Hotspot Shield VPN for iPhone Offers Secure Browsing and Email on the Go via lifehacker.com

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iOS: Previously mentioned VPN service Hotspot Shield can already encrypt your browsing and keep you safe when using public Wi-Fi on your computer, but this morning the service announced a new mobile app for private and secure internet use wherever you use your iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch.

Hotspot Shield for iPhone runs in the background at all times when the app is running, encrypting everything from SMS messages to emails and Twitter updates. The app also forces Safari to load sites as HTTPS when available, and protects all applications that use data, even those also running in the background. That protection comes with a price tag however. Hotspot Shield is free for 7 days, so you can try it and see if it works for you. After that, you'll have to sign up for a $0.99/month or $9.99/year subscription. If you're concerned about threats like Firesheep or you know how easy it is to sniff out passwords and cookies, you may want to give the app a try.

Hotspot Shield VPN | iTunes App Store

You can reach Alan Henry, the author of this post, at alan@lifehacker.com, or better yet, follow him on Twitter or Google+.

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Hands on: Apple Peel 520 transforms iPod touch into cell phone

Filed under: iPod

Hands on: Apple Peel 520 transforms iPod touch into cell phone

by Erica Sadun (RSS feed) on Nov 11th 2010 at 4:00PM

There are all sorts of software-driven ways to treat your iPod touch like a phone, from Skype to Line 2 and beyond. Unfortunately, none of them actually adds a real cell to your unit. Enter the Apple Peel 520. An enhanced case, it contains a working phone unit that communicates with your iPod through its dock connector. Unlike the data-only Sprint ZTE Peel case, which is due to launch this Sunday, the no-data Apple Peel 520 allows you to place and receive phone calls and SMS texts directly from your device using standard GSM SIM cards.

Since you bring your own SIM, the plan you use can offer as few or as many bells and whistles as you desire. I picked up a $10 H2O Wireless SIM card over at Best Buy and it worked perfectly with the unit. You insert a SIM, press a reset button for a few seconds and you'll soon be able to make and receive calls -- that is, you'll be able to do this once you finish the rather protracted one-time set-up process.

On the iPod touch side, the Apple Peel 520 requires you to jailbreak your unit, add repositories, and install custom software. In addition, you must also set up the Peel hardware, including charging the battery, inserting a SIM card, and preparing the unit for use. There is enough work involved that TUAW cannot recommend this device for anyone other than hard core hobbyists who will not be put off by the effort.

And that's not the end of our concerns. In its current set-up, the software installation steps require you to add a repository to your device that TUAW considers dangerous and unethical. The Netherlands-based hardware distributor promises that he is attempting to find a work-around so customers will not need to use that repository.

The Apple Peel 520 hardware consists of a hardware case in which you insert your iPod touch. The touch attaches to a dock connector within the case and a top panel snaps on above the touch. The case exposes the screen but hides most of the buttons. The buttons are then accessed through alternatives built into the case, which can feel a little unresponsive compared to direct access.

I experienced difficulty getting the hardware set-up as my battery did not initially make proper contact with the unit. After cleaning the connectors and switching cables (at the recommendation of the distributor, as apparently not all iPod cables are created equal), I did manage to charge the unit and get it to accept my SIM card. You insert the SIM, replace the battery, and then press the reset button for seven seconds. A series of chimes lets you know that the unit is ready.

I found the Peel case a little uncomfortable to hold and use. Physically, it's similar to the iPhone 4 but slightly bigger, especially in depth and weight. Admittedly, I'm not a huge fan of the iPhone 4's form factor, so your personal comfort with the unit should vary.

Phone call quality tended to be muffled and suffered in comparison to an inexpensive Nokia, which we used to test against. (I got my refurbished Nokia as a freebie when I bought a $100 time card from AT&T a few years ago.) During a series of test calls to various recipients, the Peel suffered from intermittent buzzing and hissing. I only had the one unit to test with so I'm not sure if this is a general product flaw or an issue with just this unit.

What's more, the unit experienced constant facedialing issues. Having no proximity sensor, the Yosion dialing software uses a system that constantly "locks" the screen and prompts you to swipe-to-unlock to access phone features. Despite this locking, your cheek continues to make physical contact with the screen and if you leave the dialing pad out by accident, you will trigger tones during your conversation. To fix, you must swipe-to-unlock and then hide the phone pad.

One of the biggest strengths of the 520 is how it allows you to both place and receive phone calls. It rings with incoming calls, and acts the way you expect a cell phone to work. You slide to accept the call and immediately jump into the software to talk. This is particularly well done and probably the most important reason to use an Apple Peel over a software-only solution.

The 520 also supports receiving and sending SMS texts using whatever SIM plan you have in-place. This can provide an especially cost-conscious texting solution for teenagers as an inexpensive unlimited SMS plan can be added to prepaid SIM cards for most GSM carriers.

Costing just US$89 (including global shipping), it's in a different league to the iPhone costs and contracts, but you do sacrifice a certain level of ergonomics. Plus, with the 520 unit you do not get data. The Sprint ZTE Peel, in contrast, includes data and works as a hotspot but commits you to a recurring $30 monthly charge. Plus, it prohibits texting and phone calls.

So who is this product for? The iPod touch's built in touch keyboard makes it a big win for the integrated SMS application. Texters will likely prefer this device over customers who just want to make phone calls. For calls, I found the Apple Peel to be more of an "I love the idea what a great gadget" purchase than a practical way to extend your iPod touch for day-to-day phone call use.

Steve Sande, who was one of the TUAW staffers who helped me test the unit, suggests that people looking to place calls when using an iPod touch buy a cell phone instead. "If you want to integrate the two systems," he said, "just use a rubber band."

The Peel 520 ships world wide from Peel520.net.

Tags: Apple Peel, Apple Peel 520, ApplePeel, ApplePeel520, iPod touch, IpodTouch, reviews, Sprint, telephony

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Watch Almost Any Video File Type with VLC for iPod and iPhone

VLC is a geek’s favorite media player, and now it’s available for the iPod Touch and iPhone. Here we take a look at how to use it and what you can expect with the new app.

VLC has been available for the iPad for several weeks now, and has finally come to the iPod Touch & iPhone.

Download VLC for iPhone & iPod Touch

Download the VLC Media Player like you would any app either from the iTunes App Store or directly on your device.

Using VLC for iPhone & iPod Touch

When you first launch it, you’ll be prompted with a message explaining how to get video in your VLC library.

Plug in your iPod Touch or iPhone, launch iTunes, and click on the device. Select Apps and scroll down to File Sharing. Click on VLC and add videos under VLC Documents.

Or you can do a simple drag and drop of the files as well.

After you add video files they are synced to your device right away without having to use the Sync feature in iTunes.

Just tap on the video you wan to watch. One thing we noticed is the playback controls don’t disappear after a few seconds as they normally do while watching a video.

Just tap anywhere on the video screen and they will be hidden. Then tap it again to bring them back.

Here is an example of a video we downloaded from YouTube. Like the desktop app, VLC for the iPhone & iPod Touch will play virtually any file you throw at it.

It also allows you to delete video files directly from the device without the need to connect it to iTunes first. Just tap Edit in the upper right corner and tap the delete button.

The VLC app is free and allows you to watch file formats not supported natively. With VLC for an iOS device, it makes it easier to watch various video formats without having to convert them first.

VLC Media Player iTunes Preview

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Sync Hotmail With Your iPhone or iPod Touch with Exchange ActiveSync

Would you like to get your Hotmail email, calendar, and contacts on your iPhone or iPod touch?  Here’s how you get Windows Live content synced and pushed to your iOS device for free via Exchange ActiveSync.

While Hotmail has remained one of the most widely used email systems for years, it has not always been the easiest to sync with your programs and mobile devices.  This year, however, Microsoft has given the entire Windows Live suite an overhaul, and Hotmail has gained a number of new features.  Among those is support for Exchange ActiveSync, which lets you get your email, contacts, and calendar pushed to your mobile device.  As soon as you receive a new email, it’ll automatically show up on it, and any changes you make to your accounts will be synced with your online Hotmail account.  This can work with a wide variety of modern smartphones, including Android and iPhone, so here we’ll look at how you can add Hotmail via ActiveSync to your iPhone.

Please Note: In this article we’re using a 3rd Gen iPod Touch running iOS 4.1, but this will work the exact same on any iPhone or iPod Touch running iOS 2.0 or newer.

Adding Your Hotmail Account

If you’ve never added an email account to your iOS device, simply open the Mail app to get started.  Alternately, add a new email account from your Mail settings.  Select Microsoft Exchange to get started adding your account.

Enter your Hotmail email address as both your Email and Username, then enter your standard Hotmail password and a description for your account.  Leave the Domain field blank.  Mail will now try to verify your account.  Do note that this will work with all Hotmail accounts, including those on international domains, alternate Microsoft domains such as @live.com or @msn.com, or with Windows Live on your own domain.

After a few seconds, the screen will refresh, this time showing a field for Server.  Enter m.hotmail.com in this field, and then Mail will verify your account again.

Now, choose if you want to sync your contacts and calendars as well.  If you do, press On, then press Save.

The Mail app will now open in your Hotmail inbox, and will sync your messages automatically.  Do note that, by default, it will only download emails received within the last 3 days, so if you don’t have any recent messages in your inbox, you may not see any messages at first.

Your Hotmail emails will automatically be pushed to your device as they’re received, so you’ll never have to worry about not getting your emails.

You’ll immediately see your Windows Live Calendar in the Calendar app, and any changes you make will be synced back with your online account.

In fact, if you have multiple calendars in your Live Calendar, all of them will be synced with your device.  Calendars added from iCal files or auto-generated by Hotmail will be shown as Read-only, but your main calendar will be fully editable.  You can choose to turn off any of the calendars if you wish.

Your Hotmail contacts will also now show up in your Contacts app, and all of your contact groups will be synced as well.

Change Your Default Hotmail ActiveSync Settings

If you’d like to change your account settings, open up the Settings app and select Mail, Contacts, Calendars.

Here you can change a wide variety of settings about your Mail, Contacts, and Calendar apps.  If you need to change settings in your Hotmail account, select it from the top.

You can change your account info, turn on or off Mail, Contacts, and Calendars syncing, choose the number of days to sync and the folders to push, or delete your account.

Alternately, from the first Mail Settings screen, you can choose which address book and calendar are used by default.  If you change these to use your Hotmail account by default, then any new contacts or appointments you add will automatically be synced to your online Hotmail account.

Hotmail worked great with Exchange ActiveSync, and definitely is a huge improvement over syncing via POP3.  Plus, Hotmail has also improved their mobile webpage, so if you still find yourself needing to use Hotmail.com in the browser, it’ll work good, too.

If you’re still using Outlook on your desktop, check out our article on how to sync your Hotmail account with Outlook 2010 so your mail, calendar, and contacts will be on your iOS device, your PC, and the cloud.

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Transfer Music, Apps, and Other Data from an Old Gen iPod to a New One

Recently Apple released their new 4th generation iPod Touch & iPhones, and if you get the new generation you probably want to transfer your data. Here we show you how to do it easily using iTunes.

Here we’re transferring our data from the iPod Touch 3rd generation to the latest 4th generation model using iTunes 10.0.0.1 on a Windows 7 computer.

Here we have our iPod Touch 32GB 3rd generation device. Notice we have most everything in folders using the new iOS 4 feature. Since we don’t want to waste time setting up the new device with all the folders, apps, and music…we’ll use the backup feature in iTunes 10…yes iTunes…as it actually works well and you can register the device too.

Backup Old iPod

First plug in your old iPod and back it up. Just right-click on the device in iTunes and select Back Up.

Then wait while the backup process completes.

Register & Restore new iPod

Then connect your new iPod and click on the device and you’ll need to go through the registration process. Or you can register it later to if you want.

Now when you go to set it up, you have the choice to set it up as a new iPod, or restore from a backup. Here we’re selecting the most recent backup then click Continue.

Then wait for the process to complete. The amount of time it takes will depend on how much data was in the backup.

After the restoration is complete we were happy to see all of our data transferred to the 4th Gen iPod Touch successfully, including the folders we had created on the old device. Then of course we have the new featured included like FaceTime and the Camera app.

You can of course set it up as a new device and manually manage your apps and other content if you prefer that method.

Generally we try to stay away from iTunes as much as possible, and there are several alternatives out there. But for registering a new iPod and restoring data from the old one…the backup and restore feature works well.

Download the Latest Version of iTunes

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