With more than 20 million users of iOS device users around the world, you’re bound to have an iPhone or iPad user on your holiday shopping list. Fortunately, there’s a plethora of gift options for you to choose from. However, that plethora can be a bit overwhelming with literally thousands of choices of cases and other accessories. Here’s a list of my favorites based on my own personal experience and/or that of people I know and trust.
Review queue: Mobee’s Magic Numpad
Part of my day job requires the use of a massive spreadsheet to track a lot of detailed information. It is an essential tool for me to keep track of clients, purchases and a detailed schedule that extends into late 2012 at this point, but entering data into it can get a little tedious without a dedicated number pad on my Apple Bluetooth keyboard.
Why not get a keyboard with a number pad, you ask? I had one – it doesn’t work well for me ergonomically given the design of my desk and my need to have a mouse available for each hand to switch between throughout the day to avoid repetitive motion injuries. If I didn’t do this, my right forearm would be a hot mess of pain every evening, or my left elbow would be screaming biotch by mid-morning.
So, I have a Magic Trackpad for my left hand and a Magic Mouse for my right hand. I switch throughout the day as needed and avoid straining one arm over the other to an extent that would require the use of controlled substances to manage the pain. A keyboard with a dedicated number pad puts one of these too far out of reach for one hand to make this solution work.
At any rate, Mobee Technology has a solution that makes it look like I’ll be able to have my cake and eat it too: the Magic Numpad. It’s a set of stickers to create a virtual number pad on Apple’s Magic Trackpad and software to enable it. Here’s a demo video Mobee created to show how it works:
I preordered it a few weeks ago and I just got a shipping notification letting me know that it’s on its way to me. I’ll post a review of it after I get it and have had a chance to use it a bit. If you have any questions about it, feel free to post a comment here or send me a message using the contact form.
All wrapped up
The SGP Steinheil EX Ultra Fine protector set I mentioned last week arrived and I installed it over the weekend. I’m very happy with it and feel like my new iPhone 4S is well-protected from scratches. It gives it a matte surface on the front and back that resists fingerprints as well. The picture above is of the back of my iPhone 4S with the rear protector installed to give you an idea of how matte it is.
With the protector set installed, my iPhone 4S still fits into my Incipio Feather case and the OEM iPhone 4 dock. It’s thin enough that it shouldn’t interfere at all with most fitted accessories.
My podcast co-host, Chris Meinck, did a thorough review of this exact protector set just a few months ago, which you can see here. That was for the iPhone 4 and the protector set has not changed since then and also fits the iPhone 4S perfectly.
If you’re in the market for a screen protector and/or back protector for your iPhone 4 or 4S -or any other portable device they make these for, for that matter- I definitely recommend this one. You can find it on Amazon here (affiliate link).
Disclosure: This was a personal purchase and was not provided to me as a review unit.
iOS 5 and iPhone 4S tips and tricks
Since iOS 5 and the iPhone 4S were released last week, there have been several tips and tricks posted all over the web that I’ve found useful and I wanted to put these all in one place so you could benefit from them too without having to search high and low to find them yourself.
- Have Siri pronounce your name correctly or call you something else entirely, via TiPB. As I mentioned in this week’s podcast, I have Siri call me “Mistress” (other alternatives I had in mind were too long or, um, not entirely family-friendly for use in public).
- Use Siri to tweet, via Mashable.
- Define contact relationships for Siri (so you can just say “Call Mom” or “Text my husband” and the like), via TiPB.
- Disable Siri when your iPhone is locked to prevent others from using it if it’s lost or stolen, via Business Insider. This is a setting enabled by default and is a potential security issue since anyone could get your personal information by asking Siri “What is my contact information?” or other similar questions even when your iPhone is passcode-locked.
- Change your iMessage caller ID to hide your phone number, via Cult of Mac.
- Enable emoji in iOS 5, via 9to5Mac. Yay! You don’t have to use a 3rd-party app to enable emoji anymore!
- Creating different lists in the Reminders app, via TiPB. The neat thing about this feature is that you can then use Siri to add to these lists. For example, I’ve created a list titled “Shopping” in Reminders and I can just tell Siri, “Please add milk to my Shopping list” and she’ll do it. This makes Reminders far more useful for me beyond reminding me about tasks at specific times and locations.
- A list of Siri commands to add punctuation, special spacing and characters and more to text you dictate, at Crush Apps. You can also download this list to carry around with you if you have the Paperless app (link opens iTunes), which is one of my favorites for keeping lists.
If you’ve come across any other tips you’d like to share, post them in the comments!
Fabrix’s ‘Fifth October’ iPhone case is a tribute to Steve Jobs
I learned about this from Run Around Tech this morning.
I’m not usually a fan of these sorts of memorial items but this caught my eye since it’s being done fairly tastefully. The case is only $10 plus $5 shipping to the U.S. from Singapore (their other cases are regularly $20 – $30) and Fabrix states that they’re not trying to earn any money off of this other than recovering the costs to make it.
It reflects Steve’s penchant for black turtlenecks and jeans without any logos or other gimmicks. I ordered one and will post about it when I receive it.
Check out the original post on Run Around Tech here or go directly to Fabrix’s site to order one here. (Just to be clear, I’m not affiliated with either site and earn nothing for directing you to them or if you make a purchase.)
