Pac-man iPhone 4 wallpaper takes the cake.

One small feature (if you could call it that) introduced with iPhone 4 and iOS 4 was user changeable backgrounds on the main icon screen. Obviously, solid colors or simple background work best. While I’ve understandably seen some truly atrocious user-created attempts at design, this Pac-man wallpaper is easily one of the geekiest and coolest wallpapers for any iPhone 4/iOS 4 user. What do you guys and gals think?

Google gets a face lift. Adds Bing-like customizable backgrounds.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Some may prefer the stark white Google page we’ve all come to know (and some of us love). But in this visual age, we like color, rich media, and overall, entertainment.

Starting today in the U.S., users can upload their own images as well as use any public Picasa image for their Google Search background. Once the individual finds one that he or she likes, sharing it with others can be easily done via Twitter with the hashtag #myGooglepage.

Look for the custom background image feature to rollout globally over the coming days.

WinPhone 7 and the disappearing background apps…

So what do you think? Generally it’s good practice to ask the mind bending, cortex tickling question at the end. You know, saving the best for last. But I figured I’d switch it up. WinPhone 7 is a dramatic departure from Windows Mobile in every way. It’s appearance, functionality, features, and overall usability have all been given huge boosts. So much so that even I, a long time WinMo hater have seen the light at the end of Microsoft’s tunnel. It’s not all happy endings though. As the title above suggests, one monumental change from WinMo 6.x to WinPhone 7+ is how the OS handles multiple apps — or lack there of.

It is now stapled in history the age of the multi-tasking mobile Windows operating system for WinPhone 7 and beyond will employ a sort of background notification system much like Apple has made famous with the iPhone platform. As a standalone replacement for background processing, it’s not all that bad. The best examples of background notifications being beneficial are of course in communicative apps such as instant messengers in which information is constantly traded back and forth in real time. Other apps however don’t benefit at all. Apps such as Last.fm, task managers, games, etc. How will Microsoft tweak WinPhone 7 to handle these circumstances.

Another large talking point that is kind of reliant on the whole background notification topic is that of notifications in general. In WinPhone 7, a sort of overlay/notification drop down will appear whenever the user receives an IM, text, email, and so on. Clicking on the notification will take the user to the respective app quickly, giving the OS an overall smoother feel and interactivity. But what if you miss several notifications? Is there some place for the user to go and quickly glance at the number of and type of notifications received since last using the device? Sadly, at this point there isn’t. It’s up to the user to go to each app and check for any new messages or updates. Again, another area that needs just a little more crafting.

For me, I’m a big text based talker and multi-tasker. How an OS and device work together to blend the two is a big thing for me. With the massive overhaul we’ve seen so far in WinMo 7, I can honestly say that now more than ever, Microsoft is this close to convincing me that a WinPhone purchase is warranted. The two points highlighted above however still leave me sitting on the fence, unable to justify quite yet jumping all the way in.

Is the more “mass appeal” paint job slathered all over the OS in terms of much improved simplicity (read: neutering of background processes) and lack of any real unified notification area ala Android’s drop down notification bar actually a step too far? Simply put, is Microsoft trying too hard to be like everyone else that it is falling into jack of all trades, master of none?

Yay, Apple waits forever to add something!

Well, after ages of begging and asking, it looks like Apple will finally listen to us, late as usual, a Multi-Tasking Manager has been found in the latest iPhone 4.0 SDK!! w00t, well, w00t for those that haven’t already accomplished this after Jailbreaking.

I personally feel this should have been something standard on the iPhone, I mean, with all this device is meant to do, I just don’t understand why it wasn’t already given to us. 4.0 is a long way off, not ready for our consumption, so there is really no telling when we’ll see it. But sources, that are usually spot on are telling us that we’ll see it in 4.0. I still think that is way to far off, but again, I already have it, I just wish I didn’t have to use a Jailbroken way of doing it, that should be Apple standard.

Apple Insider

Ambient noise a thing of the past thanks to Yurbuds [Review]

Ever wish you could get some of the background noise blocking characteristics of expensive in-ear headphones without shelling out the top of the line price? One word: “Yurbuds”.

At first, I thought they were a tad gimmicky — slipping what are basically rubber/synthetic sleeves over your current ear buds and all of a sudden gaining sonic qualities often lost to the nuances of everyday life that invade your music listening experience. But I was surprised, quite surprised in fact.

My Yurbuds came pre-fitted to a pair of stock iPod earbuds. As many of you out there know, the buds aren’t special in any way. Honestly, I’d go as far as to say the iPod style ear buds are nothing but crap. Sonically the are. But I’m not nit picking over the choice of freebie headphones because they were (1) free and (2) show off what the yurbuds can do quite well.

Perhaps the usage of stock iPod ear buds was a great idea. A fair amount of the general population has used the now iconic white earbuds at least once or twice in their lifetime so they have at least a small taste of what those white buds are (or more accurately…*not*) capable of. They are what you’d expect — lifeless. The highs are severely rolled off unless EQ’d in which they become way too harsh. The mids are overpowering and muddy. The bass (if you can find it) is either invisible or a mosh pit of nonsense. So how do the yurbuds help?

Now don’t misunderstand the purpose of Yurbuds. They’re not meant to add sound quality or make up for your set of buds’ poor audio reproduction. They’re designed solely to block out ambient noise which in return has the added benefits of making more apparent the pros and cons of your particular buds.

In the case of the stock iPod earbuds they shipped with, they make bass a night and day difference on heavier (read: hip-hop and similar) songs. It isn’t necessarily clean or articulate bass, but for bassheads, anything is welcome. The mids become even more apparent and forward while the highs somehow manage to slip further into the background. A little EQ’ing helps eliminate some of these stark differences so that most will be pleased.

The biggest addition however is the now quieter yet louder environment your encapsulated in. Gone are the simple sounds of the air-conditioning, the TV blaring in the background, the annoyingly loud guy at the coffee shop next to you, etc. etc. Instead of hearing all of the background sound that invades your personal listening space, you hear nothing but music — the music you set out to hear in the first place. Besides “added” sound quality by way of background noise reduction, you can set your player at a lower volume level, reducing battery drain and giving your ears a much needed break in the process. A trifecta of sorts if you will.

If you find yourself blessed/cursed with an audiophile ear, the Yurbuds won’t add quality to any earbud that lacks it from the factory. But most of the global population aren’t audiophiles and the like, *raises hand* meaning that for most consumers using the stock iPod/mp3 player earbuds, the Yurbuds actually do quite well.

Overall, for their intended purpose the Yurbuds work wonderfully well as I’ve come away again, quite surprised that some blue rubbery skin can make even stock iPod earbuds sound as they did to my ears. After all is said and done, we come to the million dollar question: Are the Yurbuds in their most basic form — the rubber sleeve that fits over your earbuds — worth the $19.99 asking price? If you’re the type that can’t fathom spending $30+ for headphones of any type and don’t buy into the whole “audiophile” thing, then yes, Yurbuds are very well worth it as you’ll more easily enjoy the added sonic benefits. Audiophiles and the like not so much. There’s other options for you out there. But then again, you kind of people already know that. Lol.

If you’re interested in a pair of Yurbuds for yourself, simply take a photo of your ear so the Yurbud team knows what size to send you and email your photo to “[email protected]”.

• Visit Yurbuds