DeviceKnit Blog

What are you doing with your Kindle that's unconventional?

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:49:49 -0500

We’re looking for more Kindle hacks. Are you using a Kindle in any ways that Amazon did not intend? Any hacks on specific Kindle models?

Here’s one we’ve added to DeviceKnit so far: Download file formats like .ePub and PDF on your Amazon Kindle

Some literal DeviceKnitting demarko: Basically, Kastner makes...

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 11:32:31 -0500

Some literal DeviceKnitting

demarko:

Basically, Kastner makes the best Secret Santa ever. Yes, that is an amigurumi Game Boy with an iPod inside containing Anamanaguchi songs. And no, he didn’t get someone else to make the amigurumi, he crocheted it himself.

edit: apparently credit goes to Andy Baio for the name “Anamanamiguchigurumi”

Gear up for Black Friday with these deals

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:10:31 -0500

As most of you may know, the busiest shopping day of the year is quickly approaching. Here is a list of a few awesome deals for you to take advantage of when the big day arrives. Pick some up as gifts or treat yourself to some new toys.

Griffin Technology

Take up to 80% off selected items for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch at http://store.griffintechnology.com/black-Friday.

Dates: Nov. 25-27

On Cyber Monday, with a purchase of $19.99 or greater, add a free A-Frame to your order online.

Dates: Nov. 28

No Codes Required

SuperTooth

15% discount on every product on the SuperTooth website.

Dates: Nov. 21-27

No Code Required

Elgato

Buy.com is offering Elgato’s EyeTV One for $39.95 (normally $99.95)

Dates: Nov. 25-28

Win a free 6 month subscription to Put.io!

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 11:06:00 -0400

Update: Thanks to everyone who entered the contest! We’ve contacted the winners by Twitter.

At DeviceKnit we’re big fans of services that make it easier to manage media across multiple devices. We recently published this knit, which shows you how you can download videos on BitTorrent or Rapidshare to an iOS device using Put.io and iCab.

We got in touch with Put.io and they were nice enough to let us give 5 DeviceKnit users free 6-month subscriptions to their Basic plan! To enter, make sure you’re signed up for DeviceKnit at deviceknit.com, and then click here to tweet about the contest before noon EST on Friday, November 4, 2011. We will contact the winner via twitter (and attempt by email, as well) after the contest ends.

Now, you can subscribe to an RSS feed of the latest knits that...

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:17:12 -0400

Now, you can subscribe to an RSS feed of the latest knits that apply to a device. Just click the “RSS Feed of Knits” button on any device page. Use this new feature to keep an eye out for new content on devices you own or really like.

Remember, you can subscribe a feed of all the knits on DeviceKnit here, or follow @JustDeviceKnits on Twitter.

Enable 4 and 5 finger Multitasking Gestures on Original iPad (1st gen) running iOS 5

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 15:45:00 -0400

Enable 4 and 5 finger Multitasking Gestures on Original iPad (1st gen) running iOS 5:

This isn’t really a knit, since only one device is involved, but we wanted to let you know it’s possible to enable the awesome Multitasking Gestures in iOS 5 on your iPad 1. You may have seen that Apple was going to support this on all iPads, but may have changed their mind at the last minute.

Questions? Follow us and ask for help on Twitter: @DeviceKnit.

gohnjanotis:

This is how I did it. You can also edit the file directly on the iPad if you have a text editor on there (to avoid SSHing in from another computer).
Jailbreak your iPad

Install OpenSSH in Cydia

Go to Settings > General > Network and make note of your IP address

SSH in from another computer on

the network using your iPad’s IP address (username: root, password: alpine)

Navigate to /System/Library/CoreServices/SpringBoard.app/

Open K48AP.plist with a text editor

Search for ‘multitasking-gestures’ and change the next line from ‘’ to ‘’

Restart Springboard (the easiest way I found to do this with my tethered jailbreak to avoid re-jailbreaking is to change the language to something else then change it back. Each language change does a respring)

Go into Settings > General and you’ll see the Multitasking Gestures section. Switch it on!

I was given one of these SRS things at a gdgt live event in New...

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:15:05 -0400

I was given one of these SRS things at a gdgt live event in New York this past summer and just found it while cleaning out my backpack. Why does crap like this exist? If the technology is really that good, why is it not licensed and built into the phone? What is useful about this product?

At DeviceKnit we hate bad functional redundancy like this… The phone already has a headphone jack, so if this technology is good, shouldn’t it be built into headphones or the phone itself? Also, this design prevents charging the phone while in use and eliminates the ability to use headset features (call button, volume control).

How does stuff like this come into being? Are they really making profit by bringing this device into existence and selling it? What would cause someone to buy it?

Sorry if this post comes across as a rant, I just wanted to point out a little of what DeviceKnit stands for. Please leave your feedback in the Disqus comments!

-John, DeviceKnit Founder

Win a $99 ZAGGsparq 2.0 or $25 ZAGG gift card

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 11:07:00 -0400

Update: Congratulations to Colin, the winner of the ZAGGsparq 2.0, and Lisa, the winner of the $25 ZAGG gift card in our recent contest. Stay tuned for more contests soon!

In honor of the new version of DeviceKnit, we’re happy to announce our contest for a ZAGGsparq 2.0. This $99 device acts as a regular wall charger for up to 2 USB devices when you need it, but is also a battery to re-charge your devices when there are no outlets available. It can fully recharge an iPhone twice! Check out a knit that uses the ZAGGsparq 2.0 here. We’re also giving away a $25 ZAGG gift card to the runner up.

To enter, sign up for DeviceKnit and then tweet a link. This contest runs until midnight eastern time on 10/11/2011 and is open to residents of the United States only. One winner will receive a ZAGGsparq 2.0, and another will win a $25 ZAGG gift card. The winners will notified by twitter on 10/11/2011.

Welcome to the new DeviceKnit

Sun, 02 Oct 2011 23:59:42 -0400

You may have noticed that last month a new version of DeviceKnit was rolled out. Since the first version was released (just over a year ago) we found out what aspects worked and what didn’t. There was a lot of extra code sitting around, and the features were very bloated. Even worse, this made it very hard to add and maintain content.

In August, the site was rebuilt from the ground up with lots of improvements. It’s now hosted on DjangoZoom, which means the site will be more maintainable and changes are faster. Not just the code was improved. It was an opportunity to take a step back and rebuild DeviceKnit with a focus on simplicity and content.

We’ve announced a few of the changes here on the tumblr blog over the past few weeks. Check out the new site for yourself and let us know what you think on Twitter or Facebook.

If you sign up, we’ll email you the best new content every few weeks.

DeviceKnit now supports software! You’ll now see Apps as...

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:55:00 -0400

DeviceKnit now supports software! You’ll now see Apps as ingredients right alongside Devices. We’ve even started integration with iusethis.com to give you more information about most apps.

This is just one of many new features that makes the new version of DeviceKnit more useful, and more flexible. You’ll start to see apps popping up as ingredients in new content, as well as being added to existing content.

Update: Congratulations to Nick, the winner of our contest! Stay...

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 11:53:00 -0400

Update: Congratulations to Nick, the winner of our contest! Stay tuned… we have a lot more contests with better prizes coming soon.

To celebrate the new version of DeviceKnit, we’re having a giveaway! Sign up by Friday (9/30/2011) and Tweet about us or write on our Facebook wall, and you’ll be entered to win a free iPad 2 case!

If you’ve signed up after 9/4/2011 and tweeted or wrote on our wall, you’re already entered. If you signed up before 9/4/2011, you’re old account has been deleted, so go sign up to enter the contest.

Sign up today at http://deviceknit.com - you can use your Facebook or Twitter account, or an email address.

Then, tweet about DeviceKnit or write on our Facebook wall to be entered in the contest:

What’s your favorite knit so far? Tweet it, or tell us!
What device would you like to see more knits for? Let us know!
Anything else about DeviceKnit

Here’s a sneak preview of the stripped down, redesigned...

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 13:39:30 -0400

Here’s a sneak preview of the stripped down, redesigned version of DeviceKnit coming out soon! As you can see in this screenshot, “Implementations” will now be called “Knits,” and will be a lot more flexible. More details soon!

Pluggable Culture - This looks like it will be a great SXSW 2012 event!

Sun, 28 Aug 2011 15:17:39 -0400

Pluggable Culture - This looks like it will be a great SXSW 2012 event!

FaceTime over 3G (aka FaceTime without WiFi)

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 16:22:00 -0400

Update: There’s an easier way now: http://deviceknit.com/implementations/39/

Check out this Implementation on DeviceKnit: http://deviceknit.com/implementations/19/

FaceTime is only supposed to work on the iPhone 4 when you are on WiFi, which is unfortunate because sometimes it would be fun to video chat on FaceTime when you’re in the car or on a boat (like we just tested). It’s a little clunky, but not too hard if you have tethering and a laptop.

First, you’ll need to have tethering on your iPhone plan. It’s been tested with AT&T so far, which runs an extra $15 per month (until there’s a jailbreak that allows it for free!)

Turn on tethering in Settings > General > Network > Internet Tethering on your iPhone 4 and connect it via USB. You’ll see a new “iPhone USB” connection option pop up in the Network preference pane in System Preferences:

Go to the Sharing preference pane, and turn on Internet Sharing to share your USB connection over WiFi/AirPort:

Now, connect to the network you just created with your iPhone, and you can FaceTime all you want. Hopefully when there’s a jailbreak for the iPhone 4 the laptop and tethering won’t be needed anymore. Enjoy!

To discover more implementations like this, be sure to sign up for a DeviceKnit beta account at http://deviceknit.com

Open Pandora Gaming Console

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:38:30 -0400

Open Pandora Gaming Console:

isn’t it amazing that it doesn’t take a big company to make products like this? with DeviceKnit, we want to help you find products that are not mainstream, and can sometimes outperform what the big companies are pushing out

DeviceKnit Interview with StartupPittsburgh

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:46:29 -0400

DeviceKnit Interview with StartupPittsburgh:

Thanks for the article, StartupPittsburgh! We really appreciate you helping us get the word out about DeviceKnit!

Great overview of digital manufacturing from February by Dominic...

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:24:43 -0400

Great overview of digital manufacturing from February by Dominic Muren of humblefacture.com. With DeviceKnit, we want to showcase open products people are making alongside commercially available electronics and devices that can solve the same problems.