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Urinalysis iPhone app draws FDA scrutiny

Rounak Jain — Sat, 25 May 2013 19:18:07 +0000

An iPhone app called uCheck that lets people check the levels of blood, protein, glucose and other substances in their urine has drawn scrutiny from the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration for not acquiring the required clearance before launching the app. The urinalysis app uses standard urine test strips from Siemens and Bayer, but instead of requiring manual inspection, the app itself examines the stick using the iPhone’s camera, and generates automated results. For this it needs a $40 uCheck kit, available from the company’s website. From Bloomberg: Biosense Technologies Private Ltd.’s uChek system isn’t cleared by the Food and Drug Administration and the agency said it wants to know why not, in a first-of-its-kind letter to a maker of a mobile-device application. [...] The agency has said it wants stricter rules for apps that directly diagnose or treat conditions, proposing in 2011 to apply similar quality standards as for heart stents, ultrasound machines and other medical devices. BioSense, the company behind uCheck has said that it intends to “work very closely with the U.S. FDA over the coming months to ensure that we continue to deliver accurate, affordable and convenient diagnostics across the world.” The uCheck app is live on the App Store, and it remains to be seen if the developers will voluntarily pull the app until they get an approval or will Apple yank it from their end. Continue reading →

PowerBar: A charge whenever you need it [Deals Hub]

StackSocial — Sat, 25 May 2013 18:09:24 +0000

Don’t you hate it when you get that warning about battery life while you’re on the go with your smartphone – and there’s no place to charge it in sight? Today’s iPhone Hacks Deals offer has the solution: PowerBar. The PowerBar is small, light and sturdy…all while packing a punch. It’s built of sleek aluminum and is quality assured by Battery On The Go. Whether you’re on a long flight or simply out all day, having the PowerBar means you don’t have to worry about how much charge you have left! This portable charger works great and is built to last and its USB charging feature makes it extremely easy to use. This offer from iPhone Hacks brings the price down to just $39 – but this is a limited time offer. Note: this promo is available to continental USA customers only. Your PowerBar will charge any of the following phones, and it comes with the adapter to fit any of the following brands: Apple iPhones (4, 4S, & 5) Samsung HTC Nokia BlackBerry LG …and several others For all of the technical specifications and other important reminders surrounding this offer, visit the Deals Hub. The PowerBar is also available in three colors: silver, red, and blue. You’ll also get free shipping with this deal, which simply makes it all the better. The PowerBar gives you the charge you need anytime 0- and anywhere – you need. That’s valuable – and that’s what makes this deal such a powerful one. But don’t delay – this iPhone Hacks Deals offer won’t be around for long. Grab the PowerBar from the Deals Hub now and get the freedom to charge how, when, and where you want! Subscribe to our mailing list Continue reading →

App deals Memorial Day Weekend edition: EA, Gameloft games on sale

Rounak Jain — Sat, 25 May 2013 17:14:08 +0000

Many popular apps have gone on sale this memorial day weekend, including a number of games by EA, and official games of movies like The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spider-Man and Avengers. Read on for all the app deals today. EA Sale EA has put a over 55 games in its catalog on sale for $0.99, including hits like Sims 3, Tetris, NFS Most Wanted, FIFA 2013 and more. Head over to EA’s iTunes page to see all its titles on sale. Gameloft Sale Gameloft is having its own sale for the Memorial Day weekend, putting a number of official movie titles on sale. The Amazing Spider-Man: $6.99 -> $0.99 The Dark Knight Rises: $6.99 -> $0.99 Fast Five the Movie: Official Game: $4.99 -> $0.99 Wild Blood: $6.99 -> $0.99 And there are of course other developers who’ve put their apps on sale: WriteRoom, an iPad and iPhone text editor, is down from $4.99 to $1.99 TaskPaper, a to-do lists app, is down from $4.99 to $1.99 Avengers Initiative, a game by Marvel, is down from $6.99 to $1.99 Smart Alarm Clock for iPad, a 4 star rated app, has gone free, down from $0.99 Table Top Racing, a 4.5 star rated game, is down from $2.99 to $.99 These sales will probably continue over the weekend, but it’s best if you grab these now. Continue reading →

Fantastical – a slick replacement to iPhone’s stock Calendar app [Review]

David Gilson — Sat, 25 May 2013 16:00:58 +0000

The built-in Calendar app on iOS does its job pretty well, but if you feel like having a change there are plenty of options out there. One of these is Fantastical. This app gives a simpler interface than the built-in app but doesn’t skimp on functionality. Read on to find out more. Upon first launching Fantastical, you are greeted by a tutorial that shows you how to get around the app with touch gestures. This is something I look out for in all apps because as more app rely on gestures rather than virtual buttons, the user interface becomes invisible – while this is convenient it can also make things inaccessible without a tutorial. If you’ve used Fantastical on the Mac, then you’ll glad to know that Fantastical’s powerful natural language parser has been ported to the iPhone. This means that you can say things like “Meet John tomorrow at 7 pm” and the app will automagically create a calendar event with the appropriate date and time, without having to go through the hassle of setting the date and time separately. The animations are also pretty cool, just like the Mac app, the words fly down from the entry field to the Calendar. Before we go any further in this review, there’s something we should get out of the way. Fantastical does not have a day-view, whereas the built-in Calendar does. Fantastical probably isn’t for you if you rely on that mode. However, keep reading if you are an agenda-view junkie! When you launch the app it displays a scrollable horizontal menu, which Fantastical calls the DayTicker instead of the standard monthly calendar. There are two primary panes in Fantastical. The lower and larger section gives a vertically scrolling list of your Calendar entries. The upper section scrolls horizontally – by default it shows a list of days which coloured bars to indicate the quantity of appointments. However, drag this section down slightly and you’ll reveal a search box, drag it down even further, and the section extends to show a month calendar. Swiping sideways moves from month to month. You’ll find as you scroll through the agenda list that your position in the upper view (either days or month) will adjust accordingly. The reverse is true too; you can use the upper section to move quickly through the agenda view. Fantastical has full access to all the calendars added to your device, which means iCloud, Google, Exchange Active Sync, etc. An area in which Fantastical’s search interface surpasses the built-in Calendar app. Searching in the latter, automatically searches all event fields. However, Fantastical lets you search by title, location, invitees, or all fields. Those tabs allow you to be more specific than the built-in app. Search results come through in (what feels like) real time. A nice touch with Fantastical is that you can set its icon badge to either display the current date or the number of remaining appointments for the day. This is a neat touch and shows the developers are doing their best to match the privileges that the built-in Calendar has. I.e. Changing the icon every day to reflect the date. One of the limitations of Fantastical and any other third-party calendar app, through no faults of their own, is that calendar alerts from iOS launch the stock Calendar app rather than Fantastical. There is also no landscape mode or week view. Fantastical costs $4.99 / £2.99 in the iTunes App store [Download]. It’s on the expensive side, but the natural language parser makes it worth every penny. Examine the screenshots, because what you see is what you get with this app, which I think is a good thing in this case. Continue reading →

iWatch Concept imagines Maps UI

Rounak Jain — Sat, 25 May 2013 14:20:50 +0000

A new concept render by designer Martin Hajek gives us a glimpse of how the Maps app might look like on Apple’s much-rumored smartwatch. Hajek sees the smartwatch, dubbed “iWatch,” as a companion to the iPhone, reflected in his renders of the iWatch. The watch sports an edge-to-edge display that is showing directions to a location. The maps interface hasn’t been ported to the iWatch, but instead displays only the relevant information such as a turn coming up in x meters. While a Maps app may not be the best use case for a smartwatch while driving, it gives a good idea of how the smartwatch could become a second screen for devices like the iPhone and could be quite useful while walking or jogging. Communication could very easily be done between the two devices using the new low energy Bluetooth standard the iPhone already supports. Here are the renders: The watch itself has a curved metal body and a leather strap, which is engraved with an Apple logo. There’s also a front facing camera, a button that most likely is for sleep/awake, and what seems to be a microphone or a very tiny home button. Head over to Martin Hajek’s website for more images. Tell us what you think about the iWatch as well as the companion maps interface in the comments below. HT: iDB Continue reading →

Does each color in Apple’s WWDC logo represent a redesigned app?

Rounak Jain — Fri, 24 May 2013 21:45:05 +0000

Apple’s known to hide subtle clues in its event invites each year, so this year shouldn’t be any different. The WWDC logo this year was a series of brightly colored roundrects stacked over each other. Some folks said that the shape hinted at an iWatch, while others noted that this is a sign of the “flattening” of iOS. However the logo might mean something entirely different. Entrepreneur Joshua Merrill came up with the theory that each colored roundrect in the logo represents a redesigned app. He bases this theory on information about iOS 7′s redesign that leaked out earlier today, which said “each app has a white base with a respective color theme.” What further supports this theory is that iOS app icons are the same shape as the series of stacked objects in the logo. The colors in the invite are pink/purple, green, orange, red, violet, blue, light blue and yellow. Green is known to be associated with Messages or Phone, blue with the App Store or Mail, violet with the Podcasts app, the pinkish purple with the iTunes app and orange with the music app. Your guesses as to what color scheme would each stock app use? (Keep in mind that there might be an entirely new “killer” stock app introduced at WWDC, according to some rumors.) Also see: Did Apple make fun of iWatch rumors in the latest iPhone ad? Continue reading →

Did Apple make fun of iWatch rumors in the latest iPhone ad?

Rounak Jain — Fri, 24 May 2013 20:10:24 +0000

Last night, Apple posted a new iPhone ad titled “Music Every Day” on their YouTube channel, which shows users using their iPhone to listen to music at school, in the shower, at the gym, at a club etc. Folks at 9to5Mac point out that at around the 30th second in the ad, a man tapping on the table while listening to music on his iPhone, is wearing a watch with a large display. If you look closely at the device, it looks like a fake watch. We may be reading too much into it, but it looks like someone at Apple decided to make fun of the iWatch rumors that have picked up steam this year. Continue reading →

Smarter Stand Clips: The world’s most portable iPad stand [Deals Hub]

StackSocial — Fri, 24 May 2013 19:45:02 +0000

The Smart Cover is one of the best iPad accessories on the market but it’s way too limiting as an iPad stand. Today’s iPhone Hacks Deals offer is for an accessory that will take your iPad to new heights…literally. These *Smarter Stand Clips *turn your cover into a fully functional powerhouse that will put your iPad into perfect positions for surfing the web, watching a movie, or chatting with a friend. And for a limited time we’ve got them for just $14.99. (Please note: Promotion available to US customers only and does not include iPad cover or case. This promotion includes 3 Smarter Stand Clips and 3 non-slip pads only.) Here’s what people have had to say about it: “Just the kind of gadget we like: cheap, simple and ingenious.” – Cult of Mac “Turns iPad Smart Cover into smarter cover.” – CNET “Meet Smarter Stand, a new way to hold up your iPad.” – Mashable The key features of Smarter Stand Clips include: 3 new ergonomic viewing angles for the iPad Sleek, minimalist, and easy to use No added bulk but a ton of added functionality The clips live on your Smart Cover so you always have your stand with you when you need it Compatible with iPad Smart Cover, iPad Smart Case, and iPad mini Smart Cover The Smarter Stand Clips are available in both black (click here) and dark grey (click here). You’ll get 1 set of 3 clear Smart Cover clips and 1 set of 3 non-slip pads with your purchase. This offer won’t be around for very long – so get it while the getting is good. Pick up the Smarter Stand Clips from the iPhone Hacks Deals Hub for just $14.99 before your time runs out! Subscribe to our mailing list Continue reading →

Apple drops prices of refurbished iPads

Rounak Jain — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:46:06 +0000

Apple has quietly dropped prices of all refurbished iPad 4 and iPad mini variants on its online store. Refurb iPad mini models now start at $279 while refurb iPad 4 models start at $419. iPad mini 16GB Wi-Fi: $299 -> $279 32GB Wi-Fi: $389 -> $359 64GB Wi-Fi: $489 -> $439 16GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $429 -> $389 32GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $519 -> $469 64GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $619 -> $549 iPad 4 16GB Wi-Fi: $449 -> $419 32GB Wi-Fi: $549 -> $499 64GB Wi-Fi: $649 -> $579 16GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $579 -> $529 32GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $679 -> $609 64GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $779 -> $689 Refurb models now amount to a discount of at least 15 percent on the original price of iPads, and come with a 1 year warranty. Apple notes that all refurb units are tested and certified, and each unit ships with a new battery and outer shell. You can order refurb iPad minis from here, and refurb iPad 4s from here. Also see: Best Buy offering $50 discount on all iPhones Via: MacRumors Continue reading →

Best Buy to offer $50 discount on iPhones from Sunday, May 26

iPhoneHacks — Fri, 24 May 2013 15:52:39 +0000

If you’re planning to buy the iPhone sometime soon, then you may want to hold off until Sunday as Best Buy is planning to offer a $50 discount. AllThingsD reports that Best Buy will be offering a $50 discount on the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 for four weeks starting this Sunday. From AllThingsD: The company is also doing some shorter-term promotions over Memorial Day, cutting the price on several popular but older Android models. From May 26 to June 1, Best Buy is selling Samsung’s Galaxy S III for $49 on AT&T or Sprint, a $50 price cut. Meanwhile, it is offering the HTC Droid DNA for Verizon for $49 ($150 savings) and the HTC One X on AT&T for free (a $100 price cut.) The $50 discount is applicable when you buy an iPhone with a two-year contract. We’re also assuming it will be available across all carriers. Best Buy had offered a similar discount earlier in the year and late last year, but the offers were valid just for a few days. Continue reading →