Wondering how to get Siri to better understand and pronounce your contact’s names? Sometimes adding phonetic spelling will solve the problem. A good example of this is my name. Siri is pronouncing it as A-lie, as in the cake is a lie. Here’s how to set up a phonetic spelling to a name.

1. You’ll need to go into whatever contact card Siri is having trouble with. In this instance, I’m editing my own.
2. Next you’ll need to tap Edit at the top of the contact card.

3. Scroll all the way to the bottom and click add field.

4. You will see two fields that allow you to add a phonetic first and last name. Fill them out. In this instance I put “Alley”. This seems to make Siri pronounce my name correctly.

5. Once you are finished click Done to finish editing your contact card. You should now see the phonetic spelling of the name underneath the contact’s actual name.
6. Try Siri again. Your name should be pronounced correctly now.

Has Siri had issues pronouncing any names for you? Did adding a phonetic spelling fix the issue?

Daily Tips range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward…)

A new Kickstarter project has started up for MobileMount, a nice looking suction cup mount for the iPhone, iPad and other smartphones and tablets. The kickstand mount is produced by JR Sanches of J & M Company and promises to deliver the best mount your money can buy.

The MobileMount is a universal mount/kickstand for virtually any hand held device with a flat surface, like smartphones and tablets. Comprised of two twist-to-lock suction cups and one ball joint, this device’s unique design allows for superior suction and durability.

The twist-to-lock suction cups are said to be the strongest out there and will secure your devices “for weeks”, rather than days or hours from competing mounts. The universal design means you can use it on your iPhone or iPad, or any other flat-surfaced device. They also came up with a smart ball and joint system that allows for free horizontal and vertical rotation, making it a perfect setup for using your iPhone on your car dashboard or windshield as a GPS unit.

Pledges for the MobileMount start at just a buck and go all the way up to $700, but a pledge of just $25 will secure you a black MobileMount and 4 vinyl circles (for use with devices that have a matte surface) for delivery in January of next year. They’re goal is $20,000, but they’ve already passed $10K so it doesn’t look like this will have any trouble getting to market.

I’ll personally be pledging $50 to get a couple of these bad boys — one for my iPad 2 at the office and one for a windshield mount for my iPhone 4 in the car.

Check out the full video after the break!

Source: Kickstarter

Walter Isaacson, the author of the upcoming authorized biography of Steve Jobs, will be sitting down with 60 Minutes on Sunday for an interview going over the new book. In a preview, he reveals:

“I’ve asked [Jobs why he didn't get an operation then] and he said, ‘I didn’t want my body to be opened…I didn’t want to be violated in that way,’” Isaacson recalls. So he waited nine months, while his wife and others urged him to do it, before getting the operation, reveals Isaacson. Asked by [60 Minutes correspondent Steve] Kroft how such an intelligent man could make such a seemingly stupid decision, Isaacson replies, “I think that he kind of felt that if you ignore something, if you don’t want something to exist, you can have magical thinking…we talked about this a lot,” he tells Kroft. “He wanted to talk about it, how he regretted it….I think he felt he should have been operated on sooner.”

The Steve Jobs is scheduled to go on sale Monday, October 24th after the date was moved up following the announcement that Steve Jobs had passed away.

Source: CBS News

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Trying to figure out how to take a high quality self-portrait with the iPhone, and the low-quality front-facing VGA camera just isn’t cutting it? One of the new features of iOS 5 is the ability to trigger the iPhone’s rear facing camera with the Volume Up button, and that means it’s easier than ever to get the perfect self-portrait. Here’s how:

1. Launch Camera app
2. If the front facing camera is activated, tap the rotating camera icon in the top right corner
3. For best result, put the iPhone in your right hand and turn it around
4. Hold the phone out from your body while positioning your thumb over the Volume Up button. The iPhone’s camera has a wide enough angle that it is not necessary to stretch out your arm completely. You may want to bend your arm a little so that the inside part of your elbow on your outstretched arm and does not appear in the photo.
5. Look directly into the lens and smile (or not)
6. Press the volume up button

If there’s a mirror near by, you can even see what the camera is seeing on the screen and adjust accordingly.

Bonus Tip: If you’re wearing headphones with volume control, you can hit the volume up button on them instead.

There you go! Now you’re all set to take the perfect self-portrait! You can say goodbye to the grainy, front-facing VGA camera and only use the rear facing camera.

Now go snap some pics and update your Facebook and Twitter profile pics!

We’ve been so busy with the iOS 5 and iPhone 4S launches that we’ve really slacked off on the Friday Freebies lately — so the TiPb iPhone 4S Accessory Store is going to make it up to you in a big way by giving away a FREE Jawbone ERA headset!

That’s military grade NoiseAssassin 3.0 technology, the same stuff developed for tank commanders and helicopter pilots. So. Cool.

All you have to do to enter is leave one (1) reply on the official contest thread in our iPhone 4S Forums telling us — which manufacturer currently makes your favorite iPhone cases and why? Otterbox, Case-Mate, Seidio, Element, Incipio, Speck? Who?

(And if you don’t have an iPhone 4S, don’t worry. The Jawbon ERA works great with any iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or any Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, web OS phone, etc. that supports Bluetooth. It just looks hottest with an iPhone!)

What are you waiting for? Enter now!

Seamus McGarvey, cinematographer of the upcoming Joss Whedon-helmed, Marvel Comics hero-filled Avengers movie, revealed in an interview with IFTN that some of the shots in the film were taken with an iPhone.

The beauty of photography or cinema is that you make every choice based on the content at hand. On The Avengers, I did a couple of shots on the iPhone and they are in the movie. In fact, they are in the trailer! I understand that sometimes there is no choice and you have to go for the cheapest option, but if you are limited for choice, you can still make poignant decisions that will effect the look of the film

Check out the trailer and let us know if you can figure out which Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Widow, or Hulk shots assembled into the Avengers movie are the iPhone ones.

Source: IFTN via Comic Book Movie, thanks @Bunz4LyfeBoi!

Apple has announced they will be holding an iOS 5 Tech Talk World Tour for 2011, giving developers an opportunity learn more about iOS 5, iPhone and iPad UI design sessions, adopting iCloud storage and more.

We're taking iOS 5 on a world tour and we want you to come along for the ride. Learn from Apple experts as you take your apps to the next level with the exciting new technologies in iOS. Space is limited, so register today.

Apple will be holding training sessions for the Tech Talk World Tour in the following cities beginning in November and ending late January of next year.

• Berlin, Germany
• London, UK
• Rome, Italy
• Beijing, China
• Seoul, South Korea
• Sao Paolo, Brazil
• New York City, New York, U.S.
• Seattle, Washington, U.S.
• Austin, Texas, U.S.

We posted some notes and video from the 2009 Tech Tour, and it looks like this will be another great resource of information for iOS developers. Any developers out there planning to attend?

Source: Apple

A TiPb reader informed us that he was able to stream a 50 min. long concert this morning via iTunes Match, but now he’s being told to connect to Wi-Fi to play anything that long.

Both iTunes and the App Store have a 20MB limit on 3G downloads, however iTunes lets you stream content on 3G that go over 20MB, like podcasts. While there’s been some debate on whether iTunes Match would ultimately be downloading, streaming, or some hybrid of both, it appears it could fall under similar or the same 3G streaming restrictions regardless.

It’s still early days for iTunes Match and settings might be getting flipped back and forth a bit, so we’ll wait for things to settle down before we do anything other than inch towards conclusions.

Anyone else hitting 3G walls when using iTunes Match?

When a woman suspected that someone was entering her condo and stealing her prescription medicine, she went and bought an iZON, set it all up using her iPhone and then let it do its magic. Sure enough it captured her neighbor entering her condo and taking her drugs. She called the police and the iZON video was used to arrest the perpetrator.

We told you a few months back about the iZON wireless connected, app controlled video camera accessory. What was special about this particular video camera was its ability to be setup with an iOS device, activated via sound or movement and it could record directly to YouTube.

Take a look at the CBS 12 news report video below. It is a great story and just proves that you do not need to be a geek to setup and use technology when Apple is involved!

Source: TUAW

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Georgia, Seth, and Rene talk Steve Jobs memorials, Apple Q4 2011 results, iOS 5 and iCloud on iPad, Android 4.0 and PlayBook 2.0 competition, and the latest tips and apps. This is iPad Live!

Meta

• iPad Live 77: Requiem (Our Steve Jobs tribute show)
• iPhone 4S Live (our iPhone 4S review show)
• TiPb celebrity iPhone and iPad sightings for October 17, 2011

Steve Jobs

• Reminder: Apple Retail Stores closed for the next 3 hours
• Steve Jobs memorial draws family, friends and colleagues to pay tribute
• Steve Jobs worked on Apple's next product until the day before he passed away
• Before iCloud, Apple tried to buy Dropbox for nine digits

Apple results

• Apple Q4 2011 by the numbers
• Apple reports Q4 2011 financial results, 17.7 million iPhones, 11.2 million iPads, 6.62 million iPods, $6.62 billion in profits

iOS 5

• iOS 5 for iPhone and iPad walkthrough
• TiPb Asks: How are you handling iCloud in your family?

The Competition

• Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, Galaxy Nexus, RAZR, PlayBook 2.0 come gunning for iPhone and iPad

iPad 3

• Is Apple working on a 7.85-inch iPad for 2012?

Tips

• Daily Tip: How to turn on AirPlay Mirroring
• How to setup iMessage on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

Apps

• Instapaper for iPhone and iPad goes 4.0
• Grand Theft Auto III coming to iPhone 4S and iPad 2

Hosts

• Georgia @GeorgiaTiPb)
• Rene Ritchie @reneritchie)
• Seth Clifford @sethclifford)

Credits

Thanks to the TiPb iPad Accessory Store for sponsoring the podcast, and to everyone who showed up for the live chat!

Music Hear me Roar by iPad Live theme song contest winner, DieselJesus!