Appletell

iPod Touch Hacks may be a site focusing on jailbreaking, but they’ve just compiled a list of built-in tricks of which any iPod touch/iPhone user can take advantage.

Some examples:

• On Safari, while scrolling through a long page, tap the bar at the top of your screen containing the time and battery and Safari will automatically scroll up to the top of the page.
• Double clicking the home button in any application, or with the screen off will bring up the music controls.
• To completely exit an application to save battery power. Press and holding the home button for approximately 5-8 seconds. This will help boost battery life if you run lots of different apps regularly.

My favorite of the bunch is that pressing and holding certain letters in the keyboard will bring up the diacriticals associated with that letter (alas, there is no option for the heavy metal umlaut.

Via [iPod Touch Hacks]

It’s a given fact that everyone—everyone—loves bacon. From your basic breakfast to an apple pie, it simply makes everything better. And now even the wildly popular iPhone is about to be improved through the magic of this wondrous meat, because you can now wrap your iPhone in bacon.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Wrapping my expensive electronic device in a piece of greasy pork fat? That’s insane! Clearly I’d try to eat it!“ Well, that bug has been fixed already; this iPhone carrying case is made of felt that simply looks like bacon!

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As you’ve no doubt noticed, we here at Appletell are big fans of the Ocarina for iPhone, produced by Smule. But we’re not the only ones: the app is, as of this writing, currently the #1 paid application in the iTunes Store.

But can it hold on to this spot, now that it is (gasp) no longer the only Ocarina app available? That’s right, kids, the moment we’ve all been waiting for is now upon us:

Ocarina Wars!

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No one denies that Apple’s been a little control-freaky about the iPhone and iPod Touch; they control the means of distribution for music, photos, video and applications. Furthermore, if they determine that an application is malicious, they can disable it using a “kill switch” embedded in each iPhone/iPod touch sold.

So why not use that technology to kill stolen iPhones?

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I hope you like hearing about the Ocarina application for iPhone, because we here at Appletell are unlikely to shut up about it. The app turns your bleeding-edge-of-tech iPhone into a 12,000-year-old musical instrument, and is quite possibly the most offbeat musical application since Jared.

Wow, that was an unfortunate comparison to make.

Following is a video from Smule (makers of the Ocarina app), showing how you, yes you, can sit around with around $1,000 in hardware and groove to “Stairway.“

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Hard to get more old school than this: Legacy Consumer Electronics has released an Atari 2600 joystick with a USB port.It’s compatible with OS X, Windows, and Linux, and is sure to provide hours of enjoyment until your hands get horrible, crippling cramps from the harsh plastic edges.

But I ask you, who really knew about ergonomics in those days?

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Apple has released version 3.2 of its Safari browser for Leopard (39 MB), Tiger (25 MB), and Windows (19 MB).

The update includes the latest security updates.

Also, “This update is recommended for all Safari users and features protection from fraudulent phishing websites and better identification of online businesses.“

Product [Safari for Leopard, Tiger and Windows]

• More details on today’s Mac OS X 10.5.4 update
• Apple seeds Safari 4 to developers

Agents of Interpol (for iPhone and iPod touch) is a fun, beautifully illustrated game of finding hidden objects, which is marred by frequent crashes.

The laughably ridiculous premise of the game is that you have to help Interpol track down the international criminal known as Dr. Chaos. To do this you have to travel to exotic locales and search them for objects he’s left behind, which will help lead you to the next location. All of which would be fine, except that what you’re looking for isn’t say, a tattered note or a plane ticket, but rather a laundry list of things that would probably be in that location anyway. Find four French flags in the Eiffel tower? Of course! He’s gone to Moscow!

But never mind the backstory; it’s the execution that makes Agents of Interpol (AOI) really shine.

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Apple quietly released an update for the fourth generation iPod nano last night. The update fixes various bugs, including problems with the Nike+ iPod dongle, as well as adding support for forthcoming iPod earbuds with mics and remotes:

Included in the list of updates of this ~58MB update is support for Apple’s yet-to-be-released in-ear headphones with remote and mic, as well as support for the regular earphones with remote and mic. Apple has fixed instability issues when using the Nike+iPod dongle and has added a setting that allows the user to turn off Cover Flow if he or she so chooses.

The update is available when 4G nano owners plug their iPod into iTunes. No word yet on when the new earbuds might become available.

Via [Ars Technica]

• iPod nanos updated to support new in-ear headphones
• 4GB iPod nano keeps popping up
• Appletell review - Clear Harmony Foldable Active Noise Canceling Headphones

Belkin’s long been a quality name for cables and peripherals (esp. on the Mac side), and now they’re introducing a USB 2.0 cable that makes it easier for Windows users to migrate to Mac. The whole kit includes special migration software, with an eye towards transferring Windows files and applications to a Boot Camp (or Windows emulated) computer.

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