iPhone 4 Bumper Review: 1 Year Later

Why do we buy covers for our cell phones? The answer should be obvious, but not for the makers of the Apple Bumper.  After having the bumper on for 6 months, i was surprised to notice scratches on the finish of my beautiful glass & brushed metal finish iPhone 4.  Had i known that my phone would be damaged in this way, i would have chosen better protection.

I've dropped my iPhone a few times, not too far from the ground mind you, but enough for the bumper to actually protect it. It's not a complete waste of money.  I chose the bumper initially for the following reasons: 1) I trusted Apple in its own design, that it would make bumpers fully capable of protecting their own products. 2) Aesthetics: i loved the clean look of the bumper which didn't hide the sleek design i oh-so love. 3) Ease: it was easy enough not to search a bazillion websites (which i had already done) to look for the perfect cover for my ~$700 MSRP investment.

One thing i have discovered and tested for myself: the iPhone 4 without the bumper gets better cell & data connection than with the bumper on. Without the cover i notice significant improvement of battery life and connectivity, so much that i leave it off all the time.  Sure, i was initially paranoid of exposing such beauty to damage, but after a year now i leave the bumper off.  Without the mostly useless bumper, I get to show off the design and do not have to deal with performance issues anymore.  If you have a bumper, take it off.  The iPhone 4 is best when it is bare.

iPhone 4 bumper review- Summary:

Pros: Aesthetics

Cons: Scratches brushed metal antenna, hinders connectivity, strains battery life.

Futurama iPhone App Review: Head-in-a-Jar-Creator

Nerds of the World unite! MTV Networks just released your dream app. Now you too can teleport yourself to the year 3000.  With its easy to use interface, the app allowed me to make jars of my entire family in less than 5 minutes.  My 3 year old even made herself a head in a jar, which proves how easy this app is to use.  Search "Futurama" in the iTunes App Store and the results have been dismal, up until now.... I've had the 99 cent Hypnotoad app for a year now, although i love it and it does its job well, the replay/re-use value blows.  Click here to download the Futurama Head-in-a-Jar App while you read the rest of this article.

It's me! @WrenDaWise

As an artist, i absolutely love the creative aspect of this app and the ease at which it lets me share my creations. I'm not limited by license restrictions as the folks at Futurama cleverly (yet tastefully) advertised on the final rendering head images the timing of the show and Matt Groening's signature.  The interfaces and menu screens are true to the Futurama universe, the focal point being the Head Museum. I love the fact that i don't have to register on yet another stupid website just to be able to print and share the images created from within the app. Links to email, Facebook and Twitter are well placed. Kudos MTV! No annoying level of connectivity either, the privacy of my Head Museum is kept safe from Earth (i think, LOL). I see a lot of potential here and look forward to downloading the next iteration or update of this app.

Pros: Aesthetic is true to Futurama Universe, Ease of use/sharing, Nerdy, Great Potential.

Maybe the people i know are too weird looking, yeah even for the Futurama universe, but I wish there was a little more variation in the features they offer while designing your head. As my own Head Museum grows, I'm beginning to see some duplicates. Don't get me wrong, there are tons of options, but maybe my background as an artist makes me yearn to tweak to the umteenth degree. For instance, i had to photoshop the mustache off my head in the pic above.  Also, I tried making Zoidberg, found his "nose" but couldnt recreate him :( I Made Leela, Bender and Kiff so far.  Wouldn't it be great if you could recreate them all? How about making them spit out a few animated quotes: "Bite my shiny metal ass".  A nerd can dream, but with this app you don't have to dream much.

Cons: More variations of head features would be appreciated.

A green, one-eyed Fry! Looks like one of my coworkers ;) jk.

Check out my collection of Heads in The "Custom" Head Museum.
There you have it. Support Futurama, Comedy Central and the makers of the app, MTV Networks.  We look forward to your next creation.  Don't forget to clean your jar water! ;D