If you're a sucker for technical drawings, then feast your eyes on the CAD drawing / iPhone 4 photo mashups recently published on Core77.

Hipstomp (AKA Rain Noe) found out that Apple had released the CAD drawings of the iPhone 4 exterior with special annotations for case manufacturers, and he promptly overlaid the technical drawings on top of the actual product photos. The result, as you can see in the photo above, is pure artistry. There are more drawings in the original post (click the source link below to view them), and if you'd like, you can download the bare CAD drawings directly from Apple.

Wouldn't you love to see an officially-sanctioned black T-shirt (or mock turtleneck) with this silk-screened on it?

With the addition of the Safari Extensions Gallery to Apple's website over the last few days, TUAW will be highlighting extensions that we think are special, useful, or just plain fun.

I'm a baseball fan, but other than my beloved Colorado Rockies and the rest of the NL West, I don't follow a lot of other teams. While it would be nice to have a browser window open to MLB.com all the time, my screen is just too cluttered with work for me to be able to keep an eye on what's going on in Major League Baseball and get work done. So what's a Mac-lovin' baseball fan to do?

One of the first Safari Extensions I downloaded was the MLB.com Toolbar. Written by the staff at MLB Advanced Media, it adds a tiny toolbar to the top of your Safari page, as well as an icon emblazoned with the unforgettable MLB icon. The extension displays scores of games in progress as well as games that are completed. As with the example above, you can see that the team logos are nicely rendered, the score is easy to see, and the winning (Ubaldo Jimenez 16-2!) and losing pitchers are listed. Each score remains visible for 5 seconds before fading away and being replaced with another.

A control on the right side of the toolbar allows you to stop the parade of scores and "fast-forward or rewind" to the next or previous score. If the scores are getting too distracting, you can make the toolbar disappear with a click on the MLB icon. Want to bring it back? Click again.

This extension is a perfect example of what a Safari extension should do -- add functionality without being too distracting. Let's hope that the NFL follows the lead of MLB with a well designed and executed scoreboard extension.

Here at the TUAW giveaway headquarters near Denver, Colorado, we get a lot of fun items to give away to readers. So many, in fact, that sometimes we neglect to give away some of the items until they reappear from the bottom of a pile.

With sincere apologies to the wonderful folks at Fusion of Ideas, that's what actually happened to the four StealthArmor for iPhone 4 kits they sent to us. For iPhone 4 owners who want to resolve the "grip 'o death" issues without an Apple bumper, StealthArmor provides a classy solution.

Each of the four kits we have to give away comes with a set of parts. There's a nano-fusion scratch-resistant screen protector, a set of custom-cut corner and side bezel pieces, and then an industrial-grade back cover. Unlike the bumper and most cases that are on the iPhone 4 protection market, StealthArmor adds very little weight and bulk to your device -- but does add a lot of protection. The kits also come with complete installation instructions, although you might want to view the video (above) before attempting the install.

The four kits we're giving away are each a bit different:

• Matte White back with clear corner and side bezel pieces
• Carbon Fiber back with brushed aluminum corner and side bezel pieces
• Woodgrain back with clear corner and side bezel pieces
• Tungsten back with brushed aluminum corner and side bezel pieces

To enter the giveaway, leave us a comment telling us which of the four kits you'd most like to win. We can't guarantee that you'll get the one you want, but we'll try our best. Here are the official rules:

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 and older.
• To enter, leave a comment telling us which of the four StealthArmor kits listed above you'd like to win.
• The comment must be left before midnight on Sunday, August 1st, 2010, 11:59PM Eastern Daylight Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Four winners will be selected. All will receive one Fusion of Ideas StealthArmor for iPhone 4, valued at $35.
• Click Here for complete Official Rules.

Good luck!

Many developers and users of Apple's iOS devices bemoan the "walled garden" of the App Store approval process, but it appears that the company's measures have prevented mass data theft from iPhones, and iPads.

At the Black Hat security conference being held in Las Vegas this week, mobile security firm Lookout announced that an app distributed in Google's Android Market had collected private information from millions of users, then forwarded it to servers in China. Worse than that, the exact number of affected users isn't known, since the Android Market doesn't provide precise data. Estimates are that the app was downloaded anywhere from 1.1 million to 4.6 million times.

The app appeared to simply load free custom background wallpapers, but in fact collected a user's browsing history, text messages, the SIM card number, and even voice mail passwords, and then sent the data to a web site in Shenzen, China.

This is different from the recent AT&T website leak that could have let a hacker access 144,000 iPad 3G user email addresses, since in this case the data theft actually did happen, was being perpetrated by malicious hackers, involves much more personal information, and affected many more people.

So what's the difference between the security methodologies used by Google and Apple? Apple approves iOS apps only after they've gone through a strict (and frustrating to developers) process, while Google's Android Market simply warns the user that an app needs permission to perform certain functions during the installation. iOS apps must be signed by an Apple-created certificate, which means that malicious developers have a harder time distributing malware anonymously.

Lookout also noted that iOS remains virus-free, since third-party apps can only be distributed through Apple's heavily-moderated App Store, and the apps run in a sandbox environment where they can't affect the system. Lookout chief executive John Hering said that "he believes both Google and Apple are on top of policing their app stores." It's just those odd cases where apps don't do what they're advertised to do that can cause problems for users.

[via AppleInsider]

Today on TUAW TV Live we're going to try to beat the heat with some cool app demos, so grab a nice icy cold glass of lemonade or some other favorite beverage, prop up the iPad or MacBook under the umbrella, and join your host Steve Sande for some fun.

As mentioned earlier, we'll be talking about the new Mac announcements, Safari extensions, some fun apps for iOS devices, and more. You can either just watch the show, or choose to participate through the chat tool.

To join in from your Mac or PC, just go to the next page by clicking the link at the bottom of this post, and you'll find a live stream viewer and a chat tool. The chat tool allows you to join in on the fun by asking questions or making comments.

If you're driving somewhere and would like to watch TUAW TV Live while you're stuck in traffic, please don't -- keep your eyes on the road! However, if someone else is doing the driving, you can watch the show on your iPhone by downloading the free Ustream Viewing Application.

We haven't forgotten about iPad users, as you can tune in to TUAW TV Live on your iPad! That link will send you to a non-Flash page, although you won't have access to our chat tool.

Read more →

It's a hot one today in most of the U.S., so hopefully you're hanging around the air conditioner trying to stay cool. This afternoon at 5 PM EDT (2 PM PDT), your host Steve Sande will present another episode of TUAW TV Live.

For those of you who haven't watched the show before, think of it as participatory TV. We have a live video stream with news, reviews, and commentary about all things Apple, and you can add your comments and ask questions through a live chat. It's fun, it's free, and it's another excuse to stay inside and keep cool.

On today's show, Steve will be talking about and demoing the new Safari 5.0.1 and extensions, showing off some exercise tracker apps for iPhone, demoing some new app layout tools for iOS development, and showing an iPad app that will make you want to sell your laptop.

To join in on the fun, come back to TUAW just before 5 PM EDT and we'll have the livestream viewer and chat tool all warmed up and ready to go.

Campfire, from 37signals, is a web-based group chat tool that uses secure chat rooms to allow groups to collaborate from wherever they are. A little over a year ago, the developers at Overcommitted came out with an iPhone client for Campfire. That app, Ember, cost $9.99, and was an excellent tool for remotely joining a Campfire group and getting work done on the road.

Well, the app was so good that 37signals announced today that they've purchased the app from Overcommitted, renamed it to Campfire for iPhone, and they're giving it away for free in the App Store.

According to the 37signals blog, the company was so impressed with Ember that they approached Overcommitted about purchasing it, and the developer was happy with the idea. A deal was cut, a few changes were made to the app, the app made it through the Apple vetting process, and as of yesterday, Ember is known as Campfire for iPhone.

If your team uses Campfire for collaboration and file sharing, be sure to grab Campfire for iPhone as soon as possible. The app works on devices running iOS 3.1.3 or later, although it is not optimized for iPad.

[via Mashable]

Judging from the number of entries for our recent giveaway of two OtterBox iPad cases, most of you are familiar with the excellent products made by the Colorado company. Shortly after the end of the iPad case giveaway, I was surprised to find another box at my door from OtterBox containing one of the "bullet-proof" Defender cases for the iPhone 4.

No, an OtterBox Defender isn't going to save your iPhone 4 from a speeding bullet, but it can definitely keep your device clean and safe in a variety of tough conditions. TUAW reader Scott B. sent us an email today describing his experience with an iPhone Defender case, which reads "I received my Otterbox Defender Case for my IPhone 4, three days ago. It is great. I had one for my 3GS and it fell into a mud puddle. The case totally protected the phone. I now feel better having my IPhone 4 so well protected."

It's not often that we get unsolicited reader love for an iPhone case, which tells you just how special the OtterBox products are. Read along for a short review of the Defender for iPhone 4, and see how you can have a chance to get one from TUAW.

Read more →

This morning we noted that many people who ordered their free black iPhone 4 bumper from Apple as part of the free case program were being notified that the item would ship with 3 to 5 weeks. Now we're receiving tips from TUAW readers who are telling us that they're already receiving shipping notices from Apple for bumpers that were ordered last week.

If this is a general trend (perhaps our readers were the first people to order their bumpers) and not a fluke, it could be a sign that canceled bumper orders are being rerouted to the free case program. Travis from Houston is receiving his bumper by the 2nd of August, and we've heard from other readers that their bumpers are in the mail as well for delivery about the same time.

If you haven't yet ordered your free iPhone 4 bumper or case, be sure to download and install Apple's free iPhone 4 Case Program app before the September 30th cutoff date.

Thanks to Nate, Iggy (in the UK), and Travis for the tips!

A small post in Barron's noted today that TiVo shares have jumped up about 5% today on rumors that the company's DVR technology may be included in the next iteration of the Apple TV.

TiVo's Premiere device has greater functionality than the Apple TV, with the ability to record up to 150 hours of HD video (with the Premiere XL), on-demand video streaming from Netflix, Amazon Video, and YouTube, viewing of photo libraries on TV, and a choice of music and photo streaming services.

There has been a lot of speculation as of late that Apple may be poised to make the Apple TV more than just a hobby. With Google TV just around the corner and Google making deals with Sony, Logitech, Intel, and the Dish Network, Apple may be looking for partners to help jump-start a revival in the neglected Apple TV.

As noted in Barron's:"Is it true? Who knows?"

[via MacDailyNews]