Imagine flipping through pictures on your iPod as you listen to the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, but instead of hearing the Fab Four’s familiar tune, something slightly different tickles your eardrums—and it changes with each snapshot. The tempo slows when you view a Rembrandt still life, the volume goes up with the blurred image of a headbanger, and creepy laughter resounds as you look upon a dark, moonlit landscape. This is more or less what a new iPod and iPhone software application aims to do, filtering and slightly modifying songs depending on what’s showing on your screen.

As Apple explained in a patent it published last week, they’ve developed an algorithm that looks at image data and determines “one or more characteristics,” such as “sharpness, brightness, motion, magnification, zoom setting,” and others. Next, an audio processor translates these photo observations into variations in tempo, volume, and pitch—adding its own sound effects to boot. The end result is a music experience that’s fully integrated with your photo album (and some would argue, as gratuitous, stupid, and insanely fun as Apple’s Photo Booth software). And it doesn’t stop there. (more…)

First, people chiseled the word of god on stone tablets, then the printing press came along and enabled things like religious flyers, handed out to innocent bypasser on street corners. As of today, the ten commandments are available in a handy Vatican-approved iPhone app.

This interactive app helps Catholics prepare for confession with a handy checklist that asks questions such as, “Have I harbored hatred in my heart?”, and “Have I abused alcohol or drugs?”. It’s so hard to remember things these days. Have you ever been angry or resentful? Not sure? You wish you had a checklist to consult, right?

Confession: A Roman Catholic App was developed by Little iApps (it appears to be the sole product that their website offers).

“I was a bit skeptical at first, thinking Now how in blue blazes is it even a good idea, let alone approved by a bishop, for an iPhone or iPad to hear my con­fes­sion? No freakin’ way!,” explains a reverend named Jeffery Grace, from Los Angeles, on the company’s testimonials page. But he adds that once he realized that the app didn’t actually hear confessions–instead it helps the user through an examination of con­science–he warmed to it. Lisa Hendley of catholicmom.com also testifies: “I’m hooked!”

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A glitch in the iPhone’s alarm software gave many Europeans an extra dose of sleep this morning, when their alarms went off an hour later than expected.

While the time on the phone correctly “fell backward” with Europe’s scheduled switch from daylight saving time, because of a software bug the alarm function didn’t recognize the switch, and all recurring alarms went off an hour later than intended. Frustrated iPhone users took to twitter, said the Daily Mail:

Users of Twitter were also quick to make jokes at Apple’s expense today. Garrettc wrote: ‘Daddy, do you remember where you were during the great iPhone alarm calamity of 2010?’ ‘No son, I was asleep’

Siobhan-83 wrote: ‘Ben’s iPhone alarm didn’t go off this morning, used it as an opportunity to tell him younger, newer models aren’t always the better option.’

And Jamiei said: ‘A whole hour of peace and quiet in the office this morning without any iPhone users courtesy of Apple.’

Hilariously, the bug was discovered a month ago when the exact opposite thing happened in Australia and New Zealand following their “spring forward” daylight switch–everyone got up an hour early. Apple had promised a fix to the problem then, and still claims the bug will be fixed with the release of an update (iOS4.2) in the coming weeks. But it probably won’t come out in time for the American daylight saving switch next Sunday (November 7) night.

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This little 6th generation iPod nano just wants to dance. Because that’s what its human programmed it to do. Kazu Terasaki, also known as YouTube user PachimonDotCom, is a Japanese software engineer from Silicon Valley, CA who is addicted to making apple products walk around.

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Apple may not allow porn on its product line, but it has no problem with another source of controversy: evolution. A new, free iPad/iPhone application called Timetree, distributed by Arizona and Penn State Universities, allows users to map how long ago two living creatures separated on the tree of life, a subject that can get a bit sticky with creationists, says The Register:

Now, Apple has taken a stance which will upset a lot of Americans: it has allowed an app which specifies quite clearly that evolution is real and that humans and monkeys share a common ancestor some 30 million years in the past.

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A new iPhone app, linked with a refractometer and decades of coffee science, can help you brew the perfect cup, for only $350. Don’t believe that such a thing is possible? Gizmodo sums up the natural inclination against believing that science can tell us what tastes best:

People accept scientific measurements as the truth about a lot of things. Mass. The temperature at which water freezes. The size of the earth. But it’s hard to swallow the idea of scientifically measuring how something tastes. Taste is subjective. Right? Not anymore—thanks to MoJo, a gadget that quantifies a cup of coffee’s flavor.

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Believe me, there are many inconveniences that come with being left-handed: Your childhood art projects look like they were accomplished by jittery beavers on account of those damn right-handed safety scissors, and simple kitchen tools like can-openers and soup ladles can become the enemy. But now we lefties can add in a high-tech complaint: The iPhone 4′s antenna problems are particularly troublesome to the likes of us.

The iPhone 4′s sales have been spectacular since it debuted last week, but consumers immediately noticed a glaring problem with the metal band that wraps around the phone’s perimeter and acts as an antenna; holding the phone in certain ways interfered with the antenna and could lead to dropped calls. In response, Apple advised customers to “avoid gripping it in the lower left corner” when making or receiving a call. That’s when a U.K. group called the Left-Handers Club got irate.

According to The Telegraph, spokeswoman Lauren Milsom issued a blistering statement:

“It seems ludicrous to suggest that 10 per cent of potential users should be told they have to adopt a less natural hand hold to use this latest technology. I would strongly suggest that Steve Jobs employs left-handers in his design and testing team in future, and urgently address this issue to ensure the phone is fit for purpose.”

Lefties are reportedly not the only ones upset about the apparent design flaw. One couple that’s suing Apple says their phone’s faulty antenna has caused them “emotional distress,” and class-action lawsuits are starting to spring up.

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Image: flickr / Jorge Quinteros

Perhaps you think Steve exaggerated the resolution of the band new iPhone 4. Perhaps you’re peeved that the phone’s reception can disappear, depending on how you hold it. Perhaps you’re afraid of dropping it and shattering its sleek face.

Perhaps you just want to know: Will it blend?

We showed the (successful) attempt to blend the iPad in April. Now the blender company Blendtec–which has also destroyed glow-sticks and various Guitar Hero iterations–has tried the same with Apple’s newest toy:

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Snapping iPhone pics may soon be an order for cops in Brockton, Massachusetts. But don’t expect these shots to end up on the Facebook page for COPS. Using a special app, officers plan to turn the iPhone into a crime-fighting gadget that will use facial and iris recognition to identify criminals on the streets.

As first reported by the Patriot Ledger, the iris recognition software looks for unique coloration in the area surrounding the subject’s pupils. The face recognition software measures the spacing between the suspect’s major facial features–comparing the outside distance between the person’s eyes and the distance between his nose and chin, for example.

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For those people (you know who you are) who wake up, stumble to the bathroom, and look to the mirror hoping to see a species of Homo other than sapiens, you’re in luck, thanks to a new app for the iPhone and Android phones. MEanderthal combines an uploaded photo of your face with an early human one created by a paleo-artist using early human fossils. LiveScience explains:

“You choose which human species you’d like to become, including: Homo floresiensis who lived between 95,000 and 17,000 years ago; Homo neanderthalensis who lived 200,000 to 28,000 years ago; and Homo heidelbergensis who lived 700,000 to 200,000 years ago.”

What changes might you expect when you’re Neanderthal-ized? For one thing, your schnoz will most likely expand quite a bit. This larger nasal organ helped early humans warm up and moisturize the cold, dry air during the ice age (no humidifiers back then).

“Big noses also meant sloping cheekbones compared with the flat cheekbones of modern humans. Neanderthals, especially males, also had big brow ridges and receding chins, she added. The large brow ridges are also found on chimps, gorillas and orangutans.”

The app will bring today’s humans in closer touch with our ancestors, some scientists say… perhaps a little too close.

Image: flickr / hairymuseummatt