The iPhone is designed to work with your fingers, but those stubby appendages aren't the best for doing detailed work. That's why Ten One Design developed the Pogo Stylus (US$14.95), an aluminum stylus with a special tip that allows it to work on the capacitive display of the iPhone and iPod touch. It's also handy for operating your iPhone with gloves on, or for anyone who has trouble working with the touchscreen directly.

Ten One Design is holding an art contest through July 1st, 2009. The rules are simple; you must use a Pogo Stylus to create a work of art on an iPhone or iPod touch. You can use whatever software you desire, although most of the artwork seen below was created with the help of Brushes [App Store]. The winner will have $500 paid to his or her PayPal account.
What are you waiting for? Get your Pogo Stylus and get to work!

Chicago's Halsted Street will soon be the site of a unique Apple Store -- the first with three sides exposed. When seated on the odd piece of land, the store will offer visibility from every direction and 650 linear feet of storefront.

As you can see from the map at right, the architects at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson have a tough task ahead with this project. ifoAppleStore.com wants to know, how would you design this store? They're running a contest now to find the most interesting or clever design. Submit your drawing to gary@ifoAppleStore.com by June 15, 2009, and the winner will receive a $100 Apple gift card.

They note that you needn't worry about the store's interiors in your drawing. Note that Apple's chunk of property is 215 feet on Clybourn Ave., 220 feet on Halsted St., 123 feet on W. North Ave., and a curving 81 feet at the back of the transit station.

Have fun and good luck!

Could it be Apple has delivered almost a billion iPhone/iPod touch apps (both free and paid)? The answer is a definite yes, and Apple has posted a page counting down (or counting up, really) to the big event. As I write this they're at 928 million apps and change.

It's an amazing number, and Apple is celebrating the event with a contest. Fill out a form, no purchase required, and have a chance to win a $10,000US iTunes gift card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule and a MacBook Pro. Apple will let you enter up to 25 times a day (!) until the billionth app is sold. Gee, I could use an app that could automate all those entries. (Clarification: Downloading an app from now until the contest closes counts as an entry. You can do that 25 times per day.)

Apple also has a link to the top selling free and paid apps (link opens iTunes). FYI, the most popular free apps are Facebook, Google Earth and Pandora. The most popular paid apps are Crash Bandicot Nitro Cart 3D, Koi Pond and Enigmo.

When Apple hits that billionth app it will be a big deal, and stand by for a big blast of publicity and commentary. It will also spark more conversation about the copycats who are jumping in the pool at Microsoft, RIM and Google (Android).

Congrats Apple. How long will it be before you hit 2 billion?

Remember the horrible SCOTTEVEST ads featuring Woz that were going around back in October? A lot of people thought they could do better, so many that SCOTTEVEST is hosting the "Woz Green Screen Contest".

The rules are simple. All you need to do is download some of the green screen footage featuring Woz, and use your video editing skills to create an ad that is funnier than the SCOTTEVEST attempts (it shouldn't be hard...). Post your ad on YouTube, and then promote the heck out of it. If it makes Woz and the folks at SCOTTEVEST laugh, and you're getting thousands of hits on YouTube, you may be a winner.

$4000 in prizes (cash and SCOTTEVEST gear) await your entry. Make sure you get your entry in before April Fools Day.

Toy Bot Diaries is a fun little series of platforming games with a physics twist -- you probably saw it on those early iPod touch gaming commercials. It features a little robot jumping around levels with a grappling hook and some magnetic boots. If you haven't picked it up yet, now's the time to do so. IUGO has lowered the price on the whole series, and you can get each of the three versions of the game for just 99 cents a piece. At $4, the game wasn't bad, but at just a buck, it's definitely worth picking up.

And that's not all -- they're also giving away $10,000 (and a smattering of gift cards and game codes) for playing through the games. You need to pick up all three games, and then pick up 25 of the "datapad" collectibles from each game, for a total of 75, at which point you'll get a chance to enter your email address for submission into the contest. Getting the datapads isn't hard at all, we're told, and the game is a good time anyway.

The contest ends on Monday March 16th, and IUGO says they're not sure when the prices on the games will go back up, so now's probably the time to get with the playing. No better way to promote a game than make the price cheap and give away lots of money.

Done, the $0.99US iPhone task list manager we mentioned a little while back, is now live in the App Store. It's pretty slick, and falls right in the middle between a simple task list and a robust task management application like Things or OmniFocus. We hosted a contest in that last post, passing on a request from the developers for witty lists, the best of which (chosen by the developers) would be used in the App Store marketing materials. You all came through, and winners were chosen from the ranks.

The winners, chosen by Chillix, are KJP, Chad, Kevin, Todd, Gary & Kurt!

Some of the winners posted directly on the Chillix site, some posted here. If your list was chosen and you haven't been contacted yet, expect to hear from the developers soon. Thanks to everyone who participated!

iPhone developers Chilli X are looking for a little help with the App Store promo materials for their new ToDo list app, Done. First, though, a little bit about Done.

You're probably thinking, "there are too many task lists available for the iPhone, and they all do the same thing." You'll get no argument from me there. For me, it's a matter of how well they do it, and Done has the potential to be very fluid to use, taking a little more advantage of the iPhone platform as a user interface. Not having tried it yet, I'm judging by the features listed on the promo page: multiple lists, priorities, colors, shake to sort, as well some more novel innovations. It looks simple ... maybe too simple for some, but potentially ideal for those who shudder at the mention of GTD (sorry, did I say that too loudly?).

One novel feature which I don't believe exists in other task managers, yet, is a snapshot capability which will replace your iPhone/iPod touch wallpaper with an image showing your top 6 tasks. The app was recently submitted to the App Store, and is awaiting approval. That's where you -- with your highly-developed sense of humor and savage wit -- come into play.

Chilli X would like to have clever task lists in the promo shots for the app. They are -- by their own admission -- developers and not comedians. You can see their prior attempts at their website, but -- and I say this with love -- they're not great. If you think you have the comedic chops to write a truly fun, interesting and humorous list, leave a submission here in the comments. Chilli X will be watching and picking their favorite entries, the authors of which will receive free copies of Done, in addition to the glory of having their carefully-crafted task sequences displayed in the screenshots of the app in the App Store.

I've heard rumors indicating that App Store glory is often accompanied by prolonged health benefits and above average success with dating prospects, but your results may vary (the TUAW legal department kindly asks me to inform you that TUAW makes no such promises, and takes no responsibility for this post).

Chilli X does offer one stipulation: "keep them clean(ish) and don't say nasty things about anybody." Easy enough.

A few weeks ago, we told you about this year's Insomnia Film Festival -- a contest for high school and college students to create a 3-minute film in only 24 hours. However, eager contestants were greeted with some unfortunate news yesterday when they loaded the Apple Insomnia website.

Apple notes that "due to unexpected challenges" the film festival will be postponed until after the holidays. Many TUAW readers let us know they were unable to register, so server errors could be to blame for this postponement.

If you have already registered, Apple will contact you shortly with the new, rescheduled date. If you haven't registered for the film festival, and would still like to, you can do so on the Apple website.

Thanks to Michael, David, and others for their tips!

If you're like me, your professional or personal efforts toward video organization nirvana have been less than fruitful over the years. With video files spread across multiple formats and multiple storage locations, keeping everything readily available and tagged for reuse is a giant pain. On the consumer level I've tried iDive, iView Multimedia (now Microsoft Expression Media), even plain old iPhoto, and I'm checking out FootTrack; moving up the ladder, there are high-end choices like Cumulus/Mediadex and Final Cut Server. Finding that midrange, prosumer & network-enabled video cataloging tool, with options for MPEG-7 metadata, dynamic clip creation and embedded Spotlight comments in files -- well, I'm still looking, but Frameline 47's new version 3 seems to come pretty close to what I want.

Frameline 47 is a $139 app that works both for an individual and as a networked tool, with Bonjour sharing and the ability to do the aforementioned Spotlight embeds, so your tags, comments and metadata travel with the files instead of with a master catalog; the full Workgroup edition is due at Macworld Expo, with additional capabilities for shared data. All your video files, on all your attached drives, in any QuickTime-readable format (plus WMV and more with Flip4Mac and Perian) can be scanned and thumbnailed into Frameline's search browser; once there, you can add annotations, identify clips for reuse, export your edited files, create webpage galleries, or pass along edit lists to Final Cut. There's a lot in Frameline to explore; probably more than I'll use for my personal projects, but if you have to wrangle a large collection of clips for your editorial work it's definitely worth a look.

You can download a 14-day trial from Frameline's site... but we've got a special offer for TUAW readers courtesy of Frameline: 10 licenses to give away, free of charge. Read on for details on how to enter and win.

P.S. Extra credit if you suss out why the app includes the number '47' in its name.

Looks like Snoop Dogg wants you to have some Apple goodness. Crestock is hosting a wallpaper design competition with the Dre protégé where the prizes over four rounds are, respectively: an iPod classic 80GB, an iPod touch 16GB, an iPod touch 32GB and a MacBook Air. The top three entries in each round also get placement on snoopdogg.com (and his mySpace page... in case anyone with enough taste to hire you actually goes to mySpace) and a load of Snoop Dogg merchandise with a street value of $500+.

With or without the d-o-double-g action, it's a chance for the design-inclined to get some work out there and score an iPod or an Air. Of course, it's essentially on spec, which might get you some flak, but you're not competing for a job. You're competing for internet glory and a MacBook Air, so it's really just good clean fun(izzle).

Visit the contest homepage for more information. The contest is running now, so if you're interested you should scoot.

There are so many ways to get your hands on a MacBook Air (and apparently several ways to lose your grip on one, as well). You could visit the Apple Store, or Best Buy, or shop online. You could take up a collection with friends and family, or prevail upon your spouse to get one for you.

Here's another idea: make a video about how VMware Fusion has helped you switch to the Mac is now your virtualization tool of choice, and you could win an Air. Submit your video by May 15 (every entry gets a Fusion t-shirt, so there are no losers) for your chance to walk, or trip, away with the laptop.

Despite a couple of high-profile callouts on the Fusion 'switched' minisite, I'm afraid that Mat and Chris aren't entering the contest. Too bad, guys!

Update:The VMware team has clarified that the video contest is about users who have switched to VMware Fusion from another way of running Windows on the Mac (Boot Camp, Parallels, Virtual PC, the power of the mind). Adjust your artistic vision appropriately.

Last week we announced that software developer Ian Baird was in need of a tagline for Changes. He put up 2 free licenses to be awarded to the readers with the best suggestions. Well, after a tedious round of judging over 100 entries, TUAW is pleased to announce the winners of the Changes tagline contest. Envelope please ...

The number one pick for a Changes tagline is "Think Diff", by Brian. (Brian, we've been unable to contact you thus far, but please get in touch with Ian for your free license).

The runner up is Nitin Madnani for his entry "Resolve your differences."

In addition to eternal fame and the adoration of their peers, all of tonight's winners will receive a free license for Changes 1.0.

Congratulations Nitin and Brian!

If you watched last weekend's Super Bowl (the height of American Football), you probably saw Tide's "Talking Stain" ad. It was one of the better ones; a man trying to conduct an interview is distracted by a nagging stain on the interviewee's shirt.

Today, Tide has launched a contest encouraging people to make their own "mocking stain" ads. Among the prizes are 34 limited edition Tide-themed iPod Classics. The size isn't listed, but they're described in the official rules as having a value of $300US, so we assume it's the 80GB model.

This isn't the first time Tide has released a special iPod. Last year, they gave away orange nanos in conjunction with the St. Bernard Project in New Orleans. This got us thinking about other limited edition iPods we've seen.

• In 2006, French radio station Nostalgie gave away 100 limited-edition Michael Jackson iPods
• Two years ago, the Japanese company RUN'A sold 1,000 "Snoopy" iPod nanos
• Last September, Target (a discount department store in the US) sold pink iPod Shuffles to support the Breast Cancer Foundation
• Finally, who could forget the granddaddy of special iPods, the U2 model.

Good luck making your stain ad, and let us know if you win one of these.

When I was a kid at school, after recess, we'd all have to go to the same water fountain, and get in one big line to get a drink. And I would have to sit and wait there, dying of thirst, until all the kids in front of me were done with it. And you just know that kid with the zits (Kenny) probably stuck his stupid mouth right on top of that thing, because the water just barely made it out of there, and you really had to slurp it up, and then the next kid pushed you out of the way too early, and--

Well, you get the idea. It was lame. Fortunately, you don't have to go through the same thing, should you win this spiffy blue Apple water bottle from today's giveaway. Fill it up at your leisure (stick it in the fridge to cool if you want-- it won't mind!), and then enjoy your very own water, on your own schedule, far away from Kenny and his stupid mouth.

To enter today's giveaway leave a comment on this post. Contest entry period is 5AM-11:59PM EDT on August 17, 2007. Same rules as usual, all described on our TUAW giveaway page. Good luck!

The iPhone application community continues to amaze me-- this time, Engadget's got the heads up on an iPhone video conferencing system, made possible by not only a cool little piece of code (designed for a C4 contest) that fetches an iPhone's camera input and feeds it out to another iPhone via a webserver, but also these ingenious mirror settings that work as a little periscope around the phone, and let you both see the image on the front while the camera on the back grabs yours. Wild!

The Ecamm folks are old hands, apparently, at the ingenious use of mirrors around an Apple camera, but this definitely tops anything I've seen in the past. Just an amazing hack, both in terms of software and hardware. Unfortunately, the source (for either hack) isn't available yet, but they promise that something is coming soon. In the meantime, just bask in the glow of what these iPhone guys are capable of.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!