Insurance For iPhones

HzO has finalized its “WaterBlock” technology and it debuted last week at the Consumer Electronics Show. This waterproofs your phone and allows it to be fully functional while in any kind of liquid. According to a post on PCWorld.com, “the technology isn’t intended for prolonged exposure under water, rather as a way to protect products when they’re accidentally dropped in the toilet or the bath, for instance. But the demonstration showed that the devices can, in fact, keep running for hours when submerged, and the company says they can safely be used while lounging in the pool or in the rain.”

The waterproofing process uses a vacuum chamber that sucks all of the air out of the device, and then pumps in a gas that seeps into the device. The gas has a waterproof material that rests on all the inside surfaces, which gives it a very, very thin protective coating. So, instead of this being a waterproof case that goes on the outside of the device, the inside of the device is waterproof.

Check out the video below to see the demonstration!

The Ful Powerbag Messenger is a laptop bag that can charge your wireless devices while you’re carrying them. It has ports to charge your laptop (up to 16 inches), smartphones, and tablets. It can charge two devices at once and has enough extra charge to power up a standard smartphone to full charge two times. A button on an outside pouch turns the bag on, and it also can tell you how much power the bag has left when tapped once.

The bag includes Micro-USB and Mini-USB output cables needed to charge most smartphones and the Apple connector output needed to charge every generation of the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone.

It’s for sale in black and grey for $111.99 on Amazon.com.

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Most people can’t go more than a day without their iPhone battery dying. Recharging it is something that can prove to be a bother, especially when you don’t really have time to wait for your battery to be charged enough to talk or text. Apple is currently working on solving this problem.

They have recently submitted applications for patents to create new batteries for their upcoming products. The company hopes to use hydrogen fuel cell batteries, which are lighter and will last longer without having to be recharged. Using Hydrogen batteries would not only eliminate a big, bulky battery, but it would also help the environment. By switching from standard batteries to hydrogen, the by-products would only be water and electrical energy. One of the patent applications describes a “fuel cell system which is capable of both providing power to and receiving power from a rechargeable battery in a portable computing device. This eliminates the need for a bulky and heavy battery within the fuel cell system, which can significantly reduce the size, weight and cost of the fuel cell system.”

Apple has released the new iOS 5 operating system for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. They have added over 200 new features for this update. Here are just a few:

• Notification Center: You can get notifications from so many different apps- and it’s so annoying when you’re in the middle of something and a notification comes up on your screen and interrupts what you were doing. Well now, with the new notification center, you won’t have to worry about that anymore. With iOS 5, when you receive a new notification, it shows as a banner at the top rather than in the middle of the screen (unless you like it that way- you can choose in Settings). Also, when you decide you want to look at your new notifications, all you have to do is swipe down from the top of any screen and you’ll enter the Notification Center.
• iMessage:This is a new messaging service that allows you to send unlimited messages to any other iDevice that is running iOS 5. iMessage is built in to the messaging app, so you can send anything you would normally be able to send with your iPhone- texts, pictures, videos, and more! You can track the messages you send, and you can even start a conversation one one of your iDevices and finish the conversation on another.
• Newsstand: With this new feature, you can have all your subscribed newspapers and magazines in one place. You even get notifications when a new copy hits your newsstand. There’s also a new section of the app store dedicated to magazines and newspapers just for this app.
• Reminders: Here is a great app for all of you who can’t remember anything (like me). The reminders app allows you to make lists of things or have reminders that show the date they need to done. And get this- reminders can be location-based, which means that if you put in your reminders list not to forget to buy milk when you go to the grocery store, you’ll get an alert as soon as you pull in to the parking lot of the grocery store.
• Twitter: Sign in to Twitter one time in Settings, and you’ll be able to tweet from just about anywhere! You can tweet from Safari, Photos, Camera, YouTube, or Maps. It’s just that easy.
• Camera: With the new camera features, you’ll be able to take pictures more easily and quickly. If you’re in a hurry to take a picture, all you have to do is press the unlock button at the top and the camera is available from the lock screen. You now can also take pictures using the volume up button.
• Photos: With iOS 5, you can edit the photos you’ve taken. You can eliminate red-eye, crop a photo, or auto-enhance a photo. You can even organize your photos into albums right from your device.
• Safari: iOS 5 has new safari features, as well. Reading List is one of them. All you have to do is tap the Action button while Safari is open and tap Add to Reading List. All the interesting websites you wanted to look at earlier in the day, but you just didn’t have time, are all waiting for you in the Reading List. Safari now has tabbed browsing for iPad, just like on a computer.
• PC Free: This one is pretty amazing to me. You no longer have to have a computer to set up or update your iDevices. You can download software updates and do more with your apps all without using a computer.
• iCloud: iCloud takes your music, photos, and everything else and wirelessly puts them on your other devices. Anything you do one one device will automatically go to the others. How handy.

This list is just a few of the new features for iOS 5! Go to Apple’s website to check out more. And remember- if you need insurance for any of your devices, be sure to check out Worth Ave Group’s policies!

The FBI has just released an app called Child ID. This app would come in handy if you child would ever happen to be missing. According to an FBI press release, the app “provides a convenient place to electronically store photos and vital information about your children so that it’s literally right at hand if you need it. You can show the pictures and provide physical identifiers such as height and weight to security or police officers on the spot. Using a special tab on the app, you can also quickly and easily e-mail the information to authorities with a few clicks.”

This app not only holds important information about the user’s child or children, it also gives a list of tips that you could follow if your child goes missing. Hopefully you’ll never have to use this app, but this app could save precious time if your child disappears.

The Child ID app is available for download here for free.

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For just $1.99, you can have one of the greatest tools to help you quit smoking! A new iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad application is available that can aid you in this difficult process. The app, Quit Forever, was created by the University of Tennessee Health Science Center based on other stop-smoking programs that the developers know are successful.

When you download the app, it first asks you if you’d like to quit smoking cold turkey or if you would like to quit gradually. It then asks what day you want to quit smoking. After that, depending on how you’re quitting, the app will make you a schedule of how many cigarettes you can smoke per day (if any) and gives you a list of things you need prepare yourself for, like tension and cravings. The app also helps smokers identify triggers and provides information on medications that will help you quit, and it also provides the numbers of free smoking hotlines.

You can look at the app online here.

Pampers has just come out with a new app for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. It’s called Hello World Baby Memories and it encourages you to take a picture of your child one time every day so you can eventually see a slideshow video of how your child has grown. You can put these pictures and videos up on Facebook and other social media sites. You can download this app for free from the app store here.

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If you’re planning on attending the WWDC, you should download a free app that Apple has just released that tells you the schedule and events of WWDC 2011. According to a MacWorld article, the app “contains a full schedule and the location of all sessions, labs, and official after-hours excitement; you can create your own customized schedule by favoriting the events you wish to attend, and even book time in advance to speak with an Apple engineer at one of the User Interface, App Review, iTunes Connect, Program Support, or Developer Publication labs.” You can download it and use it on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, but unfortunately, if you’re not going to be at the conference, the WWDC app isn’t available for download. If you’ll be there, though, be sure to check this app out!

A new iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad app was released on Tuesday called Dano Pirate & The Numbers. It’s an educational app and it helps children learn many math- and writing-related things.

The app helps children:
- Write by having them trace the number 1-9
- Read by having them choose what number they hear
- Understand sequences by filling in missing numbers
- Understand quantity by matching objects with the
..corresponding written number

There are 20 games in the app that help the children with each of these things. An article on sfgate.com says “In one of the mini-games, children must identify and tap on a number to help Dano through a maze to reach Julia the Princess. In another, players match the quantity of a set of objects by tapping the correct number. In another, the player must guide Dano across a pond by tapping on numbered islands in the correct sequence. As the game advances, players are asked to help Dano by counting backward.”

The app is available at the App Store for iPhone and iPod Touch for $1.99 and on the iPad and iPad2 for $2.99.

A brand new app just hit the app store earlier today. It’s called RoadAhead and it can tell you what restaurants, gas stations (and their prices!), and other attractions are coming up at exits when you’re driving on the interstate. The app uses the GPS to determine what interstate you’re on and what exits are coming up. When you select one of the options on the list, the app will show you the address and a zoomed-in map of the option you select so you can find where you want to go easily. It’s available for free for your iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad so go to the app store and download it now!

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