out, ran my credit card through, and asked if I wanted to have my receipt emailed to me.
4) Next it was off to the display of cases. I really didn’t like any of them, but ended up grabbing an incase Leather Folio for iPhone. I still don’t think I like the case. More on that later.
5) Off to dinner with my wife (she wanted me to bring the box into the restaurant with me, so I did).
6) Off to see Ratatouille. Another great film from Disney / Pixar. Jobs is 2 for 2 on Friday, June 29th!
7) When we got home from the movie, I sat down and plugged the phone in to get a full charge, and let it sit overnight. I also updated iTunes to version 7.3, which came out yesterday and has support for iPhone. 
Upon waking up, showering, and eating breakfast, I plugged the dock into my iMac and began the activation process. Five minutes later, my phone was fully activated and ready to roll. By the way, I named the iPhone Ratatouille as a paean to the movie.
9) I moved my music to the iPhone but I’m waiting to do pictures.
10) What a GREAT device. Although I’m still not getting as many bars with AT&T service as I do with T-Mobile (one of my main concerns), it’s working very well so far.
11) Went to My T-Mobile and popped down to a lower plan so I don’t have to pay an arm and a leg on cell phone service. I’m keeping T-Mobile HotSpots for the time being, although I may drop that in the future.
12) Took my old T-Mobile phone and I now have it forwarded to the new phone. Sweeeeet!
13) Went to the grocery store, where I gave three impromptu demos.
Trust me, I will have a lot more posted here soon. For example, I have photos and video from the line experience and going into the store, as well as screenshots of the activation process. My initial feelings? I love this device as much as I thought I would. It’s a beautiful piece of equipment and functionally it is outstanding.
Technorati Tags: Apple, iPhone
I stood in line all day for an iPhone and all I got was a lousy t-shirt…
No, just kidding. At 2:45 PM MDT someone from FastMac Performance Upgrades passed out t-shirts. They went quickly, but I got one. Duuuuude. Now I’ve gotta wear it!
Technorati Tags: iPhone
iDay
I’ve been sitting in a comfy folding chair near the Apple Store at Aspen Grove in Littleton, Colorado for about six hours now. At this point I’m about number 40 in line, which (if rumors are true) means I’ll probably get an iPhone with no problems. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves, especially now that the sun is no longer beating down on us (this is an outdoor “lifestyle mall”).
Apple’s WiFi is working well, particularly since their usual crowds seem to be staying away and the store machines aren’t getting hammered with people downloading iTunes updates. Unfortunately, yours truly forgot to bring his USB cable for his Canon camera, so there will be no high-res photos posted today - only some minor shots from my iSight.
This morning I joined an interview with several other iPhone wannabees that will be posted on MacVoices later today.
Here are some quick snaps of the line at Aspen Grove!
Technorati Tags: iPhone
USA Today - Ed Baig and Jeff Graham Video (and box photo!)
Ed Baig from USA Today and Jefferson Graham of TalkingTech have put together a great review / video. And Ed even shows the box! Yeee-haaaaa!
And here’s that photo:
Technorati Tags: iPhone
Tomorrow!
Yep, it’s getting closer every minute. There’s been a little bit more news leaked every day from Apple and AT&T, but nothing that I’ve felt is worth posting. My biggest complaint has been the rash of “iPhone Sux” posts by various Windows Mobile bloggers, most of whom I know. They bemoan such things as “a weak vibrate mode”, “inability to use songs in your iTune library as ring tones”, and so on as reasons NOT to buy one. Sigh.
I’ll be spending plenty o’ time in line tomorrow, and I’m planning on parking my butt on the concrete in front of the Apple Store Aspen Grove (Denver area) quite early. One of the local news stations is dropping by to do an interview, which will be fun. And I plan on taking plenty of photos and video, all of which will be posted here soon along with my first impressions of the device.
Some new info for y’all -
Flurry of Hot iPhone Action!
Yep, the curtain has been pulled open just a little bit more. Today, AT&T and Apple announced what the voice/data plans for the iPhone will be like. All of the plans include unlimited data, which is logical considering that many of the functions of the device are dependent on an inexpensive GPRS/EDGE connection (no word on whether or not this also includes unlimited AT&T WiFi Hotspot access…).
The plans are as follows:
$59.99 / month 450 minutes
$79.99 / month 900 minutes
$99.99 / month 1350 minutes
$119.99 / month 2000 minutes
$169.99 / month 4000 minutes
$219.99 / month 6000 minutes
For each of these plans, you get Visual Voicemail, 200 text messages, roll-over minutes, unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling, and the aforementioned unlimited data. No word on whether you’ll be able to add WiFi, but you can add additional blocks of text messages. Family plans with more than one iPhone and plans for those who already have AT&T voice plans are also available.
Now here’s the fun part - you can just buy your iPhone and run home to activate it rather than having to activate at the store! Activation is done through iTunes! See how to do this with the following video:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/usingiphone/activation.html
Technorati Tags: iPhone
AT&T Store iPhone Display Video
Here’s a YouTube find of what the new displays at selected AT&T stores looks like, and what the video shows… Enjoy!
iPhone Guided Tour Now Available
Do you have “20 minutes or so” to see all of the features of the iPhone? I thought so…
Be sure to visit the Apple website to watch or (like I did) download the video. It comes in small, medium and large online versions as well as the 178 MB download.
-
Joy of Tech!
-
MacLevelTen
