Diy Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

How to make a custom wooden 'antique' iPad case

by Chris Rawson (Apr 6th, 2011)

Gary Katz, the same DIY guy behind this cool iPhone shoebox theater, has crafted a delightfully retro-looking case for his iPad 2 out of "about $20 worth of materials." Calling it "An iPad Case from 1945," Katz used a bill of materials that just about anyone might find in their garage or ...

Cool custom-made iOS device stand

by Chris Ward (Mar 19th, 2011)

Design student Andrew Kim has produced the very cool Polyply to avoid having all his iOS devices strewn around his desktop like so many expensive paperweights. Made from acrylate polymer (acrylic plastic), birch plywood and birch, it has cutouts for his iPad, iPod touch Classic, iPhone and ...

Video: Replicate Smart Cover sleep mode with a simple magnet

by Erica Sadun (Mar 14th, 2011)

If you're looking for that awesome Smart Cover functionality but don't want to spend forty bucks on a case for your new iPad, it's really simple to add a low-power magnet that will trigger the Smart Cover functionality. All you need is a small strip of flexible craft magnet, available at any ...

Turn an iPod touch into an iPhone with its own packaging

by Dave Caolo (Feb 4th, 2011)

Here's a nice bit of ingenuity. Lifehacker reader Kevin explains how he used a VoIP app (Viber and Line 2 are two nice options) with his iPod's packaging and earbud speakers to create a DIY handset. After smoothing the edges of the plastic backing and wearing a groove to hold the earbud wire, ...

Make your own iPhone/iPod dock from a tree branch

by Megan Lavey-Heaton (Dec 19th, 2010)

Anthropologie has developed a new way to destroy trees by offering a US$98 iPhone dock created from a round of hickory wood with branches attached, ... and that's pretty much it. No speakers. No clock. It's enough to make you want to go out, scavenge a couple of dead tree limbs and make one for ...

Mark Frauenfelder on maker culture, openness and Apple

by Michael Rose (Dec 3rd, 2010)

I'm attending Respect The Internet in NYC, a one-day Ketchum conference highlighting the sometimes tenuous and touchy relationship between online culture and traditional marketing/media. Among the morning's star presenters was Boing Boing founder and MAKE magazine/Maker Faire standard bearer Mark ...

iMac turned ant farm for sale on eBay

by Mike Schramm (Nov 29th, 2010)

We've seen lots of interesting ways to use old Macs, including the great Macquarium that pops up every now and again. But I think an ant farm is a new one -- that's what this 17" G5 iMac has been turned into. An eBay seller in Hawaii says he emptied out the Mac's insides and built a custom habitat ...

iPad portrait light array for photographers

by Dave Caolo (Nov 9th, 2010)

Here's an interesting way to use 9 iPads. Photographer Jesse Rosten mounted the set on several pieces of plywood, maxed out the brightness on each and had assistants move then around while he shot his model. In fact, the iPad arrays were the only light sources for this particular shoot. Was it a ...

Found Footage: iPhone costume update includes working 40" LCD

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (Oct 29th, 2010)

In 2007, we saw the first generation iPhone in some comically large costumes (video on the next page). Last year we brought you the footage of Reko and John sporting giant TV screens with jailbroken iPhones powering the costumes. They used "updated" iPhones, but still sported square edges and no ...

Finally -- multi-windowing under iOS

by Steven Sande (Oct 11th, 2010)

I'm sure that all of us have had this dilemma at one time or another. You want multiple windows open on your iDevices, so you get 'em all going at once, laid out on the couch around you. You're watching a movie on your iPhone and surfing the web on your iPad at the same time, and if you have to get ...

How to: Turn your old watch into a nanowatch

by Mike Schramm (Sep 17th, 2010)

Sure, you could just buy a "carrying solution" for the new square iPod nano, but where's the fun in that? Wired shows you how to turn your old wristwatch into a nanowatch -- just take the old strap off, and use the nano's clip to attach it all together. Of course, it depends on your old watch ...

iPhone-controlled 3D display, via ping pong balls and air pumps

by Mike Schramm (Aug 24th, 2010)

I'm not quite 100% sure what this is -- it's supposed to be a "floating forecaster," some sort of 3D display for weather information, but to me it looks more like 30 air guns with ping pong balls sitting in them. I don't really see how the "weather" part of the display works, but what's really cool ...

Eight ways to get a killer 'iBike'

by Dave Caolo (Aug 10th, 2010)

Even though the "iBike" is nothing more than a patent application, the folks at Unplggd have described how they'd outdo Apple's offering to the world of bike computers. We must admit, the result includes some seriously geeky, tricked-out options. For example, this DIY USB charger uses a dynamo ...

DIY Steadicam for the iPhone

by Mike Schramm (Jul 21st, 2010)

This is really awesome. While there are rumors that an iPhone 4 Steadicam is in production, Spencer Watson didn't wait -- as you can see above, he went ahead and built a Steadicam-type rig for his own iPhone out of some parts he had sitting around. As you can see from the video it takes, it works ...

Luxo iMac makes killer iPad stand

by Dave Caolo (Jun 15th, 2010)

Among the iPad's superpowers is inspiring its owners to new heights of creativity. So far it has delighted a 100-year-old user, been wrapped in chocolate and spawned all sorts of DIY cases and stands. The latest effort we've seen is this G4 iMac-mounted beauty. Flickr user Rusty saw his busted G4 ...