Choosing a Bluetooth earpiece can be difficult. You want one that will work seamlessly, as well as look good, and the options out there don’t always combine those factors in an affordable package. Plus, who wants to have the same earpiece that everyone else has? The creative team behind Earloomz saw this challenge and rose to the occasion, designing a Bluetooth earpiece with style and functionality all wrapped up in one. With hundreds of designs to choose from, you’re sure to find one that will suit your personality. Each image is mechanically painted onto the earpiece and finished with a moisture resistant coating, guaranteeing quality and durability.

Each Earloomz earpiece comes with 2 earhooks and 4 earbuds as well as a lanyard holder so you always have it handy. Compatible with most mobile phones, set-up is a breeze and took less than a minute when I paired mine. Multipoint technology allows you to stay connected with 2 devices at once, and the earpiece has a range of 33′. Headset controls include call/answer, last number redial, and call waiting, all in one button. Keep reading for technical specs of the earpieces, contest details, and information about Earloomz campaign for a national Hands-Free Initiative.

Technical Specifications:

• Bluetooth Version v2.1+EDR
• Headset & Hands Free Profiles
• Rechargeable Lithium Polymer Battery
• Video Game Compatible
• Voice Prompt
• Connects To Two Phones
• Noise Reduction
• Weight: Approx. 10g
• Talk Time: 5 Hours
• Standby Time: 120 Hours
• Charging Time: 30-60 minutes
• Dimensions: 53[L] x 18[W] x 9[H] mm

Earloomz is asking consumers, car dealerships, cellular phone retailers, non-profit organizations, corporations, small business owners, medical professionals, and municipalities to join the campaign “Be Aware” and encourage anyone that is mobile to go hands-free – regardless of state laws. Whether, it’s encouraging someone to use a Bluetooth that conveys a personal interest, requiring an employee to wear a custom logo Bluetooth while driving a company vehicle, or setting an example for a child, Earloomz is helping keep cell phone users hands-free.

Contest: Earloomz is giving away two Bluetooth earpieces to iMore readers! The first thing you’ll want to do is head over to their website at the link below. Check out all the designs (there are a lot, approximately 400!), then come back here and leave a comment letting us know which one is your favorite. The contest ends Sunday at midnight PST. Good luck! (Please note, the contest is only for Bluetooth earpieces on Earloomz that retail for $59.99.)

More information/check out all the designs at Earloomz

“The OverBoard waterproof case for iPad is a must-have for everything from the bath to the beach, but can be a little tough to close if your hands are covered in suds or tanning lotion.”

I absolutely love waterproof cases like the OverBoard for when I’m traveling. They work exceptionally well to keep your iPad or iPad 2 clean and dry, and can double as a handy place to store some cash and credit cards as well. They also work great at home, letting you enjoy a relaxing soak in the tub while reading, surfing the web, or playing your favorite iPad game.

OverBoard for iPad has a crystal clear front. Seriously, it's screen-protector clear.

The OverBoard waterproof case for iPad is exceptionally clear on one side and padded on the other. It might be nice to have it clear on both sides, so you could use the rear-facing camera for when you’re out and about. However, when you realize beaches, bathtubs, hiking trips, rafting excursions, and pretty much any place you’d like to use it is also not a place you’d want to drop it, you start to appreciate the padding more.

The handy hand strap lets you hold your iPad one handed, reducing the chance of it slipping out of your grip

To further protect against dropping your iPad, the OverBoard case has a hand strap conveniently located on the back. Not only does this let you easily use your iPad one handed, but if you are in the bathtub, it leaves the other hand free for a beverage as well. Decadent, but oh so worth it!

Now, the closures on this particular OverBoard case were more difficult to line up and seal than previous ones I’ve reviewed. Take your time, align everything carefully, apply sufficient force (use those guns, bikini chicks!), and you should be okay.

You can choose to use the OverBoard by itself, which is ideal for the bath, or you can use the included shoulder strap — water-murse, anyone? — or carabiner if you’re traveling or hiking.

To see how well waterproof cases in general, and the OverBoard in specific hold up to everything from the deep end of the pool and a car wash to a dishwasher and RC boat race, check out these torture tests;

• TiPb TV 20: Bond boat bash
• Overboard vs Aquapac in iPhone 4 water torture test

The good

• Crystal clear plastic on the front
• Protective padding on the rear
• Hand strap for one-handed use
• Shoulder strap and carabiner options

The bad

• Requires a little too much strength to close
• Padding covers up rear camera

The conclusion

The OverBoard waterproof case for iPad is a must-have for everything from the bath to the beach, but can be a little tough to close if your hands are covered in suds or tanning lotion.

- $44.95 – Buy now

The giveaway

Simply leave a comment below telling us where you’d most like to use an OverBoard waterproof case for iPad of your very own! Giveaway starts now and ends Sunday, February 5 at midnight PT. (U.S. shipping address required for delivery. Sorry!)

“The Incipio Hive Honeycomb dermaSHOT Silicone Case for iPad 2 looks interesting and feels great but it doesn’t fit exceptionally well around the edges, ruining the overall affect.”

The first thing you’ll notice about the The Incipio Hive Honeycomb dermaSHOT Silicone Case for iPad 2 is the look. It’s covered in more hexagons that a Dungeons & Dragons map. This honeycomb texture isn’t superficial either — it’s thick and structural and designed to absorb shock and keep your precious iPad from being hurt by accidental bumps or drops.

The hexagram design will stand out from a crowd -- if that's what you want!

The hexagons are a bold look for Incipio, something you’re either going to love or hate. I like that they’re taking risks and doing something different.

The feel is wonderful. The Incipio Hive Honeycomb dermaSHOT Silicone Case for iPad 2 is soft but not slippery or slimy. It almost feels like it’s been covered in baby powder, but that’s probably just the anti-static coating.

The major flaw in the design, however, is that the Incipio Hive Honeycomb dermaSHOT Silicone Case for iPad 2 is too soft to stand up to the long vertical edge of the iPad 2. It lacks both the elasticity to stay tight and the structure to keep position. And so the Incipio Hive Honeycomb dermaSHOT Silicone Case for iPad 2 hangs from the mid-point and makes me feel like it could just slide off at any moment. I don’t know if the case is too big or they just need a better material.

The same material that makes it soft and easy to put on also makes it more difficult to stay on

On the bright side, the Incipio Hive Honeycomb dermaSHOT Silicone Case for iPad 2 comes in black, red, and gray, slips on and off easily, and exposes all the ports. It also comes with screen cleaner and a screen protector to keep the front safe and sound.

The Good

• Excellent grip
• No stickiness
• Screen protector included

The Bad

• Side edges aren’t snug enough
• Highly distinctive look

The conclusion

The Incipio Hive Honeycomb dermaSHOT Silicone Case for iPad 2 looks interesting and feels great but it doesn’t fit exceptionally well around the edges, ruining the overall affect. It was just too loose.

• $29.95 – Buy Now

The giveaway

Simply leave a comment below telling us how the Incipio Hive Honeycomb dermaSHOT Silicone Case for iPad 2 could make your life easier and you’re entered to win one of your very own! Giveaway starts now and ends Sunday, February 5 at midnight PT. U.S. shipping address required for delivery.

Got a new iPad, and still not sure of all the ins and outs that come with it? Or, are you in charge of your company’s iPad rollout and puzzled over how to get everyone trained easily and efficiently? Made Simple Learning has compiled 65 video tutorials for your iPad/iPad 2 with topics ranging from what the buttons do, to battery life tips, typing tips, and tons more. They can deploy videos to your servers behind your firewall, and to your mobile device so you can view them while on the go. They offer multiple licensing options to fit your needs:

• $39 Standard – 1 user view on your computer for up to 1 year
• $49 Deluxe – 1 user view on your computer & ipad for up to 1 year
• $1,295 Corporate – unlimited users – install on one server
• $3,395 Enterprise – unlimited users – install on multiple servers

Giveaway

Courtesy of Made Simple Learning we have 3 Deluxe licenses to give away this week. To enter, leave a comment below and tell us why you want to win. How would these videos help you or someone you know with their iPad or iPad 2?

The style of the Apple store is unmistakeable. With wooden tables and mostly clear acrylic displays, all the shiny Macs and iPads and iPhones on display can be seen in all their glory. Why not bring a bit of that simplistic display home with you so your gadgets can look just as awesome? Of course, I’m not encouraging you to steal from the Apple store. NewMacgadets.com has some really neat display options that mimic those found in the Apple store.

Not long ago we showed you the iPad 2 display docks, and gave a few away to some lucky iMore readers. Today we wanted to show you the Headphone Stand, created to look identical to the ones at your favorite store. Constructed from 1/2″ clear acrylic with non-slip feet and a stainless steel arm, you can conveniently hold your headphones where they will always be easily accessible. Reduce clutter on your desk without adding anything obtrusive. You can pick these up for $29.95 at newMacgadgets.com.

Giveaway

We have five Apple Store Headphone Stands to give away this week courtesy of newMacgadgets.com. To enter, leave a comment below letting us know where you would put one if you won. One entry per person please! Good luck!

The Woogie by Griffin is a soft, plush, huggable, toy that doubles as an iPhone or iPod touch case. It’s meant for children, to give them something to hold up their iPod touch for easy game playing or video watching, or to protect your iPhone if you’re letting them use it.

With big round body and five legs, the Woogie is easy to position whether it’s on the floor, a table, in a car, or on a lap. It comes in either pink or blue and the big round body is soft and fuzzy/furry to the touch. Even on its own could be a fun toy for a young child but what makes it even better is the clear, capacitive window in the front that holds an iPod touch or iPhone. Kids can cuddle the toy and play with the device right through the window, and if they drop it or knock it or kick it, the plushie offers a lot of protection.

The good

• Soft, cute, and cuddly
• Weighted feet so stays in place
• Makes an iPhone or iPod touch harder to lose
• Hold up to the bumps and drops kids are likely to put it through.

The bad

• Larger to pack and carry than a regular case
• Would be nice to have strap/backpack option
• Don’t feed it after midnight.

The conclusion

The Woogie is great for young children, wether around the house or to take on a trip. It’s huggable, luggable, and colorful for them, and easy to find and safer to keep an iPhone or iPod touch in for you. That’s a really smart combination.

The giveaway

Leave a comment below telling us why you’d like a Woogie of you very own. Only one comment per person, please! Make sure you leave a real email address. We won’t share it but we’ll need it to contact you if you win! Contest starts now and ends Friday, January 13 at 12pm PT. Now hurry up and enter!

Source: Griffin

Ever wished you could take home a bit of the Apple store, with their cool displays that showcase the iPads and iPhones in all their glory? Well, now you can, with the iPad 2 Display Dock from newMacgadgets. Whether you place it on your desk at work for quick reference, on the kitchen counter to keep recipes close at hand, or on the coffee table at home for late night browsing, this high quality base will keep your iPad safe and functional.

Each one is made of high-quality clear acrylic with slots for headphones and charging cables and non-skid feet so you can route the charging cable underneath. Normally retailing for $69.95, newMacgadgets is running a holiday special on these for $29.95, making them a great last minute gift for the iPad lover in your life.

We have 10 iPad 2 Display Docks to give away this weekend, courtesy of newMacgadgets! To enter, leave a comment in the forum thread at the link below telling us how you would put this dock to use. One entry per person please. The contest is open until midnight Sunday, so hurry and leave your comment!

• Enter to win a free iPad 2 Display Dock

Whether you’re using an iPad or another kind of tablet, holding it for an extended period of time while playing games, reading, watching movies, or web browsing will make your arms tired. And typing out long emails can prove difficult if you’re using one hand to hold your pad while trying to type with the other. Laying the tablet down flat on your lap or table isn’t much better.

Enter TAB Rests. Designed to work with any tablet, this simple foam base provides wrist support and holds your tablet at an angle ideal for typing, reading, gaming, and more! You can use TAB Rests on your lap or a table/desk, and it’s great for kids and adults alike. They aren’t super bulky, so you can easily pack one in a bag for travel or stow one in the car for the kids on those long road trips. I like that if you have a case on your tablet, you don’t have to remove it to use the TAB Rest, they can work together! You can pick up a TAB Rest for just $14.95 (plus s&h), and at that price why not get one to keep and one to give away as a gift?

We have 10 TAB Rests to give away this weekend, courtesy of newPCgadgets. To enter, leave a comment in the forum thread letting us know how you plan to use a TAB Rest if you win, or if you plan to give it as a gift let us know who in your life can benefit from having one of these in theirs!

We’re keeping this one short and sweet, so you’ll want to get your entries in before midnight Sunday. One entry per person please!

So what are you still doing here? Enter now!

With Halloween falling on a Monday this year, we know a lot of you will be out this weekend in costume getting your party on. So to celebrate Halloween and the official launch of our new Mobile Nations network branding, we thought we’d have some fun with a cross-site mobile device + costume contest!

What You Need to Do

When you’re out at Halloween parties this weekend or out trick or treating on Monday, get a photo snapped of you in costume holding your smartphone and/or tablet visibly out in hand. Be scary, funny or do a crazy pose. Whatever you want is cool. Have fun with it. For brownie points, load up TiPb in the web browser or throw a TiPb.com wallpaper on. Group photos with friends and co-workers are welcome too. And hey, if you have a mix of phones in the group photo and want to go for extra-awesomeness, you can load up the appropriate Mobile Nations website onto each different type of phone: TiPb.com on iPhones/iPads; AndroidCentral.com on Android devices; PreCentral.net on webOS devices; WPCentral.com on Windows Phone.

Submit Your Photo

With your photo taken, all you need to do is email it in to halloween@mobilenations.com by midnight PST this Monday, October 31st.

How and What You’ll Win

On the morning of November 1st we’ll go through all the photos and pick out a bunch of winners in a variety of categories – scariest costume, funniest costume, sexiest costume, best group photo and more! We’ll put all the winners and other photos received into a video collage and post it up on the blogs Tuesday afternoon.

As for the prizes? Well… it’s Halloween – which means you might get a treat, or this could all be just a nasty trick. But you know us… we like treats. We’re going to keep the treates a surprise though, so take your photo this Halloween, email it in, and stay tuned.

From all of us at Mobile Nations, have a safe and happy Halloween!!

A couple weeks ago, we announced our photo contest for a chance to win a JOBY GorillaMobile, compliments of JOBY.

Our readers got shooting and shared some great photos. Our only rules were that the capturing and editing of the photos must have been only done on an iPhone. It was tough, but we have narrowed down the entries to 5 finalists and now it’s up to you to vote for the winner!

So, without further adieu, and in no particular order, here are the finalists!

Photo 1 by Click

Photo 2 by RICKDOBA

Photo 3 by lucyk

Photo 4 by BigEazy

Photo 5 by iDUSCRAFT

Head on over to the forums to see the other great entries and thanks to everyone who participated!

NOW… ready, set… VOTE!

We asked you to come up with your best dorkiest photoshops of the #iPadTourist Rene and post them to Twitter. Obviously we forgot to tell Twitter because for the last few days we’ve been desperately trying to find all the entries only to face this:

Older Tweet results for #ipadtourist are unavailable.

Yeahbuwhathefrak?

We waited a couple of days to see if the Twitter #fail would pass but sadly it has not. Now we’ve been saving them as they came up, and twitpic has a lot of them, but we know for sure we’re missing some and we don’t want to miss any. So here’s what we’re going to do — we’re going to ask you to either email us your pics to news@tipb.com or paste a link to them in the comments below. We’ll extend the deadline a few days, then one Friday we’ll post our top 10 favorites right here on TiPb.com and let you, the TiPb nation, vote for the winner.

Our apologies for the extra hassle, but you’re still getting all the great prizes (and the Hawaiian rhino shirt off Rene’s back!) and maybe a little something extra for your troubles! (And Twitter’s #fail!)

Was Rene out filming something “funny” for TiPb TV, or did he just get caught being a big, dorky iPad tourist? The always awesome @richardlai and @philnickinson clearly think the way I do — dorky iPad tourist and offer some photoshop evidence to prove it (see after the break).

Which made me wonder — how many more places could our terrific TiPb nation find a photoshopped Rene? Since a contest is likely the best way to find out, here it is!

How to enter

Photoshop the picture of Rene and his dorkalisious Hawaiian shirt and tweet us the picture (make sure you include @TiPb so we see it and the hashtag #ipadtourist — also don’t forget to follow us so we can DM you if you win). The funnier the time, place or situation the better! (But keep it family friendly, please!)

Prizes

Our favorite photoshop wins an iPad tourist pack courtesy of store.tipb.com, including an Aquapac waterproof case for iPad to keep it safe on the beach, and a Motorola MOTOROKR S305 Bluetooth Stereo Headset to keep you rocking on the road!

(And @reneritchie has even offered to give the Hawaiian shirt as a special bonus prize, so @reply him as well and tell him you want it!)

Inspiration

Need some inspiration? Here’s @richardlai:

And @philnickinson:

A few more in the gallery below. Can you do better? Can you do the best?

Scopy for iPhone is an extremely well put together Twitter client with a catch. Scopy only focuses on your Twitter friends’ photo streams. It’s very similar to services like Instagram but pulls all your friends existing Twitter photos from your stream. You can choose to sort by individual friend as well.

When I want to upload a photo, I can choose my photo service and apply filters as well. Scopy also pulls photos from tons of photo services, so you’ll never miss your friend’s photos. Hit the jump for a bit more on Scopy and to find out how you can win a complimentary copy!

iTunes Link

Services like Instagram only work as long as you’re both using the service and uploading your photos not only to Twitter, but to Instagram as well. This is the reason I like Scopy. It simply searches through your existing Twitter stream and pulls all the images from it. If you’re the type of person that likes viewing people’s photos on Twitter, you’ll love this app. It’s extremely well put together.

If I want to view only a certain friend’s photos, I can simply find them in my friend’s list and view only their photo uploads. The app sometimes doesn’t want to load individual photos for some users so I think it may only be pulling photos within a certain time frame.

Want to try a copy of Scopy for yourself? You’re in luck! The developer has given TiPb a bunch of promo codes for our readers. How do you win? Follow @TiPb on Twitter and at least one of our writers. Shoot @TiPb and at least one writer an @reply with the tag #Scopy. I’ve sent promos to give away to quite a few of our writers but make sure to follow all of us to increase your chances of winning! And you never know when when any one of us may have other promo codes to give away on Twitter.

Here’s our handles on Twitter, and remember, you have to be following TiPb and the writer with the code to win a code!

• @TiPb
• @reneritchie
• @GeorgiaTiPb
• @iChadman
• @iMuggle
• @llofte
• @jfsikora
• @andrewwray
• @Brian_Tufo
• @JorjLim
• @ChrisOldroyd

iFixDirect now offers red and blue color swaps for the iPhone 4, and they not only sent me both conversion kits to take a look at and share with you, but are generously giving away a conversion service to one of you, our awesome readers!

Both colors look phenomenal. The red kit is very vibrant and rich in color and the blue kit is a nice deep blue and not quite as showy as the red. What’s interesting about the blue kit is that it is very reflective like a mirror.

One of my concerns was that the parts would have a painted look to them. I’m happy to report that they do not. In fact, if Apple were to design red and blue iPhone 4′s, I believe this is exactly what they would look like. I am very impressed with the authentic look of these parts.

Now for the give-away! For a chance to win a red or blue conversion from iFixDirect, head on over to our forums and let us know which color you want and why. We’ll randomly choose a winner next week and put you in contact with iFixDirect to have your iPhone 4 converted to red or blue.

Now go enter!

Want to win your very own Verizon iPhone 4 from TiPb? then this is the contest for you! All you have to do is head on over to our brand new Verizon iPhone Forum and leave a reply in the official Verizon iPhone Give Away thread telling us why you love TiPb so much.

Its that simple, so go do it already and good luck!

You can say goodbye devilish red eyes and blemishes with Perfect Photo 2.0 for iPhone. The popular photo editing application has just released a significant update that, in addition to red eye removal and spot healing, also includes:

• Retina display support
• New user interface design
• Sharing to Flickr
• Sharing files via Documents folder
• Hi-quality image processing

Perfect photo has recently become my favorite photo editing application and I welcome this update with open arms. The new interface is substantially better than the previous one.

Now for the give-away! The good folks over at MacPhun LLC have generously given us a few promo codes to give away to you, our awesome readers. Just let us know why Perfect Photo will be the perfect addition to your photography app collection and we’ll randomly choose a few of you and send you a promo code. The contest begins now and ends Friday, December 3 at 8p EST. (Must have US iTunes account to win. Apple’s rule, not ours!)

UPDATE: Congrats to winners Watcher, Stef, and Jared!

Check out the video after the break!

[$0.99 - iTunes link]

[YouTube link]

If you guys hadn’t already heard about our wallpaper contest we have going in our forums, mosey on over and check it out! I’ve been picking one person every week or so (depending on the amount of entries we get) to win $20 from TiPb. You’ll also get some TiPb main page glory with your wallpaper on it for everyone to see.

This week’s winner is iPheuria with his awesome wallpaper you see above. Congrats, we’ll be contacting you about claiming your $20 prize!

Remember guys, we’re looking for original works, not just photos. Something that’s really going to looks awesome as an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch background. So head on over to our Official TiPb Wallpaper contest thread in our forums and post it up!

Want to be a special guest on our iPhone Live! or iPad Live! podcast? Here’s the thing, Rene and Chad are fine and all but I need some new blood, some fresh opinions. Could that be you?

If you think you’re the one, if you think you could handle being on a live internet show, then make us a quick video titled “TiPb Podcast Contest Entry”, upload it to YouTube, and paste the link in the comments below.

Keep the video short — 1 minute is plenty — but show us what you’ve got. Show us why you should be on iPhone Live! or iPad Live! Give us a rant. Give us some insight. Give us something compelling about whatever TiPb-appropriate subject you like best.

Make it creative. Make it fun. Most importantly, make it entertaining. Hell, use a muppet if you want!!

We’ll pick our favorite and you’ll get a guest spot on our show and all the fame and bright lights that go with it.

So why are you still reading this, get moving!!!!!!

[Thanks to @iTroldahl for the idea!]

This is it folks — only one day left and TiPb and Android Central are still too close to call in the great Waze iPad give-away contest, and CrackBerry.com isn’t slowing down either.

We need you to dig deep. We need you to eat as many TiPb icons on Waze as possible so that we can nab bragging rights and you have a chance to win an iPad. Now not to get all Lord of the Rings about it but…

Hear me TiPb nation! It shall be an iPhone day, a Waze day ere the dawn rises! Drive now. Drive NOW! For TiPb and the contest’s ending!

You know that contest where you can win a brand new Apple iPad from Waze and TiPb by competing against Android Central and CrackBerry.com? Well it looks like Team TiPb is doing very well. In fact, we’re neck-and-neck with AC and going strong… BUT, we need to get in the lead. We need to explode. We need to pwn.

So go refresh yourself on the rules, iPhone nation, and then double-time munching those TiPb treats on Waze.

Team TiPb for the win!

We are keeping the ball rolling on the TiPb Wallpaper Contest we’ve got going on in our forums, and we’re ready to announce our second winner — jphoman. If you jump over to the contest thread, he’s got several versions of these awesome wallpapers posted in many different colors.

As always, if you guys have original works that look great on iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad – post them in our wallpaper contest thread for your chance to win $20 and land your image on the main page of TiPb!

Between now and November 10th, we’re partnering with Waze to give away an iPad (or a Galaxy Tab if you’re feeling Android-y). Here’s how it works:

1. Download and install Waze from the App Store
2. Drive around with Waze and collect “Road Goodies” – which basically just means drive over the TiPb logos as you move about your city. As you can see above, they are everywhere.
3. It’s a competition between iPhone users, Android users, and BlackBerry users – which is to say you’re up against the kids from Android Central and CrackBerry.com. Whichever site whose users collect the most Road Goodies will win and be able to give a tablet away to one of their users – selected randomly from amongst the top 25 collectors. Remember – you only get credit for driving over the iPhone icons.
4. That’s it! Use Waze, collect Road Goodies, and stick it to those Android and BlackBerry users while automatically getting a chance to win an iPad or Tab

What’s Waze, then? It’s a free social mapping tool: you can get directions, find out where the traffic is, ping other users, and generally find your way around while helping other Waze users get better location and traffic information. Check out the full details on the Waze Blog.

Remember that TiPb iPhone and iPad wallpaper contest we had going in our forums? We didn’t forget about it, but I don’t think we made it exactly clear what we were looking for either. So to kick things off (again), we’ve picked our first winner, the forum member who submitted the beautiful wallpaper they made above.

Think you can make a killer wallpaper? Jump over to our thread and submit your iPad or iPhone wallpaper for your chance to win. We’ll be picking a winner every week. Each winner will have their wallpaper put on the front page of TiPb as well as receive $20.

Remember: we are looking for original works, not photos. It can be based on your own photo but it has to be made into a real, great looking wallpaper. Textures, abstract patterns, stripes, plaid – whatever you think will really make an iPhone or iPad background stand out. You’ll need to create these though, not just find one online.

And now for our first winner, CoffeeFaith – for their awesome iPad/iPhone creation you see above. Great job!  He’s got it posted in all iDevice formats over in our forums, so check it out!

If you guys think you’ve got some awesome creations, once again hop on over to our Wallpaper Contest Thread!

Waiting for iOS 4.1 to drop? What a better way to kill some time by visiting the TiPb forums to talk, commiserate, celebrate, get help, and offer advice to your fellow iPhone users. In order to create a new thread of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is easy and free so if you haven’t already head on over and register now!

• When will iOS 4.1 arrive? This is a contest in which you can win a case of your choice in the TiPb store!

• Visit the following thread to report any issues/bugs you may be experiencing iOS 4.1 issues and bugs.

• You’ve had ample time to adjust to iTunes 10, what are your thoughts?

• Today is the last day to enter the iPhone 4 Vapor Case contest! Hurry for your chance to win!

See you in the forums!

The TiPb forums are naturally a great place to talk, commiserate, celebrate, get help, and offer advice to your fellow iPhone users. In order to create a new thread of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is easy and free so if you haven’t already head on over and register now!

• Rumor is that sometime this month we may see some sort of iPhone 4 redesign to provide better reception. What are your thoughts on this?

• You know you want one of the four iPhone 4 Vapor cases that we are giving away… Here is your chance to win one!

• Official Apple 2010 Special Music Event predictions/reactions.

• Some of you are having some battery drain issues running iOS 4.0.2. While I’m not seeing this personally, how about you?

See you in the forums!

We reviewed Clearcam for iPhone last week, and this week, the developer was nice enough to share some promo codes with us to give out to you guys! Since our review, the developer released an update to the app that fixed some of the issues I had, such as some shots coming out a bit blurry for an unknown reason. He’s also added a few tweaks that have made the overall image quality even better!

What do you have to do to get your hands on a code you ask? Simply leave a comment below, that’s it. We’ll pick a handful of you at random on Friday to win some codes.  Remember! To win a code, you must leave a comment with a VALID e-mail address. If I can’t send you an e-mail at the account you left the comment with, another comment will be selected.

UPDATE: Give-away is over, winners after the break!

And don’t forget, we also do giveaways on Twitter from time to time randomly, so if you haven’t already, follow us on Twitter for chances to win other promo codes as well!

TiPb – @TiPb

Rene – @ReneRitchie

Jeremy – @jfsikora

Georgia – @GeorgiaTiPb

Leanna – @llofte

Ally – @iMuggle

The developers of Clearcam are also on Twitter, so give them a follow as well!

@occipital

@twoteethtech

• apeach
• Todd
• E Pow
• Cheerios
• shinseiromeo
• Brb
• Scott
• Ricky
• Eduardo Freitas
• Jason
• Samouflage
• Tesh
• Jailbreak4ever
• Mo
• TrickyD

Congrats!

How does a certified golf course superintendent use his iPhone to get the job done and what iPhone apps help get him through his day? TiPb’s iPhone at work contest aims to bring you just such slices of the iPhone life. Here’s greensuper’s answer and as a small token of thanks we’re sending him a $20 iTunes gift certificate. If you want to see your name up on the TiPb home page and get a gift certificate all your own, head on over to the TiPb iPhone Forum and share your story now!

Boy, where do I start. I have been a loyal Apple user since the Apple IIe first came out. When the iPhone first came out, I had just purchased another Blackberry with Verizon, I didn’t want to incur a cancellation fee and the purchase price of the iPhone. 8 months later, when the 1st gen was offered as a refurb, I got my first iphone. I follow Apple/iPhone news as much as I follow the Turfgrass industry. I have always told my wife, if I had the opportunity to do something else, it would be to work for Apple. Now, how do I use my iPhone. To really get the full functionality of the iPhone and some of it’s apps, you really need to subscribe to Apple’s MobileMe service. I will explain why below.

The first app I use religiously is Who is Hot?. It is a great weather app for free. No one in my opinion, beats the animated radar in this app. I haven’t found one that has beat this yet. I am a Regional Agronomist and one thing this app does is gives me the weather for all my contacts. You open the app and click on one of your contacts and you have all the weather and radar right there.

I also use The Weather Channel app. I use the free version, don’t see a big difference in the $4.99 version. I use this app for forecasts and current conditions. This app mirrors the “local on the 8′s” from the Weather Channel. It is a better forecasting tool than Who is hot?

The Turfgrass Management app developed out of the University of Georgia is fantastic!! I have several small travel turfgrass books that allow me to reference diseases, weeds and insects. This app puts all that in the palm of your hand with it’s extensive turfgrass database. It has been communicated that this app will continue to follow with updates as information on any pest becomes available.

We just installed a new RainBird control system at one of my properties. RainBird has recent’y released their MI control system, this program works phenomenal on the iphone. I am able to control the entire system from anywhere. This summer it has proven invaluable with all the late night storms we have had. In concert with Who is Hot, if I see weather is heading to the property late at night, i can use my MI controller on the iPhone and turn off or adjust the irrigation. All this while playing with my kids!!

Toro recently released an official iPhone App, Toro NSN. This is like the MI Controller only this is actually an iPhone App versus a website. This also gives me the ability to control my entire irrigation system from the palm of my hand. I think the neatest part of this is that Toro has developed an iPhone app. If they have done so for irrigation, imagine the possibilities, apps for equipment repair, apps for ordering at your local vendor, it’s endless.

The next program is one that is tied directly to MobileMe without it, you can’t really take full advantage of this program. This app is Quickoffice. Quickoffice allows me to create, edit and email Word and Excel documents. Since you can’t store files on your iPhone like a Blackberry, this app links to your MobileMe idisk as a work around. I have my entire work load on my idisk, everything! I am able to use this program to email anything to my company or Superintendents from the palm of my hand. This program released an update which allows you to email any document you receive directly to your MobileMe idisk, this is a perfect work around to not being able to store documents on your iPhone. When I receive an email with a document I need to edit and respond to, I simple forward the email to a specific address. This sends the attached file to my idisk. I then open my idisk on QuickOffice and there is my document to edit and resend. The whole process over 3G can take 2 minutes, over WiFi much faster.

I also have Documents To Go. Although the UI is much more friendly than Quickoffice, this program falls short in other areas. I am not able to access my work files on my idisk, although DataViz has stated you will be able to do so in the future. You can’t edit Excel files yet, again they (Dataviz) are saying this update will be released soon. If these two updates are released, I will no longer use Quickoffice.

I developed a blog for one of my properties, to communicate information to members. I was finding by the time our weekly news letter was distributed, much of the information I need to pass along would be out of date. The blog has been a huge success at my club. My members love the fact that we use technology like this! The iPhone comes into play because I am able to send an email directly to the blog to make a post. All I do is create an email, the subject line will be the subject of my blog post, create my blog post in the body of the email, hit send and I have just created a new blog post. This has been great for communicating issues like, cart rules and other daily information.

I also use Twitter to communicate with other industry professionals. I do not use this to communicate to any members, it is important to separate the two. I use two apps for Twiiter, Twitter for iPhone and Tweetdeck. They are pretty much the same, except Tweetdeck allows me to create columns for separate categories of people I communicate with. For example, I have a column for PGA Tour tweets, a column for turf professors I follow and a column for other Superintendents. This makes reading tweets easier.

Logmein Ignition was a fantastic app I used prior to Toro releasing their Toro NSN app. Logmein allowed me to login on my iPhone and control the irrigation system. I know a lot of people who use this app to access files on their computer.

Bump is a great app, but in order to be useful you need to be with someone else who has the iPhone and the app. This app allows you to simply bump iPhones together to share pretty much anything you would share on your iphone. I use this with my wife for photos of our kids. Could you imagine walking the Trade Show floor at the GIS with this app. You could arrive at a vendor booth and bump iphones to share contact information. The vendor could use it to send you product information as well. Again, the possibilities are endless.

The camera is another app that is used all the time. I used to carry a camera on my hip, if I needed to take a photo of something I could. I would find myself at times, forgetting my camera at the moment I needed “that” picture. The iphone camera takes care of this. I am also able to send that photo immediately to the GM, members and other workers.

The iPhone for me has become more of a tool than my small multitool. The possibilities are endless as to what Superintendent could use this phone for. I am glad I have a charger of my gator. During those long days, I need that extra boost to get me into the evening. I was actually thinking about starting another blog on exactly this subject. Each day would be a post on how I use my iPhone for my job as a Superintendent and Regional Agronomist.

What about you? Are you a superintendent who uses his iPhone for work? If so, let us know what apps get you through a typical work day!

Distant Suns 3: Space Travel for the Rest of Us is a universal iPhone & iPad application that puts the universe in your hands:

• View from the Earth or out in the solar-system with the new Spaceflight mode
• Compass aware for the 3GS and iPad. Just aim and identify.
• Over 130,000 pinpoint stars scintillating like diamond dust in the palm of your hand
• Realistic ghostly band of the Milky Way
• All 88 constellations with images and articles on their mythology
• Viewpoint Lock keeps any planet centered
• Current weather patterns on the earth, updated every 3 hours
• Preference panel to change the way stars are rendered in over a dozen different ways.
• The Messier catalog of galaxies, nebula and star clusters
• Dozens of photos from the Hubble Space Telescope
• All 8 planets (Pluto is optional)
• GPS aware
• Red interface to preserve your night vision
• What’s Up? Gives a quick one snapshot overview of where all of the important stuff is
• Point and Identify mode reveals a wealth of hidden data for each star, planet or deep-sky object
• Planetary data and information

In anticipation of the Perseid Meteor Shower on Thursday, August 12, the folks over at First Light have provided us with 14 promo codes to give away! Winners will be able to use the app to assist in their stargazing for the event. How do you win? Head on over to the forums and let us know your favorite planet/constellation. The contest begins now and ends Thursday, August 12 at 3 PM EST. (A US iTunes account is required to win. Apple’s rule, not ours!)

[$9.99 - iTunes link, NASA]

How does an IT Administrator use his iPad to get the job done and what iPad apps help get him through his day? TiPb’s iPad at work contest aims to bring you just such slices of the iPad life. Here’s MstrWebmastr’s answer and as a small token of thanks we’re sending him a $20 iTunes gift certificate. If you want to see your name up on the TiPb home page and get a gift certificate all your own, head on over to the TiPb iPad Forum and share your story now!

I’m an IT Administrator for a local Church in San Jose, CA. Being an IT administrator for a church, the job is quite wide with my responsibilities. I manage the computers, network & servers, as well as fix problems when they arise, and do A/V tech here and there.

Before the iPad, I was always having to ask people to move so I could use Remote Desktop on their systems to remote in and look at settings on the servers to figure out what the problem is. Now with the iPad, I keep the servers in Mocha RDP’s app for quick access to the servers, or to my Desktop when I’m away from my desk. the iPad works for about 80% of what I need when I’m working on a system, but for that other 20%, having my Windows 7 Desktop so easily accessible is a Godsend.

Other than servers, with everything I have to do, I use Calendar to sync with our Exchange server so that I have one central calendar for managing my time effectively & Evernote for syncing my notes from meetings & projects across my Desktop, iPhone & iPad. I use Mail to keep up-to-date with my e-mail inbox to keep in communication with co-workers & vendors. I constantly use Safari to look up information on errors people have, without having to move them out of the way to use their browser to perform the same task.

With the Tech side of things, I use my iTeleport to control our sound system so that I can mix practice sitting in the middle of the room and setup snapshots which allows me to set starting points for my mix from what it sounded like in the middle of the room. I must admit that though iTeleport is an expensive app, the fact that I bought it a year ago for my iPhone & they made it a universal binary which worked on my iPad made me very happy, as iTeleport was the only VNC app I could find which would let me control our sliders. Not only did it work, but unlike most remote connection apps, iTeleport works like a giant trackpad overlaid on top of the screen, so mousing is a lot easier than trying to hunt & peck. When I’m prepping to run a show, I use Planning Center Online’s app to show me the order of service for the weekend, or to play songs for the band that need to hear what the MP3 sounded like. When I’m running our video production booth, I use BroadcastPix’s iPixPad to remotely activate pre-programmed presets on the board, which is wonderful since I can always have the memories close at hand even if I’m using the hardware board for something else (like camera control).

Overall, I bought the iPad hoping I could use it all day to remote into the servers, and maybe to control the soundboard. In fact what I found was so much more. It’s totally revolutionized how I do my job – more so than my iPhone – just because of it’s larger screen. I would highly recommend the iPad for any systems administrators who constantly have to wander yet still have access to the servers.

What about you? Are you an IT Administrator? If so, which apps help you get your job done?

Once in a while there is a game that comes out that is simple, fun, addictive and priced for the masses. Ladies and gentleman I give you StarDunk!

StarDunk is brought to us by the fine folks at Gozilab that made iMoki. The premise behind StarDunk is to make baskets (as in basketball) with a ball and complete globally against other players. You have two basic game modes; offline and online. Offline is where you hone your skills and when ready you are ready, compete online.

The ball is positioned on the right side of the screen (there is a lefty mode) with the basket on the left. There is a limited guide that repositions itself on screen as you move your finger across for aiming of the ball. When you release, the ball shoots. There is more to the game than just making baskets. There are four vertical bars directly behind the basket, like a backboard. If you hit one before the ball goes in, it lights up. When all four are lit, you turn the bonus on. Bonuses range from a temporarily wider basket to three balls shooting at once for maximum scoring.

Each match lasts for a couple of minutes and to add to the drama, the last basket is in slow motion. After the match you are ranked on the specific contest you played as well as your global ranking. You can also view your scores against your own countrymen and friends on the Plus+ network.

I have a lot of fun with this title. I find no real flaws. It is a blast to play and is one of the ultimate pick-up and play titles.

[$0.99- iTunes Link]

Pros

• Quick fun
• Global multiplayer
• Plus+ integration
• Great techno music to keep the blood flowin’

Cons

• None!

How does a photographer use his iPhone to get the job done and what iPhone apps help get him through his day? TiPb’s iPhone at work contest aims to bring you just such slices of the iPhone life. Here’s JustinHammondPhoto’s answer and as a small token of thanks we’re sending him a $20 iTunes gift certificate. If you want to see your name up on the TiPb home page and get a gift certificate all your own, head on over to the TiPb iPhone Forum and share your story now!

I’m a professional photographer from Massachusetts. I have the wonderful job of photographing some of the most beautiful women in the world in the coolest locations all over the country. Models, celebrities, NFL Cheerleaders, it goes on and on. My work has been in magazines, advertisements, Maxim, websites… the works! I love my job!

I honestly realized for the first time when reading this contest how much I actually use my iPhone on a day to day basis for what I do. It’s a lot! Especially now that I have my iPhone 4, it’s been even more. Here’s when:

• I own a studio, but I’m very often on location shooting, which means no wifi (on the beaches, bars, outdoors, etc). So having a 3G connection is great. I often pull up Safari in the middle of a photoshoot to come up with a pose idea, or sometimes girls want to show me a picture of a shot they really love so it’s easy to Google image search some ideas! It helps out a lot during a shoot!

• Also, because I do travel to photoshoot, I’m always using Maps! Maps is so crucial to getting around because I barely know areas well. It’s definitely got me out of so many jams or has even helped find shooting locations! I remember this one time I was doing outdoor shooting and I pulled up my map and noticed a large pond nearby so we walked toward where it was and got some really beautiful shots by the water at a place I would have had no idea about if it didnt show up on the gps.

• It works great in times of urgency! Even last night, the “model light” on my strobe died (lights the model so you can auto-focus on her when there’s low light/lights off). Well, I pulled out my iPhone, opened the new trusty video camera, turned on the new amazing light from the iPhone, and my assistant held it to the model! It was perfect! I was so happy about having the new iPhone 4 last night.

• Also with the new video feature, being HD, I have decided to do some “behind the scenes” videos that I will be posting in the near future of my photo shoots. This is really great for my website and facebook page as a lot of models/fans follow my work, and it’s real fun at photoshoots. I am beyond excited about that. I may even start video blogging and doing tips/pointer videos for photography.

• I also use it for networking with models and clients or even friends with my photography. I save all of my edited photos to my iPhone so when I am out and about, when someone asks what I do, I just open up Photos and show them my work right from my phone – they look amazing on the new retina display! It really allows me to have a portfolio with me at all times. Such a perk in the industry! It’s like carrying my book with me in my pocket!

Then obviously the basics! Calendar for booking shoots/remembering what I have to do that day, and Email for keeping up with everything going on in my life in and outside of photography.

iPhone tip: Always keep it charged/charge every night! I use my iPhone so much, so my battery tends to go fast. I do have multiple chargers to make sure I am never without it. The iPhone really is my personal assistant. If it could only bring me coffee and water and move around lights, I wouldn’t need to hire my real assistant anymore!

Favorite apps: Safari, Calendar, Mail, Photos, Maps. These are my most important and all Apple created! Thank you Apple!

You can see some of Justin’s work at Justin Hammond Photography. Are you a photographer? If so, what apps do you use to help you with your job?

The forums are a great place to talk, commiserate, celebrate, get help, and offer advice to your fellow iPhone and iPad users. In order to create a new thread of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is easy and free so if you haven’t already head on over and register now!

• Well as you may or may not know, Apple released iOS 4 to the masses earlier today and we want to know about all of the bugs or issues you’ve encountered so far. So sound off in this thread!

• The release of iPhone 4 is just days away, if you have ordered via AT&T have you received your tracking number yet?

• So you didn’t place an order with AT&T but rather Apple, if so have you received your tracking number yet? Sound off!

Want to talk about anything else? Everything else? Get in the forums, it’s the best iOS community on the planet — if we do say so ourselves — and we’re waiting for you!

From the Forums is a great way to see all of the hot topics in our iPhone and iPad forums. In order to create a new thread of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is a simple process that will only take a few minutes out of your day, so if you have not already already done so, head on over and register now!

• Will you be pre-ordering iPhone 4 tomorrow? Take a vote in our poll!

• When you do pick up your new iPhone will you be purchasing insurance?

• So you say you are not going to buy iPhone 4, OK, how about we give you a chance to win one? TiPb is giving away a iPhone 4!

• Will you be jailbreaking iPhone 4? Another great poll thread!

• Last but not least, what color iPhone 4 will you be choosing when it comes time to get your new device?

See you in the forums!

That’s right — iPhone 4 — we’re giving one away, and it could be to you!

We announced this last week, but now that we know its name, know its specs, and have the release date, we’re reminding you again. Here’s the bottom line: you gotta make us a video telling us — no, showing us — why you should be the one who gets the iPhone 4.

Make it funny. Make it scary. Make it silly. Make it out of this world, above and beyond awesome.

We want music, we want songs, we want skits, we want spoofs, we want action and adventure, we want drama and suspense, we want stop-motion animation and Blair Witch close-ups, we want tattoos and jello wrestling — wait a minute, these are Kevin’s notes! Bah! Never mind! — we want the absolute best, most creative, most dazzling video you can make.

We want you to prove you’re the one who deserves a 4th gen iPhone.

Watch the video below, then got to http://www.imore.com/contest to find out how to enter!

YouTube link

From the Forums is a great way to see all of the hot topics in our iPhone and iPad forums. In order to create a new thread of your own or reply to any of the existing threads, you must be a registered member. Becoming a member is a simple process that will only take a few minutes out of your day, so if you have not already already done so, head on over and register now!

• WWDC is finally here, lets hear your last minute predictions!

• It is highly possible today you will be able to pre-order the next iPhone via Apple’s web site, will you be pre-ordering?

• For your chance to win your very own 4th generation iPhone from TiPb be sure to visit this thread – TiPb 4th gen iPhone (iPhone HD/iPhone 4G) give-away!

• Want to talk next generation iPhone carriers and plans? This would be the forum to do to it in – iPhone and iPad Carriers and Plans.

See you in the forums!

Poynt wants TiPb readers to help them celebrate the launch of their new iPhone app [iTunes link] — and help them name their Augmented Reality feature. To enter, think of the very best name you can and go post it on the official thread in the TiPb Forums.

Read the full terms and conditions of the Contest (the “Official Rules”).

If you haven’t already, go enter now!

Poynt wants TiPb readers to help them celebrate the launch of their new iPhone app [iTunes link] — and help them name their Augmented Reality feature. If your name is chosen for the feature, you’ll win a trip for two to New York, NY valued at US$5,000 and US$2,500 spending money.

To enter, think of the very best name you can and go post it on the official thread in the TiPb Forums.

Details after the break!

Help celebrate the launch of Poynt for the iPhone! Poynt wants you to help name our Augmented Reality feature. Brainstorm it or think of it in the shower – whatever works best. It’s your chance to potentially name the biggest thing since the wheel — okay maybe not that big, but we think it’s pretty awesome!

Get your idea together and submit it to The iPhone Blog (www.TiPb.com) before April 7, 2010, or such later date as Multiplied Media Corporation (the “Sponsor”) may decide in its sole discretion, in accordance with the terms and conditions provided herein. Tell us what you’d name our Augmented Reality feature. Five finalists will have their suggestions chosen for the Poynt team to vote on and the “best name” will be chosen as the winner of the grand prize described below – it’s basically if we love it, you win!

If your suggestion is chosen as the “best name,” you win a trip for two to New York, NY valued at US$5,000 and US$2,500 spending money! Air, hotel and spending money to do with what you like for three fabulous nights in NYC. Or, if you are one of the four runners up, you will win a Poynt prize pack filled with lots of cool Poynt stuff — like t-shirts, pins and more!

Read the full terms and conditions of the Contest (the “Official Rules”).

The SmrtCase Glide for the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS is a hard case shell that will protect your phone from scrapes, bumps, and even small to medium falls (depending on the angle of impact). The really innovative part of the case is that it has a small slot on the side where you can store a credit card, bus passe, ID, business cards, or even small pictures.

Oh, and did I mention SmrtCase is giving away ten (10) FREE SmrtCase Glide cases to our TiPb readers? Follow on after the break for details!

I have to let you know how excited I was to try out the SmrtCase Glide and I was not disappointed. So how does it work? The small groove in the back makes it easy to place cards inside and the hole on the back means you can use one hand to slide the card out to swipe or remove. Worried about scratching the back of your iPhone? Well, the people at SmrtCase have already thought of that. The SmrtCase Glide comes with a clear protective sticker for the back of your iPhone.

If you’re worried about the card falling out, well, I was too but a combination of the curvature of the case and the iPhone provide a snug fit for the card (and I gave the case a good shake to make sure — see the video below!).

Of course, how many cards you can fit inside the Glide depends on the exact thickness of each card. SmrtCase states that the case can hold 2 plastic cards comfortably, one credit and one ID, however I found this combination was too snug if I wanted to easily slide one of them out to swipe.

To really put it to the test, I asked my husband, (who has a great disdain for cases in general) to try out one of the sample cases and give me his impressions. I have not seen the case since. He loves that he can put his metro passes (5 in all) in the case and not have to take out his wallet to get to them.

And, oh yes, the contest:

Head on over to the TiPb forums and tell us how a SmrtCase Glide would come in handy for you. We’ll pick 10 of you at random, and each person picked will get a FREE SmrtCase Glide. The give-away starts now and ends Thursday, February 18, at 12pm PT

Developers take note: Interpret is looking to find a bit more about you and they have a brief survey to do just that – finish it, enter your info at the end, and be entered into a drawing for a FREE 32GB iPod touch. Non-developers, feel free to take part to be entered as well. Either way, go on and let ‘em know how you’re feeling about mobile apps these days.

Click here to take the survey and enter for your chance to win!

(Keep in mind the survey is being run by the folks at Interpret, not everybody who takes the survey may be eligible to finish it. If you don’t qualify, fret not, we’re giving away an iPhone 3GS next week for the Smartphone Round Robin, here’s the latest forum thread for you chance to win)

Yes we are back with yet another give away for all of the TiPb readers out there. This time the folks over at eBuddy have given us 10 FREE copies of their instant messenger client, eBuddy Pro! [iTunes Link - $4.99]

A few weeks back we had the chance to check this app out and came away pretty impressed and just the other day it was updated to include 11 high quality, colorful themes! A good IM client has just gotten better and for your chance to win a copy all you have to do is visit this thread right here in our forums and post a single comment regarding a feature you’d like to see added to eBuddy Pro. That’s all there is to it. The contest starts now and will end on Thursday, February 4th at 12pm PT.

Winners will then be announced shortly after the contest ends via private message within our forums. Like always these promo codes require a US iTunes App Store account (Apple’s rule, not ours!)

Good luck!

To quoth our good friend Phil from WMExperts (and by that we mean shameless copy): It is time, ladies and gentlemen, for the sixth annual SPB Survey. SPB Software House is looking to get a better look at your needs in the mobile applications, and they’re doing so worldwide, with the survey going out in 10 languages.

And your time may be rewarded. Three winners, picked at random, will receive the following:

• First place: A free smartphone of your choice from a major Internet retailer (such as Amazon or Expansys), valued up to $1,000.
• Second place: $100 worth of accessories from Smartphone Experts (that’s us), plus $100 worth of SPB Software.
• Third place: $100 worth of SPB software.

So, really, you have no excuse for not taking the survey, which runs through 7 p.m. GMT Dec. 4, 2009. Take the survey now!

Tuesday was all about the Twitter. Wednesday we took it iPhone Live! Well today, we bring it back home.

For your last chance to enter TiPb’s 32GB iPhone 3G S give away, just go over to the TiPb iPhone Forums and tell us the #1 reason you want to upgrade (if you already have an iPhone), or why you want to make this your first iPhone (if you’re currently rocking some other RAZRPreBerryDroidMobile97 device). Nothing fancy, just the deal-maker.

• One forum post per person
• The rest of the contest details

And you? You’ve also just gotten three chances to win it over the next three days!

Tuesday’s Chance to Win a 32GB iPhone 3G S

For today’s entry, head on over to Twitter and help us let everyone know about the contest. Simply include @theiphoneblog and in your tweet (that’s how we’ll track you), and ask your friends and followers to pass along the good news, and you’ll get one entry in the contest. Here’re some examples:

• Want to win a 32GB iPhone 3G S from @theiphoneblog? Re-tweet this and check out http://bit.ly/G16Qt
• Zoinks! RT Now! @theiphoneblog is totally giving away a 32GB iPhone 3G S! http://bit.ly/G16Qt

You get the idea. No get thee to tweeting!

Give-away details after the break…

Them Details

• Grand prize is one (1) $399 US Apple Store gift certificate.
• Only one entry per twitter user (no spamming please)
• Only three entries total per person (one for each chance, one new chance each day)
• Contest starts now and ends Thursday, June 18 at 11:59pm
• Not open to Smartphone Experts employees or contractors

I’d do the same thing I offered to do for a BlackBerry Storm: try using one. Believe me, for someone who’s mellow has been 100% de-harshened by the iPhone, that’s a contest ender.

Luckily for all of us, I’m not allowed to enter our sibling site, PreCentral.net’s awesome new Palm Pre contest. But maybe YOU can!

Think you have what it takes to win a FREE Palm Pre? Time to put up or shut up! PreCentral.net is giving away FIVE Palm Pre Phones the day that the Palm Pre is released. In addition, we’re sweetening the deal by making them into full-on Palm Pre Packs, including:

• A Palm Pre Smartphone on Sprint
• A $100 Amazon Gift Card to fill your Pre up with music
• A Touchstone Charging Station & Battery Cover
• Any case from the PreCentral.net Accessory Store
• A Set of Motorola S9-HD Bluetooth Stereo Headphones (A $99 value) to rock out with your Pre

If the qualifiers end up anywhere near as fantastic as last year’s CrackBerry.com’s Storm give-away, we should be in for some epic tattooed, mud wrasslin, paint-ball blasted, smartphone smashed, Palm Pre fun.

Kudos to PreCentral, and best of luck to all the contestants!

Per the video above, Ocarina for iPhone developer, Smule, is giving away $10,000 — $1000 each for the top 10 Ocarina videos! How do you enter? Make a video response to the contest vid above, or put a video in their official group. How do you win?

Winners will be determined by a Smulean algorithm, combining number of ratings, average number of stars, and total number of views on YouTube. Smule will also be appointing a panel of judges to oversee the contest and they will have the ultimate decisive authority if needed.

Good luck everyone!

To celebrate the launch of our new iPhone Live! Podcast, the iPhone blog is revving up yet another contest! What is it and how does it work?

Every week, on both the iPhone Live! and Phone different Podcasts, we here at TiPb will each be choosing our favorite iPhone accessories (courtesy of the TiPb iPhone store!), and adding them to the prize pack.

How to Enter

Each week, we’ll give you new chance to enter. It might be joining us on a social network, sending us a tweet, replying to a forum thread, etc. Listen to our podcasts (or check out the show notes) to find out the entry method for that week. Do it.

At the end of the week, we’ll pick a qualifier from everyone who successfully entered that week. Each qualifier will receive a 15% off coupon for the iPhone blog store, and be entered in our grand prize drawing.

Enter as many weeks as you like (though only 1 entry will be counted each week!). When we have all our qualifiers, we’ll pull a name out at random and they’ll win our Grand Prize: The Ultimate iPhone Accessory Pack!

Qualifiers

• Week 1: Facebook Fan Tara Bennett!
• Week 2: Twitterer John Gallagher (JohnG_NYC)!
• Week 3: TiPb Forum member, mszatny!
• Week 4: New Registrant Spazzola!

Prize Pack

iPhone Live! #1

• Rene: Blueant Z9i Bluetooth Headset
• Chad: Griffin PowerDuo

Phone different #30

• Mike: V-Moda Vibe Duo Headphones

iPhone Live! #2

• Brian: Belkin Sport Armband Plus with FastFit for iPhone 3G
• Casey: Seidio Innotraveler Car Kit

Phone different #31

• Jeremy: Case-Mate The Hipster for iPhone 3G
• Dieter: Mobi Cradle

Full details after the break!

Them Details:

1. Open to everybody in the US and Canada
2. One entry per week, but feel free to interact as much as ya like!
3. Contest will run each week for four weeks.
4. We’ll announce the previous week’s qualifier in the next week’s podcast (and show notes… and updated right here!)
5. Each qualifier will receive a 15% off coupon to TiPb’s iPhone Store
6. One qualifier will win the Ultimate iPhone Accessory Pack

The forums have been on fire lately due to Apple dropping the 2.2 firmware recently. So with that in mind we are going to start off with a thread asking is the 2.2 Firmware a Success?. Personally I could not be happier with the stability that the latest firmware has brought!

Happycamping is in something of a dilemma, iPhone or Blackberry? Help her out won’t you? She currently has a HTC Fuze and sadly that is going back to the store. (Sorry Dieter!)

The final two threads I want to put the spotlight on come from our very own TiPb editor, Rene! He recently started two small contests in our forums – Caption: Steve Explains Why No Copy/Paste and Name That BlackBerry Storm Hand-Pain Condition! Got what it takes to win? Give it a shot!

To join in on the action be sure to register, it will only take a few moments of you time, we promise!

See you on the forums!

Today on the forums we have a couple of “Official” TiPB threads. So these are some you do not want to miss!

First up , don’t forget to jump in on the action for your chance to win some free stuff! Everyone enjoys receiving free stuff right!? Check out the iPhone Live! #2 Contest Entry Thread. And for even more details regarding this new contest, please head on over to the Ultimate iPhone Accessory Give Away for all of the contest information.

Next up we have Casey’s very own thread, Round Robin: Casey Needs iPhone Help, Tips, Tricks, and Advice! What exactly does Casey need you help with you ask? How about your favorite thing about the iPhone 3G? Or how about your most used 3rd party app? So what are you waiting for? Please help out one of your beloved TiPB bloggers, and since this is an official ROUND ROBIN thread, posting will get you a chance to win a smartphone!

A few days back we mentioned that it’s possible we may see Apple’s latest firmware, 2.2, within the next week or so! So with that said, what do you think of the announced features? Disappointed? Not so disappointed? Whatever the case, make your voice heard!

Now before you can get in on the action, you have to join our growing community! It’s free and simple, so don’t waste another minute and add something to the conversation!

See you on the forums!

TiPb’s latest, greatest contest is AT WORK, where all the members of TiPb iPhone Exchange & Enterprise Forum votes on their top two Productivity Apps, we review them head to head and app-vs-app, and one of the voters wins the winning App!

Week 2 voting is now over, and the To Do/Task showdown is set: Things vs. Appigo To Do!

Brian will reveal the winning App tomorrow (Wednesday), but right now we can tell you which Forum voter will win it! So who gets the best Task/To Do App on the iPhone?

coreymol!

Congratulations! We’ll contact you with details on how to claim your prize.

And for everyone else, you’ll still have a chance to win the Task/To Do App by commenting on the blog post tomorrow, and come Thursday, we’ll post our next poll, and another Forum member will have a chance to vote for — and win — another great App!

(Full contest details can be found here!)

Congratulations again, coreymol, and everyone else — get ready, you could be next!

It’s that time of the week where we bring some of the discussions from the forums to the main page.

Big reminder to everyone, the voting for the latest TiPb AT WORK Contest ends tomorrow! This weeks contest, to do/task apps! Time is short so go get your vote on now!

Are you one of those people who is all about security? Well we want to know how many of you actually use the passcode lock on your iPhones? Chime in on his thread! I recently switched from MobileMe to a Exchange account and was personally interested in the following thread. Pascalcheck had a good question regarding Exchange with his contacts and calendar events. Rene was super quick to jump in and help out!.

A lot has been said about jailbreaking lately, and a lot of questions are being asked… so if you have questions and need answers please check out the following two forums – Jailbreak Central (for anything related to jailbreaking) and iPhone Jailbreak Apps.

As always you need to register to join our growing community! Register here to get in on the action, only takes a quick minute!

See you on the forums!

Today on the forums come a few hot threads from one user! ExBBUser want to know, what are you current top 5 apps from the App store? He’s a newcomer to the iPhone and would love to hear your opinions! In this next thread ExBBUser wants to know do you use any other device in addition to your iPhone or if you still carry around your old BlackBerry, Palm, or Windows Mobile device? Would you be so kind to help him out?

What makes this edition of Today on the Forums a special edition? Because of the contest of course! Don’t have any idea of what I am talking about? Check out our TiPb AT WORK Contest that we are currently having in our forums! The voting ends this Saturday, which just happens to be tomorrow! So you don’t have much time left! Get in there and vote for your chance to win some FREE Apps! Vote here!!

Just a reminder, you need to be registered in our forums to vote, registration is free and easy. You can get registered here.

See you on the forums!

All play and no work makes TiPb… pretty happy really. But with the GRAND PRIX done and the great prizes won, it’s time for us to get back to business, and that means a new contest with even more App Store apps, more TiPb reviews, and more ways for you — our readers — to win… AT WORK!

Once a week for the next few weeks we’re going to review 2 business/productivity Apps head-to-head and app-vs-app. But here’s the twist: there are so many Apps, we can’t decide which ones to review. So the TiPb iPhone Forum will decide for us!

Every Thursday we’ll be posting a poll up in the iPhone Exchange and Enterprise Forum containing the candidates for review. You vote on your favorites and we’ll review the top two. Voting closes on Saturday, and we review on Wednesday. Based on our review scores, we’re going to pick the winner of the head-to-head… and TWO of you, are going to win that app! (Technically: an iTunes App Store gift certificate in the amount of the winning productivity app).

TWO of you? Yup, each week, one TiPb iPhone Forum member who votes (or posts on the thread) and one blog reader who leaves a comment on the review will EACH win a copy of the winning App!

We’ll randomly pick a voter and commenter and announce the winner the next week on the following AT WORK review. (First winner announced on second review, second winner on third review, etc.) So make sure you hit them all!

One more thing: TiPb reserves the right to throw a final twist in at the end.

The first Forum Poll is up now, so head on over and vote for the Instant Messenger you most want to see reviewed App vs. App! (And most want to win, of course!)

Contest details after the jump…

Them Details:

• Open to USA and Canada only (Sorry, we can’t get gift cards to the other countries)
• Only one comment/entry per “AT WORK” review counts (but feel free to post as much as ya like!)
• Eligible comments/entries MUST include a valid email address. If we can’t contact you, we can’t send you your prize!
• Contest will run once a week until all five (5) App vs. App AT WORK reviews are complete.
• We’ll announce the previous week’s AT WORK app winner with the next week’s AT WORK review posting.
• You can win no more than twice.

There are now over 3000 apps in the App Store, many of them games, and many of the games are… racers? Yup, sure seems that way. A half dozen or so at least, and more on the way. How’s a gamer to decide? Simple, the TiPb GRAND PRIX!

Once a week for the next few weeks we’re going to review 2 racing games head-to-head and app-vs-app. Based on our review scores, we’re going to pick the winner… and one of you, our readers, is going to win that app! (Technically: an iTunes App Store gift certificate in the amount of the winning race game app).

But wait! There’s more! Every GRAND PRIX needs a Grand Champion, and every contest needs a Grand Prize. So, when all the reviews are done, the TiPb staff is going to pick our Grand Champion race game app — and one of our readers will win that game AND an iPhone Blog Store gift certificate in the amount of $50!

How can you win? Leave a comment on any GRAND PRIX review. We’ll randomly pick a comment and announce the winner the next week on the following Grand Prix review. (First winner announced on second review, second winner on third review, etc.) For the Grand Prize, we’re going to randomly pick one comment from any of the preceding GRAND PRIX reviews, so make sure you hit them all!

Contest details after the jump…

Them Details:

• Open to everybody who has an iTunes store in their country
• Only one comment/entry per “Grand Prix” review counts (but feel free to post as much as ya like!)
• Eligible comments/entries MUST include a valid email address. If we can’t contact you, we can’t send you your prize!
• Contest will run once a week until all three (3) App vs. App GRAND PRIX reviews are complete, and the final Grand Champion is selected.
• We’ll announce the previous week’s Grand Prix app winner with the next week’s Grand Prix review posting.
• You can win no more than twice.

Now that we’ve successfully giving away over a thousand dollars in iTunes Gift Cards and an iPhone 3G, it’s time for us to take a breather. Thing is, the way we take a breather here at TiPb is to start up another way for you to get what you want for your iPhone. Here’s the deal:

Head on over to our new “iPhone App Lightning Reviews” forum and, you know, post a review of an iPhone app. It can be native or web, legit or jailbroken. Be sure to include some screenshots as attachments — on iPhone 2.0, you can just hold down the home and powerbutton briefly and the screenshot will get saved to your camera album. Keep it around 500ish words, be fair, and try not to all review the same apps — though reviews after major updates are always a good idea. Give it a rating out of 5 stars and a couple pros and cons at the end too, for those crazy skimmers.

…Why would you do all that? Every so often the TiPb staff will be picking our favorites and promoting them to the front page. We’ll thank you by giving back to you. More after the break!

• that unique feeling that comes from having your opinion voiced on the main page of what we think is the best durn iPhone blog around
• the satisfaction of a job well-done
• …and, oh yeah, a 25% off coupon for our iPhone accessory store that you can use yourself or send along to a friend.

Our iPhone accessory store has made the move over from Phone different (We’re all TiPb now, baby!) and is stocked now with bluetooth headsets, wired headphones, and cases compatible with both the 2G and 3G iPhones, with more coming in for the 3G even as you’re reading this post. Just be sure to click on the device selector in the upper-left to chose which iPhone you’re currently rocking to ensure that you’re getting something compatible.

(p.s. we still have a bug for Safari users that’s preventing uploads, we’re working on it. But the iPhone-ified version of the forums should officially be bug free — if it ain’t hit us up at news@theiphoneblog.com to let us know. Update: Fixed!)

The response to our iPhone 3G givaway has been tremendous. We love all the new action in our forums and we fully expect it to continue after this week — which is to say that The iPhone Blog adores you and will continue to treat you right, stay tuned for future contests in the coming weeks.

Meanwhile, the time has come to announce the winner of our contest as chosen randomly via random.org. It’s iLoveiPhones! Check your inbox for an email from me and we’ll set you up with the $400 Gift Card we promised so you can be all set for Friday. Happy? Happy! Joy? Joy!

The air of contest finality is thick and we’re going to make it thicker still: this is our final Wait-a-Thon post: comment here for your last chance to win a $100 iTunes gift card. We’ll be sending out the final gift cards tonight (yes, it’s still tough what with Apple’s limit to the # we can buy in a month, but we figured out a workaround).

So congratulate iLoveiPhones (a username so good it’s gotta be kismet) and let us know: once the iPhone 3G is really and truly out, what sort of stuff do you want TiPb to cover in the coming weeks and months? Are apps king? Shall we pit the iPhone 3G against every other darn smartphone out there, one by one? Should we continue to bring you tips and tricks? What’ll it be?

Update: Looks like we made somebody’s day.

I’m never gonna forget this day. Thanks so much to everyone here at the iPhone forum and the staff at the iPhone Blog. Couldn’t have done it without you guys. Being someone who’s never won anything, this is quite a day!

In our forums, dhp1080 asked an important question: since the iPhone 3G comes out on the 11th and whoever wins is surely going to be the sort to go out and buy one that day, doesn’t it make more sense to hold the drawing for the winner of our iPhone 3G giveaway a bit earlier?

Yes, yes it does.

So we’ll be holding our drawing for the iPhone 3G givewaway the morning of Wednesday, July 9th. Since Apple capitulated to the standard operating procedure for activating phones, we can’t just pick one up and send it to ya. So instead we’re going to do the following: overnight a gift card to an Apple Store (or AT&T store, if necessary) for 400 smackers. That will cover most of the necessary bases: people eligible for upgrade that want the 16gig device, people ineligible for upgrades, etc.

All of which means you have six days left to get yourself up to 20 (non-garbage) posts in our forums in order to qualify for the drawing. Get your full contest details here. Meanwhile, this also means that this week and the next are the last weeks for the iPhone 2.0 Wait-a-Thon giveaways as well.

We will wait-a-thon this post too. We already asked you what your plans were for July 11th. Now we want to know: Are you Exchanged-up at work? If so, will your IT Overlords put your iPhone on the network? If you’re not, will you be going push with Mobile Me? Will you forego push altogether?

As Rene mentioned over the weekend, the iPhone 2G has just turned one year old, we here at TiPb look to the future, though, and the future looks great. Great enough that we’re still planning on giving away an iPhone 3G to one lucky winner who’s made at least 20 posts in our iPhone Forums. Grab the full contest details here. Even better – when you visit the forums from your iPhone you should see a big ol’ “iPhone Version” that lets you interact with the forums via an iPhone interface. Don’t like it? The option to switch back is on the bottom of the iPhone version. What are you waiting for? Go on and register, post, and possibly win!

Also notable, you can now get your iPhone Blog six ways from Sunday. Ok, just two ways. You can now just punch in http://tipb.com into your browser to be brought to our main page. Easy, no? We’re not bringing out an iPhone version of the blog proper just yet — when we find / develop a verison that’s both fast and usable enough you’ll be the first to know.

Meanwhile, there’s only a couple weeks left now in the iPhone Wait-a-Thon, wherein we give away an iTunes Gift card worth $100 to somebody who’s commented on a Wait-a-Thon-tagged post (like, you know, this one). Details and rules here. Congrats to our latest winners, Tom, Mark, and Rafael. Your Gift Cards forthcoming just as soon as we convince Apple we’re not trying to defraud them by buying too many gift cards.

So with just a couple weeks left, we gotta ask: What’s your game plan for July 11th?. Rumor has it the launch will happen at 8 in the morning, so will you be camping out the night before? Sitting at home and pretending your iPhone 2G hasn’t been replaced with newer, faster, better, more? Answer in the comments for a chance to win!

Everybody here at the iPhone Blog is very, very excited about the iPhone SDK Roadmap. We can’t wait for native apps, for more functionality, for games, for Apple to go after BlackBerrys. We can’t wait – seriously – it’s going to kill us waiting until “Late June” for all this good stuff. We’ve called in a team of psychiatrists, it’s not looking good.

We bet you feel the same way.

So to help ease the pain we’re instituting the iPhone Blog App Wait-a-Thon! Starting next week and then every week until Apple releases the iPhone 2.0 Software Update, we are going to give away a $100 iTunes Gift Certificate to a lucky reader.

You may not be getting your native apps now, but at least your can download some emo music to drown your sorrows, or a Pixar movie to cheer you up, or the first three seasons of LOST¹ to help remind you that it’s not that bad.

Here’s how it will work: Sometime during the week, two to three of our blog postings, articles, or reviews will have “Wait-a-Thon” after the title, that’s your cue to comment on that entry. Comment on that entry and you’ll be automatically entered in that week’s drawing. (Just one entry per post counts, max three per week).

The latest Wait-a-Thon post is always available here. Just take a look over next to the Wait-a-Thon contest graphic!

Full details after the break!

Them Details:

1. Open to everybody who has an iTunes store in their country (Yes, Mods too!)
2. One entry per “Wait-a-thon” post counts, but feel free to post as much as ya like!
3. No cheating on the referrals, we’re watching and we know.
4. Contest will run each week until “Late June” or whenever Apple releases the iPhone 2.0 software update. Yes – if Apple’s late we’ll keep it running. This is a Wait-a-Thon, after all.
5. We’ll announce the previous week’s Wait-a-Thon winner in the next week’s first Wait-a-Thon posting.
6. You can win no more than twice.

¹: Has anybody seriously considered the Apple angle with all the stuff that’s been happening on LOST? That satellite phone was iPhone-esque… Is Steve Jobs Alvar Hanzo? Or did he perhaps spend his early days studying with the DeGroots? Think about that: timeline fits, his counter-culture experimentation fits, …it all fits!