We have seen various ways people are mounting camera add-ons to their iPhones, but the Factron team seems to be making the coolest looking bits.

…they’ve truly outdone themselves with their new iPhone case, which not only boasts some stylish, rangefinder camera-esque looks, but a complete set of interchangeable (presumably functional) lenses. Those include fish eye, wide-angle, and close-up lenses, which range in price from $15 to $55, while the case itself will set you back a full $200. Quite a bit to pay for a case, to be sure, but a veritable bargain compared to the $800 that some of the group’s previous cases have fetched. Hit up the gallery below for a closer look.

[Via KSU]

I have friends who wouldn’t get an iPhone because it didn’t allow them to access their SlingBox, well the wait is finally over.  Apple (and AT&T) just approved SlingPlayer Mobile for the iPhone.  Starting tomorrow you can download the SlingPlayer iPhone application for a whopping $30.

The only (huge) catch is that you will only be able to access your SlingBox via a Wi-Fi connection, not the 3G network.  Boo on AT&T. I can’t wait until the iPhone is available on Verizon (assuming they won’t be bandwidth punks as well)!

[Via]

Today Apple announced the following changes of the iPod line.

 iPod Nano
The iPod Nano will come in new colors (Bright blue, purple, orange, green, pink, etc…) and will come with the cool motion sensor.  Just shake the mp3 player to activate the shuffle mode.  The Nano’s will now be in 8GB and 16GB sizes (instead of 4GB and 8GB)… the best part is they are matching the lower capacity pricing.  This is the thinnest iPod made to date and has a curved aluminum case and a curved glass screen.  24 hours battery life for music and 4 hours for video.

iPod Classic
Apple is getting rid of the 80GB and 160GB sizes and will only have one size of the classic iPod which will be the 120GB.  The new 120GB will sell for $249.

iPod Touch
The iPod touch will have the same size configurations 8, 16, and 32GB, but will have a new case design.  Similar to that of the iPhone (rounded edges).  This unit will be thinner than the last and will have the contoured stainless steel design.  Integrated volume controls and a small speaker squished into the end of the player.  The unit now comes with Nike+ built in (very cool).

Doug Field, a driving force at Segway, is calling it quits and heading over to Apple where he will be the VP of Product Design.  Is Apple getting into wheeled gadgets… or is Doug trying on a new hat?  Either way, umm I really don’t care.

“So word on the street (literally) is that a large number of people are queuing in line outside of Apple’s flagship store on 5th Avenue in New York City (see above) — keep in mind the Cube is open 24 hours a day. Our intrepid girl-on-the-scene reports that the group is more than 60-deep, though most people seem confused about what they’re waiting for, while some believe they’re actually camping out for a 3G iPhone. Meanwhile, Apple reps tell us they’re crowd-controlling iPhone buyers because otherwise they would be “screaming” at employees and clogging up the store. See what happens when you get short on stock? More pics after the break.”

[Source]

Something weird is going on… first I noticed that the iPhone “Add to cart” button was missing from the Apple UK Store… Now it is listed as “unavailable” at the US Apple Store. Looks like the 3G rumor will be full steam ahead when folks wake up. I can’t wait for my 3G unit.

:*******UPDATE 2:30AM PST:*******

Either I am going crazy from lack of sleep… but every time I hit refresh the US Apple Online Store keeps changing. Now the “add to cart” button is missing in addition to the fact that it says “unavailable”. Now I am confident that it is not a boo-boo.

Not sure what to think of this one, but Apple rarely tends to make mistakes. The UK Apple Store no longer has the “add to cart” button on just the iPhone’s. I am just speculating here… but if they are stopping the direct sales of iPhone’s then they may be getting ready to launch the new iPhone a bit earlier?! Or they just messed up? Will wait and see.

AT&T is offering free WiFi at their hotspots (Barnes and Noble, Starbucks, etc…) for iPhone users after you enter your phone number for validation.  The mischievous part of all of this, is that anyone with an AT&T account can access the free WiFi if they just switch their browser’s user agent to Mobile Safari.  Seems like a simple enough hole to plug so don’t expect this free internet to last for too long.  You could always create your own since data plans seem to be going unlimited in a hurry using this bad boy.

It seems like many of the new smartphones are making a full circle back to the old ways of the PDA units. Back when Palm, Inc. was starting on it’s great PDA revolution with touch screens and gray scale PDA units one of the big things that set them apart was the touch screen. Many of the other companies during that same time had a small keyboard or had software you used on the computer to download info into the pda because they had no screen input. As time went on and the PDA’s turned into SmartPhones the split started with many phones shifting to half of them made with no touch screens and the other half with touch screens. Then around 2005/2006 we started to see a shift to more smartphones going with no touch screens and others using either dials, wheels or QWERTY keyboards instead. In late 2006 there were very few companies that had smartphones with touch screens and some that had both a touch screen/QWERTY keyboard combo. During this same time frame we also started to see the smartphones get much smaller.

June 29th 2007 a major change was made or was it? Apple introduces the iPhone with a touch screen… "Revolutionary" was the coined phrase but was it really that big of a jump in technology or just a better mousetrap of a touch screen? Now do not get me wrong I have been in the PDA/Smartphone business since 1997 and agree that the iPhone is a great smartphone, but I think Apple marketed a better phone than what was currently on the market with implementing some existing cutting edge technology. Until the iPhone the smartphones were getting smaller and smaller but the iPhone is a large phone compared to most. Touch Screens were on the way out and software/browsers were struggling to meet the demands of the users before the iPhone. So Apple took the missing elements and made them a little better with what was on the market at that time. They made a better touch screen, browser and the software… well I think the software still needs some work but hey 2 out of 3 is very good for their first phone. There are a few other things that need to be pointed out like the fact that HTC has a phone called the "Touch" which has the same technology as the iPhone screens but was out well before the iPhone was released. Also for business people like myself RIM Blackberry phones with the addition of the trackball with QWERTY are great smartphones to type quickly with and for long emails but lack the browser of the iPhone. Rumor has it that RIM is working on a touch screen blackberry for their next generation of units.

So it seems that we can take some notes from the old PDA’s that many of us started with and the world of smartphone technology goes around in a loop just with some nice upgrades. I realize that there are many other advances in technologies that have come out with smartphones but one of the main focuses is always on the screen technology. I sure hope the next move is to not bring back the grayscale technology and implement that as a revolutionary idea.

Looks like the previous images of the rumored 3G iPhone pictures are fake.  The picture, which is the back of the iPhone, is of a protective case made for the current phone.  The case is being sold at "New Golden" in Hong Kong, and is named "colourware".  Damn the rumors.

[Via Boygeniusreport]