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
SuperTooth Buddy
Picked by: Jay
This week, I am opting for an accessory, the Supertooth Buddy. When paired with any Bluetooth-enabled cell phone, the Buddy is a fantastically easy way to upgrade your car. What? Okay, so many new car owners have Bluetooth handsfree technology built-in so a driver never has to remove their cell phone from their pocket or purse. On the other hand, there are more of us without such capability and the Buddy fills that handsfree void (ridiculous promo video here).
After pairing one time, the Supertooth Buddy remembers your phone (up to 6 different phones) and automatically pairs with it (assuming your Bluetooth setting is “on”) and notifies with an audible beep: sometimes I hear it before I even enter the car. The pairing is so “strong” that unless I turn Bluetooth “off,” my iPhone will remain paired when the car is parked in my garage and I’m in the house!
The Supertooth Buddy basically has one button, a Multi-function button, similar to an iPhone. With a single press, it activates Voice Control over your iPhone. While driving, I can press the button on the magnetically attached Buddy, say “Call Natalie,” and respond to the prompt when I hear the iPhone’s female response, “Calling Natalie. Mobile, or Work?” over the loud, though somewhat tinny-sounding, speaker. When talking aloud like that, I feel as if I’m in a new car commercial (and I used to have mobile minutes using OnStar).
Nobody has ever complained about the sound on their end of a conversation, so my conclusion is that the microphone and settings are powerful enough to stifle background noise and appropriately amplify my voice on a call. The sound on the Buddy itself is louder than one would think for such a small device clipped to the sunvisor.
Worth mentioning is also the enormous amount of battery life this little device has! I have used it for a few months now, and have only charged it with the provided USB cord and car charger about 5 times. I am stunned at how efficient this little handsfree partner is.
I knew I was in love with the device on that rainy day, with my iPhone wedged in my pocket, when I entered in the car and my phone rang over the Buddy’s speaker. Instead of splattering water over myself trying to franfind a place for my umbrella and frantically extracting my phone, I simply pressed the Buddy’s Multi-function button and began to effortlessly hold a conversation while I continued to get in the car. Ahh… nice.
($59.95) Amazon.com
Editions by AOL (v1.1.3)
Picked by: PatrickJ
I know, who the heck would expect a decent iOS app from AOL right? I sure didn’t when I first saw this one mentioned – but I gave it a look when it first hit the App Store and I’ve been reading it just about every day since.
Editions is a daily magazine for the iPad, and another iPad-only title (no universal app as yet and no print edition). It’s not as beautifully designed as Flipboard but it’s got a nice enough UI and is easily and highly customizable to your own tastes.
You can connect it to your Facebook and Twitter accounts, add topics of interest by using keywords, and add sources / sites. It will auto-populate the name of big, well-known sites (Engadget and the like) but you can suggest sites to it as well and it gives you back a message saying the Editions team will look into adding it. Articles have tags (keywords) – you can tap on any of them to let the app know you’d like to see more on that topic, or hit an X to indicate those you don’t care to see more of.
The app has 16 sections covering areas like Top News, Technology, Sports, Business, Entertainment and more. You can decide which of these you want in your editions and you can choose the order in which they appear. So, for instance, I’ve got mine showing me Technology first, then Local News, then Sports, and so on.
(Free) iTunes Link
Agenda Calendar (v1.3)
Picked by: Thomas
Agenda for iPhone is an interesting alternative to the default calendar app. It’s fast, bold, and its text-centric design and the way you simply flow from one screen into another reminds me a bit of the Metro design on Windows Phone 7. Agenda focuses mainly on its infinite scrolling list view for displaying your events, but there are also other perspectives (month, day, and a week mode in landscape) accessible from within the app.
If you find the default calendar app has a little too much chrome around it, or if you like apps that are big and bold when it comes to quickly displaying your calendar events, then Agenda is well worth a look.
($0.99) iTunes Link
Currently on Sale! (normally $1.99)
Björk: Biophilia (v1.1)
Picked by: AliciaB
Having seen a great performance by Björk on TV last week (her famed Voltaic concert in Paris) I felt compelled to download out her Album app, a groundbreaking experience for the senses and indeed a pioneer oeuvre for musicians for the mobile platform. I’ve long respected the Icelandic songstress, not only for her impressive vocal range but also for her fearless and fun experimentation. She brings her music and attitude to the iPad and iPhone through the Biophillia app. This is my pick this week.
Biophillia is an interactive app like you have not experienced before. It begins with words – narrated by David Attenborough, explaining that Biophillia is a story of nature, music and technology. A whole universe opens itself up and you are invited to explore, prompted to swipe, pinch, tap, touches that all initiate and open up new adventures of multimedia, art and music. You quickly discover that songs and titles are like planets, representing a world (and an app) of their own. Many of them of “coming soon” but the app does comes with one for free, and lots of eerie previews. The app is extremely well-done, hands down and surprises with its quirky, cosmic tones, twists and turns. There’s enough there to keep you curious for a while, and more than enough promise to whet your appetite for what’s coming soon. Although quite heavy (weighing at 229 MB) it’s definitely worth your while.
Biophillia is available on the App Store for free; in-app purchases are voluntary but hard to resist.
(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.
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