Welcome to Sunday Shopping, a new series where I highlight the week’s most interesting iPhone accessories from the new AppleiPhoneReview.com shop.

Today’s Sunday Shopping installment will highlight a collection of tough iPhone cases, a car mount that doubles as a passive amplifier for your iPhone, a case that also charges your iPhone, and more. All orders in the shop are directed through Amazon.com for the best prices & customer service.

1. Rugged iPhone Cases

First, check out our roundup of rugged iPhone cases, a collection of must-have cases if you are at all worried about damaging your iPhone. Because over 300 readers have written into this blog with stories of cracked iPhone screens, a rugged iPhone case is undoubtedly a wise investment.

I have personally reviewed the Otterbox Defender and can attest to its toughness. In the shop, I have listed 7 iPhone cases that are among the most rugged:

View Rugged iPhone Cases»

2. Kensington iPhone Mount

What sets the Kensington iPhone Mount apart from other car mounts for the iPhone is its Sound Amplifying system, which channels noise from the iPhone’s built-in speaker and outputs it at double the volume. This passive sound amplification requires no battery or cables.

View Kensington iPhone Mount»

3. iMainGo2 Speakers

I have previously tested the iMainGo2 speakers and can vouch for the reliability of this speaker case. It cushions your iPhone and protects it well while blasting music out of small speakers that are surprisingly loud. It’s even got a wrist strap for carrying the speaker case around with you.

The iMainGo2 is also compatible with other portable media devices, including smartphones and iPods. For a more high-tech counterpart to the iMainGo2, see the iMainGo X.

View iMainGo2 Speakers»

4. Mophie Juice Pack for iPhone 4

The Mophie Juice Pack is a unique iPhone case in that it is also an add-on battery for your iPhone. The Mophie Juice Pack is said to double the iPhone’s battery life while also protecting your iPhone.

For such a powerful battery, it is surprisingly slim and won’t add too much bulk to your pocket or purse.

View Mophie Juice Pack for iPhone»

What did you think of this Sunday Shopping installment? Have you tried any of these iPhone accessories? Please feel free to share your opinion in the comments.

Sunday Shopping: Rugged Cases, Sound Amplifying Car Mount, Speaker Case & More is a post from Apple iPhone Review.

It’s talkcast time again, and since it’s also Easter Sunday we expect that some of our usual gang of chatterboxes may be tied up with religious or family obligations (and possibly sleeping off an overdose of Peeps).

With that in mind, we’re not going to worry too much about polishing the agenda or sorting out our topics of conversation ahead of time; if you show up, and there’s something you want to talk about, we’ll talk about it. Rumored MacBook Air refresh? iPhone finally turning white? iOS location leaks and privacy concerns? Apple grabbing the lion’s share of wireless profits? You name it, we’ll tawk.

To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the TalkShoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 PM EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (yay for free cell phone weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 — during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you’ve got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Blink or X-Lite SIP clients; basic instructions are here (if you like Blink, the pro version is available in the Mac App Store). Talk to you tonight.

Talkcast reminder: Holiday edition, 10pm ET Sunday originally appeared on TUAW on Sun, 24 Apr 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Fox affiliate in Charlotte, North Carolina took a closer look at Apple’s new data center in the town of Maiden. The news story and accompanying video is rife with speculation about the intended usage of this 500,000 square foot building.

Once you get past the references for Apple’s supposed “Netflix-Killer” video streaming service, a rumor kicked off by analyst Peter Misek of Jefferies and Company, the video has some shots of the data center and pithy facts about the land Apple occupies.

The short video takes a quick tour of the land around the center and the extensive amount of property that Apple owns. Besides the 180 acres on which the data center sits, the Cupertino company also owns 70 acres right across the street. The data center only takes up one-third of the 180 acre plot, and with over 190 combined acres of land available, some are speculating Apple may be looking to build an East Coast campus.

Locals are certainly enthusiastic about this rumored opportunity. “I’m ready to get the phone call and to proceed with building anything they want,” said Scott Millar, President of the Catawba County Economic Development Corporation. Read on to watch the video from the Charlotte news team.

[Via Apple 2.0/Fortune]

Continue reading Local TV station visits Apple’s data center

Local TV station visits Apple’s data center originally appeared on TUAW on Sun, 24 Apr 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wired is reporting that the US Army has chosen to use an Android-based phone as its first smartphone for US troops. Now in prototype stage, the US Army Android smartphone is called the Joint Battle Command-Platform and will have its SDK released to Android developers in July. Currently, the phone has mapping apps and apps that track where friendly forces are.

It’s really no surprise the US Army opted for an Android phone over an iPhone. Android phones allow the US Army to build their own specific hardware and not rely on a company like Apple for system-level improvements.

Also, a sleek design style doesn’t seem to be a priority for the army as they need smartphone hardware that can take a beating, which a phone like the iPhone or even current Android phones like the HTC Thunderbolt don’t seem capable of. The prototype Joint Battle Command-Platform currently weighs in at two pounds.

It should also be noted that while the US Army is currently testing Android as its smartphone OS of choice, Wired states that could change. However, given Apple’s relatively closed iOS ecosystem it’s hard to imagine the US Army choosing Apple’s platform over other smartphone OS makers.

US Army opts for Android over iPhone originally appeared on TUAW on Sun, 24 Apr 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jonathan Gay works as a project manager for a pre-school in Newton, PA and has created a project he named Art of the iPad. He wanted to see how creative very young kids could be using new technology without the usual prerequisite of training.

Not wanting to use any of the existing art apps for children, Jonathan decided on using ArtRage (US $6.99), a fully featured painting app with a simple interface that includes pencils, brushes, rollers, spray paint and other tools that can create quite realistic painting effects with a swipe of the finger. ArtRage3 is far more than a coloring book and is not geared to use by kids.

In turn, each child, who was given next to no instruction, had a go to see what they could come up with. Jonathan watched the first child. “I watched him scan up and down the device and I watched as a sudden spark lit up the room as soon as the student touched the screen for the first time.” The child was amazed as as “all of a sudden, his finger became a burgundy crayon that produced a line across the page.” The class took to the iPad with no trouble at all and quickly adapted to the idea that their fingers can create.

Children used different tools. They mixed paints to come up with a new colors, some layered paint to build textures and one even used the eraser to create white lines. Art, on a simple level, seemed to transcend age as the children used techniques and styles not usually attributed to their age group.

Continue reading Art of the iPad brings out the creativity of toddlers and tots

Art of the iPad brings out the creativity of toddlers and tots originally appeared on TUAW on Sun, 24 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple’s in-ear bud cords are just like any other — they’ll get tangled up sooner or later. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve stuffed the earbuds in my pocket on the way out the door, only to have to spend a few minutes untangling them when I want to listen to music or podcasts on my iPhone. But this nifty little cord organizer, cleverly called an Applecore, might actually help.

They’re nice and cheap too — the smallest one is only $1.99, and there are two larger sizes for $2.99 and $4.99 in a variety of colors. Of course, you’ll still have to wind and unwind the cables every time you want to use them (which will probably cause a little more wear and tear than just your standard tangling), but an organized cable is worth it, right? And you have to admit, that’s a pretty elegant design. No better way to make your earbud cables stay organized and look good.

[via BGR]

Applecore helps keep your cables organized originally appeared on TUAW on Sun, 24 Apr 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apple has filed a new application for a trademark on the word “Startup,” centering around the category of “[r]etail store services featuring computers, computer software, computer peripherals, mobile phones, and consumer electronic devices, and demonstration of products relating thereto.” Presumably this is for a new program to set up various computers and devices in the Apple Store, though it may be more of an internal procedure than something customers are told about.

Plus, Apple registers lots of trademarks — as with patents, this may just be the company covering its bases on a name rather than laying the groundwork for some super secret program. But given that more and more of Apple’s mobile devices and computers are requiring a little setup to be done in-store, this “Startup” likely has something to do with those procedures.

Apple files trademark for “Startup” retail store program originally appeared on TUAW on Sun, 24 Apr 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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To our readers across the world celebrating the holiday, TUAW wishes you a very happy Easter.

Photo by jmurawski | flickr cc

TUAW wishes you a happy Easter originally appeared on TUAW on Sun, 24 Apr 2011 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PwnageTool 4.3.2 can jailbreak iPhone 4.3.2 untethered. These are the steps to jailbreak iPhone 4.3.2 with PwnageTool 4.3.2. PwnageTool 4.3.2 jailbreak steps are same for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad and iPod Touch 4G, 3G.

PwnageTool will preserve iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS baseband so that you can unlock with UltraSn0w later. Windows users can use Sn0wbreeze 2.6 to jailbreak iOS 4.3.2 untethered on iPhone 4, 3GS, iPad, iPod Touch 4G, 3G.

Jailbreak iPhone 4.3.2 with PwnageTool 4.3.2

Step 1

• Download iOS 4.3.2
• Download PwnageTool 4.3.2
• Download iTunes 10.2.2

Step 2

Open the downloaded PwnageTool.dmg and copy the PwnageTool.app to your desktop and execute it from there;
Hit the OK button;
Now select Expert Mode from the top left side of the window;

and then select your iDevice. Hit the Next button.

Now hit the Browse for IPSW button and select iOS 4.3.2 firmware for your device (downloaded from Step 1);
On next screen, Select General and hit the Next arrow button;
iPhone users:

• Select Activate the phone option if you’re on unofficial carrier.
• Do NOT select Activate the phone option if you’re on official carrier e.g. AT&T.

Keep hitting Next button until you’re back to the same screen where you selected General.
Now Select the Build Option and Hit Next.

PwnageTool will prompt you to select a destination folder to save custom iOS 4.3.2;
PwnageTool will start building your Custom IPSW;
During the build process it’ll prompt you for your admin password.

Step 3

Once the custom IPSW has been built, PwnageTool 4.3.2 will ask you to connect your iDevice to your computer. Once your device is detected, you’ll be instructed to put your iDevice into DFU mode.

• Press and hold the power + home buttons for 10 seconds.
• Release the power button but continue holding the home button for 10 seconds.

Once the iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad is in DFU mode, the follow popup message will appear. iTunes will also pop-up.

Step 4

In iTunes, hold the Alt/Option key and hit Restore. From the popup window, browse to the Folder where you saved custom iOS 4.3.1 and select your custom .ipsw file that you just created and click Open Button. (Make sure you’re selecting custom firmware, Not stock one)

iTunes will now restore the firmware on your iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch. This can take up to 10 minutes.

When done, you have successfully Jailbreak iOS 4.3.2 firmware with PwnageTool 4.3.2.

You can follow us on Twitter, Google Buzz, Facebook, and Subscribed to RSS Feed to receive latest updates.

iPhone Dev Team has released PwnageTool 4.3.2 which is now available for download. PwnageTool 4.3.2 incorporates i0n1c’s iOS 4.3.2 untethered exploit for iPhone 4, 3GS, iPod Touch 4G, 3G and iPad. You can download PwnageTool 4.3.2 from the link below.

PwnageTool 4.3.2 lets you create custom iOS 4.3.2 to jailbreak iOS 4.3.2 on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. PwnageTool also preserves the iPhone baseband so that you can use UltraSn0w to unlock your iPhone.

PwnageTool for iOS 4.3.2 supports the following devices:

• iPhone 4
• iPhone 3GS
• iPad 1
• iPod Touch 3G
• iPod Touch 4G

* There’s no iPad 2 jailbreak out yet because it has an update BootRom.

Download PwnageTool 4.3.2

You can download PwnageTool 4.3.2 jailbreak for Mac OS from the link below:

Download PwnageTool 4.3.2 [Official Torrent] [Mirror]
Download iOS 4.3.2
Download iTunes 10.2.2

Detailed step-by-step instruction will be posted shortly. Stay Tuned!

You can follow us on Twitter, Google Buzz, Facebook, and Subscribed to RSS Feed to receive latest updates.

Sometimes we focus so much on how well the iPhone browses the web, plays games or keeps us on task that we forget that it’s also a phone! As such, shouldn’t there be a few cool apps dedicated to making phone calls?

You’re in luck, today we’ll show you some apps that are aimed at helping you quickly dial friends and family in some really interesting and useful ways.

Add Contacts to Your Home Screen

After four iterations, I can’t believe iOS still doesn’t officially supporting adding specific contacts to your home screen as dedicated icons. It’s a super simple idea and would save us the few extra taps that it takes to open the phone app, go to the favorites tab and locate the person we want to call.

Fortunately, one developer was tricky enough to figure out how to make this common feature request a reality. With Speed.Dial, you simply find the contact that you want to add to your home screen, customize their information and the app will pull up a temporary web page that serves as a link to the contact. As with any web page, you can then save this to your home screen.

Speed.Dial lets you add contacts to your home screen

Now with a single tap, you can call your favorite contacts. It does takes a second longer to dial because Safari has to open and then link to your phone app, but the automated process can still be quicker than manually searching for a contact.

Drag to Dial

If you like seeing your contacts as icons but don’t necessarily want them to clutter up your home screen, check out QuickBins, a free app that is a really nice alternative to a list of contacts.

With Quick Bins, you create icon shortcuts for your favorite contacts. These are arranged in a space that’s almost exactly like your home screen with multiple pages that can be accessed through swiping back and forth. The cool part is that the icon grid is flanked by four bins: one for calling, one for SMS, one for emailing and one for mapping their address.

With Quick Bins, you drag contacts to hotspots to perform certain actions

When you open the app, you quickly identify the person you want to call and drag their icon to the phone box to call them or the SMS box to shoot them a text. It sounds a little clunky but after you’ve used it for a while you start to see that it’s a really efficient system that saves you a lot of taps.

Speak to Dial

Though this will likely be changing very soon, the current iOS really lacks proper voice commands of any kind. Voice dialing was made popular nearly a decade ago so it’s a little surprising that your fancy new Apple device can’t do it out of the box.

Fear not however, there are plenty of free utilities that come to the rescue and even deliver a lot more than simple voice dialing. Currently, Vlingo is one of the best apps available in this category. This impressive tool allows you to not only speak a contact’s name to call them, but perform tons of other actions like sending emails and text messages and even updating your Facebook status completely through speech.

Vlingo performs lots of actions via voice commands

Unfortunately, though Vlingo is free, they charge you for many of the more impressive services like SMS speech to text. Check out Dragon Dictation if you’re looking for a truly free alternative. Dragon isn’t quite as efficient as Vlingo when it comes to sending messages, but it still works quite well.

Draw to Dial

This one is a particularly quirky idea. Instead of remembering numbers or choosing contacts from a list, apps like Speed Dial+ let you create custom gestures that will launch calls to specific people. For instance, you could create a gesture so that when you launch the app and draw a heart, your phone automatically dials your significant other.

Speed Dial+ lets you make calls with gestures

I can’t really see how this makes dialing easier, in fact remembering more than a few gestures would be quite difficult. However, it is one of those apps that is fun for showing off your iPhone. And while you’re at it, you might as well pull out Doodle Dial, which lets you actually dial individual numbers by drawing them.

Doodle Dial lets you draw numbers to dial them

How Do You Dial?

With the apps above you’ll have all kinds of new ways to dial your friends, whether you want something hands-free or gesture-powered.

Leave a comment below and let us know about the interesting phone-dialing utilities you’ve come across and how they stack up to the options above.

This week news outlets all over the U.S. exploded with a juicy conspiracy story: iPhones are secretly keeping track of the location of their users on a minute-by minute basis! (Read about it here)

The gist is that your phone creates a file with this information which is then hidden deep on your computer upon sync. As far as anybody can tell, the file isn’t being transmitted to Apple in any way. If this is true, the only privacy threat then comes from people that know how to access the file and have direct access to your computer. In other words, if you’re cheating on a tech-savvy spouse, you’re bound to get busted (unless you encrypt the data).

Obviously, there are two primary reactions to this information. Some are convinced that Steve Jobs and Obama are huddled in a room watching everything you do, others are taking a “Who cares?” approach because their lives aren’t really that exciting anyway.

Today we want to hear your opinion on the matter. Is this a major invasion of privacy or no big deal? Vote abovet and leave a comment below explaining your vote.

Welcome back to Game Friday, folks!

If you’ve been in withdrawal then I’m happy to report that we have a sweet set of games for you this week. And we miss your recommendations too, so let us know what you’ve been playing this past week after you read.

Hyperlight

Hyperlight

Hyperlight is a beautiful, TRON-like arcade game that both feels and sounds like it should be housed in a real arcade console. Its 2.5D graphics and the fact that it’s on an iPhone bring it to the modern world, but there’s a definite old-school vibe about it.

The best way to get a feel for the game is to jump in and play. The gameplay consists of using the tilt controls to dash about a grid and defeat enemies while collecting power-ups. Tilting past a certain point activates faster-than-light speed, which you’ll need to achieve in order to damage your enemies. It can get pretty claustrophobic and intense if you don’t take care of the baddies quickly, and the smooth and colourful animations make it easy to get lost in the levels, whether you’re playing Arcade or Endless mode.

The arcade-style voice-overs are a bit annoying, and the game could definitely use a more streamlined tutorial system to get you up to speed with what’s going on, but both those issues can be circumvented and don’t ultimately impact the core gameplay, which remains a lot of fun.

Price: $0.99
Developer: CatFishBlues Games
Download: App Store

Monstruction

Monstruction

Here’s an innovative puzzle game. The folks at Molecube have put together an interesting hybrid between a stacking game and a tilt-based system, and the result is Monstruction.

In a beautiful hand-drawn art style, you’re tasked with building a tower and withstanding the assault of one of three amusing “monsters”. In each level, you’ll get a set of building materials and an area that represents the goal of where you must build to. Once you’ve managed to construct your structure (within the time limit, of course), a monster will come to try and topple your design. This is where the tilt controls come in: use them to keep your building balanced and survive the onslaught to win.

It’s easier to grasp when you’re playing, and luckily there’s a nice tutorial to help you get started. The combination of an innovative gameplay mechanic and charming art is a good one, and Monstruction is worth picking up.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Molecube
Download: App Store

Woozzle

Woozzle

If you like your puzzlers brain bending, the Woozzle is your new best friend.

Not entirely unlike Aqueduct and similar route-the-flow type games, Woozzle asks you to direct a series of coloured balls to the correct receptacle. There’s not much more to the core gameplay, but within the first five levels (out of more than 60), it becomes evident that it’s far from a simple game. Keeping track of the colours and paths will test your awareness and challenge you.

All this is wrapped in lovely eye candy, making it a polished package all around. This one has me completely addicted.

Price: $1.99
Developer: Flash Technical
Download: App Store

Grove Keeper

Grove Keeper

Grove Keeper is the strange child of Angry Birds and a tower defines game, clothed in a Zelda-like art style.

Your goal, playing as the magical keeper, is to ward off encroaching armies by making use of various magical deterrents including 6 defensive and 6 offensive spells. You’ll have help in the form of archers and other helpful allies, and you’ll need them because things get challenging as you progress through the 80 or so levels.

Achievements and Game Center support help add some extra incentive to get good scores, and the slick Retina-ready graphics lend some extra sparkle to the art. It’s an unusual combination, but Grove Keeper makes it work, and there’s a lot of content crammed in despite the price.

Price: $2.99
Developer: CGMatic Co., Ltd.
Download: App Store

Chicken Balls

Chicken Balls

Back to bird tossing. Chicken Balls shakes things up by introducing a little more variety to the gameplay with powerups and the powerful Farmaggeddon move.

You play as a single bird too, one with a backstory, and aliens are your enemies. Tormenting the farmyard with their abductions, it’s up to you to bash open their containment pods and release the captured animals. Collecting eggs while you do this will give you access to the Farmaggeddon super-move, which helps you rack up the extra points.

The usual slew of Game Center achievements and OpenFeint leaderboards rounds off this derivative but well polished physics flinger. It’s a fun spin on the formula and worth a look if you’re after some variety in the genre.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Endloop Systems Inc.
Download: App Store

What Have You Been Playing?

While you’re pondering those, drop us a line in the comments and let us know what you’ve been playing and if we’ve missed and sweet games. Keep your eyes peeled for another review next week, and the next Game Friday the week after. Until then, happy weekend!

In this Quick Look, we’re highlighting Unabridged English-Spanish Dictionary. The developer describes Unabridged English-Spanish Dictionary as follows: Beyond any doubt, the largest Business & Finance Translation Dictionary in the market. Over 155,000 entries; over 205,000 translations and 202,000 synonyms. Also includes definitions, usage examples, Spanish verb conjugations of over 9000 verbs. Natural sounding voice in English and Spanish.

Read on for more information and screenshots!

Screenshots

Unabridged English-Spanish Dictionary

About the App

Here are the top five features you can expect to see in the latest version:

• Natural sounding voices in English and Spanish
• Conjugations of over 9,000 Spanish verbs in 17 different tenses
• Thousands of translations and synonyms
• English and Spanish definitions for thousands of words
• Usage examples and quotes for thousand of words

Requirements: iOS 3.2 or better. iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch
Price: $19.99
Developer: Word Magic Software

Vote for a Review

Would you like to see us write a full review of Unabridged English-Spanish Dictionary? Have your say in our poll:

Would you like to see Unabridged English-Spanish Dictionary reviewed in-depth on AppStorm?online survey

Quick Look posts are paid submissions offering only a brief overview of an app. Vote in the poll if you think this app is worth an in-depth AppStorm review! If you’re a developer and would like to have your app profiled, you can submit it here.