One of the newest rugged cases for the iPhone 5 is from a company that's been in the business of designing heavy-duty, impregnable protective gear for more than 40 years. And yet, the Pelican ProGear Vault ($79.95) is Pelican’s first foray into the increasingly competitive field of full-time use, rugged iPhone cases. And with the new ProGear Vault, Pelican certainly is making quite a splash.

Pelican is certainly no stranger to designing heavy-duty, rugged protective gear. The company has made a name for itself fabricating some of the toughest cases, designing them to withstand extreme degrees of abuse and hardship. Now with its new Vault case for the iPhone 5, the company has brought its exacting standards of quality and near impervious, rugged durability to the iPhone case market.

As President and CEO of Pelican, Lyndon Faulkner was recently quoted as saying: “For more than 40 years our company has produced the toughest and most dependable cases for military, law enforcement and firefighter professionals. We are extremely pleased to launch a range of mobile electronics cases with the same kind of protection for consumers, the Pelican ProGear Vault series provides your iPhone 5 with exceptional protection and clear audio performance, while still allowing for use of the phone.”

The Vault is a drop-proof, dust-proof, crush-proof, shatter-resistant and water-resistant iPhone case. With a certified IP... rating the Vault will handle a wide range of extreme environments and inclement conditions with ease and grace. The Vault is crafted with engineering-grade aluminum and impact absorbent polymer materials (tested to withstand a 6-foot drop), and its fully enclosed shell provides a critical line of defense from wind-driven rain, snow and dust.

The Vault protects the entire phone with its unique fully-enclosed design, all points of entry have been taken into consideration and protected. A screw-on, rigid front shield also serves to hold the removable touchscreen protector firmly in place. Additionally the scratch-resistant touchscreen protector is one of the best on the market and the optical-grade camera port lenses over both cameras allow you to shoot iPhone photos of a quality I reckon Steve Jobs might approve of.

While the Vault may not necessarily be the sexiest of case alternatives out there, nor is it the slimmest option, with the Vault protecting your iPhone there won't be many situations where you can't take your iPhone safely and with confidence that come what may, your precious iDevice will be safely protected and undamaged.

I review a lot of heavy-duty iDevice cases and there are certain features that can go a long way to making an exceptional case. The Vault is certainly no slouch when it comes to extreme-duty protection for your iPhone, and it comes chock full of great features that show the great care and attention to detail that were poured into the design and construction of this excellent iPhone case.

Outstanding Features Include:

* Special touchscreen protector. Perhaps the most responsive design, in a highly durable touchscreen protector.

* Extreme shock absorbing design, utilizing the latest elastomeric copolymer technology.

* Easy-use mute "dial" feature.

* Water-resistant mic and speaker shields.

The is a rather militaristic looking case; even though it comes in an assortment of colors it is rather industrial looking, so it's not going to appeal to every fashion sense. But for the person looking for a superior level of all-around, full-enclosure protection for their iPhone the Pelican Vault is definitely worth taking a closer look at.

If you can't see the great Pelican Vault video above, click HERE!

The ID America SmartFold case($39.99) appeals to me because of it functionality and good looks. It exudes quality with the padded leatherette shell for protection. It’s sleek without being bulky, and it comes in your choice of black or white.

Just tuck your iPad in and you’re in business. It fits snugly surrounded by full protection. When you open and close the cover it stays put with magnets. It also turns the machine off and on, which I appreciate. All the appropriate openings are there for accessing ports and buttons, even the camera.

This case is also a nice stand, which is achieved by folding the cover back on itself. It has an upright position, which is good for watching videos and surfing the Web. It has a less inclined angle, which is good for typing and more productive activities. My only suggestion would be for it to be able to act as a stand in the portrait position. Why don’t case makers ever think of such an obvious thing?

I would have to give this handsome and practical case two thumbs up. The price is reasonable too at just $39.99. Check out some of its other nifty products while you’re there. It really is an innovative case maker.

This week, I wanted to introduce an app I've been using for quite some time, and that I used to create this image titled, "Tree of Grunge." Every once in a while, you come across a photo you have taken that just seems impossible to edit. Maybe, there are flaws in your photo, but you still want to turn it into something special. That's where Modern Grunge ($0.99) comes into play. This exciting app lets you turn your photos into a work of art with one touch.

I was at my dad's place for a picnic when I spotted this peculiar-looking tree. I could've taken this photo standing up, or from any angle, and it still would've looked great. But I believe it's always good to think outside the box in photography. That's why I chose this angle. Plus, I wanted to capture the clouds covering the sky, which had an eerie feeling of their own.

I started in Camera+ ($1.99). From this angle, you can't look through the lens. This is more of an aim and shoot type of photo. You need to make sure you take multiple shots to ensure you get a couple good shots. After shooting this tree, I also edited it in the same app. I used the Clarity filter, followed by going to the FX option and choosing Vibrant. Remember to always adjust your filters to your liking, as to not over or under process. I adjusted the vibrancy to about 25 percent and saved to Camera Roll.

Next, I brought the photo into Adobe Photoshop Express (free), which as I always say, is a must-have app for serious iPhoneographers. I used the De-noise option, and adjusted it to around 50 percent. Next in this app, I used the Sharpen option and adjusted to 20 percent. Doing this to all your photos will make them look just like you shot them with a $1,000 camera, I promise. 

Now here's where the magic happened. I brought the photo into Modern Grunge ($0.99). There are manual settings you can work with in this app, but the presets are perfect IMO. This is very simple and user friendly. All I did here was tap the presets until it really caught my eye and saved to Camera Roll. There are always quite a few that catch my eye, so I end up saving a couple different edits. Then, I choose my favorite from Camera Roll. You will be thoroughly impressed with this easy-to-use app. It will also let you add scratches to your photos, which sometimes looks great in grunge-type photos.

Next, I take the image into one of my favorites, LensFlare ($1.99). As you may have read in my previous workflows, this app is a miracle worker as well. I used the Desert Sun option here. I placed the sun where I liked and adjusted the color.

Last off, I took it into iWatermark ($1.99). This is where I take all of my photos to put my watermark on them. This is a very simple app that will help you show ownership. That's it! After you complete these steps, save to Camera Roll, and you're done.

I have been an iphoneographer for quite a while now, and I am still amazed at the quality of photos I can create with my iPhone. Using these workflows, you can create images of your own that look like they came from a professional photographer using a professional camera. I hope you can go out and try some of these tips for your iPhoneography. Until next time.

Apple is currently offering a special movie promotion in the iTunes Store that lets you buy 25 bundles of movies for low prices, most of which are HD. For example, you can get the entire series of 10 HD Star Trek movies for $49.99. They even offer the entire Harry Potter series of 10 movies for $9.99. But when I tried to buy it, I got a message saying the item was being revised. Other series include The Lord of the Rings Trilogy ($9.99), The Bourne Collection ($29.99 for HD version), The Matrix Trilogy ($9.99), and The GodfatherTrilogy ($19.99).

I have four regrets in my life:

1.  A tattoo of an arrow that starts under my right armpit and runs down my side, past my hip. It’s big, bold, and will most certainly look like a crumbled, smeared watercolor painting when I’m 60;
 

2.  The tattoo I got one Saturday night in Soho during a two-week trip to London circa 2004. This tat-ta-roo on my ankle of a heart the size of a fist looks like it was drawn by a 4-year-old with a permanent marker and underdeveloped motor skills;

3.  Letting my parents develop the disposable cameras from that trip. (My mom still can’t look me in the eye.);
 

4.  Dumping my iPhone 5 for the Galaxy 4. 

Of my four regrets, I consider the last to be the worst. So, why? Why, why, WHY would I end things with my sweet, simple, user-friendly iPhone 5?

Recently, I graduated from college, got dumped by a real live person, started a new career path, and moved home after 10 years of bouncing around the U.S. and Europe. With all of these new things happening, I thought, why not try a new type of cell phone? The grass is always greener, right?

Wrong. It’s just different grass.

I do think there are a few redeeming qualities about the Galaxy 4—and by “a few,” I mean two.

1.  The big screen. It’s great for watching any movie starring George Clooney (old man hot), Channing Tatum (hot, forever hot), or Javier Bardem (foreign old man hot). The fellas look lifelike on the GS4 screen, so much so that I remember unconsciously reaching for Channing Tatum’s bottom lip during (insert any Channing Tatum movie here). 
 

2.  The GS4’s Air Gesture function. Finally, I can wave my hand over something and, in true Hermione fashion, shout “Alohomora!” Then the smartphone makes a magical noise and turns on. I can cross “casting an effective spell” off my bucket list.

But enough about the GS4, let’s talk about my long, lost love—the iPhone 5.

Nothing can compare to its slender, lightweight build. I could hold it easily and text with either hand. I’d always wanted to be ambidextrous, and the 5 made it happen.

It didn’t care how fast I texted. The keyboard was simple and effective; the screen small, yet mighty. I could type a sentence, a novel, or anything in between with ease, and the 5 always autocorrected my (millions of) spelling errors. The GS4 makes me work so hard to develop a sentence or phrase. I‘m subjected to way more screen swiping, word selecting, and overall thinking than anyone of my generation should ever be.

The iPhone 5’s apps were unbeatable. The apps available for the GS4 don’t even compare. With the 5, all it took was an easy search and a single tap or swipe to download an updated version of Instagram, My Days, Facebook, Pinterest, or any other program I needed to enhance my social (media) life.

Finally, it had a team of technological geniuses to back up its every function. A strong support system breeds confidence, and confidence is sexy. In fact, I felt significantly more sexy when the iPhone 5 was just chillin’ in my pocket, riding shotgun as we cruised around town, or hiding in my purse as I waited for my turn at the gyno. Just knowing it was near, ready to be used as a camera, notebook, calendar, alarm clock, or anything else I would ever need to distract myself from the present moment, was incredibly satisfying.

The iPhone 5 and I have been apart for less than 72 hours and it’s killing me. I know it’s not going to be easy getting it back, especially after signing a two-year contract with The-Provider-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, but maybe, just maybe, we’ll be able to mend what was broken and start again. Le sigh… 

Why would an iOS business user care about Microsoft SharePoint? Because Microsoft SharePoint is the focal point of many enterprise collaboration and content management strategies. Being an iOS user in a Microsoft-oriented business sometimes makes one feel a bit like a lowly stepchild, getting by rather than really fitting in.

Luckily for iOS users, Microsoft’s partners recognize the strength of the iOS market as well as the unique capabilities offered by tablets in the mobile space. A great example is Nintex, a workflow company that has made it easy for developers to visually develop processes and to deliver those to any device.

Although Microsoft offers forms capabilities, it isn't egalitarian in its target platforms. Nintex developed its own forms that can be delivered via a web browser on the PC, or through Nintex Mobile (Free) on iOS. SharePoint remains the underlying storage and logic platform, but iOS users don’t need to worry about, nor every see, SharePoint directly.

For those who work across platforms, however, a transaction initiated in SharePoint synchronizes with iOS, so you can easily pick up or complete a work-in-progress on any Nintex target client. You can use Nintex Forms to initiate tasks or manage complex workflows. Input can include text, numbers, pictures, and videos. And because Nintex delivers into a native iOS app, it employs all the familiar editing interface tools associated with the iPhone or iPad. Nintext apps can even work off-line, synchronizing next time the device connects.

Nintex doesn’t see traditional computing as the answer to moving beyond paper, but tablets offer a much more robust approach because of their high-fidelity displays, and mobile features.

Developers find value in the Nintex app because it employs SharePoint’s built-in security features: information entered on iOS moves securely between devices and the database. The visual nature of Nintex workflow also means less code. Sophisticated end users developing workflows can even target mobile platforms by simply selecting the target (see screen shot). For those familiar with the Ribbon Tool on Microsoft Office applications, the development environment for Nintex Forms delivers a familiar entry point.

Because Apple isn’t an enterprise software developer, the future of iOS in business requires companies like Nintex to build features atop application platforms, and for cloud-based providers to offer native access to their apps. Companies that support Bring-Your-Own-Device strategies needs to be especially aware of how well their development applications translate into meaningful applications for their business professionals. By offering secure application access through tools like Nintex Forms, organizations can maintain control of critical business processes while empower people to use the tools that best fit the business needs and their personal work preferences.

Do you enjoy taking artistic shots with your iPhone? Why not get rewarded for it! Enter your iPhone Photography Contest for a chance to win awesome prizes and a spot in our magazine! 

Submit your best iPhone photography at iphonelife.com/contest by Sept. 2. You must take and edit all photos with an iOS device, using only iOS apps. Don't forget to give it a title, and tell us which apps, if any, you used to process your image with.

If your submission is among the 3 top-voted photos on our Facebook page, you’ll win an Olloclip quick-connect lens set ($70 value) and a CanvasPop 16- by 20-inch gallery-quality print ($80 value). In addition, we’ll feature the top 10 photos in an upcoming issue of iPhone Life magazine.

Get your friends to vote through our Facebook page to increase your chances of winning. And get this—They can vote every day! (Votes are limited to one vote per image per day.) 

You still have time to create a winning masterpiece, so get out there and do it!

I have to say, I’m impressed. I’ve certainly reviewed my share of cases to the point it's hard to show me anything new I haven't seen. But Wally ($39.99) is indeed something new.

Wally is a handsome genuine leather wallet or perhaps really just a pocket that attaches to your iPhone. It will even attach to most cases if you feel the need for a case. It comes in brown and black.

It will accommodate your most important credit cards and business cards and hide them out of view until you need them. When you want something in the wallet, just pull the red tab, and out they pop. What a clever design. It has a cutout so it won’t block your camera.All you do is reveal the stickum on the back and press it on your phone. It comes off easily if you need to remove it, and it comes with an extra sheet of stickum.

If you don’t want to be burdened with a bunch of credit cards, use an app to scan them into your phone. A good one is Lemon Wallet. I also like eWallet and KeyRing.

But when you think about it, why even use credit cards at all? We should all be using something like Google Wallet. Whoops, I forgot iPhones don’t have NFC yet. But when it comes, you will be able to wave your phone at vending machines, credit card scanners and make your purchase or send money to friends and pay your bills without checks and pesky credit cards that get lost and stolen.

Believe me, it does happen. I had four credit cards, my health insurance card, my library card, and my driver’s license stolen about four months ago, and didn’t realize it until several thousand dollars in charges had accrued. When I was pulled over by a cop, I didn’t have a driver’s license to make things worse. Now all that stuff is in my phone.

Anyway, Wally is an attractive attachment to your phone and will afford you an extra pocket. They cost $39.99, and you can get one here. Here’s a short video that illustrates how it works.

It’s hard enough creating one substantial game in a series, let alone a franchise that holds up over several iterations. Sprinkle is one example of how to do it right. The original Sprinkle was a surprise and a delight, and Sprinkle Jr. was entertaining, though it sat much better with my 8-year-old son who actually played it through at least three times. Now we have Sprinkle Islands ($1.99), and it looks to be everything the original Sprinkle was to a grander scale. My only grumble so far is that it didn’t do away with the need to play each world completely through to get to the next one.

Once again, you play a little blue guy trying to help out a bunch of theoretically frightened aliens whose homes are on the verge of being burnt down by rampant fires. In the original game the enemy was fragments of a destroyed meteor, while this time around the issue is a crashed garbage scow whose contents burst into flame upon entering the planet’s atmosphere. Regardless of the cause, the flames are just as deadly, and you only have a certain amount of time and water with which to put them out. This time, however, the levels are more than one screen wide and your vehicle can move through the level to compensate for it. In fact, your vehicle is always on the move unless stopped by a fire that needs to be put out or some other obstacle like the lack of a bridge.

The puzzles are just as creative this time around. Every level has at least one straightforward fire to put out, but that will be complimented by one or more fires that are tricky to get to. You might have to push a boulder onto a button or block a certain passage so your stream can flow in a different direction. One thing I don’t recall being in the first installment are buttons that you manually push to activate certain things like doors and lifts. It’s an interesting addition that brings a new dimension to the game play.  I don’t know that there is a whole lot of variation in the solutions for most puzzles, but you can certainly try out differences in timing and where you’re spraying the water in order to try and use less for a particular fire. The game currently has four islands with 12 levels each, and just like the first one you must complete a level to move on to the next. You must also finish an island before trying the next one. I’d really love to see this feature relaxed a little bit.

Controlling the fire truck is pretty simple. Just slide your finger up and down on the screen to adjust the height of the water mechanism’s neck, and tap on the appropriate button to release water. When necessary, activating lift buttons by hand is a matter of tapping as well.  Each level has a five water drop rating, and there are markers on your water meter to show you when you’ve dropped down to the next ranking. There are leaderboards for each world as well as an overall leaderboard in Game Center, but at this point there are no achievements.

Aesthetically, the game is very similar to the first, which means the graphics are at times a bit small but always nicely detailed. The animation is excellent and the particle effects really make the fire and water seem lifelike.  The sound effects do a great job with helping the world come to life, and the background music is subtle and peaceful – almost like classy elevator music, if you can picture such a thing.

The more I play Sprinkle Islands, the more impressed I am with it. The game has managed to take an already great concept and make it even better. The longer, multi-screen levels really force you to be even more considerate with your water consumption, because you don’t know what’s coming next, and you’ll even have to fight non-hut threatening fires on the fly as your truck moves on by them. It turns out, you can actually skip a level if you try it enough times unsuccessfully, but I’d love to see this taken a step further and let you unlock a new world after you’ve earned so many water drops on the previous one. Otherwise there’s not much to complain about here.

Overall Score: 9/10

ID America is certainly one of the most innovative and creative case makers around. Usually its cases are campy and colorful with fun designs. But the new genuine leather Wall Street Wallet Case ($34.95) is conservative and sophisticated. It is something you would be proud to pull out of your pocket.

It’s really a pouch case that you slide the phone into from the top. The molded front frames the screen perfectly, and all the cutouts allow access to buttons and ports.

In the back, there is a pocket for business cards and credit cards. An elongated hole in the center of the pocket allows you to slide out the cards more easily.

I like this case. The price isn’t bad either for a genuine leather product. You can get one from the developer’s site for $34.95. It comes in black orange, red, brown, white, and navy.

This article is intended for advanced photographers and, of course, programmers.

As an imaging and iOS programming pro (see my latest Nokia Lumia 1020-specific article), people often ask me about the photo and video capabilities of iOS.

While I'm currently working on no less than four major tutorials & roundups (panorama, HDR, low-light, and action shooting) I'll publish in the near future, I've decided to dedicate a “quick” separate article to a forum question HERE. Note that my HDR (High Dynamic Range) shooting article will build on the information in this article so that advanced users know how exposure compensation can be done in the best way on iOS.

Note that I'm discussing both bracketing and, generically, exposure compensation. The former is based on the latter—you generally shoot more than one exposure-compensated shot to get a bracketed series of shots, typically, for future (HDR etc.) processing. This also means that, as long as you understand what exposure compensation is, you'll also easily understand what bracketing is.

1. Is exposure compensation with dialed-in numbers at all possible?

You may already have seen something like this in the camera app of your non-iOS smartphone (or any dedicated camera):



(Showing the camera settings of the LG G2. Image source: DPReview Connect's G2 preview)

Here, I've annotated the -2...+2 slider at the top with a red rectangle. Basically, you'll find something very similar on all (non-iOS) mobile platforms and dedicated cameras under the icons “Exposure”, “Brightness” and the like.

You may already have noticed I've emphasized you won't find anything like this on iOS. On iOS, it's not possible to directly “dial in” an exposure compensation value, and it won't become possible in at least the next about 14 months either. (It's highly unlikely it'll be introduced to iOS before iOS 8, which is likely to be released Autumn 2014. And it's still not guaranteed this feature will ever be introduced to iOS.) Diametrically opposed to this is the approach of all(!) competing mobile operating systems:

- Android has had manual exp. comp. for many years in its stock Camera client (tested on, among other models, my Samsung Galaxy Ace running on 2.2.1)
- Symbian (tested on my Nokia N8), allowing for configuring bracketing in both the stock Camera app and third-party ones like CameraPro.
- Windows Phone (tested on my LG E900 on WP7.5 and HTC 8S on WP8.0)
- Samsung Bada (tested on my Samsung Wave S7230 running Bada 1.2 and my Samsung Wave I running Bada 2.0)
Note that I couldn't test this with the BlackBerry OS.

All these models let for +/- 2.0 EV settings. Note that the imaging flagship (and swan song) of the Symbian line, the Nokia PureView 808, allowed for a whopping -4...+4 EV exposure compensation, in addition to supporting shooting three bracketed shots from inside the stock Camera app. Read: no third-party apps needed for shooting bracketed shots as easily as possible, unlike with iOS.

2. The best way of bracketing / exposure compensation in iOS

Now that we know it's not possible—as opposed to all other mobile operating systems—to over/underexpose the image by a constant, what should you do to under/overexpose your image for further (for example HDR) processing or to emphasize something which, without exp. comp., would be invisible (because of, say, the low dynamic range of the sensor)? Fortunately, it's possible – just not as easily as on other platforms. In some cases, you simply won't be able to under/overexpose if the subject you shoot is of pretty much the same brightness everywhere.

2.1 The stock Camera client

Basically, you can do basic exp. comp. even in the stock Camera client. Just tap the brightest area before shooting to dial down the compensation and then take a shot. (If you tap the brightest area – for example, the Sun -, the image will be undrexposed the most.) Or, if you want to increase the compensation to positive values, do the opposite – tap the darkest area.

Let me show you some examples. Assume the following, very common scene: shooting the interior of a  room with a very bright window:

(as with all the images in this article, click for the high-quality and, in cases, -size original)

where the interior of my summer cottage is dark, while the world outside is sunny. (Yes, even Central-North Finland can be this sunny :))

(Note that this shot has been generated with the in-camera HDR stitching of the third-party and, for HDR, excellent app “Top Camera”. The shot, as it's HDR, doesn't fully convey the vast difference between the light level outside and inside. You'll soon see how vast it is when I show you some non-HDR images of the same scene.)

Now, let's see what the outcome is if I tap the darkest possible area in the image to instruct the camera to set the global exposure of the image based on that area. In the following thumbnail, I've annotated the area I've tapped:



As you can see, the interior of the summer cottage is properly exposed, while the outside world is hopelessly over-exposed. (Note that I've also enabled the built-in HDR mode of the stock Camera app – the HDR shot is HERE. As I'll also explain in my future HDR Bible, the  HDR mode of the stock Camera app is only able to increase the dynamic range of most images by around 1 EV, as opposed to proper multi-frame stitching. This is why the outside of the summer cottage is still seriously highlight clipped in the linked HDR image.)

Now, let's make a shot with as low an exposure compensation as possible, which means you'll need to pre-focus the brightest area; for example, one of the white tree-trunks outside:



(HDR version of the shot HERE. As opposed to the previous shot, it's almost indistinguishable from the  non-HDR one.)

Note that you will not always want to tap the darkest/brightest areas; for example, when, in the above case, you only need -2 … +2 EV compensation. If you check the EXIF data of the above two images (the under- and the overexposed one), you'll see the overexposed one (the first) used ISO 160 and 1/20s shutter speed, while the underexposed one used  ISO 50 (base ISO) and 1/531s. This is some 3 (difference between 50 and 160 ISO) + 5 (1/20s vs. 1/531s) = 8 EV difference!

(Incidentally, you can also easily see the area I used for setting the exposure. The first pair of the two “Subject Area” EXIF tags show where I've tapped to setting the exposure; with the overexposed image, it's x=2775, y=1177, while with the other one, x=270 y=1074. The x coordinate is measured from the left side of the image but, as in this case both images are rotated (in camera) by 180 degrees (see the “Orientation” tag's value), it's counted from the right in these cases.)

If you find this far too high, you can select an area without extremes in lighting.

Let's see another pair of shots – now, completely outside, next to the Iisalmi-Sonkajärvi road in Finland (I've also left the exact GPS coordinates in the original image – feel free to check them out). This pair also uses the brightest (in this case, the Sun) and darkest (shadows of the trees) points for setting the metering and, consequently, the generic exposure compensation.

This is the scene as shot by Top Camera in manual HDR mode:



(Again, I use Top Camera for showing the entire scene, with its lighting extremes, because it produces true HDR images, as opposed to the semi-HDR mode of the stock Camera client of iOS. I've set up the two points manually, using exactly the same areas as I've done with the stock Camera client below.)

This is the output of the stock Camera app after tapping the darkest area (the shadows of the trees; annotated below):



(HDR version HERE. It's significantly better than the non-HDR one as the Sun clips far later than in the non-HDR image above.)

And this is the output of the stock Camera app after selecting the Sun for metering:



(HDR version HERE. As can easily be seen, it has lower highlight clipping than the regular image but the different color channels clip differently, resulting in slightly uneven colors in the Sun. No such problems with the non-HDR image.)

As you can see, there is a major problem with this shot: the focus is totally messed up. It's not uncommon with contrast-detect cameras (as is the iPhone) to completely miss the focus when you focus to a very bright source of light. You can see this in effect. This means, should you need/want to use the stock Camera app for bracketing, be extra aware of the problems when directly using the Sun for metering. In the following section, I'll explain how this problem can be remedied, should you still want to maximize the underexposure. (Again, as there's no way of dialed-in exposure compensation in iOS, you need to find areas in the scene to apply the metering to. Too bad Apple didn't implement such vital functionality, not even in the programming API so that at least third-party apps could use it...)

By the way, the lighting difference is far less than in the previous summer cottage case: the two shutter speeds are 1/1808s and 1/10870 (the ISO, as was easy to predict, 50, that is, the lowest in both cases);  that is, the difference is around 2.5EV – way less than the 8EV difference in the previous example.

2.1.1 Directly making use of the Sun for exposure setting

If you absolutely must use the least possible exposure compensation and you directly have the Sun in your scene to shoot, you will want to use it for metering. However, as we've seen, it can easily result in some major focusing issues. (Actually, with the non-jailbroken iPhone 5 running on 6.1.4, the vast majority of my test shots made with the stock Camera app and using the Sun for under-exposing resulted in completely unsharp images.)

Fortunately, there are several ways of avoiding this problem.

2.1.1.1 CameraTweak

If your iDevice is jailbroken, you absolutely must purchase and use the stunning stock Camera plug-in “CameraTweak”, to which I've dedicated several articles in the past (see for example THIS). It's really-really essential and, basically, adds to the stock Camera app (almost) everything possible via the official API – and some other convenience tools like timers.


(the Cydia main page of CameraTweak)

As the standard API also supports separate boxes for light metering (it's the one that you'll want to point to the Sun to force the image to be as underexposed as possible), CameraTweak makes it available in the stock Camera client too. Let me show you an example:



In the above shot, I've used an orange rectangle to show the exposure ring, positioned on top of the four LED bulbs. The (blue) focus box has been positioned on top of the background (in the center right of the frame). In the case of the  previous forest, it should be on top of the most radical contrast differences for the contrast focus detector to work as easily as possible; that is, for example, vertically halfway between the forest and the sky or the grass. The metering ring (the yellow one symbolizing the aperture blades) can, now, safely be positioned over the Sun – it's only for setting the exposure that it will be used for but not the focus.

Note that I've also drawn two other rectangles on the above screenshot. The red one (right at the bottom) shows the icon CameraTweak adds to the standard icon bar of Camera. You must tap it in order to make the icon row immediately above the standard bar visible.

It's in this second icon row that you need to enable “Advanced Mode” - it's the one with the separate focus and exposure boxes. To do this, tap the first icon on the left; here, I've annotated it with a green rectangle.

2.1.1.2 Third-party apps and separate focus / exposure indicators

If you can't / don't want to jailbreak, you'll need to use third-party apps to gain access to separate exposure / focus indicators. No matter which app you select, it'll surely have separate indicators and, consequently, will be able to shoot using the Sun to dial down the exposure.

Don't forget to enable advanced / pro mode (if it's not the default – it isn't in some third-party apps) to display both indicators and move them separately over the Sun (exposure) and something with as much contrast difference as possible.

I'll elaborate more on third-party apps in my next articles to help you choose the right one. For the time being, let me tell you that even the very cheap (and very popular) Camera+ (App Store link; $1.99) is able to do this:



Here, I've positioned the “Exposure” indicator over one of the LED bulbs, while I've set the focus indicator elsewhere.

(Note that, as with CameraTweak, the separate indicators must be first separated. With Camera+, just tap the “+” icon in the top right corner of the default, combined indicator.)

3. Bracketing with pre-setting the brightest and the darkest areas

You can make bracketing easier by using third-party apps that either let you set the brightest and the darkest areas for as fast bracketing as possible – or do this automatically.

Why bother? Why not just use the workflow as explained above? - you may ask. Well, when you shoot for later HDR processing meaning you'll need to shoot at least two shots, you'll find pre-setting the darkest / brightest areas will greatly help you shoot images that show as little between-shot movement as possible, particularly if you can put the iPhone on, say, a bench while shooting. When you need to tap the screen between the two shots to set another area to override the exposure, the camera will most definitely move, unless it's on a tripod. With apps allowing for pre-setting the two areas, you won't need to tap the screen between the two shots.

Tons of third-party App Store apps let for manual setup and some for automatic ones. Let me show you some of the better ones.

3.1 645 Pro MkII

645 Pro MkII  (App Store link; $3.99)  is one of the best camera apps. While it doesn't have goodies like panorama, light trail shooting or in-app HDR stitching, it's perfectly usable for three-image pre-set bracketing.



You'll want to, first, tap the upper left icon (in the screenshot above, annotated by a red rectangle) to show the circle with “1”. If you don't do this, the first image will always use center metering. After  tapping the icon, it becomes draggable. In the above screenshot, as the center of the screen is very close to one of the bulbs, the first shot would have been almost as under-exposed as the second one. This is why I've explicitly displayed circle Nr. 1 and dragged it to a less-lit area – but paying attention to not drag it in the darkest area. After all, circle Nr. 3 has already been dragged there.)

After setting up the circles, just tap the shutter button in the right and the three images, with, with the above example, almost no / negative / positive exposure compensation, in this order, will be shot in quick succession, without any need for human interaction.

3.2 HDR Foto

If the somewhat lower resolution (on the iPhone 5, 2121*1591 equaling 3.3 Mpixels) HDR Foto ($0.99) isn't bad either, should you want to shoot bracketed shots with different regions set up prior to shooting to minimize camera movement between the two shots. You don't need to actually compute any HDR image – you can use the app only to save the two shots without creating an HDR version of them.

As with 645 (see the previous section), first, drag the two boxes on top of the brightest / darkest areas:



Then, tap the shutter icon. After the two shots have been shot, just tap the (annotated) save & continue icon below:



3.3 Pro HDR

Pro HDR ($1.99)  also allows for, in addition to manual one, automatic image analyzing and bracketing. Its automatic analyzer is pretty slow on the iPhone 5. Nevertheless, if you don't want to drag the exposure indicators yourself, you may find it useful. The mode switch is right in the upper left corner of the main view. Here, I've set it to manual so that I can show you the two indicators (see green rectangle):



Remember to enable saving the originals in Settings:



3.4 True HDR

True HDR  (AppStore link; $1.99)  also allows for both manual area setup - and doing it automatically. You can select between the two modes right in the main menu (see the uppermost three menu items):



Remember to enable saving the original images in Settings (see annotation):



Finally, an in-app shot in manual mode:




3.5 HDR CameraPro

HDR Camera Pro ($2.99), written by the developer of the famous, excellent CameraPro application on Symbian, supports both automatic and manual modes, it defaulting to the latter (you can switch between the two using the upper center switch in the main view). It's very fast but, as with HDR Foto, only saves reduced-resolution images (at 1536*2048).

As with most other apps, you must explicitly enable saving the original images to the Camera Roll:



Unfortunately, it, as of version 2.0, has some major problems (in addition to the restricted resolution):

- can't operate in landscape mode
- if you also make it generate a HDR version of the source images, it won't be correctly saved if you also enable high quality output.

I'm in contact with the developer; hopefully these problems will be fixed before long.

4. What about KitCam?

You may have noticed that, despite what I've stated above (“no explicit dialed-in exposure correction values in iOS, unlike in all other mobile operating systems”), the famous KitCam app, which has been recently removed from the AppStore (and will never return - see THIS), does have a -2...+2 EV slider, annotated in the following screenshot:



(Note that I've annotated the +/- icon used to display the slider block.)

How come it has this slider? Was I wrong, after all? Should you just ignore what I've stated so far?

The answer is, of course, nope. This slider sets the amplification applied to the already-shot image in post-processing. This means it's only different from just changing the brightness (probably selectively, to highlights / shadows only) in a desktop image viewer that it applies the amplification before saving to the target JPG.

This means the limited dynamic range of JPG files won't have a detrimental effect on the results. Nevertheless, they will still be sub-optimal as the limited dynamic range and shadow noise will make it impossible to fully emulate true exposure compensation. After all, when you you shoot an image, you can't afterwards fix for example highlight clipping or effectively eliminate noise. They're all hard-set by the actual sensor configuration (the ISO and the shutter speed duo) and cannot be eliminated.

Let's see some examples that this is indeed the case! I've selected a very contrasty scene: sun with both foliage and dark, homogenous colors in the darker areas. The latter is especially useful to quickly find how noisy a given shot is.

First, take a look at the following pair of shots. I've selected them based on the EV difference given by the variable parameters (ISO and shutter speed – remember that, as the iPhone doesn't have an ND filter or variable aperture, the aperture is always constant; with the iPhone 5, f/2.4).

Here's the image produced by KitCam, with default (center of the screen) focusing / metering and dialed-in +2 EV exp. comp. The shot has the variable parameters 1/137s shutter speed and 50 ISO.



Now, let's see how the stock Camera client shot the same scene:



Here, I've used the dark area for (united) focus / exposure metering, which resulted in the shot's being shot at 1/30s shutter speed (and, naturally, still at 50 ISO). Quickly doing the math, you'll see at once that the difference between the two shots is indeed around 2EV's; that is, the two shots are directly comparable, given that, during post processing, a +2EV exposure compensation has been applied to one of them.

Well, if you compare the shadow noise, you'll at once notice that the +2 EV compensation has indeed been added after taking the shot. The KitCam shot is way more noisy than the stock Camera shot.

Comparing the (for the most time, clipped) highlights (the Sun) delivers the opposite result. As the sensor was let collect photons for slightly more than four times more with the stock Camera shot than with the KitCam shot (1/30s vs. 1/137s), the bright areas of the image are way more clipped in the former's output than that of the latter. Incidentally, it was because of the same reason (4.5 times longer exposure, allowing the sensor to collect 4.5 times more photons arriving from the dark areas) that the image of the stock Camera app has way less shadow noise.

All in all, you don't want to use this slider to emulate exposure compensation. It'll deliver way inferior results – again, it's just applying post processing, unlike true exposure compensation. Use the (pretty awkward and complicated – again, Apple needs to be “thanked” for their pretty badly lagging behind the competition, camera-wise) exposure setting methods I've outlined above.

Do you have an idea for an app but lack the programming knowledge to begin building it? In this weekly blog series, I will take you, the non-programmer, step by step through the process of creating apps for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Join me each week on this adventure, and you will experience how much fun turning your ideas into reality can be! This is Part 19 of the series. If you are just getting started now, check out the beginning of the series here.

Now that you have learned the basics of Core Data and have learned how it works behind the scenes, we're going to finish implementing the main pieces of Core Data in the iAppsReview project and show you how to distribute a pre-populated database with your apps. In the process, you will also learn how to use Xcode's refactoring functionality and how to make rounded rectangle buttons appear disabled at run time. You can download the project we have created so far from this link.

I recommend you follow the steps outlined in this post for the best learning experience, but if you run into a snag, you can download the completed project from this link.

Migrating Changes to the Data Model

As you have already learned, when you run your app for the first time after creating an entity data model, a SQLite database is automatically created for you. As you build your app, you will over time make many changes to the entity data model by adding new entities and attributes to the model, just as you have done in this blog series.

By default, if you make a change to the entity data model and then try to run your app again, you will get the following Core Data error at run time:

The model used to open the store is incompatible with the one used to create the store.

However, when you use the mmBusinessObject class as a wrapper around Core Data, you won't get this error. That's because I have added special code to the mmBusinessObject class that checks for this specific error and provides a workaround (in most cases).

To see this code, in the Project Navigator, expand the Business Layer group and then select the mmBusinessObject.m file. Scroll down to the persistentStoreCoordinator method and you will see the code shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 - The call to performAutomaticLightweightMigration

This code checks for the error code associated with this specific Core Data error, and, if it finds it, passes a performAutomaticLightweightMigration message to itself. This method tells Core Data to try to automatically migrate the database to the new data model.

Note that this technique only works for certain types of changes to your data model such as:

• Add, delete, or rename an entity;
• Add, delete, or rename an attribute;
• Change an attribute from non-optional to optional;
• Change an attribute from optional to non-optional (as long as you provide a default value);
• Add, delete, or rename a relationship.

For a complete list of everything you can change and still perform a lightweight migration, as well as how to migrate more complex changes, check out Apple's Help topic Core Data Model Versioning and Data Migration Programming Guide.

Including a Pre-Populated Database With Your App

Often, you need to include a database with your app that is pre-populated with data. For example, in iAppsReview, it would be nice to include a pre-populated list of app categories that the user can access without having to first download the list from the web. This is extremely easy to do using the mmBusinessObject Core Data wrapper class.

The first step involves adding the SQLite database file to the project. Let's do that now as outlined in the following steps.

1. Download the iAppsReview.sqlite database file I have created for you from this link;

2. If it's not already open in Xcode, open the iAppsReview project;

3. In the Project Navigator, right-click the Supporting Files group and select Add Files to "iAppsReview"... from the popup menu;

4. On the left side of the dialog under Favorites, select Downloads, and then in the right side of the dialog select iAppsReview.sqlite. Make sure the Copy items into destination group's folder (if needed) option is selected, and then click the Add button. This adds the iAppsReview.sqlite file to the project as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 - The iAppsReview.sqlite database file included in the project

This database you just added to the project contains a list of all app categories. However, this is not the database that is used by the app in the Simulator (or an a device) at run time. When the app first starts up, it checks to see if an iAppsReview.sqlite file already exists in your app's Documents folder (nested below the Simulator folder). If it doesn't exist, a copy is made of the iAppsReview.sqlite file in your project and placed in your app's Documents folder;

5. To see the code that does all of this, in the Project Navigator, select the mmBusinessObject.m file and check out the code located near the top of the persistentStoreCoordinator method as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 - The code that creates a copy of the databsae if it doesn't already exist.

The first line of code checks if the copyDatabaseIfNotPresent property is true, and if it is, it gets the app's Documents directory. The next section appends the name of the database to get the full path to the database file. 

The last section checks if the database already exists, and, if it doesn't, copies the SQLite database file from your app's root folder to the Documents folder;

6. To get this logic to kick in, all you have to do is set the copyDatabaseIfNotPresent property to YES in the init method of your ABusinessObject class. So, select the ABusinesssObject.m in the Project Navigator and add the line of code shown in Figure 4;

Figure 4 - Set the copyDatabaseIfNotPresent property to YES.

7. If you have been following along in this series, the iAppsReview.sqlite database already exists in the Documents folder for the app on your development machine. We need to delete the existing iAppsReview database file so that a new database is created from the iAppsReview.sqlite database file you just added to the project. 

The easiest way to delete the database file is to completely remove iAppsReview from the Simulator. If the Simulator is not currently running on your machine. Click Xcode's Run button to run the App in the Simulator. Next, click the Simulator Home button or select Hardware > Home from the Simulator menu. Next, click and hold on the iAppsReview app icon in the Home screen until the app icons begin to wiggle. Next, click the X in the upper left corner of the icon. When the confirmation dialog appears (Figure 5), click the Delete button.

Figure 5 - Remove iAppsReview from the Simulator.

To finish the deletion process, click the Home button again or select Hardware > Home from the Simulator menu;

8. Go back to Xcode and click the Run button. When the app appears in the Simulator, select the Write a Review option and then select the App Category row in the Write Review scene. This should display all of the app categories as shown in Figure 6. This indicates that the code that copies the database is working!

Figure 6 - All app categories are displayed in the App Category scene.

At this point you won't see a check mark next to any of the items in this list because we haven't enhanced the table view to allow users to select a category. We'll address this in an upcoming post.

Saving Reviews

As it stands right now, you can create a review and even share it on social networks, but once you leave the app, the review is lost because it is not stored in the database. 

By way of reminder, Figure 7 shows the Write Review scene as it appears at run time. 

Figure 7 - The Write Review scene

Here are a few things to note:

• When the user taps the Post button, we want to save the review to the database on the Simulator or iOS device. (we will eventually post the review on the web but we'll do that later in the series when we cover web services.)

• Just as the Share button at the top right of the navigation bar is disabled until the user enters a valid review, we also need to enable and disable the Post button.

• Since the user cannot currently change the app category, we will just use the hard-coded Games category for now. 

Enabling and Disabling the Post Button

With these things in mind, let's move the app forward and add the ability to save reviews. We'll start by adding functionality that enables and disables the Post button.

1. In the Project Navigator, select the MainStoryboard.storyboard file;

2. At the top-right of the Xcode window, select the center button in the Editor button group to display the Assistant Editor;

3. In the storyboard, click on the Write Review scene's status bar to select the scene. This should display the WriteReviewViewController.h file in the Assistant Editor. If it doesn't, click the Manual segment in the jump bar at the top of the Assistant Editor and select Automatic > WriteReviewViewController.h from the popup menu;

4. Next, hold the control key down, click on the Post button and drag your mouse down below the list of properties in the WriteReviewViewController.h file as shown in Figure 8;

Figure 8 - Creating an outlet for the Post button

5. When you see the Insert Outlet, Action, or Outlet Collection popup, let go of your mouse button and the control key to display the Create Outlet popup (Figure 9). In the Name text box, enter btnPost and then click Connect to create a new outlet property;

Figure 9 - Name the outlet btnPost.

6. Now let's create an action method for the Post button. First go to the Connections Inspector (the button on the far right in the Inspector toolbar);

7. Click in the connection well (the small circle) to the right of the Touch Up Inside event and drag your mouse pointer down below the list of methods in the WriteReviewViewController.h file as shown in Figure 10;

Figure 10 - Create an action method for the Post button.

8. When you see the Insert Action popup, release your mouse button and the control key to display the Create Connection popup (Figure 11). In the Name text box enter postReview and then click the Connect button to create the action method;

Figure 11 - Name the action method postReview.

9. We don't need the Assistant Editor right now, so go to the top of the Xcode window and click the button on the left in the Editor button group to hide the Assistant Editor.

Now let's enhance the app so the Post button gets enabled/disabled in tandem with the Share button.

1. In the Write Review scene, click on the Post button to select it. Afterwards, go to the Attributes Inspector (the third button from the right in the Inspector toolbar) and under the Control section, uncheck the Enabled check box (Figure 12). This causes the button to be disabled by default at run time;

Figure 12 - Disable the Post button.

2. It's standard in iOS apps to set the color of a button's text to gray when it's disabled. To do this, go to the Attributes Inspector, and change the State Config setting to Disabled(Figure 13). This allows you to specify attributes of the button when it is in a disabled state. Now go to the Text Color setting and select Light Gray Color from the list;

Figure 13 - Specify the Text Color of the button when it is disabled.

3. Now let's add the code that enables and disables the Post button at run time. In the Project Navigator, select the WriteReviewViewController.m implementation file. Scroll down in the file until you see the three methods shown in Figure 14.

Figure 14 - The methods that contain an isReadyToShare message call

We created these three methods earlier in this series. They each contain code that passes the isReadyToShare message and stores the return value in the Share button's enabled property. We could add one new line of code to each method that sets the enabled property of the Post button, but in this case we are going to create a new method that contains these two lines of code that enable/disable the buttons and then call that new method from each of these existing methods. This helps factor out repetitive code, which eases future maintenance. We're going to use Xcode's refactoring functionality to do this;

4. In the appNameChanged method, select the entire line of code by clicking to the left of the code and dragging to the right of the semicolon. Afterwards, right-click the highlighted code and select Refactor > Extract from the popup menu (Figure 15);

Figure 15 - Use refactoring to extract the code from the appNameChanged: method.

5. In the Extract dialog, change the name of the method to enableDisableControls as shown in Figure 16;

Figure 16 - Set the name of the new method to enableDisableControls.

6. Click the Preview button to display the Preview dialog shown in Figure 17. The right panel of the dialog shows the code as it currently is. The left side of the dialog shows what the code will be changed to. As you can see, Xcode plans to do the following:

• Create a new method named enableDisableControls;
• Move the line of code from the appNameChanged: method to the new enableDisableControls method;
• Add code to the appNameChanged: method that makes a message call to the new enableDisableControls method.

Figure 17 - The Extract refactor preview dialog

7. Click the Save button to make the refactoring changes. Afterwards, you can examine the code file and see that the proposed changes have been made. Although you could have manually made this change, it's best to use Xcode's refactoring to avoid errors;

8. Next, make the code changes highlighted in red in Figure 18. These changes add a line of code to enableDisableControls that sets the enabled property of the Post button. You also change the code in the textViewDidChange: and starRating:ratingDidChange: methods to make a message call to the new enableDisableControls method.

Figure 18 - Make the code changes highlighted in red.

It's always a good idea to test your code when you add new functionality to your app. So click the Run button in Xcode, and when the app appears in the Simulator, click the Write a Review row. At this point, the Share button and Post buttons should both be disabled as shown on the left side of Figure 19.

Next, set a rating, specify an App Name and write a short comment. Afterwards, dismiss the keyboard by clicking on the background of the scene. You should see the Share and Post buttons enabled as shown on the right side of Figure 19.

Figure 19 - The Share and Post buttons at run time

Saving Reviews

Now we're ready to add functionality to the app to save reviews. This involves using the AppReview and AppReviewEntity classes you have already created.

1. Add the import statements shown in Figure 20 to the top of the WriteReviewViewController.m file;

Figure 20 - Add import statements to the WriteReviewViewController.h file.

2. Near the top of the file after the @implementation declaration, add a new review instance variable as shown in Figure 21;

Figure 21 - Add a review instance variable.

3. Add code to the viewDidLoad method that creates an instance of the Review business controller and stores it in the new review instance variable (Figure 22);

Figure 22 - Add code to the viewDidLoad method.

4. Now add the code shown in Figure 23 to the postReview method.

Figure 23 - Add code to the postReview method.

The first line of code sends a createEntity message to the review business controller and stores the new object in the reviewEntity local variable. The code in parentheses (ReviewEntity *) converts the object returned from the message call to a ReviewEntity object.

In the next three lines of code, hard-coded values are stored in the categoryID, userID, and isPosted attributes of the ReviewEntity object. As we enhance the app in future blog posts, we'll come back and replace these hard-coded values with real values.

Next, the code retrieves values from the user interface controls and stores then in attributes of the entity. 

Afterwards, a saveEntities message is sent to the review business controller and the ReviewEntity is stored in the database.

The last line of code sends a popViewControllerAnimated: message to the app's navigation controller. This causes the app to navigate back to the main iAppsReview scene.

Testing the Saving of ReviewEntity

Now you're ready to test the new code to see if it works. 

1. Click Xcode's Run button. When the app appears in the Simulator, select the Write a Review option;

2. Select a rating, specify an App Name, comments, and optionally select an image from the Photo Album;

3. Click the Post button and the app should return to the main iAppsReview scene;

4. Go back to Xcode and click the Stop button.

Since we haven't set up the Read Your Reviews option yet, how can you tell if the save actually worked? You can do so by directly viewing the database.

1. Launch the Firefox browser;

2. From the Firefox menu, select Tools > SQLite Manager;

3. In the SQLite Manager toolbar, click the Open Database button and navigate to the iAppsReview database file as described in my previous post;

4. On the left side of the dialog under the Tables node, select the ZREVIEWENTITY node. On the right side of the dialog, you should see the ReviewEntity record shown in Figure 24!

Figure 24 - The new ReviewEntity record

Conclusion

Now that you have learned how to retrieve, create, and save entities using Core Data, in my next post we're going to move on to the important topic of displaying lists of data using table views. This will allow us to see a list of reviews that you have written from within the app.

The Joy Factory's aXtion Go ($49.95) is the best deal on an IPX5 rated, military-standard iPhone case market I'm currently aware of. Not only will it provide an exceptional level of protection from drops, liquids, dirt, and compression, the aXtion Go just looks super awesome! It sports one of the slickest designs I've seen in a waterproof iPhone case. Its back consists of a series of highly shock absorbing, diamond-shaped, air-filled cushions, which resemble fancy, geometric bubble wrap. It looks cool and feels even cooler. I found myself continually kneading the diamond bubbles on the back, mesmerized by their soft yet firm squishiness.

The overall design of the aXtion Go is unique, not just because of the one-of-a-kind shock-absorbing bubbles on the back. The aXtion Go has a slight hourglass style to it, with side and top edges that sweep gently outward to rounded corners. It has an almost sensual feel to it!

All of the iPhone’s controls are accessible in this full-time use case, and the headphone and charging ports are covered with a snug silicone plug and a swing latch respectively. The aXtion Go also has really good audio quality! Many waterproof cases greatly diminish the sound clarity of the iPhone, but not the aXtion Go, phone calls and music sound remarkably crisp and clear with the iPhone encased.

Of all the ruggedized, waterproof iPhone cases I've had the pleasure of evaluating lately, the aXtion Go is not only one of the most affordable options, it is also a unique and stylish entry in an increasingly crowded field of heavy-duty, protective cases. When it comes to rugged gear, I don't give out stars lightly, but for the money, the quality, and the protection, the aXtion Go gets a hearty 4.5 out of 5 Star rating.

****

Pros:

* Best price for a waterproof case of this caliber;

* IPX5 Rating means  this case will protect your iPhone 5 even if it gets fully submerged;

* Comes with a convenient wrist strap which attaches to an unobtrusive lanyard point on the bottom corner of the case;

* Unique design turns shock absorbing heavy-duty bubble wrap into the epitome of fashion and style.

Cons:

* The thin swing latch over charging port seems like a weak point to the design. I'd treat the latch with care, as is true for many other waterproof cases;

* The external mute switch on the aXtion is hard to articulate, and in my experience was harder to use than what I would consider ideal.

The Steve Jobs biopic starring Ashton Kutcher is finally hitting the big screen this Friday, with a new trailer available (see below) and reviews starting to appear. Titled Jobs, the movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival early this year. Directed by Joshua Michael Stern and written by Matthew Whitely, it also features Josh Gad (Steve Wozniak), Dermot Mulroney, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons, and Matthew Modine. According to the synopsis, "jOBS plunges into the depths of his character, creating an intense dialogue-driven story that is as much a sweeping epic as it is an immensely personal portrait of Steve Jobs' life." It covers Jobs's life from 1971 to 2000.

So far the reviews appear to be mixed, with the Associated Press giving it two and a half stars out of four and saying that it focuses more on the company than on Jobs himself. The San Jose Mercury News says that it fails to give insight into what really made Jobs tick and how someone so flawed was able to inspire people the way he did.

The movie begins with Jobs's brief stint at Reed College and covers the founding of Apple computer, Jobs's eventual ouster by the Apple board, and his triumphant return. It tracks his success up until the introduction of the first iPod.

A new version of the trailer was released this week. It makes me eager to see the movie.

I never tire of the story of vision, his obsession for detail, and his demand for perfection. But I certainly wouldn't have wanted to work for him. I heard very third-hand some stories of a former employee. This person said one time a new employee approached Jobs at Apple when he was walking along the sidewalk and said, "Hi. I'm a new employee, and I just wanted to introduce myself and say hello." Jobs responded, "You're fired."

I have a ton of stuff to carry around with me at any given time. I travel quite frequently, and I take my laptop, iPad, and iPhone just about everywhere I go. Because of my need to carry so many vulnerable devices, I’ve tried roughly 11 gazillion bags that all promise to protect my stuff whilst looking stylish and awesome.

Some of the bags I’ve tried have been good, some have been ok, but one thing is for sure. I am now an expert on bags. Between my hunt for the perfect carryall and my wife’s handbag obsession, if you can carry stuff in it, I know all about it. When I got the 17-inch Polygon Sunfire Backpack($89.99), and the 15-inch Polygon Sunfire Messenger Bag($79.99) from Altego for review, I had high hopes for them. They’re special because they’re specifically made to keep Apple products safe and secure.

Let’s see how they did!

My initial impression of the backpack was not so great since I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to get the magnetic buckles to open. I felt silly after noticing that Altego attached a little tag with instructions on how to unbuckle the closures right next to the buckles.  My bad, Altego. The closures slide open laterally, which is different from most buckles. It’s actually VERY easy to do once you figure it out, and what I initially thought was a drawback is now a huge strength. Since the buckles are magnetic, they snap closed very quickly and easily, increasing the chance that you’ll actually close them since it’s so simple and fast. Another strength is that a thief on a crowded sidewalk or train would have a hard time figuring out how to get the buckles open quickly. Take that dirty thieves!  I am smarter than you!

Both bags have a ton of compartment space that’s nicely lined and perfectly shaped to fit a 17' Macbook in the backpack, or a 15" Mackbook in the messenger bag. Both bags have an interior iPad pocket that’s also lined with soft, padded fabric for extra comfort. I know my iPad appreciates this. I swear I heard it go “ahhhhh” when I slipped it into the pocket.

Both bags have a molded padding on the back for extra protection and carrying comfort. I read one review on Amazon where a woman reportedly packed all her stuff into the backpack and threw it across the room. All of her devices remained unharmed. I don’t know why anyone would want to do this as a test, but it’s nice to know that should one have a sudden urge to throw a thousand dollars worth of Apple products across the room, they might be well protected in this bag. I cannot recommend doing this, however.

The material the bags are made of is water-resistant ripstop fabric, which makes for extra durability plus easy cleaning and protection from rain. Your color options are dark grey with red and orange accents or dark grey with red and orange accents. I’d like to see more color options in the future, but the bags are pretty stylish and can be used for business or casual.

All around, both bags are pretty great and offer secure carrying for your Apple devices, plus plenty of extra room for other stuff as well. At $79.99 and $89.99 the bags seem pricey, but they are very well constructed with high quality materials and will most certainly withstand years of frequent use.

I give both the Altego Polygon Sunfire Backpack and the Altego Polygon Sunfire Messenger Bag 4.5 out of 5 stars.

As new iOS apps flood the App Store every day—recently topping 900,000—we know it’s tough to tell which ones are worth their salt. But thanks to our Weekly Scoop, you can have the best for free! Here you’ll find a weekly roundup of the coolest apps free or at a discount for a limited-time only. Each week features the best and brightest from websites like Free App Report, AppsGoneFree, appsfire, and more.

Hurry! Get 'em while they’re hot!

1. Lightly ($2.99)

Lightly is the perfect app for Evernote devotees who like to save items to read later! It makes blog posts, articles, and web pages easy to clip, highlight, and collect. It makes web pages easier to read, highlights text in articles, and syncs easily to Evernote. 

2. Uplike (free)

Now all your favorite stuff can follow you everywhere! Things that you like in real life or online like a pair of spiffy sunglasses or a fantastic restaurant can be collected, organized and shared with friends in one touch. Never forget where you saw that really cool thing again!

3. Freefall Spelling ($0.99 from $1.99)

A Parent’s Choice Recommended Award winning app that’s a fun and interactive way to help kids practice spelling. Kids can engage in three fun activities: Letter drag and spell, typewriter spell and word scramble.  Anytime kids are having fun and learning it's fabulous, so this is certainly worth the buck!

This is the official announcement of the iPhone life Biweekly Giveaway! Be sure to enter the giveaway at iphoneLife.com/giveaways to win prizes, which we'll announce August 26th! We are raffling off tons of great apps and accessories for FREE.

Here's how it works: Every other Friday we will announce the prizes we're giving away through iphonelife.com, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. To enter the giveaway, go to iphoneLife.com/giveaways. On the following Monday morning, we will randomly select the winners. If you win an app, we will email you the promo code to redeem the app for free. If you win an accessory, send us your address we will mail it to you.

This week's featured items are:

1. iPhone 5 Clearly Protected Screen Protector 360º By Otterbox: Retail Price $29.95

The iPhone 5 is a sexy, slim device that looks great all on its own. Enjoy its natural beauty, but also keep it protected with a Clearly Protected iPhone 5 screen protector. We know some folks don’t like to put a case on their iPhone and never will. As we like to say, they prefer to be “naked.” That’s why OtterBox developed the Clearly Protected line of iPhone 5 screen protectors. Unlike most screen protectors, the Cleary Protected screen protectors for the iPhone 5 use a 100% dry application and features a bubble-free installation for a perfect fit. We’re so confident in our iPhone 5 screen shields that we threw in a lifetime warranty. Get protection that inspires confidence with the Clearly Protected screen protectors for the iPhone 5.

2. iPhone 5 Reflex Series Case By Otterbox: Retail Price $34.95

Lifestyle and protection come together in this highly protective iPhone 5 cover. Providing innovative protection, the Reflex Series iPhone 5 cover is lightweight, easy-to-dock and portable – leaving you with a secure feeling of protection wherever and however you use your smartphone or tablet. If you're looking for even tougher protection for those graceless moments and random accidents, check out our Defender Series iPhone 5 case.

3. iPad Reflex Series Case By Otterbox: Retail Price $69.95

Our engineers and industrial designers carefully considered every aspect of the iPad to create a simple, yet protective case. Inspired by the crumple zone of a car, the Reflex Series case for iPad 2, 3 and 4 features a unique dual material combination of polycarbonate and silicone. Cushions of air in the corners allow the case to flex and absorb any impact force. This case not only takes a hit, it recoils and springs back, ready to protect again. If you're looking for strong yet sleek protection, look no further than the Reflex Series case for the iPad 2, 3 and 4. If you're looking for even greater protection, check out our Defender Series iPad case.

Questions or comments? Email Leigh@iphonelife.com. Good Luck and remember to visit iphonelife.com/giveaways to enter! The next contest drawing is August 26th!

Before writing this iPad stand comparison, I never considered all of the potential ways an accessory can help you hold an iPad in your lap, on a desk, on a coffee table, etc. The iPad accessory, iProp brings up some good points. Can you use your stand on your lap, in bed, and while in a recliner? Can you wash it? Is it kid-friendly? 

1. iProp™ ($39.99)

At its core, the iProp is a microbead bag with durable mesh wrapped around it that protects the inner-bag and is a mounting material for the plastic face of the stand. Unlike other stands with adjustable arms, gravity and friction do the work here, using the weight of the iOS device and stand to facilitate multiple angles. The iProp does a fine job of just sitting there once positioned.

If you ever soil your iProp, you can remove and wash the microbead bag and the exterior bag. The non-slip silicon plate on the bottom doesn’t require removal for washing.

iProp provides universal support for iPad, iPad mini, Kindle Fire, Samsung Galaxy Tab — all tablets are welcome at the seat of iProp. With that fact in mind, the one item missing from the list of features is security. Unless you have your device plugged in, there is nothing holding it to the iProp — though it will work with tablets with covers, whereas other solutions require naked iPads to work. Keep this in mind. If you tend to be clumsy or in an area with a lot of activity, the iProp is not going to stop your iPad from getting knocked about.

Overall, the iProp is a good stand, but it isn’t as secure as some, and its selling point of being a small footprint is both good and bad. It does work is smaller space, but it also feels a bit more precarious. On my desk, I tend to use the iProp to hold alternative devices I am reviewing that don’t have cases with their own stands. The iProp places displays in good position and it fits well among my menagerie of tablet hardware.

2. Tablet Pal Pro ($29.99, $24.99 for mini )

Tablet Pal Pro represents another take on the tablet-as-plush, though it’s a bit more snuggly that iProp. Tablet Pal’s wedge shape positions devices as a slight angle. Its non-slip bottom panel prevents it from, well, slipping. The Pro version ($34.99, iPad — $29.99 iPad Min) include a gel pad that sticks to almost anything, including the underside of the Tablet Pal. It will even adhere to some car dashboards as a kind of plush GPS holder. And like the iProp, Tablet Pals can be cleaned via hand washing if necessary. The durable neoprene covers aren’t indestructible, so iPad Pal suggest mending torn ones like a doll.

The products four corners differentiate the Tablet Pal. Where the iProp uses a plastic try and gravity to hold the device, the Tablet Pal securely wraps its neoprene corners around the edge of the device to securely hold it in place. I suggest a good screen protector for face flops should the Tablet Pal be hit from behind by an errant football during Sunday afternoon rough housing.

Tablet Pal Pros are designed for horizontal/landscape mode, not vertical/portrait mode (the iProp is non-restrictive, working just as well in either orientation).

My wife loves using her Tablet Pal Pro. It’s a great companion for doing a little work or browsing Facebook during commercials.  The well-constructed product includes a little compartment to stash headphones or other accessories, a nice attention to detail for a product that just wants to be hugged.

3. iKlip Stand ($69.99)

The iKlip Stand from musical accessory company IK Multimedia holds an iPad so that it stands, not on the desk where you need to bend your neck to see it, but at nearly eye level, even for tall people like me.

This precision engineered, Italian made stand can be adjusted a number of ways to accommodate almost any use through the two rocker arms. The stand is big, but it is sturdy. It is also thin enough to fit under other items, like a musical keyboards. While reviewing these products, I have the iProp tucked between the feet of the iKlip holding another tablet while the iKlip held my iPad. If you don’t want to take up desk space, and have a flat surface available, an optional clip secures the iKlip arms and iPad holder to the side of a desk.

iKlip is a professional, well-made product with a number of uses from education, to music to transforming the iPad into a real second-screen at a desk. As a precision product, the iKlip requires a naked iPad, which slides into a holder with exactitude.  This is the best, most adaptive general purpose stand for work environment’s I have reviewed to date.

4. Nimblestand ($49.95, w. Wacom Bamboo stylus, $66.95)

Finally a first look at the Nimblestand, which is designed to accommodate content creation on the iPad with a very light-weight, but well-conceived stand that transforms a small amount of surface area into a self-contained, and well-appointed, workstation. The Nimblestand assumes ownership of an Apple wireless keyboard, which it slots in to create an integrated feel. The iPad sits above, at either a forward or backward angel, depending on if you want to use it in writer’s position or what I would call sketch or architect position, as it reminds me of the sketching tables of yesteryear. Since iPads don’t accept mice, Nimblestand partnered with Waccom to offer a version with included stylus (the slot for the stylus exists on either version, so if you already have a Waccom Bamboo, you are set).

A full review after I have more time to integrate it with an Apple keyboard and experience the full experience.

It's just over three weeks until the rumored Sept. 10 introduction of the iPhone 5S, and the rumors are coming hot and heavy. The latest rumors, reported in an article on CNET, say the new phone may also come in a gold or champagne color. Plus, it may follow the precedent of the iPad 4 and offer an option of 128GB of memory. Also, this new baby is rumored to be even faster, thanks to a new A7 chip. A post on AppleInsider suggests this new chip will boost performance by 20 percent and that it may use a 64-bit architecture.

In addition to memory and performance, the camera is also expected to get an upgrade. According to the CNET article, it will likely still be 8 megapixels but will come with a larger f/2.0 aperture. Also, there have been multiple rumors that the new phone will have a dual LED flash. As I understand it, a dual LED flash emits twice as much light, meaning you can illuminate subjects that are farther away. It's also better for low-light situations. The larger aperture also is good for low light situations because it lets in more light, allowing for a faster shutter speed.

Many rumors in the past week have been saying the new phone will use a scratch-proof sapphire crystal for the rumored fingerprint sensor. Obviously, a scratched sensor could mess up the image of your fingerprint, so it makes sense that Apple would use an extremely hard material. According to 9To5Mac, the home button on the iPhone 5S will double as a fingerprint sensor and, instead of being concave, will protrude just slightly from the phone. What's the point of such a sensor? Quoting a market analyst, 9To5Mac says, "Apple will likely be able to offer users a more secure and more intuitive way to conduct mobile payment transactions and access cloud computing services, thereby strengthening advantages of the ecosystem."

As you can see, many of the features are "under the hood." Overall, the form factor should be pretty much identical to the current iPhone. This follows Apple's typical pattern of changing the phone outwardly every two years and making performance upgrades in the alternate years.

It will be fun to see what Apple introduces, and whether these rumors hold true. And if Apple does indeed also introduce a low-cost iPhone 5C, that will certainly generate a lot of interest.