Picks of the Week
Welcome to our weekly installment of Picks of the Week at iSource where we provide our expanded coverage of Apple accessories and applications Here we will promote our favorite iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac and Apple TV related items, as well as bring you occasional tips and tricks. Hopefully many of our favorite items will also be of interest to you. Please feel free to comment on our selections, and suggest picks of your own. Check out this week’s picks after the break
Verbal Victor (v1.0.1)
Picked by: PatrickJ
I haven’t used the app myself because I don’t have a need for it, but just for its wonderful back story and purpose I think it’s well worth a mention. It’s an app developed by the father of a disabled child – with the aid of some of his students at Wake Forest University and input from special education teachers and speech therapists. It serves as a communications tool for those with communications and developmental challenges.
It looks very well done and highly customizable for parents and therapists.
($6.99) iTunes link
Powermat Wireless Charging System for iPhone
Picked by: Thomas
My pick of the week is a semi-recycled one because I’ve reviewed it before: the PowerMat case for iPhone. There are versions for the iPhone 3GS ($60 — currently $30) and iPhone 4 ($60), and although the iPhone 4 casing is definitely *much* slicker, the convenience and cool factor for both products is ridiculously high.
I tend to cycle between cases pretty often (partly because of review units and partly because I’m vain), but I often find myself returning to the Powermat case because a) it actually is a surprisingly good looking case and b) there’s nothing like simply placing my iPhone down on my desk to charge it.
Other cases may feature built-in batteries or kickstands or even keyboards, but it’s really only Powermat that provides me with that “oh my god, the future is now” brand of geeky glee.
Powermat (iPhone 3G & 3GS) (iPhone 4)
mophie juice pack plus
Picked by: Brandon
My pick of the week is only to one up Thomas’ in the case department. Sure the PowerMat for the iPhone may have that “the future is now” geekness to it, but the mophie juice pack plus for the iPhone 4 has that “I’ll still be running when your future actually gets here” geekness. Power in excess is pretty much all you can say to sum up this bad boy. Thomas still has to deal with the end of the day power blues – you know the ones – when you really want to sit down in the evening and spend some quality time with Real Racing or Netflix, but you know the only way that is going to happen is if you set your iPhone down on the PowerMat for a while and go clean the bathroom while you wait. Well, the mophie packs a 2000 mAh battery in it’s (slender but not slim 2.5 oz – 0.71 inch frame) which will happily keep you going for 7 extra hours of 3G browsing or a staggering 44 hours of music. I’ve been using mine for a couple weeks now, and I can honestly say that I don’t worry about having juice anymore.
So its your choice: “super slick charging” or “charging is so last millennia”.
($99.95) www.mophie.com
TiltShift Video (v1.3)
Picked by: AliciaB
I begin my recommendation with a warning that this app is for photo geeks among us who like to experiment with different photo and video techniques and effects. So you may not understand the fascination with this kind of effects app which are a dime a dozen on the App Store. TiltShift Video does what its name says and applies a tilt/shift effect to videos and photos – making them seem like miniature scene or giving them a toy-size-like look. The app lets you apply the effects in a series of stages. Select image or clip, then adjust saturation and/or contrast, then adjust blur (choosing smoothing, angle or focal point) and voilà – it’s saved to your camera roll. If you are into effects, especially into tilt/shift – you have to try it!
TiltShift Video is available on the App Store for €1.59/$1.99.
($1.99) iTunes link
Meebo (v1.4)
Picked by: Renkman
While considering what might be a good pick this week, I decided to take a look at the apps currently in my multi-tasking dock, since these are apps that I have recently used. There I found Meebo, a great messaging app that works with just about every instant messenger network you could ever think of like. All of the major ones are included—
AOL/AIM
Yahoo!
Windows Live Messenger
Gmail/Google Talk
MySpace and over 100+ more
Some notable features include, push notifications (with app open or closed as long as you are signed in), searchable chat history, clickable web links, and the ability to open or close previously created buddy lists. Meebo works with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad running iOS 3.1.3 or later.
(Free) iTunes link
There you have it! Hope you enjoyed this week’s installment of Picks of the week. Please let us know what you think, and share with us some of your favorites.
Continue reading:
- Everything New Apple Just Announced (Septembe
- Apple Watch Pre-Order
- Apple Research Kit launches with 5 Apps
- Apple TV now only $69
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