Gadgets Blog

Here’s something for all you singles and of course concerned parents who want to sleep a little bit better at night even knowing that their daughter is out in the big bad dating pool. Intelius, the Bellevue provider of background checks, has come out with an iPhone application called Date Check which is a “private investigator in your purse.”

You enter the name, phone number or e-mail id of the “person of interest” and DateCheck instantly scans the online and offline public records. The aptly named “Sleaze Detector” screens the seemingly perfect date who sounds too good to be true for drug possession, assault, DUI or other convictions. On getting the “OK” signal, you can probe further with “Net Worth” which basically gives carte blanche for being a nosy-parker and gives you juicy tidbits about the date’s home , his/her worth etc. Then if you are worried about any lurking ex-girlfriend, “Living Situation” gives you the scoop on who else inhabits the same address. You could choose to let all spontaneity slip away and get the date’s horoscope, the social networking sites he/she frequents etc. While you might be well used to goggling your potential dates, imagine all the impromptu possibilities this app opens up! You could say yes immediately to the cute guy who asks you out at the grocery store after just one quick trip to the restroom and getting the green signal from your DateCheck.

“Letting a stranger into your life is a huge risk, and in the age of Internet anonymity, a simple online search isn’t enough to tell you everything you need to know,” said Intelius co-founder John Arnold. “The Date Check mobile application removes some of the guesswork and gives you the confidence to decide on the spot if continuing the conversation is worth your time.”

Date Check can be found in the iPhone app store. The Android and Blackberry versions comes out next month. You pay $19.95 for a criminal check, and $14.95 for a property and neighborhood report. Social networking profiles cost $9.95, and people search reports $1.95. The whole enchilada would be $39.95. As the company puts it “ Look up before you hook up!”

As if the iPhone culture did not have enough paraphernalia, now you can take your iPhone from 3-D to 2-D with a set of playing cards that looks like the iPhone deck display. You can buy the apps to play Solitaire, even maybe invest in the app to hook up and Poker and Blackjack with your friends. But did you ever think you would want to degenerate from your gaming status, and take iPhones back to the time of paper and card-based entertainment? Consider it a vintage throwback that everyone from your grandmother to your baby cousin will appreciate.

If the idea of paper-formed iPhone cards disgusts you, take this at heart: the illusion of the iPhone on the cards is so good, I was convinced that the product was suggesting you buy 52 iPhones and display 1 card face on each one, and play cards with real iPhones. Sounds excessive: about $5,200 too excessive.

Breathe a sigh of relief: these playing card, super illusionistic iPhone cards are only $25.00 at Meninos.us.
Grab ‘em before they’re gone! Maybe you can practice the touch screen card-swindling technique for when you can actually afford a real iPhone.

Shop for iPhone accessories at Smarter.com.

With most of the iPhone apps being free or about $1 (with some being a surprising $5.99… I’m looking at you, Myst!), it’s hard not to load up on as many bits of entertainment as your pocket will allow.  Just like the commercial says, there’s an app for just about everything I can think of…except on-the-spot background checking and print scanning, but I’m sure they’re working on it as we speak.  Here are a few of our favorites:

1. Air Hockey:  Classic gaming entertainment and competition at the tip of your finger.  Some of these matches can get just as heated as the real thing.  Be careful though, if you get too excited the app is easily pause “by accident” and has trouble keeping up with your fingertip, or at least those were the excuses I kept hearing from my opponent.

2. Stay In Tune Chromatic Tuner:  More accurate than my ear, which isn’t saying much, but very useful in a bind.  There are some free tuners available but for the price, this one’s a decent tuner.  Says it works on a variety of other instruments but I haven’t yet had the need to tune a banjo or violin.  I suppose I could someday.

3. Arctic Shuffle:  Reminds me of Lemmings… aw, remember when?  Lots of levels and, hello, exploding penguins.  It’s a strategy arcade style game where the player aims their penguin at the target while avoiding and navigating obstacles.  Some of these angles can get pretty daunting but it’s a good time.  Also available in a “Lite” version.

4. Facebook:  Because we have to keep up with each of life’s moment’s play-by-play even when we’re on the go.   This shortcut brings your account right up and instantly connects you to your virtual social network.  Chat, upload and view photos, and above all, update your status. Ahhh…

5. Tweetie:  Again, keeping yourself in the loop is vital.  Manage your Twitter profile; post new, repost, and reply to tweets; view your timeline, replies, and direct messages; follow/un-follow, block/unblock users, and of course upload pictures and update your Twitter location.

6. iPolitics:  For people who want to follow U.S. politics, especially in this history making year of promise and change, this app pulls headlines from reputable TV stations, newspapers, blogs, magazines, etc.  It lends balance to the dozens of other dirty joke and pick-up line apps you’ve downloaded.  Now you can show there’s some substance to your character as well.

7. Big Quotes:  Over 1,200 quotes from over 600 authors like Hemingway, Einstein, Aristotle, Newton, Confucius, Kennedy and Edison, easily accessible by author, category or keyword.  Once you’ve found the perfect phrase to borrow, save your faves with the favorites feature for quick reference later.

8. iWalk:  For all of us who like instantaneous visual self-approval, this app keeps count of your steps, how long you walked, how far you walked and calculates calorie burn.  It’s strangely comforting to know that the number of steps from the couch to the fridge is 12 and if I do that a few more times I’d work off the caloric equivalent of one potato chip.

9. Evernote:  Yeah, those mental “note to self: buy blah-blah” or “remember to blah-blah” never work for me.  What can I say?  I forget.  This lets you photograph, write or speak your note and records it for safe keeping and later review.  Helps you remember things from the mundane grocery list to that awesome idea for an award-winning screenplay.  You can even take note of your parking spot, level and row for easy reference.   I still remember the fruitless 30-minute search for my friend’s car on the third level, only to find he was on the fourth. *wah-wah*  Saves yourself some time and trouble.

10. Pandora Radio:  Just like the computer version, enter your favorite band’s name and Pandora streams them and auto-suggests others like them.   Uses the web account you’ve already created and plays your stations.  This one’s vital for any music lover.

We could easily go on…

Find at Smarter.com:  Shop for iPhone accessories.

Image Source:  newtech.aurum3.com