Daily Pampering: The $8 million iPhone

by Melanie Nayer on

With every new iPhone there is another option for bling. Now that the iPhone 4 is stocked on Apple’s shelves, it’s time for the designers to make their mark.

Enter: Stuart Hughes, the London-based luxury designers who turns everyday items into works of (pricey) art. His latest masterpiece: the world’s most expensive phone.

The iPhone 4 32GB Diamond Rose Edition cost a total of £5 million (almost $8 million) to construct. The bezel is handmade from rose with approximately 500 individual flawless diamonds for a total weight of over 100 ct. The rear section was created using rose gold and, as an added touch, kept the Apple logo in rose gold with the slight embellishment of 53 diamonds. The phone’s main navigation is made from platinum and holds a single cut 7.4 ct pink diamond. If pink isn’t your color, you can ask to have a rare 8 ct single cut flawless diamond put in its place.

Not just any iPhone case will do. This work of art sits in a chest made from a single block of Granite in Imperial Pink. The inside is with Nubuck top grain leather and weighs massive 7kg (approximately 15 pounds).

Intrigued? You should be. There are only two of these in the world.

Want more? Get your dose of daily pampering right here.

National Parks app comes to the iPhone

by Kraig Becker on

Visitors to America’s national parks now have a new high tech option for learning more about those amazing places. Last week the National Parks Conservation Association released an app for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch that offers up a wealth of information on 50 of the most popular parks in the country, including Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and Yosemite. (For a complete list of the parks covered click here.)

The app is completely free and provides information on the plants and animals that travelers can expect to find in the various parks, including the ones that are poisonous and dangerous, something this always helpful when you’re not sure if your about to step into poison ivy or not. You’ll also find comprehensive lists of threatened and endangered species, as well as a brief history of each of the parks, including great photos from each location as well.

But that’s not all. The app also allows you to find parks that are close to your current location and offers directions on how to get there. It includes information on making reservations at each park, directions on how to find the visitors center, and current news from the park system on featured parks as well.

The field guide app was developed in conjunction with eNature.com, a company with an extensive database of information focused on wildlife. That database has been created by top biologists, zoologists, and conservationists, and contains information on over 6000 different species. That information is now, quite literally, delivered to the fingertips of visitors to the national parks.

There is one caveat to using the app however, as a data network is required to download the information. The iPhone will work where cell service is available, although in more remote areas of the parks that can be spotty at best. iPod Touch and iPad users will need to use wifi, which is available in some visitor centers, to load up their maps and information ahead of time. Keep that in mind when relying on this app to help guide you through the parks.

To download the new app click here.

[Photo credit: NPCA]

Daily Pampering: Fendi iPhone 4 case

by Melanie Nayer on

Your iPhone 4 might have some antenna problems, but at least it’s adorned in the highest fashion.

The folks at Fendi have created a unique case for the iPhone 4, which will debut with the designer’s fall collection. The Fendi iPhone 4 case is made of dark green stamped rubber and not leather, as one might expect, and features the FF logo-embossed throughout.

Details are complimentary to the iPhone 4 measurements: Width of the case is 2.75 inches wide; length is 4.5 inches long. The case allows for the customary cutouts for screen, camera and charging.

The price hasn’t been published for this designer good yet, but you can expect something before your fall travels commence. The Fendi iPhone 4 Case will be available exclusively from Fendi stores worldwide.

Want more? Get your daily dose of pampering right here.


Review: iCam app streams webcam to your iPhone

by Mike Barish on
I was pretty shocked when I read on Gizmodo that a man had used the iCam iPhone app to watch as someone burglarized his home. Not just because the story was so crazy, but because I often wondered what I would do if I witnessed my home getting robbed while using that exact same iPhone app. I’ve been testing the iCam app for several weeks and, while it won’t keep intruders out of your home, it will certainly give you some piece of mind while you are traveling.

The iCam app allows you to monitor your webcam via your iPhone (or iPod Touch) from anywhere so long as you have an Edge, 3G or WiFi signal. Obviously, WiFi is ideal for monitoring the video, but I was surprised with how well it streamed over 3G, as well. You can also enable motion detector alerts which will push notifications to you whenever your webcam senses movement. This is ideal for people wanting to use iCam for home security.

In order to use iCam, you must first download the free software to your computer (available for both Mac OS and Windows) and download the $4.99 app to your iPhone. A very simple setup process links your webcam to your iPhone, allowing you to remotely view your camera feed from anywhere you have a signal.

I tested the app while remotely keeping an eye on my two dogs. iCam allows you to stream up to four webcams directly to your iPhone, so my girlfriend and I set up both of our MacBooks in the bedroom while our dogs stayed behind. Leaving your dogs at home can be stressful, so having the ability to check in on them no matter where we are definitely intrigued us.

When you open the iCam app on your iPhone, you see thumbnail views of every feed that you linked to your phone. In the photo above, you can see our two camera feeds. Tapping on one of the small boxes opens that feed in full screen, as shown here:

Additionally, you can set iCam to take still images of any motion activities that it detects. Curious pet owners will finally see what their dogs and cats do when left alone and victims of burglaries may just have a critical piece of evidence to show to law enforcement officials.

On a few occasions, iCam failed to sync with my webcam. I remedied this once by repeating the initial setup and two other times the situation resolved itself when I closed the iPhone app, waited a few minutes and relaunched it.

Overall, the iCam app is worthy of its $4.99 price tag. It provides piece of mind, shows only a few signs of being infrequently buggy and offers more than enough features beyond just the video streaming to make it both useful and entertaining (at least for people watching their pets while also out with friends).

If you have pets (or perhaps a babysitter that you don’t trust) or want an inexpensive home monitoring system, then iCam might just be right for you.

The iCam app is available in the iTunes App Store and the software for your computer is available on the company’s website.

MoGo announces world’s first iPhone 4 Bluetooth headset/case

by Scott Carmichael on

Earlier this year, we took a look at the MoGo Talk Bluetooth headset/case for the iPhone 3G/3GS. Since then, Apple introduced their newest iPhone, so MoGo went back to the drawing board to develop a new version of this fantastic little case.

The new MoGo Talk XD builds off the design of the original MoGo Talk, with a case designed for the iPhone 4. Of course, the added bonus of a slim case for the iPhone 4 is that it can help prevent dropped calls for those few users that suffer from the iPhone death grip.

The MoGo Talk XD will start shipping September 1st, and costs $99.99. Owners of the original MoGo Talk can upgrade by ordering the Slim MoGo Grip case for just $19.99. The headset and its cases are available at Mogostore.com.