This is one of the more exciting accessories I’ve seen for the iPhone. I’ve always wanted to control my electronics through my iPhone ever since my mom’s old PDA could (years ago). With ThinkFlood’s RedEye unit and free app, you can control your infrared electronics from your iPhone. Back then, my mom’s PDA could only control a device with line of site, but the RedEye unit is controlled via wifi and therefore can be controlled in any direction, across the room, in another room, or outside the house as long as you can reach your wifi network. Just simply place the RedEye unit within range of your electronics. The great thing is you can control multiple units in multiple rooms or multiple people can control a single unit (which may be a bad thing :]). Another great thing is you have the ability to program your own remote. Which means you choose the buttons and functions of the remote control and can change it based on the different activities you want to perform. The RedEye and accompanying application seem like a set of very impressive tools for you universal remote control needs.

Right now while the RedEye is going through their beta process, ThinkFlood is offering each RedEye unit at cost $119 instead of the normal retail price of $149. This seems like an even better reason to jump on the bandwagon before they raise their price. It will be really interesting to see how well the unit works and I will follow up with what I think about the device and the software. I should have mine by the 16th.

ThinkFlood :: What is RedEye?.

AT&T’s CruiseCast was discontinued.

A pretty interesting new option in automotive entertainment but definitely an expensive one is AT&T’s new service called CruiseCast.  The idea is that you can mount a satalite receiver on top of your car and get TV in your car while traveling. This antena connects to a box which converts the stalite feed and then routes that to TVs mounted in your car.

In order to get the service you have to shell out around $1,300 and then pay a monthly fee of $28. You could buy each of your 4 kids a new 32GB iPhone 3G S and still have some money over to help pay off the additional data charges. They would be able to choose their content better and play video games on them when they get bored. The funny part is they advertise it as 40 channels plus which seems like just a portion of the channels that you get with a basic satellite package however 20+ of those channels are music channels which means nothing being that you have a radio or hopefully some way of playing your own music. However what is interesting is that they claim to have a coverage area of the whole entire United States. And in case you are traveling through a tunnel of in between New York City skyscrapers, the equipment buffers the video so that you can go 3 minutes without signal until you would know.

AT&T CruiseCast.

The VAIS Tech SoundLinQ2  SL2i device is probably one of the best purchases I have ever made. I love that the sound pumping out of my stereo is nice and crisp. I love the fact that there is no static whatsoever. That means no scanning for new channels as you pass different mountains or repositioning the iPhone or iPod so that the signal is closer to the radio. I love the fact that I can choose a song on my iPhone and then switch songs from my steering wheel as I’d like. I also have the ability to control everything like playing playlists right from the touch screen in my Toyota Prius. If you have iTunes Plus music then playing it over the stereo sounds remarkable. They also have a model that will allow you to play video right through the screen on your car. Amazing!

The fact is that before I decided to get this module installed, I had purchased 3 different FM transmitters. The first Griffin FM transmitter I purchased worked pretty well and I really loved it but the issue was that they changed the charging method on the iPhone and so that old transmitter would not charge my new 3G iPhone. Because of this, I purchased another Griffin FM transmitter however the signal of transmitter was terrible. I could plug the new one in and the old transmitter would totally trump the signal of the new one. Plus they had a auto scan feature that was just worthless. I was truly disappointed at the dismal quality of the device. Then I purchased a competing transmitter from Belkin and it was just as bad as the new one from Griffin. I was totally done with these new crappy FM transmitters and soon looked into better setups. I searching I found VAIS Tech which specializes in modules for Toyota and Lexus cars. Everyone in the forums were talking about their products so I thought I would check it out for myself. I went down to the local Al & Eds Auto Sound. I got a quote and then had them install the device. I am definitely pleased. Al & Eds Auto Sound stands behind their work and offered to remove the unit free of charge if there were ever any issues with it.

Advantages

• Amazing Sound Quality
• Charge your iPhone 3G – One of the first (SL2i-UP model only)
• You can use the rest of your iPhone while listening to music.
• Control your music with the steering wheel.
• Uses Advanced noise canceling technology

Dis-Advantages

• There will never be a 100% assurance that the device will work in your car.
• You cannot control both the iPod and touch screen in your car at the same time.
• In simple mode (controlling music through the iPod) you cannot display track information on the car’s touch screen.

Microsoft has just announced a new application which looks pretty interesting. This application will compose a tune to lyrics that you sing into the computer. The first thing is to choose what kind of song you want to compose and then the computer plays a beat. Then you sing your song while the computer records the lyrics. When its finished it analyzes the notes you sing and then creates a tune based on your song.

I will admit that the promotional video looks pretty cheesy but I think its a great tool for amateurs and something that can be fun for anyone. Heck if you are a professional you might as well try it out with your lyrics and see what this tool kicks out.  Songsmith will also let you play instrument as well as singing into it. This is great for composers that are looking for both tunes to go with their lyrics or melodys. The program looks like it does a pretty good job and its available to download right now as a trial. This trial lets you compose for six hours and then if you like it you can purchase it for $29.95.

I just wanted to take a little bit of time to reflect upon the recent past and future. This has been a huge season of change in my life. Changes ranging from academics, career, family and friends. It seems as though so many things have been thrown at me all of the sudden but I don’t mind it at all.
The first would be regarding academics. My first semester was definitely a rough semester for me and so recovering from that has been a very interesting road filled both with successes and disappointments. I have done my best this semester to place me in a position so that I will be successful for this year and the rest of my education at Biola.
The next big change was that I went for a job at Disneyland. This was something that I’ve tried to pursue in the past and haven’t exactly been successful but I’m pretty sure that God opened this opportunity right now as it has been such a wonderful experience for me. I’ve learned so much from it like what it is like living off of close to minimum wage. Also learning about such a magnificent company built by Walt Disney who had such a unique vision that is to this day such a magical place. Learning how to give great customer service has been the most rewarding and the best part of working at Disneyland.
The next two areas in my life have been so fluid lately. This semester was the first time that I had not lived with both of my parents. It is sad but it was good for everyone. I think. I still don’t feel like life has fully settled down in both arenas but its acceptable. The friends have also been such a unique situation in the past couple of months in which I’ve met so many new people and unfortunately will probably have to get rid of some (i though) pretty good and healing friendships. Apparently I was wrong and caught completely off guard.
Its definitely so ironic how things in life work but you learn so much from every good and unfortunate thing that passes by you. Right now I’m finishing getting settled into a new era of life and ready to Enjoy a wonderful Christmas with great family and friends, and a wonderful New Years.