Hardware

How To Fix a Broken iPhone Home Button – A Free & Easy Software Fix

by Michael Sheehan on March 13, 2013

in Apple, Cellular, Fix It, General, Hardware, How To, HTD Tech Tip, iOS, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mobile

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Yesterday I received a panicked call from one of my daughters – “Daddy, my iPhone’s home button is broken!” Tears and wailing ensued. But, as with any broken gadget, I was up for the challenge, knowing that I could either replace the iPhone home button myself or figure out some other way to breath a few extra days or weeks of life into her iPhone 4 so that she could still use it. As it turned out, the “temporary” fix (which could be permanent), it quite easy to do and actually a pretty neat function that not too many people know about. And, it’s built into all iOS devices.

Broken iPhone Home button

Broken iPhone Home button

Normally, when hardware components fail on my iOS devices, I turn to the super-handy iFixIt.com guides. I have done anything from replacing batteries on iPhone 3GS & iPhone 4′s to replacing the power button on an iPhone 4 (let me tell you, THAT one is really hard!). So, I quickly scanned through the steps in the iFixIt guide and realized that even though the part itself was about $15 only, the level of effort to physically replace the button was HUGE. (Here’s the daunting fix-it guide.) So, I needed to find another solution.

Luckily, I remembered in the past reading about how you can reassign a button or create a gesture on a jailbroken phone so I knew there was a software solution out there. However, I didn’t want to jailbreak my daughter’s iPhone. There had to be another solution. And then I found it. What follows are the quick and easy steps on how to fix a broken iPhone home button.

How To Fix a Broken iPhone Home Button

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Bring a Cool or Warm Mist to those Rooms in Need with The Sharper Image Ultrasonic Humidifier

by Michael Sheehan on December 3, 2012

in Consumer Electronics, Gadgets, General, Hardware, Opinion, Review

Post image for Bring a Cool or Warm Mist to those Rooms in Need with The Sharper Image Ultrasonic Humidifier

If you have kids or suffer from dry noses at night, you probably need or have a humidifier. These devices are pretty much required in my family because the little noses in our household seem to get dried up. In fact, my youngest daughter had to have her nostrils cauterized because she suffered from nose bleeds at night because of the dry air. This was especially prevalent during the hot summer nights but even now, during the winter, we tend to fire up the humidifier to ensure that the air remains moist.

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The Sharper Image has a humidifier called the “Cool & Warm Mist Ultrasonic Humidifier” that is not only multi-functional (it does warm and cool mist just with the flip of a button), but it also has an extra large capacity to make me, the water reservoir filler, happy. With a 1.7 gallon, dual reservoir capacity, that means that I’m only filling up this humidifier every other day or so, as opposed to nightly the way I have to with traditional models.

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Another feature that I liked was the fact that I could dial the control of the amount of mist I wanted the humidifier to output. This means that I could handle large or small rooms quite handily.

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ClamCase Transforms Your iPad into a Netbook with iOS Benefits

by Michael Sheehan on June 7, 2011

in Apple, Case, Consumer Electronics, Gadgets, General, Hardware, iPad, Review, Tablet, Video

Post image for ClamCase Transforms Your iPad into a Netbook with iOS Benefits

I finally got my hands on a ClamCase. When it was first announced, long before there were all of the other hundreds of bluetooth keyboard cases for the iPad, the ClamCase design really intrigued me. Now I have spent a few hours testing it out and I finally have something to write about. Over the past year that I have had my iPad, I have tested out quite a variety keyboard cases. This one is quite unique in that it fully envelopes the iPad in essentially a netbook-sized keyboard layout.

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So, why would anyone want a case/keyboard combo that weight 1.8 lbs (note, the original iPad weighs about 1.5 lbs)? I mean, that is a 3 lbs. device all total. That is the same weight as the MacBook Air. And I have gotten a lot of comments to the effect of – “why would I want that. Wouldn’t a netbook or a laptop simply be better?” Well, for starters, you get the fun and flexibility of a tablet device but with the keyboard and its associated functionality of a netbook or MacBook Air. The MacBook Air will set you back about $1000 and a netbook is probably $300+. The original iPad (if you can find one) and ClamCase combo is about $300, plus the $119 for the iPad 1 version of the ClamCase. Version 2 of the ClamCase for the iPad 2 should be coming out soon.

Below you can see the innovative hinge in action. This one one of the nicer ways to view iPad content (e.g., a movie). Other cases I have found to be a bit clumsy at this, but it is quite easy to do with the ClamCase. At the bottom of the review, you can see another photo that shows the ClamCase in the “tablet” mode. Do note how thick it is.

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A Tradeshow or On-The-Go Savior – Mophie Juice Pack Air for iPhone 4 Battery Case

by Michael Sheehan on November 4, 2010

in Apple, Cellular, Consumer Electronics, Gadgets, General, Hardware, iPhone, Mobile, Review

I am writing this review on day three of an expo. One of the biggest issues with going to any type of a trade show or traveling or simply being active on your iPhone is that of not having access to a power supply. As I write this, I’m sitting in the back of a darkened room, with my chair against the wall next to a wall plug (with a bunch of other people doing the same things). My blogger bag is also filled with power cables and external batteries for that “power emergency.” I have written about a variety of battery solutions and trust me, there are many!

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Today I’m looking at the new Mophie Juice Pack Air for the iPhone 4. A while ago, I reviewed the Mophie battery case for the iPhone 3/3GS I couldn’t live without it. The Mophie for the iPhone 4 has the same premise – provide a protective case that also has a full battery built into it. And it does live up to this premise. When your iPhone’s battery is about to die, just flip the switch to “juice it up” and get your iPhone fully charged. This new version of the Juice Pack Air has been redesigned and I think it is for the better (with a couple of exceptions). Also, I just recently reviewed a competitor, the Exolife Battery Case, so I now can now do a pretty good comparison between the two leaders in the space.

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So let’s look at some of the feature highlights of the Mophie:

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Get Beyond those Home Video Style Webcams & Move to HD with the Microsoft LifeCam HD Cinema

October 25, 2010

Let’s face it, when you buy a laptop, you don’t usually think about the built-in webcam. But if you look at many of the laptops out there, you will see that the built-in webcams are dramatically underpowered and are pretty much like using a really old camcorder to do video calls or webcam-related actions. Many [...]

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Laughs on a Plane – Some SkyMall Product just make you say “Really??!!”

June 7, 2010

I haven’t been on a plane for quite a few years, but on my trip up to Oregon for the Intel Summit, “Upgrade Your Life,” I has the pleasure of reacquainting myself with one of my favorite travel magazines, SkyMall. I guess that people actually buy the stuff in here because SkyMall has been around [...]

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The Ripple Effect of Social Media – Get Mobile for More Waves!

May 20, 2010

We all know the well used imagery of throwing a stone into a pond and watching the ripples spread out from the center. The same imagery can be applied to social media, I believe. But there are different ways choose the rocks and throw them. Most of the time, I stand in the same place, [...]

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Who Has Time to Travel Anyway? – Lose the Laptop!

April 1, 2010

Travel? Who has the time or money to travel nowadays! Sure I travel…a lot! From the bed, to the shower, out the door, to the car, to the train, on the train, to work, and back again. It’s a great trip actually. I get to read the paper and occasionally do some writing. In fact, [...]

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