Mods Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

eMac converted to self-tweeting cat bed

by Dave Caolo (Dec 1st, 2011)

What do you do with an obsolete computer the size of a huge, plastic canned ham? Let your cat use it to tweet her naps, of course. The eMac was a behemoth of a computer, released by Apple in 2002. Originally meant for the education market, Apple eventually made them available to all consumers. ...

Control Siri with your mind and lots of hardware

by Steven Sande (Nov 11th, 2011)

What's better than controlling your iPhone 4S with Siri? How about just thinking about something and having it happen? That's what a group of hackers have accomplished with Project Black Mirror. They've connected an iPhone 4S up to a setup that uses a MacBook Pro and an Arduino open-source ...

Dear Aunt TUAW: Help me repurpose my G5 tower

by Erica Sadun (Oct 11th, 2011)

Dear Aunt TUAW, I have an old G5 tower and I want to re-purpose it in an awesome way. I've gotten suggestions like creating a server or putting another computer in it, but I am more interested in creating something clever and unexpected. Any ideas? Your loving nephew, Ben Dear ...

A giant white iPhone table with no multitouch

by Dave Caolo (Aug 12th, 2011)

German enthusiast and iPhone fan Benjamin Bachmeier has constructed a table-sized computer called the iTableous. This behemoth was entirely hand-built and runs a hackintosh version of Mac OS X 10.6.7 as well as Windows 7 Professional. Dual boot, baby! As you can see below, the craftsmanship is ...

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, ...

Put a Windows Phone 7 theme on your iPhone

by David Quilty (Feb 1st, 2011)

Been trying to think of a way to try out a new Windows phone without crossing over to the dark side switching sides? If that's the case and you have been looking for a way to recreate the Windows Phone 7 interactive theme on your iPhone or iPod touch, Wyndwarrior's "OS7" is available in public beta ...

Apple TV clock mod makes up for the lack of an iPad clock

by Steven Sande (Jan 21st, 2011)

Do you have an old first-generation Apple TV lying around collecting dust? Would you like to turn it into something useful and attractive? TUAW reader Antonio Worrall had purchased a second-generation Apple TV, and his old unit had gone to "join the choir invisible," so he decided to put the ...

Fantastic transparent iPhone 4 case mod

by Dave Caolo (Jan 20th, 2011)

We love a good mod, and this one is stellar. An enterprising iPhone user got his hands on a clear case mod kit for the iPhone 4, (Google translation) put it together and posted the fantastic results online. It's wicked geeky, and reminds us of the clear Newton MessagePad prototype, though not as ...

Apple G4 turned into a mailbox

by Kelly Hodgkins (Jan 17th, 2011)

We love mods of older Apple hardware and the resurgence of this oldie but goodie is no exception. Spotted and photographed in the Te Atatu suburb of Auckland, New Zealand, this classic mailbox features a gutted G4 that has been modified into a mailbox, complete with a front flap and address numbers. ...

Centrafuse offers iPhone control via touchscreen

by Dave Caolo (Jan 13th, 2011)

We know what you're thinking. "I've always wanted to crash my car, but only if I can blame it on a hilarious YouTube video." Well gas up the Civic and put some fresh Ace Wrap in the glove box, because your chance is nearly upon you. YouTube user Mister Romin has demonstrated how he used an ...

Mechanized joystick built to control iPhone tilt sensor, rack up high score

by Matt Tinsley (Jan 12th, 2011)

What do you do when you just can't get that high score you're looking for in Tilt to Live? You build a computer that's better at playing the game than you are. For Shane Wighton, that turned out to be a mechanized joystick for tilt-controlled iPhone games. When Shane couldn't achieve the score ...

Swap out your iPhone 4's rear glass with a replacement panel from voBack

by Chris Rawson (Jan 11th, 2011)

A few days ago, one of our readers emailed us to ask, "Is this a photo of the Verizon iPhone, or a Chinese knockoff?" It only took me a couple seconds to realize it was neither; it was a voBack replacement iPhone 4 rear panel from Fixxed, a company based out of Christchurch, New Zealand. I'd seen a ...

MacBook Air powers four screens simultaneously

by Dave Caolo (Dec 17th, 2010)

We're going to be agreeable and assume this picture of a MacBook Air powering 4 displays isn't a Photoshop job (It's Friday and we're in a good mood). From right to left, we've got: An old-school, 20" Apple Cinema Display A 7-inch Mimo 720-S USB display The MacBook Air itself An ...

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 ...

Plex running on a jailbroken Apple TV

by Dave Caolo (Nov 4th, 2010)

That didn't take long. Shortly after the Apple TV was successfully jailbroken, someone has gotten Plex up and running. For now, it's quite buggy (see a video after the break) and limited to video, which means no photos or music. But hey, it's running! Plex is a media center for the Mac, and pulls ...