iLounge

By Charles Starrett

Senior Editor, iLounge
Published: Wednesday, December 2, 2009
News Category: Mix

AT&T and Verizon Wireless have dropped their advertising-related lawsuits against one another. AT&T filed suit against Verizon in early November, claiming that their “map for that” ads were “misleading;” later in the month the company received a setback in the case when the judge denied an initial request from AT&T to force Verizon to pull the commercials from the airwaves. Apple later got involved in the dispute between the two rival carriers in a non-legal manner with a new series of iPhone 3GS commercials highlighting the fact that AT&T’s 3G network allows for data access while on a call, something that Verizon can’t offer due to its different network technology.

ILM research engineer Bhautik Joshi has created the “Phone-O-Scope,” a way of attaching an SLR lens to an iPhone. Joshi’s modification uses a number of components, including magnification lenses from the laser pickup of a CD player, a hard iPhone case, PVC pipe connectors, an old end lens cap, and duct tape. The end result is capable of accepting multiple different lenses, just like an SLR camera, and produces interesting “fuzzy, Holga-like images.” A complete how-to for building the mod is available on Joshi’s site.

EA has announced that it will be bringing its action adventure game Mirror’s Edge to the iPhone. Highlighted in an iLounge Backstage article in May 2008 and subsequently released on PC and home consoles, the game mixes free-running and Parkour-like acrobatics with more common action sequences. While few details are available on the iPhone version, it is known that it will offer a third-person view, 3D graphics, “dynamic camera angles,” and 14 levels. Mirror’s Edge is slated for release in January 2010.

Swedish home retailer IKEA is set to launch an iPhone-formatted version of its 2010 catalog in the U.K. tomorrow, and will actively be seeking feedback on the app. According to text found on the app’s sneak peek YouTube video, the company “plans to quickly improve and develop the app but only in conjunction with customers who choose to download it. Customers are invited to add their thoughts and opinions on how it can be improved, in order to produce an app that works the most intuitively.” Feedback channels are listed on the YouTube video page; the app will be a free download.